Thainess - What Is It?

[Neeranam]

I see many people write 'Thainess' here as if it is something negative, it's not. 

 

I used to teach it as part of a Civics course and just  found what I translated from Thai -  this is the definition of Thainess - 

 

Participate and recommend others to take care of people with respect to Thai decorum.  Show respect in speech and dress. Express through generosity and contributions to society. Appreciate and preserve Thai traditions, art and culture. Be a role model in Patriotism, adhering to Buddhist values, with respect for the King. Apply and spread the philosophy of His Majesty the King’s Sufficiency Economy. Practice self-discipline, integrity, diligence, knowledge-seeking, tolerance, and endeavor to practice these duties.  Behave democratically as a good citizen in a variety of social activities.

 

Behave democratically as a good Thai citizen in a variety of social activities. Make decisions by reasoning. Take part and be responsible for classroom and school decisions. Examine information to make good decisions in various activities. Be self-disciplined in the matter of morality. Be tolerant, diligently pursuing knowledge and accepting consequences caused by one owns actions.

Appreciate the value of peaceful coexistence in the Asian region taking into account the diverse culture, religion, lifestyle and environment. Peaceful coexistence and interdependence in a multicultural society with mutual respect. Not showing action or words that insult others. Helping each other and sharing solutions to conflicts by peaceful means. Solving  disputes and disagreements by negotiation and alleviation. Disagreement

Practice self-discipline, honesty, tolerance, knowledge seeking, and of duty. Accepting  the consequences caused by one’s own actions.

By Group method thought process. operating process,  Process face circumstances

In order for learners to have the best Thai characteristics, sense of pride in being Thai, expressing patriotism , adherence in religion and upholding  the monarchy.  As a good citizen in a democracy with the King as head of State.  Participation in elections, peaceful coexistence with others. Manage conflict by peaceful means with self - discipline.

[CharlieH]

Great in theory, but anyone who has lived here any length of time knows the reality of this is way off the mark, but Thailand is not unique in that though.

[yeahbutif]

All those written words mean nothing its actions.and I see many  actions that we would call thainess.. as you would only see in Thailand. Meaning lazy.  

[Sparktrader]

6 minutes ago, yeahbutif said:

All those written words mean nothing its actions.and I see many  actions that we would call thainess.. as you would only see in Thailand. Meaning lazy.  

Yet you like it

[Kwasaki]

46 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

I see many people write 'Thainess' here as if it is something negative, it's not. 

Most falangies living here would know it's not it's a culture thing if you ask me. 

[Bkk Brian]

Or another version:

 

Thainess or the Thai identity (Thai: ความเป็นไทย, RTGS: khwam pen thai) is a conceptual identity regarding the quality of being Thai, i.e. characteristics seen as distinctive to the Thai people, their culture, and those belonging to Thailand as a whole. It forms the central identity upon which discourses on Thai nationalism have been constructed, with main contributors including King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) during his reign from 1910 to 1925 and Luang Wichitwathakan during the early post-absolute monarchy period (after 1932). Though poorly defined, it is often expressed as devotion to the three pillars of "nation, religion, king", a concept first popularized by Vajiravudh. It was used as a tool by both the absolute monarchy and the People's Party governments to build political hegemony over the country through the process of Thaification, as well as in the anti-communist effort during the 1960s–1970s. It has also become a form of promotional representation by which images of the country are presented to international visitors, especially from the late 20th century. The concept has continued to evolve in various directions, and has been increasingly questioned by scholars since the 1990s and into the 21st century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thainess

[Lacessit]

Thainess:

 

The ability to queue at a government hospital for hours without rioting.

The ability to give incorrect directions about two-thirds of the time.

The ability to tell anyone what the interlocutor thinks they want to hear.

The ability to sleep at any time in any body position without benefit of a bed.

The ability to have extraordinary physical flexibility,  even obese or elderly Thais

The ability to consume food over four or five hours.

The ability to converse with a friend for a similar period.

The ability to lie convincingly, and be unembarrassed when caught out.

The ability to be Olympic - class fence-sitters.

The ability to regard the most abjectly incompetent driving of vehicles as perfectly normal.

[Orinoco]

The ability to talk for 20 minutes and exchange no useful information.

[CANSIAM]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Thainess:

 

The ability to queue at a government hospital for hours without rioting.

The ability to give incorrect directions about two-thirds of the time.

The ability to tell anyone what the interlocutor thinks they want to hear.

The ability to sleep at any time in any body position without benefit of a bed.

The ability to have extraordinary physical flexibility,  even obese or elderly Thais

The ability to consume food over four or five hours.

The ability to converse with a friend for a similar period.

The ability to lie convincingly, and be unembarrassed when caught out.

The ability to be Olympic - class fence-sitters.

The ability to regard the most abjectly incompetent driving of vehicles as perfectly normal.

Point 6 and 8 spot on lol.........

