Why Do Thais Have A Mob Mentality?

[freeurmind2]

I'm sorry this has to be said. Enough of the politeness, repression, and saving face.

Let's get the preliminaries aside so as to make things clear. I am Asian and easily mistaken for alternately Thai, Malaysian, Singaporean, Chinese or Japanese. I understand asian values and sentiments, Thai values and sentiments, and I am as harmless looking as they come. I'm on a work visa and this is my third year in the country.

I have read on here that certain falangs are to be blamed for or "deserve" a good beating from a Thai mob of tuk-tuk drivers, or what not, for being rude, arrogant or whatever. But I say this is not always the case. I have observed many times how Thais have the propensity to 'gang up' on anyone who is NOT Thai for any and all reasons. To save on bandwidth, let me list only 3 examples.

#1. In as friendly and gentle a manner as I can, I call the hotel waitress over to my table to request that she change the croissants because the ones I was served taste stale. I have not quite finished my sentence when immediately two other waitresses, neither of which speak English, appear from behind her and 'surround' my table. They are not interested in English lessons, nor did they expect to be given tips. They were anxious to 'save' their mate from an imagined threat.

#2. My shipment finally arrives in our city after four weeks, a million calls to Bangkok, and an understanding to pay an add'l ThB 2000 to my already expensive cargo. [Note: DO NOT USE Fedex, ever!] I drive over to the Fedex office, show my receipt, and am shocked to see that my box has been opened, cut at the corners, re-packaged and re-taped so that it now resembled garbage. Keeping my temper in check, I ask the grunt for the manager. Three "managers" appear at the counter, the grunt standing quite close to me as I spoke to only 1 manager [the only one who spoke English]. They imagine and anticipate a showdown, and they come with reinforcement.

#3. I post in another thread how a pick-up tried to scrape by/through the driver's door. They even tried to accelerate while their bullbars are in close contact with our door! The young driver knew he was at fault and was sullen and quiet and expected a tongue lashing. Their mates, about 9 of them, were quiet and respectful and kept their distance, waiting for us to sort things out. The second we spoke English to interview the driver and owner, all hel_l breaks loose! Screaming, shouting, pushing and shoving, finger wagging, trying to drag me to the sidewalk, demanding to know why we where here, what our jobs were. And on and on. Clearly they were drunk, but not too drunk to determine when and where to strike. They took no thought of the frightened 8-year old in our car.

I hope that proves my point. Now on to my question to everyone and their Thai spouses. WHY in the world do Thais gang up on people? Do they feel weak and insecure going it alone? Are they paranoid and see danger where none is imminent? Is it insular thinking? Is it a superiority complex among Thais ["We are better than anyone else"]? A sense of entitlement to treat visitors and expat workers any way they want because this is their country? Is it revenge, then? Is it a class thing, where hi-so don't do this but middle or working class do? How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

Edited April 15, 2010 by freeurmind2

[thaibeachlovers]

Do they feel weak and insecure going it alone? Are they paranoid and see danger where none is imminent? Is it insular thinking? Is it a superiority complex among Thais ["We are better than anyone else"]? A sense of entitlement to treat visitors and expat workers any way they want because this is their country? Is it revenge, then? Is it a class thing, where hi-so don't do this but middle or working class do?

Possibly all of the above

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

[phetaroi]

First, to the OP:

I've only lived here about a year, and this ganging up on attitude is something I've never experienced either personally or as a witness. But I've heard of it enough to know that it does indeed happen.

I'm not so sure it's related only to negative interactions, however. The other day I went into a drug store at the Emporium to buy one of my blood pressure medicines. Since I have to take it multiple times a day, there's no reason to buy one strip...only makes sense to buy a full box (100 tabs). I should have charged admission. All 7 girls in the store came over to be involved. It was nothing about unpleasantness. A couple of weeks ago I was having a little difficulty finding a pair of shoes to fit, and at Central Chidlom we suddenly had 4 clerks all helping. Even take a look at Songkram. Across from my condo development is a 7/11. Several people have been there for 3 almost full days throwing water at people. What is this compulsion to be in that little group, the characters of which have stayed basically the same for 3 days, and as a group act so goofy. It's nothing unpleasant. I have some foot problems right now and have had some foot therapy on several different occasions. It's definitely a 1 person job. It only takes one person to use the ultrasound "paddle". It only take 1 person to wrap your foot in a hot towel. But all that was always done by 2-3 people at a time. One Sunday, just out of curiosity I counted the number of clerks in the cosmetics department of the Emporium. Would you believe 123 clerks...and 7 customers? All these are non-aggressive situations.

