[neniajany]

I am a 30-something Australian women and would like to add a thought here, if I may.

I don't perceive Thai women to be subservient in the way that westerners understand "subservience" ... I see Thai culture, men AND women, perhaps just living their majority spirituality - Buddhism. Dharma (Buddhist scriptures) teaches that treating others and their needs as more important than yourself and your own needs is the only way to be happy for the long-term. And I don't mean every now and then - when you live in a primarily (95%) Buddhist culture you will understand that this is as much a part of their everyday life and understanding as knowing what vegemite is to an Australian. LOL. Interesting parallel but you get what I mean. It is an inherent PART of being Thai.

Treating others as more important doesn't mean to say that you are not important or that you should be stepped all over. I feel perhaps that people who are not aware of what Buddhism (Theravada Buddhism represents 95% of people in Thailand) and the study of the dharma means would perhaps misinterpret the happy, easy-going nature of the majority of Thai people.

The quote from trangam, above, is a perfect story-example of what I mean.

Where when a dog stole your bread you chased it so that you could add some butter to it. Where everybody gave and there was really nothing to ask for ... I see this, not just with westerners attitudes to deeply rooted spiritualities in Asian countries but also in our own western societies! and it pains me to think that a lot of westerners have this simple-minded view that happy, easygoing and accommodating natures = uneducated, not modern or equally arrogant and superior attitudes. This idiotic assumption is simply so far from the truth of who most Thai people are at heart that sometimes I could just ...... well, you get what I mean.

Anyhow, that's my thought on the subject of subservience. Just plain lack of understanding of a culture that has a better understanding of what creates happiness in your life than most other western countries that you could name, my own country included.

I do use a large generalisation here at times. Obviously not every person from Thailand or every westerner is as above. These are, on the whole, thoughts about the majority. I really think that as our world moves along, people do evolve, slowly, but nevertheless people still evolve and develop a greater understanding about what is important in life.

You just need to look around to see that

Goodness, that was a long one.