Lack of critical thinking makes Thailand's competitiveness ranking slip

[thequietman]

3 hours ago, J Town said:

As a teacher in Thailand, I would occasionally put an obviously wrong answer up on the board and watch their little brain gears start to grind.

Yes, same with me and I still do it.

 

You feel kinda sorry for them because you can see in their faces that they know it's wrong, but they won't say anything. Bless. ????

 

I do this when I get first years at the uni and I berate them for not pointing it out to me. After that, you can't stop them. ????

 

However, they still continue NOT to bring anything to the attention of their Thai lecturers. ????

[scorecard]

1 minute ago, thequietman said:

Yes, same with me and I still do it.

 

You feel kinda sorry for them because you can see in their faces that they know it's wrong, but they won't say anything. Bless. ????

 

I do this when I get first years at the uni and I berate them for not pointing it out to me. After that, you can't stop them. ????

 

However, they still continue NOT to bring anything to the attention of their Thai lecturers. ????

Which brings up another aligned point, my uni is divided by language of tuition, either Thai or English. Many times the director the English program has asked Thai professors to come across to the English program (where 90% of the lecturers are foreigners) and teach a course or a few lessons, these are Thai professors who can comprehend and speak excellent English.

 

They refuse.

 

Why, because they are frightened that the Thai and more especially the foreign exchange students (mostly German, a few Singaporeans and more) will ask questions. 

 

 

[Airbagwill]

19 minutes ago, topt said:

Thanks for posting that. Unfortunately I think he has his own confirmation bias on some areas  

point them out.

[mikey00]

You dink too mut

[Fex Bluse]

5 hours ago, englishoak said:

"sigh" Well for start they could spell weaknesses properly 

Too much funny! 

[topt]

24 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

point them out.

No - because I cannot be bothered to discuss my reasons for saying that.

[Rimbuman]

5 hours ago, englishoak said:

"sigh" Well for start they could spell weaknesses properly 

And add some pillars. 

[Bob12345]

24 minutes ago, topt said:

No - because I cannot be bothered to discuss my reasons for saying that.

If you cant be bothered then you maybe should have kept quiet in the first place.

[jeff270476]

This country is an large scale idiot factory. Case close. 

Look all aspect : food first. Transformed food with heavy sugar , american way of eating anyhow anytime 

Second, have you ever see a show on tv where youth can learn anything ? No, all you got is dummy show or legendary drama movies. 

Third at early age, i remember when i had free time , i was on playground doin sport from sunset to sun down.  Here, they play with their phone - selfie all day , tchi tchat doing nothing and spend their entire day in mall eating sweet or horrible processed food.. 

 

What kind of nation you expect with that??? 

[Fex Bluse]

1 hour ago, Bassosa said:

Sure, work hard and you'll do well, but the paper was about Thailand's competitive edge. Lack of critical thinking is hampering the countries' growth and other countries are overtaking Thailand.

Pervasive defensiveness 

 

Thais I have encountered so often have ready excuses for anything anyone could identify as a problem in their society. 

 

In other words, they are perfect. Or, at worst, just as good or bad as everyone else. 

 

Until they change this childish defensive mechanism, they will continue to represent an image of unintelligent and unsuccessful. 

 

Example: 

 

[Fex Bluse]

Thailand + Hitler = 'sanuk' fun

 

 

[poohy]

7 hours ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Are you in charge of this sinking ship Prayute?Is this your responsibility?Does the buck stop with you?Are all your hubs and twenty year plans and strategies taking Thailand forward or backwards?

Sadly Prayuth is a few steps down from who is really in charge and its not in that "parties" interests to change anything

[CanterbrigianBangkoker]

'Thailand lacks critical thought' and in other news 'water is wet'.

 

Talk about stating the bloody obvious!

[Baerboxer]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Education by rote; don't raise your hand in classrooms or you get canned; and so on. Some societies do not want people thinking outside of the box. Just sayin'

 

Rote education isn't he main issue (something to be said for learning times x tables).

 

The big issue is the deference based on feudal hierarchical patronage type thinking. Cannot question one's perceived seniors as it may make them loose face. Similarly must not ask a question because it might also make the asker look stupid and loose face. Add the imprecise nature of the Thai language to this and you get a "learning environment" that's just listen, note down, and go quietly away.

