An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind

[JensenZ]

50 minutes ago, captain_shane said:

Here I simplified it for the folks who can't process:

 

Why are people in Thailand so friendly and polite? It’s like they know a special secret for getting along!

Imagine everyone is part of a giant, happy family tree. It's very important to know your spot on the tree. You should be extra kind to the older "branches" and look after the younger "leaves." This keeps the whole tree happy and strong.

Another secret is to be like bamboo in the wind. When a problem comes along, it's better to bend and be flexible than to get stiff and break. That's why you'll often hear people say, “It’s okay!”

And what if you need to solve a problem? The secret is to use what works. It’s like having a big box of toys. You just pick the best toy for the game you are playing.

So when you see people being kind and easygoing, you’ll know their secret. They are taking care of their family tree and bending just like bamboo.

That's a good start. Well done!

 

The problem I have with these self-help manuals, which suggest why a specific nationality is like this or that... It's somewhat insulting because it suggests that Thailand is a homogeneous population that thinks alike. It's not! People are still individuals with their unique personalities and behaviour.... even in Thailand.

 

I have spent 20 years in Thailand, without access to your "manual", and have lived quite harmoniously with the Thai people.  It's not difficult to get along with people in Thailand. The important point is that WE have to change our attitude. Leave that huge Western ego at home, and things become quite uncomplicated.

[oxo1947]

On 8/8/2025 at 11:41 AM, captain_shane said:

The Mnemonic Sediment: An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind

 

No !!! not Ai , its all my own thoughts.......

 

[Liverpool Lou]

On 8/8/2025 at 11:56 AM, captain_shane said:

So, you took nothing of value from the post?

Would anyone?

[Liverpool Lou]

On 8/8/2025 at 12:37 PM, Ralf001 said:

More Ai dribble.

Dribble?  Drivel.

[NanLaew]

9 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

On 8/8/2025 at 11:56 AM, captain_shane said:

So, you took nothing of value from the post?

Nope!

On 8/8/2025 at 12:00 PM, Briggsy said:

Mnemonic???????

Yeah, Johnny

On 8/8/2025 at 12:22 PM, captain_shane said:

Which parts do you disagree with?

The whole idea of posting such garbage.

 

I reckon we've got ourselves a know-it-all (but we knew this a long time ago).

 

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

On 8/8/2025 at 11:56 AM, captain_shane said:

So, you took nothing of value from the post?

Would anyone?

 

Oops, sorry, I forgot to mention you're the other one.

 

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Dribble?  Drivel.

you will work it out.

[Hummin]

On 8/8/2025 at 6:41 AM, captain_shane said:

The Mnemonic Sediment: An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind

You’ve been in Thailand for a while now. You’ve mastered the art of ordering street food with a triumphant point and a smile. You know that “spicy” can mean anything from a pleasant tingle to a full-blown existential crisis. You’ve felt the disarming warmth of the “Land of Smiles.”

And yet, you’ve also felt the friction.

You’ve experienced the polite, smiling “yes” that turned out to be a gentle “no.” You’ve seen a minor inconvenience, which you thought required a straightforward solution, instead dissolve into a series of indirect conversations and a vague outcome. You’ve sensed a complex, invisible architecture of relationships humming just beneath the surface of every interaction, a system whose blueprints you were never given. You feel like you’re watching a play where everyone but you has a copy of the script.

What you are sensing is not a random collection of cultural quirks. It is the output of a deeply coherent and powerful cognitive operating system, one forged under immense historical pressure. The best way to understand it is not as a list of rules, but as a kind of geological formation: a Mnemonic Sediment.

Imagine, over centuries, that powerful historical forces—the constant threat of powerful empires, the survival demands of wet-rice farming, the gravity of a god-king—acted like immense pressures on the Thai psyche. These pressures compressed shared experiences into a dense cognitive bedrock. This sediment is not a collection of memories people talk about; it is the very lens through which they unconsciously interpret reality. It is the generative code that produces the intuitive, relational, and flexible mindset so characteristic of Thai people.

To understand Thailand, we must become cognitive archaeologists. Let’s excavate the three primary layers of this sediment.

Layer 1: The Axiom of Relational Position (“The Great Tree”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "Your identity, safety, and path forward are determined by your precise position relative to others in the hierarchy."

