eagle Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I haven't been all around the world but I would think that awareness is a personal thing not determined by ones country. I've met teenagers who don't know who the beatles are or where Vietnam is. Met people in Philidelphia who were never away from their city block. I bet alot of Thais are fairly worldly meeting so many from other countries but maybe not the few you met.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankenburner2 Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I haven't been all around the world but I would think that awareness is a personal thing not determined by ones country. I've met teenagers who don't know who the beatles are or where Vietnam is. Met people in Philidelphia who were never away from their city block. I bet alot of Thais are fairly worldly meeting so many from other countries but maybe not the few you met.... you would think so Jerry....but it ain't so....when I tell Thais, for example, that we are taught about world geography in grade school...they are surprised....it's simply NOT taught here....presumably because it isn't deemed necessary or critical in Thai culture......thus the lack of general knowledge of world geography...... by the way Ling......let's NOT round to the nearest 60 ok....i'll be awhile getting used to the nearest 40 for quite sometime yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ling_dtua_khaao Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 i was speaking with a thai the other day and she asked me do i know what country Canada is in? Canada is in North America. North America and South America together make up... America. Therefore, Canada is in America. QED --Ling P.S. Travelling through Iran in the early 1990s, lots of people would ask me where I was from, and I'd say Canada. Somewhere along the line they had learned about North America and that Canada was in North America. And naturally, they assumed North America was part of America. An ignorant mistake, but not a stupid mistake, from the way things are named. So most people thought I was American, but still, it was one of the most hospitable places on the planet. People were great to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusbheld Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 2. Which continent is canada on? he may say Europe. (ask any geography question really). like any non-canadian cares which part of the arctic circle canadia occupies... only reason i know, is it's one of the few easy targets my country has declined to invade (although if you had enough oil reserves to fuel our huge gas guzzling SUVs, we might change our mind). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 2. Which continent is canada on? he may say Europe. (ask any geography question really). like any non-canadian cares which part of the arctic circle canadia occupies... only reason i know, is it's one of the few easy targets my country has declined to invade (although if you had enough oil reserves to fuel our huge gas guzzling SUVs, we might change our mind). They have snow for our ski resorts :shock: good powder too :twisted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 I'll be sure to bring my Atlas when I come to Thailand. Be sure to point out the north pole and other need to know places Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusbheld Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Therefore, Canada is in America. QED Didn't you guys of the 51st state secede from the union? they didnt jump offisa, they was pushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunee Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Before I comment: I don't think Fred is implying Thais are stupid (and neither am I!)....just that he wonders exactly "what" is taught in Thai schools?I've been teaching here for two years and have often been surprised about the general lack of knowledge concerning things I learned in grade school. ..... Agree wholeheartedly Thais, in my limited experience here thus far, are very much sponges to learning, new and interesting and probably more to the point, applicable knowledge. Whether that be english language, cultural differences between western countries and Thai culture, geographical information or more general non specific topics and subjects. i was speaking with a thai the other day and she asked me do i know what country Canada is in? This question from an educated adult working in hospitality. I emailed her a map of North America and Canada. Not stupid, just ignorant, and not ignorant in a derogatory way, ignorant because she was not knowledgeable of the world geography. I have come accross this many times in recent months with my staff and other Thai people, general knowledge, or what most people think as general knowledge is lacking here, Therefore i believe Fredfunk's question exactly what is taught in Thai schools is a very valid one. simple mathematics, yes again, add and subtract by pencil and paper or the trusty calculator, although i think the calculator has become more of a translation device for those lacking english skills, and maybe an automatic reliance on this aspect has rendered the mechanical adding and subtracting in the head redundant. I have no idea where she was graduated from? I have been detailed teaching about history, geography and politics in thai high school (ppl in my age must have learnt too) before they changed to the new education system and my school wasn't in Bangkok. We were taught from the world maps and i knew which country is in which continent and who were the leaders of those country. We had lab classes for chemistry and biology with full of equipments and experiments. We even seen live sperms swimming in semen too. That what I were taught in thai school (only for exsample) but important thing is depends on personal eagerness in what and how much ppl wanted to know not only in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdiddy Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 