A few years ago, my friends and I went on hoilday in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Although we had read up on their customs and practices in preparation for the trip, it seems that we still managed to miss a few important details in our research, as you will soon find out.
Chiang Mai is famous for their night bazaars and right after checking into our hotel, we decided to head over there for dinner. The atmosphere was just perfect: steaming bowls of kway teow naam on the table and the sights and sounds of the night market scene surrounding us.
Halfway though our meal, the Thai pop music that had been playing in the background suddenly switched to a more militaristic marching song. Then we noticed the Thais around us stopping in their tracks and standing up. Having not a single clue as to what was going on, we nevertheless continued sitting and eating. After the song ended, we noticed the locals closest to us giving us the evil eye and looking disapproving.
Later, we learnt that the song which we had heard was actually the Thai National Anthem and that the Thais would stand up when their anthem plays out of respect. While we knew that the Thais have a great patriotism and love for their king and country, we were ignorant of this cultural practice of theirs. Perhaps, something that we could have done was to simply follow the behaviour of the locals in an unfamiliar situation. Then again, perhaps we should have just researched their culture more properly before attempting to blend into their environment.
Final Reflection
14 years ago
Hi Abby,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have been to Thailand a few times, I have not encountered such a situation before. I have learnt something new from your entry. Usually, I do not bother to study the culture before visiting other countries. Looks like I need to pick up that habit. One question though, don’t you feel weird to be eating when everyone else is standing still?
Perhaps you can do a little comparison to illustrate the cultural difference. The “difference” is not clearly illustrated. I can infer the difference if I compare to our country but from the entry alone, I am unable to do so. Do correct me if I have the wrong perspective.
“…the Thais would stand up when their anthem plays out of respect.” This sounds like the anthem is played out of respect. Perhaps you can say “the Thais would stand up as a form of respect when their anthem is played.”
Overall, your entry is easy to read. The paragraphs have smooth transitions from one to another. I agree we should at least try to follow the behavior of the locals in such a situation. Your entry reminds me of my NS days. We had to stop whatever we were doing when a trumpet tune was being broadcasted. (It signals the start of the lowering of our national flag.)
Cheers,
Chee Siang
Hi Abby!
ReplyDeleteWhat an experience! But like what Chee Siang said, wasn't it weird to be sitting and eating while the people around you were standing? By the way, did you manage to finish your kway teow naam? With all the disapproving looks, I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't take another bite!
I have a question though: do the Thais play their national anthem even when there are no special occasions? This reminds me of a suggestion to play the national anthem before a movie starts in the cinemas in Malaysia a few years back. It was an attempt by the government to instil patriotism among Malaysians as most of them forget how to sing the national anthem once they leave school.
But it wasn't implemented for obvious reasons.Seeing the Thais standing straight in the middle of a night bazaar due to the national anthem being played suddenly must have been a really bizarre scene.
So is playing the Thai national anthem in the middle of a night bazaar the intercultural situation here? If the Singapore national anthem is played suddenly when you are halfway through your shopping in Bugis and everyone stops whatever they are doing, that would be interesting!
Hi Abby!
ReplyDeleteI had been to Chiang Mai once when I was in secondary 1. It was a geography field trip organised by my secondary school! However, I had never experienced something like that before! Wow... I did not know that the locals there will show such patriotism when they hear their own national anthem! I have a question though. Is this culture wide spread in thai? I have been to thailand 5 times but I never heard of the thai national anthem being played at their night bazaars such as the Patpong night market.
But certainly, I do not think such things will happen in Singapore because firstly, the national anthem is usually only played in schools during our morning assembly and during the national day parade. *giggles*
Oh just a thought... I feel that in your 2nd last paragraph, you could describe a little bit more about how you and your friends felt after the locals gave such a reaction and what all of you did after that.
Thanks for sharing! =)
Hello Abigail, my fellow ‘nice’ interviewer! Nice story you have portrayed there! This is a rather new idea to me that the Thais actually have such a cultural practice. Initially, I thought that everyone around the world would be patriotic when they hear their countries’ national anthems being played. This reminds me of something: Does Singaporeans actually stop and do the same as what the Thais did if the Singapore’s national anthem is played? To be honest, that was what I did when I previously undertook my two week internship stint in a secondary school. As we are all familiar, all schools have the habit of singing the national anthem in the very beginning of the day. However, my fellow interns would simply continue with their ‘facebook-ing’ or MSN as I would sing the national anthem out by myself. Isn’t that weird? So I can empathize with you when you have mentioned how you felt eating with your friends while the others are in attention to the Thai national anthem.
ReplyDeleteAlso, how comes the national anthem comes out right from the pop radio!? This puzzles me but then I remember that in Singapore, the national anthem will be played everyday on TV and radio stations exactly at 6am. Oh well, this means that anything will be possible.
However, I think that is a few errors you might want to take note of:
-The sentence “Although we had read up on their customs and practices in preparation for the trip, it seems that we still managed to miss a few important details in our research, as you will soon find out.” gives me a little tense confusion? Is it right if you change ‘seems’ to ‘seemed’?
-“…that the Thais would stand up when their anthem plays out of respect.” sounds a little awkward. What do you think if it is rephrased to “…that the Thais would stand out of respect when their anthem is played.”
Other than that, the whole story has a smooth flow and I can easily catch the gist of what you are trying to convey using the story. Great sharing! Thanks for the insight!
Regards,
Ivan
Hey, thanks for giving me feedback on this post. I'll try to post out comments on the other blogs as soon as possible :)
ReplyDeleteActually, with regards to many of your queries, it's the Thai law to play their national anthem at 6pm everyday. Hence, it must have been around that time when we were eating and so the song came on on the radio system (which was at that time tuned in to a pop station). Whew!
Wan Wei and Ivan, I agree with your comments that it'd be interesting to see what Singaporeans would do if the national anthem plays suddenly (for no apparent reason, like while they're shopping. I certainly wonder if they'll stop and sing it.
Chee Siang and Wan Wei, I totally agree that it was very weird that we were sitting and eating while the people around us were standing. You should have seen the way we gobbled up the food after that. Haha! It probably gave the Thais an even worse impression of us. Anyway, despite feeling 'weird', we didn't see any reason to follow the Thais and stand up at that time as we felt that to stand up for no apparent reason would be even weirder. :D
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ReplyDeleteDear Abby,
ReplyDeleteThis is a clear, concise and concrete description of the intercultural scenario. I also see some rudimentary analysis when you say that you learned later that the song you heard was the national anthem and that perhaps you should have stood up, like the Thais.
From my point of view, your later intuition was correct. Having lived in numerous countries and having tried to develop an acute sensitivity to the ways of other cultures, I generally follow the lead of my hosts, and so I would have stood as everyone else was. You could not have been faulted for that. (The old saying is, of course, while in Rome, follow the Romans. Classic example in your situation, I think.)
In your post you mention something about having to do research ahead of time. While I think that is a good idea, there is no way a person can read about all the possible scenarios. That's why learning principles is important. Which ones are at work in this case?
For one, I'd say you should look around yourself and take note of/be sensitive to what the others are doing. This is basic EQ, especially in a case where you are in a public place and everyone is behaving in a certain way.
The second would be to be aware of the possibility that what you are doing is wrong.
The third would be to be flexible, and to be willing to adapt.
Your groups seems to have violated each of these. Still, that was a learning experience that it appears you won't forget.
Thank you for this stimulating reflection!