Asian Americans: Thai People - Essay Example

Asian Americans: Thai people The Kingdom of Thailand was previously known under the of Siam. The Thai have the other for the country. This name means "the land of free". The country is located in Southeast Asia. Its area is 198,456 square miles, and it borders with Laos, Burma, Kampuchea and Malaysia. It is washed by the Gulf of Thailand and Andaman Sea. The population of Thailand is about 59 million people. For about 90% of the Thai are Mongoloid in origin, but their complexion is lighter in color, compared to Kampuchean, Malay and Burmese neighbors. A small part of the population is Chinese and Malay, and about 65000 of Vietnamese also live in Thailand. The major religion of Thailand is Buddhism, and it is proclaimed by the constitution of the country that a king of Thailand should be a Buddhist. But it also proclaims a freedom of conscience and insists that the king must provide for it. Bhumibol Adulyadei, the king who rules at present, watch the constitution to be obeyed, supporting minority groups of Christians, Muslims and Hindus. As Wellner (2002) states, Thai Americans are not regarded as to be one of the most numerous minority groups in the USA. Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese and Korean groups have more than 1 million people each. But Thai Americans, in spite of their relatively small size, are also significant as far as their role in contributing the society is concerned. According to the statistics data of 2000, there are 150000 of Thai Americans presently living in the USA. Many of them are the children of the immigrants, and many of them are the first generation of immigrants. In early 1980 the term "Asians" included six groups - Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Indian and Vietnamese. After 2000 this term added an additional category of "other Asians". At present this term has more broad area of coverage, including all people who were born in Far East, India and Southeast Asia, i.e., Chinese, Cambodians, Indians, Koreans, Japanese, Malay, Pakistani, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese. (Wellner, 2002) It is not a secret that western and oriental society are opposite in many issues related to culture and outlook. That is why it is quite hard to get used to new style of life, new environment and new customs and traditions, when someone changes East for West. So why so many people leave Thailand, go abroad and feel themselves happy There are some factors that are produced by present situation in Thailand society. Thailand is often referred to as "one of the small dragons of Asia," (Thailand Culture Shock: You're not in Kansas), but it still remains a developing society. The failures and successes of the development process were much discussed in media. Unfortunately, positive results didn't significantly improve the standard of life in all classes of Thailand society. On the contrary, they almost have no influence on poverty and unemployment. Thailand youth is one of the sources that may rescue Thailand from economical instability and in future improve general level of living in the country. But to provide young people with necessary education and experience, Thailand needs time and money. There is an extreme need of special educational programs and funds to provide young men and women with the professions that would be helpful both for them and for the society in general. Thai woman should be given a range of professions that could improve their social and financial status, and could help them getting rid of the subordinate position, they still occupy in society and family. Unfortunately, there are no social programs prepared by the government, that could help men and women earn money enough to feed their families and to keep for retirement, as in Thailand there are no special pensions granted for retired people. Besides, social programs providing for medical care for workers and aged people are needed to support people. It is hard to believe that there are no social security programs that provide medical care and financial care for the population. There are organizations that try to help victims of the sex industry, but these are not governmental organizations. (Thailand's dark side) Despite of the changes in all spheres of Thailand society, women remain the most unprotected part of Thailand population. It often occurs that the oldest members of the family force young women to get involved into sex industry to provide their young brothers with money for getting education. It is the easiest and the most convenient way of earning the money from their point of view. Unfortunately, prostitution is one of the most high-paid occupations in Thailand. There are the documentary proofs that the girls become prostitutes wishing to support their families, who suffer with hunger or with being sick. This is a vicious circle, when the society cannot provide women with the possibilities to get education and profession, thus pushing them into prostitution, and this society than starts to blame and humiliate these women. Of course, there is a definite number of women, who choose this way of living because it suggests the surest way of having money. Thailand is famous for its brothels, massage parlors, escort services etc. Its extreme popularity made sex industry to be one of the major sources of revenue in