There is some interesting terminology here in Thailand that reflects some cultural realities that, while they are not unique to Thailand, certainly seem alien to my American and Australian egalitarian background.
In Thailand, the term Hi-So is a shortened version of high society. It describes someone who is rich (or at least well-to-do), attractive, fashionable and possibly famous. It’s corollary, Lo-So can be applied to people who are none of these things
I live just a few blocks away from a posh shopping mall called The Emporium. Because it is just a short walk from my home, and it has a covered walkway between the mall and the BTS sky train station, it is a handy place to meet people, and it can be a pleasant place to spend an afternoon away from the oppressive Bangkok heat.
A few months ago, I wanted to take a friend of mine named Gig – a dark-skinned daughter of an Isaan farmer – to the movies. I asked her to meet me at the Emporium. “No, pleeeeaaase!” she pleaded. “Can we go to Mahboonkrong instead?”
Mahboonkrong (or MBK) is a large shopping mall on a different train line a few kilometers away. You go to MBK to buy a mobile phone, choosing from about a thousand vendors, to buy pirated DVDs in small shops, or to get cheap off-the-rack clothing and accessories. It is filled with students and bar girls on a budget.
I pointed out that MBK was much less convenient for me and for her, and asked her why she didn’t want to go to the movies at Emporium. “Emporium is hi-so”, she told me, “I am lo-so.”
So even though she’s with me, and I have enough money to take care of everything, in Thailand’s highly class-conscious society she is uncomfortable even walking through an upscale shopping mall.
Thai people – at least the ones on the bottom of the pile – are taught that they are what they are, and they can’t really change that. Something as basic as the shade of their skin will help define their place in the world for their entire lives. Lighter skin equals more desirable; conversely darker skin is less desirable.
I wanted to make the point to Gig that she isn’t pre-destined to a specific place in life, and that she can be more than she perceives herself to be today. So, I asked her some questions designed to make her think about her ability to break out of the mold in which she feels cast.
I asked her why she is lo-so, and she replied, “I don’t know.”
When I asked if she wanted to be hi-so, she said, “Of course.”
I asked how she could become hi-so, she said, “I don’t know. I’ll never be hi-so.”
In the end, I just gave up and met her at MBK.
This week I met a young girl, who speaks English fairly well, goes to university, is fairly tall for a Thai girl, has fair skin and who was born in Bangkok. I met her in a plush nightclub where she was working, so I was a little unsure of where to place her on the social scale. Most of the evidence pointed to the hi-so end, but the undeniable fact that she was working in a night club – no matter how plush – pointed directly at the lo-so end.
I wanted to make a date with her. In my experience, the easiest way to get a first date with a Thai girl is to invite her for shopping and a movie. Like women everywhere, they love shopping, and the whole atmosphere is non-threatening.
She agreed to the idea in principle, then asked where we would go shopping. Now this is a loaded question. If I offer the weekend market, which is fun and filled with bargains, I can seem either fun-loving or a cheap bastard. If I say MBK, I’m telling her that I think she’s lo-so and probably not very special. If I say Emporium, I risk making her uncomfortable if she doesn’t see herself as hi-so.
All things considered, Emporium seemed the safest choice, especially since she knew I live nearby. But when I actually suggested that we would go shopping Emporium she laughed out loud and proclaimed that she’s a lo-so girl, and couldn’t be seen shopping in Emporium! So I laughed with her, and asked if she’d rather go to JJ Market (an outdoor market in the northern part of the city known for its low cost bargains and its suffocating heat). She said that JJ Market sounded more her style, proving once again that sanuk (fun) wins out over political correctness every time in Thailand.
–So even though she’s with me, and I have enough money to take care of everything, in Thailand’s highly class-conscious society she is uncomfortable even walking through an upscale shopping mall.
Unfortunately, farangs seen walking around with dark skinned issan girls also fall into the Thai “lo-so” class, regardless how much money you may have (m essentially makes reference to this in his other spot-on posts).
–I wanted to make the point to Gig that she isn’t pre-destined to a specific place in life, and that she can be more than she perceives herself to be today
That may be true in the egalitarian west you allude to, but much less so here. the cards are stacked against her being considered anything other than lo-so given her issan background (and I presume she doesn’t have a stellar education nor come from a wealthy family)
View all comments by kallah
Thai’s might be “hi-so” in their opinion but i have yet to meet a Thai with “class”
View all comments by MSB
It’s about having the courage to opt for that vibrant, happy, sexy, fun-loving declasse hottie as opposed to the white-skinned, not particularly interesting, totally self-absorbed GTG with that “I went to Chula” look and attitude.