This is the foundational layer, the granite bedrock of the Thai cognitive system. It’s the single most powerful and continuously reinforced piece of code running in the Thai mind. The world is not a collection of autonomous individuals; it is a single, interconnected organism, a great tree of relationships. Your location on this tree—as a high branch, a low leaf, a supporting root—defines everything.

How the Sediment Was Formed: This axiom wasn’t taught; it was inhaled.

• Linguistic Repetition: The Thai language itself is a relentless mnemonic device. The mandatory use of status-based pronouns forces the brain to calculate social hierarchy in every single interaction. Choosing between phom/chan (I/me), khun (you), pii (older sibling), nong (younger sibling), lung/paa (uncle/aunt) isn't an occasional thought; it is a constant, subconscious cognitive loop running from the moment a child learns to speak.

• Physical Repetition: The wai (the prayer-like gesture of greeting) is a physical encoding of this axiom. The act of performing and receiving the wai, with its subtle but critical variations in hand height and head inclination, is a daily, physical reinforcement of the mental map of social status. It is a somatic consensus, a bodily agreement on who is who.

• Systemic Reinforcement: The historical Sakdina system, a feudal-like structure that assigned every person a rank and value, has left a powerful echo in modern patron-client relationships (phu yai/phu noi – big person/little person). Stories of success and failure in Thailand are almost never about a lone hero battling the system; they are stories of navigating this human hierarchy correctly or incorrectly.

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates the powerful, automatic intuition known as kreng jai. Foreigners often translate this as “respect” or “deference,” but that’s a pale shadow of its true meaning. Kreng jai is a non-conscious, high-speed calculation of how one's actions will affect the face, feelings, and status of others within the hierarchy. It’s an automatic threat-assessment and harmony-preservation algorithm. It’s the reason for indirectness, the hesitation to deliver bad news, and the deep-seated impulse to avoid causing another person to lose face.

It also produces a cognitive bias where personal relationships are perceived as more reliable and important than abstract rules or laws. The intuition is that navigating the network of people—the great tree—is the true path to getting things done. Relying on an impersonal system, with its cold and inflexible rules, is seen not just as inefficient, but as naive and deeply risky. You trust the person in the network, not the faceless system.

Layer 2: The Axiom of Flexible Accommodation (“Bamboo in the Wind”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "Rigidity leads to fracture; fluidity leads to survival. Absorb, adapt, and bend without breaking the core."

If the first layer establishes the structure of the world, this second layer dictates the strategy for navigating it. It is the wisdom of the bamboo, which bends in the typhoon that shatters the mighty oak.

How the Sediment Was Formed:

• National Narrative Repetition: The central epic of modern Thailand is the story of “never being colonized.” Repeated in schools, media, and public discourse, this is not a story of brute force but of cleverness and adaptability. The heroes are always the diplomats and monarchs who “bent like bamboo in the wind” between the British and French colonial powers, ceding some land on the periphery to protect the heartland. Flexibility is explicitly coded as the ultimate survival virtue.

• Sensory Input: Thai culture is a living museum of successful accommodation. The food is a sublime blend of influences from China, India, and Portugal, yet it is uniquely Thai. The temple architecture incorporates Khmer, European, and local styles into a harmonious whole. This constant sensory input reinforces the idea that absorption leads to richness, not dissolution.

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates the famous “mai pen rai” (it’s okay/no problem) response as a default cognitive reflex. This is not apathy, as it is so often misinterpreted. It is the intuitive output of a mind that has learned over generations that rigid confrontation is unproductive, dangerous, and a waste of energy. When a plan fails, the rigid mind shatters with frustration; the fluid mind immediately pivots, seeking the path of least resistance to preserve relational capital and forward momentum.

It also creates a strong cognitive bias against dogmatic, all-or-nothing ideological commitments. The mind intuitively distrusts systems that demand total purity and offer no room for negotiation or adaptation. They are seen as brittle and destined to fail. This produces a worldview where identity is not a fortress to be defended, but a resilient core that can remain intact while absorbing and utilizing useful external elements.

Layer 3: The Axiom of Practical Efficacy (“The Layered Altar”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "The value of a belief or practice lies in its tangible utility, not its theoretical purity."

