Did you know?

Some interesting Thai Buddhist cultural information

• Some Thai proverbs have a corresponding English one. No prizes, but see if you can match these: “Escape from a tiger, and meet a crocodile”; “ When the cow’s gone, surround the cattle-pen” and “ When the water rises, hurry to collect some. (answers at the bottom of this post)

• Nine is an auspicious number and is seen as lucky – in 2003 a minister paid 4 million Baht (R800 000 or US $114 000) for a car number plate with the digits “9999”

• Thai people love uniforms – a society attuned to hierarchy needs clothing that helps people deduce each other’s relative status. Clothing sets the tone from farmers to the silk-clad elite.

• Each of Thailand’s provincial capital cities has its own “city pillar” which is marked by a shrine dedicated to the guardian spirit of that city.

• Some Thai people attach great significance to dreams. The two worst dreams are apparently dreaming of fire (especially of your house burning down), and about back teeth. The latter is usually related to death or sickness.

• The proper name of Bangkok is “City of Angels, great city of immortals, magnificent jewelled city of the god Indra, seat of the King of Ayutthaya, city of gleaming temples, city of the King’s most excellent Palace and Dominions, home of Vishnu and all the gods”. In Thai it is all joined in one 160-letter word.

• In Thailand just about everyone has a nickname. The commonest nicknames mean “small” e.g. Lek, Nit, or Noi.... which were given as terms of endearment when they were babies. Those who were less attractive babies, go by names such as Gob (frog) or Gung (Shrimp)!

• An old Thai superstition says that if you hear a jing-jok’s (gecko) cry just as you’re about to do something – then don’t do it! The cry sounds like “tch! tch!” - the sound you would make to warn someone... possibly the origin of this particular superstition.

• Even in our modern age some Thai children still have a “top knot”: a little tuft of hair with a ponytail in the middle of an otherwise completely shaven head! It is believed to be a cure for persistent sickliness, feverishness, or a tendency towards accidents during babyhood.

• Thailand is not a nation of great readers! According to a 2003 Unesco report, the average Thai person reads a scant 8 lines per year.

• An old Siamese proverb goes like this: To be educated and not be a [government] official is like receiving a Pali (i.e. sacred) education and not becoming a monk.

• At a Thai “housewarming” there should always be an uneven number of monks present – poor people would have 3 monks come to bless the house, richer folk might have 9 or more. Even numbers are considered “bad luck”

• All societies have some form of hierarchical ordering, but in Thai society people cannot really interact except in hierarchical terms.

• Traditionally rice is considered the only true food – one can eat to one’s fill without sinning and it is said to nourish the human “khwan” (soul).

• Gautama Buddha once preached, “I myself have renounced my earthly goods, lustful desires and have been celibate and considered myself a good person for more than 8 infinities multiplied by 10 to the 20^th strength. Add one hundred thousand eternities and 10 lives of the Buddha’s life in length and oh! You all, hear me if you do good this long you will still not be likely to escape or be delivered at all”

• Thai Buddhism regards women as having more worldly attachments than men. Thus, if women sin, it is only to be expected and the consequences of their sin are less. But, they need to make more merit than men do.

• Buddhism views the world as the consequence of ignorance – there is no concept of an original good creation.

• Thai Buddhism regards the King, high royalty and Buddhist monks, irrespective of their behaviour, to be higher moral beings than “ordinary’ humans. They are accorded special respect and special language is used to address them.

• “Phii” is the title used to address a man or a woman older than yourself, but younger than your parents.

• A monk is supposed to follow 227 Buddhist precepts (rules), a novice 10, a nun 9, but a layman only 5.

• The Buddhist concept of Nirvana is likened to a drop of water reaching the ocean – you lose your individual identity and become part of the larger “cosmic soul”.

• Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, never claimed to be God, and even though Buddhism is an atheistic religion, Thai Buddhists worship and revere images of Buddha, believing that they gain merit by doing so.

• The 5 precepts of Buddhism are: do not kill, do not steal. do not practice immorality, do not lie, do not take drugs or alcohol.

• Because the Buddhist people believe the Law of Karma is inescapable, they believe no one is free to choose an alternative way of life.

• Men benefit most from Buddhism – Buddhists believe that a woman can only attain Nirvana if she becomes a man in some future life.

• The three pillars of Thai society are; unity (their nation), continuity (their religion) and identity (their king)

• The fact that Jesus suffered and died on the cross makes him a failure who had bad karma in the eyes of Buddhists.

• Thailand has freedom of religion, but in terms of the Constitution the king is required to be a Buddhist.

• Thailand has 30 000 Buddhist temples and 300 000 monks.

• Thailand has 63 million people - roughly 92% are Buddhist, 1% are Christian.

(from the frying pan into the fire; closing the stable after the horse has bolted; make hay while the sun shines)