The Sanuk Myth

[BKKGuitar]

I don't get all this talk about Sanuk here in Thailand! I've been here 7 months now, been all over. Always hear the Sanuk comments: it's such a big part of Thai culture; students won't sign up for a teacher's class if he/she isn't sanuk... etc.

I was lucky to have been able to travel all around Western & Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia for work. Let me tell you something: Thai people are like the most serious people on the planet!! Do they reserve the merriment and frolicking for when they're safely inside their homes?

Just an observation here, that's all. Yes, i am bored. Talk amongst yourselves.

[N&M]

You need to understand that all these people saying this to you, have not travelled to the places you have. So in their little world, it is.

And they do like to have fun and smile and laugh, maybe a little reserved to what you have seen around the world. But they do not like being serious at all really, believe me nothing is taken to seriously in this country.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

I don't get all this talk about Sanuk here in Thailand! I've been here 7 months now, been all over. Always hear the Sanuk comments: it's such a big part of Thai culture; students won't sign up for a teacher's class if he/she isn't sanuk... etc.

I was lucky to have been able to travel all around Western & Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia for work. Let me tell you something: Thai people are like the most serious people on the planet!! Do they reserve the merriment and frolicking for when they're safely inside their homes?

Just an observation here, that's all. Yes, i am bored. Talk amongst yourselves.

Hmm, if you are acting really serious around Thai people then they won't have sanuuk around you, and therefore you won't see any! They'll get defensive when they talk to you.

[Johpa]

I don't get all this talk about Sanuk here in Thailand! I've been here 7 months now, been all over. Always hear the Sanuk comments: it's such a big part of Thai culture; students won't sign up for a teacher's class if he/she isn't sanuk... etc.

I was lucky to have been able to travel all around Western & Eastern Europe, Asia, and Australia for work. Let me tell you something: Thai people are like the most serious people on the planet!! Do they reserve the merriment and frolicking for when they're safely inside their homes?

Just an observation here, that's all. Yes, i am bored. Talk amongst yourselves.

Your observations are correct. Most Thais can't afford much sanuk. Those who can, the city folks, do it behind closed doors and certainly not in the presence of Farangs. The rest of the time they live rather conservative and retentive lifestyles. I mean these are people who have convinced themselves that wearing a suit and tie is proper business attire in a hot steamy tropical climate.

However, in the rural villages, when not planting or harvesting the padi, the men of the village usually have no problems fidning a drinking session going on somewhere. And given a funeral or wedding, the women gather to have a pretty good time themselves.

Ex-pats and tourists on the other hand can afford their sanuk here, which usually refers to affordable sex for hire after drinking. Of course these same visitors could do the same thing in their home countries, but the cost would either cause it to be at best a once a month activity or else they would, by economics, be forced to engage rather unattractive, drug addicted street hookers, the type of gals they could get for a date anyways.

[solo siam]

Sanuk is about finding the pleasures in little things, sitting round a meal with your family, laughing at something funny in the street, singing while you work, stopping by the local shop for a beer or lao kao, telling funny stories in the back of the pick-up on the way to work etc... Its not really about laughing hysterically 24/7, its just about not taking things too seiously.

[edd]

WOW! Man you have never lived.

In our village, Nonsa-at, the locals are completely off their heads,

It’s a real problem to get them to take anything seriously.

My wife even joins her family going out into the rice field at harvest time for 10 hours work because she says she has good SANUK SANUK working with them.

My self I think she is Barr; she doesn’t even get paid for the work.

I must admit when I am in the village every one you talk to is smiling and happy.

I just love it; I suppose it’s just the child that’s in every one if you know how to let it out.

When I return to the UK it is really a culture shock, I find my self looking around to try to find anyone that is smiling and it is almost impossible.

Edited February 18, 2006 by edd

[thai_time]

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

[edd]

altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

Sounds good to me

[AmeriThai]

Out in the sticks where our place is, most everyone we know enjoys plenty of sanook.

[Sing_Sling]

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

This shows clearly that you've never been to Germany or Eastern Europe to make such a ridculous comment. (do you even speak German or any other language?) If you have been there then a few days at the Oktoberfest doesn't count.

But then I guess if getting pissed drunk is your idea of sanuk then it's not surprising. Possibly staying on the Emerald Isle is your best bet so you can pickle your organs and think you're having fun.

[Mobi]

I don't know what Thailand you - "Thais aren't Sanuk" - guys live in. I've been coming to and living in Thailand for over 30 years, and I have also travelled/worked/ lived in many countries from Africa to North America form the Middle East to Eastern Europe and goodness knows where else. Believe me, Thais are Sanuk. (Not to be confused with the ethnic Thai/Chinese who are all perfectly serious in running all the businesses in LOS). Thais live for today, and whether its the students, the professional middle classes, the low paid worker and labourers, the domestic staff, the house servants, the bar girls, the farmers, the villagers or whoever - they all smile and love to be Sanuk. At the slightest opportunity or excuse, they will have fun, enjoy eating, drinkling and partying like no nation on earth.

