Culture Ministry Campaigns For Thai People To Wear Thai Dresses Once A Week

[PeaceBlondie]

This is all just a Monty Python sketch.........does Thailand have a Minister of Silly Ideas?

[HenryB]

Thailand seems to have very diverse culture(s). plural. Cultures evolve and change all the time, mainly stemming from history, weather, folklore, etc., and I don't see how some Orwellian-sounding "Ministry Of Culture" can dictate a one-size-fits-all package for the whole country?

It looks like many of us farangs will be buying silk shirts and etc for farm workers up country.

[hammered]

Thailand seems to have very diverse culture(s). plural. Cultures evolve and change all the time, mainly stemming from history, weather, folklore, etc., and I don't see how some Orwellian-sounding "Ministry Of Culture" can dictate a one-size-fits-all package for the whole country?

It looks like many of us farangs will be buying silk shirts and etc for farm workers up country.

Most of these laws/rules/regulations/drives are not aimed at the upcountry poor. They can continue to wear their farming/factory/construction garb and their kids will also still be able to purchase and drink alcohol at a ripe young age. These moral edicts are more aimed at the young urban dwellers with a bit of cash whose lifestyle many of the aging moralisers do not approve of.

[bkkandrew]

Someone will have to publish a guide - 1 day a week to be traditional dress, one yellow shirt, one blue shirt!

Daily routine to be:

Wake;

shower;

consult calendar;

dress;

go out

[jbsears]

Where did it say in the news that the gov't will be "forcing" Thai people to wear Thai clothing? All I saw was they'd be "campaigning" or encouraging people to do so. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I back you up on this.

The government doesn't have to enforce it. The People at least in Bangkok follow the herd blindly. The wearing of a yellow shirt was only for last year, but people still wear them this year. I asked my fiancee why and she said she is because she doesn't want to be the only one not wearing a yellow shirt on the BTS on the way to and from work.

The government schools will probably enforce these rules and everyone else will follow. This is a very patriotic country and Thais will not want to look like they are not being patriotic compared to everyone else wearing a certain designated type of clothing.

My point, short and simple, is that this does not have to be enforced. Conformity in Thai society will have them enforce it on themselves.

Edited March 14, 2007 by jbsears

[Dakhar]

Where did it say in the news that the gov't will be "forcing" Thai people to wear Thai clothing? All I saw was they'd be "campaigning" or encouraging people to do so. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I back you up on this.

The government doesn't have to enforce it. The People at least in Bangkok follow the herd blindly. The wearing of a yellow shirt was only for last year, but people still wear them this year. I asked my fiancee why and she said she is because she doesn't want to be the only one not wearing a yellow shirt on the BTS on the way to and from work.

The government schools will probably enforce these rules and everyone else will follow. This is a very patriotic country and Thais will not want to look like they are not being patriotic compared to everyone else wearing a certain designated type of clothing.

My point, short and simple, is that this does not have to be enforced. Conformity in Thai society will have them enforce it on themselves.

I don't know if it is that I am just weird or what, but I always wanted to be away from the herd. You know, show some independence, show that you have the ability to think on your own etc.

[Netfan]

I don't know if it is that I am just weird or what, but I always wanted to be away from the herd. You know, show some independence, show that you have the ability to think on your own etc.

Thailand, like other Asian countries is a "collectivist" culture- showing independence is not a good thing- they are taught from birth that being independent is "showing off", while westerners are encouraged to be independent. My step-daughters family tell her she talks too much when she asks too many questions, but I encourage her to ask away. How often do you see a Thai going to the movies or shopping or eating alone? The group and conformity are important. It's a different way of doing things.

[chatette]

Shame the Ministry of Culture doesn't update its Web site to show what's on at the Thai Cultural Center rather than encourage the flock to wear silk frocks and ties, not to mention it's little publishing endeavor with its pamphlet instructing visitors how to behave in Thailand. Might actually be able to partake in a bit of useful culture.

