webfact Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Being Thai: Has patriotism in Thailand gone too far?By Saksith Saiyasombut & Siam VoicesBy Thitipol PanyalimpanunBANGKOK: -- If you happened to live in Thailand during the ’90s, chances are you have heard at least one song written by Nitipong “Dee” Honark. The popular and prolific songwriter has produced over 100 hits in the past few decades and now sits as one of the ‘Thailand’s Got Talent’ judges.Beyond his musical abilities, Dee is also an outspoken patriot. Not only did he publicly vow to shave his head if the national football team lost to Myanmar (Burma) at the SEA Games, Dee also took time during the recent political conflicts to write songs about peace and love to harmonize Thai people.Last week, the 55-year-old songwriter ignited a human rights debate after he commented on Thailand’s recent deportation of Uighurs to China. “Thai people have nothing to do with it, no plus or minus. It’s between China and the Uighurs. That the Chinese government may get brutal with the Uighurs, Muslim Turks, has nothing to do with us. We never have had problems with anyone. It’s their history, not ours,” he wrote on Facebook. Dee’s willingness to relieve Thailand from any wrongdoing brought in people from both sides of the argument, lauding and condemning him.It might have surprised some fans of Dee’s songs, how a man so romantic and peace-loving became intolerant when it comes to people of other nationality – but his standpoint, shared by many Thai nationalists, is not at all surprising. Behind the smokescreen of love for country, ethnocentrism is flourishing in Thai society.Full story: http://asiancorrespondent.com/134276/being-thai-has-patriotism-in-thailand-gone-too-far/-- ASIAN CORRESPONDENT 2015-07-22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAppletons Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 "In another strange case of Thai-styled compassion, TV reporter Thapanee Ietsrichai last April became the nation’s hero after she traveled to Indonesia and uncovered the trafficked, enslaved Thai fishing workers, which led to their rescue. A month later, Thapanee boarded an off shore migrant boat from Burma where she found hundreds of Rohingya stranded in terrible conditions. Her heartfelt reporting, suggesting that the government take them ashore, this time outraged many Thais who soon branded her a traitor for putting her own country in a tough spot. Isra News even investigated her shareholding record for vested interest in covering the news." "Thainess." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BudRight Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Whether you call it patriotism or nationalism depends on what side of the border you're from. Edited July 22, 2015 by BudRight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kareona Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Yes, it's amazing how much love and compassion 'Thais' can show for 'Thais'. But we all know the rich and famous just play on it for whatever gain while the poor and uneducated lap it up. Love your country by all means. Doesn't mean you can't love or have to hate others. All I find it does is just put up walls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramrod711 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. I gather you don't feel that Thais have a global perspective. You may be right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prbkk Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) ...many words/terms for it: self-centered , arrogant, ignorant, ill-educated, delusional. I don't believe it is born of malice but rather the incredible, but seemingly widely held, belief that in some way Thailand is central to making the world go 'round. The basis for it is mystifying. Edited July 22, 2015 by Prbkk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LomSak27 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Although in fact ill-defined, Thainess, or khwampenthai, has been consistently used by Thai leaders to legitimize their power and defend their economic interests. Not only has the assertion of Thainess been deeply rooted in the private interests of those in power, it has been deployed as part of nationalist sentiment to guard against any international norms, often considered as threats to the leaders' own interests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jalansanitwong Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 There was an article in the Post several years ago celebrating the fact that Thai beer is the best in the world because it makes the most profit per capita or whatever. The patriotic journalist failed to mention that foreign beers are taxed out of almost every segment of the market except the very top 5 star end giving local beers a monoply. Beer lao is a vastly superior beer to Leo or Chang and costs less than half the price. You rarely see it for sale. Thailand No1 ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostmebike Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. Funny but so true. The irony is though, as nationalistic as they are, they`ve let the Chinese come in and take over completely. The now Thai-Chinese own most of the land in towns, most of the big businesses and definitely all the mercs and beemers! haha Then if you take a short trip out of town, not only does the skin tone change but also peoples wealth, standard of living and so on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatawonderfulday Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Brain washed from a young age coupled with inadequate but polarized education then what do people expect of Thais ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterwhisper Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I always laugh (a bitter-sweet chuckle accompanied by a scoff, actually) when I hear people drumming up that meaningless adage, "But we are all Thais and love each other". As far as I witnessed, Thais in reality do NOT generally lay in each others' arms and sing kum-ba-ya in heavenly bliss over their shared nationality, but tend to screw each other over at every given opportunity. Even more pathetic is the equally nationalistic - and fundamentally flawed - assertion that "no Thai could have committed [this or that crime or indiscretion]... