Why Do Thais Know So Little About The Geography Of China And India?

[annalem]

Why do Thais know so little about the geography of China and India, if these countries exerted a strong influence on Thai culture? What percentage of Thai people know a lot about the geography of other countries?

[Thaddeus]

Shhhhhh ..... it's on a need to know basis.

[yabaaaa]

The education system is somewhat lacking and Thailand is the centre of the universe so no need to know............anything

[nidge]

Why should they know anything? Is it important to them now? What do you know of the geography of Equador or Senegal. Knowledge of other countries geography is about as useful as knowledge of nuclear fission to the average person, Thai or otherwise.

[Pierrot]

Do you know any country where people care about a country that is not their ?

When I start working in HongKong, friends from home asked me "How's life in Japan?"

[imaneggspurt]

Thats funny, they dont even know where the next village is let alone another country,...have you ever asked a thai for directions ? .., dont ask 2 at the same time, you will be given 2 different answers,. ps Americans arent much better!,.

Edited September 14, 2008 by imaneggspurt

[kmart]

Why should they know anything? Is it important to them now? What do you know of the geography of Equador or Senegal. Knowledge of other countries geography is about as useful as knowledge of nuclear fission to the average person, Thai or otherwise.

Um, maybe because knowing your history and cultural background is knowing your future? Thailand's real history is not correctly documented and seems subject to revision and wholesale whitewashing.

[bonobo]

I was watching television on Friday and there was a show on about Brazil. My g/f asked me if they used the Euro there. I asked her why they would, and she said it was becasue they were in Europe. I asked her to try again, so she said Africa.

Very curious, I asked her how she didn't know that Brazil was in South America. considering her degree from a prestigious university, and she told me she didn't like "history" or anything where she had to memorize, so that is why she became an accountant.

It is ironic that Brazil is a favorite amongst Thais for football, but many Thais have no idea where it is.

I have always been amazed at how little most Thais know about the world at large, or even their own country.

[Andrew Hicks]

Why do Thais know so little about the geography of China and India, if these countries exerted a strong influence on Thai culture? What percentage of Thai people know a lot about the geography of other countries?

[/quote

Wild over-generalisations coming up! Please forgive me for them.

Firstly, Thailand is a middle kingdom... the centre of the world, so why look outwards.

Second, Thais don't 'do' maps. Many have no idea of world geography.

'England? That near Australia?' asks my barber.

I taught a class of kids English for a time and used a world map as a way of teaching 'where' and 'there' and perhaps a little geography. They had absolutely zero knowlege of world gepgraphy but I was a bit shocked when after some weeks I called a girl out to show me Africa and she pointed to the Pacific.

In all this time she hadn't figured out that blue meant sea!

Third, I sometimes feel that Thailand is on another planet so maybe that's why they know nothing of this one.

Ouch! Sorry! I didn't really mean it.

[Andrew Hicks]

Why should they know anything? Is it important to them now? What do you know of the geography of Equador or Senegal. Knowledge of other countries geography is about as useful as knowledge of nuclear fission to the average person, Thai or otherwise.

For most people even in Senegal and Ecuador, sheer curiosity drives an interest in knowing a bit about the world.

Thailand continues to surprise me.

[GungaDin]

My 28 year old g/f had never heard of "the Beatles".

I think that would come under "General Knowledge" anywhere outside Thailand.

Read a map?

Try handing a street map, upside down, to a Thai taxi driver, the result is hilarious!

[jetjock]

The education system is somewhat lacking and Thailand is the centre of the universe so no need to know............anything

Don't tell American kids that Thailand is the centre of the universe as most of them would not even have a clue that Thailand is on this planet. In fact, my guess is that most American kids could not even show you where Europe is on a map. Sad but true for both Thailand and the US.

[lazeeboy]

chances are 99% of thais will never leave thailand ,so why bother knowing anything outside the best country on the planet

[sabaijai]

Why should they know anything? Is it important to them now? What do you know of the geography of Equador or Senegal. Knowledge of other countries geography is about as useful as knowledge of nuclear fission to the average person, Thai or otherwise.