don't be an idiot. people are dumb all over the world. including at home. Many of America's best new MBAs and Journalists and even Teachers can't point out Thailand on a map. Nor can they tell you much about how their own government works (well, at least one week after the Poli Sci 101 exam). I go to Uni in America. A fairly decent one at that (ins ome fields at least). I've noticed quite consistently that my peers are total ******* morons. Honetsly, why should the Thais give a **** about the US or Europe? How much press does Thailand get in the US compared to France ( a smaller country)? Hate to say it, but they're kind of in different worlds. One time i heard a snotty snobbish Englishman bitching about the Thais didn't know about the Holocaust. How many European or American youths know about The killing Fields or The cultural revolution. People don't really give a **** anymore. Deal with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusbheld Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 people are dumb all over the world. i think that about sums it up... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaDaz Posted March 10, 2006 Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 Eagle They have snow for our ski resorts good powder too Errrrr.....thought it was Columbia that had all the ''good'' powder.. Is that South America or Central America..? Dunno cos I went to school in California....Most of my classmates couldn't identify any European countries on the globe....so not just Thailand that suffers from egocentricity and ignorance....I blame the teachers.....LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeusbheld Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 Eagle They have snow for our ski resorts good powder too Errrrr.....thought it was Columbia that had all the ''good'' powder.. must be yale or princeton, columbia's overrated, even for drugs. colombia is in central america and have better powder than columbia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattayaDaz Posted March 11, 2006 Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 ZeusB: must be yale or princeton, columbia's overrated, even for drugs. colombia is in central america and have better powder than columbia. Clever Sod!....... ....Anyhow it was a typo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr0nmaster Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 You are right that we are very ignorant and pround of our ignorances thats why we are so happy all the time. I would expect people with access to TV ...a high literacy rate.....the infrastraucture for a decent education system......I would expect some people in thei society to know....who Nelson Mandela , Joseph Stalin , Ronald Raegan etc are..... you will be amazed at how few thais know who these people are.....their ideologies...and why they were good/dangerous ..etc etc a society that does not reflect upon itself....through the objective view of others....is like the human equivalent of a petchulant and ignorant adolescent.....devoid of insight or the ability to self monitor/maintain itself in a healthy way... i've always said if you took a bunch of teenage men ...and gave them a country to run.....in a couple of years you would end up with something like thailand...... but if you think thailand is the only society to celebrate ignorance...you are wrong..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O123ok Posted March 14, 2006 Report Share Posted March 14, 2006 I would expect people with access to TV ... to know....who Nelson Mandela , Joseph Stalin , Ronald Raegan etc are... Television is a medium that needs to be examined too. Like most children, after school I would rush home to watch children's afternoon TV. These included entertaining yet highly educational programs such as 'Blue Peter'; where children were informed of the genocide and hunger that was ravaging Cambodia and Ethiopia. The show even encouraged kids to actively participate in raising money to help their relief efforts. Jonny Ball taught me science and the history of science, Tony Hart enlightened me in art and design, 'Animal Magic' and 'The Really Wild Show' explained the nature of the animal kingdom and the environment around us. We even had a daily programme called 'Newsround' which was a news show designed specifically for children. Even programs that are designed primarily to entertain would invariably educate as well. Programs like 'CSI' for example has taught me how to get away with murder and programs like 'E.R' has taught me how to resuscitate them. On the other hand, Thai TV programmers have a lot to answer for. Cartoons, camp soap operas, slap stick stand up routines and cute singing and dancing children seem to be at the top of their broadcasting priorities... and this is in the prime time viewing slot not the children's afternoon TV slot. It is not uncommon to flick through the channels to see cartoons being shown simultaneously on 3 different channels. Shame on the Thai TV controllers. As most Thais can't afford the luxury of UBC, they are limited to the inane crap and propaganda broadcast on the terrestrial channels. I know from my own experience that watching half an hour of Thai TV kills more brain cells than half an hour of being elbowed in the head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldMember Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 :? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldMember Posted March 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2006 ps Americanised debates can never be redundant and tiresome with Georgie boy in charge and his partner in crime shooting lawyers up the butt .Those guys (and the Simpsons) are irreplaceable . they made john stewart a superstar. i doub't he'd be in a position to host the oscars without them. haha right.Hes a very funny guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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