Thailand, and the fact that it produces high risks, doesn't detract from the popularity. Thailand has informed the citizens about the danger of AIDS with the help of media and social programs. But it was done too little to change the situation significantly. The Thailand government was afraid to publish official data concerning the victims of AIDS, because the tourists could stop visiting the country for the danger of being infected, and they wasted time. The cases when unfaithful husbands bring AIDS into their family, infecting their wives, who then give a birth to infected child, occur quite often. Thailand's dark side article gives the following information: According to a Public Health Ministry report, during a 15-year period (1984-1999), AIDS had infected more than 900,000 people in Thailand, and claimed more than 30,000 lives. Thailand has been largely successful in controlling the spread of the disease. In four years, the use of condoms increased by 50%, and the number of 21 year-old men going to brothels decreased by 50% (estimates). Unfortunately, Thailand society produces its citizens with more than enough reasons to move abroad to obtain all possible benefits of more developed and civilized society. The adaptation of Thai in the American society is a complicated process, as Thai culture differs from the American one on many levels. As Thai immigrants integrate into American society, they cannot avoid joining the atmosphere of American culture, obtaining, in turn, an astonishing mixture of western and oriental culture. However, the basic traditions and customs are kept by the kids of the first immigrants, those who were born in America. Thai people that continue to come to America bring the spirit of original culture, thus preventing Thai Americans from losing their cultural heritage. There are some features that worth describing as they are inherent to Thai culture and nation in general and do not change in new society. It is customary to smile, communicating with people. Thai people express the feeling of happiness even when they feel upset or tired. Thus, smiling for all occasions is a national feature of Thai character. Thai people also show their deepest respect to their king, no matter where they live or were born. It is settled by the law and Thai people obey it. They do not permit themselves ridicule their king or royal family, or somehow insult them. This is not just a settle tradition, kept by generations. The authority of the king is highly respected among the Thai people, as he showed his power and positive position in ruling the country. It is also customary to show respect toward national anthem, rising when it is played. (Everyday Life) The other tradition that cannot be broken even by the years of living abroad, is dressing modestly. Thai people do not blame Americans for their devotion to the simple style of life, which is fully reflected in clothing style, but they never dress in such a way. They choose long clothes, extremely neat and tidy, and those who dress in such a way will deserve a great scale of respect from the Thai people. There is a special kind of greeting that is accustomed among Thai people. It is a bow with fingers touching face or chest. But using this gesture demands special knowledge about when and where one may use this greeting. There is a set of special regulations that concern this greeting. If the person is not sure about the circumstances which allow this greeting, it would be better to smile instead. (Everyday Life) Thailand is famous for its respective attitude towards various religions. As it has been said above, the majority of Thai population is Buddhist. But, other religions are also welcome in this country, so one may choose among major religious tendencies being sure that he won't be pursued for it. At the same time, all attempts of joking or somehow insulting religious feeling of any kind will result in penalty or even arrest. Thai insist that the tourists must not somehow violate the atmosphere of the temples or religious ceremonies. Thus, the representatives of all kinds of religion may be sure that their faith is protected. May be, this is the reason why Thai people comparatively easy integrate into the society, where the majority of people are Christians. Head is considered to be a sacred part of the body in Thai society. That is why touching someone's head may call discontent from the side of Thai. This custom derives from the Buddhist religion and is also kept by Thai people abroad. The other custom that concerns people's legs also has the same nature. Foot, as it is placed opposite to the sacred head, occupies the opposite position, so it is not allowed to point out the leg in the direction of other people, or locate it on the furniture. Legs and feet are supposed to be used only for walking. (Everyday Life) The character and tempo of Thai nation were forged during centuries. Hot climate and the spirit of Buddhist religion moderate the most vivid features of character that Thai people have. They are quiet and outwardly restrained. They do not appreciate loud speaking, big gestures, making scenes or calling attention of other people in any other demonstrative way. They won't be impressed by the scene, it's worthy to be quiet and soft if it is necessary for you to be heard by the Thai and receive positive answer. Due to the above-mentioned features of