Biased Views Of Neighbouring Nations Must Change, Thai History Experts Say

[BrianCR]

Biased views of neighbouring nations must change, experts say

Not gonna happen, common sense says.

What common sense? Who would have thought 20 years ago that ordinary Thai people would stand up against the military? Nobody with any common sense however, they have and in some cases made the military back down! Remember when General Suchinda decided that he was God and that PM Chatchai was corrupt? Suchinda with the help of his brother appointed himself PM - ordinary Thai people didn't like the idea - the result? After only a few months Suchinda got a boot up his backside and was thrown out! Common sense says educate the people and armed with knowledge anything can be done!

[EyesWideOpen]

Biased views of neighbouring nations must change, experts say

Not gonna happen, common sense says.

What common sense? Who would have thought 20 years ago that ordinary Thai people would stand up against the military? Nobody with any common sense however, they have and in some cases made the military back down! Remember when General Suchinda decided that he was God and that PM Chatchai was corrupt? Suchinda with the help of his brother appointed himself PM - ordinary Thai people didn't like the idea - the result? After only a few months Suchinda got a boot up his backside and was thrown out! Common sense says educate the people and armed with knowledge anything can be done!

"Common sense says educate the people and armed with knowledge anything can be done!"

Which sadly is why it will never be done...

[bangon04]

Can anyone give a link to the same article written in Thai newspaper? I would so love to give it to a few friends to read.....

[PaullyW]

My Thai girlfriend says Bangkok is the centre of the world and Thailand leads the world in most things. She is completely brainwashed and stupid.

My Thai girlfriend says Bangkok is the centre of the world and Thailand leads the world in most things. She is completely brainwashed and stupid.

But, I bet she is hot, hot!

[BrianCR]

Biased views of neighbouring nations must change, experts say

Not gonna happen, common sense says.

What common sense? Who would have thought 20 years ago that ordinary Thai people would stand up against the military? Nobody with any common sense however, they have and in some cases made the military back down! Remember when General Suchinda decided that he was God and that PM Chatchai was corrupt? Suchinda with the help of his brother appointed himself PM - ordinary Thai people didn't like the idea - the result? After only a few months Suchinda got a boot up his backside and was thrown out! Common sense says educate the people and armed with knowledge anything can be done!

"Common sense says educate the people and armed with knowledge anything can be done!"

Which sadly is why it will never be done...

Education in Thailand has improved a lot in those 20 years and as the middle classes become richer they are sending more kids overseas - those kids are coming back with ideas

[BrianCR]

My Thai girlfriend says Bangkok is the centre of the world and Thailand leads the world in most things. She is completely brainwashed and stupid.

My Thai girlfriend says Bangkok is the centre of the world and Thailand leads the world in most things. She is completely brainwashed and stupid.

But, I bet she is hot, hot!

Is she hot!!!! LOL

[Tomtomtom69]

Wow finally an intelligent statement !!! Yes this hate thy neighbor is certainly a poor way to teach students. Although the article is a bit off. Laos is viewed as a sort of bumbling backward cousin, with no hatred since a lot of the people in Isan are in fact descended from Laos people. ( Ever notice the same language and the same food ?? ) Not really sure about the Thai arrogance part or its origins. The Khymer empire showed itself to be far more advanced with its construction of the Ankor temple complex. As far as the Burmese, that hatred is based upon them routinely coming into Thailand and using it as a whipping post. So that could be a bit tricky to fix... :-)

The bigger problem is that they consider being better off than Laos or Cambodia some sort of event.

Greece was the same vis a vis Turkey and Bulgaria. Look how far that got them.

Laos is being turned into a colony of China, and Cambodia was basically destroyed by Pol Pot killing every intelligent person. Burma is who Thailand must worry about in the future.

Get rid of the crap government, and unleash the power of a nation full of intelligent hard working people.....

A colony of China and Vietnam I'd say (southern Laos is very Vietnamese influenced, the north is Chinese influenced).

