Recent Events in Thailand
We’ve had a strange few weeks in Thailand which have really centered around two major rescue operations, albeit one which got slightly more media coverage than the other.
The first and most well known of these was, of course, the Tham Luang Cave story where twelve young footballers and their coach were finally rescued in a daring operation after more than two weeks underground. This grabbed the attention of the World and social media seemed to pretty much explode with people desperately trying to be the first to post ‘breaking news’ which probably wasn’t actually accurate anyway.
Although I very actively followed the whole thing on Twitter, what was quite interesting is that people in Thailand didn’t actually seem to be talking about it all that much. If this scenario had happened in the UK, I’m sure everyone would have been chatting about it non-stop at work (probably interspersed with talk about ‘football coming home’). But I just haven’t really witnessed this in my workplace, at least not openly with me.
When the boys were first found, I did discuss it with one of my colleagues and I seemed to know a lot more of the details than her, such as the fact that they might not be able to get them out straight away as they needed to dive. I was just surprised that she wasn’t as gripped to the story as I was.
Some people at work did share a few things on our work Line groups but not many. When the news started to break that the first boy had been rescued, I hesitated before sending an update to that group, possibly feeling that it might not be my place to share this news? I was relieved when another Thai colleague did confirm the update. When I went to work on Monday, I mentioned that I’d been obsessed with following the rescue all weekend but was not met with much of a response.
It’s not unusual for Thai’s not to want to discuss more serious topical issues with Farangs. Maybe they discuss these things with each other, I have no idea? I remember on my cross-cultural management course, a French guy being very frustrated that they never wanted to discuss politics although that’s a bit more of a taboo subject here. I wonder if they don’t talk about it because it doesn’t really influence the situation?
It has been quite interesting seeing people outside of Thailand get a view of Thai culture, even a tiny bit of it, and from afar. First, there are the nicknames. I often think that there needs to be a different word as it’s not quite the same as a casual nickname that someone might have in the UK. Everyone has a nickname in Thailand and that really is just used as their name. Someone at work just had a baby and it already has a nickname and I learned this name before I learned the real name. There are some brilliant nicknames I’ve come across like ‘Banana’, ‘Meow’ and ‘Man U’!
I also read an article on The Guardian website where they called the football coach ‘Phi Ekk’ and translated it as ‘Brother Ekk’ which is technically correct but misses the point that in Thailand everyone will use a prefix before someone’s name and ‘Phi’ is used for some older/more senior which makes sense that the boys would call him that. Someone older than him won’t be using that prefix.
I also think it’s been interesting to see the foreign reaction to monks attending the cave site and various ‘make merit’ activities. The belief in the contribution of these activities to the outcome is so strong - it’s very difficult for non-Thais to comprehend. But maybe there is something in it? The lucky number on the Thai lottery on 1st July was 623 and the day they entered the cave was 23rd June. The boys were found one day after the lottery result. And how lucky was it that the rain held off during the rescue? The monsoon that was forecasted didn’t emerge which must have helped. The industrial water pumps also had a significant contribution but I read that the main one of those stopped working almost as soon as the last rescue operation was completed.
Another observation is the foreign interpretation or opinion of how the families of the boys might be feeling, specifically whether they blamed Coach Ek and also when the boys did start to get rescued, the fact that they weren’t immediately allowed access to their kids or possibly didn’t know they had been rescued. I have no idea of their actual reaction to all of this but I can imagine this scenario in the UK causing an uproar and maybe some of the parents doing interviews with tabloid newspapers and attracting militant followers on social media demanding justice.
There is a lot more respect for authority in Thai culture than in other countries so I guess they trusted what they were being told and that the right decisions were being made. Then there’s also just the acceptance of what’s meant to happen will happen. This doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t have been worried or upset but I think people accept the hand they're dealt in life and if they do the right things it will be better in the next life.
The success of this operation is seen as a massive success for Thailand with the rest of the world watching - no secret is being made of this. Thailand has a reputation of being pretty hopeless at doing things properly - every day you see hilariously inappropriate loads being carried by motorbikes and various structures built in the middle of a walkway without any consideration for how pedestrians will pass.
But the way this rescue operation has been handled could not be more different! They brought the best team together, they made a plan which they followed to the letter, and they controlled the flow of information to ensure only accurate reports were issued. It’s a huge moment for Thailand so let’s hope the wheels don’t fall off now everyone is safe.
The other rescue operation that was unfortunately almost completely overshadowed by the cave rescue was the tragic capsizing of the Phoenix tourist boat in the sea off Phuket, which claimed the lives of 46 Chinese tourists.
This hasn’t shown Thailand in the best light as there were weather warnings in place and tourists boats were prohibited from going out to sea. The operators of the Phoenix decided to ignore this rule and no authorities stopped them. This can be a problem in Thailand, there are rules in place but enforcement can be pretty patchy. And when you’ve got a boat full of Chinese tourists who are paying good money to go diving, the operators probably felt they’d chosen the easiest route.
I do also think there is a bit of an ‘it won’t happen to me’ mindset in Thailand which probably contributed. People seem to have a complete disregard for personal safety - they ride motorcycles without helmets and generally without licenses. Since I’ve been here there have been 2 people I’ve been indirectly connected to killed on motorcycles and 1 person permanent brain damaged - all through not wearing helmets.
The cave rescue shows progress, no doubt about it, but there’s still some room for improvement.
