Culture understanding for foreigners in Thailand

This is just a short description of culture in Thailand. Let me just shortly present myself. I am born in Thailand but adopted to Denmark when I was one year old. I did go to the best school in Denmark so I am well educated. It means today after 32 years in Denmark I am 100 % Danish. Today do I live in Thailand and when I came here did I not have any money because I had just graduated.

Because I am Thai outside can I listen to the culture as long I keep my mouth close. I have learn my thai during the last 4 years as other foreigners so anybody knows I am not Thai when I speak. My appearance and my starting economical situation did give me some advantage. I did very quickly living among the Thais and not as foreigner. In this period of my life have I really get surprised over how different a culture can be. In my education have I learned a lot about culture but the reality exceeds the theories. Books are great but do not present the real world because all the books are wroten by foreigners and the Thais don’t want or can’t do it. Tacit knowledge as culture is very difficult to explain.

I will write more lately but first I will mention two mistakes almost all foreigners do:
- Firstly we do tell the Thais spirits and ghosts does not exist
- We do explain them that Buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion

Thais does not live after facts as we do. They talk from heart to heart and not from mind to mind. In the Thai language will you find the word heart in many situation and wherefore difficult to talk 100 % to a Thai in English.  According to above 2 bullets have I learned to follow evidence through positivism and induction. It means I find it strange when everything here is about ghost. You cannot see TV without be presenting for ghost and spirits. But try to convince a Thai they do not exist is the same to tell a little kid that Santa Claus does not exist. Also remember this is adults and wherefore will they just think you don’t understand anything. The same about Buddhism. They go there for luck. The prey as people do for God and if you read books about Buddhism will you quickly knows they don’t follow anything from Siddhārtha Gautama.

The point here is please don’t use your logic mind because it makes almost no sence for a Thai. It is the feelings where counts and even harder you try to convince them more will you just get distance to the Thais. You will not see it but the result is you will just be an ATM machine they are smiling to.

Next I will write more about why they are not following any kind of logic.