Intercultural Communications: Thai Culture - Assignment Example

Intercultural Communications                                                            This essay explores Thai culture in its entirety, emphasizingthe common differences in this culture when compared to mine. Our big world is full of cultures that make people unique in their own ways. And the essence of studying one culture and comparing it with another is to establish a mechanism through which there would be smooth intercultural communications. For the purpose of this essay, I spent a great deal of time observing some Thai people in my neighborhood. I even paid them several visits to see their day-to-day lifestyles and I asked important questions whose answers are incorporated into this essay. As it is almost impossible to describe or explain any culture in a few words, but picking the most important facts, Thai culture could be said to be dynamic. One cannot describe Thai culture well without, first of all, mentioning the royal family. Everything in this South East Asian country rallies around the Thai King, who is both the official and constitutional head of Thai Kingdom (Baker & Phongpaichit 35). There are countless festivals, seasonal celebrations and rituals to mark the King’s birthday, the royal history and the history of Thailand. A short insight into the history of Thailand revealed that past Thai Kings had fought many battles to keep Thai people alive. Till today, Thailand is one of the countries in the world that has never been colonized by any foreign powers. So, Thai culture is almost unaffected by any strange culture unlike in case of many former colonist countries, where the colonialist cultures, be it British, French or Portuguese have changed the way people in such countries behave. Thai culture remains traditionally Thai, though modernity is changing the people’s lifestyles, but it doesn’t forcefully erase Thai traditional ways of life. 2 Starting with fashion, the traditional Thai fashion is made from the shining Thai silk that has several colors. Shirts could be made for men using the silk, and Thai women often adore themselves with tight skirts, wrappers and blouse sewed from the Thai silk. A typical festival in Thailand would reveal how colorful this Thai silk is, and how fitting they look on Thai people. In the area of food and dishes, there are traditional but delicious Thai cuisines: prominent among them are the Tom Yum Kung and rice and noodles. Like most Asian dishes, Thai foods are salty, peppery, spicy, sweet or n\bitter. Rice appears to be the staple food for Thai people, but they eat it with varieties of soups and other side dishes. The entertainment in Thailand is one of the most exciting in Asia. That is why the country economy is being hugely driven by tourism as people troop in from every part of the globe to catch enough fun in the country. Westerners, as well as other tourists, have been mostly enchanted by the magnetic smiles Thai people are fond of flashing all visitors to their country. Most importantly, sex tourism has become one of the high-yielding ventures in the country as foreigners rush to Thailand to have sexual fun with the beautiful locals, who are naturally pliant, kind and seductive (Jackson & Cook 71).    It is naturally for someone to have some wrong ideas about another people’s cultures without having a firsthand experience how the culture looks like. As it pertains to all Asians, I harbor some of these prejudices against Thai culture before I actually researched about the Thai people: (a)    Not Accommodating: I had thought that Thai people, judging from the way Chinese people live in impenetrable communities in the United States, would be unaccommodating. I thought that they would be hard to interact with, and they may not have a good sense of humor. (b)   Bad Food: I have visited many Asian restaurants before, and I discovered most of the 3 dishes served there were not my favorites. I like sweet things, but most foods in Asian restaurants are typically spicy and peppery. (c)    Unattractive:  I have had no doubt that Thai fashion would be unattractive, and their entertainment would be traditional and unappealing. Sometimes I saw some Asian singers on MTV and I discovered that their music didn’t get me. (d)   Unfriendly: I didn’t doubt it a bit that Thai people would be unfriendly. I have lived near some Asian families, and they hardly exchanged pleasantries with people around them. And if at all they do, it is brief and one-sided. Some of my classmates in the middle school were Asians, and we knew them to be poor in striking up conversation or trying to make new friends.   Below are some observable similarities and dissimilarities between my culture (American) and Thai Culture. I was able to come at these conclusions below after spending a lot of time to investigate the possible similarities and differences. (i)                 Humanity: The major similarity is that both American culture and Thai culture share in the same humanity. We are joined together by a strong link of having human forms and living on the same Earth. (ii)               Respectability:  Both the American and Thai cultures exhibit some level of respect to people in the societies, most especially, the elderly ones. Rudeness is immediately rebuked, and humble personality is generally acceptable to the society. Despite the above-stated similarities, there are vivid differences in American culture and Thai culture. Some of these differences are visible in our everyday life. No one should expect American culture to be the same with Thai culture. Hence, these differences stand out between the two cultures: (a)    Royalty: Every cultural activity in Thailand is hanged on the Thai Royal Family. There are 4 celebrations to mark the Thai King’s birthday, anniversary of ascension to the throne, celebrations of many victories the past Thai Kings had brought to their