Anyway with such a poor attitude it's no wonder that Thai companies have been much slower to expand into Laos than companies from other countries and now that they are seeing what opportunities the Chinese, Vietnamese and other foreigners (including Australians) have found in Laos they are struggling to keep up. It's a pity though, because with a similar language and culture etc. Thailand could really have turned Laos into an economic colony for Thailand, rather than allowing China and Vietnam (which is poorer than Thailand) to do so.

[Markaew]

Thailand hub of nationalistic hatred.

This is one of the most intelligent articles I have ever read from a Thai and I must congratulate him. However, as he states it seems the chances of changing attitudes is going to be very hard and maybe impossible. As someone married to a Thai but living and working in Cambodia since 2001 I must say the Khmer's have a great many reasons to hate the Thai's (many in recent history too) and yet my wife has never experienced any difficulties here. I have witnessed first hand the abuse of Thai military and officials on poor Cambodians at the border and my opinion of the Thai's gets lower every year. I also work with many Khmer students and I must say I honestly think this country can move forward very quickly (once we see the end of the widely hated Hun Sen) because of how eager young Khmer's are to learn and improve themselves and their country. Unlike many Thai's they don't show utter disrespect, often contempt, for foreigners and the students don't mind putting the effort in, whereas many teachers I know in Thailand despair at the total lack of interest shown by their students.

A dramatic change in the ultra nationalistic history teaching in Thailand could go a long way to changing the direction I see Thailand headed in.

Great article.

Great article but great post as well.

[Markaew]

This article pretty much explains exactly why I am moving my Thai wife and children out of this country to avoid the abominable education system here. The only difference between Thailand and its neighbors is Thailand ended up on the right side of the fence with the United States during the cold war. Thailand was just as poor as its neighbors not too long ago. Never mind the fact Thai history is disgraceful in its invasion and occupation of its neighbors until the French threw them out at the end of the 19th Century.

Very kind of the French................. or was it to further their own colonial aspirations? They milked far more from French Indo-China than the Thais ever did. The imposition of French rule and later collaboration by the Vichy government with Japan helped lay the ground for the horrors the befell these unfortunate countries after WW11.

Thailand's switch to the US after collaborating outrageously with the Japanese, could be construed as being a very politically savvy and smart thing to do. Depends whose interpretation of history you want to read.

All of my friends complain about the education system in their own country, apart from the Scandinavians. There are good and bad schools/teachers here the same as anywhere. What is very questionable is the history curriculum. Like a lot of Asian countries, they hide reality when required to save face. See how many Japanese know much about WW11 - yet they have some very smart people.

Actually, it's not hard to figure out about the Thais switching over. If you take what you know about Thailand today, you can see they are non-confrontational and they see Japan losing AND Thais always follow the money.

[Markaew]

Thailand hub of nationalistic hatred.

This is one of the most intelligent articles I have ever read from a Thai and I must congratulate him. However, as he states it seems the chances of changing attitudes is going to be very hard and maybe impossible. As someone married to a Thai but living and working in Cambodia since 2001 I must say the Khmer's have a great many reasons to hate the Thai's (many in recent history too) and yet my wife has never experienced any difficulties here. I have witnessed first hand the abuse of Thai military and officials on poor Cambodians at the border and my opinion of the Thai's gets lower every year. I also work with many Khmer students and I must say I honestly think this country can move forward very quickly (once we see the end of the widely hated Hun Sen) because of how eager young Khmer's are to learn and improve themselves and their country. Unlike many Thai's they don't show utter disrespect, often contempt, for foreigners and the students don't mind putting the effort in, whereas many teachers I know in Thailand despair at the total lack of interest shown by their students.

A dramatic change in the ultra nationalistic history teaching in Thailand could go a long way to changing the direction I see Thailand headed in.

Great article.

Interesting point. Nothing impedes learning more than arrogance. I was visiting Ankor Wat a few years ago. I bought some water from a 12 year old Khmer girl working at a road side stand. She spoke perfect colloquial English. I asked her in astonishment why her English was so good. She said she sold drinks in the day time, and went to see a teacher who gave English lessons to children at night time. She said she paid a dollar a month for the lessons. If she is representative of many other Khmers, Thailand should start worrying...