She’s been dumped by her Thai fiance or a string of them. Or even worse (you’ll never know) or she’s been otherwise humiliated - bankruptcy, scandal (you’ll only know what she wants you to know)
She’s “damaged goods”
OR I can find myself a real woman whose personality is much like the declasse chick’s. She can be from ANY class. She thinks for herself and she respects me more than she cares about what others think.
Frankly speaking, I actually DO have the scratch and the “furniture” and the social skills to handle “food chain” scrutiny by most Thais.
I do not, however, want a so-so-hi-so woman as arm candy.
I want someone with views and an outlook of her own.
I want a friend and a companion.
If I want to feel equal to a Thai man I can always haul out the cash (I NEVER USE CREDIT CARDS HERE - hi-so MY ASS.
ASK YOUR BANKER BACK HOME - this place is not considered even to be a legitimate country in which to do business)
And I really do NOT GIVE a toss about what the so-called pretenders to this “ho-so” class designation have to say. If I did. I would have stayed back home to marry into some boring, sleep-making and, most important of all, expensive-to-extricate-oneself-from, family from that nasty tangle of delusion we call home
The truly materialistic, faux “hi-so” Thais can kiss my ass, quite frankly. And I’m constantly amazed by the degree to which SOME westerners heap credence onto this bizarre, configured, wonky-assed, over-self-regarding little feudal ziggurat.
Have some respect for yourselves and your choices in life. Did you come here to be spit on? Either by lo-so’s or by hi-so’s ??? Did you come here because you like to conform to bullshit norms? Do you crave other people’s approval of what you do? Again among the lo-so’s OR the hi-so’s.
We’ll NEVER be embraced (thank god) by them as equals in any case. The xenophobic underpinnings of Thai society guarantee that. Any illusion that spending money or “showing” money they care to pedal as admission to their ranks is pure and utter bullshit.
We’ll NEVER be Asian and we’ll never be Thai.
Two strokes off the score.
I’m OK with that reality;-)
It’s as simple as this: The hi-so Thai guy and his wife both know I can fuck the same whores as he does if I pay what he pays. (And she DOES know he fucks declasse chicks when he pussy prowls with his mates because she knows that while she is his sakdina equal she’ll NEVER really be his hottie. (At least not for more than a few years)
Spending the rest of my life or for that matter the rest of the evening with a vapid, “shy”, over “ka-ing” bore who’ll make you wait months for some mediocre sex is just not my cup of tea.
View all comments by Thongsuk
Nice piece WW. This whole subject is rather disturbing to talk about. It irks me that Thailand is so color-oriented. All the Marketing rammed down your throat from the billboards, pics on trains, etc. all glorifies the whiter skin, and we all know how popular the “whitening” products are. Makes me ill.
It would be cool if a dark-skinned billionaire would invest in spreading dark-skinned propaganda to even the score. I doubt this would happen.
This also seems to be the case across SE Asia. I lived in India for a year and it’s probably worse with even more classes over there. The lowest and darkest classes are treated like dirt and it’s all accepted as norm. Tough to swallow.
View all comments by pmmp
“….I wanted to make the point to Gig that she isn’t pre-destined to a specific place in life, and that she can be more than she perceives herself to be today…”
KALLAH: In my view, you have it exactly right. WEREWOLF is being more than a little naive here.
There is no social mobility in Thailand. There never has been and likly there never will be. From the palace down, Thai society functions as an almost feudal social hierarchy. Thais at both ends of the spectrum, although clearly for different reasons, want no part of the whole western concept of social mobility.
At the top end, naturally, the last thing high-ranking Thais want to see in mobilty in the laboring classes. That would put a serious dent in the supply of cheap labor and at the same time destabilize the social system, which are about the only two things Thailand has going for it right now. At the bottom end, surprisingly, low-ranking Thais really don’t have any use for the idea of mobility either. Working class Thais are deeply invested in their understanding of their relative rank in Thai society. It is fundamental to their understanding of reality. In my experience, I have never met a working class Thai who has the slightest motivation toward challenging his rank, no matter how low you might think it is. In most cases, quite on the contrary, he guards it fiercely. It is who he is.