character Thai people may sometimes seem to be too slow, it even may irritate impulsive people. But it is necessary to perceive this as their inherent feature that helps them find the easies and convenient way of putting things down. (Everyday Life) There are also some traditions that were influenced by the western lifestyle and culture, forcing Thai change points of view concerning some aspects of behavior and life. The first one concerns arranging the weddings. It was customary that arranging the marriage is carried out by parents. Now Thai youth goes to the big cities, or often study or live abroad. This allows Thai guys and girls choose a mate without asking parents' permission. In the USA Thai youth is influenced by the Western style of life, and it often happens that Thai girls find American or European husbands. Many Thai parents and aged people find weddings between Thai women and foreigners to be humiliating for the Thai people, as they believe that foreigners marry only women of easy virtue. As the authors of Everyday Life describe the situation, "When walking in the street with a Thai woman, such Thai sentences as "You don't like soup rice anymore but ham and eggs instead" or "Hey little sister, Thai shall help Thai, help us to take profit of the money of this foreigner" can be heard." But living abroad significantly changed notion of new generations. Such marriages are appreciated, rather then blamed for. According to the statistics data, thousands of Thai women are married to foreigners or in the USA or Western Europe. Some of the woman go abroad to find a husband, thus seeking a way to get rid of poverty. Some of them, studying and living abroad, just change their traditional lookout and find a mate to share their interests and emotions. Notion about the dating also changed with the help of western lifestyle. In conservative Thailand it was customary to date without kissing and any other relations that exist between couples of modern society. A boy and a girl spent some time talking and walking, and then their parents decided whether this couple may get married or not. But second generations of immigrants are now allowed to choose the mate by themselves. They are no more obliged to marry the first girlfriend or boyfriend. They may even try to live together without getting married to check out their feelings and taste family life. This became a kind of revolution of Thai common meaning that couldn't occur but for the influence of western culture in general and American lifestyle in particular. Hundreds of generations in Thailand couldn't imagine they might have sexual relationship without getting married. Thai culture didn't let girlfriends and boyfriends spend a night under the same roof, even if they had no sexual intercourse. Those settled opinions were rooted in the conscience of Thai people even after some time of living in the USA. These are modern generations of Thai Americans that easily follow western style of relationships within the couples. Premarital sex is not appreciated, however it is no more considered to be dirty. (Thailand Culture Shock) Thai woman experienced much oppression within the history of Thailand nation. They placed a lower position compared to Thai men, and there were many things that the women were not allowed to do. The set of prohibitions comprised many aspects of behavior, social activities and lifestyle. These prohibitions were caused by traditional relations within the society and religious dogmas. Thai woman were not allowed to smoke. Smoking was regarded, and is still regarded in many regions of Thailand as the habit inherent to the women of easy virtue. Women in conservative Thai society were not expected to work, and the Buddhist religion insisted that women are of less value compared to men. Every now and then even in the modern society of Thailand women place subordinate position. Women are supposed to care about their family and execute household duties. Having come to the new model of society, where women are respected and have the same rights as the men, Thai women also started to recognize their significance and began seeking their own way in life. It is remarkable, that not only the notion of the Thai women living abroad has been changed, but the traditional Thailand society is also being changed. More and more women start their own business in Thailand, following example of Thai women abroad. They are no more passive and obedient. They desire to get education to earn their living without being supported by their husbands. If women were employed earlier, they couldn't earn the same money as the men, because they could work only on low-paid job. Now Thai women work and sometimes earn more than their husbands. But husbands are still regarded as the support for their wives. Foreign husbands are considered to be rich people, so they are expected to threat his wife good and make her presents. Bit now Thai men also start to appreciate their women and tend to care about them even helping them with their household duties. Many of the women that live abroad are working to provide their families, which live in Thailand, with money. (Thai Family) The situation with divorce also wasn't favorable for women in traditional Thai society. Thai people didn't respect women that got divorced, that's why many women were forced to live with the person they no longer love and misunderstand