Tham Luang Cave
The first and most well known of these was, of course, the Tham Luang Cave story where twelve young footballers and their coach were finally rescued in a daring operation after more than two weeks underground. This grabbed the attention of the World and social media seemed to pretty much explode with people desperately trying to be the first to post ‘breaking news’ which probably wasn’t actually accurate anyway.
Although I very actively followed the whole thing on Twitter, what was quite interesting is that people in Thailand didn’t actually seem to be talking about it all that much. If this scenario had happened in the UK, I’m sure everyone would have been chatting about it non-stop at work (probably interspersed with talk about ‘football coming home’). But I just haven’t really witnessed this in my workplace, at least not openly with me.
When the boys were first found, I did discuss it with one of my colleagues and I seemed to know a lot more of the details than her, such as the fact that they might not be able to get them out straight away as they needed to dive. I was just surprised that she wasn’t as gripped to the story as I was.
Some people at work did share a few things on our work Line groups but not many. When the news started to break that the first boy had been rescued, I hesitated before sending an update to that group, possibly feeling that it might not be my place to share this news? I was relieved when another Thai colleague did confirm the update. When I went to work on Monday, I mentioned that I’d been obsessed with following the rescue all weekend but was not met with much of a response.
It’s not unusual for Thai’s not to want to discuss more serious topical issues with Farangs. Maybe they discuss these things with each other, I have no idea? I remember on my cross-cultural management course, a French guy being very frustrated that they never wanted to discuss politics although that’s a bit more of a taboo subject here. I wonder if they don’t talk about it because it doesn’t really influence the situation?
Looking In
It has been quite interesting seeing people outside of Thailand get a view of Thai culture, even a tiny bit of it, and from afar. First, there are the nicknames. I often think that there needs to be a different word as it’s not quite the same as a casual nickname that someone might have in the UK. Everyone has a nickname in Thailand and that really is just used as their name. Someone at work just had a baby and it already has a nickname and I learned this name before I learned the real name. There are some brilliant nicknames I’ve come across like ‘Banana’, ‘Meow’ and ‘Man U’!
I also read an article on The Guardian website where they called the football coach ‘Phi Ekk’ and translated it as ‘Brother Ekk’ which is technically correct but misses the point that in Thailand everyone will use a prefix before someone’s name and ‘Phi’ is used for some older/more senior which makes sense that the boys would call him that. Someone older than him won’t be using that prefix.
I also think it’s been interesting to see the foreign reaction to monks attending the cave site and various ‘make merit’ activities. The belief in the contribution of these activities to the outcome is so strong - it’s very difficult for non-Thais to comprehend. But maybe there is something in it? The lucky number on the Thai lottery on 1st July was 623 and the day they entered the cave was 23rd June. The boys were found one day after the lottery result. And how lucky was it that the rain held off during the rescue? The monsoon that was forecasted didn’t emerge which must have helped. The industrial water pumps also had a significant contribution but I read that the main one of those stopped working almost as soon as the last rescue operation was completed.
The Blame Game?
Another observation is the foreign interpretation or opinion of how the families of the boys might be feeling, specifically whether they blamed Coach Ek and also when the boys did start to get rescued, the fact that they weren’t immediately allowed access to their kids or possibly didn’t know they had been rescued. I have no idea of their actual reaction to all of this but I can imagine this scenario in the UK causing an uproar and maybe some of the parents doing interviews with tabloid newspapers and attracting militant followers on social media demanding justice.
There is a lot more respect for authority in Thai culture than in other countries so I guess they trusted what they were being told and that the right decisions were being made. Then there’s also just the acceptance of what’s meant to happen will happen. This doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t have been worried or upset but I think people accept the hand they're dealt in life and if they do the right things it will be better in the next life.
Success!
The success of this operation is seen as a massive success for Thailand with the rest of the world watching - no secret is being made of this. Thailand has a reputation of being pretty hopeless at doing things properly - every day you see hilariously inappropriate loads being carried by motorbikes and various structures built in the middle of a walkway without any consideration for how pedestrians will pass.
But the way this rescue operation has been handled could not be more different! They brought the best team together, they made a plan which they followed to the letter, and they controlled the flow of information to ensure only accurate reports were issued. It’s a huge moment for Thailand so let’s hope the wheels don’t fall off now everyone is safe.
But Still Some Way to Go
The other rescue operation that was unfortunately almost completely overshadowed by the cave rescue was the tragic capsizing of the Phoenix tourist boat in the sea off Phuket, which claimed the lives of 46 Chinese tourists.
This hasn’t shown Thailand in the best light as there were weather warnings in place and tourists boats were prohibited from going out to sea. The operators of the Phoenix decided to ignore this rule and no authorities stopped them. This can be a problem in Thailand, there are rules in place but enforcement can be pretty patchy. And when you’ve got a boat full of Chinese tourists who are paying good money to go diving, the operators probably felt they’d chosen the easiest route.
I do also think there is a bit of an ‘it won’t happen to me’ mindset in Thailand which probably contributed. People seem to have a complete disregard for personal safety - they ride motorcycles without helmets and generally without licenses. Since I’ve been here there have been 2 people I’ve been indirectly connected to killed on motorcycles and 1 person permanent brain damaged - all through not wearing helmets.
The cave rescue shows progress, no doubt about it, but there’s still some room for improvement.
Interesting cultural observations Emma. Enjoy your continued journey into all things Thai!
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