But, this group mentality then does translate to negative situations, as well.

In re your restaurant situation...are you sure it was an unpleasant situation? Same for the shipping managers? Could it have been because of a perceived language problem?

If you had been farang, I'd say that...well, they've probably experienced the ugly America before and are prepared to deal with it again. That I have seen...but the unpleasantness was all on the ugly American's side. As to the auto accident situation, well, as you say, they were drunk.

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

Now, in regard to TBL's comment. First, and who made you an arbiter of what is defined as "real" Buddhism? If you know much about Buddhism, you know that there's long been a debate within Buddhist circles about whether or not it's all right to eat meat. And, Thai Buddhists, as a group, are just as Buddhist and most Christians are Christian, or most Muslims are Islamic, and so forth.

[Pdaz]

Well there are explanations for both of the 'gang' experiences.

In the shop/store/office.. The staff are bored and usually outnumber the customers 5 to 1. They have little to do and the chance to observe a farang up close is too good to miss. The interaction will provide a respite from an otherwise boring day.

The other situation when a group of Thai guys gangs up together is as has already been said pure insecurity.

There are a lot of very insecure and fragile ego'd males in Thailand..( not just the poor and disafected ) They have been asailed with images and stories about 'wealthy farangs' 'well endowed farangs' 'clever farangs' etc etc from an early age. They have often also been the center of attention in their family and have little experience of the World outside so can feel lost and resentful. Worse they seem to suffer from the dreadful 'Small man's disease'.. They are easily offended and have no concept of 'consequence' So ganging together empowers them and the situation can soon get out of hand especially if they have been drinking.

Luckily there are well adjusted Thai guys but they don't seem to be the majority. My experience of working with all types of Asian guys over the last 20 years has shown me the way to get the best out of them.. But you have to tread a careful path if you want their co-operation.. Thais, Chinamen and Filipinos seem to be the hardest to deal with...

[JRinger]

Why Do Thais Have A Mob Mentality?

You could ask that same question about many of the members of this forum

Edited April 16, 2010 by JRinger

[SantiSuk]

Hardly surprising that Thai men gang up on falangs when their inhibitions are down. We are overpaid, oversexed and over here! All economically superior (that's not a value judgment) groups become detested - sometimes to the point of genocide

[ExpatJ]

Well, every human is designed with a 'mob mentality' - its not a 'thai' thing, its a human thing e.g. English football hooligans.

About your fedex package being opened- every government reserves the right to open private packages to help stop smuggling- its happened to me in the US and UK (but never in Thailand funnily enough:).

About the waitresses- as other posters have said- they were probably just coming over to help out and in any case its not uncommon to have 2-3 helpers helping you in any store over here.

About the car accident- yes there is no excuse for their behavior.

One thing i have noticed- farangs/expats who have a very negative attitude towards Thailand (like yours as demonstrated in your email at least) tend to behave in a quite moody/arrogant/aggressive way in all their day to day interactions with Thais (perhaps without even realising it)- of course the thais are going to pick up on this and be fairly rude to you in return in most cases.

[freeurmind2]

...

Possibly all of the above

...

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

Point taken but vegetarianism was never a focal point of Buddhism, at least not for my Thai Buddhist friends. It seems to me that Thai culture and Buddhism are closely intertwined the same way Islam is for Muslims and Christianity is for their believers. Their, Thai Buddhist, behavior is in jarring contrast to their alleged beliefs.

[freeurmind2]

First, to the OP:

..... I should have charged admission. All 7 girls in the store came over to be involved...finding a pair of shoes to fit, and at Central Chidlom we suddenly had 4 clerks all helping....

