[LesLattis]

I recently had to go to the wonderful Thai culture course organised by the government for teachers, it is actually written in the manuals we got that much of "traditional" Thai culture is very recent. we were even shown a picture of those leaflets that explained to half-naked Thais how to dress "properly" (it was in a recent thread somewhere here at the forum). our presenter acknowledged that "civilisation" came from the west and that we as teachers should help Thailand to develop further, e.g. in taking safety and security measures seriously and not play around with human lives. I was a little surprised at this approach to the introduction to Thai culture! nevertheless, a colleague remarked in the end "so they told us now what they would like Thai culture to be like!" for example, we had the entire audience sneering when the five precepts, including the prohibition on alcohol consumption and adultery was brought up. our presenter said right away that Thais are hypocrites. (she was Thai!) our Muslim colleagues were especially amused.