why cannt we squat or sit on floor

[opalred]

its a nightmare to try to use squat toilet hands on wall to steady and thai know when go to temple or there house they always

bring out chair and laugh frang cannt sit on floor and eat like normal people

[pgrahmm]

We could when we were young....they have since they could sit - some schools they sat on the floor hours at a time.....I admire it when some 3-80 year old hunkers down and up without a care....

I'm ok indian (American) style for awhile....but not easy up and down like the Thai's - part if it is the perfect posture which seems to come with it....

Right now I'm on the couch checking the laptop & the wife is on the floor sitting on a cushion x legged tucked under crocheting.....

I just got off the cushion next to hers but I sure wasn't sitting like that....too many hard sports miles on the knees....

Edited September 6, 2014 by pgrahmm

[Costas2008]

So it's you OP that leaves all these brown marks on the walls of the squat toilets?

[geronimo]

I can, for hours.

[dave2]

re

So it's you OP that leaves all these brown marks on the walls of the squat toilets?

squat toilets have walls ?

dave2

[Chonburiram]

They can bec they have longer thigh bones.

[Zlabermacht]

I can, it is just a matter of habits. Flexibility and balance. If you are not too old you can learn
P.S. I prefer chairs and table too, but don't tell them

[Briggsy]

Ligament, tendon and muscle length and range of motion. I strongly suspect South East Asians have a genetic headstart in the squatting stakes. I suspect ankle flexion and quadriceps length could be key.

You can always improve this with practice but it helps to start as a child.

[eeeya]

i play a lot of sport, im fit and flexible... but I cannot sit like that for more than 15 minutes, feet go numb and when i go to stand up i nearly fall over.

I might have to start yoga or something if i want to continue.. or just use a chair

[kannot]

many appear to be what we call double jointed ie very flexible joints, note the recurved fingers of many Thais

[3NUMBAS]

cos your knees lock up seated at an awkward angle ,its very uncomfortable if you arent used to it

[age4short]

Thai's do take notice when your sitting on the floor, my gf says

-Why your knees not touching the floor

-You can sit like this (legs out the side)

-Pass him a stool

just had a painful week of that in the village especially when reaching for the food. :-)

[GanDoonToonPet]

I think Asians have stretchy tendons, that's why they don't get RSI.

[WhamBam]

I cannot reach my beer on the bar if I squat down, my arms are not long enough to reach up.

[gomangosteen]

lack of flexibility; I do a lot of sport/exercise but do not have the flexibility; use our local exercise park regularly, a group of retired men, all 60+, play sepak takraw, before they start, doing their warm up exercises, high kicks with feet (one at a time though!!) above head level, casually chatting away . . . doing it all their lives.

[96tehtarp]

Sitting on the floor is a stretching exercise, however it is very difficult to do if one is not already flexible.

[opalred]

there should be a sign telling new arrivals about toilets FACE DOOR NOT BACK WALL

[willyumiii]

I think if you had been doing it since you were a toddler, you could still do it.

My daughter is half Thai and it comes naturally to her...nobody ever told her to do it or how to do it.

I think it must be great exercise...extreme deep knee bends!

I have wondered if this is why so many Thai woman have such nicely shaped well toned rear ends. ( IMO, the best on earth)

Deep knee bends since birth could be the reason!

[sipi]

The first time I arrived at my in-laws place and they realized I was hopeless at sitting cross-legged on a concrete floor, they searched the village; and came back with a giant teddy-bear for me to sit on. That was 10 years ago, and I still have the teddy-bear; actually, my son does.

[jobin]

I doubt genetics play any role. It's almost certainly simply habit from a young age. So my advice: start young. If more than 20 years now, start some yoga practice and within one year you will enjoy the squat toilets.

On an off note. After my knee surgery i was taking opiate meds which always contribute to severe constipation due to deadening of nerves in bowels. True misery but only squatting for elimination was successful. Thank goodness. Truth be told squatting better for toilet function. Only arrogance and habit keep the westerners praising otherwise.

[96tehtarp]

We are civilized we use chairs <3

dumbest reply since a long time!!!

Even in the west people sit in the floor while eating in highly civilized Japanese and Korean restaurants.

I know in parts of Bangkok, Pattaya, and luxury air-conditioned condominiums there are no mosquitoes, however in rural Thailand siting in a chair after dusk is an invitation for mosquitoes to feast on your legs. Sitting on the floor is also a defensive move with respect to mosquito bites.

[wprime]

Your calf muscles aren't strong enough because you didn't do it as a kid.

[opalred]

its ok when farangs arse already close to floor

[Banzai99]

I can.

[Neeranam]

I often squat when waiting for something - very comfortable. I did do kung &lt;deleted&gt; when young so have always been flexible.

[smokie36]

They are witches. . watch them!

[Neeranam]

I often squat when waiting for something - very comfortable. I did do kung &lt;deleted&gt; when young so have always been flexible.

[AhFarangJa]

I'm not allowed on the furniture..

[Banzai99]

I often squat when waiting for something - very comfortable. I did do kung <deleted> when young so have always been flexible.

Same here but Shotokan.

[thai20144]

Same as Thais cant use Chairs, I have notice this sitting in The food court in Tesco about ever 30 mins a Thai stand up without pulling out the chair and the chair falls down backwards with a Bang hahaha

And the Thai person get really embrassed as the bangs are so load of the metal chairs and being thais everyone pretends not to notice so not lose face to the red checked Thai