Ask a Thai

[Tee Kay]

As some of you know already I was born in Thailand and lived there for some years. I can speak the language (sort of) and I know a bit about the country and its culture in general.

I do reserve the right to not answer some questions of a personal nature. You can help by not asking personal questions in the first place. Questions about food, culture, language, religion, Thai society, politics, history, etc are fine.

So ask away.

 

[LegionSteve]

When I visited Thailand in 2008, which was a fantastic experience, there were reports of some kind of war going on in the north of the country (far away from where we stayed). Do you know what that was about, is it still going on, and if so is there any chance of it stopping?

 

[Tee Kay]

When I visited Thailand in 2008, which was a fantastic experience, there were reports of some kind of war going on in the north of the country (far away from where we stayed). Do you know what that was about, is it still going on, and if so is there any chance of it stopping?

Hmm, probably some minor border clashes or spillover conflict from Myanmar. There was (and is) an Islamist/separatist/general troublemaking (there are several groups) terrorist insurgency in the south of the country, however; it's mostly contained in the three southernmost provinces near the border with Malaysia. Oh, and Thailand also does a few skirmishes with Cambodia over a disputed clifftop temple.

 

[Masada]

hmm, probably some minor border clashes or spillover conflict from myanmar.

2008? Kla4lyfe.

 

[CELTICEMPIRE]

This sounds like a stupid question but, can you read the alphabet?

reason: i have a friend from Japan who can only speak Japanese but cannot read it.

 

[LegionSteve]

Oh, and Thailand also does a few skirmishes with Cambodia over a disputed clifftop temple.

The thing about a disputed temple sounds familiar. It may have been that.

 

[Joecoolyo]

How great is the food there?

 

[LegionSteve]

From my holiday there, if you like spicy food as I do, it was absolutely awesome.

Stir fried red snapper was one of the great meals I had there.

 

[Quackers]

Whats the deal with lots and lots of men dressing up as woman and getting away with it(as in they do look like woman, till they talk preseumbly) ?! I know it happens in the West but it appears to be more common in Thailand.
Thailand has a reputation for being the mecca for sex tourists. What is the whole story about that?!

 

[Masada]

Whats the deal with lots and lots of men dressing up as woman and getting away with it(as in they do look like woman, till they talk preseumbly) ?! I know it happens in the West but it appears to be more common in Thailand.

It's common across Southeast Asia, we just have better exposure to Thailand than say Java.

Thailand has a reputation for being the mecca for sex tourists. What is the whole story about that?!

Vietnam War mostly.

 

[Kraznaya]

Wouldn't "a Thai" generally refer to a member of the Thai ethnic group?

 

[classical_hero]

Are you Thai or Australian?

 

[Tee Kay]

This sounds like a stupid question but, can you read the alphabet?

Yes. I can write too, though not well.

reason: i have a friend from Japan who can only speak Japanese but cannot read it.

Written Japanese is crazy. They use three alphabets (four if you count Romanji), including full-blown Chinese characters. At least the Koreans have (mostly) switched to using Hangul exclusively now.

How great is the food there?

What LegionSteve said. If you like spicy food and don't mind trying food from seemingly unhygienic stalls (though the ingredients are mainly fresh) on the side of the road. You get surprisingly diverse food and it's generally very cheap (though prices have gone up noticably last time I was there). Different regions have their own tastes and flavours; the south are known for very hot curries, and one province is known for grilled pork, for instance (for that matter, the Thai food you get overseas is also nothing like what you get in Thailand).

Whats the deal with lots and lots of men dressing up as woman and getting away with it(as in they do look like woman, till they talk preseumbly) ?! I know it happens in the West but it appears to be more common in Thailand.