people; however, American culture is not suffused with any form of royalty. And American people are not forced to overtly respect a King or a President as the sole owner of their country. (b)   Food and Entertainment: The foods in Thailand are quite different from American food in their compositions, tastes, flavors and appearances. While Thai people seem to like something quite spicy and oily, Americans would go for crispy stuff with little pepper in it. American entertainment is broader and more diverse than Thai’s entertainment structure. This is due to the fact that America is a nation of nations, and each people in the US show their heritages. On the other hand, Thai entertainment is simple and linear. Even though sex tourism is booming in Thailand because poor ladies could easily take up the trade of prostitution, such a form of entertainment is strictly forbidden in the United States where such a display of naked bodies could lead to jails. (c)    Friendliness: Even hearty laughter and physical humility could be used as criteria for being quite friendly; Thais outdo Americans in this way. An average Thai person laughs every second: it is such an infectious smile that could make anyone laugh loud and forget his/her problems. I particularly paid attention to the women, because they laughed more often than their men. This gesture of goodwill might have been responsible for the booming tourism business in Thailand.    After analyzing Thai culture, and I realize that the misconceptions I had had about culture were totally wrong. This is a matter of education: when we spend time to learn about a culture we don have enough knowledge about, it is practically possible that our past warped views about the concerned culture would change: Here are my interesting discoveries: (i)                 Openness: Contrary to my expectation that Thai people would be unaccommodating and distant, I realized, after meeting several of them, that they are 5 out-going, easy-going and willing to interact quickly. One enviable characteristic in Thai culture is that the people rarely take an offence about anything: they are gentle and somehow subservient: they would laugh over offences quickly and ready to forgive as long as one recognizes he/she has committed such an offence. It may be hard to say that Thais are more receptive than Americans: this statement is never an overstatement. (ii)               Good Delicatessen: Thai dishes turned out to be my favorites after going to their restaurants on many occasions. I hated spicy food before, but Tom Yum Kung has awakened my interest to benefits of eating something hot. I like the way Thai rice is dried and mould into balls and arranged neatly on a white ceramic plate. (iii)             Alluring Fashion: Though queer and exotic, I spend a deal of my time looking at Thai fashion. Thai silk has a unique ability to shine in sunlight and under a faint indoor light. The women look gorgeous in their tight skirts, blouse and wrappers: the men appear neat and gentlemanly in their multi-colored shirt. The fashion would turn people’s heads on New York streets, I bet it.  It has been proved on many occasions that people from different cultures always find it difficult to work together without experiences some problems due to individual cultural differences. However, in view of the points highlighted below, I suspect it wouldn’t be so difficult to work with anyone from Thailand. (a)    Gentleness: Thai people are physically gentle. They appear like they were not going to be ruffled by any rude behavior. Although I had not spent so many years investigating about their ability to control their anger and stay calm in the face of irritation, but I am quite sure that they tender appearance and the softness in their voice when they speak, they might be naturally gentle and easy to deal with. 6 (b)   Subservience: They look like they would be easy to control: Thai people would rarely ask you any questions that could make you enraged. They are shy to look confidently into your eyes when you speak, and they are ready to follow your instructions if you give them. These qualities reveal that they wouldn’t be difficult to give orders to as subordinates. (c)    Attentiveness: I have noticed that Thais are attentive, and they are always ready to listen to one’s complaints, especially if you are a foreigner. A foreigner of Western origin is called a “farang”. And the general believe in Thailand is that farangs are rich, well-to-do and helpful. Therefore, Thai co-workers would be always glad to listen to an American manager. Considering the qualities explained above, many Human Resources Managers would agree that Thai people would be an outstanding co-workers with little or no workplace conflicts.        Nowadays it is not a new thing that most foreigners, particularly of Western origin are going for Thai ladies and men and marrying them as their life partners. This kind of interracial matrimony wouldn’t have been possible if Thais are not subservient, friendly and accommodating. Thais are not reckoned as subservient as slaves, but willing to take orders and maintaining good relationship with their foreign spouses. Recent statistics puts American as the largest population of Westerners that had taken Thai brides. Interestingly, most of the marriages are flourishing till today. This is a turning point in intercultural relationship; and it is a sign of good thing to come as more Americans go to Thailand for marriage. Though not all of these marriages succeed, but most have been peaceful and produce good children that are currently making waves in Thai media and other fields or professionals. 7 Works Cited Baker, Christopher & Phongpaichit, Pasuk. A History of Thailand. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. Print. Jackson, Peter & Cook, Nerida. Genders and Sexualities in Modern Thailand. Chiang Mai, Thailand: Silkworm Books, 1999. Print.     Read More