Standing For The National Anthem

[Spiny]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

[Groongthep]

As a simple sign of respect I normally stand up or stop and stand at semi attention if I'm walking down the street when the national anthem plays at 8AM and 6PM. If I were in a waiting room however, and looked around to see that there were only 15 or so Thais in the room and none of them were standing, I would have sat back down.

[dave9988]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

[londonthai]

sorry for your embarassment - times change fast, nationalism and xenophobia looks like a past time for thai. Next long standing residents in thailand have to learn their lesson what these ideologies are associated with and stop publicly loosing their face - do it in private (if you have to), but not in public.

as the old chinese proverb goes: don't try to be more holy than the roman pope

and another, older one: nationalism is a false concious created by the ruling class to bond the working class with the state and serve as a cannon fodder for the benefit of rulers

Edited December 20, 2008 by londonthai

[Spiny]

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

Trying to learn the National Anthem by heart so I can go for my citizenship

[Spiny]

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

Just wonder, do you remain seated at the cinema when requested to stand?

[Explorer]

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

I always laugh at farangs that think they are still in farangland while in Thailand.

[dave111223]

I didn't realize you were supposed to stand up? I thought you were just supposed to stop what you were doing?

Obviously at the cinema it's a different story: A) they specifically request that you stand up (in Thai and English) B ) it's the kings song, not the national anthem, right?

Edited December 20, 2008 by dave111223

[Mosha]

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

A few years back My wife and I were in the Bangkok Southern railway station. The anthem fired up and everyone, except 2 tourists sat at the coffee bar we were at, stood. The staff were jesticulating for them to stand, at 1st they just looked confused, so I told them to stand, and I would explain in a minute. They were getting very angry looks from the Thais nearby I might add. I must say you must be very thick skinned not to notice any of the Thais disapproval of your obvious lack of respect for their king.

While in some places on the street I have seen it completely ignored, in other places everyone stops and stands. It is now an automatic rection for me to stand when in a public place. @ Spiny I must say I have never witnessed anyone singing the anthem though.

[taxexile]

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish

no need to feel any embarrassment at all if you are simply following strongly held beliefs.

if you are doing it for other reasons then you might want to look into what those reasons are so as to be able to come to terms with your embarrassment.

[pumpuiman]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

I assume you are not aware that you can be jailed for not doing so. Laughing will probably speed your trip up considerably.

[southerndown]

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

A few years back My wife and I were in the Bangkok Southern railway station. The anthem fired up and everyone, except 2 tourists sat at the coffee bar we were at, stood. The staff were jesticulating for them to stand, at 1st they just looked confused, so I told them to stand, and I would explain in a minute. They were getting very angry looks from the Thais nearby I might add. I must say you must be very thick skinned not to notice any of the Thais disapproval of your obvious lack of respect for their king.

While in some places on the street I have seen it completely ignored, in other places everyone stops and stands. It is now an automatic rection for me to stand when in a public place. @ Spiny I must say I have never witnessed anyone singing the anthem though.

i stood in a supermarket when thais were ignoring the anthem as an automatic response. they then stood too but only because i had stood and they didnt want to lose face.

[h90]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

I assume you are not aware that you can be jailed for not doing so. Laughing will probably speed your trip up considerably.

zero farangs and zero Thais in jail for that

[h90]

sorry for your embarassment - times change fast, nationalism and xenophobia looks like a past time for thai. Next long standing residents in thailand have to learn their lesson what these ideologies are associated with and stop publicly loosing their face - do it in private (if you have to), but not in public.

as the old chinese proverb goes: don't try to be more holy than the roman pope

and another, older one: nationalism is a false concious created by the ruling class to bond the working class with the state and serve as a cannon fodder for the benefit of rulers

It is a very common german proverb (at least in Austria which is Catholic, I am not sure for Evangelic German areas), most probably also in other cultures but I doubt the Chinese have many proverbs about the pope.

"päpstlicher als der Papst sein" not means exactly more holy, it means to be not more pope-like than the pope.

[Geekfreaklover]

zero farangs and zero Thais in jail for that

I seem to recall a German or Austrian? drunk graffiti artist got arrested and jailed for spraying posters a couple of years back. But got released a couple of days later with a pardo

Edited December 20, 2008 by Geekfreaklover

[Groongthep]

sorry for your embarassment - times change fast, nationalism and xenophobia looks like a past time for thai. Next long standing residents in thailand have to learn their lesson what these ideologies are associated with and stop publicly loosing their face - do it in private (if you have to), but not in public.

as the old chinese proverb goes: don't try to be more holy than the roman pope

and another, older one: nationalism is a false concious created by the ruling class to bond the working class with the state and serve as a cannon fodder for the benefit of rulers

The chinese proverbs and cliches' are off the mark and I think you're reading way more into it than there is. While national anthems anywhere may reflect a bit of nationalistic brainwashing, anyone with any savy will see them for what they are and will not be inspired to run out and join some right wing para-military group after hearing them. In most countries national anthems are seen more as symbols of culture than of nationalism. To ignore the local customs, especially harmless ones like this, are generally associated with people with bad manners and of poor upbringing.

I didn't realize you were supposed to stand up? I thought you were just supposed to stop what you were doing?

Obviously at the cinema it's a different story: A) they specifically request that you stand up (in Thai and English) B ) it's the kings song, not the national anthem, right?

