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

[Naam]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

[brahmburgers]

when I was a kid, my family had two sets of encyclopedias: one was old, one was new. I spent many hours going through them cover to cover. I also had a decent stamp collection.

I always encourage young people to learn as much as possible about the rest of the world - geography, topography, and the rest.

When I taught part time (lecturer) at the local Rajabat university, I was told I could lecture on anything. The main thing I did in each of my 7 classes was teach world geography - section by section. For some reason, the U didn't renew my contract - they never gave me a reason.

[Naam]

It's in Czechoslovenia

Holy Mother of God!

[jackr]

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.

I'd hazard a guess that the average Yank kid would have some inkling that the Earth is spherical and goes around the Sun (a super-heated dense ball of gas) in a vacuum, though; while our hosts generally could not grasp such a concept and is totally out of their sphere of thought. Mai sanuk, etc, etc, but hey, at least their happy.

[tw25rw]

It's in Czechoslovenia

Holy Mother of God!

2 bites..

[Tinkelbell]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

Cuba ?

[PeaceBlondie]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

Cuba ?

Good answer, along with Haiti, Dominican Republic (Hispanola). I was thinking of Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles.

Related question: you are in a plane with unlimited fuel, over Detroit, Michigan. Flying due south, what is the first foreign country you fly over?

[pumpuiman]

Test your own knowledge with this geography game.

Good luck

[AmeriThai]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

Dominican Republic.

[Lucifer]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

Cuba ?

Good answer, along with Haiti, Dominican Republic (Hispanola). I was thinking of Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles.

Related question: you are in a plane with unlimited fuel, over Detroit, Michigan. Flying due south, what is the first foreign country you fly over?

It really doesn't matter. You'd be happy just to be flying out of Detroit....till the fuel runs out.

[Groongthep]

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

how many of you know slovenia?

It's in Czechoslovenia.

You're thinking of Slovakia, now a seperate country. Slovenia was part of the former Yugoslavia, the first to break away & declare independence.

Blimey, I got a bite!

It's in Czechoslovenia

Holy Mother of God!

2 bites..

Some people just don't get sarcasm tw25rw.

[Moonrakers]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

Cuba ?

Good answer, along with Haiti, Dominican Republic (Hispanola). I was thinking of Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles.

Related question: you are in a plane with unlimited fuel, over Detroit, Michigan. Flying due south, what is the first foreign country you fly over?

I can answer that question PB.

Unfortunately though google allowed me to cheat and so I won't give the answer.

But if I may pose a trivia question which is still related the travel, knowledge, wisdom thing and local:

What does "Haeng Haeng" mean in Cambodian?

I have checked it for google proof-ness an and I suspect that a few on here may know the answer.

[Tinkelbell]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

it's either Greenland or Hawaii (but i'm not sure)

Cuba ?

Good answer, along with Haiti, Dominican Republic (Hispanola). I was thinking of Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles.

Related question: you are in a plane with unlimited fuel, over Detroit, Michigan. Flying due south, what is the first foreign country you fly over?

Flying from Detroit, Michigan, heading south. I would say 'Cuba' is the first foreighn country you fly over.

[PeaceBlondie]

Tinkerbell, Cuba again would be a good guess. However, this is a trick question that even Americans living in Michigan guess wrong. Let me be more specific: downtown Detroit. My mate from England knows.

[bonobo]

Tinkerbell, Cuba again would be a good guess. However, this is a trick question that even Americans living in Michigan guess wrong. Let me be more specific: downtown Detroit. My mate from England knows.

Canada!!!!!!!!

[Wrong Turn]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

Dominican Republic.

Ill du diable.

or, "Devil's Islan?"

[PhilHarries]

Good answer, along with Haiti, Dominican Republic (Hispanola). I was thinking of Aruba, in the Netherlands Antilles.

Sorry PB but this wrinkly old b@st@d gonna get nitpicking again.

The island of Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was granted status aparte, becoming yet another part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a separate country within the kingdom.

and as for the rest:-

Between June 2000 and April 2005, each island of the Netherlands Antilles had a referendum on its future status. The four options that could be voted on were:

• closer ties with the Netherlands

• remaining within the Netherlands Antilles

• autonomy as a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands (status aparte)

• independence

Of the five islands, Sint Maarten and Curaçao voted for status aparte, Saba and Bonaire voted for closer ties to the Netherlands, and Sint Eustatius voted to stay within the Netherlands Antilles.

but:-

The Netherlands Antilles was scheduled to be dissolved as a unified political entity on 15 December 2008, so that the five constituent islands would attain new constitutional statuses within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but this dissolution has been postponed to an indefinite future date.