When I asked her why she worked so hard to learn English, she told me simply that she felt if she spoke English very well, she could have a better life..... This is one of the people Thailand looks down upon ??

Yes, because she doesn't think Thailand is the center of the universe. She can better herself outside of Thailand.

[Markaew]

Wow finally an intelligent statement !!! Yes this hate thy neighbor is certainly a poor way to teach students. Although the article is a bit off. Laos is viewed as a sort of bumbling backward cousin, with no hatred since a lot of the people in Isan are in fact descended from Laos people. ( Ever notice the same language and the same food ?? ) Not really sure about the Thai arrogance part or its origins. The Khymer empire showed itself to be far more advanced with its construction of the Ankor temple complex. As far as the Burmese, that hatred is based upon them routinely coming into Thailand and using it as a whipping post. So that could be a bit tricky to fix... :-)

The bigger problem is that they consider being better off than Laos or Cambodia some sort of event.

Greece was the same vis a vis Turkey and Bulgaria. Look how far that got them.

Laos is being turned into a colony of China, and Cambodia was basically destroyed by Pol Pot killing every intelligent person. Burma is who Thailand must worry about in the future.

Get rid of the crap government, and unleash the power of a nation full of intelligent hard working people.....

A colony of China and Vietnam I'd say (southern Laos is very Vietnamese influenced, the north is Chinese influenced).

Anyway with such a poor attitude it's no wonder that Thai companies have been much slower to expand into Laos than companies from other countries and now that they are seeing what opportunities the Chinese, Vietnamese and other foreigners (including Australians) have found in Laos they are struggling to keep up. It's a pity though, because with a similar language and culture etc. Thailand could really have turned Laos into an economic colony for Thailand, rather than allowing China and Vietnam (which is poorer than Thailand) to do so.

Burma has more clout than Laos. And why does Thailand need to expand it's borders? They are busy giving their land away to avoid fighting. (See history of Thailand, land to Burma, land to Malaysia).

[rbrooks]

Thais that I have talked do not know anything about world history let alone their own history. Most Thais that I have talked to did not even know that that their King was born in the U.S..

[easybullet3]

wait until 2015 when all the doors open in the Asean community and you see a few hundred thousand 'hard working' people from neighbour countries coming to work in hotels, restaurants, shops and other jobs etc...

- Then I am sure we will see all the usual complaints of how "foreigners are taking our jobs" (as we hear so much in the UK)!!

it makes me feel sad every time I hear my parents complaining (in the UK) that foreigners are taking the jobs of the English!! Geez! how racist does the media and education departments make our world?? !!!!!

[RubbaJohnny]

Tolerance is a tenet of Buddhism and refreshing to see the fearless press in the vanguard of reform

[Sheryl]

Wow finally an intelligent statement !!! Yes this hate thy neighbor is certainly a poor way to teach students. Although the article is a bit off. Laos is viewed as a sort of bumbling backward cousin, with no hatred since a lot of the people in Isan are in fact descended from Laos people. ( Ever notice the same language and the same food ?? ) Not really sure about the Thai arrogance part or its origins. The Khymer empire showed itself to be far more advanced with its construction of the Ankor temple complex. As far as the Burmese, that hatred is based upon them routinely coming into Thailand and using it as a whipping post. So that could be a bit tricky to fix... :-)

The bigger problem is that they consider being better off than Laos or Cambodia some sort of event.

Greece was the same vis a vis Turkey and Bulgaria. Look how far that got them.

Laos is being turned into a colony of China, and Cambodia was basically destroyed by Pol Pot killing every intelligent person. Burma is who Thailand must worry about in the future.

Get rid of the crap government, and unleash the power of a nation full of intelligent hard working people.....

I take it you haven't been to Cambodia recently.

It's been rebuilt.

A whole new generation was born in a post Pol Pot "baby boom" and have come of age. And while the quality of education in Cambodia needs improving (as it also does in Thailand), they are the best educated generation the country has ever seen. Universal primary education has been achieved and universal education thru grade 9 is within reach in the forseeable future. Infant death rate shave dropped dramatically. Very impressive economic growth now for many years, and no sign of it stopping. A burgeoning middle class. Basically in a situation analagous to Thailand in the 1980's.

