The educational system
The Thai education system is organized as in France: kindergarten, primary, secondary, distributed according to the same age groups. Education is handled by the Thai government's Ministry of Education from kindergarten to secondary school. Students must wear a uniform, paid for by the family (as well as supplies), and sing the national anthem in a choir every morning. The Constitution guarantees free education for all, for a duration of 12 years, and nine years of study are compulsory (from 6 to 15 years). However, the weakness of the education system hinders Thailand's progress in the World Bank's Global Human Capital Index. Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia are better performers in Southeast Asia. "Thai children can expect to complete 12.4 years of school by age 18. However, the adjustment of years of schooling to the quality of learning equals only 8.6 years, a learning gap of 3.8 years," according to World Bank calculations.
Wedding traditions
Even though arranged marriages no longer exist, parents still have a say. The parents of the bride and groom meet and discuss the details of the marriage and certain conveniences. People usually get married at about 22-24 years of age in the cities, at about 18-20 years of age in the villages, and from 14 years of age in some northern tribes. The civil ceremony consists of a declaration. The young spouses are asked for patience and kindness. Buddhist marriage is blessed by the monk, which is necessary for the marriage to be recognized. For other religions, the couple does according to their confession. In the case of mixed marriages, one of the two adopts the religion of the family. Legally, polygamy does not exist. But any Thai who wishes to can go to another city and live with another woman. It is enough for him to live with her for some time to be considered as his wife. Only one wife however will be the legal wife. Some men thus have a wife and children in several cities. But polygamy is only practiced by generations around the age of 50. Young people prefer monogamy.
A welcoming and nationalistic people
It may seem strange to talk about nationalism in a country as welcoming as Thailand. However, one must beware of appearances: to know the inhabitants of the kingdom is to know their exacerbated chauvinism and pride. From an early age, children learn that they have never lost a major war (which is not false, since they have never lost one). History has been cleverly revised to give Thailand the right role in every case. Every morning, in every school, high school and university in the country, the national anthem is sung and broadcast on radio, television and loudspeakers throughout the country. Stop well and look straight ahead when this happens! Former Prime Minister Thaksin was elected after a very nationalistic campaign, explaining that the crisis at the time was caused by foreigners, and that, with his election, the Thais were going to regain their predominance and pride. His former party, the Thai Rak Thai ("Thais love Thais") had then largely won the elections. Rest assured however, hospitality is a well-established tradition among Thais, and you will be welcomed everywhere, and with a smile.
Social protection
About 70% of health services are provided by the public sector. There are many hospitals and medical centres throughout the country, even in the least frequented areas. Several health insurance systems are in place: one for the most disadvantaged, one for civil servants and one for employees. According to official data, the country had 3 million people living below the poverty line in 2019. A universal coverage programme was set up in the early 2000s at the instigation of Thaksin to enable all Thais to benefit from medical treatment. In addition, since 2008, a scheme, which was updated in 2019, guarantees an income for persons over 60 years of age: 600 baht from 60 to 69 years of age, 700 baht from 70 to 79 years of age, 800 baht from 80 to 89 years of age and 1,000 baht from 90 and over. Thailand has more than 12 million people over 60 years of age.
Reproduction and contraception: a serious lack of information
According to the latest data from the Reproductive Bureau, more than 84,000 young women and children aged 10-20 gave birth in 2017, accounting for 14 per cent of all births. These young people are severely lacking information on reproductive and contraceptive issues, and often face physical and mental difficulties as well as problems related to school failure.
The homosexual community
There is no legal discrimination against homosexuals, and Thai society is relatively tolerant of gays. Thai society is relatively tolerant of gays, as it is of transvestites, who are employed in regular jobs in Bangkok and the rest of the country. The main thing is not to be overly demonstrative and not to offend public decency, a decency that applies to all demonstrations of an intimate nature, whatever they may be and wherever they may come from. In Thailand, the world of the night is everywhere similarly organized, with the same nuances, the same facilities and the same excesses, whatever the nature of the sexual affinities of each one.
Prostitution
Officially considered illegal, prostitution is a thriving industry in Thailand. However, the legend that tourism has brought prostitution to the land of smiles should not be dismissed. For information, the first foreign ambassador to the Kingdom of Siam, who was French since he was sent by Louis XIV, was very surprised that the first thing he was asked was if he wanted a woman to keep him company at night! Inevitably, as the number of tourists increases, so does the number of prostitutes. But, here again, it should be noted that Thai institutions estimate that three out of four prostitutes will never come into contact with foreigners during their "career", which, according to statistics, lasts between two and ten years. Using the services of a prostitute is therefore commonplace among Thais themselves. Various establishments, such as massage parlours, karaoke bars, sing-song bars, and sometimes clubs, provide the context for these encounters. The presence of American troops in certain bases in Thailand has nevertheless "industrialized" the phenomenon and turned sex tourism into a kind of black market indispensable to the economic health of the country, which is developing an offer adapted to the demand of foreigners.
Human rights: a law to know
Article 112 of the criminal code on the crime of lèse-majesté is one of the most severe in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders. It stipulates that no one (Thai or foreigners) has the right to criticise members of the royal family, on pain of being sentenced to between three and 15 years in prison. This harsh sentence is being questioned within the country and by the international community, at a time when the media and websites are regularly censored. So beware
... Thai society is very hierarchical, not as much as in India of course, even if there are some similarities in certain aspects. Thus, depending on age, profession, family situation, wealth, social status or rank, the way of addressing a person differs completely. A sad anecdote illustrates in an extreme way the social relations of Thai society: in 1880, Queen Sunandha Kumariratana drowned in the Chao Phraya River without any of her servants coming to her aid. Anyone who touched a queen was condemned to death.First names and nicknames, instructions for use
Do you know that a Thai can change his first name very easily in his country? If he wishes to give a new direction to his life, a Thai will go to a temple to meet a monk and ask him to choose a new name for him (or her). Usually, the monk suggests two better names. The candidate then asks his parents to choose again and the deal is in the bag. The certificate of change of first name (bai plian chew) will be delivered within a few days by the administration. All identity documents will then have to be changed, but this is done much more slowly.
Thai people also all have nicknames, most of them one-syllable. Sometimes a person can even be known for example as Riam in his village and Oun in town. Not all nicknames have a meaning, unlike first names, which have rules. First names must be compatible with the day of birth, and contain letters whose characteristics match the child's gender. Nicknames are also chosen by the parents, sometimes at random or simply because they sound nice. They can also refer to a physical condition, "Da" for a person with dark skin colour, "Tia" or "Lek" if it is small, "Yak" or "Yao" if it is big, "Uan" if it is a big baby. Others have names of English origin, "Joy", "Pinky", "Love" or "Max". Some unfortunately inherit crazy nicknames, "Porn", "Nike", "Frog", "Pepsi", "Ford" ..
A heavy tribute to modernity
More than 32% of the Thai population is now overweight or even downright obese. Thailand is on the podium of Asian countries facing this weight problem, behind Malaysia and the Maldives. Several reasons can explain this physical change in the population. Millions of Thai people have moved from the countryside in recent years to work in the cities, in more sedentary and better paid service jobs. This population, which mainly eats outdoors, in small restaurants, or in fast-food chains that have multiplied like hotcakes, is discovering another food, much less healthy and richer than that consumed on the farm. McDonald's, Burger King, KFC to name but a few are legion and have redesigned the urban landscape. The more traditional stalls have also adapted to this new way of eating and offer more fried food and sweeter dishes. As a result, there has been an alarming increase in cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity-related diabetes.