[jvs]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

Participate and recommend others to take care of people with respect to Thai decorum.  Show respect in speech and dress. Express through generosity and contributions to society. Appreciate and preserve Thai traditions, art and culture. Be a role model in Patriotism, adhering to Buddhist values, with respect for the King. Apply and spread the philosophy of His Majesty the King’s Sufficiency Economy. Practice self-discipline, integrity, diligence, knowledge-seeking, tolerance, and endeavor to practice these duties.  Behave democratically as a good citizen in a variety of social activities.

 

Behave democratically as a good Thai citizen in a variety of social activities. Make decisions by reasoning. Take part and be responsible for classroom and school decisions. Examine information to make good decisions in various activities. Be self-disciplined in the matter of morality. Be tolerant, diligently pursuing knowledge and accepting consequences caused by one owns actions.

Appreciate the value of peaceful coexistence in the Asian region taking into account the diverse culture, religion, lifestyle and environment. Peaceful coexistence and interdependence in a multicultural society with mutual respect. Not showing action or words that insult others. Helping each other and sharing solutions to conflicts by peaceful means. Solving  disputes and disagreements by negotiation and alleviation. Disagreement

Practice self-discipline, honesty, tolerance, knowledge seeking, and of duty. Accepting  the consequences caused by one’s own actions.

By Group method thought process. operating process,  Process face circumstances

In order for learners to have the best Thai characteristics, sense of pride in being Thai, expressing patriotism , adherence in religion and upholding  the monarchy.  As a good citizen in a democracy with the King as head of State.  Participation in elections, peaceful coexistence with others. Manage conflict by peaceful means with self - discipline.

Really nice but written to keep the small people in line.

There is no Typical Thai,there is no Typical German and you can go

down the list placing any country in there.

 

[ezzra]

Thainess: there are million way to describe Thainess the basics are is who they perceived each other in their eyes and how they treat each other accordingly and therefore, and as many Thais there ate so are the interpretations of the word Thaines...

Edited October 15, 2022 by ezzra

[Sparktrader]

39 minutes ago, Orinoco said:

The ability to talk for 20 minutes and exchange no useful information.

Try 90 minutes

[Lacessit]

8 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Try 90 minutes

Try 6 hours, I am a witness. I have also had two Thai women go into a secondhand shop for 4 hours, and come out without buying anything. According to them, they had a wonderful time.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Lacessit

[Sparktrader]

52 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Thainess:

 

The ability to queue at a government hospital for hours without rioting.

The ability to give incorrect directions about two-thirds of the time.

The ability to tell anyone what the interlocutor thinks they want to hear.

The ability to sleep at any time in any body position without benefit of a bed.

The ability to have extraordinary physical flexibility,  even obese or elderly Thais

The ability to consume food over four or five hours.

The ability to converse with a friend for a similar period.

The ability to lie convincingly, and be unembarrassed when caught out.

The ability to be Olympic - class fence-sitters.

The ability to regard the most abjectly incompetent driving of vehicles as perfectly normal.

Nice summary

 

Plus cook nice food

[Sparktrader]

Just now, Lacessit said:

Try 6 hours, I am a witness.

What you talk about? Bbq on Sunday. What timeis it? Mai roo

 

What you talk about for 6 hours?

The bbq

 

 

 

 

[Iamfalang]

Let's meet for coffee at 11:30 a.m. at the coffee shop ONE minute from your place. OK?

OK.

Sure, 11:30?

Sure.

11:30 a.m., OK!!!

OK

 

It's now 12:15 and you send your 3rd text, Where are you?

 

Leaving now.

 

Thainess

Edited October 15, 2022 by Iamfalang

[Sparktrader]

1 minute ago, Iamfalang said:

Let's meet for coffee at 11:30 a.m. at the coffee shop ONE minute from your place. OK?

OK.

Sure, 11:30?

Sure.

11:30 a.m., OK!!!

OK

 

It's now 12:15 and you send your 3rd text, Where are you?

 

Leaving now.

 

Thainess

Takes 16 mths to give birth there

[Orinoco]

13 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Try 90 minutes

I was being nice. 

[Lacessit]

4 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Nice summary

 

Plus cook nice food

Yes and no. I once bought 5 kg of beef for a village party, quite expensive.

By the time a cousin of my GF had finished making a stew, the liquid part of the stew could have doubled as paint stripper.

[flexomike]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Try 6 hours, I am a witness. I have also had two Thai women go into a secondhand shop for 4 hours, and come out without buying anything. According to them, they had a wonderful time.

well that wasn't my wife, she can't go into any shop without buying something

[Kwasaki]

9 minutes ago, Iamfalang said:

Let's meet for coffee at 11:30 a.m. at the coffee shop ONE minute from your place. OK?

OK.

Sure, 11:30?

Sure.

11:30 a.m., OK!!!

OK

 

It's now 12:15 and you send your 3rd text, Where are you?

 

Leaving now.

 

Thainess

Well same same, you should get to know Thai time, if you want to meet at 10am it means anywhere between 10am and 11am. ????

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

I see many people write 'Thainess' here as if it is something negative, it's not.