[Johpa]

My Thai girlfriend says Bangkok is the centre of the world and Thailand leads the world in most things. She is completely brainwashed and stupid.

But isn't that just the way you and many Thai Visa members like them? The ruling Sino-Thai elite also likes to keep them uneducated. History is but one of the subjects, not to mention the over all teaching methodology in Thai education that needs radical reform. But let's face it, the ruling elite, both the dominant Sino-Thai faction (which likes to have taught in the schools a post-modernist multicultural society message that includes the Sino-Thais but not the other minorities) as well as the remaining old Sakdina ruling class have no advantage in having an educated nation. They, as well as the neo-sahib expat population want to keep the masses brainwashed and ignorant and sustain the availability of cheap labor and access to affordable blowjobs at the same time.

[lungmi]

I saw a monumentally movie made by one of the best movie-makers in Thailand (Family of the King) about the beginning of the Chakra Dynasty.

High Class movie, Hollywood can not make better. Only one problem: The historical facts were fake.

When the movie is good, I don't care.

But this movie was promoted in Thai High-Schools as historical teaching!!!!

Can you imagine that the saga of the Nibelungs or Brave Heart is used as historical teaching in classrooms?

[surangw]

difficult to change the ingrained attitude thais are #1 in the world, and all others are dogs

[ccarbaugh]

Great article! Yes, but Thais "Superiority Complex"

isn't just limited to their upcountry brethren and

their immediate neighbors!

[Tomtomtom69]

wait until 2015 when all the doors open in the Asean community and you see a few hundred thousand 'hard working' people from neighbour countries coming to work in hotels, restaurants, shops and other jobs etc...

- Then I am sure we will see all the usual complaints of how "foreigners are taking our jobs" (as we hear so much in the UK)!!

it makes me feel sad every time I hear my parents complaining (in the UK) that foreigners are taking the jobs of the English!! Geez! how racist does the media and education departments make our world?? !!!!!

I thought that the AEC was only for skilled workers from member states being able to cross borders between members to work, not just anyone like is the case in the EU. AEC will be nothing like the EU - firstly, will cars be allowed between all member states, without the need for annoying paperwork? I doubt it.

Will they be allowed to remain in member states for a long time, not just 30 days at a time? Well, I haven't heard anything to suggest they will. Will Vietnam finally allow Thai vehicles not part of a caravan tour across it's borders? Well, let's see...

Will border posts between countries be eliminated? No. Or at least I highly doubt they will be.

So all in all - nothing to worry about even come 2015 as nothing much will change.

[Card]

I largely agree with this but let's face it, EVERY country in the world looks down on its neighbours. I mean look how the Scots whinge about England and how superior their race is to that of the Anglo Saxons, the French about the Germans, the Germans about all their neighbours, the Americans about the Mexicans and Canadians. And who loves the Han Chinese? The only country that doesn't whine about its neighbours are the Ozzy bastards (that is meant in a traditional Ozzie bastard matey way). Coming to think about it, they don't have any neighbours, so they have invented neighbours in the Asians so they have someone to whine about.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Card

[Thai at Heart]

wait until 2015 when all the doors open in the Asean community and you see a few hundred thousand 'hard working' people from neighbour countries coming to work in hotels, restaurants, shops and other jobs etc...

- Then I am sure we will see all the usual complaints of how "foreigners are taking our jobs" (as we hear so much in the UK)!!

it makes me feel sad every time I hear my parents complaining (in the UK) that foreigners are taking the jobs of the English!! Geez! how racist does the media and education departments make our world?? !!!!!

I thought that the AEC was only for skilled workers from member states being able to cross borders between members to work, not just anyone like is the case in the EU. AEC will be nothing like the EU - firstly, will cars be allowed between all member states, without the need for annoying paperwork? I doubt it.

Will they be allowed to remain in member states for a long time, not just 30 days at a time? Well, I haven't heard anything to suggest they will. Will Vietnam finally allow Thai vehicles not part of a caravan tour across it's borders? Well, let's see...

Will border posts between countries be eliminated? No. Or at least I highly doubt they will be.