Dave 111223 is right come to think of it. It's important not to confuse the king's song, normally played in cinemas before movies, and the national anthem which is played over loudspeakers just about everywhere at 8AM and 6PM. To not stop and stand still during the national anthem, while somewhat disrespectful of the local customs, is often written off by Thais as just farangs' ignorance of this local practice. To refuse to stand during the king's song at cinemas however, will certainly be looked upon much harsher as it can be seen as disrespectful to the king particularly since they have it written in polite English on the screen that you are requested to stand in honor of the king before it is played.

Edited December 20, 2008 by Groongthep

[dave9988]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

i always laugh at farang that stop or stand

I assume you are not aware that you can be jailed for not doing so. Laughing will probably speed your trip up considerably.

my hiso friends have explained it to me that you don't have to stop or stand if you make over a certain amount of money

is that not the case?

[Geekfreaklover]

I was at Samitivej Hospital Sukhumvit the other morning sitting down waiting for my appointment. 8 am arrived and the National Anthem played on the radio and TV.

I automatically stood up, as one does, however, I felt rather foolish as I realised I was the only doing so one out of a room of about 15 or so Thai's. I remained standing but nobody really paid any attention to me

As a long term Thai resident I have always dutifully stopped what I was doing at 8 am or 6 pm if I was outside home or office and in a public place and tried to sing along with the National Anthem.

Just curious if other TV members have experienced this recently.

Just curious. Were you standing up and singing at the same time, and which hospital ward were you in?

Joking apart. Easy mistake.

[KhaoNiaw]

One way that I've had it explained is that people outside in the vicinity of the flag stand, those inside the buildings don't. For example, at our university in the morning, anyone walking around while the flag is going up and the music is being directly piped will stand. People having breakfast in the enclosed parts of the canteen or inside the buildings don't stand, even if there is a TV playing the anthem.

Once you start looking for exceptions I'm sure there are many but it kind of makes sense.

[whiterussian]

Didnt we used to do this in the UK cinema's in the 70's -> early 80's?

Certainly had the anthem on the BBC shortly before the schedule ended after midnight.

Edited December 20, 2008 by UKWEBPRO

[dave9988]

One way that I've had it explained is that people outside in the vicinity of the flag stand, those inside the buildings don't. For example, at our university in the morning, anyone walking around while the flag is going up and the music is being directly piped will stand. People having breakfast in the enclosed parts of the canteen or inside the buildings don't stand, even if there is a TV playing the anthem.

Once you start looking for exceptions I'm sure there are many but it kind of makes sense.

common sense says if you are on government property you should stop and stand

if you are in a private establishment like a hospital - standing is just comical

[PeaceBlondie]

Surely if you are indoors and in a public area when the national anthem begins, standing at attention would never be wrong. Unless the nurse is about to give you an injection. I cannot imagine that any of the usually modest Thais would ask you why you are standing; it is obvious. If they asked, you could just say, "because I love Thailand."

[sbk]

Off topic, inane, inflammatory and trollish posts have all been deleted, as well as their responses. Seems this topic brings out the worst in some.

[OlRedEyes]

Seems this topic brings out the worst in some.

For good reason.

[TheJoker]

I didn't realize you were supposed to stand up? I thought you were just supposed to stop what you were doing?

Obviously at the cinema it's a different story: A) they specifically request that you stand up (in Thai and English) B ) it's the kings song, not the national anthem, right?

I find it really annoying the cinema stand up everytime. But to prevent that: I stopwatched the preview including the anthem part to main movie start: 30 minutes. So come after 30 minutes, to start right away with main movie.

[Groongthep]

I didn't realize you were supposed to stand up? I thought you were just supposed to stop what you were doing?

Obviously at the cinema it's a different story: A) they specifically request that you stand up (in Thai and English) B ) it's the kings song, not the national anthem, right?

I find it really annoying the cinema stand up everytime. But to prevent that: I stopwatched the preview including the anthem part to main movie start: 30 minutes. So come after 30 minutes, to start right away with main movie.

You go through all that hassle just to avoid standing up for about 60 seconds?

[Geekfreaklover]

I deleted this, as it was in bad taste.

Edited December 20, 2008 by Geekfreaklover

[Jingthing]

I don't mind standing at the cinema, but sometimes when attending film fests and watching 3-4 movies every day for a week, and standing for the King's song every time, of course, well, it starts to feel a tad bit absurd. Unintended consequences of a custom I suppose. I would have never had the OP's problem. Watch the Thais, that's the ticket.

[snuggzzz]

THIS IS MY SECOND HOME, OF COURSE YOU STAND, IT'S CALLED RESPECT, NOT ONLY FOR THE ROYALTY BUT IT'S CITIZENS. I COME TO THAILAND TO RESPECT THEIR ANCIENT TRADITIONS, THEIR CULTURE, WAY OF LIFE.

THE DEAL HERE IS...............WHATEVER THE COUNTRY YOU WERE BORN IN, IF YOU LIVE HERE IN THAILAND, THEY WILL LOOK AFTER YOU, EVEN CARE FOR YOU..........BUT NOT FOR NOTHING, LIKE ALL WESTERN ECONOMIES.

BUT RESPECT, IS RESPECT, STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.................

[h90]

zero farangs and zero Thais in jail for that

I seem to recall a German or Austrian? drunk graffiti artist got arrested and jailed for spraying posters a couple of years back. But got released a couple of days later with a pardo

A Swiss sprayed posters of HM the King. got a jail term and got a pardon and sent to Switzerland.

I think last years birthday speech of HM the King in which he told that nobody is in jail for lese majesty (spelling) as he gives pardon to everone.