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keetoot Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 South east asia has had its day they dont wont us there . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOTIRIOS Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ...racism...bigotry...xenophobia.....??? ...sorry..............everything has to sound good....another patriotic/nationalistic trait..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spermwhale Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. They are brainwashed with a history that glosses over all the stumbles and misdeeds of Thailand. They are brainwashed in schools to believe they are superior to all of their neighbors and that Thailand is essentially the greatest place on earth. Many thais that fall for this brainwashing, cannot accept that there is anything wrong with the country. They look down on outsiders with disdain. I thought Americans were overly patriotic when I lived there, but Thais have them beat. And amazingly, the country has made zero contributions to the world except its cuisine and its tawdry reputation as the sex capital of the world. Despite that the pride is overflowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronthai Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 The last sentence of the article says it all, Thailand will forever be the best in its own Thai way, even as a happy, ignorant nation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickJ Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Patriotism........Its more of a hooliganistic attitude. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. Funny but so true. The irony is though, as nationalistic as they are, they`ve let the Chinese come in and take over completely. The now Thai-Chinese own most of the land in towns, most of the big businesses and definitely all the mercs and beemers! haha Then if you take a short trip out of town, not only does the skin tone change but also peoples wealth, standard of living and so on. I think that's a bit of a misconception, mainly conveyed amongst expats. Years ago, decades to be exact, many Chinese (mostly men) came to Thailand as merchants, to escape war, famine and upheavals back in China and ended up marrying local women, to create the Thai-Chinese we see today. This migration mostly ended a few years after the end of World War II. However, in the process, various Thai governments from all political spectrums have created a national identity through a common language and culture, often at the expense of the original culture. Therefore, Thai-Chinese had to abandon their original Chinese names, start speaking Thai (and only Thai in most cases) and in the process were given Thai nationality, which has been handed down to the next generation. Current Thai-Chinese think of themselves as Thais, first and foremost. Very few identify with China, very few have even been there and just as few still speak any Chinese dialect, with the exception of a few aging geriatrics who mostly do not pass down these languages to their children and grandchildren, thinking they are mostly useless anyway (and they are right, as far as living in Thailand is concerned). Only those Thais who engage with China or want their children to engage with China see any merit in showcasing their Chinese ethnicity and learning the Chinese national language (Mandarin), but that is not limited to only those Thais with Chinese ethnicity; many non-ethnic Chinese Thais are also learning Chinese and doing business with China these days. These days many ethnic Chinese Thais are wary of the new generation of Chinese travellers, tourists and businessmen and would never allow them to take a foothold in their country. Many critics of Chinese tourists and their social habits have been ethnic Chinese-Thais themselves. Edited July 22, 2015 by Tomtomtom69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
borisloosebrain Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Nittipong may be a 'patriot' but he lacks humanity which makes him a worthless jerk in my book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Patriotism is a dangerous thing used by the powerful to make the sheeply do stupid things, two world wars and countless other wars since then are witness to that. The ex servicemen from Gawds own country,land of the brave, would dispute this but they have years of indoctrination and a lot of John Wayne films behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z42 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 It's just fair to say that Thailand has a huge identity crisis. The nationalistic posturing is simply an illusion and is easily seen for what it is by those who are able to see things objectively, Some of these beliefs and cultural norms are pretty pathetic & shallow. It's laughable really, going to be interesting to see what kind of indoctrination my little girl gets when she starts more regimented school classes in the next couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomtomtom69 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Thai people live in Thai-land, an unique place full of Thai culture. All Thai speak the Thai language and love their Thai country. Thai children go to Thai schools where Thai teachers tell them about the Thai language, the Thai culture and Thai logic so these Thai children will stay pure Thai. Thai children become Thai adolescents and these Thai girls and Thai boys make Thai love and beget more Thai children. Thai farmers sow Thai seeds in Thai ricefields. Thai monks pray in Thai tempels to soothe Thai karma. All Thai children care for their Thai parents. When Thai parents are getting older they suffer from Thai diseases, go to Thai hospitals where Thai doctors give them Thai medicines. In the end they die, like people everywhere, and they are cremated in the Thai way. They are brainwashed with a history that glosses over all the stumbles and misdeeds of Thailand. They are brainwashed in schools to believe they are superior to all of their neighbors and that Thailand is essentially the greatest place on earth. Many thais that fall for this brainwashing, cannot accept that there is anything wrong with the country. They look down on outsiders with disdain. I thought Americans were overly patriotic when I lived there, but Thais have them beat. And amazingly, the country has made zero contributions to