This final layer is the most pragmatic. It governs the criteria for what is considered “true” or “good.” In short: if it works, it’s valid.

How the Sediment Was Formed:

• Spiritual Layering: The history of religion in Thailand is the perfect model for this axiom. It is a story of accretion, not replacement. The original Animist beliefs in local spirits were never eradicated; they were overlaid with Brahmanism/Hinduism from India (which provided rituals for statecraft and life transitions) and, finally, Theravada Buddhism (which provided a profound moral and philosophical framework). These were not seen as competing truths to be debated, but as different tools in a spiritual toolkit.

• Problem-Solving Repetition: This layering is enacted daily. A Thai person may consult a Buddhist monk for moral guidance (Buddhist tool), ask a Brahmin-influenced astrologer for an auspicious date for a wedding (Brahmin tool), and leave an offering at a spirit house to prevent local misfortune (Animist tool), all in the same week. This repeated act of selecting the "right tool for the job" without worrying about theological consistency hardens the axiom into cognitive bedrock. It decouples “truth” from “usefulness.”

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates an intuitive comfort with ambiguity and apparent contradiction. The Thai mind does not automatically flag a conflict between praying to a Hindu god at a shrine and listening to a Buddhist sermon as an error. It intuitively categorizes them as different operations for different goals.

This produces a powerful cognitive bias towards results over process. If a non-traditional method or an unorthodox combination of approaches works, it is intuitively seen as valid. The “proof” is in the outcome, not in the logical consistency of the method. This generates a national expertise in syncretism—the ability to seamlessly blend disparate elements into a functional and often beautiful whole, whether in cuisine, business strategy, or personal philosophy.

Conclusion: The Thai Operating System

Understanding this Mnemonic Sediment transforms your perspective. It’s the key to the script.

From: "Thais are non-confrontational and hierarchical."
To: "The Thai collective subconscious operates on a foundational logic, forged by history, that identifies social harmony and clear hierarchical relationships as the primary variables for survival and stability."

From: "Their belief system seems inconsistent."
To: "Their spiritual operating system is based on pragmatic accretion, selecting the most effective tool for a given task, a logic born from centuries of cultural layering."

The rapid calculation of social position, the default to non-confrontation, the bias toward personal connections, and the pragmatic, results-oriented approach to problem-solving are not random “cultural quirks.” They are the predictable, logical outputs of this deep, functional, and historically forged cognitive system.

To engage with Thailand; whether in business, diplomacy, or friendship—without understanding this is to see only the surface screen while remaining completely unaware of the powerful operating system running silently in the background. You cannot fight the sediment. You must learn to work with it. Build the relationship before you discuss the project. Learn to communicate with nuance. Value flexibility over rigid planning. And appreciate that in a world structured like a great tree, nurtured by pragmatism and weathered by storms, the most successful strategy has always been to bend like bamboo in the wind.

I read through and what I'm still baffled about is "not far" can mean anything in Thailand. From walking distance to 2 hours in car.

 

Same goes for 200m which can be 50 or 500 and nobody walks 200m ! Especially if they are going to 7/11

 

Thailand is different but same same

[Cardano]

On 8/8/2025 at 6:30 PM, NanLaew said:

 

Did you miss the thread title?

 

The treatise is to assist the noodle-headed farang in understanding the Thai mind. The locals have theirs already sussed.

"An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind" don't see any mention that it is targeted at any particular noodle-headed person. Your insinuation then is if the thread title was "An Operating Manual for Understanding the Farang Mind" only Thais would read it! Weird how some peoples mindset works!

[Cardano]

14 hours ago, Andre0720 said:

This post was not written for the Thais.... 

For the reason that you describe....

Jeez some people really should go back to school

[Gottfrid]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

I reckon we've got ourselves a know-it-all (but we knew this a long time ago).

At least you´ve finally got a suitable avatar.

[Gottfrid]

9 hours ago, captain_shane said:

Lol, sorry you couldn't grasp the concepts.

Like minimum 14 other that had a thumb down for you. Maybe you should consider, it´s you that are totally unaware, and don´t grasp the concepts. But, I guess that will be far to hard for you. Now take another beer and sink down in the fluffy clouds.