LOL, now 'charging admission' is funny. First, great for you that you've never experienced this. The other thing is as another poster said, it must be their curiosity about and an opportunity to interact with a westerner, or possibly boredom.

...What is this compulsion to be in that little group, the characters of which have stayed basically the same for 3 days, and as a group act so goofy.

...It's definitely a 1 person job. It only takes one person to use the ultrasound "paddle". It only take 1 person to wrap your foot in a hot towel. But all that was always done by 2-3 people at a time.

It couldn't possibly be about boredom in this instance. I call 'curiosity' about you and the opportunity to interact. Or maybe you just give good tips?

...Would you believe 123 clerks...and 7 customers? All these are non-aggressive situations.

I do have more examples and stories that are too lengthy to explain here. Bottomline is that 1) I always ask for someone who "phoot Angkrit, dai mai?" They will most definitely call on that person--and their 17 friends! and 2) I only speak to that person but the hangers on will surround me, look me up and down, whisper among themselves about me, and appear to be ready to argue with whatever I said. Ironically, in my own country I have always treated foreigners with respect and go out of my way to make them feel welcome and safe.

...are you sure it was an unpleasant situation? Same for the shipping managers? Could it have been because of a perceived language problem?

Not unpleasant but 'wary'. I quietly asked the lone person at the counter for the manager, he went in back and brought out 3, only one of whom spoke English! The other two and the grunt didn't say a word. They know they f***kd up my package and are ready to do battle should I, the customer, even raise my voice. Tension in the air.

...they've probably experienced the ugly America before and are prepared to deal with it again. That I have seen...but the unpleasantness was all on the ugly American's side. As to the auto accident situation, well, as you say, they were drunk.

It's unfortunate that there are Ugly Tourists, everywhere and I empathize with shop girls when these old farts start yelling at them . But these youth were quiet and kept a respectful distance when they thought we were Thai. They seemed to find joy in the fact that they could bully us b/c we couldn't speak their language!

[freeurmind2]

Why Do Thais Have A Mob Mentality?

You could ask that same question about many of the members of this forum

Snort! Anyone in a safe, fairly anonymous forum will 'appear' to be all aggressive and stuff. IRL, we are all bound by societal norms and expected behavior and will demonstrate some decorum [with a huge exception for sports events; it's testosterone flying all around, after all].

[clinique]

Agree with most posts above.

Also, inforiority complex due to lack of educational standard, inability to speak or if can speak to 'understand' English conversations. upbringing to beleive that all farangs are rich bogey men.

Superiority in that if a Farang upsets them thye will gang up on you with their friends NO MATTER WHAT THE TRUTH IS.. even as far as lying ( asa group) to Police to get the farang in trouble.

Thais can be very vengeful. and jealous, especially if the have little or no money/financial security.

Oh and ofcourse Thailand has an Aristocratic society. Hence the Pii - Nong relationships. The masses must show respect for authority ( a higher lever person or figure ) but this is only within their own society.

With better educated and higher level Thais thistranslates to foreigners as well. But with lo\er socio levels they beleive thye can ignore this as asortof rebelion if you like ..

Edited April 16, 2010 by clinique

[JRinger]

Do they feel weak and insecure going it alone? Are they paranoid and see danger where none is imminent? Is it insular thinking? Is it a superiority complex among Thais ["We are better than anyone else"]? A sense of entitlement to treat visitors and expat workers any way they want because this is their country? Is it revenge, then? Is it a class thing, where hi-so don't do this but middle or working class do?

Possibly all of the above

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

My thai wife/partner is a vegetarian and so is most of her family; mother, 3 sisters, 2 brothers and they make every attempt to avoid killing even bugs (although I've seen them eat a few)

[JRinger]

Well, every human is designed with a 'mob mentality' - its not a 'thai' thing, its a human thing e.g. English football hooligans.

About your fedex package being opened- every government reserves the right to open private packages to help stop smuggling- its happened to me in the US and UK (but never in Thailand funnily enough:).

