Thailand’s culture

Pictures for those of you who don't like reading.

We’ve spent 2 full days in Chiang Mai now - reportedly the coldest days Chiang Mai has had in quite some time, so of course we we’ve been wearing shorts and short sleeve shirts. We’ve seen some wats (Buddist temples), bathed with elephants, walked through markets, enjoyed local cuisine and Thai-ized American cuisine, caught up with old friends, and made some new ones. Something I’ve noticed in our short time here is the strictness of rule following and how it varies and differs from similar rules in the states. Seeing some of the local happenings, I’m reminded of this scene from Pirates of the Caribbean: The curse of the Black Pearl where Barbosa clarifies the “[Pirates] code is more what you'd call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.” And in a pretty stark contrast to this, it seems that many social customs tend to be fairly rigid, or at least formal, in their systems.

Laws? Well, it’s more of a suggestion.
I would not call myself well studied in Thailand’s legal system, nor am I well versed in that of America’s for that matter. However, I do have a propensity for remembering and following rules. I loved studying for and taking the exam for my watercraft license, just the same with the driver’s permit assessment. It seems that country rules and regulations aren’t enforced or even really acknowledged. Jon Alter has a theory related to this. He calls it “Don’t search for logic.”

Even on the busiest of roads, cars rarely exceed 40 mph (~65 kph) and casually walking across them is common. As a pedestrian, it’s really convenient to not have to wait at crosswalks for the light to turn to white-light-walking-figure. If you need to get to the other side of the road, simply wait for a small opening in traffic and commit. Cars, motorbikes, and tuk-tuks will slow to allow you to pass. The few times we’ve been in a motorized vehicle, it hasn’t been noticeable. Soothing sounds of Thai talk radio or hard-core American rap play from car stereos as the car fluxuates between 10 and 30 mph a couple times a block.

Telephone lines across nearly every street, road, and dirt path number in the hundreds. We’ve seen a what I assume are phone-line technicians, but for all we know may be just regular citizens looking to fix their DSL, climbing up to “fix” (presumably) the lines. From what we can tell, if a line breaks, it’s left in place and a new one is strung along its original path. It seem the only things you need to fix the wiring here is a large spool of cable, a ladder, and some bravery.

Scaffolding is handmade on the spot out of bamboo shoots. They cut and tie the giant natural PVC pipe to the right lengths and tie them together to climb up. I think this is really neat. In order to repair or paint something high up, workers build a structure to which they entrust their lives from essentially raw materials. I can’t even imagine American construction workers building scaffolding out of anything other than pre-made kits.

The sidewalk along roads can be as much as 1 foot higher than the road it runs alongside. To accommodate for this height difference, there is usually a smooth steep slope of concrete connecting the two. This is the perfect slide to slip on and fall head-first into traffic (something we have thankfully yet to experience). Sidewalks range from 2 inches wide to 3 feet and often have trees, signs, or street vendors on them. Like Minnesota in the winter, lane-lines are barely a suggestion as cars and motorbikes often zig-zag through traffic, around parked cars and trucks, pedestrians, and ambulances.

Social norms? Slowly learning.
The first term I tried to learn in Thai was “Thank you.” It took a while to feel confident saying, but “Kob Khun” is the term for thank you. In Thai, from what I can glean so far, phrases and greetings end with a status indicator. As a male, speaking politely to a peer or someone of higher status, I would say thank you with “Kob Khun Krab,” though it seems “Kob Khun kab” is a more casual way. Females would say “Kob Khun Kha.” Unlike many other languages, the words you use depend primarily on the person speaking, not the person being spoken to or about. Sorry = Kor Tod Kab, Hello = Sa Wad Dee Kab, How are you = Sa Bai Dee Mai Kab

Slight bows are common signs of farewell and pressing both hands together is a way to show gratitude, respect, or as a greeting.

Tipping isn’t common, though for exceedingly wonderful service, a small tip of 10% may be added. Some of the tourist heavy areas take advantage of Americans being used to tipping. Generally, we’ve been not haggling which is our way of including a tip.

I’ve noticed a few American customs creeping into the touristy parts - tuk-tuk (2 wheeled open air taxis) drivers give an American head nod to white people on the street as a way to inquire if they’d like a ride, I’m seen some Thai girls pose with the duck-face for pictures, and I’m sure there are more that I haven’t even realized are the melding of cultures. I hope in picking up Western customs, Thai’s own are not lost, but in the metropolitan areas, it does seem to have very western aspects.

People are incredibly friendly here, both locals and tourists we’ve run into. It seems everyone is enjoying the calm atmosphere and is happy to help out their fellow human.

Here are some relevant pictures to what I wrote about and other things I didn’t that we’ve done over the past few days.