The Real Thailand

Being in Thailand for the better part of 10 months, I have seen some incredible things, but I have also gotten an insight into the real workings and oddities of the culture. As much as I love it here, there are some things that are just so strange or backwards. Most of my rant is out of love, but some of it is things that people do not know or notice about Thailand unless they have been here for a while.

Where's the Kool-Aid?

Me in my Friday shirt...and students in their uniforms

Sometimes, I feel like I'm on the fringes of an early 90s cult. You are encouraged to tell someone how beautiful they are, not expected to go anywhere alone, and have that one special buddy you're constantly holding hands with (Thais are not fans of PDA, but show friendship through holding hands and even sitting on laps). In addition to having your close confidants within the cult, there are the uniforms that unify everyone. From the ubiquitous navy and light blue school uniforms, to the different colors each day of the week is assigned, everyone who is connected to the government wears some sort of weird uniform. Even teachers will come into school wearing weird 80s style government outfits that correspond to the color of the week (Monday is yellow, Tuesday is pink, Wednesday is green, Thursday is your school's color, and Friday is blue).
Even non-government affiliated businesses have uniforms. When I was in the bank the other day, I noticed that every bank teller was a thin, attractive woman who had to wear a purple pencil skirt and blazer that made her look like an 80s flight attendant.

scout day uniforms

As weird as these uniforms are, it's kind of nice wearing my floral/Hawaiian print blue shirt every Friday because it is just about the only way I can attempt to fit in.

In The Land of Smiles....We have a lot to complain about
Thai people are always complaining about the weather. It's too hot. It's too cold (when it dips below 90). Oh, we need rain. Oh, I hate the rain. MAKE UP YOUR MIND PEOPLE! You live here, you think you would have at least gotten used to the heat!
This probably has to do with my students doing anything to not participate in class, but yesterday when we had our first real monsoon storm, they acted as if they had never seen anything like it. From screaming during the thunder, to sitting in front of the door and complaining they were getting wet, I couldn't believe all the complaints about this phenomena that they're now seeing for the sixteenth time.

We smile because we don't show our emotions
We found out last week that a student in our school died. Alex and Matthias both had to teach classes that day that were really close to the girl. No teachers in the school told us of the tragedy, which happened extremely suddenly: the girl was on a motorbike with two of her friends and got hit by a truck and died in hospital that same night. Our placement coordinator's assistant, who works in the school with us, found out and told us. Had it not been for her, we would not have known. She told Alex and Matthias because she was afraid those two classes might be sad and understandably not want to participate. After class, Alex told me it was quite the opposite: the students wanted to do work and not mourn the death of their friend. Though I know Buddhists go to temple for 3-5 days to mourn death, so mourning has its place, it still seemed odd to us that no emotions were shown from the students after such a shocking and tragic event.
The next day in one of my classes, I was taking attendance and one of my students told me that an absent individual was in the ICU in the hospital. I was shocked and saddened, and asked what happened. The entire class erupted in laughter at the change in my demeanor and told me that she was drunk on a motorbike through their smiles. I couldn't believe how desensitized these students were and how they treated such a serious event.

Corruption is the norm
In a classist society, money is everything. Very few things are based on merit. Though this is true in the United States, in Thailand, if you don't have money, you stay where you are. There is no chance of moving up. Even the police openly admit to collecting money from tickets.
I think a big reason why my school is the "naughty" school is because my students are poor and they know they are destined to be what many of their parents are: food vendors and factory workers. They can't afford to go to the better schools in the district (even though the public schools are entrance exam based,, if you pass the exams you have to pay a fee to go to the better schools).

Special Treatment
I can't really complain about being white in Thailand, but I'm going to. I'm either treated like royalty or avoided like the plague. I live a life where I have to constantly be incredibly patient, and it really bothers me when the people around me, whether they are vendors or students, don't take the time to try a little harder to understand me. Because amazingly, body language can do a lot of talking. And my Thai dictionary easily clears a lot of things up.
Back to the bank (a perfect example of this): I walk in, and am immediately escorted over to a busy teller who spoke English. I told her what I needed, and she told me there was a queue (of course) and that I had to wait (which I was going to do upon arriving to the bank). I was in the bank for about 45 minutes because no other teller could speak enough English, or just did not want to try to help me get a new ATM card (they say the word ATM in Thai....I think I could have been helped by anyone) because they knew I couldn't speak Thai.

How do I look?
I thought Americans were vain, but Thais take it to a whole new level. There are mirrors EVERYWHERE. in people's pockets, randomly in restaurants, behind the counter at a store. People (men and women) constantly look at themselves and apply makeup shamelessly.

Every day is Lazy Sunday

watching TV while our food is getting cooked.
Photo Credit: Costanza Ferme

Laziness is promoted in this society. Students are expected to regurgitate information, and shamelessly copy one student's homework and pass it in as their own (they don't have a word for plagiarism). Napping in the English office during downtime is accepted, and you often see tuk tuk drivers and motorcycle taxi drivers napping when they're waiting for customers. Televisions are seen in almost every restaurant and shop, with the employees watching when they have nothing to do. It is the exact opposite of anything we would do in America. And although it's nice that people are encouraged to relax and take it easy, it means that things can take quite a bit longer than you'd like.