***************
“…Thai’s might be “hi-so” in their opinion but i have yet to meet a Thai with “class”…”
MSB: Man, what a bunch of ignorant rubbish. Either you spend all your time here in the farang slums with the low-life foreigners decent Thais wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire (likely, I suppose), or you’re just a plain jerk wherever you spend your time (also, based on your comment, pretty likely, too).
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
well said Thongsuk..
Ask your average teenager is they think you are cool. Chances are they’ll give you are big no. What are you going to do, buy a combie van? Start listening to emo music? I don’t think so. I don’t give a rats arse, opinions won’t keep me warm at night. If it wasn’t for people from my country and countries like it every “hi-so” Thai would be in some paddy field picking rice for the Japanese. When I hand over my money its the same colour as everyone else. Same goes for my girl friend. Hi-so Thai an oxymoron if I ever heard one.
View all comments by El segundo
OAH… ok maybe i am a jerk.
But can you actually name a Thai with class…
A person of high integrity morals and honor, a great leader of men, a distinguished world leader or businessman…
Their names don’t exactly roll off the tongue do they…
View all comments by MSB
Definitely a sensitive little topic here. It’s pretty simple imho, if everyone treated everyone else how they want to be treated the world would be a great place. I know, simplistic and unrealistic thinking but it works for me.
I know I will take some flack for this one too but I was taught an extremely valuable lesson from an Original Series Star Trek episode. It was the one where they visited a planet and there were two sides at war. One side were a race of people who were black on the right side and white on the left side. The other race was black on the left side and white on the right side. The Star Trek crew asked why they were fighting and they heard stuff like “look at him, he’s black on the left side”. Anyway, there’s more about this at http://startrekdom.blogspot.com/2007/08/racism-and-improving-race-relations-in.html and it covers other areas as well.
As a young person this shaped my thinking in a very positive way. I hope there are Gene Roddenberry’s in Thailand that step up in a similar way but after reading OAH’s Comment I’m not sure Thai’s even want this. I clearly don’t understand this part of the culture so not about to make judgments. I do know that despite all of this it’s still an amazing country and I wouldn’t want to be living anywhere else. I also know that if James T. Kirk read this post he would be very disappointed and might say something like “Spock, what do you make of this HiSo LoSo nonsense where some people think they are better than others because of the color of their skin? Darker skinned people will not shop at the Emporium because they don’t want to be looked down upon. Why don’t they just treat each other how they themselves want to be treated?”. Spock would undoubtedly reply “I don’t know Jim, it’s illogical”
View all comments by pmmp
MSB…..oh, i dunno..maybe the King for one.
View all comments by bo
U mean class like George Bush? Please, who are we to judge ANYONE?!
It bothered me at first, but one thing I revel in an existential way now is being a second class “citizen”; ya’ know, stared at, pointed at, not sat next to on the BTS, not served friendily (sic) in shops and talked about as I hear the word “falang” waft through the air. (and i’m a semi-normal, 183 cm, 82 kilo guy with hair and no tatoos).
Now I know how the blacks in Birmingham at the lunch counter and on the bus felt (not really).
View all comments by Jack Dawson
MSB: How about Sukhumbhand Paripatra, Piya Malakul, Prem Tinsulanonda (whether you agree with him or not, and whether you are…uh, straight, or not), Anaand Panyarachun, and Nit Piboonsongkram. Do you know who any of these people are? Have you ever had a conversation with even one of them? Nah….I thought not.
PMMP: Ah, yes. James T. Kirk, the preeminent philosopher of the twentieth century. ‘Live long and prosper.’ Jim, honestly, we’re doing the best we can.
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
The Hi So types I know are generally arrogant, self centered, jerkoffs.
I prefer country people.
View all comments by khun J
KHUN J: Yeah, it’s hard to get comfortable with people to whom you don’t feel superior, isn’t it?
View all comments by Old Asia Hand
Not sure what you mean there but the Thai Hi-So types I’ve been associated with seem to be fake, insincere backstabbers. Some of them bigger than those names on your list.
I’ve got way more money than I’ll ever need but have no interest in coming off as a HI-So. If you met me, you’d never think I was rich.
Thais that have money think it’s important to show it.
Makes me gag.
I’m a farmer by trade so I’m more comfortable with Country folk. Down to Earth, usually more sincere.
View all comments by khun J
In my time here I’ve met great people at all levels of society. Royalty, business, entertainment, truck drivers, farmers etc., I’ve also met complete a–holes at the same levels.
