Are Thais really passive?

[shygye]

Ca6IeYUDzXw

 

 

[pasathai1]

especially if you choose "unwisely "

[MooNoi]

I explained to her that it had taken me six weeks to get them to act that way! It's what you are supposed to do in a university classroom. Not in her book, obviously. Students should act like sponges, sitting quietly and soaking up whatever garbage the teacher spouts at them. Education is a process of memorising and regurgitating information. What the fark was wrong with me for not understanding that?

 

 

So, Frash, does that mean that a Thai university degree isn't as worthy as a degree from a western university?

 

(Not a rhetorical question - and general query and something I'm interested in).

 

I've asked Thai students here in Sydney about why they want to study here. The students seem divided into 2 groups:

 

1) The ones who use studying as a front to really work and send money home

 

2) The ones who actually do want to study and say that if 2 Thais went for the same job and one had a degree from a Thai uni, and one from a western uni, the western graduate would get the job every time.

 

Is that true?

[Flashermac]

Depends on the university. Name universities - Chulalongkorn, Thammasat, Mahidol, Kasetsart, maybe Chiang Mai - no problem. High standards but you really have to go by faculty. (Mahidol is tops for medicine, Thammasat for law and business, Kasetsart for engineering etc.) The so-called rachapat universities are another matter ... easy to enter and easy to graduate from, plus there are 41 of them! Some of the private "universities" are an absolute joke. It takes a lot of trying not to graduate (they are businesses first and formemost).

 

The woman who said that to me was an older one. It is easy to see a divide between the old Thai acharns and the young ones. The older one are very traditional and set in their ways. The younger ones usually have a graduate degree or two from the west. Fortunately, the older generation is retiring about now. (One told the students a Farang colleague wasn't a good teacher - because he sat on the desk! Good archans sit behind the desk and read their otes to the students, who sit there bored sh*tless trying to stay awake. )

 

The BBA programme at Thammasat is excellent - students have done well in international competitions. I asked the students why they chose to go to TU instead of studying abroad. The answer in one word - networking! In Thailand business is run on friendship. Study abroad and you might learnmore, but when you come home youdon't have the contacts. They told me you get a BBA in Thailand, then get an MBA abroad.

 

Ask the students in Sinney if they passed the nationwide entrance for a top university. Bet they say no. The ones who can't get in often go abroad. It's better than a degree from a low prestige uni here.

 

[preahko]

I've heard that thai people are more passive and afraid of confrontations. After watching some videos on youtube I have to wonder if this is accurate; from what I've seen, Thai people are quite lively and not fitting the "quiet submissive asian" stereotype at all.

 

Hopefully someone can help me understand the picture better!

 

No, not passive...but supreme masters at being passive-aggressive.

 

[clubsiam]

Thai are generally violent, immoral and unethical. (and not too smart)

The society revolves around who do I grovel to and who can I intimidate.

They only appear passive to those with a higher status and get a great deal of satisfaction pushing around those under them.

Piss off the wrong guy and see what happens

 

 

 

[tartempion]

Hi,

 

"They are...until they aren't. That's the best way of putting it, I think."

 

Agree. They tend to keep stuff bottled up, and once that explodes...

 

Sanuk!

 

That's the problem with taboos of any type.

 

See the priests: are the worst pedophiles.

 

Re Thailand: many taboos, many explosions

 

[Flashermac]

Sounds like you must hang around with a fascinating level of society. But you have described those found in the nightlife scene rather well! Actually not only in Thailand too.

 

 

[clubsiam]

Not into the nitelife these days.

 

Get involved in business here and you will surly agree. A bunch of scoundrels.

[Gadfly]

I have noticed a major generational change in the quality of graduates from Chulalongkorn and Thammasat. Recent graduates, particularly those in the top 10% or 20% of their class, are excellent. The problem is other and older Thai workers.

 

The younger graduates are inquisitive, clever, analytical and often have English skills that would put an uneducated Westerner native speaker to shame. But you need to be very careful, because older Thai workers (say, in their 30s and up) will do their damnedest to beat them down into the submissive and compliant mold. Older Thais feel challenged and threatened because they can't compete and they pull rank (age) to put the younger, and far more effective Thai workers, "in place".

 

Much of its absolutely appalling. The older workers go to extreme lengths to undermine younger and more competent workers. But as they age, this will change, like Thailand is changing.

 

There are some inevitable changes facing Thailand. We can talk about this one, and it will challenge the Thai social fabric, making Thailand a very different place five or ten years from what we see now.

 

No one likes being treated likes being treated crap by elites who are only elites by birth or age and not by merit, and Thais are no different in this. This therefore also will change. My real concern is the fallout and turbulence from this change - we saw only a whiff of this in May. There is more to come.