Dr. Akkhaphong (Akkharaphong) Khamkhun
Biased perceptions of neighbours must change: Thai expert
Published: 22 April 2013
Bangkok (The Nation/ ANN) -- The teaching of Thai
history and the history of Thailand's relations with its neighbours
should be reformed to eradicate Thais' superiority complex and
condescending attitude, mistrust and even hatred towards its closest
neighbours, two Thai experts said.
Prof. Thamrongsak Petchlertanan
Thamrongsak Petchlertanan, an
expert on the histories of Thailand and Cambodia and their territories,
and chairman of the political science programme at Rangsit University,
said a century of nationalistic Thai education, which casts its
neighbours as villains, had led to mistrust and hatred against those
from neighbouring countries, particularly Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
"One
hundred years is a long time. Thais have been taught about the
greatness of the Thai state. After [the Preah Vihear dispute] it will be
the responsibility of the state, particularly the Education Ministry,
[to initiate reform]," Thamrongsak said.
The task won't be easy
at all, said Thamrongsak, who suspects that many Cabinet ministers
themselves hold condescending views towards people from neighbouring
countries. He also questioned what could be done with the current lot of
teachers and educators, who may be too old to change their attitudes,
even if a new curriculum and textbooks were introduced "strategically"
to soften Thais' attitudes as the Kingdom prepares to join the Asean
Economic Community in 2015.
The lecturer urged Thais to see both
their countrymen and their neighbours as fellow human beings and equals.
He acknowledged, however, that it would take some time before this
could be realised - if ever - particularly as anti-Cambodian sentiment
is strong and has been fuelled by ultra-nationalists and some "elites"
over the past five or six years for domestic political reasons.
As
Thailand and Cambodia defended their respective claims over disputed
land near Preah Vihear at the International Court of Justice in The
Hague this week, many took to social-networking sites to express their
uncensored views. A female Thai telecommunications consultant using the
Twitter account @jickko_nong tweeted in Thai on Wednesday afternoon:
"Thailand is more advanced and more developed than Cambodia. Better
economy, bigger population, land area, higher GDP 'nothing to be afraid
of'."
Thamrongsak said the matter of Thailand's relations with
its neighbours was of strategic interest and should be given priority
now, as more people from these countries will be working in and visiting
Thailand from 2015 onward.
"The question is, is the Thai government aware of this yet?"
Akkhaphong Khamkhun, a junior lecturer in Thai studies at Thammasat University who
is also knowledgeable about Cambodia and other neighbouring countries,
said that beyond educational bias was the religious belief in karma.
This causes many Thais to feel that the status of less-developed
countries like Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar can be explained by the fact
that they have accrued less good karma or merit.
Many Thais also
believe that people in such countries are simply not as smart as those
from more developed countries, Akkhaphong said.
"Nationalistic 'logic' reduces the humanity of others," Akkhaphong pointed out.
"Is there a solution? We must tackle the basis of the belief system. Perhaps it will take generational change," he said.
18 comments:
These two Thai academics are young but they are more wise than the old Thai academics and old politicians. They studied both Khmer and Thai histories so they knew the truth. Unlike many old Thai historians and politicians who only studied Thai history from Thai texts written by Thai ultra-nationalists who distorted history to glorify the Thai nation as well as trying to implant nationalistic mentality among the new generations of Thai to think that Thailand and the Thais are superior to the their neighbors, not knowing that the history they have learned are invented and fake history. I salute these two young Thai academics for telling the new generations of Thais the true history.
I’m applauding these two Thai elites for their thorough thinking and their ideologies toward peaceful resolutions. I wish many Thais are like you.
BACK IN OLD TIMES, Thailand has no vast lands, until they grabbed it from Khmer empire,,
keep this in mind, thai guys
These two young Thai are correct. Thailand has more educated young generation, better economic and better democracy.
Cambodia is full of uneducated Khmer. Even the ruling government are full of murderers who rised to their current positions from killing and murders.
Even the countrymen is no different. With low moral, and often turning black into white.
Cambodia will never change.
The Thais have been arrogant to Cambodians for over a 100 years, and that is so true. Look at the human rights abuses they did against the Cambodian refugees. They killed our people at will in the most savage ways possible. Even their royal members find it surprising to learn about the Cambodian culture that is so strikingly similar to that of Thailand. (Duh! where have you been!) They stole our Khmer cuisine and made it theirs. They stole our Khmer fighting art and made it their. They stole our script and made it theirs. They stole our numerals and made it their. They stole our vocabulary and made it their. They stole our musical instruments and made them theirs. They stole our territory and made it theirs. They stole our dances and made them theirs. The Thais also mismanaged Cambodia under their protectorateship. Cambodia lost southern part of Cambodia aka the Mekong Delta or Kampuchea Krom region to the predatory landgrabbing Viets from the North. It was the Thais who did not protect that region from the Viet aggressors. It is time for the Thais to own up to their sins against the peoples of Cambodia. They need to pay back the overdue back rent since the 13th century. We expect the Thais to pay the Cambodians 1 million dollars a year. So we calculate it at 100 years a century, that means the Thais better suck it up and start paying the Cambodians the overdue back rents. Yeah! We also need to collect back rents from the Viets and the Lao too. Those landgrabbing thieves need to own up to their sins of old and present.