 

The lack of "cause and effect" thinking, and teaching, adds more to this too. No one links cause and effect, thinks outside the box, manages risk or thinks further than the end of their nose!

 

Deep cultural issues which with social restrictions as they are, ain't gonna change anytime soon.

[Yinn]

30 minutes ago, jeff270476 said:

This country is an large scale idiot factory. Case close. 

Look all aspect : food first. Transformed food with heavy sugar , american way of eating anyhow anytime 

Wrong. So wrong.

 

 

30 minutes ago, jeff270476 said:

Second, have you ever see a show on tv where youth can learn anything ? No, all you got is dummy show or legendary drama movies. 

Wrong. So wrong again. Have so many documentaries. Maybe not your friend. Change the channel.

 

 

30 minutes ago, jeff270476 said:

Third at early age, i remember when i had free time , i was on playground doin sport from sunset to sun down. 

 

Hmmmm. One minute? Where? At the idiot factory?

Lot of Thai exercise. Football, takraw, aerobic, fitness park, gym, volleyball, badminton.

How much exercise you do yesterday. 

 

 

30 minutes ago, jeff270476 said:

 

Here, they play with their phone - selfie all day , tchi tchat doing nothing and spend their entire day in mall eating sweet or horrible processed food.. 

 

What kind of nation you expect with that??? 

I think you have small knowledge/experience in Thailand. Not see much.

[seminomadic]

9 hours ago, daoyai said:

can't have critical thinking without free thought and speech... laws and culture need to change, 

Agree 75%. Freedom of thought is a society working out its collective thinking, but I don't think lack of free speech precludes it altogether.

 

Here's a bigger problem with this whole article & thread: What *exactly* is meant by critical thinking?

[Yinn]

2 hours ago, Bassosa said:

Sure, work hard and you'll do well, but the paper was about Thailand's competitive edge. Lack of critical thinking is hampering the countries' growth and other countries are overtaking Thailand.

I critical this “paper”. How he know???? Is not science. Opinion.

If you think critical about what really this paper is, you know that.

 

nobody ask Yinn. I am genius.

some people are lazy brain, so people think to much.

[Bassosa]

5 minutes ago, Yinn said:

I critical this “paper”. How he know???? Is not science. Opinion.

If you think critical about what really this paper is, you know that.

 

nobody ask Yinn. I am genius.

some people are lazy brain, so people think to much.

If the research was praising Thailand you would've considered it truth.
 

[cmsally]

37 minutes ago, Yinn said:

I critical this “paper”. How he know???? Is not science. Opinion.

If you think critical about what really this paper is, you know that.

 

nobody ask Yinn. I am genius.

some people are lazy brain, so people think to much.

Quote

Assistant Professor Wilert Puriwat, dean of the Chulalongkorn Business School, which is allied with the WEF, said that, If Thailand wants to improve its ranking, labour skills must be improved. 

Well the research seems to be at least partly in conjunction with Chula , so maybe take it up with them.

 

PS Anyone who really is a genius, does not say they are.

[CNX GUY]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Education by rote; don't raise your hand in classrooms or you get canned; and so on. Some societies do not want people thinking outside of the box. Just sayin'

virtually all societies today do. Thailand is not unique in this regard and critical thinking skills are in short supply amongst the common people everywhere!

[CanterbrigianBangkoker]

57 minutes ago, Yinn said:

Wrong. So wrong.

 

 

Wrong. So wrong again. Have so many documentaries. Maybe not your friend. Change the channel.

 

 

Hmmmm. One minute? Where? At the idiot factory?

Lot of Thai exercise. Football, takraw, aerobic, fitness park, gym, volleyball, badminton.

How much exercise you do yesterday. 

 

 

I think you have small knowledge/experience in Thailand. Not see much.

You make the occasional fair point. ????

 

I don't believe that Thais are generally speaking physically lazier or particularly less capable people, on the whole.

