Culture is paramount

Postbag

Published: 10 Feb 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

The letter by Kuldeep Nagi in yesterday's ''PostBag'', ''Thailand must wake up'' is off the mark in a number of its assertions.

Firstly, his saying that students spend half their day worshipping and bowing to dull historic figures is a gross exaggeration and also disrespectful.

No students I have come across in Thailand spend any significant amount of time worshipping historic figures, who are in fact representatives of the people who helped shape and mould Thailand into a culturally diverse nation. Why is it wrong to acknowledge and give thanks for what they achieved?

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felixqui
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Discussion 14 : 11 Feb 2013 at 07.1014
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Doc Holliday,
All that proves is that it is Thai culture that is deeply flawed and in urgent need of improvement - getting rid of the mindless superstitions about karma with their toxic social consequences would be a good start.
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klauss
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Discussion 13 : 10 Feb 2013 at 17.3213
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@ Kena (disc 9). Just wondering where you got that information from !
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uberbraun
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Discussion 12 : 10 Feb 2013 at 13.1012
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Doc Holliday: So you are saying that all is just fine in Thailand, and everyone should just accept it, as you apparantly have.

I am sorry, but I had thought that such thinking, especially by westerners, had long since died.

And NO, I will not accept such discrimination and corruption. You are 1000% wrong in your thinking.
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Eggmeng
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Discussion 11 : 10 Feb 2013 at 11.0911
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@Doc Holliday

Yesterday we read that they burned alive, a witch in Papua New Guinea. I'm sure some in the crowd of onlookers who did nothing to stop it, felt that it was the PNG tribal equivalent of her "karma."

As discussion #6 suggests, perhaps it would be best if all nations could move into the modern age together, with a commitment to some universal human rights.
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lungstib
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Discussion 10 : 10 Feb 2013 at 10.2810
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Maybe the title should read, "it's all about relatives" which we all know already.
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kena
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Discussion 9 : 10 Feb 2013 at 10.099
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Overly-aggressive katoy are half the reason many would-be tourists don't visit Pattaya and Phuket.
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dao
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Discussion 8 : 10 Feb 2013 at 09.108
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If someone breaks the law then they made that decision to affect their relationship .The backdoor dealing s with PAD and UDD show these two groups arent so different after all .Amnesty is for people who want to break the law and make it up as they go along .That how we have painted ourselves into this corner .All people should be judged by the law .
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soltair
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Discussion 7 : 10 Feb 2013 at 09.087
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Barry Kenyon, with all due respect sir, "is an expat group, with strict entry guidelines and ongoing professional training". If this is so why is it possible that the head of this foreign police assistance group used to be a notorious gangster in Denmark who did serious jail time? By what standard is one judged?
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barryw
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Discussion 6 : 10 Feb 2013 at 08.286
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Doc Holliday - your letter perfectly encapsulates why Thailand is such a corrupt and medieval nation. My own country, England, used to have the same 'them and us' mentality, first with Lords of the Manor and then the 'upstairs, downstairs' society. But England grew out of that nearly 100 years ago. It took a couple of world wars to change the UK. What will it take in Thailand. Revolution, I suspect, when the masses eventually decide enough is enough.
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pquinlan
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Discussion 5 : 10 Feb 2013 at 08.285
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Doc, a rather lame explanation of what most expats, especially those who have been here a long time, sometimes decades, already know. However, knowing the cultural roots of a problem doesn't make it any less of a problem. Corruption is a blight on Thailand's capacity to become what it could be. There is no rational reason for anyone to be poor in a country rich with such resources and skills as Thailand, other than pure greed on the part of those who want to maintain a self-serving economic imbalance.

No prizes for guessing where you sit on the socio-economic scale.
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Culture is paramount | Bangkok Post: opinion