You guys must be living in a parrallel universe where the Serbs/Croats are laughing all day long before they kill their neighbours.

Or maybe you're just so surly and serious that the Thais feel Kreng Jai about smiling in your presence

[bannork]

The Thais are laughing all the time, most schools are just a holiday camp, the notice inside the front gate says,'welcome to your second home'; the vendors on the pavements are always cracking jokes, even the staff in banks are always having a laugh.

[phusingpete]

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

This shows clearly that you've never been to Germany or Eastern Europe to make such a ridculous comment. (do you even speak German or any other language?) If you have been there then a few days at the Oktoberfest doesn't count.

But then I guess if getting pissed drunk is your idea of sanuk then it's not surprising. Possibly staying on the Emerald Isle is your best bet so you can pickle your organs and think you're having fun.

Of course people in all countries have 'sanook' but here in Thailand it seems to be part of all aspects of their lives.I remember when I first came to Thailand I used to eat my breakfast watching builders working on a site opposite the cafe. Backbreaking work, labouring in blistering heat many of them women ,they were constantly chatting and laughing.Now I live in the sticks in Issan I see exactly the same thing when the Thais are harvesting the rice.Hours of backbreaking work in the searing heat to the sound of constant chatter and laughter.If you are sitting out front of your house it won't be long before you have company with mango or other goodies and before you know it a party is in full swing,no booze neccessary.Never saw this in England.

[BKKGuitar]

Sorry, still not convinced that there is more "sanuk" in Thailand than other countries. People smile, laugh, and "enjoy life's little pleasures" in all countries. If we're talking about passion and love of life, i think you have to go with Italy (but that might just be all that espresso ) People are laughing in the rice fields? I had crappy jobs like moving dusty sacks of concrete off train cars and into a warehouse, and we laughed and joked all day there, too...

Don't get me wrong--my comment was in now way a criticism of Thailand. I love this country and respect the people, and feel gratitude every day for living here. I just sometimes get irritated by all this referencing of some almost mystical quality that only the Thai possess. Other nationalities like to joke around, too!

[Mobi]

Sorry, still not convinced that there is more "sanuk" in Thailand than other countries. People smile, laugh, and "enjoy life's little pleasures" in all countries. If we're talking about passion and love of life, i think you have to go with Italy (but that might just be all that espresso ) People are laughing in the rice fields? I had crappy jobs like moving dusty sacks of concrete off train cars and into a warehouse, and we laughed and joked all day there, too...

Don't get me wrong--my comment was in now way a criticism of Thailand. I love this country and respect the people, and feel gratitude every day for living here. I just sometimes get irritated by all this referencing of some almost mystical quality that only the Thai possess. Other nationalities like to joke around, too!

You've made up your mind haven't you?

Maybe in a few years you might see things a little different. Smile please

Because they are:

[BKKGuitar]

Forgot two points:

1) I don't think we can include North Korea in that smiling & joking category. I suspect they may be a grim lot, with reason.

2) If you want to see sanuk, go to the Philippines. They have so little, yet seem genuinely happy, and are always joking around. I can't help comparing them with Americans (my nationality), who have so much and seem to appreciate so little.

[samran]

Sorry, still not convinced that there is more "sanuk" in Thailand than other countries. People smile, laugh, and "enjoy life's little pleasures" in all countries. If we're talking about passion and love of life, i think you have to go with Italy (but that might just be all that espresso ) People are laughing in the rice fields? I had crappy jobs like moving dusty sacks of concrete off train cars and into a warehouse, and we laughed and joked all day there, too...

Don't get me wrong--my comment was in now way a criticism of Thailand. I love this country and respect the people, and feel gratitude every day for living here. I just sometimes get irritated by all this referencing of some almost mystical quality that only the Thai possess. Other nationalities like to joke around, too!

I think you are taking the concept of sanuk a little too literally. Sure, there is the dictionary meaning where everyone is having a jolly old time. However, it this modern day and age (to me at least) it can simply mean 'interesting'.

Hence, you example about the lecture not being sanuk makes more sense in this context. Of course you are not going to sit for a semester in a class that is going to bore you sh!tless, but neither are you going to expect it to be partly time.

When someone says their job isn't sanuk, to me, that can mean either that the job doesn't keep them interested, or that the people they work with are stick in muds.

[Tippaporn]

I've never laughed so much in my life since coming here. At least the Thais in my circle of friends are usually riotous, always joking around laughing. When my wifey and her girlfriends get together they're a laugh a minute.

Maybe you could argue that other nationalities are sanook, too, but a serious lot they are not! More than a few times my wifey has remarked that I'm too serious, which I'm not.

The biggest difference I see is that there's a lot less complaining here, which indicates to me a more sanook and less serious attitude. That for me is most refreshing.

