Thai-Where??
Do you know where Thailand is? I was doing a little browsing on the net after work today and came upon some some disturbing information that inspired me to write this post. It was an article about a survey National Geographic conducted regarding how knowledgeable American young adults are when it comes to geography. I don’t want to get to bogged down in percentages, as they bore me to tears but did you know:
- Only 37% of young Americans can find Iraq on a map—though U.S. troops have been there since 2003.
- 20% of young Americans think Sudan is in Asia. (It’s the largest country in Africa.)
- 48% of young Americans believe the majority population in India is Muslim. (It’s Hindu—by a landslide.)
- Half of young Americans can’t find New York on a map.
I then remembered the beauty queen i saw on CNN recently from a state not so far from my own home, and decided it might be a good idea to write a little bit about the country i’ve called home for the past 5 and a half years. Thailand is a country located in southeast Asia, roughly about the same size as the state of Texas. The capital city is Bangkok, where i make my home, and the official language spoken is naturally Thai. Bangkok is a fairly bilingual city, with most public signs being in English and Thai. We’ve two English Newspapers, a variety of English language magazines, and most movie theaters will offer their screenings with the original soundtrack. Outside the capital city, though, is a different story and if your lacking in Thai language skills you could run into difficulty. I do not own a car here as it’s really not necessary because Bangkok has a fairly good system of public transportation which use to commute to just about every destination I need. The currency we use here is called the baht, and and was running about 33 or 34 baht to the US dollar last time i checked. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy, in that they have parliament, a prime minister, and a king that the Thais revere, respect, and love in a way one might love a father. Its deep and they take their monarchy more serious than any western country i know, but understandable as he has done so much for the country and its people. Thailand is a Buddhist country, but they don’t practice a pure form of Buddhism. Its Buddhism with a bit of Hindu and Animism/mysticism mixed together.
Thailand is the only country in southeast Asia that was never colonized by a western country, and most Thai people have a big sense of national pride in this regards. With this in mind, It is hard for most Thai people to believe that a westerner would not know where Thailand is or locate it on a map. One thing I have loved about living here, but didn’t expect is the multi-cultural exposure i get daily. I have close friends from the UK, Australia, Italy, Greece, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Germany, Holland, France, Israel, Norway…and the list goes on and on. Bangkok is such a massive melting pot of cultures and you learn so much from the people you are around every day. I truly love that about my life here, and the open attitude Thais have towards people that are different. No one is ever bashed up for who they are, or who they fall in love with and i’ve never once felt unsafe or experienced negativity from others about being gay. I’ll definitely be going into this much deeper later, and you will undoubtedly here me complain every now and then due to cultural clash annoyances i experience from time to time. However, I will do my best to keep them light and try to make them funny since that’s usually how I deal with such situations when they arise. I usually try to remain light hearted about most things, and do my best to not get hung up over frustrating situations. Its the only way i can keep sane in the wonderful Chaos that is Thailand. So, I’ll close my thoughts for the day with this question again. Do you know where Thailand is?
January 10, 2008 at 9:54 am
I do. But, I have an advantage… I’m Australian.
January 11, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Beulah grew up in “that state” and went to “that high school” too, and she has always been able to locate Thailand on a map.
People like to poke fun at education in “that state” and often for good reason, but a lot of us managed to do well — all over the world.