For most people even in Senegal and Ecuador, sheer curiosity drives an interest in knowing a bit about the world.

Thailand continues to surprise me.

When I was traveling in Ecuador with a friend from England, and he was asked where he was from, more than once an Ecuadorean responded with 'What part of the USA is England in?'

[toptuan]

China and India? How about adjacent countries: Laos, Cambodia, Burma, etc.?

I teach, supposedly, the "cream of the crop" in NE Thailand. Only 33 students out of 1000 applicants are admitted to our university. Most of my students cannot speak one word of a neighboring country's language (except for the Isaan dialect which is a derivative of Lao).

None of my students know ANY cities in neighboring countries beyond the capital city. They don't know the monetary unit. They don't know the systems of government which run neighboring countries. Yes, and knowledge of geography is nil: I've yet to find a student who knows what the Tonle Sap is (Cambodia's HUGE inland freshwater lake which waters half the ecosystem of the country!).

An earlier poster suggested "what's the use of it?" Here's the use: Thais have serious inbred suspicions and hatred for their neighbors. Most of it is born of ignorance. With knowledge comes understanding. Understanding helps head off hatred and fear. Thailand has a long way to go in this department.

Sad.

[midas]

The education system is somewhat lacking and Thailand is the centre of the universe so no need to know............anything

they have no curiosity about the rest of the world............................

Many havent got a clue about world current affairs even if they have

the means to watch it on cable tv. They prefer tpo watch the mind numbing

trash on Thai tv - the same repetetive Thai soap operas with shouting

and screaming................is there any hope for them ..............?

[GungaDin]

Toptuan

Thais have serious inbred suspicions and hatred for their neighbors. Most of it is born of ignorance. With knowledge comes understanding. Understanding helps head off hatred and fear. Thailand has a long way to go in this department.

Sad but true. I guess it's why we put up with Kiwis.

[taxexile]

they have no curiosity about the rest of the world

they have little interest in or curiosity about anything that exists outside the small bubbles of indifference that most thais seem to inhabit.

[Moonrakers]

Show a map of the world to most Thai's and ask them to point out where the UK is. 9 times out of 10 they will point to a large land mass and even not believe you when you point to the tiny Island West of France.

Having said that, ask most people who are not from the UK to point to the English flag and the vast majority of the time they will point to the Union Jack. Oh, and yes Wales is a country.

Most bizarre of all (For me), is that I seem to have met alot of Americans who are adamant that the Statue of Liberty is "American architecture".

[UrbyBiser]

the bigger the country, the grater the ignorance....

how many of you know slovenia?

even thouhgh slovenia was presidenting EU this year..... it is not just thai.... if i go to sweden for example they know shit about slovenia, if i meet somebody from an x country somewhere in the world there is a chance smaler then 0.00001% that he or she knows slo.... but to stay on the topic about thailand...more thais that i met have actually known slovenia then foreigners....

so please stop this thailand bashing... we are not the same.

and every school system is the same.... the country where you live is the center of the world, especialy the english speaking crowd. Ask some native english speaker how many languages can he speak. many many thais speak at least english.... so this is two.

just my opinion.....

[Moonrakers]

My brother and sister came to visit me once, and they had a connecting flight through KL.

Whilst at KL airport she said to my brother "I always thought that Kuala Lumpur was a made up place, like Timbuktu"

And to think that she has a degree.

[dingdongrb]

Do you know any country where people care about a country that is not their ?

When I start working in HongKong, friends from home asked me "How's life in Japan?"

That reminds me when I tell friends and family that I now live in Thailand the next sentence out of their mouths is, 'How do you like living in Taiwan?'

[BSJ]

Whats the point of this discussion? If people are happy in their ignorance who are we to change that!

[Wrong Turn]

Why do Thais know so little about the geography of China and India, if these countries exerted a strong influence on Thai culture? What percentage of Thai people know a lot about the geography of other countries?

A lot of Thais I've known didn't know a lot about geography. Perhaps it isn't taught much in schools and perhaps many Thais are not interested in geography.

Many koreans and other nationalities I've worked with had little knowledge nor interest in geography.

Also, in the United States.