[PeaceBlondie]

I had a houseboy who didn't speak much English, and I don't speak Thai. No 'fun' at all, not 'sanuk.' But when he's with his friends, they're all smiling and telling jokes. Now, I suspect those aren't the funniest jokes that could get you a stand-up job as a comedian. But they do enjoy saying silly things and laughing.

We spent several nights on a Mexican army base with Tzotzil Mayas who suffered a massacre. When those guys went to bed in the next tent, they joked endlessly, and couldn't stop laughing. All it took to cause roars of laughter was a single word or two. And these are guys who have the most reason in the world to be moaning and crying!!

And those Finns and Germans I see here in Hua Hin, berating the Burger King staff because their order in clear Eng-brish wasn't comprehended - those guys should have their own comedy shows!

"Hey, Sven, did you hear abut ze reindeer who sneezed in de Lapp's face?"

In the classroom, it's edutainment. Far more than in the USA or Germany.

[Mobi]

Maybe you could argue that other nationalities are sanook, too,

The English idea of Sanuk: Drinking 25 pints of lager, spewing up all over the road, smashing as many heads in as possible with broken bottles before being carted off to the nick or nearest casualty unit where you can start all over again on the nurses or doctors.... what fun.. so Sanuk

Ps You don't even have to go to England to see this funfilled, sanuk activity. Walking Street in Pattaya is now a "little piece of Lager-lout England" on a Saturday night. Book your tickets now.

[gburns57au]

I tend to define sanuk not as a word but as an attitude.

[GuestHouse]

I think it's fair to say that the level of Sanuk increases markedly when Thais are paying the bill themselves.

I think having or enjoying Sanuk is very important to Thais, but I my own observations are that while they feel it is important, and they are delighted to join in Sanuk when they find it. Thais, like the rest of us are bogged down with all the worries of life.

To expect them to be fundementally different from the rest of us is just plain silly.

[Tippaporn]

I think they handle their concerns differently, which makes a fundamental difference.

[dog412]

sanook, as related to education or work, should be the result of personal pride as to having done one's best, and not to the expectation that they are to be "provided for".

[edd]

Can you show me any other people where the complete country has a 5 day water fight in the middle of a drought season?

Son kran, absolutely superb.

Sanuk Sanuk.

Edd

[GuestHouse]

Can you show me any other people where the complete country has a 5 day water fight in the middle of a drought season?

India, and just for good measure they add colour to the water.

Meanwhile, the areas around the borders of Holland/Belgium and Germany together with Rio and Venice are enjoying Carnival this week..

Now there is Sanuk!

[raro]

I don't find Thai people to have more 'sanook' than other countries really. Except German people and eastern europeans. I am Irish and i think people here have 'sanook makk makk', altough my defintion of it means getting pissed drunk with your friends and having a good laugh.

Come on...don't be so harsh with us Germans. During the Koelsche Karneval we get our rocks off five days in a row! Then it's back to work, though...

[Heng]

(Not to be confused with the ethnic Thai/Chinese who are all perfectly serious in running all the businesses in LOS).

Nonsense. Work hard, but play equally hard. Sometimes both at the same time. Just this morning we had the money counters going on full blast doing shots of JW Blue every time one of them hiccuped. It was a total riot. And don't get me started on inventory stock day.

[boppia]

I've noticed more and more Thai people stressed out. I think it has to do with the current problems in politics here. People just don't seem to smile as much lately. It might be that they noticed they make about 200,000 baht per year, have very little savings, and lots of debt and their leader makes well over 1,000,000 baht a day and has 73,000,000,000 baht in the bank, no known debt, and other unseen-in-Thailand assets. And they thought they had it good!

Well it's just my opineon.

[gurkle]

I've noticed more and more Thai people stressed out. I think it has to do with the current problems in politics here. People just don't seem to smile as much lately. It might be that they noticed they make about 200,000 baht per year, have very little savings, and lots of debt and their leader makes well over 1,000,000 baht a day and has 73,000,000,000 baht in the bank, no known debt, and other unseen-in-Thailand assets. And they thought they had it good!

Well it's just my opineon.

One of the scariest concepts farangs bring to Thailand is the idea of class warfare. That singular idea has the potential to destroy the paradise that is Thailand and make everyone start hating each other and commit crimes to "keep up with the Joneses".

Why is the relevant metric the gap between poor and rich? The only way to close this gap is to make sure no one ever gets rich, as in communism.

The real metric to judge the success of a government is the quality of living and satisfaction level of both the poor and rich. The poor people here can afford a house, wife, kids, and food. And they don't bother constantly comparing themselves to the next richest person, making themselves eternally unhappy as Americans are prone to. In the US, the poor live in the streets, eat from garbage cans, and are murdered by bored teenagers. Or move to Thailand

As you say about the poor here, they "thought they had it good". Isn't that what it's all about - being content? However, the farang immigrants (and television) are making the poor dissatisfied with what they have. For those who believe in class warfare, please go home (farangs who are hard-working and don't constantly complain are welcome). We do not want Thailand to be a welfare state where our poor turn into beggars that believe they deserve "entitlements" without having to work for it.