[JamesPhuket10]

On 8/8/2025 at 5:41 AM, captain_shane said:

The Mnemonic Sediment: An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind

You’ve been in Thailand for a while now. You’ve mastered the art of ordering street food with a triumphant point and a smile. You know that “spicy” can mean anything from a pleasant tingle to a full-blown existential crisis. You’ve felt the disarming warmth of the “Land of Smiles.”

And yet, you’ve also felt the friction.

You’ve experienced the polite, smiling “yes” that turned out to be a gentle “no.” You’ve seen a minor inconvenience, which you thought required a straightforward solution, instead dissolve into a series of indirect conversations and a vague outcome. You’ve sensed a complex, invisible architecture of relationships humming just beneath the surface of every interaction, a system whose blueprints you were never given. You feel like you’re watching a play where everyone but you has a copy of the script.

What you are sensing is not a random collection of cultural quirks. It is the output of a deeply coherent and powerful cognitive operating system, one forged under immense historical pressure. The best way to understand it is not as a list of rules, but as a kind of geological formation: a Mnemonic Sediment.

Imagine, over centuries, that powerful historical forces—the constant threat of powerful empires, the survival demands of wet-rice farming, the gravity of a god-king—acted like immense pressures on the Thai psyche. These pressures compressed shared experiences into a dense cognitive bedrock. This sediment is not a collection of memories people talk about; it is the very lens through which they unconsciously interpret reality. It is the generative code that produces the intuitive, relational, and flexible mindset so characteristic of Thai people.

To understand Thailand, we must become cognitive archaeologists. Let’s excavate the three primary layers of this sediment.

Layer 1: The Axiom of Relational Position (“The Great Tree”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "Your identity, safety, and path forward are determined by your precise position relative to others in the hierarchy."

This is the foundational layer, the granite bedrock of the Thai cognitive system. It’s the single most powerful and continuously reinforced piece of code running in the Thai mind. The world is not a collection of autonomous individuals; it is a single, interconnected organism, a great tree of relationships. Your location on this tree—as a high branch, a low leaf, a supporting root—defines everything.

How the Sediment Was Formed: This axiom wasn’t taught; it was inhaled.

• Linguistic Repetition: The Thai language itself is a relentless mnemonic device. The mandatory use of status-based pronouns forces the brain to calculate social hierarchy in every single interaction. Choosing between phom/chan (I/me), khun (you), pii (older sibling), nong (younger sibling), lung/paa (uncle/aunt) isn't an occasional thought; it is a constant, subconscious cognitive loop running from the moment a child learns to speak.

• Physical Repetition: The wai (the prayer-like gesture of greeting) is a physical encoding of this axiom. The act of performing and receiving the wai, with its subtle but critical variations in hand height and head inclination, is a daily, physical reinforcement of the mental map of social status. It is a somatic consensus, a bodily agreement on who is who.

• Systemic Reinforcement: The historical Sakdina system, a feudal-like structure that assigned every person a rank and value, has left a powerful echo in modern patron-client relationships (phu yai/phu noi – big person/little person). Stories of success and failure in Thailand are almost never about a lone hero battling the system; they are stories of navigating this human hierarchy correctly or incorrectly.

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates the powerful, automatic intuition known as kreng jai. Foreigners often translate this as “respect” or “deference,” but that’s a pale shadow of its true meaning. Kreng jai is a non-conscious, high-speed calculation of how one's actions will affect the face, feelings, and status of others within the hierarchy. It’s an automatic threat-assessment and harmony-preservation algorithm. It’s the reason for indirectness, the hesitation to deliver bad news, and the deep-seated impulse to avoid causing another person to lose face.

It also produces a cognitive bias where personal relationships are perceived as more reliable and important than abstract rules or laws. The intuition is that navigating the network of people—the great tree—is the true path to getting things done. Relying on an impersonal system, with its cold and inflexible rules, is seen not just as inefficient, but as naive and deeply risky. You trust the person in the network, not the faceless system.

Layer 2: The Axiom of Flexible Accommodation (“Bamboo in the Wind”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "Rigidity leads to fracture; fluidity leads to survival. Absorb, adapt, and bend without breaking the core."

If the first layer establishes the structure of the world, this second layer dictates the strategy for navigating it. It is the wisdom of the bamboo, which bends in the typhoon that shatters the mighty oak.