The UK has a strong cultural and historical influence on the US, but can many Americans point to Yorkshire or Bournemouth on a map? Plymouth, even?

I've always been interested in maps, cities, nations, rivers, moutains, border, and maps and Atlases. Many people however, are not.

[egg6447]

chances are 99% of thais will never leave thailand ,so why bother knowing anything outside the best country on the planet

make that the only country on the planet... for all there lack of education and lack of interest, i find it all endears me to them. just how i have to love a baby.

[egg6447]

Whats the point of this discussion? If people are happy in their ignorance who are we to change that!

they do say ignorance is bliss. great. but you will never get far in life with ignorance as a degree. plus ive never met a contented person in thailand have you.

[petitechevre]

Well...

i have always thought that only euro's/canadian/japanese knew about world geography?

i dont think they teach it in america and third world country..

How many tv shows have we seen with people asking normal educated americanso to point iraq.. and failed. point any europeen country and fail.. and then fail at poiting their own stupid state?

it just comes down to countries being more on the right than left having no education system whatsoever.. unless you pay top dollars.

pretty sure in american's public highschool geography is taught on a mcdonalds 'world of ronald' map. or they don't have enough funding to have any class.

[Samuian]

Well...

How many tv shows have we seen with people asking normal educated americanso to point iraq.. and failed. point any europeen country and fail.. and then fail at poiting their own stupid state?

it just comes down to countries being more on the right than left having no education system whatsoever.. unless you pay top dollars.

I have been educated under the German governments FREE education system, I can draw you (roughly) any map of the continents and of many regions, Countries, i know that Australia isn't Austria or anywhere near it, can name the capitols of many countries on this planet, may get 40-45 of the States of the USoA, History, Biology, name it but what use is it, except having a rather broad knowledge base to fill in crosswords!

It doesn't make one genuinely 'smarter' to know the Name of the Capitol of Paraguay, or through how many countries the Mehkong flows, where the Danubia has its Spring, when did Napoleon invaded Russia, or the date of the assassination of Ceasar, does it?

It's the daily survival skills for all of us, some in the corporate world, some as scribes, as mechanics, as physicists, as farmers, musicians, artists, as jungle dwellers, as innuit surviving the arctic weather conditions or the fever swamps in the mehkong delta... however there is something to education, but since when and on how many places on earth can the broad masses enjoy these privileges?

Something those who got to enjoy this should be grateful for, it's certainly NOT a freebie, which we, in our blissful ignorance are often tempted to believe... being educated on Stanford, Harvard, Cambridge, try to survive amidst the Bedouins of the Sahara, in the Himalayas....in a rice farming community in south vietnam... just a thought or 2 - education helps - ignorance shows poor character!

[Jingthing]

Well...

i have always thought that only euro's/canadian/japanese knew about world geography?

i dont think they teach it in america and third world country..

How many tv shows have we seen with people asking normal educated americanso to point iraq.. and failed. point any europeen country and fail.. and then fail at poiting their own stupid state?

it just comes down to countries being more on the right than left having no education system whatsoever.. unless you pay top dollars.

pretty sure in american's public highschool geography is taught on a mcdonalds 'world of ronald' map. or they don't have enough funding to have any class.

Garcon! Down boy! This is a Thai bashing thread, not an American one. Hey, I loved geography class and this was well covered when I was 12 years old. Cuba was the most interesting, something about forbidden fruit. Curiosity about the geography and cultures of other lands kind of falls under the heading of intellectual curiosity, yes? People who say knowledge isn't useful are missing the point. BTW, the geography of Ecuador is quite fascinating.

Edited September 14, 2008 by Jingthing

[davejonesbkk]

I used to teach in a private language school at the weekends here in Bangkok. Most of the kids were from fairly wealthy families and many went to private schools. Whenever we did anything related to world geography I would be able to spin the globe, stop it and then ask a kid to find Thailand. There were several occasions when the kid would have to give up after 2-3 minutes. I'm sorry but you can dress that up whoever you like about not needing to know about the outside world but being unable to find your own country on the world map is just pathetic.

Edited September 14, 2008 by davejonesbkk