Thaiswede

I'm a ลูกครึ่ง (Luk khrueng) living in Sweden, raised with some thai culture and buddhism. My nickname is ลูกเจ, due to my real name and that I eat vegan food. Didn't get to learn much thai because people told my mom I wouldn't be able to speak swedish then. I'm trying to teach myself now as I'm trying to teach my daughter! I'll write whenever I have thoughts about the thai language, the culture of thailand, racism, buddhism and the food! All from a half swedish, half thai perspective.

[goldpeninsula]

Media Effect on Spiritualism among Thai Youth: A Survey of Bangkok University Students

90% of Thai people are Buddhist. At the same time, the belief of Phi (spirit/ ghost) is rooted in Thai culture. Phi belief in Thai society dates from before the coming of Buddhism and is syncretistic with Buddhism in the daily life of Thai people. Phi can be divided int

90% of Thai people are Buddhist. At the same time, the belief of Phi (spirit/ ghost) is rooted in Thai culture. Phi belief in Thai society dates from before the coming of Buddhism and is syncretistic with Buddhism in the daily life of Thai people. Phi can be divided into bad Phi which might scare and destroy, and good Phi which is kind and protects. However, the good Phi can be capricious. This good phi is called Thewadaa (angel) in Thai.

The objective of this study is to examine the media’s effect toward spiritualism (Phi) and animistic belief among the Thai youth. In September 2015, 400 questionnaires were filled out by the university students from Thammasat University, Chulalongkorn University, and Srinakarinviroj Prasanmit University in Bangkok. Additionally, in September 2016, 450 questionnaires were filled out by university students from Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University. This study focuses on the animistic belief of Thai youths and media effect in these two years and finds out their attitude changes from 2015 to 2016.

[thaiswede-blog]

I’ve grown up with Buddhist beliefs, but also with Phi, without knowing about the latter. It made me confused when I was younger and read about Buddhism, because things my mom taught me didn’t match up with the litterature. It was just recently that I got answers about all the ghost stories I heard from my family and the belief that I had protecting angels in my life. It’s because the belief in Phi is so strong and mixed up with Buddhism in Thailand. All the pieces suddenly fell into place and this post describes a part of it really well.

[dangdfeng]

trivia (x)(x)(x) of Amphibia, new Disney Channel series premiering Monday, June 17th

[dangdfeng]

THE FIRST EPISODE IS UP ONLINE!

and also THIS!!!

[thaiswede-blog]

ไข่เจียว (Thai omelette)

Not many people know how important the thai omelette is for the cultural thai cuisine (and for thai peoples’ daily life). 

ไข่เจียว (Kai chiao) is probably the simplest and most basic one, made out of egg, fish sauce (or a thin salt soy sauce). It can be made in a lot of different ways and you never follow a recipe. Some people add white peppar and a very, very small amount of water as well. The result should be an omelette with crispy edges and a soft inside, preferably fluffy, but it will probably be quite flat (but tasty as hell)! 

For someone that just want to eat it at home, here’s how I got taught to do it: Put a frying pan with quite a lot of oil in it on the stove. Turn on the heat. Put the ingredients in a bowl, perhaps two eggs, a bit of thin salt soy sauce (or fish sauce if you eat that), add some white peppar and a pinch of water. Whip it with a fork, make sure you get in a lot of air. When the oil is super hot, just pour the egg in to the pan (while you stil whip it). If it is done correctly it will kinda expand in the frying pan. Try to turn in after a short while. Done. Eat it with rice, coriander and more soy sauce if you like.

You can probably do it in a more professional way, so check out some websites with recipes, but that’s how I got taught to take care of my own food when I was home alone. It’s super delicious either way. 

There’s also something called ไข่ยัดไส้ (kai yat sai) which is basically the same thing, but you put other things in it, like vegetables, shrimps, onions and such. Make sure to fry it a bit before you pour the egg in the pan. Do whatever you think will taste good, it can never be wrong in my opinion. I only use organic stuff to fill it and only vegan alternatives (that is, not only vegetables, you can play around with the vegetarian alternatives in your country!), but for my daughter I sometimes make it with small organic shrimps. 

