Differences In Regions

[girlx]

to make this relevant to the ladies forum i will ask specifically about men. but i am wondering what the major differences are in Thais from different regions of the country. of course anything listed will be accepted as a generalization, but there are certain traditions, mannerisms, styles, and behaviors that are unique to each region, and i am interested in hearing what you have discovered.

for instance, isaan people are very fun loving and will find any excuse to turn a situation into a party. however they are the least straightforward of all the thais, and the most superstitious. they also eat the weirdest food and have the least self consciousness.

central thais (ie. bangkok) seem to be the most materialistic, pay the most attention to the concept of "face", and have the most ambition. bangkok thais especially seem more into the arts as well, but that might be because they are offered more exposure to it...

southern thais are the most direct, temperamental, and from what i have seen the most hard working. also, the south seems a little more liberal to me, for instance when a woman divorces, she is not seen as damaged goods so much as she is (and then ostracized) in the north. in fact, the women seem to generally run things in the south.

you get the gist...

[Boo]

I find your observations to be too biased & quite simplistic really, as living where you do, you only have a small cross section of people to compare too.

Have you ever lived or stayed for an extended period anywhere else but KPG, or is this just from the people you have met on the island?

[girlx]

i have been coming to thailand for 8 years. i have been all over the country except for farther south. i lived for over a year in koh chang, a year in bangkok, and a total of 9 or 10 months in koh phangan. my boyfriend was from isaan and i spent a bit of time there as well.

like i said, there are going to be generalizations. do you have anything to contribute? a social commentary does not have to be a list of stereotypes, and i don't believe my comments were!

[girlx]

p.s. what inspired this post initially were two comments made by SBK- one being the physical difference between southern men and other thais (noses and stature). the other was that she says the southern thais say what they think, which northern thais in general do not. i am interested in these differences, they are what makes thailand fascinating, no?

[Boo]

I don't actually agree with any of your observations which is why I was wondering if it was just from where you are living or if you had any other experience to back it up.

[meadish_sweetball]

You have already listed the usual stereotypes that the Thais always mention when talking about the different parts of Thailand, some of them bear some truth, but the reality of individuality always smacks you on the nose when you go and generalize too much.

I personally dont think there is anything more of interest to discover on this track... also this type of posts are likely to lure out the trolls from under their rocks.

[Boo]

an example;

Having lived in samui for several years, most of the "workers" (hotel, resteraunt, bars, beach etc) were from the north-east & north of thailand whilst the southerners were the owners, so I can't agree that southerners were harder workers, as the ones I knew from samui had land, business & money & didn't do much of anything except be the boss. (again this is a very limited experience as samui land owners are very rich) but outside of samui on visa runs, trips to my ex's home in pattaloon etc, I found the people to be very similar to northerners/issan people in that the majority worked the land or their own small businesses & worked very hard at it too, going to bed early & waking early. So I can't catorgorise easily.

[seville]

I think this is a great topic GirlX. I have never spent any real time in other parts of the Kingdom so can't contribute much. But surely there are differences like you find in different parts of the U.S.

I know there are big differences from say a Chinese Thai to a person how does not have a strong Chinese influence. I spent a long train ride with 20 something Chinese Thai person and he was compareing his up bringing to his friends.

I also read posts all the time and things in the different books out there on Thai Culture that don't seem to be true of the people I know personnaly.

[girlx]

hmm, don't want to play? move along.

in my experience my comments are very valid and i presented them to see if others had similar observations or have noticed other differences. meadish you say these are typical stereotypes, but i have never heard people mention them, and if they are stereotypes they aren't coming out of thin air. i don't think there was anything inherently critical in what i said- if you deny that there are differences between isaan people and southerners for instance, you aren't very observant. there are totally different customs from north to south. i am interested in hearing more of them that i may not have discovered yet!

[Boo]

Disucssing the different habits, foods, beliefs, customs etc between north, central & south is one thing but your examples weren't about that. You clearly stated that you thought southerners were harder workers, more honest (straightforward), were more liberal & had better womens rights than the rest of the regions which to me is biased & not something I can agree with.

[seonai]

Ditto Boo. I don't know what GirlX has a problem with or if she is doing an indepth study into Thai male (boy) culture, but she obviously is not very clued up.