Thainess isn't necessarily what you (or whomever wrote that for you) think or claim it is.  It can be negative or positive, depending on how you encounter it, what effect it had on you, or what your opinion of it is.

 

For one, it is a rather abstract concept.  If you look at the words Thai and the suffix "-ness" ("The suffix "-ness" means "state : condition : quality" and is used with an adjective to say something about the state, condition, or quality of being that adjective."), this suggests that Thainess means the state, condition or quality of being Thai.  So it could involve cultures, attitudes and behaviours that are typically Thai and can, of course, mean different things to different people.

 

Sure you can argue that when one person says "Thainess" that they have a certain idea in mind.  But you cannot really say "no, that isn't Thainess".

 

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

I used to teach it as part of a Civics course and just  found what I translated from Thai -  this is the definition of Thainess

The government saying that "Thainess" is X, means you have only that, the government's idealised definition of how they wish Thainess to be taught.

 

What you had in your civics class is an interpretation of "Thainess" as being the ideal way that a community minded good Thai citizen behaves, which is fine, but others might consider Thainess to be more about how Thai people behave in reality.  The reality might be far from what the idealised instructions are.

 

I'm afraid you don't own the concept of Thainess, so cannot instruct others in what you think it should be.  You can, of course say "this is what I learnt about the government definition of "Thainess" that I taught in my classroom".  And it is genuinely interesting to read.

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, Bkk Brian said:

Or another version:

 

Thainess or the Thai identity (Thai: ความเป็นไทย, RTGS: khwam pen thai) is a conceptual identity regarding the quality of being Thai, i.e. characteristics seen as distinctive to the Thai people, their culture, and those belonging to Thailand as a whole. It forms the central identity upon which discourses on Thai nationalism have been constructed, with main contributors including King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) during his reign from 1910 to 1925 and Luang Wichitwathakan during the early post-absolute monarchy period (after 1932). Though poorly defined, it is often expressed as devotion to the three pillars of "nation, religion, king", a concept first popularized by Vajiravudh. It was used as a tool by both the absolute monarchy and the People's Party governments to build political hegemony over the country through the process of Thaification, as well as in the anti-communist effort during the 1960s–1970s. It has also become a form of promotional representation by which images of the country are presented to international visitors, especially from the late 20th century. The concept has continued to evolve in various directions, and has been increasingly questioned by scholars since the 1990s and into the 21st century.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thainess

Interesting.  Seems to position "Thainess" as an ideal for people to measure up to, whereas I would say that foreigners generally consider Thainess to be more about how people behave.

 

Perhaps there are two meanings to the word "Thainess".  A prescriptive version and a descriptive version.

[Sparktrader]

Farangness - whinge about everything

Go to Pattaya wonder why there are problems

[Kwasaki]

3 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Farangness - whinge about everything

Go to Pattaya wonder why there are problems

Nice one. ????????

[MrJ2U]

"Thainess - What Is It?"

 

Something made up by TAT a long time ago. 

[Hummin]

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

Thainess:

 

The ability to queue at a government hospital for hours without rioting.

The ability to give incorrect directions about two-thirds of the time.

The ability to tell anyone what the interlocutor thinks they want to hear.

The ability to sleep at any time in any body position without benefit of a bed.

The ability to have extraordinary physical flexibility,  even obese or elderly Thais

The ability to consume food over four or five hours.

The ability to converse with a friend for a similar period.

The ability to lie convincingly, and be unembarrassed when caught out.

The ability to be Olympic - class fence-sitters.

The ability to regard the most abjectly incompetent driving of vehicles as perfectly normal.

The quality to be polite no matter how rude the other person is.

A policeman using two hours calming down a drunk swearing punching tourist, and try not to harm him in any way.

The quality to make a smile even they hurt or are insecure

The quality to work hard for small money

 

and much more

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Hummin said:

The quality to be polite no matter how rude the other person is.

A policeman using two hours calming down a drunk swearing punching tourist, and try not to harm hi m in any way.

The quality to make a smile even they hurt or are insecure

The quality to work hard for small money

 

and much more

I'm not sure I can agree with the first sentence, I've seen Thais do some very rude things to others, depending on where they think they are in the social spectrum.

The last two sentences, completely agree.

[Neeranam]

33 minutes ago, BangkokReady said:

Thainess isn't necessarily what you (or whomever wrote that for you) think or claim it is.  It can be negative or positive, depending on how you encounter it, what effect it had on you, or what your opinion of it is.

 Fair point.

Edited October 15, 2022 by Neeranam

[Hummin]

7 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'm not sure I can agree with the first sentence, I've seen Thais do some very rude things to others, depending on where they think they are in the social spectrum.

The last two sentences, completely agree.

Is Typical rude swearing western foreigner we see in popular beach cities and more typical around red light districs typical for all of us?

 

My impression where I'm walking, is most I meet is very polite and respectful. 

 

Again, my experience and doesn't mean I'm not visiting bars for a drink, but my impression Thais is in general very polite people and give alot of respect. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by Hummin