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About Face.

By Sean Moran, Created on: 14/10/2008, Last updated on: 13/04/2014

» One olde axiom that comes to mind is, '[i:3b539sim]If you can't say something nice, then keep your mouth s.h.u.t.[/i:3b539sim]' Just a thread that pertains to one of the cultural differences one might notice in venturing from a typical 'westernised' society of the assertive kind to the shores of...

• Sean Moran commented : get the picture) As for Thai boxing - it stays in the ring for betting purposes only! It's a sport and not a way of life out here! It's certainly not an example of the usual ways Thais set about sorting out any altercation! Again, you would have to live out here to know that so you are excused As for the face, I was talking from the Thai perspective. They (The Thais) use face as a cover up for a multitude of sins. It's just the way things are done out here. I guess as they don't have the Christian guilt complex shoved down their throats day and night, telling the truth is not seen or regarded a virtue! Thais value expediency! over our versions of honour! Good luck with the cricket - maybe your lot might want to try their hand at riding cows? Happy New Year [/quote:5am34j3s] We might leave the buffalo example for now. I guess you have a valid point. Must be just lucky myself, that I never got to meet your friends or walk in your neighbourhood, and probably have some kind of rose-coloured glasses view on the thread topic. In Nonthaburi, face equates fairly closely with honour and integrity in general, although there are a range of different traits and states across such a large population. Although I'm enjoying the rejuvenated discussion, I am having trouble quite working out whether you are setting an example the stereotypical misguided attitude of the american tourist (which might be offensive to some readers - not us) or you have been set upon by a gang of hooligans once and have an axe to grind. May I ask a couple of quick questons to verify your original post. Ima take it more seriously now seeing the cricket is looking like a runaway RSA win. 1. How does the concept of Face provide for irresponsibility? I would have thought that the opposite applies. 2. With these gangsters, what were you engaged in at the time when you were set upon? Where was it? I don't want to make assuptions but it does beg a question on your own behaviour if you have been so badly mistreated. I don't want to ask personal questions but you seem to have had a bit of a raw deal which reflects in your opinion, and I'm at a loss for the reasons why you feel so hardly done by, although I really appreciate the example. It's interesting anyway. Probably be a good thing for me to go back and revise the entire thread because it was so long ago, and then you replied and then I took so long to even notice your reply etc. etc. I need to go back over HybridEM's stuff again because he had things worked out reasonably. Give me 20 minutes to run through the thread again and I apologise for having neglected to keep up with this one over the months. -----ooOoo----- Whoa the memories! Okay. Sorry. I remember a bit more now, and why I was prompted towards the equation of face with responsibility. It has something to do with it, apparently. I'm still not quite clear on how they relate. All I can say after going over all that old stuff is that perhaps like a coin, a face has two sides? --> Would it be fair to say - like as in a good and a bad side?

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