BAD HABITS that keep us underdeveloped
Somebody posted a message on Facebook the other day, suggesting that Thailand is lagging behind other countries because of "bad habits" that serve to keep Thailand "underdeveloped".
He listed eight “Thai habits” that he considered to be the main obstacles to turning Thailand into a developed country. At the top of the list is the prevalent patronage system, which dictates that junior people must always obey seniors and elders. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. If you want to get ahead in your career, you will always have to kowtow to the person above you.
I raised this issue with a friend to find out whether he considered the patronage system a problem or not. He immediately shot back, saying that whoever had posted the message was either very naive or utterly ignorant of the nature of Thai society.
“What he calls a patronage system is in fact the traditional networking culture in Thai society. What’s wrong with that? Thailand wouldn’t have come so far without the close ties among family members, relatives, friends and, yes, patrons.”
He vehemently argued that what critics call “patronage” is in fact “mutual support” that has pulled Thailand out of one crisis after another.
I walked across the road to ask a man on the street. He didn’t even wait for me to finish the question.
“Thai people are addicted to the patronage system. That’s the source of all our problems. Patronage means corruption. Patronage means inequality. Patronage means you can’t make progress without good connections. Patronage means it’s not your ability that counts; it’s who you know, not how good you are. No doubt, we have been thrown into this mess.”
I was too scared to ask the third person I met. He might have thought I was trying to antagonise him. So, I asked him about the second “habit” the Facebook poster identified as a negative thing for national progress.
“Do you believe that Thailand lags behind some other countries because of our fun-loving nature?” I asked.
He looked at me as if I had asked him why he had beaten his wife. He stared at me, trying to make sure I was serious about the question.
Then, he said: “Fun? What fun are you talking about? Do we still have fun as a nation? Everybody hates everybody else. No, we are not a fun-loving people anymore. We are a nation of haters.”
I put on a smile. But he refused to reciprocate. Before walking away, he looked me in the eyes and declared: “Are you trying to make me hate you?”
I didn’t manage to converse with him long enough to tell him that I was only trying to find out why Thais aren’t being nice to one another anymore.
As for the other bad habits listed on the Facebook post, I was afraid to continue with my personal public opinion survey. I wasn’t ready to be hit over the head by people angry at being told the truth about their daily behaviour that is contributing to national decline.
What if I told you that Thais are lazy and afraid of change, and that we are never punctual? What if I told you that Thailand can never hope to climb to the top if we continue to spend more than we can afford, and that we tend to rely on others to do things for us instead of trying to work things out ourselves?
This list of eight national bad habits hasn’t attracted much attention so far on Facebook. But I hope someone will post another message to extol the 10 national good habits that will override the eight bad ones – those good things that we Thais do every day that will one day make us a superpower.
Don’t ask me, though, what those good habits are. I am racking my brain trying to come up with even a first few good habits we can really be proud of.