Source : Wikipedia

Which shows geographical knowledge may be cast in stone (the islands are still in the same place) but geopolitics change with the wind.

Anybody know where Tanzania is?

[PeaceBlondie]

Tanzania, is that the African state that combines Tanganyika and the island of Zanzibar?

My apology about Aruba. It is an island foreign to Venezuela, as contrasted with Isla Margarita. My old map showed it as a part of the Neth. Antilles. As you say, the islands seldom disappear, but political names change, such as Upper Volta. Is Montserrat still in existence? Did you ever live on the shore of a caldera, as I did?

Yes, Windsor, Ontario, lies south of Detroit. Pelee Island and its water territory extend further south than any part of Michigan, close to Put-In Bay, Ohio....

[Tinkelbell]

quoted from PB..... "Yes, Windsor, Ontario, lies south of Detroit. Pelee Island and its water territory extend further south than any part of Michigan, close to Put-In Bay, Ohio..."

The clue word "downtown Detroit" would had me guess "Canada" too.

I was physically been there, this would help me connected to this place, but then again it was a looooooong time ago.

In 1982, while visiting my cousin who still lives in Bloomfield Hill , Michigan, up until now, she drove all of us to Canada for a day trip ( must be via Windsor) coz it didn't seem like a long drive, we had to show our US passport or PR card at the Canadian boarder.

[AmeriThai]

What foreign island lies north of northwestern Venezuela?

Dominican Republic.

Ill du diable.

or, "Devil's Islan?"

I had to cheat and look it up. Devil's Island isn't located north of northwestern Venezuela. It's closer to the central coast.

As for Dominican Republic and Haiti, both occupy the same island, although D.R. is closer in line to being north of northwest Venezuela than Haiti is.

[PeaceBlondie]

My friend works with Chin refugees from western Myanmar. I had to look it up.

[ozzydom]

This thread has drifted so far Off Topic that it more resembles a geography quiz, so am moving it to a more appropriate forum in Farang Pub ..

[PhilHarries]

This thread has drifted so far Off Topic that it more resembles a geography quiz, so am moving it to a more appropriate forum in Farang Pub ..

Well it has proven that some of us farangs aren't as great at the subject as we think/thought we were. The only reason I got the stuff about the Netherland Antilles is that I came up with Curacao and then Googled it when Aruba entered the frame. I don't carry that kind of stuff in my head.

Anyway to briefly return to topic. I can see why for the majority of Thais world geography may be of little importance but some of them have little grasp of their own national geographic layout. I know it is wrong to compare cultures but when I was at school I could draw a rough outline map of the UK and mark in the principal cities. I would have thought that Thai schools would have at least taught that plus maybe the names of their neighbours. How much use would that be to the average rural Thai? Very little but education has to start somewhere and, to quote chairman Mao, every journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.

And with that I'll turn this thread back to the geography quiz.

[thithi]

some thais think studying History or Geography are boring so they don't bother to pay much of their attentions to study them

but i wouldn't say that .. cos i study history

Math teachers don't really care where in the world Trinidad and Tobacco is

just like I don't care what the hel_l Calculus is...

at least we know where the Buddhism and Dim sum come from.....

[mizzi39]

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?

The UK HAS a strong cultural and historical influence over the US???? Please get your facts straight. The US is the US due to the fact that the UK nor its monarchy had NO influence over the immigrants who colonized America. Even the English couldn't stand England and my ancestors (the Irish) couldn't stand it either. Do you really think that any American looks up to the UK??? NOT!

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

[PhilHarries]

The UK HAS a strong cultural and historical influence over the US???? Please get your facts straight. The US is the US due to the fact that the UK nor its monarchy had NO influence over the immigrants who colonized America. Even the English couldn't stand England and my ancestors (the Irish) couldn't stand it either. Do you really think that any American looks up to the UK??? NOT!

Bucking follocks! The English, Irish, Polish, Italians etc etc etc left their home countries because of the vast new lands opening up across the new world and the fortunes to be made there. As for the Irish not standing England I always thought the Irish came from the fair emerald isle to be sure to be sure. Funny how many of the Irish went to England to dig the canals, build the railways, build the roads etc yet they "couldn't stand the place". I think you'll find the Irish left the grinding poverty of Ireland to go anywhere in the world but Ireland.