[wpcoe]

Whats traditional?

What era? 100 years ago? 300 years ago?

Traditional what? High class dress, peasant farmer, elephant warrior, Northern, Southern, (Bangkok elite I suspect)

And even more terrifying: which day of the week? I'm mortified that I will be planning to wear my traditional thai dress on Thursday, and arrive to SkyTrain on Wednesday and see everybody else wearing theirs that day. OH NO!

If I call in sick on Tuesday and stay home from work, can I claim that that was the day I was going to wear it? Or should I plan on wearing it around the house that day?

[A_Traveller]

Where did it say in the news that the gov't will be "forcing" Thai people to wear Thai clothing? All I saw was they'd be "campaigning" or encouraging people to do so. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I back you up on this.

The government doesn't have to enforce it. The People at least in Bangkok follow the herd blindly. The wearing of a yellow shirt was only for last year, .. Conformity in Thai society will have them enforce it on themselves.

I don't know if it is that I am just weird or what, but I always wanted to be away from the herd. You know, show some independence, show that you have the ability to think on your own etc.

Just on these points, the wearing of yellow shirts on Mondays was suggested for this year as well to recognise His Majesty's 80th Birthday, and as in many Asian societies the old Chinese saying of "The protruding nail gets hammered down" sums up social pressures.

Also it would be good to see the stylish silk half sleeve jackets wrested away from the more 'colourful' wearers and into mainstream society. After all Prem wears them well. Don't see anything untoward though, once again better presentation and preparation for a press release would be useful

Regards

[Ijustwannateach]

You get to know the code for these types of things after awhile.

For example, a "casual" shirt must still have a collar to be "polite" enough to wear to a work-related function, even if "casual dress" has been announced.

"Thai" uniform in contemporary business bureaucratese means upper-class Bangkok silk, as another poster suspected. For men, the formal silk top with normal business pants; for women, the whole silk dress. If your minds are as narrow as the bureaucracy tends to make them, the statements don't seem as vague anymore.

However, I'm not as upset anymore by the idea of uniforms as some posters are. Over the last year or two, clothing requirements at my job have become more and more specific; though I reacted negatively to this at first, the employers provided most of the requisite clothing- most of it's even short-sleeved. As a result, I don't really have to think that much in the morning about what to wear, I don't wear out personal clothing at work, my clothing expenses for business wear have dropped significantly, and it's no one's fault but my employers what others think of what I wear at work (this is a significant benefit considering how Thais and Asians in general like to carp about appearances, often based on standards which differ significantly from European/American standards for various cultural reasons). So oddly enough, I've begun to appreciate conformity and the uniform (although it can result in some strange looks from some quarters when I'm out after hours).

"S"

[Martin]

"once again better presentation and preparation for a press release would be useful "

But, maybe the press release was prepared and presented immaculately in Thai.

And, then, as so often, the translation was mangled.

I would bet that "dresses" got in that way.

What is the cultural inhibition that seems to prevent a Thai from showing his/her effort at translation to one farang for comment before it is published to a great bunch of them who will comment for sure?

[Johpa]

Most of these laws/rules/regulations/drives are not aimed at the upcountry poor. They can continue to wear their farming/factory/construction garb and their kids will also still be able to purchase and drink alcohol at a ripe young age. These moral edicts are more aimed at the young urban dwellers with a bit of cash whose lifestyle many of the aging moralisers do not approve of.

I would assume such critcisms by aging moralizers would include the drinking of cheap imported alcohol at a ripe young age by said young urban dwellers.

Actually I would greatly appreciate traditional Thai garb becoming fashionable or even merely acceptable again. Go back 20 years and at least it was still acceptable for men to hang out in their home wearing a phakama. But I do hope they ban that silly sua karatchakan, AKA sua Prem, the shirt with the silly collar favored by haughty academics and mindless foreign diplomats.

