The educational system
The Thai education system is organized in the same way as in France: kindergarten, primary and secondary education, divided into the same age groups. Education is handled by the Thai government's Ministry of Education, from kindergarten through to secondary school. Pupils are required to wear a uniform, paid for by the family (as are school supplies), and sing the national anthem in chorus every morning. The Constitution guarantees free education for all, for a period of twelve years, and nine years of study are compulsory (ages 6 to 15). However, the weakness of the education system is holding back 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 the age of 18. However, adjusting the years of schooling to the quality of learning only equates to 8.6 years, a learning deficit of 3.8 years", according to the World Bank's calculation.
Wedding traditions
Even though arranged marriages no longer exist, parents still have their say. The parents of the bride and groom meet and discuss the details of the wedding and certain amenities. Marriage generally takes place between the ages of 22 and 24 in the cities, 18 and 20 in the villages, and from the age of 14 in some northern tribes. The civil ceremony consists of a declaration. The bride and groom are asked to be patient and benevolent. Buddhist marriages are blessed by the bonze, which is necessary for the marriage to be recognized. In the case of other religions, the couple performs the ceremony according to their faith. In the case of mixed marriages, one of the couple adopts the family religion. Legally, polygamy does not exist. But any Thai man who so wishes can move to another city and live with another woman. If he lives with her for any length of time, she is considered his wife. One wife, however, is the legal wife. Some men have wives and children in several cities. But polygamy is only practiced by the generations around 50. Younger people prefer monogamy.
A welcoming and nationalistic people
It may seem strange to talk about nationalism in a country as welcoming as Thailand. However, we must beware of appearances: to know the inhabitants of the kingdom is to know their exacerbated chauvinism and pride. From an early age, children are taught that they have never lost a major war (which is not untrue, since they have never fought one). History has been skilfully revised to give Thailand the upper hand in every scenario. Every morning, in all the country's schools, colleges and universities, the national anthem is sung at the same time as it is broadcast on radio, television and loudspeakers across the country. Stop and look straight ahead when this happens! Former Prime Minister Thaksin was elected after a highly nationalistic campaign, explaining that the crisis of the time was the fault of foreigners, and that, with his election, the Thais would regain their predominance and pride. His former party, Thai Rak Thai ("Thais love Thais"), won the election by a wide margin. Rest assured, however, that hospitality is a time-honoured Thai tradition, and you'll be welcomed everywhere with a smile.
Social protection
Around 70% of health services are provided by the public sector. There are numerous hospitals and medical centers throughout the country, even in the less-frequented regions. Several health insurance systems are in place: one for the most disadvantaged, one for civil servants and another for salaried workers. According to official data, the country had 3 million people living below the poverty line in 2019. A universal coverage program was introduced in the early 2000s under 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 people over 60: 600 baht from 60 to 69, 700 baht from 70 to 79, 800 baht from 80 to 89 and 1,000 baht from 90 and over. There are over 12 million people over 60 in Thailand.
Reproduction and contraception: a serious lack of information
According to the latest data from the National Statistics Office and Unicef, the birth rate among teenage girls aged 15 to 19 in Thailand has fallen from 23 per 1,000 in 2019, to 18 per 1,000 in 2022. These young people are sorely lacking in information on reproductive and contraceptive issues, and indeed often encounter physical and mental difficulties as well as problems linked to school failure.
The homosexual community
There is no legal discrimination against homosexuals, and Thai society is relatively tolerant of gays. This is just as true for transvestites, who hold regular jobs in Bangkok and the rest of the country. The main thing is not to be too demonstrative, and to avoid offending general modesty - a modesty that concerns all manifestations of intimacy, whatever they may be and wherever they may come from. In Thailand, the night world is organized in the same way everywhere, with the same nuances, the same facilities and the same excesses, whatever the nature of one's sexual affinities.
Prostitution
Officially considered illegal, prostitution is a flourishing industry in Thailand. However, the legend that tourism introduced prostitution to the Land of Smiles must be denied. For the record, the first foreign ambassador to arrive in the Kingdom of Siam, who was French as he was sent by Louis XIV, was astonished that the first thing he was asked was whether he wanted a woman to keep him company at night! Inevitably, as the number of tourists increases, so does the number of prostitutes. But then again, Thai institutions estimate that three out of four prostitutes will never come into contact with foreigners during their "career", which, according to the statistics, lasts between two and ten years. The use of prostitutes is therefore commonplace among Thais themselves. Various establishments, such as massage parlors, karaoke bars, sing song bars and sometimes clubs, provide the backdrop for these encounters. However, the presence of American troops at certain bases in Thailand has "industrialized" the phenomenon, turning sex tourism into a kind of black market that is vital to the country's economic health, as it develops a supply tailored to foreign demand.
Human rights: a law to know
According to Reporters Sans Frontières, Article 112 of the Penal Code, which deals with the crime of lèse-majesté, is one of the most severe in the world. It stipulates that no one (Thais or foreigners) may criticize members of the royal family, on pain of being sentenced to between three and fifteen years in prison. A harsh penalty, questioned within the country and the international community, while the media and Internet sites are regularly censored. So beware..
Thai society is highly hierarchical, although not as much so as in India. Depending on age, profession, family situation, wealth, social status or rank, the way a person is addressed differs completely. A sad anecdote provides an extreme illustration of social relations in 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
Did you know that in Thailand, it's very easy to change your first name? If he or she wishes to change direction in life, a Thai will go to a temple to meet a monk and ask him or her to choose a new name for him (or her). The monk usually suggests two more auspicious names. The candidate then asks his or her parents to choose again, and the matter is in the bag. The first-name change certificate(bai plian chew) is issued by the authorities in just a few days. All identity documents will then have to be amended, but this is a much slower process.
Thais also have nicknames, most of them one syllable long. Sometimes, for example, a person may be known by the nickname Riam in the village and Oun in the city. Not all nicknames have the same meaning, unlike first names, which obey certain 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, "Tia" or "Lek" if he's small, "Yak" or "Yao" if he's big, "Uan" if he's a big baby... Others have names of English origin: "Joy", "Pinky", "Love" or "Max". Some, unfortunately, inherit wacky nicknames: "Porn", "Nike", "Frog", "Pepsi", "Ford"..
A heavy tribute to modernity
Over 32% of the Thai population is now overweight or obese. Thailand finds itself on the podium of Asian countries facing this weight problem, behind Malaysia and the Maldives. There are several reasons for this physical change in the population. Millions of Thais have left the countryside in recent years to work in the cities, in more sedentary, better-paid service jobs. This population, which mainly eats out, in small restaurants, or in fast-food chains that have multiplied like wildfire, is discovering a different kind of food, much less healthy and richer than that eaten on the farm. McDonald's, Burger King and KFC, to name but a few, are legion and have reshaped the urban landscape. The more traditional stalls have also adapted to this new way of eating, offering more fried foods and sweeter dishes. The result is an alarming rise in obesity-related cardiovascular disease, cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes.