So all in all - nothing to worry about even come 2015 as nothing much will change.

Hotel workers and nurses are open.

I expect a flood of English speakers into these industries.

[khaowong1]

Many Thais also believe that people in such countries are simply not as smart as those from more developed countries ???

So this means that Thai's think they are a developed country? I could go on and on, but this statement has probably already been picked to pieces.

[BanTamo]

In my own experience those with such superiority complexes inevitably take a hard fall. And IF they ever get up again they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what happened. Most never do; they're finished for this life. But the fall at least works to their advantage in the karmic accounts.

[hellodolly]

Wow finally an intelligent statement !!! Yes this hate thy neighbor is certainly a poor way to teach students. Although the article is a bit off. Laos is viewed as a sort of bumbling backward cousin, with no hatred since a lot of the people in Isan are in fact descended from Laos people. ( Ever notice the same language and the same food ?? ) Not really sure about the Thai arrogance part or its origins. The Khymer empire showed itself to be far more advanced with its construction of the Ankor temple complex. As far as the Burmese, that hatred is based upon them routinely coming into Thailand and using it as a whipping post. So that could be a bit tricky to fix... :-)

The bigger problem is that they consider being better off than Laos or Cambodia some sort of event.

Greece was the same vis a vis Turkey and Bulgaria. Look how far that got them.

Laos is being turned into a colony of China, and Cambodia was basically destroyed by Pol Pot killing every intelligent person. Burma is who Thailand must worry about in the future.

Get rid of the crap government, and unleash the power of a nation full of intelligent hard working people.....

I agree with what you say but it will take them just as long to get rid of that crap government as it will take Thailand to get rid of the corruption in government.

When that happens Thailand will already be teaching reality and the ability to think. Unfortunatly while it might happen in my life time (I am 71) It wi8ll be to late for me to enjoy it.

[hellodolly]

The teaching of Thai history and the history of Thailand's relations with its neighbours should be reformed to eradicate Thais' superiority complex and condescending attitude, mistrust and even hatred towards its closest neighbours, two Thai experts said.

And for once this statement wasn't made by so called Thaivisa Thai bashers, so after all there must be some truth in it.

Can't wait for the Thaier than Thai's for their reply.

What astounds me is two things

1 It comes out of academia. Now I have to apologize some of them are really brilliant. Not very many.

2 The Nation posted it.

[hellodolly]

Can never be changed until the myths about their history are understood and accepted, which we know will never happen as their national identity is dependent on these myths and lies being perpetuated, believed and not questioned.

Easiest would be to just annex them one by one. Cambodia should take only a few days to overrun.

I know your post was tongue in cheek, but it should be noted that any escalation in conflict by Thailand would prompt Vietnam, the biggest military power in the region, to step in. Cambodia enjoys a close relationship with their neighbour to the East and I doubt if they would allow their billions spent on investment to be affected by Thailand's colonial ambitions.

Not to forget that Thailand has no experience in fighting where as it is a way of life in Burma. They would eat Thailand alive.

Again

[Thai at Heart]

The teaching of Thai history and the history of Thailand's relations with its neighbours should be reformed to eradicate Thais' superiority complex and condescending attitude, mistrust and even hatred towards its closest neighbours, two Thai experts said.

And for once this statement wasn't made by so called Thaivisa Thai bashers, so after all there must be some truth in it.

Can't wait for the Thaier than Thai's for their reply.

What astounds me is two things

1 It comes out of academia. Now I have to apologize some of them are really brilliant. Not very many.

2 The Nation posted it.

Occasionally, very occasionally an article sneaks through. As I wrote earlier, if the nationalist bubble is to be burst, replace it with what?

I mean, they grow the best rice in the world, have the best cuisine, the best family structure. It's one thing to say, we might not be that superior to our neighbours, it's another thing to realise, that as a nation you excel at very little, when the most mundane things have been made out to be globally superior when they aren't.

Maybe they make the best Honda civics. Thanks to Japan.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[hellodolly]

Thailand hub of nationalistic hatred.