If Cambodia is rich and strong, it too would possess superiority complex and arrogance attitudes towards its neighbors. Despite being dirt poor, yet there are Cambodians who wrongly think their culture is unique and superior to the rest, and that everyone owes them. It is a good thing that Cambodia is poor and weak, otherwise, it would be unbearable to have to deal with them.
Who the heck is 10:52? Are you so retarded or something? One distinction between the Cambodians and you landgrabbing thieves is that Cambodians are honorable people. You guys on the other hand are landgrabbing thieves. So if we are talking from a legal standpoint, you are criminals, while we are the good citizens of the world. In fact, you can use just a 1/3 of your brain, you will learn that the Cambodians were the ONES who save the immigrants/settlers of Thais, Lao, and Vietnamese origins from their certain deaths. So be grateful for the territory that you all are enjoying as we speak. Our legacy and culture are certainly of our ancestors creation to meet the needs of their days in the Khmer Great State or Empire. However, when you homeless landgrabbing criminals who came over and adopted our quintessential cultural aspects and claim them as yours that is the sign that you are inherently and genetically a born criminal. The Bible clearly states that just because Adam and Eve committed the original sin, then their children will also be cursed with sin. So if you are born of the original landgrabbing criminals of the Khmer territory then you are by bloodline is a criminal as well. Lol
Thai can grabbed and steal land from Khmer. What make Khmer?....... In Cambodia if you smart the dumb kill you, if you dumb Khmer people elect you to lead....at the end.....Khmer live along side Champ on the Mekong River.
First of all, 12:40 is so retarded to even carry on a conversation. The person's brain is just poop, and emotionally, the person is a spineless worm. This person is completely wasted and thus this person will soon die and be return to be rotten in the ground for the grass to grow on. Lol.
To 10:52am and 12:40 pm,
I have just read your comments and I know straight away. Both of you are uneducated.
Only the uneducated persons like you possess the superiority complex and arrogance attitudes.
The more you learn the more you realize that you do not know, Pluto, the great philosopher of all time once said: "I know only one thing that is I know nothing."
Let me give you another quote from my wall by H. Jackson Brown, Jr. regarding wealth:
"Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect."
When you know all these, your superiority complex and arrogance will disappear then you can live in harmony with your surrounding. No more hate. only love...with love your head is light.
In Asia, people value high on education and wealth because they think it is the source of happiness', but It is not.
Work on your perception and change your attitude, you will find yourself living in the right world.
Cambodian Australian
If all Khon-Khmer were taught and raised this way; the countries such as thailane, Laew, and youn-south would NOT have come to existence. My friends, in my opinion; it's our kindness and generosities that desroyed The Khmer Empire. Sure, we have had untill this day, fools for our leaders, but our compassions and empathy in nature for these baboons and leeches that had destroyed and will continue to destroy our country and society. They can not stand to see Khmer make progress for they, if they truly have this "thia
superiority and condescending attitude" towards us they would not have given a dame as whom the Khmer are. We Khmer, are proud and yet very humble. Because for a simple fact of who we are and know exactly of who we are; unlike this thailame, that confused and not knowing who the heck they really are. So continue on looking down on your neightbours while at the same making a fool of youself.
10:52 am, I assume that you are a Thai and your view here is representative of the view of the Thai general population. How sad! You should learn from these two young Thai academics instead.
We Khmers never say that our culture is unique or superiority to any culture. What we say is our culture is the original/oldest in the region - meaning that we did not copy from Thailand or Laos, but these two countries copied our culture and claimed to be theirs, especially Thailand. Take traditional Dance and Martial Arts for example. We have inscription at Angkor temples to prove that the traditional dance and martial arts (Kun Khmer/Labokator)belong to Cambodia. The Thais copied our dances and said that Khmer copied it from Thailand. Thailand copied Khmer martial art (Kun Khmer/Labokator)and called it the "Muay Thai" and said that Khmers copied it from Thailand. Even the language and the system of writing, the Thais copied it from Khmers. How do we know this? Like I said, we have all of these as inscriptions at Angkorian temples even before Thailand was even existed in this region. Angkorian temples were built around AD 1100, but the Thai people only migrated from southern China's Nanchao region to the present region in around 1296. So, we are the elder brother to the Thai people, however the Thais never respected us, but instead looked down on us. It's time for the Thais to study the correct history and taught to respect other races, like what had been advocating by these two young academics. They are a good example to all Thai people, please follow them.
Don't get your confusing message above!!! Remember God hates the proud abduction the arrogance.....Are you one of them?
I just wanted to share this with you guys what the outsiders view of:Cambodia vs. Thailand in this modern time
Part I of II
To be fair and objective, Thailand's good points will be illustrated here. I didn't live there for eight years because I dislike the place, I just dislike what it's become, and how quickly the people have changed. I didn't add "The Thai People" to this list because, quite frankly, I just rarely see the exuberant warmth that gave this place the nickname "Land of Smiles"
Great Beaches. Thailand has some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, and many of them on all coastlines of the country.