About the waitresses- as other posters have said- they were probably just coming over to help out and in any case its not uncommon to have 2-3 helpers helping you in any store over here.

About the car accident- yes there is no excuse for their behavior.

One thing i have noticed- farangs/expats who have a very negative attitude towards Thailand (like yours as demonstrated in your email at least) tend to behave in a quite moody/arrogant/aggressive way in all their day to day interactions with Thais (perhaps without even realising it)- of course the thais are going to pick up on this and be fairly rude to you in return in most cases.

Although I do agree with most of what you've said, I don't agree with the "every human is designed with a mob mentality".

but that's just my opinion and I've never been to a football game.

[isanbirder]

Thais don't have a mob mentality any more than anybody else; what they do have is a group culture. You must conform, you must belong... just go to a big university and see how their jackets proclaim this, not only jackets for faculties, but jackets for departments, jackets for the provinces they come from, and so on.

Those of us from Britain and the States, and probably other Western countries as well, were brought up to be individuals, and to think for ourselves.

Of course anyone can name exceptions to both; football hooligans, for example, who are a perfect example of group action without individual thought.

One of the saddest things about the university where I taught was that individual thought was actively discouraged. To get good marks, a student had to parrot his teacher's 'opinions' (which were invariably secondhand anyway). Intelligent people being forced to conform.... Nothing wrong with Thai brains; they're as good as anybody else's.

[richard_smith237]

I agree that its 'group culture' drummed into them by the drumming out of 'critical thought process' by the education system in the majority of state schools.

[Loz]

The absence of Critical thinking in the Thai curriculum accounts for alot of this IMHO.

If you want to control a population don't promote free thinking creative ideology. Promote "group knows best" thinking. Then you can hurd them up and tell them what to do for a little of the juice thats going around. They will lap it up. This can be seen in many societies of the course of history. Now its the time for Thailand. I can imagine someone banning books before this political mess is over. If you think I am joking ask yourself why they banned internet sites and some tv. they are the "diet" books of our time. Reading is more cerebral than the goggle box but the process is the same.

ok, u can have your soap box back now.

[isanbirder]

I've often had young Thais say to me about someone, "He's my friend; I don't know his name". In England, this is inconceivable. What I think it means is, "He belongs to my group" (e.g. he comes from Pichit the same as I do, or whatever group he's thinking of).

[F1fanatic]

First, to the OP:

I've only lived here about a year, and this ganging up on attitude is something I've never experienced either personally or as a witness. But I've heard of it enough to know that it does indeed happen.

I'm not so sure it's related only to negative interactions, however. The other day I went into a drug store at the Emporium to buy one of my blood pressure medicines. Since I have to take it multiple times a day, there's no reason to buy one strip...only makes sense to buy a full box (100 tabs). I should have charged admission. All 7 girls in the store came over to be involved. It was nothing about unpleasantness. A couple of weeks ago I was having a little difficulty finding a pair of shoes to fit, and at Central Chidlom we suddenly had 4 clerks all helping. Even take a look at Songkram. Across from my condo development is a 7/11. Several people have been there for 3 almost full days throwing water at people. What is this compulsion to be in that little group, the characters of which have stayed basically the same for 3 days, and as a group act so goofy. It's nothing unpleasant. I have some foot problems right now and have had some foot therapy on several different occasions. It's definitely a 1 person job. It only takes one person to use the ultrasound "paddle". It only take 1 person to wrap your foot in a hot towel. But all that was always done by 2-3 people at a time. One Sunday, just out of curiosity I counted the number of clerks in the cosmetics department of the Emporium. Would you believe 123 clerks...and 7 customers? All these are non-aggressive situations.

But, this group mentality then does translate to negative situations, as well.

In re your restaurant situation...are you sure it was an unpleasant situation? Same for the shipping managers? Could it have been because of a perceived language problem?

If you had been farang, I'd say that...well, they've probably experienced the ugly America before and are prepared to deal with it again. That I have seen...but the unpleasantness was all on the ugly American's side. As to the auto accident situation, well, as you say, they were drunk.