Picture above by Skythailand99 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khai_yat_sai#/media/File:8293tarin9.jpg

[goldpeninsula]

The leader of the Thai junta tortures the rules to remain in power

A jerry-rigged parliament affirms Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister

No one can deny his tenacity. More than five years after seizing control of Thailand in a coup and declaring himself prime minister, nearly three years after pushing through a constitution designed to prolong his rule and more than two months after an election his supporters almost managed to lose despite all kinds of unfair advantages, Prayuth Chan-ocha was at last affirmed as prime minister by parliament on June 5th.

As it happens, Mr Prayuth, without any sense of irony, recently urged his fellow Thais to read “Animal Farm”. The process that led to his affirmation as prime minister was redolent of the coup-leading pigs of the novel, who declare: “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Take the parliament that selected him at a joint sitting of its two chambers. All 250 members of the upper house were appointed by Mr Prayuth’s government. Roughly a third of them have links with the armed forces or the police. The body contains such impartial figures as Mr Prayuth’s younger brother.

[southeastasianists]

This Thai Vendor Cooks Chicken With 1,000 Mirrors and the Power of the Sun

Sila Sutharat's stand in Phetchaburi can operate only during the day.

In Phetchaburi, about two and a half hours south of Bangkok, roadside vendor Sila Sutharat offers chicken with a side of solar power in a grand, visual display. Using a curved wall of nearly 1,000 moveable mirrors, he concentrates sunshine onto a row of marinated chickens. Under the beams, sizzling a bird to perfection takes 12 minutes.

The wall of mirrors saves money, pollutes less, puts on a good show, and—according to the inventor-chef—makes for more tender, evenly-cooked chicken. But beyond praise and patrons, the innovator’s device earned him an honorary science degree from a local university. On being asked about the distinction in an interview with Ozy, Sutharat replied with a smile, “I was so very proud, because I barely even finished fourth grade.”

Sutharat designed and constructed the massive panels himself, after feeling the sun’s heat reflected onto him from a passing bus. Although he usually barbecued his gai yang, a popular Thai chicken dish, on a traditional charcoal grill, he decided to try harnessing the sun’s energy instead. At the time, fuel sources such as gas and petroleum had also become increasingly expensive, and wood suppliers were experiencing shortages.

Over the last two decades, Sutharat has maintained his solar grill business by cooking for a mostly-local customer base. People from Thailand and farther afield only began flocking to his operation after videos of his apparatus in action went viral online. He now offers pork trotters, in addition to poultry.

[thaiswede-blog]

I eat vegan food (except for thai omelette) and I support this initiative, taking a step in the right direction for the environment is always positive. And this thing is so creative!

[thaiswede-blog]

Girls rock Asia

Just found this, it’s so cool and I’m so happy and proud of the people in Thailand for doing this!

It’s called Girls rock Asia (facebook) and they describe themselves as the FIRST girl battle of the band's competition in Asia. They’re a self-funding organization who are willing to help female musicians to have a better opportunity in their career. At this stage it is based in Thailand and the Philippines but they’re looking to expand to other Asian Countries as well. For the moment it seems as Hong Kong, Vietnam and Malaysia are expected to join. They also supports the LGBT community.  More: https://saigoneer.com/saigon-music-art/10202-girls-rock-asia-brings-together-female-musicians-from-across-southeast-asia

https://www.chiangmaicitylife.com/citylife-articles/the-search-is-on-for-asias-top-female-rock-bands-girls-rock-asia/

[skyrid8r]

Our night concert for charity at 14 March 2018. Thanks to Overstay for giving us a place to make this event happened and all of you guys for coming. we hope you would have fun and great experiences of Thailand Punk scenes back with you. See you next time!!

