why do they like to sit on floor

[ramrod711]

7 hours ago, MrBrad said:

C'mon now.  The distance from the top of the head to the butt is the same whether sitting on a chair or on the floor.

I realize that, but there seems to me, to be a communal spirit in everyone being on the floor. It isn't, as you say, the literal height.

[ramrod711]

3 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

I realize that, but there seems to me, to be a communal spirit in everyone being on the floor. It isn't, as you say, the literal height.

Sorry, I unknowingly used the "communal" reference that bbko had already used, my bad.

[Berkshire]

On 10/3/2021 at 7:09 PM, opalred said:

i have a house i built/with every thing in it /tables and chairs / yet for past 12 yrs living with wife she will eat on the floor /and every one comes around sit and eat around the food on the floor\my wife is not from the mountain villages and highly educated //why cheers

I'm just spitballing here, but you ever considered asking your wife?  You can get back to us with her thoughts. 

[khunpa]

Buying furniture is actually the only thing I regret about my marriage and house purchase. A complete waste of money.

[pgrahmm]

Somewhere around the outside of the house, most homes have those round cement tables & rounded benches....

Usually, for visitors, they sit outside at those tables....

They tend not to entertain indoors very much....

 

[DeaconJohn]

The answer to the OP's question is obvious: because they have done it all their lives just as their ancestors have done it in this part of the world since time out of mind. 

   As kids growing up in a semi-rural area we played on the floor a lot. Even when older... board games and such.

   The floor, if it is made to be inviting with oriental rugs or even a bamboo mat is a good place to do many things.

   Why more people in the West don't use it more often is probably due to the Faranglander's barbaric habit of wearing their shoes inside the house.

[lkn]

On 10/3/2021 at 4:02 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

It seems in restaurants they sit just like we do.

Or maybe I didn't visit any real Thai restaurants with floor only until now. TiT

I’ve only sat on the floor at “picnic style” restaurants, e.g. bamboo huts near a river or lake.

 

But in Japan it is not unusual to sit on the floor at a restaurant.

 

As someone who has frequently sat on the floor (with Thai people), it really does feel more natural. There is both the communal feel, but also the flexibility, you can be 3 people or 10 people, no need to move around furniture, and if you are 10 people, there is still room for one more.

 

Many meals are also eaten away from home, e.g. construction workers, or after ceremony in the temple — the logistics involved in having foldable tables and chairs in these situations would be absurd.

 

As for the communal feel, also note that at Thai restaurants, you order food together and share it, nobody sits with just their own plate — I think that is somewhat connected to their concept of eating and sitting on the floor, i.e. most meals for them is more of a picnic, and food is just an excuse to socialize (even though they really like food).

 

Edit: To elaborate on the “always room for one more”, this also makes it less formal to invite people to join you. E.g. if me and my girlfriend is eating on the floor, we can ask the cleaner if she wants to join us, and she can just sit down, maybe eat something, maybe not, maybe just talk, and she can easily leave without it being awkward. Imagine if we are sitting at a table, and we ask her to join us, of course it could work, but it’s an entirely different dynamic.

[VocalNeal]

Wife insisted we buy a nice couch and armchair set for the living room. She is currently lying on a mat reading, on the floor with the dog? 

 

Cooler? Who knows

 

[pgrahmm]

• For centuries they sat/sit on the floor in school.....

• For centuries they've sat on the floor worshipping at the Wat....

• For centuries they have eaten Mookata on the floor where their BBQ/grill is central & maybe about 30-35cm high.....

• Many sleep/nap/watch TV on the floor since infancy - again, going back many, many years.....

• Furniture, like dining room tables, is fairly recent to Thai culture.....Almost every flat surface in a house is used as practical, easy storage....

To many Thais, the concept of furniture/shelves/formal dining/ display/ornamentation/keep sakes is a completely alien idea....

 

 

 

[0james0]

I read through this thread and all I can get out of it is that there's a lot of ignorance and narrow mindedness. It's a different culture, it's theirs ("They" as some of you address) and it belongs to them. Respect it and be apart of it, or get over it. Makes me wonder about a lot of the foreigners.

 

I'm one of the They people. come here with my silly cultural ways, I probably look a bit goofy - silly - and I hear..."why you do like dat!? ahh?! 

 

One of the most annoying things I experience here, is how some foreigners treat the locals in a disdainful bullying manner. And it does BLANK-A-DI-BLANK ME OFF TO SEE IT!!     

[BritManToo]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:14 AM, Berkshire said:

but you ever considered asking your wife?

I asked her and she said "Up to you"

[opalred]

we all did it 1000yrs ago/i remember  in new Guinea in the sixty's/gave a chair to  village people /the headman took it / sitting on it smiling  the people of the village squatting o the ground staring at him/most had no clothes on / am glad i became civilized i sit on a chair and wear cloths/ because at my age not a good sight without cloths

[trainman34014]

On 10/3/2021 at 9:50 PM, pasathai said:

its cooler

They eat a lot of their food stone cold anyway; never heat a plate up !

[trainman34014]

On 10/5/2021 at 7:37 PM, DeaconJohn said:

The answer to the OP's question is obvious: because they have done it all their lives just as their ancestors have done it in this part of the world since time out of mind. 

