if you ever wondered what the secret in understanding the thai mentality might be - the thai way of looking at life - don't look any further and just read this blog. read carefully what you see below and if, after reading it twice, you can say "yes, this is fine for me, i can live with this" then you are ready to live a long and happy life in thailand. if it frightens, confuses or disappoints you - never mind, you can still come and make holiday sometimes, but don't ever dare to move here for good.

as always, when talking of (thai) people in general, let me assure you that i am aware of the fact that i am shamelessly generalizing and that of course not EVERYBODY in thailand is like this - but a reliable majority - absolutely yes. i personally have thai friends being the opposite of what i describe, but even more who are exactly the way i state it. this does not mean i value one group more than the other, or in general like or dislike one of them - it is just a fact which, once understood, makes life much easier and really helps you to be ready for a life in paradise.

actually, instead of writing anything, i could easily just post a link to an article in phuket's weekly newspaper, the "phuket gazette". and yes, i will do this first (hoping they will leave the article online for ever - if not please send me an email) - you may then still continue to read my blog.

what is it about: since ever some smart thai people produce copies of brand name products and sell them successfully, mostly to tourists (since thai people actually prefer originals). this is of course illegal and the "cat and mouse" game between the street vendors, shop owners and the police is predictable and almost traditional. the vendors pay the police a regular fee and in return they are warned before the next raid takes place. this is widely accepted by population and representants of the law. rich people and politicians in thailand are not obliged to follow the law anyway, actually they are totally above any law and its enforcement - so why should the poor people not dare? but sometimes vendors don't pay, so the police raids their shop more than others or without warning. this happened recently again in phuket - and, what is new and for the first time, the vendors protested and made an official note given by about 60 of them to the police commander and the governor - in the presence of the press.

they were demanding their rights to continue to sell their illegal products and not be bothered by officials anymore. read this again: these pirates assert the right to sell illegal products, simply because they have done it since many years and of course, yes, they need money to feed their families. can you imagine this to happen in any place of the world except in thailand? i can not. this fact alone is already a lesson in thai mentality, but the reader's comments below the article (and there are many many) will give you the rest of the insight you need and make this already amusing story a masterpiece in understanding the thai way of life.

here we go: Phuket NEWS: Phuket pirates seek sympathy, assert right to sell il

got it? still laughing? yes, i had to read it twice too in order to be able to believe it. so what would the conclusion be? i found a sort of a "break down" of the most important points. not many, and easy to understand. actually it is only one, but one can break down this one then a bit more. so the most important thing to understand is:

thai people are like children.

this may be one reason why most of us like or even love them. children are innocent, they are honest and usually very direct in their way and when they smile they really smile. and i would even specify this a bit more - thai people are like children between the age of four and seven years. when they already know what they want and how to get it.

this is not only the quintessence of the article above but also my very personal experience. lets give a few examples of the absolute match of children and thai mentality.

they don't like to be held responsible.

actually they never take any kind of responsibility. whatever happens, it is just not their business, and for sure never ever their fault. whether they cause something by themselves or someone else did does not make any difference: "it is not my responsibility". full stop. a very nice example was the red shirt protest last year and what happened after, when one of the main terrorists on stage and in front of TV cameras shouted "go and burn bangkok down - i will take the responsibility". of course he should have actually faced the death sentence for terrorism in thailand - many people died in the flames. but also of course he said later this was not exactly what he meant, and it was actually the governments fault what happened - because the fire brigade arrived late. so of course he is now one of the 300 representatives of the red shirts in the government - without any consequences - not his business - not responsible.

they are 100% unreliable.

when comparing an italian and a thai craftsman one way would be like this: let's say you order a piece of furniture and you agree on a delivery 2 weeks later. you pay a 20% deposit upon ordering. after two weeks the italian has already 50% of the work done and his cousin tells you, since the owner is absent, that it is almost finished and you can get it in one week. the thai will explain you why he has not started yet - there were 4 public holidays and his wife was sick. this is actually also the reason why he could not purchase the material yet and needs another 30% deposit. you agree (you are obviously new here) and come back one week later. the italian finished the wood work already and only needs to paint. at least this is what you can see through the window, as the door is closed and nobody around. while the thai you luckily meet at the chicken fighting stadium (his door was locked too) explains you he is almost finished but his worker had to go back to the north east and it will therefore take one more week. he indeed had already ordered the wood - although not the one you agreed on but some sort of more paper than wood, but at least he did it. one week later the italian may have the furniture finished but also may not. but he will eventually do it - even if it may take a few weeks more. while the thai will continue to tell you the most impressive fairytales and will try to get another 30% (this time you don't pay because you don't trust him anymore). so to make it short, the italian will deliver in the end, while the thai "may" indeed deliver, or may not. and the result may be similar to what was agreed on, or totally different. don't worry, you will learn how to deal with this and find your way around, since you have seen all the others have furniture in their houses too - they just were not stupid enough to pay one baht first. same goes of course for appointments of any kind - they may or may not come - the only thing which is for sure is that it is 100% not predictable.

they have absolutely no sense for what is right and what is wrong.

the buddhism in thailand is slightly different from its original beyond the border. of course everybody has to be a good person, and this is what they teach in the temple as well as in school. but they added "a small print" especially for thai people: if you do something bad, but in the end it turns out to be good, then it is no problem. for example: if i kill you and rob you because you have more money than i have and i use the money to feed my kids or to buy a new motorbike for my cousin (since he has only the last year's model) then this is absolutely OK and this is what they always say when they get caught selling lethal drugs to children "i have to feed my kids". their sense of honesty is also very much like a child's - they never lie, they would never do something like this - they believe actually their very individual perception of what may be reality - although totally different from yours. this indeed is then challenging when you lend a "good thai friend of yours you know since years and trust 100%" let's say 20'000 baht. the next day he changes his address, his sim card and you will simply never see him (or even more likely her) again. and you don't understand why for only 20'000 baht somebody would do something like this. well, go to a temple and meditate a bit - it may help.

but they are sooo charming and sooo innocent - you just have to love them.

that's fine. don't worry. you passed. you are welcome to stay here. and once you are here long enough you will actually find out it is much easier than in the west, where theoretically we have a high ethic, a value system based on being good and helpful - and then we are so disappointed when the catholic priests molest their students and it turns out not to be an exception, while when a buddhist monk in thailand is raping one of his 50 temple dogs nobody makes a big story out of it, not even channel 3.

and yes, there are no good or bad people - there is good and bad in every one of us - we just have to decide what we want to bring up. or even more, what we want to focus on - when looking at our neighbors. maybe they should just change the law and allow selling fake goods? no - not going to happen (big brother is watching you), but 100% sure it will continue the way it is handled now - and everybody makes a nice profit out of it. i mean you would not lock a child up in prison, would you?

yours

george