This is one of the most intelligent articles I have ever read from a Thai and I must congratulate him. However, as he states it seems the chances of changing attitudes is going to be very hard and maybe impossible. As someone married to a Thai but living and working in Cambodia since 2001 I must say the Khmer's have a great many reasons to hate the Thai's (many in recent history too) and yet my wife has never experienced any difficulties here. I have witnessed first hand the abuse of Thai military and officials on poor Cambodians at the border and my opinion of the Thai's gets lower every year. I also work with many Khmer students and I must say I honestly think this country can move forward very quickly (once we see the end of the widely hated Hun Sen) because of how eager young Khmer's are to learn and improve themselves and their country. Unlike many Thai's they don't show utter disrespect, often contempt, for foreigners and the students don't mind putting the effort in, whereas many teachers I know in Thailand despair at the total lack of interest shown by their students.

A dramatic change in the ultra nationalistic history teaching in Thailand could go a long way to changing the direction I see Thailand headed in.

Great article.

Interesting point. Nothing impedes learning more than arrogance. I was visiting Ankor Wat a few years ago. I bought some water from a 12 year old Khmer girl working at a road side stand. She spoke perfect colloquial English. I asked her in astonishment why her English was so good. She said she sold drinks in the day time, and went to see a teacher who gave English lessons to children at night time. She said she paid a dollar a month for the lessons. If she is representative of many other Khmers, Thailand should start worrying...

When I asked her why she worked so hard to learn English, she told me simply that she felt if she spoke English very well, she could have a better life..... This is one of the people Thailand looks down upon ??

One of the times I was there a kid I would say about 6 or 7 was trying to sell me post cards ten for $1. I all ready had over 30 of them. He kept following me along with his sister who was selling silk scarfs. I kept walking and the kid proceeded to count to ten in five different languages.

End of story.

I had over 40 post cards and a silk scarf. How can you compete with that kind of desire.

The poverty was really bad but the people still where happy.

Thailand could learn a lot from the Cambodians and I don't mean the Government or professional people.

[EyesWideOpen]

Thailand hub of nationalistic hatred.

This is one of the most intelligent articles I have ever read from a Thai and I must congratulate him. However, as he states it seems the chances of changing attitudes is going to be very hard and maybe impossible. As someone married to a Thai but living and working in Cambodia since 2001 I must say the Khmer's have a great many reasons to hate the Thai's (many in recent history too) and yet my wife has never experienced any difficulties here. I have witnessed first hand the abuse of Thai military and officials on poor Cambodians at the border and my opinion of the Thai's gets lower every year. I also work with many Khmer students and I must say I honestly think this country can move forward very quickly (once we see the end of the widely hated Hun Sen) because of how eager young Khmer's are to learn and improve themselves and their country. Unlike many Thai's they don't show utter disrespect, often contempt, for foreigners and the students don't mind putting the effort in, whereas many teachers I know in Thailand despair at the total lack of interest shown by their students.

A dramatic change in the ultra nationalistic history teaching in Thailand could go a long way to changing the direction I see Thailand headed in.

Great article.

Interesting point. Nothing impedes learning more than arrogance. I was visiting Ankor Wat a few years ago. I bought some water from a 12 year old Khmer girl working at a road side stand. She spoke perfect colloquial English. I asked her in astonishment why her English was so good. She said she sold drinks in the day time, and went to see a teacher who gave English lessons to children at night time. She said she paid a dollar a month for the lessons. If she is representative of many other Khmers, Thailand should start worrying...

When I asked her why she worked so hard to learn English, she told me simply that she felt if she spoke English very well, she could have a better life..... This is one of the people Thailand looks down upon ??

One of the times I was there a kid I would say about 6 or 7 was trying to sell me post cards ten for $1. I all ready had over 30 of them. He kept following me along with his sister who was selling silk scarfs. I kept walking and the kid proceeded to count to ten in five different languages.

End of story.

I had over 40 post cards and a silk scarf. How can you compete with that kind of desire.

The poverty was really bad but the people still where happy.

Thailand could learn a lot from the Cambodians and I don't mean the Government or professional people.

Hahaha and if your from America, they would ask what state you were from , and then tell you the capital.....after which you would have to buy their post cards... :-)