I think to brand any one strata with stereotyped generalizations is in itself an ignorant act. The fact is that social mobility in most countries is a myth and the few individuals that do achieve it - probably would anywhere.
I think it depends on what you like doing, for me i get bored silly being in hi-so environments but then again when I’ve spent 3 days on the farm and the boys start asking me if foreigner chicken make the same sound as Thai chicken, I’ve also reached my limit.
One of the advantages of being a ferang in Thailand is that you can go from Hi to Lo So without impacting your credibility at all. It’s not a question of money either, it is a question of knowing how to behave - the last thing any level of society wants is a foreign intruder who simply hasn’t got a clue as to “correct” behaviour. Now I am by no means the most PC person on earth and those who know me I am sure would climb in with that’s probably the biggest understatement posted on this board - but i do have an inkling of what appropriate behaviour is in certain Thai social settings.
For WW suspect that she isn’t just uncomfortable walking through a high-class shopping mall - I suspect she’s uncomfortable being seen with a Ferang in that “hi-class” environment - where she will most likely get “tagged” as a hooker.
View all comments by Psi100th
Please don’t think ill of me.
My paean to the afore-mentioned class struggle, if you will.
A current Emporium shopping diversion of late has been to squeeze off a massive “some tam - pa laah” fart somewhere between the Louis Vuitton concession and the escalator as I adjust the 24-hour function of my gold Daytona
(a real one - invisible in a sea of fakes 
Shopper reactions are mixed: those who catch a whiff and don’t see the Daytona play the nose/finger brush gesture and quickly fall back a few steps. Then there are those who’ve seen the Daytona and haven’t yet hit the gas - they smile. And finally there are those (the vast majority) who spot the Daytona and clamber after me for another sniff in hopes that a gold Rolex might suddenly appear on their arms.
Do I need therapy? And if I did, where would I get it?
View all comments by Thongsuk
@Psi100th: As a man who’s lived in mortal fear of literalists all his life, I’d prefer to have said something like that
Well said. And, I’m afraid, closer to the truth.
No offense, nor any “hipper-than thou” nonsense towards WW either. I enjoy his blog. Like the rest of us he is simply working his way through the puzzling realities of this place.
It’s all good, chaps. It’s ALL good.
View all comments by Thongsuk
I have played this hi-so lo-so game with the Thai’s and I assure you a Western man can WIN at this game. Remember who you are dealing with! This game is all about shallowness. Use what you have to your advantage! If you are a Western (white) man, you can use that. It doesn’t matter how much money a Thai man has, he will never be as white as you (hehe). I am not saying be a racist at all, but use the knowledge of how the Thais view things to put yourself to advantage. For instance, when a girl says she will always be lo-so, you simply say “Whenever you walk with me, you are hi-so”, and with that you paint a new picture in her mind. This is just one example, but can be a powerful technique because you are complimenting yourself while also improving her self-image. This is simple psychology, but it works. However, you have to carry *yourself* as an educated, clean, intelligent man. If you are a tattooed, poorly-bred slob from the UK who drinks all day and every other word you say is “fuck”, this won’t work. Be a better man, and a good women will walk with you anywhere.
Dallas Texas, USA
View all comments by gene
@gene - The reality is that this game of living in Thailand is all about depth. Depth of character, depth of relationships, depth of pockets and depth of understanding. Saying it does not make it so. Doing it does. Agree with your last line however - that hold true whereever you are - the reality is that if she is a dark skinned girl from a poor background and she is walking with a ferang in the Emporium she will get more than one askance look from ALL the females at all levels including the girls working there who are also in the Lo-So category. Understanding this makes more a more enjoyable life in the Kingdom.
View all comments by Psi100th
Overall, this is a great thread. I enjoy reading the feedback and I’m in part happy to read and part proud to know that part of this responds to *some* improvement in perspective within greater society, (at least from a US perspective).
In response to part of the original post by WW.
“There is some interesting terminology here in Thailand that reflects some cultural realities that, while they are not unique to Thailand, certainly seem alien to my American and Australian egalitarian background.
In Thailand, the term Hi-So is a shortened version of high society. It describes someone who is rich (or at least well-to-do), attractive, fashionable and possibly famous. It’s corollary, Lo-So can be applied to people who are none of these things”.
While I can understand some of this class issue exists in the Land of Smiles, I cannot agree with the ‘alien’ aspect from an American perspective. I wish that I could say otherwise, but I certainly understand both sides of the hi-so/lo-so debate.