   As kids growing up in a semi-rural area we played on the floor a lot. Even when older... board games and such.

   The floor, if it is made to be inviting with oriental rugs or even a bamboo mat is a good place to do many things.

   Why more people in the West don't use it more often is probably due to the Faranglander's barbaric habit of wearing their shoes inside the house.

Errrr; in Europe the bloody floor is too cold to sit on for a large part of the year !

[Rampant Rabbit]

Its  simple, you cant get any  lower and the next stage is  sleep

[bobandyson]

16 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Its  simple, you cant get any  lower and the next stage is  sleep

My late father-in-law used to sleep on the tiled or parquet floor using the crook of his arm as a pillow. I bought him a single bed but never used it.

Tough old b*gger he was.

 

And what's with a lot of Thai men having the back of their heads flat. Are they formed like that from sleeping on hard floors since birth. Mostly see it in cops or military personnel.

[Rampant Rabbit]

On 10/6/2021 at 1:24 PM, VocalNeal said:

Wife insisted we buy a nice couch and armchair set for the living room. She is currently lying on a mat reading, on the floor with the dog? 

 

Cooler? Who knows

 

Your  dog  can read .......... quick call channel 9

[Farmerslife]

Because they can. ????

[Espanol]

Chairs are not in Thai culture. 

They don't even have a word for "chair" In Thai. They use the Chinese word "kaoy".

[Berkshire]

On 10/25/2021 at 7:38 AM, Espanol said:

Chairs are not in Thai culture. 

They don't even have a word for "chair" In Thai. They use the Chinese word "kaoy".

It's comments like this that makes farangs in Thailand look like total buffoons.  And yes, there is a Thai word for "chair." 

[Espanol]

2 hours ago, Berkshire said:

...farangs in Thailand look like total buffoons.  And yes, there is a Thai word for "chair." 

Yes, same as there is a Thai word for computer or microwave:

 

Thai word for computer is computer.

 

Thai word for microwave is microwave.

 

Thai word for chair is kaoi (Chinese for chair).

 

And, yes, you are right: some farangs in Thailand look like total buffoons.

 

 

 

[Berkshire]

16 hours ago, Espanol said:

Yes, same as there is a Thai word for computer or microwave:

 

Thai word for computer is computer.

 

Thai word for microwave is microwave.

 

Thai word for chair is kaoi (Chinese for chair).

 

And, yes, you are right: some farangs in Thailand look like total buffoons.

 

 

Everywhere I go in Thailand, I see Thais sitting in chairs.  Whether it's the bank, offices, airplanes, restaurants, bars, their homes.....I see Thais sitting in chairs.  So when you say "Chairs are not in Thai culture," you're flatout wrong.

 

The Thai word for chair is "gow-ee."  So when you say "They don't even have a word for "chair" In Thai," you're wrong again.  It doesn't matter what the origin of the word is, there's obviously a Thai word for chair.

 

Just admit that you're wrong on all counts and we can move on.

[actonion]

The Japanese believe  sitting on the floor while eating  helps to increase blood flow to the stomach, therefore digest food more easily

[novacova]

1 hour ago, Berkshire said:

Everywhere I go in Thailand, I see Thais sitting in chairs.  Whether it's the bank, offices, airplanes, restaurants, bars, their homes.....I see Thais sitting in chairs.  So when you say "Chairs are not in Thai culture," you're flatout wrong.

 

The Thai word for chair is "gow-ee."  So when you say "They don't even have a word for "chair" In Thai," you're wrong again.  It doesn't matter what the origin of the word is, there's obviously a Thai word for chair.

 

Just admit that you're wrong on all counts and we can move on.

You are correct, thanks.

 

Most of the other posters suffer from superiourority complex that causes them them to congregate and unwittingly express their prejudices. Weird and makes one wonder why are some of you even here?? Good grief already!

[Rimmer]

A troll post has been removed

[opalred]

maybe i am jealous/ would need a crane to get me up again //cheers 

[itsari]

On 10/3/2021 at 8:16 PM, recom273 said:

I buy 2 sofas and I paint the walls white. Yet, when work friends of the wife visit (usually their husbands) visit, they  sit on the floor in front of the door, blocking access, leaning against the wall. 
 

When I ask them to sit down they do this stupid head bob and give a stupid grin. 
 

 

Obscene filth around the light switches are a sight i have witnessed often in Thai houses .

Better they squat than stand upright and keep the walls clean at least

[473geo]

Bit of both in our house, well outside actually in the open cooking and dining area 

[pgrahmm]

At our house, stools are used in the kitchen, the chairs are used at the dining room table, and chairs are used in the patio.....

About the only time they eat on the floor is when watching something on TV together; or during the few times we make a mukata outside....If inside with the electric mukata we use chairs....

[recom273]

33 minutes ago, itsari said:

Obscene filth around the light switches are a sight i have witnessed often in Thai houses .

Better they squat than stand upright and keep the walls clean at least

Urggghhh .. Yes, I have pulled my wife on this so many time. Around light switches and door handles.

 

We actually moved house before she got around to cleaning the light switches. We were there for 10 years.