Thai (un)truths
If you go to a country for the first time, preparation is not only a must, but also a not unpleasant activity to learn a little more about the country and population in question.
Many who for the first time Thailand visits, or has visited, will have read a number of pieces of advice that, on closer inspection, were less useful or much less weighty than initially thought.
Sitting on the floor in a temple with your feet pointing back, taking off your shoes and showing respect is almost self-evident. The Thai greets you with the well-known 'Wai' instead of shaking hands with us. But the addition that the higher those hands are folded to the chin that shows more respect is somewhat outdated. Don't think anyone thinks about that anymore and almost everyone lets their folded hands land on their noses as usual.
The head
The head is also such a typical thing, because according to Thailand connoisseurs, the spirit lives there, so you should never touch that part of the body. Now it is certainly not the case that I want to immediately grab everyone outside or in Thailand by the head, but to be honest I have never been able to properly assess this advice. How could parents inspect their child's head of hair without touching the child's head? The so-called 'flea' is a scene that you can often see with your own eyes. Admittedly, Thai love life is also very modest in public, but should a Thai young man never even press his lover's head against his chest without anyone else seeing it?
Reincarnation
Reincarnation is another subject that is regularly associated with Buddhism, and therefore with Thailand. For example, a Thai wouldn't hurt a fly, at least again according to the tourist advisors. Dogs run around in abundance, you could almost consider it a nuisance. But who knows, maybe the ghost of your great-grandfather lurks in that dog and you don't want to chase it away. But what if the spirit of that same family member lives on as a chicken or a frog? Just had to think about that when seeing a number of frogs with their legs tied together in a bucket.
Another wonderful story Joseph, just like most of your other writings. I always laugh my ass off at those chewed-up tips. As if we in the Netherlands/Europe point at things with our feet, touch strangers or people with whom we do not have an intimate relationship on the head, as if Thai people who have an intimate relationship (parent-child, a couple, second good friends) never never touch the bulb… The differences that exist… those are just accents in my eyes. In Thailand you take off your shoes more often, with us less often. Also differs from person to person and household, those are much more important differences. I don't know better than shoes off in the house. That's how I was raised, but others have different habits.
I have written before that the first time I saw my mother-in-law in real life I was fully content to bring a good Wai. Even before I could complete that whole thing I got a big hug. Then it occurred to me that they could go crazy with all those do's and don'ts.
Use your common sense, be yourself and if you pay a little attention to your surroundings, you will figure out for yourself what (in)appropriate behavior is.
I don't know what it's like in the rest of Thailand, but in the village where I live, hands are held at different heights.
This extends from the fingertips about the level of the nose, to the wrists against the top of the bowed head.
Touching the head is a bit different.
I do see older people petting children's heads.
For adults it will be a bit different.
But let's be honest, how often do you pet your neighbor on the head in the Netherlands?
The young will undoubtedly touch the head of their lover.
For the elderly I have the impression that love life mainly consists of: skirt up, pants down and done quickly.
Religion has never made sense.
Thou shalt not kill, he says to a world full of carnivores.
And flooding the whole world, where innocent children also drowned, was no problem either.
So from now on dear visitor, don't care about the customs and politeness in Thailand, go ahead!
Is this the intention?
Isn't that what Joseph writes? He talks about the importance of preparation but that a lot of (cliché) advice is rather absurd or comical. The differences are not that big, we often share the same or similar norms and values (humanism) and for the rest just use some common sense. Preparation is fine, but the Somtam is not eaten as hot as some travel guides lead you to believe.