It’s an attitude that resides within the US that exists right now. Fortunately, the attitude is diminished compared with several years ago.
For those of you who have issue or take note with her opinion, perhaps ask her what problems she has going to Emporium. There may be many things acted out, implied said, etc. that may be invisible to you as a farang. If she feels she is being followed by security for theft or slighted by cashiers, then perhaps a conversation needs to take place.
1) Don’t go to placate her feelings of note.
or . . .
2) Tell her the best way to fight the attitude is to fight it and go together.
Just because *you* don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Sorry to go off on a tangent.
View all comments by Arbiez
One of the better threads in awhile. The dark skin in Asia has a stigma in most Asian countries. If you have dark skin, you work in the fields….or at least that’s the holdover perception from the “old days”.
Oddly enough, in Singapore, girls who DO get a tan are “Sarong Party Girls” who like being with farangs (gweilos or Angmos in The Lion City) and are tagged as just that. Sarong party girls.
View all comments by The Asian Badger
@OAH.. Never met them but i am sure they are all close friend of yours.
BTW if you enter Piya Malakul, Anaand Panyarachun, and Nit Piboonsongkram into Wikipedia you get nothing. Maybe you chould write an entry so we will all know just how classy they are?
View all comments by MSB
@MSB -
Results 1-20 of 41
1 2 3 Next »
Anand Panyarachun
Relevance: 100.0% - -
Drop the 2nd a in the first name …
from google …
Personalized Results 1 - 10 of about 318 for piya malakul. (0.27 seconds)
Personalized Results 1 - 10 of about 197 for Nit Piboonsongkram. (0.23 seconds)
One of the problems with Wiki is that anyone can make an entry, right or wrong….
View all comments by Psi100th
Excellent blog about a difficult topic. My feelings about the subject fall into 2 categories:
1)Idealistic
2)Realistic (practical)
The emotional side of me is an idealist, and the practical side of me is a realist. I agree with all the above comments about not caring about what perfect strangers think of you. Its so easy for westerners as its just not a big deal in our cultures to impress all those around us. I dont care if strangers think I am low class because I have a brown skinned gal or because I wear a t-shirt. But I still think its important to be a gentleman and when i go out with a Thai lady I do take her feelings into consideration. I would never take an Isaan gal to Emporium. Not because she would embarrass me, but because I know SHE wont be comfortable. MBK has people from all levels of society and is an excellent choice.
I was watching the financial channel the other night and many stock analysts chose Thailand as a great country to invest in because they have “a rapidly growing middle class with huge numbers of people moving from low wage jobs into the middle class where they will have much more disposable income.” I havent laughed that hard in years! The reality is that there is no social mobility here at all. It is sad and it makes me realize how lucky I am. Its humbling.
View all comments by Khun Leigh
“Whenever you walk with me, you are hi-so”
If u play the numbers, an issan bird walking with a farang is likely a hooker. Hence the proposition that a farang can raise an issan’s profiling is ridiculous. Drags it well south. And drags his south as well.
Of course - many times this not the case. But by numbers, it is the case. And thais are simple and go by the numbers.
View all comments by m
My TGF told me I need to come back to Thailand so she can be Hi-so again…..
Seems people here are telling me about a problem I didn’t know I have.
“If u play the numbers, an issan bird walking with a farang is likely a hooker. Hence the proposition that a farang can raise an issan’s profiling is ridiculous. Drags it well south. And drags his south as well”
I DON”T GIVE A F***
My THAI profile means nothing to me..
If I get stares or looks I politely engage the person if conversation be they Thai or Farang and don’t they love that.
View all comments by KNOW SO
The quasi hi-so shop assistants in Emporium make me laff.
If I pop in on the weekend in my jeans and t-shirt I get haughty service but on a workday, in my suit and tie, they fall over themselves to get what I want.
I’ve dealt with all strata of Thai society, from minor royals to motorcye men, and whilst I find socialites tres amusing I still prefer the lower classes; perhaps because no matter how comfortable and erudite I am in company I remain a working class Welshman at heart.
My girl, an attractive, polite, confident, advanced degree holding professional went to pieces, however, when lunching at the Oriental with a Thai princess and I. Funny as it was to see I did feel sorry for her.
Now, the British educated princess was a class act.
Oh, and by the way…….
