thaiculture

Diving into one of their more complex topics, Greg and Ed explore some of the questions that arise when raising a child with an appreciation for skepticism and science in the middle of a culture known for its superstitious beliefs. With Ed teaching a critical thinking class to Thai college students and Greg’s son asking questions about ghosts and praying, the boys have some interesting insights.

Greg stresses the delicacy of parents in his situation: were he to directly state his opinion that ghosts are not real and praying for something has no effect on the outcome, it could create friction between his son and the Thai side of his family, who sit more on the ‘probably/definitely’ side of the scale. While trying to ensure his son grows up with an appreciation for evidence and science, this also provides a good lesson on respecting others’ beliefs, despite having different ones yourself. Where exactly is the instruction manual for this situation?

The guys wrestle with the issue, doing their best to come up with some guidelines. Perhaps just appreciating the importance of threading the needle between the two cultures is the key to being a good parent. Greg’s not gonna be able to get it perfect, but maybe just trying is the point.

Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

Greg and Ed dive into a great question for expats in Thailand: to what extent are you actually integrated into mainstream Thai culture? Greg posted a quick survey on our Facebook page and uses some responses as a jumping-off point for discussion. 

Ed begins by guessing he’s probably a 5 on a scale of 1-10. He never socializes with only Thai people, but has good enough Thai language that he can handle himself on his own in the city. He does note though that Thailand may be different than some Western countries, in that there may be a level of assimilation that Thai people don’t really want foreigners to achieve.

Greg states he’s probably a 5 or 6. His Thai is getting better and he sometimes attends family events that are 100% Thai, but still...by this point he should be busting out soliloquies in the park! 

Greg then reads a number of quotes from listeners about their relative absorption into Thai society with a variety of answers, but most long-timers seem to come at the 4-6 range. 

Don’t forget that Patrons get the ad-free version of the show as well as swag and other perks. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

You know how foreigners aren’t allowed to be tour guides in Thailand? Well guess what - there’s an interesting little loophole to that, and it’s a great opportunity to get to know Thai culture in a very real way.

Greg interviews Dr. Peter Hufschmid-Hirschbuehl (hereinafter referred to as ‘Dr. Peter’ for obvious reasons), the President of the National Museum Volunteers, the only museum that allows foreigners to train and work as tour guides. The training program provides a quite extensive background in Thai culture, and many go through the program just for the education. Once finished, graduates lead tours in English, German, Japanese and French. 

Dr. Peter goes into detail on the National Museum, highlighting both its positives and negatives, and relates insights into its collection and what it says about the Thai culture, and the artistic and creative things that it’s produced over the millenia. 

Dr. Peter then explains the training program, which involves quite a few hours of work, and has a nuanced focus depending on where the tour groups are coming from (for  example, the French have a very different history in Southeast Asia than the British or the Germans or the Japanese). 

All in all, the National Museum should be on the itinerary of any tourist to Thailand, and the guide program should be on the list of any expat with an interest in Thai culture. 

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

This week is a dose of keeping it real: What are some common beliefs about Thailand that Greg and Ed just don’t buy? Ed starts off with a fairly nuanced point: many people think of Thailand as a very religious country because of so many outward signs of Buddhist culture, whether it’s temples, monks, or statues that Thais are very respectful of. However, Ed argues that in general Thais are not very pious: alcohol consumption, gambling, and infidelity are quite common throughout Thailand.

Greg walks equally risky territory by claiming that although Thais definitely smile a lot, the moniker ‘Land of Smiles’ has succeeded too much in that it has convinced many foreigners that all Thai people have nothing but hearts of gold. Unfortunately, scammers, as well as straight-up thieves, regularly target foreigners, and it is best to be as wary in Thailand as you would be in any country around the world.

Ed next contends that those who view Thailand (and more specifically the city of Pattaya) as sleazy places in general are very mistaken. Although prostitution does exist throughout Thailand, most of it is in isolated areas and not apparent in day to day life. Although Ed and Greg don’t see eye to eye on Pattaya, Greg concurs that most of Bangkok and Thailand are very family-friendly.

Last, Greg refutes those who think of Bangkok as a dirty, third-world city. Considering the unorganized, chaotic mess that Bangkok is, it’s surprisingly clean, with garbage showing up only temporarily before being swept away by the city’s ubiquitous street cleaners.

As always, the podcast will continue to be 100% funded by listeners just like you who get some special swag from us. And we’ll keep our Facebook, Twitter, and LINE accounts active so you can send us comments, questions, or whatever you want to share.

Key links for this episode:

• Support us on Patreon to get the show early

You’ve probably heard of “the Thai smile”, or know that Thailand is referred to as “the Land of Smiles”. Both of those phrases are well-earned, but that whole smiling thing is more than something done just in the hospitality space. For many Thais, smiling in a situation is a default reaction, even when the experience they are smiling at is a negative one.

Like when a dog almost eats a small child and the owner’s reaction is to smile it off. Oh, and that’s not a hypothetical. It happened to Greg’s kid. Or when a Thai driver almost hits a pedestrian and just smiles and waves. Also not hypothetical, as our special guest Ed Knuth (filling in for Evo Terra this week) will tell you.

But what looks like a blow-off really isn’t. It’s a cultural difference, and those of us who’ve been here a while learn to self-correct our immediate emotional response when we encounter the Thai smile. Or at least, we try to. It’s hard to break those old social contracts in favor or new ones.

Is smiling at everything just another example of Thais being nice, often to a fault? Is it about saving face or avoiding confrontation? Or just the ramifications of a successful ad campaign? Greg and Ed will share more than a few of their thoughts and experiences gathered over the collective 33 years they’ve lived in Thailand.

Speaking of living here for a long time, how do you feel about the “unboxing” that takes in the store when you buy damn near anything with an electrical plug in Thailand? Is that something you love, loath… or do you hate it so much you’re ready to leave Thailand? Listen in to find out how we feel, and share your thoughts with us.

Special thanks to Paul Johnston, who’s deep love of Meatloaf led him to a life of … tires? OK. Paul and the other ~50 people who support us on Patreon -- is getting this show early. You can, too.

Thanks for listening. Say nice things to Ed about his guest appearance, and hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, or LINE with your questions, comments, or whatever you want to share.

To help us ring in 2018, we’re bringing back a prior guest on his annual pilgrimage to Bangkok. Frank Smith from UC Berkeley teaches Khmer to children of Cambodian refugees. We caught up with him in person at Bangkok’s Central World mall… before we got kicked out by security. Yes, again. Not just because one of us made a foot faux pas. What’s it like for a Thai speaker who doesn’t live in Thailand to plop back into Bangkok, suddenly surrounded by other Thai speakers? There are actually lot of ways to keep up with the evolving language, thanks to the pervasive nature of the internet. Or what’s it like when your a young person, with parents speaking their native tongue and all your friends and the world around you speaking English? Frank faces that every day in the classroom, and shares some interesting tidbits from his students. Also, Frank reports the Bay area of California has a sizeable and well-knit Thai population, so we press him for some impressions (from the outside, obviously) on how that contingent live their lives abroad, which makes for a nice parallel for those expats like us living in Thailand. You’ll also hear Frank bust some myths we’ve heard (and may be following) as we both struggle our way through learning Thai. And on Love, Loath, or Leave, we talk about not having easy access to clean drinking water. And by “easy”, we mean getting it straight out of the tap. It’s pretty obvious where we fall on this question, but your mileage may vary depending on where you are from. Thanks for listening. Hit us up on Facebook, Twitter, or LINE.