[skyrid8r]

Food Not Bomb Thailand 🇹🇭

[spookie-patootie-blog]

asian racism

• “do you speak english???” • chink / ching chong • trader joe’s labeling all of their asian food line “trader ming” as if the name ming is a summary of all asian names from all countries • being grouped in with chinese people when you are definitely not chinese and especially have darker skin • looking up your ethnicity in the hashtags to find a community of similar people only to find porn • asian fetisization, especially of children • mocking of accent, including using a chinese accent to summarize all asians • our racism being put aside because it’s not a priority • nail shop / nanny jokes • somehow immigrants who have accents or can’t speak any english being treated like shit and being called dumb while simultaneously expected to have their academics be top notch • your country turned into a tourist / vacation spot • “i love your culture! the food is so good!”

[thaiswede-blog]

Quite well put summary. As a half thai person, I’ve sometimes experienced that I need to clarify that the women in my family aren’t prostituted. Someone also thought that I “must love this hot summer we’re having” when he got to know that I had thai relatives (after asking where I’m reeeaally from).

I’ve also heard people having ideas about how parts of my body looks like. You know what I’m talking about.

[thaiswede-blog]

Polite particles in thai (is it necessary?)

In a thai learning forum I asked some questions about a couple of words and started the comment with “สวัสดี!” (hi). Someone answered, but gave no answer to my questions, but instead told me to always use polite particles. Not using the male polite particle ครับ was intended, but I got curious and asked myself why as well as I started to search the internet about it. 

I found some interesting things:

A user, born and raised in Bangkok, on Quora wrote:

“Keep in mind that Thai culture is ultra conservative about social hierarchy. Most people automatically filter themselves of any social expression that might risk showing disrespect to the superior in anyway. Khrap/Kha is then a no-brainer that benefits you for free in this regard when you develop it as a reflect.“

It’s something that you can benefit from if you learn to use it automatically, even though you don’t even mean to be polite. It’s things like this that I think is important to question. It’s also an important knowledge, because you want to know why you need to use it - because Thailand in general is quite conservative about hierarchies. But how should we really show respect? 

He keeps on:

“For example, friends or coworkers who drop the formality of Khrap/Kha to express their tighter bond (real or imagined). Social rebels also tend to drop it as well [...]. People from circles that don't say krab/kha also benefit from suddenly saying it when they are in trouble with more powerful/superior people, and so on.”

You can practically gain something from not using it very often! But an opinion of mine is that you should show respect to people, no matter what. You shouldn’t feel obligated to show respect to so called superior people, especially when they don’t respect you. Respect isn’t about fear and respect is not a one way thing. What you should think about however is how to solve the situation smoothly (for your own sake) and if you risk your own or someone else’s life. 

We should all be on the same level when we speak, even kids. You can show respect in many different ways and you should show it to children as well. That’s so much more democratic! So if you forget or even choose not to use a polite particle in every sentence and someone gets irritated or mad at you... is it you or that person that are impolite? I don’t even think local thai people use it in every sentence, even if thai learners and thai teachers make you think that. 

On a website called Siamsmile they introduce us to thai and polite particles and among many other things they mention this:

“Use of the appropriate polite particle in a sentence can add just the right amount of politeness for a given situation.”

And:

“...the use of particles depends on a person's individual speaking style: some people use them a lot, others don't. In general they add informality and playfulness to spoken Thai. (Reference (2), P.287).”

Another thing I’d like to question is why there is a need of having a male polite particle and a female one. I know many people choose which one they want to use depending on how they identify themselves, but it takes courage and sometimes it becomes a bit loaded to use another particle that is not expected from you. Is there a polite particle that non-men and non-women use? I know about นะ (na) and จ๊ะ (ja), both being for all sexes, but they seem to be used in certain occasions. 

What do you think? Am I wrong? Are there more examples? What have you experienced? Please answer and show respect and be polite in the comments ;)