How the Sediment Was Formed:

• National Narrative Repetition: The central epic of modern Thailand is the story of “never being colonized.” Repeated in schools, media, and public discourse, this is not a story of brute force but of cleverness and adaptability. The heroes are always the diplomats and monarchs who “bent like bamboo in the wind” between the British and French colonial powers, ceding some land on the periphery to protect the heartland. Flexibility is explicitly coded as the ultimate survival virtue.

• Sensory Input: Thai culture is a living museum of successful accommodation. The food is a sublime blend of influences from China, India, and Portugal, yet it is uniquely Thai. The temple architecture incorporates Khmer, European, and local styles into a harmonious whole. This constant sensory input reinforces the idea that absorption leads to richness, not dissolution.

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates the famous “mai pen rai” (it’s okay/no problem) response as a default cognitive reflex. This is not apathy, as it is so often misinterpreted. It is the intuitive output of a mind that has learned over generations that rigid confrontation is unproductive, dangerous, and a waste of energy. When a plan fails, the rigid mind shatters with frustration; the fluid mind immediately pivots, seeking the path of least resistance to preserve relational capital and forward momentum.

It also creates a strong cognitive bias against dogmatic, all-or-nothing ideological commitments. The mind intuitively distrusts systems that demand total purity and offer no room for negotiation or adaptation. They are seen as brittle and destined to fail. This produces a worldview where identity is not a fortress to be defended, but a resilient core that can remain intact while absorbing and utilizing useful external elements.

Layer 3: The Axiom of Practical Efficacy (“The Layered Altar”)

The Mnemonic Axiom: "The value of a belief or practice lies in its tangible utility, not its theoretical purity."

This final layer is the most pragmatic. It governs the criteria for what is considered “true” or “good.” In short: if it works, it’s valid.

How the Sediment Was Formed:

• Spiritual Layering: The history of religion in Thailand is the perfect model for this axiom. It is a story of accretion, not replacement. The original Animist beliefs in local spirits were never eradicated; they were overlaid with Brahmanism/Hinduism from India (which provided rituals for statecraft and life transitions) and, finally, Theravada Buddhism (which provided a profound moral and philosophical framework). These were not seen as competing truths to be debated, but as different tools in a spiritual toolkit.

• Problem-Solving Repetition: This layering is enacted daily. A Thai person may consult a Buddhist monk for moral guidance (Buddhist tool), ask a Brahmin-influenced astrologer for an auspicious date for a wedding (Brahmin tool), and leave an offering at a spirit house to prevent local misfortune (Animist tool), all in the same week. This repeated act of selecting the "right tool for the job" without worrying about theological consistency hardens the axiom into cognitive bedrock. It decouples “truth” from “usefulness.”

What This Sediment Produces:
This layer generates an intuitive comfort with ambiguity and apparent contradiction. The Thai mind does not automatically flag a conflict between praying to a Hindu god at a shrine and listening to a Buddhist sermon as an error. It intuitively categorizes them as different operations for different goals.

This produces a powerful cognitive bias towards results over process. If a non-traditional method or an unorthodox combination of approaches works, it is intuitively seen as valid. The “proof” is in the outcome, not in the logical consistency of the method. This generates a national expertise in syncretism—the ability to seamlessly blend disparate elements into a functional and often beautiful whole, whether in cuisine, business strategy, or personal philosophy.

Conclusion: The Thai Operating System

Understanding this Mnemonic Sediment transforms your perspective. It’s the key to the script.

From: "Thais are non-confrontational and hierarchical."
To: "The Thai collective subconscious operates on a foundational logic, forged by history, that identifies social harmony and clear hierarchical relationships as the primary variables for survival and stability."

From: "Their belief system seems inconsistent."
To: "Their spiritual operating system is based on pragmatic accretion, selecting the most effective tool for a given task, a logic born from centuries of cultural layering."

The rapid calculation of social position, the default to non-confrontation, the bias toward personal connections, and the pragmatic, results-oriented approach to problem-solving are not random “cultural quirks.” They are the predictable, logical outputs of this deep, functional, and historically forged cognitive system.

