What is the Thai national character?

[Logosone]

So Germans were known for centuries as the dreamers and thinkers, but how are the Thais known in Asia? What is their national character?

 

Would be interested to hear the views of people who have lived here a long time. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Logosone

[smutcakes]

I don't really think you are interested. You just want a Thai bashing thread, thats what your after.

 

Back to the topic,  i could not give a toss about what their perceived national character is. i judge anyone i meet on their own merit, same as i do when i meet a person of any nationality.

[n00dle]

Were known for centuries ....

 

Excellent beginning. Should have the desired effect on our aging uk population.

 

I can feel the sagging hackles rise.

 

Ill leave you to the muck you stir.

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by n00dle

[jvs]

10 minutes ago, Logosone said:

So Germans were known for centuries as the dreamers and thinkers, but how are the Thais known in Asia? What is their national character?

 

Would be interested to hear the views of people who have lived here a long time.

Are you German?If so do you fit the perceived character?There is no such thing as one size fits all.

I can tell you this,i find in general Thais are peace loving people who will sacrifice them selves for their family.

[bodga]

Op , what do YOU think is their character? Germans, well they all eat bratwurst and like engineering type  stuff a  bit  stern, French all garlic  eaters, Italians friendly as  ever, Americans, loud , fat, How about that "dont Thai to me"  saying  TV reported on a while  back? Japanese  , very  polite, I  think ive insulted enough there but at least its  better than no opinion.

Ozzies  all convicts  although seen as a bit rough and uncultured by us lovely Angits.

[OneeyedJohn]

Whatever it is, it ain't good, that's for sure.

[Pilotman]

Germans thinkers and dreamers?  Dream on matey.  

[Kwasaki]

From my observation you have class levels so you're question is difficult to classify basically I would say there's a three fold meaning the poor are helpless the working class are controlled by the rich and rich Thai gets richer. 

[ThailandRyan]

Bozo The Clown comes to mind, but then that's just the Mascot..

[herfiehandbag]

As a rule, I am not a great one for generalising about national characteristics - just look at the awful mess the domestic political scene in the US has got into, partially at least because of such generalisations about race and nationality. However if we are going to make such sweeping assumptions as - "So Germans were known for centuries as the dreamers and thinkers" - for the last 150 years or so they have also been known, in Europe at least, for one or two other things!

 

 

[robblok]

1 hour ago, bodga said:

Op , what do YOU think is their character? Germans, well they all eat bratwurst and like engineering type  stuff a  bit  stern, French all garlic  eaters, Italians friendly as  ever, Americans, loud , fat, How about that "dont Thai to me"  saying  TV reported on a while  back? Japanese  , very  polite, I  think ive insulted enough there but at least its  better than no opinion.

Ozzies  all convicts  although seen as a bit rough and uncultured by us lovely Angits.

You forgot the soap dodgers that are Brits and The stoner Dutch. 

[robblok]

15 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

As a rule, I am not a great one for generalising about national characteristics - just look at the awful mess the domestic political scene in the US has got into, partially at least because of such generalisations about race and nationality. However if we are going to make such sweeping assumptions as - "So Germans were known for centuries as the dreamers and thinkers" - for the last 150 years or so they have also been known, in Europe at least, for one or two other things!

 

 

For having a military that was so strong only the combined forces could hope to defeat it ?????

[AlfHuy]

1 hour ago, jvs said:

Are you German?If so do you fit the perceived character?There is no such thing as one size fits all.

I can tell you this,i find in general Thais are peace loving people who will sacrifice them selves for their family.

Germans are known for their Big Mouth.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not puffing.. Trans guess you have no sense of humor. Brits are often called soap dodgers and Dutch stoners. So im not doing myself any favors either. Just adding to the Brit who made fun of all others except themselves. You really have thin skin Trans. 

 

So its ok for Brits (the guy i responded to is a Brit) put others down.. but then when someone else makes a small jibe at a Brit and his own nationality you start to cry.. strange.

 

 

 

Yeh but, you have Brits on the brain here daily, why not talk about your tulips being a problem.

[robblok]

Just now, transam said:

Yeh but, you have Brits on the brain here daily, why not talk about your tulips being a problem.

I don't have Brits on my brain just balanced out an post and added some self critique.. something you don't seem to have. Such a shame.

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, bodga said:

Op , what do YOU think is their character? Germans, well they all eat bratwurst and like engineering type  stuff a  bit  stern, French all garlic  eaters, Italians friendly as  ever, Americans, loud , fat, How about that "dont Thai to me"  saying  TV reported on a while  back? Japanese  , very  polite, I  think ive insulted enough there but at least its  better than no opinion.

Ozzies  all convicts  although seen as a bit rough and uncultured by us lovely Angits.

Well there has been an interesting academic study. I quote:

 

"Unfortunately, there is a growing body of evidence to indicate that national cultures differ widely, and the result is marked differences in behavioral patterns worldwide. By “national culture”, we refer to the “primary values and practices that characterizes a particular country” (Robbins, 1989).

 

"Thai people have a very big ego, a deep sense of independence, pride and dignity. They cannot tolerate any violation of the "ego" self. Despite the cool and calm front, they can be easily provoked to strong emotional reactions, if the "self' or anybody close to the "self" like one's father or mother, is insulted."

 

Many analyses using Buddhist influence to explain about the Thai being so gentle, ever-smiling, non-aggressive and have high tolerance for uncertainty however fail to explain the sudden emotional outburst of Thai behavior. Incidents of violent actions ranging from breaking up of relations, verbal and physical fights, to killing, can be found both in the less religious urban Thai as well as in the more religious oriented rural Thai, and more so with the hooligan (Nak-leng) class who can easily be provoked with just a non-verbal stare."

