No fuss about Senator with loaded gun
Why hasn't there been a fuss about the senator walking into a restaurant with a loaded gun and accidentally, by his own admission, shooting his wife, ex-wife, niece or secretary (we still don't know exactly who)?
And why isn't there a fuss about the three officers, who were sentenced to death for premeditated murder and released on bail?
Arglit Boonyai (photo) gives the answer in his weekly column 'My two satangs'. 'Thais are not very curious by nature. We'll take all information that is given, but we seldom ask if there is more. The reason there was no outcry about an MP carrying a gun in public is because no one remembers that this was a question that should be asked.'
A debate about the quality of the justice system would erupt around the world when a convicted murderer is released on bail before serving his sentence. But not in Thailand. “We shrug our shoulders and move on to the next message. And we don't think about how something like this could have happened.'
Why do the media fail to ask the right questions, Arglit wonders in order to answer right away: 'Because we have been taught to maintain the status quo. A child in a Thai classroom will seldom contradict a teacher, and a lower-class person will always stand in awe of an upper-class person without questioning why he or she should.'
Arglit quotes Albert Einstein, who said 'question everything'. That advice is still important for Thailand, he notes.
(Source: Bangkok Post, August 18, 2012)
Update: According to Bangkok Post on August 19, Boonsong killed his wife with whom he had two children.
Thais aren't curious? I think it's quite a funny statement, how many times have I caught the neighbors spying on me, certainly not just at my current place of residence. I don't see anything other than people watching each other and going behind each other's backs, most Thais I see are doing nothing but minding each other's business behind each other's backs. And at that level it will not easily be raised because it is as you say, this senator is higher on the social ladder and oh man, did you have to think about it to even make a case about it, this little boy has a lot of money, power and probably also the right friends. I said it earlier this week in another piece Thailand is a country led by a ..... ………, but I am not allowed to say that because, according to some, I have no evidence for that. Well, my eyes and ears provide me with enough personal evidence, by living here for 4 years among the Thais, very far away from the farangghettos. Please don't view this country and its people so rosy, do you? A shade of gray is more than enough.
Fantastically worded! Also take a look at those soaps, where you see (although played out) the hatred and envy and jealousy radiating and yet it reflects something of their culture. The fact that they shrug their shoulders about something is not only due to the hierarchical relationships, but also has to do with the enormous indifference of the Thais.
But I think hatred, envy and jealousy play a part in soap operas all over the world, because that's what soap operas are all about. And I'd like to believe that that reflects something from the locals, but seeing as I see soap operas all over the world – with the same themes – I suspect that hatred, envy and jealousy may be human traits. Many soaps in Thailand are actually imported from South Korea.
Well, not just in soap operas on TV, by the way. You just have to watch the news on a regular basis. There you also regularly see settlements and many other gory images. A firearm is used at the slightest or the slightest. So it is not so strange that people shrug their shoulders and proceed to the order of the day.
Thais deal with life and death slightly differently than farang. I have already noticed that at the various cremations in the past 4 years. They eat and drink for about 3 to 4 days without too much commotion. Then the cremation with often a drink on the good outcome and then back to the order of the day.
If there's a death here, it seems like there's something really special being celebrated, would it be because they believe in reincarnation? And they are rid of their misery in this life and will have it better in their next life, I wonder? I think it must have something to do with it.
Dear Teun,
I have attended dozens of mournings and cremations over the past 12 years and it was as you describe. In those early years many young AIDS patients. I went inside to offer my condolences, talked to the family and sat outside for another hour or so to eat and drink. I saw little emotion.
I now know it was my fault. I just didn't see it.
More than a year ago, after a 6-month illness, the nephew and boyfriend of my now 13-year-old son died of Hodgkin's disease. I experienced everything up close. The mourning period and the cremation were dignified, intensely emotional and impressive moments. A lot of attention was paid to remembering and loving that boy, with photos, stories and poems. I saw father and mother bent over the coffin, crying. Just before the cremation, a niece gave a beautiful story about his life in a voice choked with emotion and everyone tried to hide their tears. A cousin of mine, who happened to be here and experienced everything, noted that in terms of involvement, he saw no difference with the Netherlands. And no going back to the order of the day. He is regularly commemorated. An exception? Maybe. But I do want to say this.
Dear Chalow,
I have only stated what I have seen a number of times. Either your story is the exception that confirms the rule (in my observation) or the immediate family keeps their grief private.
Because I also can't imagine that if you lose someone from your immediate environment you don't have any (observable or imperceptible) emotion.
Thank you for your beautiful story. Maybe it makes a difference that this was a young, beloved boy. Who died of cancer. I have also experienced a few deaths and cremations that did not make me happy. Of course, you don't have to be happy about it, but the severity of damnation is rarely found here, fortunately. Well (I'm talking about older farangs here) there is a cremation full of gifts, gifts and redemption through the monks who maintain the rites. to hold. Always haggling. As a reformed apostate, I see many similarities with Catholicism in practice. Which also scares me.
If you have to take a loved corpse to the police hospital in Bangkok, which almost always has to be done, unless you have died in a state hospital, your body, your head and perhaps even more body parts are cut open and later sewn up again with a coarse needle. There too, the skin is pulled over the farang's nose.
Yes, I know, then you shouldn't have come to Thailand
Thais are quite curious. But being curious or wanting to know how things work is a step too far for a Thai. Investigating how and what is a fairly left-handed matter, because you may hurt someone with your wisdom. Even if you say you know something, it gives you a great responsibility. And being responsible for something is something a Thai avoids.
Something completely different. Yesterday I was in a bar and the owner was cleaning the bar and preparing food, while a lady working in the bar was quietly doing nothing. I asked why no help was offered. The answer is that she never does anything and she actually has to leave. Why don't you say that then? Because she is a friend of my very good friend. And the lazy lady is also older than me. Hey, you're the boss, right?
Then I try to explain that this is a very big problem for Thailand. After 5 minutes she says, "I lost my earring yesterday and show her she only has one now." End of my speech. Poor Thais, friends of friends, the elderly, etc. and where is your place.
The place of the Farang is simple. You are not in the Thai Hierarchy (as much as some "connoisseurs" may want you to be). You remain a foreigner at all times (even after 35 years of living and working in Thailand). Although you sometimes have the idea that you are standing with one foot in Thai society, it turns out 1 seconds later that you are just the Farang who is a guest again and nothing more than that.
Thai not afraid of death? Here in Thailand I know a lady who has been infected with HIV by her former Thai boyfriend. I can assure you she is afraid of death. I also know a lady here with cancer and this woman is also very afraid of death. They are no less afraid of it than we are, but they hide it, as with everything else.
True, Rene, they are indeed afraid, but hide it out of shame. Well noticed!