the world except its cuisine and its tawdry reputation as the sex capital of the world. Despite that the pride is overflowing. And all of that patriotism and nationalism has resulted in a distorted worldview from a Thai perspective. Just because the Thai language and Thai culture has been forced upon all people living within the borders of Thailand, often at the expense of the original culture in order to create the conception that Thai language is for Thais and English is only used to communicate with non-Thai speaking foreigners, even in some neighboring countries this is not the case at all. Vietnam and Cambodia are largely nationalistic in their own ways and in many ways this forced nationalism is alive and well in those two countries too, but not in Myanmar for example. In Myanmar, the military government has tried and ultimately failed at creating a common national identity through a common language and culture (Burmese, i.e. Bamar). Many ethnic people living in the frontier areas of Myanmar have never been able to speak Burmese well, or even at all. In some places like the Kokang and Wa regions of Shan state, Burmese language is basically not seen or used at all, as Chinese is the lingua franca in these areas. In Kayin, Kayah, Shan and Kachin states, Burmese is used in the main towns and cities, however, in the countryside relatively few people speak Burmese - most locals will proudly proclaim they are Shan or Karen or whatever but not necessarily Burmese. Some are even vocally anti-Burmese. Nowadays the new quasi-civilian government has however started to see the error of it's previous ways and implemented English as the second official language of the country and some ethnic conferences appear to use English as the medium of communication rather than Burmese. Indeed, English fluency in Myanmar is high, particularly amongst the urban middle classes and the elite, the latter group often use English amongst themselves and speak a very eloquent, sophisticated form of the language influenced heavily by their former colonial masters. By contrast, last year I think it was an MP from the then Thai government was almost ostracised for suggesting English should be made an official language of Thailand alongside Thai. The government rebuffed his suggestion by stating: "If we were to add English as an official language, foreigners and Thais alike would be mistaken that Thailand used to be a colony of England, which it obviously wasn't. As such we can't promote English as an official language in Thailand." Unfortunately, this attitude will likely only hold Thailand back, but it's funny how many Thais think that other countries are like Thailand in that one national language creates a national identity and that you can't have more than one official language. Well, tell that to the Swiss or the Canadians, or even the Italians, which are all successful multilingual countries. Switzerland is probably the best example, as it has 4 official languages, while in Italy, French and German speaking regions are located in isolated valleys in the north-west and north-east regions of the country, respectively, but that hasn't stopped speakers of these languages from identifying as simply being Italian. Even India is another good example, with multiple official languages spoken in various parts of the country, two of which have been promoted as languages used in government, business and trade (English and Hindi), while English is the sole medium of instruction in higher education (same as in Myanmar). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai at Heart Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Pride before a fall and all that. Greeks were obsessed with pride looking down at their neighbours because they were wealthier and in the EU. Look how that has ended up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangkokfrog Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 I read somewhere that ignorance is bliss... which perhaps explains why so many people in LOS are so happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roamer Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Patriotism is a dangerous thing used by the powerful to make the sheeply do stupid things, two world wars and countless other wars since then are witness to that. The ex servicemen from Gawds own country,land of the brave, would dispute this but they have years of indoctrination and a lot of John Wayne films behind them. Gods own country ? Whats Scotland got to do with it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 The UK has lots of languages as well, you would be hard put to find an English speaker in London, i don't know about identity though, i think we have a more East European,Indian,African sort of identity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Patriotism is a dangerous thing used by the powerful to make the sheeply do stupid things, two world wars and countless other wars since then are witness to that. The ex servicemen from Gawds own country,land of the brave, would dispute this but they have years of indoctrination and a lot of John Wayne films behind them. Gods own country ? Whats Scotland got to do with it ? Scotland is a beautiful country full of nice people ( my Grandmother comes from there ) but as you know i was thinking more of a place with wide open spaces surrounded by teeth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phycokiller Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 dont really see the issue, all countries do this and most people in all countries go along with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klauskunkel Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 ...many words/terms for it: self-centered , arrogant, ignorant, ill-educated, delusional. I don't believe it is born of malice but rather the incredible, but seemingly widely held, belief that in some way Thailand is central to making the world go 'round. The basis for it is mystifying. The country of Thailand is the world's amulet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soalbundy Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 dont really see the issue, all countries do this and most people in all countries go along with it and if you don't you are in the <deleted> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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