The climate here lends itself to outdoor sports and many are popular, however, you see more and more obese Thais (adults and more worryingly - children) every year, and the scourge of smart phones and selfie-culture is rife and particularly virile here in Thailand, I'm sorry to say. The sugar consumption chart above is interesting, I would questions it's veracity if I'm honest, but I wouldn't doubt that topping the table are the developed nations. The issue in Thailand around diet is that Thais (particularly in the developed towns and cities) some years back adopted all the worst eating habits of the West, loading foods with flavour enhances and the ubiquitous overindulgence in sugar and salt, fast food is now a massive, massive industry here - something you would have seen very little of only 25 years ago - even in BKK. Add to this very unhealthy and largely unregulated farming practices and it only compounds the situation.  Unfortunately these are trends that only continue to expand and become more entrenched more each year. The flippant and seldom scrutinised addition of copious amounts of MSG powder to nearly every street food / takeaway meal is another big problem, one that could potentially yield some pretty disastrous results for the nascent generations - some of which are already on display in older Thais I would suggest.

 

The issue with programming on Thai TV is another one I agree with you on, but only in-as-much-as the option to watch documentaries and educational programs are available - there are some channels dedicated solely to such shows. Thai PBS for one, however, when compared to many similarly and more developed foreign countries - the amount of choice is smaller and - interestingly - is nearly always (from all of my experience) simply rehashed/overdubbed versions of foreign made programs - NONE that I have ever seen are Thai produced - that says something to me. The point that there ARE such programs (Thai made or not) available to the viewing public is not key however - what is key is how many people are interested enough / in any way inclined to watch. What would the viewing figures be I wonder - in comparison to say the total drivel that is the daily/weekly 'lakorn' soap operas? I am guessing a tiny fraction of the numbers, sadly.

This point is a microcosmic symptom of a larger problem, one that is not unique to Thailand either. The biggest problem is that people are intentionally kept uninformed and distracted - as many have mentioned already, this allows those in control to run amok and get away with it. The single biggest criticism and the single biggest resolution to the issues raised in this article (if it were enacted) - is that Thailand lacks any meaningful freedom of speech and freedom of the press to publish indictments of the government / monarchy or authorities in general. Authority figures start at home, from parents on through to teachers, the police, local councils and then national government. The inability to question these authority figures is not good, it is actively discouraged here, and doing so can make oneself a social pariah, or endanger one's life, very quickly. As someone else correctly stated, critical thinking starts with being able to articulate oneself through freedom of speech and freedom of thought, in this process questioning received wisdom and the like becomes natural and logical. In this area, I'm afraid, Thailand has for many years lagged behind. For a nation that has developed in so many other ways (at least superficially and in specific areas) in this regard Thailand is but a pigmy. This must change if the country is to have any hope of progressing and improving in the future, intellectually and liberally. I for one hope it can.

[DepDavid]

Shocking to think there is no critical thinking here.....wait what am I saying, I’ve known this for a long time!

[Eligius]

16 minutes ago, CanterbrigianBangkoker said:

You make some fair points. I don't believe that Thais are generally speaking physically lazier or particularly less capable people, on the whole.

The climate here lends itself to outdoor sports and many are popular, however, you see more and more obese Thais (adults and more worryingly - children) every year, and the scourge of smart phones and selfie-culture is rife and particularly virile here in Thailand, I'm sorry to say. The sugar consumption chart above is interesting, I would questions it's veracity if I'm honest, but I wouldn't doubt that topping the table are the developed nations. The issue in Thailand around diet is that Thais (particularly in the developed towns and cities) some years back adopted all the worst eating habits of the West, loading foods with flavour enhances and the ubiquitous overindulgence in sugar and salt, fast food is now a massive, massive industry here - something you would have seen very little of only 25 years ago - even in BKK. Add to this very unhealthy and largely unregulated farming practices and it only compounds the situation.  Unfortunately these are trends that only continue to expand and become more entrenched more each year. The flippant and seldom scrutinised addition of copious amounts of MSG powder to nearly every street food / takeaway meal is another big problem, one that could potentially yield some pretty disastrous results for the nascent generations - some of which are already on display in older Thais I would suggest.

 

The issue with programming on Thai TV is another one I agree with you on, but only in-as-much-as the option to watch documentaries and educational programs are available - there are some channels dedicated solely to such shows. Thai PBS for one, however, when compared to many similarly and more developed foreign countries - the amount of choice is smaller and - interestingly - is nearly always (from all of my experience) simply rehashed/overdubbed versions of foreign made programs - NONE that I have ever seen are Thai produced - that says something to me. The point that there ARE such programs (Thai made or not) available to the viewing public is not key however - what is key is how many people are interested enough / in any way inclined to watch. What would the viewing figures be I wonder - in comparison to say the total drivel that is the daily/weekly 'lakorn' soap operas? I am guessing a tiny fraction of the numbers, sadly.