British chickens go ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’
Thai chickens say ‘eccy-ec-ec’
Everyone knows that
View all comments by Chris_Pattaya
“…..Thailand as a great country to invest in because they have “a rapidly growing middle class with huge numbers of people moving from low wage jobs into the middle class where they will have much more disposable income.” I havent laughed that hard in years! The reality is that there is no social mobility here at all…..”
You’re wrong here. There is a large and growing middle class in Thailand. I suggest you use the Skytrain or the MRT one day at 8am or 6pm. I would define pretty much all the Thais you see there as middle class. Clerical workers, accountnts, engineers, designers, sales people, lawyers, nurses, receptionists, etc, etc. Many of them would be the children of blue collar workers (farmers, factory workers, etc).
View all comments by Tokyo Joe
@Tokyo Joe: those are my thoughts exactly, and well said.
You can’t build a city the size of Bangkok without suffering (enjoying?) social changes. Note the dramatic differences in political viewpoint and social practices that exist between Bangkok and the rest of the country.
The rest of Thailand may not be keeping up, but Bangkok is quickly changing the way Thai people think and act. Middle class office workers don’t see life the same way a farmer does. I don’t have the reference handy, but the Bangkok Post reported recently that the birth rate had fallen to 1.6 children per family. Birthrate is a highly significant social indicator, and this is a dramatic reduction that is both a symptom of the current social changes, and a driver of more change in the future.
mild hyperbole alert: I doubt if Thai culture, as we know it, will survive two generations.
View all comments by werewolf
I was sat in MK with a low-so Thai girl and she saw one of her friends out the window and I said that she looked like a bar girl (she was). The girl told me that her friend had a farang boyfriend and had stopped worked a couple of years ago. She also said she didn’t understand why her friend hadn’t tried to make herself better. That if she had a decent farang boyfriend she would try to educate herself more, dress better, etc. basically the first thing she would try to do is move up the ladder. Act according….
@the Management - Damn this website heated up a bit while i’ve been gone.
View all comments by Young Royal
Way to go Thongsuk…just about as tuned in as I have ever heard…should be standard consumption for all incoming Phil Angsts
View all comments by Zip Tanner
“Thai’s might be “hi-so” in their opinion but i have yet to meet a Thai with “class”” - MSB
Well said MSB; You are obviously hi-so and your statement exudes class and dignity beyond words.
I think it’s rather simple to understand. There are varying levels of income and status in all societies. In the US, there are varying levels and status of shopping centers or department stores. Barneys, SAKS and Nieman Marcus are on the higher end and probably equivalent to Emporium. Sears and JC Penny’s are more like Central. And then you have K Mart and Walmart, which are similiar to MBK.
Most Europeans and North Americans come from countries which have a substantially higher standard (and cost) of living than most any South East Asian country. When we visit Thailand, the currency exchange rate is most likely favorable to us. Not only is the exchange rate favorable, but the cost of living is most likely relatively lower. That effectively puts us in a position to be able to afford the “hi-so” lifestyle and luxuries.
If you visit a Barney’s or a Bloomingdales, you will most likely encounter some stuck up wealthy upper class people just like if you were to shop at Emporium. If you can’t put 2 and 2 together, then perhaps you have let the favorable exchange rate and lower cost of living get to your head.
Onto the issue of darker skin and lighter skin… Living in Chicago, one of the most diverse cities in the world, I clearly see a pattern of racism in both the work place and outside the work place. It exists all over the world. It even exists in Thailand and MSB is a great example of it.
View all comments by Some Young Guy
I can’t believe that in the entire post and all comments, I have to reach the last one posted by Some Young Guy to see some plain old common sense and unbiased educated explanation.It seems as though most white people who leave their own countries immediately take leave off their sense or maybe it is something they never have in the first place and to see them barking out loud is simply laughable. read your history book again and remember that it was only a few decades ago that African Americans couldn’t even sit on the same bus with white people and people get routinely lynched in some States for just being black and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
View all comments by Chaiyen
Khun Chaiyen (krup) It should be also evident to you that there are many on these boards who have read their history books. Some of these books and you know which ones they are, are for reasons of translation and content unavailable here.
Many of us have read them all. We know all too well the real reasons for some of the class distinctions to be found here and the motivation for clinging desparately to them.
As an educated Thai person you do yourself a great disservice in resorting to the tired and worn accusation that were make the remarks we do out of ignorance of our former history.
