Not all trans-cultural lessons go down well in Thailand

This new uniform’s rise to dominance is surprising given that it arrived in Thailand only a few decades ago on the backs of Thai elites educated in the West. And the norm has fastened tight, not even shifted by the “jacket-free” campaign that came after a spike in energy prices and concerns of global warming.

Contrast business-wear with another import which arrived from the West just over four decades ago – pedestrian crossings. Here, the “fit” isn’t so good. Few motorists bother to stop to allow pedestrians to use the crossings and few pedestrians bother to use them to get to the other side of the road.

Some 30 years ago all students at my school were ordered to use the pedestrian crossings inside the school. Whether other schools did the same I don’t know, but many people my age still jaywalk – sometimes with their children.

When it comes to suits, I’m inclined to believe that Thais adopted the uniform mainly because they wanted acceptance in the eyes of Westerners. In a society where seniority rules, the fashion spread quickly. Yet establishing pedestrian crossings as a norm requires more than that. The hot climate may be one reason why people are reluctant to walk until they find a designated crossing, preferring just to dash across the road. Meanwhile motorists tend to be preoccupied with their accelerator pedal, stereos and mobile phones. Traffic police are often lenient in applying the law here, taking the view that both drivers and pedestrians should be responsible for their own safety.

So it heartened me to learn that since September 1, traffic cops have been cracking down. Jaywalkers now face a Bt200 fine. Drivers who refuse to stop at crossings can be fined Bt1,000. If a driver injures a pedestrian at a crossing, he or she can be jailed for up to three years. Kill someone and you face up to 10 years in prison.

Yet just last weekend I witnessed a near-miss on a crossing near the Rama IX intersection. A man leading a few pedestrians onto the road was just two paces from the pavement when a car sped out of nowhere. The screech of brakes should have been followed by a sickening thud of metal on flesh, but the car skidded to a stop centimetres from the shocked man.

Thais visiting cities in the West are used to waiting at pedestrian crossings until it’s safe to walk. Oftentimes, cars stop for them to cross first.

It astonishes me that this Western norm has so far failed to catch on in the way that business suits have. Perhaps we need more exposure events showcasing foreign culture.

Two such events came to a close at the weekend – the Bangkok International Festival of Dance & Music and the World Film Festival of Bangkok. Sadly, the audience for the former is limited to expats and Thais already accustomed to Western culture, so its lessons are not spilling out to the majority. Meanwhile the latter draws an arty indie-film crowd for whom story-lines and aesthetics are more interesting than the social and cultural details of where the film is set.

This year, the film festival screened “Metropolis”, a German classic with a universal message of justice for all social classes. Made in 1927, it recognises the need for the wealthy and powerful to acknowledge the rights of the working class. Well, I could spot neither politicians nor factory workers among the audience that night.

Thais also love to interpret things according to their own desires. I am certain that if a girlie-bar owner had been among the audience of “Black Diamond”, a contemporary ballet work from Denmark, he point to it as proof that nudity is now acceptable in Thai society. It’s true that the scene in question was a first for the Thailand Cultural Centre. Yet, the bar owner would no doubt happily ignore the fact that the nudity on stage that night was an artistic metaphor for the purity of the universe.

Years ago, Thailand adopted the Western practice of rating films. It was then extended to cover TV, to give parents clues about which programmes might not be suitable for their children to watch.

Is this parental style of teaching trans-cultural lessons necessary if we want to make them stick here?

I happened to be sitting in front of a father and his young daughter at the performance of “Black Diamond”. She had plenty of questions about the show. Like, “Dad, why is that man wearing only panties?” At first I was a bit annoyed by the disturbance. But later I realised that, thanks to the father, we might one day have a talented Thai ballet choreographer or art director.

It would be great to see traffic cops playing a similar parental role when it comes to teaching us the safe use of pedestrian crossings. But like any good parent, they must be consistent in applying the rules. Lenience from parents leads to wayward children.