in order not to be scorned by the society. Up to present men could blame their wives for being unfaithful and got divorce, but women couldn't do it. Thailand still has the laws that force women to find evidences to prove that a husband was false. Women still cannot bring an action against husband for rape, and Thailand movies still justify violence against women in case it was caused by passions and emotions. There is no doubt, that western society provides women with rights to protect themselves in family life, and Thai women married to foreigners and living abroad often have more rights than they had in the homeland. (Thai Family) There is a problem that often occurs in the families where Thai woman is married to a foreign man. Marriage with Thai woman often means marriage with her family. Traditionally, these are the women who take care of aged relatives in their family. Even if Thai woman lives abroad, she considers herself to be responsible for her relatives who live in Thailand. As it has been said above, Thai people consider all foreigners to be rich, so the wife's relatives from Thailand often desire to come to visit her and stay to live in big luxurious house. As far as the working women in Thailand are concerned, they also should support their families with money, even if they have their own department, and this become one more stress factor for women that are employed, in addition to their work and their own families. Living abroad for Thai people often means getting education. At present both men and women come to study abroad, but women were not supposed to get education earlier. They learnt how to do massage and find a husband. Now living and studying abroad gives broad perspectives for Thai young people, who change their worldview and get knowledge during the years of studying at the university or college. That's why they often stay to live in the country they studied in. Of course, there is a plenty of opportunities to study in Thailand both for men and women, and more than a half of graduates in Thailand are girls. But many of the students choose studying abroad, because western education provides them with broader choice as regards to their life and career. There is an interesting question, related to the attitude of Thai women to foreigners and their countrymen. As more and more Thai girls choose foreigners for marriage, they are often asked what are the reasons for growing discontent with Thai men. Thai women say that Thai men have too many bad habits, which are harmful for family life and woman's family status. Thai men often choose to get relaxed with their friends, rather than enjoy family life and executing household duties. Thai men often attend restaurants with their fellows, but not their women. They lie to their wives, saying they are too busy, and go to the karaoke bar or brothel. Quite often rich Thai men have unofficial wives; despite it is forbidden by the law. Such wives may have children, and husband's money and attention are divided among several families. Despite such situation is not supported by the law, the attitude toward such man is rather tolerant in Thai society. According to the information which is given by Thai Family article, In 2001 a study led by a Thai hospital revealed some insights on Thai men behavior on polygamy. The study showed that the typical Thai men who have minor wife or wives are mostly businessmen. The study showed that most women who become minor wives do so because they have become dependent on men and feel they do not have to work hard to be financially stable. Most of this group of women were aged 20-30 years and were college graduates. The study showed that 33% of all minor wives had problems of insecurity, while another 33% were lured into the situation by men who lied about their marital status. Most women wanted to end the marriage after learning about the minor wives, most men did not want to divorce their first wife. Thai men often drink a lot and waste money on gambling, and this make their wives upset and disappointed with their family life. That's why the husbands of the western origin are appreciated by Thai women. They are more careful and romantic; they help their wives about the house. Of course, getting married to western men helps a woman living abroad integrate into the society she has chosen for new motherland. Asian families are famous for their complying with the traditions, but not all Asian Americans follow the traditional household scheme, which consists of a married couple with children. These are Japanese and Thai Americans who are the most persistent in following the traditions, and their family is traditional more often than the American's one. References 1. Cultural Shocks. Society. Available at http://www.thaiworldview.com/society/day4.htm 2. Everyday Life. Society. Available at http://www.thaiworldview.com/society/day.htm 3. Thai Family. Society. Available at http://www.thaiworldview.com/family.htm 4. Thailand Culture Shock :You're not in Kansas. Thai Customs and Social Mores. Gay Thailand, available at http://www.gay-thailand.net/customs.htm 5. Thailand's dark side. Society. Available at http://www.thaiworldview.com/poor.htm 6. Wellner, A. (2002, April). Beyond city limits: Asian Americans are more likely than ever to call the suburbs, or even small towns, home. 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