But once again, in the true form and reaching the true limits of Thai intellectual inquiry you have achieved your goal: You find a way to lay blame on those who are not Thai.
Since real inquiry is as forbidden here as it is currently in the United States, that’s as far as this Hi-so Lo-so thing ever gets.
View all comments by thongsuk
I’ve had both the Emporium shopping/cinema experiences you recount, Werewolf, ending up at MBK and JJ, more often than not with a sister or two in tow. It’s always interesting to see if they really want to milk your wallet or not - I can remember more instances of insisting I buy something for them than being asked to buy - this may be just expertise, but it’s charming expertise. I’m happy to play my part, and it uses up the money I saved when they refused a restaurant meal, preferring their “nuden” from a tin table in the street.
The farang can mix in Hi-So and Lo-So with a flexibility denied to the class-bound Thai, but only if he’s presentable; a face full of studs, visible tatts, and Pattaya beach clothes aren’t exactly the passport to Hi-So acceptance. I know a true Thai princess (I suspect there are a lot of these …) and her CEO husband, but I’m always looking forward to escaping the dinner party to the Nana carpark at two am.
View all comments by Pants Elk
@@ Thongsuk: “…out of ignorance of our former history.”
TS, sorry it took me so long to pick up on something so glaring, but what exactly is ‘former history’?
:D
View all comments by werewolf
former history = taboo subjects
Subject written out of, marginalized, relegated to myth status, smeared by practitioners of neuro-linguistic conditioning and the manipulation of their contemporary semiotics. Ja like that, I just made it up
(stuff like, oh, I dunno, USA’s 1963 coup, the Nixon Coup of ‘73, and the 50 years of murderous US state terrorism . . shit like that
only using the THAI story boards.
Former history.
View all comments by thongsuk
thongsuk, that sounds like Dicer to me. Talking of “taboo subjects written out of, marginalized, relegated to myth status” this …>
“Baan Sao Nak
19 Dec 2006 by CharlieH
Baan Sao Nak , a Lanna-style wooden house. Called the “House of Many Pillars”,
this traditional Northern Thai teakwood mansion is filled with Thai and Burmese
antiques and handicrafts. But those who come here on their western package …
Secret Thailand - http://thailandsdirtysecret.blogspot.com/index.html
A Thai Secret
18 Dec 2006 by CharlieH
Very recently I was let in on a little secret about Thailand; a dirty secret
it does not want the outside world to know about. Should it ever become common
knowledge on a global scene a national loss of face would have to be endured for …
Thailand’s dirty secret - http://thailandsdirtysecret.blogspot.com/index.htmlBaan”
…
View all comments by Conspiracy Theorist
I’m not sure it is terribly classy to call someone a jerk.
I prefer to think of a more modern definition of class - that a person behaves in a particular way that makes you admire them - whether they are ‘classy’ because they are astute or ‘classy’ because they are caring or ‘classy’ for some other reason.
I know it is a western construct and has little relevance to this discussion, but using that definition makes the ‘classy’ classless
View all comments by doctorbond
Perhaps all the Isaan farm girls can become hi-so by visiting Sylvester McMonkey-McBean’s Star-on Machine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Stories
View all comments by Nok Opayop
Chaiyen said: “It seems as though most white people who leave their own countries immediately take leave off their sense or maybe it is something they never have in the first place and to see them barking out loud is simply laughable. read your history book again and remember that it was only a few decades ago that African Americans couldn’t even sit on the same bus with white people and people get routinely lynched in some States for just being black and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Chaiyen, I guarantee that no one in the US has forgotten their cultural history, or is unaware of the current state of things.
However, as we used to say in high school, what has that got to do with the price of eggs in Egypt? Your comment has nothing at all to do with the blog, which is a short discussion of the term “hi-so” and its meaning as a concept and impact in Thai society.
Oppression of blacks in America has zero relevancy to the discussion of the concept of hi-so (a uniquely Thai term) in Thailand.
If it did have any relevancy, then it might have been to illustrate the point that in America, anyone, from any background and any circumstance, can aspire to greatness. With talent and some luck, they can achieve their aspirations, though it’s a tougher fight when you’re coming up from the bottom. This is a mindset that is not prevalent among most of Thai society’s less advantaged.
Just because people see things differently from you doesn’t make them ignorant. Often, the contrary is true. It takes some intelligence to disagree thoughtfully, and it requires wisdom to change one’s mind. Insults are the quickest refuge of the ignorant.
View all comments by werewolf