 

It would appear therefore, that just like in Japan, where the exaggerated politeness is a remnant of the times when the Samurais could decapitate anyone not deemed deferential enough, in Thailand too the all-smiley highly polite culture is an avoidance mechanism designed to prevent violent confrontation.

 

There is a strong sense of obligation to reciprocate kindness. In fact the Thais prize caring and considerate behaviour far higher than Westerners.

 

Principle and ideology are not valued highly. Whereas flexibility is, the ability to adjust. Thus whereas the Thai can appear as often switching allegiances, see politics, not very loyal (in fact Thai women were found to be the most unfaithful partners in the world) this is in fact an expression of the Thai values of flexibility and ability to adjust.

 

Obviously the value of religion, superstition, amulets and such is still very high and there is a lot of "merit making".

 

Ruth Benedict (1943) and Embree's (1950) anthropological observations viewed the Thais as prone to be easy going, fun-loving, lazy, and lacking the consistent hard work one sees in other countries.

 

"However, all Thai, without exception, ranked hardworking achievement value much lower than the group of social relationship values"

 

Thais however also very materially oriented. In fact they buy merit with money. 

 

http://www.thaisunset.com/downloads/Suntaree Komin Thai National Character.pdf

 

All this is a strong amalgam, but much more complex and fragmented than saying Germans are dreamers and thinkers, hard working etc. 

 

It seems it is not so easy to get to the core of the Thai national character. 

[transam]

Just now, robblok said:

I don't have Brits on my brain just balanced out an post and added some self critique.. something you don't seem to have. Such a shame.

Try to leave us Brits out of your stuff for just one day.

Do I run down the Dutch on a daily basis, or even ever, no......????

[colinneil]

British Dutch, German, American, what does it matter?

Me, i hate everybody, no matter what nationality they are.

[Bob A Kneale]

1 hour ago, Logosone said:

So Germans were known for centuries as the dreamers and thinkers,

Really?  Are you German?  

Edited July 10, 2020 by Bob A Kneale

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

Try to leave us Brits out of your stuff for just one day.

Do I run down the Dutch on a daily basis, or even ever, no......????

Why would i leave Brits out of it Trans we had a Brit guy making fun of all other nationalities and I added MY own nationality and the Brits. What a crime. 

[robblok]

3 minutes ago, colinneil said:

British Dutch, German, American, what does it matter?

Me, i hate everybody, no matter what nationality they are.

Im different I like everyone if they have similar interest. I don't care if its a Brit Ozzy or German or whatever. As long as i can talk with them im ok. 

 

Do have little tolerance for racists and (extreme)nationalists. 

[CGW]

Below is quote about Thai characteristics by unknown, true or not? depends on your......................

One American called the Thais “the nicest people money can buy.” ????

[tubby johnson]

This is just another troll topic.  Tedious.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, tubby johnson said:

This is just another troll topic.  Tedious.

Of course its a troll topic but that does not make it any less fun. Prefer his troll topic over his covid deny topics. 

[Rookiescot]

Oddly enough the impression I had of Germans was that they would follow anyone on a horse.

Meaning they like things organised and someone in charge.

However having lived in Germany for several years I found them to be fantastic people. Friendly and polite. 

When you get to know them well they relax and show a great sense of humor and are good company for a beer.

So I think stereotyping is never a good thing. 

[robblok]

5 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Oddly enough the impression I had of Germans was that they would follow anyone on a horse.

Meaning they like things organised and someone in charge.

However having lived in Germany for several years I found them to be fantastic people. Friendly and polite. 

When you get to know them well they relax and show a great sense of humor and are good company for a beer.

So I think stereotyping is never a good thing. 

Its never a good thing.. Just think about it im sure that you knew plenty of idiots anti social people where you came from. I know I do. Its not as if our own nationality has no idiots. But people like to stereotype its a form of nationalism. Putting others down to feel good about themselves. 

[tribalfusion001]

46 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not puffing.. Trans guess you have no sense of humor. Brits are often called soap dodgers and Dutch stoners. So im not doing myself any favors either. Just adding to the Brit who made fun of all others except themselves. You really have thin skin Trans. 

 

So its ok for Brits (the guy i responded to is a Brit) put others down.. but then when someone else makes a small jibe at a Brit and his own nationality you start to cry.. strange.

 

 

 

Never heard of the term and it's Humour not "humor", just as in labour not "labor".

[robblok]

Just now, tribalfusion001 said:

Never heard of the term and it's Humour not "humor", just as in labour not "labor".

What term have you not heard of ?

 

And humor seems to accepted 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/humor

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

From my observation you have class levels so you're question is difficult to classify basically I would say there's a three fold meaning the poor are helpless the working class are controlled by the rich and rich Thai gets richer. 

Yes, it is true that there are class levels in Thailand as well.

 

However, studies have been done where for example Thais were asked to rank work accomplishment and harmonious social relations, and across the board all classes ranked work accomplishment lower than harmonious social relations.

 

So there are values that are held across the board by all classes of Thais.

[worgeordie]

Brits as soap dodgers,  that might have came about in one of Lord Hawhaw, broadcasts, he said we are going to drop bombs on Coventry,London,

and drop soap on Jarrow...one thing us Brits can do is laugh at ourselves......and other nationalities.

regards worgeordie   P.S. I thought the French were soap dodgers,isn't why the invented perfume

Edited July 10, 2020 by worgeordie