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

Now, in regard to TBL's comment. First, and who made you an arbiter of what is defined as "real" Buddhism? If you know much about Buddhism, you know that there's long been a debate within Buddhist circles about whether or not it's all right to eat meat. And, Thai Buddhists, as a group, are just as Buddhist and most Christians are Christian, or most Muslims are Islamic, and so forth.

Buddha really wasn't that obscure in his teachings.

Few people would argue that he said eating meat and killing animals was OK.

Many years ago in Bangkok (as a tourist) I was shocked to see a monk looking at some sort of amulet he was thinking of buying. He had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth and, once he'd decided to buy the amulet, pulled out an enormous wad of notes.

I thought he was an odd case, but living here I've realised that the 'religion' is entirely pragmatic.

The 'buddhists' here think they can buy their way to good fortune. Not exactly something Buddha would have endorsed.....

Sorry, off-topic I know, but the comment "who made you an arbiter of what is defined as real Buddhism?" directed at a previous poster, could not be ignored.

[Tomissan]

QUOTE (thaibeachlovers @ 2010-04-16 05:09:53) *

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

Now, in regard to TBL's comment. First, and who made you an arbiter of what is defined as "real" Buddhism? If you know much about Buddhism, you know that there's long been a debate within Buddhist circles about whether or not it's all right to eat meat. And, Thai Buddhists, as a group, are just as Buddhist and most Christians are Christian, or most Muslims are Islamic, and so forth.

Buddha really wasn't that obscure in his teachings.

Few people would argue that he said eating meat and killing animals was OK.

Many years ago in Bangkok (as a tourist) I was shocked to see a monk looking at some sort of amulet he was thinking of buying. He had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth and, once he'd decided to buy the amulet, pulled out an enormous wad of notes.

I thought he was an odd case, but living here I've realised that the 'religion' is entirely pragmatic.

The 'buddhists' here think they can buy their way to good fortune. Not exactly something Buddha would have endorsed.....

Sorry, off-topic I know, but the comment "who made you an arbiter of what is defined as real Buddhism?" directed at a previous poster, could not be ignored..."end of quote by F1fanatic"

When the Buddha was alive there was no Buddhism, when Christ was alive there was no Christianity. All religions were manufactured by the priests, monks, rabbis, etc., in order to control the masses.....and every country and location has it's own interpretation that works best to keep people hypnotized and under control. The establishment in coordination and copperation with the religious leaders do not like rebels and free thinkers and will not tolerate them at any cost.

Edited April 16, 2010 by Tomissan

[F1fanatic]

Don't you think, or should l say l think that there are cultures around the world that definately have a mob culture when it comes to beating up on somebody or even the looting thing. The mob thing is the numbers, the thought is they won't get hurt, or the looting they won't get caught, to many involved. Plus, the worse comes out in people when in mob mode. See it in UK with football, see it in US with the ethnic minority when looting is possible, or in Africa where they get into a mob frenzy and kill man woman and child. So not really a Thai thing.

Agree. The unintelligent morons in ANY society will form a mob given an excuse.

[bjoe97]

there are many terms for the " mob" mentality

most mobs are cowards

show them a little color and they will run away

actually in some ways it is natural, as is racism ,according to some theory's

people feel more comfortable when with their own

basically, the the higher level races/cultures have the least mob mentality-and visa versa

Thai men many suffer from an inferiority complex ,especially the men because

1- they have small penises

2- they are short, and weaker, in a very general one to one, a westerner would outweigh a local,

and westerns seem overly aggressive, which makes locals think the worst and then call for help, that's very natural.

3- they , because of propaganda may think the westerners are to blame for many of their troubles

4- they are poorer in general than most westerners

5- with all due respect they have they little to be proud about is ,unless one wishes to be proud of the being one of the worlds biggest meet markets, no middle class, the 11th most corrupt country, a far from efficient police/military, a human right history from hel_l , censorship stalin would be proud of

6- obviously being a 3rd world country, look how hard it is for thais to get visa's for anywhere, the qualifications issued here are questioned.

7- their education level is far lower

It is a very telling fact that Thailand is worlds biggest importer of that cream that makes ones skin white.And that so many books are banned.