Great Culture. The Thai culture is very similar to that of Laos and Cambodia - mostly because Thailand was part of the ancient Khmer Empire. In all fairness to other cultures, Thailand copied most of it.
Great Nightlife. Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Pattaya all have vibrant night scenes, each city catering to a different style of "fun".
Thailand is more developed. High-speed internet is everywhere in Thailand, the road and highway system is very modern and safe. There are huge, modern shopping centers in most major urban centers with great movie theatres and department stores.
Thai Food. Yes, Thai's cook a mean meal - there are so many awesome dishes to be had here, it's always been a top destination for "food tourists".
How Cambodia Measures Up?
Let's review all of the above Thailand pro's and see how Cambodia measures up.
Culture? Thai culture is derived from the Khmer culture (no matter how much Thais will argue otherwise). Angkor Wat, the gargantuan temple from over 1200 years ago is still Cambodia's biggest draw.
Nightlife... for party animals, Thailand is great for nights out on the town. Cambodia, however, has its own flavor of post-dusk options. From the more upscale clubs and casinos in Phnom Penh to the laid-back beach shacks of Sihanoukville, Cambodia does not fall short. It's a different type of scene, yes - and will be much less painful on your wallet. Find a place with a 50-cent happy hour all day.
Developed? Since when is being less developed a bad point? Development and gentrification lead to price hikes and a less laid-back and chill atmosphere. After all, isn't the point of travel to experience something totally different from where you live?
Food? Khmer Food? It's awesome, and the curries are much less piquant than in Thailand, but still offer great rewards for your taste buds. Amok, Fried Noodles, Loc Lac with Kampot pepper.... I'm getting hungry just typing this. The western food here on average is much better quality than in Thailand - we can attribute this to the French colonial influence and the fact that foreigners can work and cook in their own eateries without the threat of immigration fines and deportation.
A Very Happy People
Cambodian's may not be wealthy, but they're all rich in spirit. They may not have much, but they're never short on smiles.
Dumbness peoples on the planet earth.
Part II of II
So Why is Cambodia Better?
Thailand has become very gentrified in the past decade, and it's not always a good thing. Yes, Thailand has awesome shopping and a very urban feel - which appeals to some. But for budget travelers, Cambodia is a far better option.
Price. Cambodia is just cheaper. Period. While there are many places that cater to higher budgets, the mainstream tourist and expat crowd goes for the cheaper end of things. Beer is cheaper, food is cheaper (and better), liquor is dirt cheap, as is wine. Hotels and guesthouses are all cheaper than Thailand. The only stuff that costs more are specialty items that tourists won't be buying anyway.
People. Yes, the people here are much more genuine and friendlier than in Thailand. I like to chalk this up to the colonial French influence that taught the Khmer people that foreigners have good things to offer their society, whereas Thais will do things "their way" even if a foreign method is cheaper and more efficient.
Traffic. Since Cambodia is a much less developed country, there are far fewer cars on the roads. I've never seen a traffic jam in Sihanoukville. People here drive much more slowly also, I see far fewer accidents on the roads here than in Thailand where road deaths are a daily occurrence.
English. The level of English in Cambodia is FAR more advanced than Thailand, which makes things much easier between customer and host. I see kids studying English while their parents run their restaurants, which tells me that they take learning English seriously, unlike Thailand where English is a mere required class for which there are ludicrously low standards. There are 13 year-old kids on the beach who speak better English than my Thai lawyer.... and the Thais have the audacity to think that the Khmer people are stupid because they happen to have darker skin?
Police. Police here just don't target foreigners like they do in Thailand, where it's all about taking as much money from tourists as possible. And they wonder why their tourism is in a constant state of decline? The police generally ignore tourists here, because they seem to know we bring in a LOT of money to the local economy, create jobs and stability.
In Conclusion
There's not much more that can be said to hammer the point home. The simple answer is that Thailand, being an economically advanced country, and has taken its tourists (and expats) for granted. Each year, more and more people are looking for alternate destinations to drop their hard-earned currency, and Cambodia is now prominently on the Asian travel map. Cambodia is a wonderfully amazing country full of exotic destinations, making it perfect for a unique and memorable holiday. Credit has to also be given to the Cambodian (Khmer) people for their perseverance, having lifted themselves from their tragic history and transforming their kingdom into a destination sought after by millions of people each year.
Right,say that to yourself Brovo! You're very smart! Bravo....!Don't open your mouth/writing your comment in here because the more you say,the more we know how STUPID you really are/were....
I agree with you,you forget to mention that Cambodia was just dust herself off from many decades war destroyed all the beautiful places,but she still resilience and smile welcome foreigner with open arms and hospitality like Ta prum's faces on Bayon Temple.Thailand on the hand never have war for century thatwise she get more advantages than Cambodia thanks to America's largest military base on her soil,without America protect her (Thailand) will be worst than Cambodia.Thailand had created enemies all round her due to her superior attitude toward the smaller country that she has enchroached thier land these many years,Cambodia,Lao,Burma,are the victims.
Kmrnhwatt
Post a Comment