Ah yes, the katherye. Thailand does have a reputation for tolerance for sexual deviants, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, transvestites, the like. It's only partly true; they're still generally frowned upon and most (?) people still think they're somewhat "unnatural". I know people who faced intense pressure and disapproval from their families for being gay or lesbian or trans. Then again there are people who are accepting of them. Homosexuality and transsexuality aren't really taboo subjects. There are openly LGBT people on television (for some being a little queer actually seem to make them more popular). For the wider society, the prevailing attitude seems to be "tolerance, but not full acceptance", with katherye, or transsexuals, as somewhat more familiar with (and therefore more acceptable to) most people than gays and lesbians.

Thailand has a reputation for being the mecca for sex tourists. What is the whole story about that?!

Basically started during the Vietnam War when Bangkok and Patthaya were R&R places for the US military.

 

[Masada]

Wouldn't "a Thai" generally refer to a member of the Thai ethnic group?

Eh, not quite; kind of like Chinese doesn't necessarily mean Han. Though the distinction isn't as clear cut because the two share the same word.

 

[Tee Kay]

Wouldn't "a Thai" generally refer to a member of the Thai ethnic group?

The general usage of the word "Thai" (or "kon Thai") in Thailand and among the diaspora is to refer to anyone who was born in Thailand and/or has Thai citizenship and/or whose parents or grandparents are Thai and identify themselves as Thai. How to define a Thai culture or ethnicity (kuampenthai) is still a matter of debate.

Are you Thai or Australian?

Both. I haven't lived in Thailand for so long now that I feel more at home here in Australia. On the other hand, I don't have many Australian friends... I don't have many Thai friends either, actually I don't have many friends period, but I spend time with my family and we speak Thai at home and watch shows from Thailand (well, they do), so culturally I'm probably more Thai than assimilated Australian.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Why did you leave? Or is that too personal a question?

If it is, then what do you love and hate the most about Thailand?

 

[Tee Kay]

Eh, not quite; kind of like Chinese doesn't necessarily mean Han. Though the distinction isn't as clear cut because the two share the same word.

Exactly. And very much like the Han, Thais also identify themselves with their regions or provinces.

Identity can be a messy thing. I'm an ethnic Thai, semi-bilingual, whose hometown is Melbourne, from a family of ethnic Hokkein Chinese whose roots are in Xiamen, who identify as Southerners and speak a Southern dialect of Thai, half of which is incomprehensible to me with my suburban middle-class Bangkok dialect. And we all consider ourselves fully Thai.

 

[Tee Kay]

Why did you leave?

Long and depressing story. Basically, greener pastures here in Australia. Or I was led to believe there are greener pastures here. Or maybe. I don't know.

If it is, then what do you love and hate the most about Thailand?

Love: my family. And the food. And how everyone is so active and everything so easily available and so cheap there (from the perspective of someone wielding Australian Dollar notes anyhow). In some parts, there's a strong friendly community spirit that you can't help but admire.

Hate: There's widespread poverty (though things have gotten better over the past couple of decades), and the scale of inequality can be especially confronting (a massive shopping mall next to slums next to luxury highrises next to stinking canals and potholed roads). Also, especially in parts of Bangkok, there's always a feeling that something is not right, that in all the bustling activity of the markets and the shops and in the streets that there's an untamed chaos beneath the surface and danger lurking behind the corner. It's not a society where it's safe to walk at night, or one where you can expect things to happen the way you wanted it to happen. And, for someone like me who's not so used to the country and already very socially awkward in the best of times, there's this everpresent fear that I may have overstepped some invisible social bounds, that I may have insulted someone or did or said something inappropriate.

Also, the weather; I'm not much of a fan of tropical climates.

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

I am contemplating taking job in Bangkok sometime next year- mainly just to learn new cuisine and get out for Europe for a while. But I am concerned about safety and how white guy is looked upon in that part of the world (I have never been outside of the sphere of western civilisation). While I understand that people in Thailand are tolerant, and I have heard other peoples strong admiration about it as well, what are the things one should take care not to run into trouble? Thx.

 

[shadowplay]

Who cooks, and what was for dinner last night?

What do you recommend I put in a Thai themed stir-fry noodle? I bought Thai basil, green chilis, and snow peas to make with rice sticks and and some chicken.