Thai's are not really a race, it more of a culture. And in so many way a very lovely one. And there is a lot of domestic racism here

Thais people are also hampered by being taught and not allowed not to think.

The "religion" here is accountable for so much, yet, it has so very little to do with the real teaching, which was NOT a religion but philosophy

and a very nice one too .

What Thailand needs to do is get a good government, be honest with itself.There are some very good people here and there is hope.

[whiterussian]

Communal life still applies here in the countryside.

Rice harvesting, planting, irrigation sharing, etc.. all involves 'mob' mentality.

[bjoe97]

QUOTE (thaibeachlovers @ 2010-04-16 05:09:53) *

How does the above tie-in with Buddhism which preach nothing but peace and kindness, unlike some other religions I can mention?

It doesn't, but as Thais don't practice Buddhism ( when did you last meet a vegetarian Thai? ) any more than followers of other religions practice theirs ( thou shalt not kill etc ) it's irrelevant.

Now, in regard to TBL's comment. First, and who made you an arbiter of what is defined as "real" Buddhism? If you know much about Buddhism, you know that there's long been a debate within Buddhist circles about whether or not it's all right to eat meat. And, Thai Buddhists, as a group, are just as Buddhist and most Christians are Christian, or most Muslims are Islamic, and so forth.

Buddha really wasn't that obscure in his teachings.

Few people would argue that he said eating meat and killing animals was OK.

so nice to see someone who does know what they are talking about, but i do not wan tto be given aholiday, what is practiced here is NOT what is is supposed to be- only in name

Many years ago in Bangkok (as a tourist) I was shocked to see a monk looking at some sort of amulet he was thinking of buying. He had a cigarette dangling out of his mouth and, once he'd decided to buy the amulet, pulled out an enormous wad of notes.

I thought he was an odd case, but living here I've realised that the 'religion' is entirely pragmatic.

The 'buddhists' here think they can buy their way to good fortune. Not exactly something Buddha would have endorsed.....

Sorry, off-topic I know, but the comment "who made you an arbiter of what is defined as real Buddhism?" directed at a previous poster, could not be ignored..."end of quote by F1fanatic"

When the Buddha was alive there was no Buddhism, when Christ was alive there was no Christianity. All religions were manufactured by the priests, monks, rabbis, etc., in order to control the masses.....and every country and location has it's own interpretation that works best to keep people hypnotized and under control. The establishment in coordination and copperation with the religious leaders do not like rebels and free thinkers and will not tolerate them at any cost.

what is practiced here is NOTHING to do expert in name to what it call itself

i totally agree with what you say about religion.Christianity- is'nt it funny, some people have read the bible, most who do have'nt a clue what it all means

read 'the christ conspiracy" google landoverbaptist.Who has read about the one person who has kept the church in business for so many years. Aka satan, lucifer( latin for the one who shows the light) he ( who in one biblical verse, God almost but admits that He is him, one and the same!)makes far more sense

I fear for a world that can honestly believe in all that.Talking snake's, the world created in 6 days! Adam and eve...?

Its all to appeal to ones ego and a way to control the masses.

[hawthorne]

Generalizing all Thais as being defined so different than the rest of the world?

Why Do TV posters...?

[bjoe97]

Thais don't have a mob mentality any more than anybody else; what they do have is a group culture. You must conform, you must belong... just go to a big university and see how their jackets proclaim this, not only jackets for faculties, but jackets for departments, jackets for the provinces they come from, and so on.

Those of us from Britain and the States, and probably other Western countries as well, were brought up to be individuals, and to think for ourselves.

Of course anyone can name exceptions to both; football hooligans, for example, who are a perfect example of group action without individual thought.

One of the saddest things about the university where I taught was that individual thought was actively discouraged. To get good marks, a student had to parrot his teacher's 'opinions' (which were invariably secondhand anyway). Intelligent people being forced to conform.... Nothing wrong with Thai brains; they're as good as anybody else's.

yes, when they are born perhaps, if they are not malnourished

the brain is a muscle- their muscle is not exercised, the education system is a joke.