[axom_boy]

Where did it say in the news that the gov't will be "forcing" Thai people to wear Thai clothing? All I saw was they'd be "campaigning" or encouraging people to do so. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I back you up on this.

Dont agree...

I think the point is that....the govt is trying a campaign on clothing which I doubt is their call to make or not??

I still remember the "Ayodhya" fiasco on the opera by Somtow Sucharitkul.....

are we sure the "culture ministry" are not sucking up to somebody??

Also Just wonderign how many countries have a Culture Ministry??

[axom_boy]

Thailand, like other Asian countries is a "collectivist" culture- showing independence is not a good thing- they are taught from birth that being independent is "showing off", while westerners are encouraged to be independent. My step-daughters family tell her she talks too much when she asks too many questions, but I encourage her to ask away. How often do you see a Thai going to the movies or shopping or eating alone? The group and conformity are important. It's a different way of doing things.

Quite true.....like the chinese...thai's dont seem to encourage any sense of individuality......

everything is like...."well she wears a 30 cm shirt..i will do also!!"...doesn't matter if I am 200lb....."lets all (10 of us) go the club on Friday night!! lets take 2 Red Label!!" doesn't matter if there are 200 others in the place designed for 100!!

[LivinLOS]

Where did it say in the news that the gov't will be "forcing" Thai people to wear Thai clothing? All I saw was they'd be "campaigning" or encouraging people to do so. So I don't see anything wrong with that.

I back you up on this.

The government doesn't have to enforce it. The People at least in Bangkok follow the herd blindly. The wearing of a yellow shirt was only for last year, but people still wear them this year. I asked my fiancee why and she said she is because she doesn't want to be the only one not wearing a yellow shirt on the BTS on the way to and from work.

The government schools will probably enforce these rules and everyone else will follow. This is a very patriotic country and Thais will not want to look like they are not being patriotic compared to everyone else wearing a certain designated type of clothing.

My point, short and simple, is that this does not have to be enforced. Conformity in Thai society will have them enforce it on themselves.

Indeed.. The herd mentality.. The supression of individuality.. Listen to the Poo Yai statement.. Do what they say.. All of this is (to my mind) part of the inherited feudal society that Thailand is so historically close to.

I don't know if it is that I am just weird or what, but I always wanted to be away from the herd. You know, show some independence, show that you have the ability to think on your own etc.

Indeed.. Always been much happier as a tribe of one..

Thern again thinking back on my teenage fashion sense no wonder I was out on my own

[ratcatcher]

This is all just a Monty Python sketch.........does Thailand have a Minister of Silly Ideas?

If the British can do it, well so can the Thais. Jolly good idea.

Attractive traditional British garb,worn enthusiastically by well known cultural devotees.

Edited March 15, 2007 by ratcatcher

[The Dan Sai Kid]

This is all just a Monty Python sketch.........does Thailand have a Minister of Silly Ideas?

If the British can do it, well so can the Thais. Jolly good idea.

Attractive traditional British Scottish garb,worn enthusiastically by well known cultural devotees.

[John K]

This is all just a Monty Python sketch.........does Thailand have a Minister of Silly Ideas?

It is getting more and more obvious that the culture minister does not have a lot to do. Based on the latest threads that were spawned by her, and now she is even poking her head into peoples private lives: A bit off topic but:

University must punish Pemmika says Culture Minister

The Culture Minister urged Chulalongkorn University to take action against its fourth-year psychology student Pemmika Veerachatraksit, believing she broke school discipline due to an alleged affair with another person's husband.

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30029301

I don’t know if she is worried about her job or what, but I for one find all of this simply amazing. I think pieceblondie is on the right track here.

Not to say that wearing traditional Thai is a bad idea, I actually like it and it reminds me I am along way from Kansas.

[ColPyat]

Go back 20 years and at least it was still acceptable for men to hang out in their home wearing a phakama.

At around that time i have discovered this utterly convenient and traditional pan-Asian dress, and declared it acceptable for me at home.

No other dress allows you to blissfully scratch your nuts with less effort.

