Uncle John

Your post entitled, “The Mnemonic Sediment: An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind” was most compelling for me – so much so that, for the first time in over six years, I signed up for an account on this ASEAN NOW forum so I could respond to you. First, a bit about myself for context: My Bride of 56 years is from Isaan. We met, courted, and married at Korat during the Vietnam War. I was stationed in the U.S. Air Force at Korat Royal Thai Air Base as a jet fighter mechanic at the time. My Bride was a caregiver at the local orphanage in town. Both my Bride and I were teenagers then. But somehow the initial spark that brought us together, our relationship, and our marriage have lasted the test of time. Once we retired just over six years ago, we moved to my Bride’s ancestral home in Isaan. Although I certainly did not completely understand what I was getting into back then in marrying a Thai, I most certainly understand more about the concepts you have presented here now, and I agree with them. I did not find your post to be too long at all. In fact, I found it just right and most cogent! You have obviously put a great deal of thought and effort into this, and I, for one, really appreciate it! Thank you!! Although I certainly don’t want to upset anyone also on this forum, in reading the various responses/comments to your post, I found most of them to be really sad because they seemed to me to come from folks who either are not in current deep relationships with a Thai or don’t want to understand more about their partner and what makes them “tick”. In my opinion, that is a severe mistake on their part, and they would have been better off not commenting at all rather than being so negative. But, of course, that is just my opinion…