[girlx]

well then we will have to agree to disagree, boo. i find all of those things to be very true in my experience, but of course anything anyone ever says will be subjective, won't it? again, do you have anything to contribute?

& seonai where do you get i have a problem? i studied psychology/sociology/anthropolgy all my life. it interests me. and erm, what about you? anything to contribute to "clue me in"?

Edited December 14, 2005 by girlx

[Boo]

I have contributed, I have given you an example of my experiences to one of the points you posted.

[seonai]

Frankly GirlX, if you want to do an anthropological study re Thai males I suggest you register at a decent University

[girlx]

thanks boo, and like i said we will have to agree to disagree, but your observations are just as valid as mine aren't they. next?

[seonai]

loads GirlX, just ask away.....

[girlx]

loads GirlX, just ask away.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

gee. how can i rephrase this. what have you noticed in terms of differences in behavior, trends, ways of thinking, or customs from north to south in thailand? if you want to refute my observations, give your own! i am not saying any of us are right, it's just a discussion!

[Boo]

this isn't an argument girlx. You asked if I had anything to contibute & I told you I already had, I also told you why I couldn't agree with your initial post but you have decided not to back any of your comments up with examples, I have many many personal examples which make me disagree with you but unless you going to bother to elaborate your own examples then thats the point of the topic?

[seonai]

vast generalisations I would say

[seonai]

hey Boo that was intended for GirlX

[girlx]

i am not making it an argument. i said your observations were valid. i was hoping you would contribute more of them so that i might learn something.

let me repeat myself- everything posted will be subjective, and there can't help but be generalizations, but of course there is the individual to take into account, there are always exceptions to every rule.... but don't discount sociology completely eh?

let's see. isaan people- very very gracious hosts. always pushing food at you, touching you on the hand, trying to make you comfortable, smiling, playing music, dancing, and joking around. they drink a lot compared to other regions of the country i have been to. they seem to have more festivals/celebrations. despite being much less affluent, they seem much happier than the thais in the south. they have been for me the easiest to feel like i am close to because they are so open and friendly, but at the same time, in reality they seem much harder to really get to know (less straightforward about what they are really thinking and looking more to please). they are also the most communal of all the thais i have met- they seem to share absolutely everything, and impose upon each other in ways that would embarass me. isaan food is my favorite and eating is ritualistic in isaan. families are very close knit. they don't seem to care much about the arts or politics in general, but are more earthy and simplistic.

i don't know about the rest of the north...?

central thais- very motivated for the most part. of course there are a lot of students and businesspeople and people who have left their small village to go make money for their families. they are more competitive. less open to anything outside the status quo, although in some areas this is not the case, people are pushing the envelope, trying to make progress, and anything goes. they want the car, the mobile phone, the trendy plastic bracelets and shaggy hair, designer clothes. most of the people i met in bangkok were not so close to their families, but spent a lot of time with friends. overall though much more independent than elsewhere. they don't have so much time to party. they are much more judgemental and i think racist (particularly against northerners). they are more interested in politics and the world. they have more money. they speak better english even outside the tourist areas.

southern thais- very strong and hearty. not so immediately friendly and smiley. they seem to take their time and size a person up before they make a move towards friendship. they are much more affluent than thais in the north, but less mobile. there seems to be a strong mafia contingent in every part of the south i have visited, and the trends i have noticed are to wear football shirts, drive motorbikes or large pickup trucks very fast, flash gold chains, and snub people in the village. yes i find them more petty and quicker to fight than for instance isaan people (who do fight when they are drunk). the women have a lot of power in the family here. the men seem to defer to them in business matters. one thing i keep seeing over and over is that southern men are so sweet to their children! they are always walking around with them on a hip, cooing to them in public, tickling them on the motorbike. the roles were reversed in the north. like i mentioned, women also seem less oppressed here- the men still have mia nois but they seem more honest about them. divorced women are accepted and not ostracized. people in the south seem more private overall. their parties are more restrained.

just off the top of my head... feel free to refute, but not attack please.

[kat]

Girlx:

While I agree that you are right about regional differences - and perfectly justified to pose the question, as it is a proper research question, I think your examples are very, very general.

For example, you say people in Issan are less direct, but I've found that experience all over Thailand. In the South, I've found them to be a bit more direct in opinions and openminded about things like race and differences, but can also be evasive when it suits them.