[drummer]

There is a book ('National Identity and its Defenders: Thailand Today', edited by Craig J. Reynolds, published in 2002 by Silkworm at Chiang Mai) in which various academics, as the blurb says, look at the formation of Thai identity from the perspectives of history, political science, anthropology, linguistics, social psychology, human geography , and media and religious studies.

Also Niels Mulder in 'Thai Images: The Culture of the Public World' (Silkworm, 1997) goes into what lies behind these campaigns by the Culture Ministry.

Since we liked what we found here, and decided to stay, I think we should do our bit towards fitting in, even if it does mean a bit of dressing up that wasn't our way in the West.

There is an outstanding book called "100 Myths About the Middle East" that touches on a some very similar topics. Yassir Arafat's white+black headdress goes back a full 100 years to European army outfits. Still gets the job done in affirming a national Palestinian identity!

Its a very interesting subject, that. One of the things leading to the Pax Roman was Caesar Augustus establishing a Roman identity where there really wasn't one before ... writing books, building temples, imcorporating people into a shared history that wasn't exactly shared before J. Caesar subjugated them...

[Johpa]

Go back 20 years and at least it was still acceptable for men to hang out in their home wearing a phakama.

At around that time i have discovered this utterly convenient and traditional pan-Asian dress, and declared it acceptable for me at home.

No other dress allows you to blissfully scratch your nuts with less effort.

There is a rubicon to be crossed for many males of the unrepentent heterosexual persusion (as well for some males of other persuasions) when it comes to wearing a phakama, but once crossed it is by far the most liberating item of clothing imaginable. Although you newbies be warned, tying the knot correctly does take some practice, so best to start by wearing something decent underneath.

[Johpa]

There is a book ('National Identity and its Defenders: Thailand Today', edited by Craig J. Reynolds, published in 2002 by Silkworm at Chiang Mai) in which various academics, as the blurb says, look at the formation of Thai identity from the perspectives of history, political science, anthropology, linguistics, social psychology, human geography , and media and religious studies.

Also Niels Mulder in 'Thai Images: The Culture of the Public World' (Silkworm, 1997) goes into what lies behind these campaigns by the Culture Ministry.

Since we liked what we found here, and decided to stay, I think we should do our bit towards fitting in, even if it does mean a bit of dressing up that wasn't our way in the West.

There is an outstanding book called "100 Myths About the Middle East" that touches on a some very similar topics. Yassir Arafat's white+black headdress goes back a full 100 years to European army outfits. Still gets the job done in affirming a national Palestinian identity!

Its a very interesting subject, that. One of the things leading to the Pax Roman was Caesar Augustus establishing a Roman identity where there really wasn't one before ... writing books, building temples, imcorporating people into a shared history that wasn't exactly shared before J. Caesar subjugated them...

As far as books to read on the subject of creating national identities, I highly recommend Southeast Asian scholar Benedict Anderson's now classic Imagined Communities.

[ColPyat]

Go back 20 years and at least it was still acceptable for men to hang out in their home wearing a phakama.

At around that time i have discovered this utterly convenient and traditional pan-Asian dress, and declared it acceptable for me at home.

No other dress allows you to blissfully scratch your nuts with less effort.

There is a rubicon to be crossed for many males of the unrepentent heterosexual persusion (as well for some males of other persuasions) when it comes to wearing a phakama, but once crossed it is by far the most liberating item of clothing imaginable. Although you newbies be warned, tying the knot correctly does take some practice, so best to start by wearing something decent underneath.

Care must be given though when buying, as some of the finer cottons are see-through, and when walking against the setting sun the dangling parts will be in full view.

[Martin]

"Care must be given though when buying, as some of the finer cottons are see-through, and when walking against the setting sun the dangling parts will be in full view."

I fail to see that this would be such a "Shock! Horror" thing.

But if one of them wasn't dangling..................

