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    Meekness in Thai Culture
    Meekness in Thai Culture
    Meekness in Thai Culture
    Ebook49 pages46 minutes

    Meekness in Thai Culture

    By Matt Owens Rees

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    About this ebook

    Ubonwan is a Thai academic who wrote a 400 page doctoral thesis on the 9 characteristics of the Thai and why that contributed to the total failure of the early Christian missionaries to convert the Thais. It is a thorough examination of the subject. The list of references is itself 10 pages long!

    Ubolwan describes the characteristics as: Ego orientation, Grateful relationship orientation, Smooth interpersonal relationship orientation, Flexible and Adjustment orientation, Religio-psychical orientation, Education and competence orientation, Interdependence orientation, Fun and pleasure orientation, and Achievement-task orientation.

     

    Matt's "Meekness in Thai Culture" shows in just 24 short pages that her characteristics are the same cultural and lifestyle aspects of the Thai that he describes in his books. Matt gives many real-life examples in  a readable format . Doctoral theses do tend to be harder to understand though covering the same ground.   Ubolwan had to be more acaedmic in order to get her doctorate.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMatt Owens Rees
    Release dateDec 19, 2017
    ISBN9781540196101
    Meekness in Thai Culture
    Author

    Matt Owens Rees

    My focus group took time to develop but is now paying dividends. I can bounce ideas off Thais from varying social classes. From poor farmers and construction workers to those working in offices and shops. From bankers to well-off business owners. The group includes members of the so-called hi-so elite as well as military and police officers. Interaction sometimes needs to be one-to-one as Thais are cautious expressing their views in front of their other countrymen. To understand Thailand and to integrate better with the Thai people and their culture, it’s important to observe and listen rather than doing all the talking oneself. After all, God gave us two eyes and two ears but only ONE mouth. Through field research and discussions with Thais, either in normal conversation or in the lecture theatre, Matt presents a rich picture of the real Thailand, warts and all. He has written extensively on Thais and Thailand with 20 published books already available in ebook and print format. Despite not being similar in style, his books reflect on some of the observations in “Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind.” ln his opinion, the best introductory book on Thais and Thailand. Written by Carol Hollinger in 1965, its insights are still very revealing and up to date. Sadly, Hollinger passed away at 45 years old before she could see her best- selling book in print. Matt also then lost an opportunity to collaborate with her on a new book on the concept of Face in Thailand. Readers can take a look at all the books written by Matt Owens Rees at www.books2read.com where they can find full details and excerpts for each title, and the opportunity to buy with just one click at the reader's favourite online store.  

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      Book preview

      Meekness in Thai Culture - Matt Owens Rees

      Giving a review and posting online would be appreciated. I would love to know what you think. You can reach me at brigydon1@outlook.com , my Facebook page is Matt Owens Rees and my Twitter handle is @MattOwensRees. Constructive comments are welcome. It helps me provide a tailored reader experience for all booklovers.––––––––Thanks for taking the time to look at Meekness in Thai Culture. Please accept my gratitude for your support.

      My books are available from all good book stores and on line. For your convenience, clicking the link below in your web browser will take you to my Books2Read author page where you can browse and order any of my books from the book retailer of your choice. ––––––––https://www.Books2Read.com/MattOwensRees

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      The Basic Thesis

      Conclusion

      About the Author

      Extracts from Other books by Matt Owens Rees

      INTRODUCTION

      The Thai academic Ubolwan Mejudhon submitted her dissertation, "The Way of Meekness: Being Christian and Thai in the Thai Way" and was awarded her doctorate in 1997. It remains a model and thorough examination of the problems Christian missionaries faced when trying to spread the teachings of Christianity in Thailand.

      Despite its long title – not untypical given university guidelines on thesis submission – it is a well-researched work. The list of references cited is itself ten pages long.

      Meekness in Thai Culture is a commentary on her thesis and attempts to put some of the necessarily academic jargon into layman’s language. Her title is a little unfortunate as her work is really about how cultural and lifestyle differences between Thailand and the West affected the Christian missionaries work in Thailand.

      What is significant about Ubolwan’s writing is that it reinforces and confirms the importance of understanding that Thailand’s culture is not the same as that of the West. Her purpose was to analyse, highlight those differences, and show that the failure of the early Christian missionaries in Thailand was due to their lack of that cultural awareness. These were lessons that the early missionaries failed to grasp to any degree. Dr Bradley, (1804-1873), one of the most notable of the early preachers, made just one convert.

      Although Ubolwan had to write in an academic style, she does include some personal experiences. Her references to Carol Hollinger’s classic, "Mai Pen Rai Means Never Mind," are an excellent introduction to the differences between the Thai and western ways of life making her ideas on the Thai way of meekness livelier and strengthening her main arguments.

      Thailand Take Two, A Thailand Diary, and Escape to Thailand can be read alongside Meekness in Thai Culture because all four books look at Thai lifestyles and how they are so dissimilar from our own. All four come to the same conclusion: that Thailand is a fascinating country in which to travel and live if the distinctive mind-sets of the Thai and the farang (white foreigner) are understood.

      Ubolwan examines the difficulties and frustrations that Buddhist Thais experience while learning about Christianity from missionaries. She is critical, as we can see below, of the methods they sometimes used. Mainly, their misunderstanding of Thai culture or lifestyle.

      Her thesis is that there are several factors that must be addressed by anyone trying to teach or influence people of another culture. In short, understand the society in which you find yourself and integrate into that way of life. Her writing is, therefore, useful for both the missionary and the Westerner living in or visiting Thailand.

      She identifies a number of what she calls Thai characteristics. They are in fact

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