But there is no question there are regional differences. The histories vary, the economies vary, the languages vary, the ethnic/social identities vary, the religons vary ..... even the cultures on some islands are very distinct.

There is no question that there are regional differences. The question is "what are the general and significant differences" between these regions.

just my 2 cents, for whatever it's worth.

*edit - typo

** Also, you give very detailed descriptions, which is good. But is also easy to pick through each one and recognize many of the same characteristics throughout.

Edited December 14, 2005 by kat

[Boo]

Thanks kat, I was trying to get that across but obviously not doing a good job of it!

[kat]

No probs. But I think it is a worthy discussion, however, many characteristics will be shared, because of the influence of the dominant culture.

I know girlx is asking what is different, but the problem is you have to sift through many similarities to really find out what is different.

[moscow5]

don't forget about class!

i think it's worth pointing out that it's also going to be different when you start talking about the regions AND the different classes. generalizations about isaan people all seem to be about poor people and the stereotypes are about poor people (but what about middle class isaan?), while those of central thailand tend to be about middle-class or wealthier thais (what about the poor in bangkok? outlying areas?).

sorry, but there's no way around it - no matter what your intentions are, when you start saying things like this group is more hard-working than others and this group is "simplistic" you're going to alarm people and open yourself up to being called over-simplistic, callous, and even patronizing. honestly, i'm surprised that you couldn't foresee this! if, as you say, you meant something different, you should convey it so that we know exactly what you mean instead of what you don't.

Edited December 14, 2005 by moscow5

[RamdomChances]

Issarn men sit around all day drinking lao khao, trying to work out how to sell thier wives/daughters/Gf to falangs to pay for their drinking habits. Oh and are all poor.

Central men are just interested in buissines, money and face as they are all chineese/thai and they are all rich.

Southern men are all radical muslims,hate everyone else and speak with a silly sing song accent.

Northern men live in little villages on mountians making cute handcraft stuff, they probably dont have electricity or running water and they keep cute little wild pigs.

Alledgedly

[girlx]

ok, so if you guys don't like my examples, give some of your own that are less stereotyping! break the stereotypes and teach me something.... or why bother posting? i have found these things to be true in general in these regions, no matter what the class. what have you found to be true? it's a discussion!

by your reasoning, you can never say anything at all about thai people! it's like the PC thing in america- everyone is afraid of saying anything for fear it might offend. yet most stereotypes are based in large part on truth! as long as you realize it doesn't apply across the board, an examination can be fascinating and educational....

come on, do you deny there are differences in the people of all the regions here? do you have nothing interesting to say about that?

if you went to japan, you might say that the japanese are very reserved, tend to want to blend into the herd, and speak bad english in general (in fact i just read these things on a guidebook website). these things are very true in general in japan. however i have met japanese people who are exceptions to the rule, of course. the fact is though, they are exceptions, and the majority of the people i met in japan were very reserved, wanted to be just like their friends, and spoke little english.

perhaps i should say what generalizations can you make about people of the different regions, does that work better for you? it's not intended to insult, i just find the differences interesting!

Edited December 15, 2005 by girlx

[RamdomChances]

Well I live in "Central Thailand"(which by the way is'nt just BKK most of its rural) and I've spent a fair bit of time around some parts of Issarn, a bit in the north and very little in the south (I'm discounting Phuket as it's its own little world). To be honest there is virtually no difference that I can see from your average familly in Issarn to your average family in central thailand. OK reginol foods,accents and traditions withstanding . I've never really spent enough time in the other areas to tell.

RC

[seville]

Seonai you seem so quick to attack people for posting things that don't interest you. GirlX said nothing about Thai Men, she was asking about Thai people.

Here's someone trying to talk about something she is curious about and you and Boo both jumped all over her.

Maybe you gals didn't mean to come off as mean or judgemental, but sure came off that way to me.

And of course she is speaking in general, she didn't ask what any of us felt about Mick Jagger, she asked about Thai people from other regions.

Maybe this topic would be better started over in the General Forum, GirlX. More people visit that Forum. You may even get some feed back from some Thai people.

[Boo]

seville, I didn't attack, I just said I disagreed with her observations, found them biased & simplistic & gave her a perfectly valid example of one of my differing opinions to one she posted.

Try & read my posts properly. Generalisations do happen but I'm not going to sit here & let stupid ones slide.