preahko Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi, "I think they get a bit of free religion thrown in as well." If true, then that pisses me off. Why can't religious nutters leave the rest of us be? Can't they get it through their thick skulls that we do not want to be 'saved'? Sanuk! well, if it's a small consolation, in my twenty years of interaction with Southeast Asians, I've found that Therevada Buddhists rarely fully convert to another religion... they tend to view religion very much as a mix and match thing (look how integrated Buddhism, spirit worship, worship of Hindu and Chinese gods is for Thais), so even if a Thai were to "convert" to Xianity, they wouldn't stop wai-ing spirit shrines, making merit at the temple, etc... and that part drives the Xians who try to convert them nuts--especially those awful born-agains, heheh--because of course they expect them to convert wholesale and throw all their old beliefs away... preahko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ckrisg Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Hi, "I think they get a bit of free religion thrown in as well." If true, then that pisses me off. Why can't religious nutters leave the rest of us be? Can't they get it through their thick skulls that we do not want to be 'saved'? I agree the Pattaya Orphanage which is run by a Catholic Charity, looks after and teaches Thai Kids good manners and how to be good Buddists, it does not try to convert them or teach them christian beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 what is wrong with giving some education to thais on other cultures/religions?....yes if trying to convert then leave them alone but if just teaching them and opening their minds to something new then it must be for the good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ckrisg Posted January 9, 2007 Report Share Posted January 9, 2007 Thats what the Orphanage does, some of the kids do convert later in life, but a very small percentage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted January 10, 2007 Report Share Posted January 10, 2007 They don't get many Buddhists in here but they make great inroads into the hills tribes people. They get the village chief in with gifts and money, he then orders the village to convert but he's only a nominal Christian and allowed to continue his lifestyle with his twelve year old wives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 They also teach Mandarin in Pinyin first before they teach the characters. However even for a westerner can be confusing. As a very basic example the word for I is "wo". The Chinese pronounce it like "war" not like "woe" as one would think. Then of course there are the various tones which apply a totally different meaning to a word eg "shi" etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samak Posted January 12, 2007 Report Share Posted January 12, 2007 Pinyin is certainly confusing for native english speakers. however for other westerners (french, spanish, german, italian, scandinavian languages etc.) they pronounce the word pretty much like it is spelled in Pinyin. but of course you have to add the tones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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