That which nourishes Thailand may destroy Thailand

The Thai culture has a wonderful side we should never discard

Published: 6/09/2009
Bangkok Post

Recently I was invited to give a speech at a university. The students were at masters
degree level and in their twenties, which means these were some of the brighter minds
of the Kingdom. I asked them who the governor of Bangkok is. After a moment of
stunned silence, one student started to say Ap ... Apir .. Apirak. Another quickly
pitched in Apirak Kosayodhin! Everyone nodded in agreement.

Doing my best impersonation of Sidney Poitier in To Sir, with Love, with one hand on
my hip, I bit my lips, shook my head, waved my index finger and said ''No''. Another
student then blurted out: ''It's a Mom [meaning a Royal title] some Mom, Mom, Mom
..." But we still didn't get anywhere, so I revealed the answer, which I don't feel I need
to type in this column.

On a different occasion, but also quite recently, I did an interview with a professor of
economics from a prestigious university. We were discussing a government stimulus
programme. Throughout our interview, the professor became quite heated and
agitated, red in the face, and even refused to look at me at times. What did I do to
agitate him?

It's because I asked him questions _ questions that were contrary to his beliefs;
questions that made him stumble and become lost for words; questions that
questioned his authority. I even asked nicely, though confidently. He expressed more
than once his utter disbelief that I actually disagreed with him and questioned him.

On the one hand, we have students who don't know things because it's not in the Thai
culture to ask questions. (But if you don't ask questions, how will you learn
anything?) On the other hand, we have a teacher who doesn't like to be asked
questions because it's not in the Thai culture to be questioned, especially by a junior,
someone younger. (But if no one questions you, how will you know if you're right
about anything? There's a fine line between being correct and being delusional, isn't
there?)

Asking ''what's your name?'' or ''how do you do?'' is one thing. But when you question
information, tradition, opinion and belief, it is a form of confrontation. In our culture,
many deem this rude, aggressive and inappropriate.

I had another interview with a different professor, also quite recently. The topic was
Thai-style management. The professor made a point about greng jai as one of the
main issues in the Thai workplace. People don't ask, don't question and don't confront.
To do so would be considered rude, aggressive and inappropriate. Which means, in
the Thai workplace, because of our culture, we don't speak the truth to each other _
too afraid to say it; too sensitive to hear it. It's just not nice _ unless you're the big
boss, of course.
Consequently, Thai businesses _ not all, but too many _ don't evolve and compete
very well. Which in the big picture may explain why Singapore, the country that
many Thais view as our major economic rival, was ranked fourth in the world by the
World Economic Forum's Global Competitive index, while Thailand ranks 34th. We
may have once been rivals, but not any more _ 34 minus four is 30, we're not even
close. Malaysia ranks 21st.

Bear with me.

Christopher Marlowe was a 16th century English playwright who died senselessly and
young. Many say not only was he a better writer than his contemporary, William
Shakespeare, but Marlowe also gave Shakespeare a few story ideas. Marlowe has a
famous quote that is worshipped by angst-ridden young adults who fancy themselves
as tragic-romantics. In many cases, they even tattoo the quote on their bodies.

The quote is simply a poetic expression of a very simple fact of life: That which
nourishes me also destroys me. Which basically means, there's good and bad in
everything. For example, love may lift you up to the glorious heaven where vanilla is
the colour of the sky, but it may also drag you down to the deepest and darkest pit of
Dante's inferno. Such is life _ it nourishes you, it destroys you.

Like all else in life, Thai culture too has positive and negative consequences. Those
tourist brochures don't lie, they just don't tell the entire story. Yes, barring some
colourful incidences, we generally are a nice, peaceful and friendly people _ greng jai
_ these are very good things that we should always value. But the other side of the
story is this. To keep up the niceties, we often end up lying to ourselves and each
other, because we hate to confront each other with the truth. Because at the end of the
day as an organisation _ whether it's society, school, business or country _ we don't
really get anywhere. We stroll leisurely while others race past us and we are left to
wonder, why such a bountiful and seemingly fortunate country like Thailand has so
many poor, so much suffering, so many grave injustices and is so slow to progress.
While strolling leisurely, we even manage to trip over things and fall down, because
we don't even bother to look where we're going.

We as a people are not worldly and informed, because we're not taught to think and
ask, rather we're taught to obey. We as a people are afraid to think and ask, because in
doing so there's a danger of confrontation, of being rude, aggressive and
inappropriate.

Since we've gotten into the habit of not questioning, then naturally our brains have not
had the practice of forming thoughts and opinions in order to pose questions. Since
we're lacking in thoughts and opinions, we're easily susceptible to manipulation,
exploitation and downright brainwashing. Because we're conditioned to being
manipulated, exploited and brainwashed, we become very good at obeying the status
quo, the powers that be. Since we are very good at obeying, we become used to it, so
we rarely ever question anything, and hence we are neither worldly nor informed.

From students who do not know because they don't ask to teachers who don't like
questions because they demand obedience. At the end of the day, this is the society
we end up with; one that is very slow to progress.
Back to the university where I gave the speech. It took a touch of charm and a dab of
persuasiveness to prevent the talk from becoming entirely a one-sided affair with me
on the podium and them, wide-eyed and silent. But wouldn't you know it, with
enough encouragement and effort, eventually they started to discuss, posed questions
and voiced opinions. Approaching the end of the talk, some even asked questions out
of their own curiosities, without needing to be urged, with no fear and no qualms.
Which goes to show, Thai students aren't deaf, dumb and blind, they just lack the
opportunities to speak up for themselves.

There's the good, there's the bad, and that's just a fact of life; Thai culture has a
wonderful side we should never discard. The question is, how do we bring balance to
the forces of nourishment and destruction?

Perhaps we need to start by asking questions, and the first question we may pose to
ourselves is: What can I do to better the lives of 65 million Thais? The answer is
simpler than anyone would think: Allow opportunities for everyone around you,
everyone that you meet, to think for themselves, express themselves and question
everything around them. Encourage those around you, rather than accuse them of
inappropriateness. If we can do that, then we would be opening up a world of endless
possibilities. Is that something to fear?