To engage with Thailand; whether in business, diplomacy, or friendship—without understanding this is to see only the surface screen while remaining completely unaware of the powerful operating system running silently in the background. You cannot fight the sediment. You must learn to work with it. Build the relationship before you discuss the project. Learn to communicate with nuance. Value flexibility over rigid planning. And appreciate that in a world structured like a great tree, nurtured by pragmatism and weathered by storms, the most successful strategy has always been to bend like bamboo in the wind.

 

Your theory and thoughts could almost be applied to any country in the world.

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Ralf001 said:

2 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Dribble?  Drivel.

you will work it out.

I did "work it out", long ago,  it's you who needs to work out that the word is "drivel".

[JamesPhuket10]

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

That's a good start. Well done!

 

The problem I have with these self-help manuals, which suggest why a specific nationality is like this or that... It's somewhat insulting because it suggests that Thailand is a homogeneous population that thinks alike. It's not! People are still individuals with their unique personalities and behaviour.... even in Thailand.

 

I have spent 20 years in Thailand, without access to your "manual", and have lived quite harmoniously with the Thai people.  It's not difficult to get along with people in Thailand. The important point is that WE have to change our attitude. Leave that huge Western ego at home, and things become quite uncomplicated.

 

 

You wrote: "It's somewhat insulting because it suggests that Thailand is a homogeneous population that thinks alike. It's not! People are still individuals with their unique personalities and behaviour.... even in Thailand."

 

That is what I keep on telling people, no country in the world has not been homogenised into one mono type of person.

 

I think a lot of people mix in a single circle of a type of person, maybe an uneducated group who are illogical, that would shape a person into believed everyone is the same. 

[norsurin]

A good friend of me is a social anthropolog and have been around the world working for businesses that want to invest in different countries.He was hired by big worldwide companies.He said to me that he still dont understand the Thai thinking because it doesn't make sense to him.He got sick and had to stay in a hospital.His thaiwife went and bought a pig for his funeral even he wasn't serious sick.She get upset because she had spending money for the pig and he survived.He just shaked his head.His bedroom was on the second floor and she made a new entrance to the bedroom with a wery dangerous stair from outside.He didn't use that because he knew if he fell down he would probably lose his life.His daughter in law got 1 million a month from her ausse bf.He had to take a sick leave and he couldn't give that much..she told him she would go to Pattaya and work in a bar.Amazing thai people.

[JamesPhuket10]

1 minute ago, norsurin said:

A good friend of me is a social anthropolog and have been around the world working for businesses that want to invest in different countries.He was hired by big worldwide companies.He said to me that he still dont understand the Thai thinking because it doesn't make sense to him.He got sick and had to stay in a hospital.His thaiwife went and bought a pig for his funeral even he wasn't serious sick.She get upset because she had spending money for the pig and he survived.He just shaked his head.His bedroom was on the second floor and she made a new entrance to the bedroom with a wery dangerous stair from outside.He didn't use that because he knew if he fell down he would probably lose his life.His daughter in law got 1 million a month from her ausse bf.He had to take a sick leave and he couldn't give that much..she told him she would go to Pattaya and work in a bar.Amazing thai people.

 

An 'amazing' individual you mean, I think you will find bar girls have similar personalities any where in the world, they want the money not the money provider. 

 

The problem is a very high percentage of farangs marry such women and are then surprised at how they are treated by that type of woman. 

[captain_shane]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Like minimum 14 other that had a thumb down for you. Maybe you should consider, it´s you that are totally unaware, and don´t grasp the concepts. But, I guess that will be far to hard for you. Now take another beer and sink down in the fluffy clouds.

I'd venture to guess you couldn't even make it past the second word in the post.

[Andre0720]

4 hours ago, Cardano said:

Jeez some people really should go back to school

Oh yes. This would allow you to be able to write your vitriol in a way that people can understand...

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Cardano said:

"An Operating Manual for Understanding the Thai Mind" don't see any mention that it is targeted at any particular noodle-headed person. Your insinuation then is if the thread title was "An Operating Manual for Understanding the Farang Mind" only Thais would read it! Weird how some peoples mindset works!

 

Yes, it's in English in the mostly English-language section of an internet forum for foreigners. Weird stuff eh?

 

Now, what size are your noodles, sen yai, sen lek or sen mee?

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

At least you´ve finally got a suitable avatar.

 

Ooohh... pithy.