[PeaceBlondie]

What two countries had violent revolutions against Britain? Not Canada, India, New Zealand, Australia,Belize, etc. - mostly just the USA and Ireland. What Asian country did not violently resist an invasion from another Asian country during ww2? Could Thailand have won the war against Japan? But the USA could have won its independence nonviolently, and chose not to. There are lessons there, more for farang than for Thais.

Immigrants usually come to new countries because they do not like life in the old country. Thailand has had very little official immigration (we farang are non-immigrants). Very few Thais, percentage-wise, have ever emigrated elsewhere. Thus, less need for geography lessons.

Our cultures, which experienced great waves of migration in recent centuries, force its citizens to learn geography. Here, mai bpen rai.

[sleir]

Silly how this "showing off with crossword puzzle knowledge" takes off so fast in this topic.

That's exactly the knowledge that is pretty irrelevant (but may still be interesting for some, not denying that), unlike the kind of knowledge that lets you know something about your neighbours and let's you know more about the countries that exert an influence on Thailand.

That Thailand had little immigration is probably true, but foreign countries have at all times, had a very strong influence on Thailand, unlike China for example. India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Cambodia, Portugal, China to name but a few. Buddhism, Cuisine, temple architecture to name but a few, are foreign imports adapted to Thailand. To not know these influences is not to know your own culture. Most educated Thais know that, but they at the same time know nothing about these countries. And that's the real point in my humble opinion. How can one criticise western democracy and claim it doesn't work for Thailand, if you don't even know what it really is, democracy. Let a PAD follower define the mechanisms of democracy. Democracy is far more than a corrupt parliament with bought politicians. Democracy, if correctly applied has exactly the correct tools to mend the current crisis.. but that would require a bit of work and a lot of integrity.

[HYENA]

Education systems seem to be relevant to the county dictating the syllabus. I grew up in the American education system. I admit it is embarrassing to realize some generations lacked in geography and history but think about the fables taught by the Caucasoid countries. Most don't realize there was trade between the Pharaohs and Bolivia or the battery has been in existence for 2000 years also believing Columbus "discovered" America, etc. Our history books were centered on English rewritten history still uncorrected today.

How many know the general territory of the Penobscot Native Americans or where the range or the Souix or Cherokees were before relocation? Everything is relavent. Thais seem to be well educated to human instincts (reading people by watching mannerisms, eyes, etc. far better than Caucasians). Much of Thai education is based upon King Rama's re-invention of history and rewriting the history books where the truly educated have failed to convince the school system to teach the truth (because teaching the truth would make the King lose face). They're taught not to question or second guess...only to respect because their instructor is older.

My son is 8 years old and had to fill in a blank map of states and major cities. Next year he will be filling out a blank world map. Will he remember it? Who knows? It all depends on the generation and school system. We all have serious shortcomings on many areas.

Before I came to Thailand, I knew it was in SE Asia but had it not been for the Vietnam war, I likely wouldn't know or care and also respond with "So did you like Taiwan?"

Same with the Chinese. Their ancient knowledge may be important to them holding onto beliefs we may view as false, even silly. How much have we learned from the internet and television? Remove these means of world knowledge and we'd be far more ignorant and many would be less inquisitive. It's like comparing centuries of knowledge base, then switching the venue, language and region completely. Can't compare apples to oranges (or do they even have apples)?

I bet Thais think we're clueless about things important to them they think we should know. One problem is the lack of freedom of speech in Thailand backed by seniority culture resepct. We're taught one has creedence based upon earned respect not ebcause of their age. THink about it; Thailand has just emerged from the third world not so long ago so should it be surprising to know they don't subscribe to what we view as important? How many of us know the season to grow rice, the varieities of rice and when the harvest takes place? I thought sticky rice was just rice cooked differently. I had no idea there are so many varieties of white rice other than Black, brown and white.

I have noticed many Thais don't know lies taught in their education system and I likely haven't discovered all the lies in the American/English based system but I see the imact one culture can have upon another homogenizing the world into believing our fables, beliefs and what we view as important while losing their culture in the flood.

We're all ignorant unless we are fully educated about the culture accused.

Ever hear the saying "The more I learn, the less I know"?

[wileycoyote]

True