More and more westerners make Thailand home. We all bring us our own set of basic values of our upbringing deeply rooted and the societies from which we come. They are the rules under which we live our lives, the moral principles and guidelines that govern our actions and decision-making process. We do not all have the same values, but whatever values we hold, the probability that they are different from those held in Thailand.
Many ex-pats in> Thailand are the breadwinners of their families have set up their own businesses or working in management positions. We are therefore often in a position of authority or influence on Thai people. This leads us to a dilemma. To what extent should we use our own set of Western values to the Thai people that we influence?
I greatly respect and enjoy Thai culture. I am happy to embrace many values in my new home. However, I have my ownValues and I can not anchored, all behind them, just because I have now in Thailand. Many of them deep in my psyche. Set Your acceptance of western values in my life necessarily mean that they are also forced into the life of my wife. My wife is Thai and not always in the same things that I believe.
A good example of the West and Thais holding contrasting values is the topic of road safety. Most Thais do not believe in wearing helmets or seatbelts. They do not usually wearthem, but they do it to avoid a police fine, rather than in the interest of safety. Westerners generally accept that safety precautions are a good idea. We may not like our governments to us by law enforcement but we believe in the principle of taking safety precautions.
It is easy to understand the reasons for these differing viewpoints. Thai people are fatalistic. It is part of the Buddhist religion. They believe that what will be will be. If something will happen, it willhappened, and there is little you can do about it. In the West we believe in controlling our own destinies. We believe that our actions have consequences that affect future actions.
We have therefore a potential source of contention. I know some ex-pat Westerners who no longer start their car until all passengers continued their their safety. I know others who do not take the passenger on the motorcycle when her wear a helmet. These are generally considered not only the Western principles of integrated safetyLaws, but also from Thailand. But they still force their values on Westerners, Thais who do not hold the same values. We come to their land and force them to see how we act. Is that correct?
I have no doubt that our Western perspective is right on this issue. I am sure that most accidents are preventable, and if not you can at least take precautions to reduce their impact. But that's not the point. There is no question of who is right or wrong, but whether itRight to force Western values on the people of our host, who believe not in it. One of my moral belief is that it is wrong to force my beliefs on other people. So I take the attitude that if people want to ride in my car or on a motorcycle without safety precautions, it's their choice.
But what if you are the person responsible for security? What happens if the person is a child?
When we had our first child, I thought we would buy a child seat for the car. It is what weties in the West. My wife was surprised when I suggested we go shopping for such a post. Why would we want our child seat belt in the back of the car? She would hold the baby while I was driving.
Did I, a child seat is a good idea, so we went shopping. Of course, you will not find seats for babies in most Thai stores. They are something that most Thais do not think for the purchase. We went to the selection in Robinson's Department Store, Search. They were expensive, and they all required rearTo fasten seatbelts. Our car does not even have rear seat belts as well as the purchase of the baby seat, we would still get the car to get to. At this point I took, we would not buy one.
I thought we needed one, but it was too easy to prove, hard against the Thai belief that we do not. Even the sellers have confirmed that it was not necessary.
There are many ways that Westerners in Thailand to bring parts of their country lifestyles with them. In Phuketwe can in the western style houses, furniture, kitchens, appliances and satellite TV. I love Thai food and in our household, we eat Thai food most of the time but sometimes I want to eat the western. It will never be a problem in Phuket.
There is nothing wrong with building your own little piece of home in your new country, if that's what you want. The problem is, if your values at home, the life of the invasion of Thai people who do not want that to start it.
Western culture is veryinvasive. We see the Western fast-food outlets popping up all over Thailand. Make high profile advertising campaigns seem trendy and exciting to ignore the fact that the food is as good or as nutritious as the local cooking. The result is many small fat Thai children. New 7-Eleven convenience stores appear in any environment, while in the vicinity of the local Thai grocery stores. The Christian religion has a history of vigorously promoting itself in non-Christian countries. The UnitedStates a policy of promoting "the" American Way "on the world.
We seem to be a deep-rooted belief in our own correctness have. We are not easy to accept other nation's cultures and values. We expect them to be more like us to change this. It is a question which we must be careful when living in another culture. We need not lose our own identity and values, but we need a way to integrate them into our lives without suffocating the local culture without insulting and local searchPeople.
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