Asia is place where the individual exists to serve society

The west is opposite- the society exists to serve the individual .

One promote progress( although very slow), the other..... well, look at the state of affairs here and other Asian country's.

[james24]

"Thais people are also hampered by being taught and not allowed not to think"

Great statement, as a teacher I see so many creative kids scared to embrace their talent as they maybe seen as different.

On the other hand, after only being here 2half years I can see that is slowly starting to change.

The group mentality, yeh defo boredom and insecurity. Must be hard to keep secure and entertained when your constantly not being yourself but being "Thai."

[wayne78]

The reason Thai's gang up on farangs and others is because they are, in all children. Ever watched kids in the playground when there is some dispute? They gang up and/or take sides.

Thai's have been doing this for centuries and since WW2 have been doing it politicaly and in almost every part of Thai life.

Thai's are interconnected with favours done and favours expected. Alegences are formed and protection comes from being in a pack. It's a Thai thing. I think they are born with it engrained in their psychi.

Thai's are in reality children who want there own way. Their lives are seen though the eyes of a child. I want - I take - You have - I want - Why you have - why I don't have.... etc etc?

The Thai way or the highway is another classic example of a spoilt child demanding of others or else. This is why Thailand is a political basket case now and will soon be an economic basket case as well.

They are all children.

[twschw]

Thai men many suffer from an inferiority complex ,especially the men because

1- they have small penises

Based on extensive research on the part of the poster, no doubt.

[bjoe97]

Thai men many suffer from an inferiority complex ,especially the men because

1- they have small penises

Based on extensive research on the part of the poster, no doubt.

being gay I suppose you could say that

and boys and girls- size does matter!

and by the way, the gay Thai males and females more often than not just do not seem to suffer from this, well, not as much

that what it seems to me

[bjoe97]

"Thais people are also hampered by being taught and not allowed not to think"

Great statement, as a teacher I see so many creative kids scared to embrace their talent as they maybe seen as different.

On the other hand, after only being here 2half years I can see that is slowly starting to change.

The group mentality, yeh defo boredom and insecurity. Must be hard to keep secure and entertained when your constantly not being yourself but being "Thai."

a little harsh-the individual is not really to blame, but the ruling elite throughout history

they say thailand was never a colony, well, that because of several reason, mainly, the west did not want it

i hope nobody doubt otherwise, they needed a buffer state

plus, the ruling elite was smart, the Thai's has just had their bottoms well and truly kicked into line by the brits and told to behave- they did

the ruling elite them seeing that the west might take over decided that this would not be in the best interests of them- the people would have benefited for sure

I do not really approve of colonialism,

but in this case

1- Thailand is a colony in so many way's anyway.Ruled and dictated to by the west.

2-Look at malaya, s'pore, hong-kong. The brits did do some good.

3-It has got to be better than this surely?

somethings are a joke.....and who suffers- the poor downtrodden who have never been given a chance to improve their lot

you cannot buy beer at certain times, but can buy a woman, or man for that matter-its 2010, women still have to sell themselves to eat!

You know, all this can be avoided,

get the crooks out of government/police/military,

how? this is difficult

i would, hand the whole country over to to the UN to sort thiungs out, shame we cannot invite the brits back( actually they never left and like the yanks, still control the place) there are some good ones- the current chap is quite good

what they need is strong moral dictator,

make certain drugs legal,change certain laws, give autonomy to the south ,if not, years of bloodshed ,huge expense-

put the money wasted from silly laws that only cost us, looks into EVERYONE bank accounts... i mean everyone

stop wasting money on arms,

the Thai military is useless anyway, has never done a single thing other than waste billions and have the brits bomb the crap out of bkok as punishment, and managed to keep secret a few of it disastrous op.s, and the yanks would, as they do, step in if necessary

build better school where children are taught to think for themselves and question EVERYTHING

Only the truth leads to real progress

the west could help here

who like to keep the masses in their place by a mix of totally incorrect patriotic diatribe( it far more shameful to tell a pack of lies in order to save ones face), an education system that is designed for sheep, a" religion" which was invented, like most are to keep the blind blinder and to follow the rulers