This point is a microcosmic symptom of a larger problem, one that is not unique to Thailand either. The biggest problem is that people are intentionally kept uninformed and distracted - as many have mentioned already, this allows those in control to run amok and get away with it. The single biggest criticism and the single biggest resolution to the issues raised in this article - regarding critical thinking etc. - is that Thailand lacks any meaningful freedom of speech and freedom of the press to publish indictments of the government / monarchy or authorities in general. As someone else correctly stated, critical thinking starts with being able to critical articulation through freedom of speech and freedom of thought. In this area, I'm afraid, Thailand has for many years lagged behind. For a nation that has developed in so many other ways (at least superficially and in specific areas) in this regard Thailand is but a pigmy. This must change if the country is to have any hope of progressing and growing in the future, intellectually and liberally. I for one hope it can.

I agree with much of what you say (including regarding the imported, foreign documentaries).

 

On the obesity point - yes: when I first visited Thailand over 30 years ago, there were very few obese Thais on the streets. Now it is in your face (especially in the BKK area). I am daily surprised to see so many Thai university students overweight now, often obese. When I think how slim I was when I was twenty (not just myself, but virtually all of my fellow students at university), there is no comparison with many of the Thai students I see today. Some of them are HUGE. To be fair, most of them are not - but I would say that a good 25% of the male students are overweight, with flabby bodies and protruding bellies. The female students are often not much better.

The Romans had a famous saying: 'A healthy mind in a healthy body'. Thailand seems to be encouraging neither.

 

[MaxLee]

OPPRESSION of critical thinking makes Thailand's competitiveness ranking slip

 

fixed it for you.

[SpanishExpat]

Last week my gf was sent as a guest lecturer to one of the main BKK universities by her company. After 45 min presentation she wanted to motivate the students with a brain-storming session/ some small project-work. Guess what? It turned out to be a disaster and she had to move on with the monotonous presentation. After she finished the Q&A session was done in a few minutes. We are talking about 180-200 students! 

Thailand is just a 3rd world country in the context of critical thinking/being smart. 

[whitemouse]

1 hour ago, Yinn said:

I critical this “paper”. How he know???? Is not science. Opinion.

If you think critical about what really this paper is, you know that.

 

nobody ask Yinn. I am genius.

some people are lazy brain, so people think to much.

 Everybody knows Thailand Nr 1! 

[wwest5829]

9 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Education by rote; don't raise your hand in classrooms or you get canned; and so on. Some societies do not want people thinking outside of the box. Just sayin'

I remember being taught the Japanese saying, "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down". But this is not limited to Asia. here I am in Thailand after finishing 41 years as a Kentucky educator, retiring at my top salary of $55K per year. Really? Well, it could have been higher had I not applied critical thinking to questioning the administration on occasion ... and helping for a union. My choice? Yep, "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down". Fortunately for me, this Br'er Rabbit has been thrown into the Briarpatch.

[wolf81]

9 hours ago, davehowden said:

Looks like the "unsafe drinking water" is to blame ??

I thought the drinking water issue was kind of weird when talking about competitiveness. But if I understand correctly it's a Swiss study, so perhaps Nestle subsided it or something.

[Fex Bluse]

Many posters have made good points.

 

As hard as I am on Thais, I do NOT think they are incapable. Surely, they have similar potential to us all. 

 

I truly belive the biggest issue facing them is that the Thai (mostly Chinese) elites do not want the country to grow at the expense of their power and authority. 

 

The Thai Chinese have done an absolutely marvelous job of coaxing the country into their personal playground. Who would give up that status? Not me. 

[cmsally]

25 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

Many posters have made good points.

 

As hard as I am on Thais, I do NOT think they are incapable. Surely, they have similar potential to us all. 

 

I truly belive the biggest issue facing them is that the Thai (mostly Chinese) elites do not want the country to grow at the expense of their power and authority. 

 

The Thai Chinese have done an absolutely marvelous job of coaxing the country into their personal playground. Who would give up that status? Not me. 

Excellent analogy ! Only problem is, it will take me at least a few hours before I can get the images of Chucky Dolls, barbed wire and locked gates out of my very vivid imagination!