The Thai People

One reason this trip has been special for all of the team members is getting a chance to live directly with Thai families. It differentiates the five of us from tourists who just get an outside view of the country. We experience many aspects of life here just as the Thai people do, and these experiences are invaluable. I thought I would spend some time talking about some aspects I've learned from these experiences.

While in the U.S. we have lower, middle, and upper class families, in Thailand there doesn't seem to be much of a middle class. If I had to separate the people into classes, I would say there are only two: the business owners and the working class.

The working class here is composed of very skilled workers. Everywhere you look, new buildings are being constructed. The Thai people are very proud of the products they export from the country, and rightfully so. About half of the world's rice and more than half of the worlds sugar come from Thailand. In this way, the workers feel like they are contributing to the rest of the world, and that's admirable. While the working class may not have a lot of personal possessions, they experience a high quality of living in other ways. Life is more relaxed, and the evenings are spent with family and friends. There is always a crowded market or a party happening, every night of the week, even in the smallest towns.

We talked to one man who didn't think Thailand has to spend a lot of time or money on research and development. His reasoning was that Thailand has a lot of skilled workers, so let other countries innovate, and the Thai people can build products for the rest of the world. I don't know how widespread this view is, but it caught me off-guard at first. After thinking about it a bit though, it started to make sense. It just shows a country that knows it's strengths and takes advantage of them in the world marketplace. Obviously there are companies who perform R&D here. The King sponsors many research and development projects. The focus is not on making money though, instead the purpose of these projects is always to make the lives of the people who live here better in some way.

Business owners generally work a lot of hours, but they are rewarded for it financially. With Thailand being a developing country, there are many markets that have yet to be tapped. For this reason, a business is much easier to get off the ground here in Thailand than it is in America. As long as you have a few thousand dollars (depending on the business), you can purchase some office space and merchandise to get a company going. We've met many families who have several businesses, to the point that I would estimate the average business-owning family runs about 3-5 different companies. One businessman we met came from nothing to owning countless (30-50+) businesses all over the world. The quality of life in these families is very high. Oftentimes the families will employ multiple people from drivers to cooks, gardeners, and nannies to help take care of the children. Most of these employees are full time, and many of them are seen as part of the family and will live in guest houses near the family home. One key difference between wealthy people here and wealthy people in America is that in Thailand wealth is rarely flaunted in the form of personal possessions. We met several people here who are doing very well for themselves, but they didn't waste money on things just for outward appearances. Money is spent for the purpose of making yourself comfortable, and not on unnecessary items. This is one aspect of the culture that I highly respect.

No matter the class, Thais are some of the happiest and friendliest people you will ever meet. They call Thailand the land of smiles for very good reason. We've thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the Thai people and learning about their culture this past month.

On that note, we are now at the Bangkok airport waiting to board our plane to Tokyo. There are still many photos that need to be posted, and probably a few more blog entries as well, so stay tuned. See you in about 25 hours! :-)