 

12 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

Like minimum 14 other that had a thumb down for you. Maybe you should consider, it´s you that are totally unaware, and don´t grasp the concepts. But, I guess that will be far to hard for you. Now take another beer and sink down in the fluffy clouds.

 

Oh, look mum! Another emoji fetishist!!!

[Dionigi]

I have a problem understanding a western brain never mind a thai. Just accept what is.

[NanLaew]

11 hours ago, norsurin said:

A good friend of me is a social anthropolog and have been around the world working for businesses that want to invest in different countries.He was hired by big worldwide companies.He said to me that he still dont understand the Thai thinking because it doesn't make sense to him.He got sick and had to stay in a hospital.His thaiwife went and bought a pig for his funeral even he wasn't serious sick.She get upset because she had spending money for the pig and he survived.He just shaked his head.His bedroom was on the second floor and she made a new entrance to the bedroom with a wery dangerous stair from outside.He didn't use that because he knew if he fell down he would probably lose his life.His daughter in law got 1 million a month from her ausse bf.He had to take a sick leave and he couldn't give that much..she told him she would go to Pattaya and work in a bar.Amazing thai people.

 

That "outside stairs" story reminds me when, in a sop to the clean up Pattaya brigade, a "law" was invented briefly for Soi 6, that prohibited direct access from the bar to the short-time rooms upstairs, and the door to the inner stairs needed to be locked. Some of the more creative bar owners knocked a hole in the back wall of the first floor (on Soi 6/1), fitted a door and installed a steel stairway from just outside the back door on the ground floor to the short time rooms in the "separate building" upstairs. You technically (legally) left the bar and did the dirty deeds in another building, so the owner could claim the bar did not have short time rooms.

 

Amazing Thai people Indeed.

[Bday Prang]

The question I have is how is all this "Thainess" passed down to the kids?    Are the schools really that good? And are the parents even capable?    All  I have really noticed is their  little angels getting praised for saying "sawasdee khrap"  or pickin up a smartphone    especially if they can do both at the same time 

[ronster]

Got about 10 lines into reading it before lost the will to live ! 😮‍💨

[Bday Prang]

12 hours ago, norsurin said:

.His daughter in law got 1 million a month from her ausse bf.

Its people behaving like that who really do spoil things for the rest, If its true of course      1 million a month !!!   what did she spend it all on    

[NanLaew]

12 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

Its people behaving like that who really do spoil things for the rest, If its true of course      1 million a month !!!   what did she spend it all on    

 

I'd wager it was gambling, the social blight of the great unwashed, including those habitually lurking at Ladbrokes, Betfred and Coral back home.

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Ooohh... pithy.

 

 

Oh, look mum! Another emoji fetishist!!!

What? Do you understand the irony in that comment, as it´s you that even copied the thumb down emoji to be your avatar. So, who looks like an emoji fetishist? I know, think before you answer. 🤣

[Gottfrid]

12 hours ago, captain_shane said:

I'd venture to guess you couldn't even make it past the second word in the post.

Seems like you should stop guessing. It makes you sound like a fool.

[Bday Prang]

5 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

I'd wager it was gambling, the social blight of the great unwashed, including those habitually lurking at Ladbrokes, Betfred and Coral back home.

 "wager it was gambling "      I like that response        

     But , It truly is a sickness, and a lot of it is done on line now too,   An alcoholic wife or  even a druggie can only consume so much in a day probably less than 1000bt s worth  but gambling really has no limits.   Houses and cars gone in seconds 

But giving 1m per month  (IF its true , which I really doubt)  is the behaviour of an idiot, albeit a rich one

[norsurin]

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

That "outside stairs" story reminds me when, in a sop to the clean up Pattaya brigade, a "law" was invented briefly for Soi 6, that prohibited direct access from the bar to the short-time rooms upstairs, and the door to the inner stairs needed to be locked. Some of the more creative bar owners knocked a hole in the back wall of the first floor (on Soi 6/1), fitted a door and installed a steel stairway from just outside the back door on the ground floor to the short time rooms in the "separate building" upstairs. You technically (legally) left the bar and did the dirty deeds in another building, so the owner could claim the bar did not have short time rooms.

 

Amazing Thai people Indeed.

Ur so right.They never stop surprised me!