[Bagwan]

Care must be given though when buying, as some of the finer cottons are see-through, and when walking against the setting sun the dangling parts will be in full view.

It pays to advertise - provided you've got something worth buying.

[bingobongo]

do they also endorse matching weapons such as the Ak-47 or M-16 in accordance with local junta fashion? and are color schemes limited to green and brown to match the local authorities?

[Bagwan]

Having spent 12 years of my life wearing a uniform and for the rest of it, until retirement, being constrained in my choice of clothing, I view this latest idiocy from a Thai government department with horror. The idea smacks of tarting oneself up to look like a dummy in Moss Bros shop window when attending Royal Ascot. Why? Just to see some nags running around a track? What benefits would accrue from this latest nonsensical idea? Apart from the price of silk receiving a boost and many going further into debt just to indulge in lemming type behaviour?

Many years ago my employers thought it a good idea to have a 'company tie' and all would be 'encouraged' to wear it. I told my branch managers what I thought of the idea, that I would not implement such a policy across the department and that those employed under my stewardship would have freedom of choice of what they wore to work, within reason of course. I resisted all pressures from above to conform until my Director told me he wanted me to set an example and that he expected me to wear the tie to work the following day. I finally relented and wore the tie - it was around my waist holding my trousers up. Collapse of stout party.

Conformists and their supporters need to recognise that if it were not for free thinkers, individuals and complainers we should still be dressed in animal skins and living in caves. Being a 'team player' ensures mediocrity unless all have the freedom to contribute their ideas for improvements and enhancements. Any chance of this happening in LoS some time soon? Maybe not. Were Churchill, Roosevelt, Muhammed Ali, George Best and the hundreds of others who achieved things and advanced and enriched our lives team players? Can one of the Thai governments or (faction of the Army whose turn it is to run the country this month) please get real?

[Jai Dee]

Culture Ministry receives positive feedback concerning Thai traditional clothes

Minister of Culture Khunying Khaisri Sri-arun (ไขศรี ศรีอรุณ) disclosed that the ministry has received positive feedback after a wave of campaigns to boost residents to wear Thai traditional outfits.

On the occasion of Thai Heritage Conservation Day on April 2nd, Culture Ministry has rolled out several campaigns to encourage people from the state and private sectors to wear Thai traditional clothes. Khunying Khaisri says Thais nowadays are influenced by the western culture. She further explains that the ministry is not trying to challenge contemporary fashion, but only to promote the significance of Thai traditional clothes.

News anchors have been requested to wear Thai traditional clothes as a sample model for viewers. In addition, all ministers who will join the Cabinet meeting tomorrow will wear Thai traditional clothes.

Culture Ministry has issued handbooks with information of where to buy Thai traditional clothes. The handbooks will be distributed nationwide. The ministry also plans to arrange a fashion show of Thai traditional clothes, aimed to stimulate the purchasing of Thai traditional clothes.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 02 April 2007

[Jai Dee]

Culture Ministry campaigns for Thai traditional clothes

The Ministry of Culture campaigns for Thai traditional clothes to conserve the country’s characteristics against the backdrop of globalization.

Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sri-arun (ไขศรี ศรีอรุณ) says the ministry has sent letters to government and private organizations, calling for their officials to wear Thai traditional clothes. The ministry has also cooperated with recreational venues, including the Siam Niramit (สยามนิรมิตร) Theatre, the Rose Garden, and the Wax Museum, in giving fare discounts to visitors dressing in Thai clothes.

As for this year’s Thai Heritage Conservation Day, the ministry has planned to arrange activities to celebrate Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sinrindhorn’s contribution to Thai culture and arts. The activities include the broadcasting of documentary program in honor of HRH Princess Sirindhorn via Thai TV Pool today (April, 2nd) and an exhibition about His Majesty the King who was hailed as Father of the Thai Heritage Conservation.

The ministry will also arrange performances on ten incarnations of the Buddha and select outstanding persons who contribute to Thai culture and arts to receive an award.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 02 April 2007