Mai Pen Rai

[Nereus]

Very true:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opin ... ai-pen-rai

By: VORANAI VANIJAKA
Published: 22/02/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: NewsThe authorities had warring Uthen Thawai and Pathumwan students shaking hands in front of the cameras, promising peace and harmony. Less than a couple of weeks later the rival students turned Mahboonkrong into a battlefield. Embarrassing?

Children are drinking low quality milk because the suppliers are using imported powdered milk and over diluting it, while Thai farmers, encouraged by the authorities to adopt dairy farming as Thailand is always short of milk end up having to dump their (real) milk in protest because there's no market for it. Ridiculous?

The authorities say some plants are deemed hazardous, hence farmers have to use chemical products instead, while studies by the Health Ministry say that between 1998 and 2003, more than 2,000 farmers each year fell sick because of agricultural chemicals, with 30 deaths in 1999 alone. Absurd?

The Cabinet approved a film rating system, with categories including "General Audience", "13", "15" and "18". More interesting is a category that will ban films the authorities deem to offend the monarchy, threaten national security, hamper national unity, insult faiths, disrespect honourable figures, challenge morals or contain explicit sex scenes. Which means the new rating system will further legitimise state power to ban and censor anything arbitrarily. Nauseating?

General Chaiyasith Shinawatra is reportedly performing black magic rituals against the Democrat-led government, while Post Book, a division of Post Publishing Plc, has just published Lub Luang Prang, a book about the rampant use of black magic in Thai politics (pick it up, it's a riveting read). Scary?

Incompetence. Corruption. More corruption. Repression. Black magic. The incidents cited above are from this month alone (and it's not over yet).

It seems that regardless of who is in power, whether the "Thaksinistas" or the "elitists", sadly the one constant in the Kingdom is ... mediocrity.

Look around, sure we have fancy hotels and shopping malls, but as a society we have only achieved mediocrity. In terms of political and social enlightenment, in terms of cultural and educational advancement, in terms of Thailand as a single, sovereign entity, we are quite mediocre, especially given the high capacity of our human and natural resources.

We are mediocre because the authorities have worked hard in keeping us ignorant, shallow and docile, and we let them. We are mediocre because we let the greedy oppressors get away with their corruption, repression and ineptitude.

We don't speak out enough. We don't protest enough. We don't march enough. Ironically, when we do those things, we end up putting on a yellow or a red shirt at the behest of one greedy oppressor or another - manipulated into risking life and limb to serve their personal agendas.

That's why things are as they are in Thailand - stale and stagnant, a perpetual black hole of mediocrity, while other countries race past us by. We have excellent human and natural resources, but we simply waste them away through greed, envy and narrow-mindedness. I would like to naively ask my fellow countrymen: How long are we going to let these people get away with corrupting and repressing Thailand? How long do we let them keep us dumb and docile?

How long can we hide in the dressing room of a fancy shopping mall, or at the bottom of a cocktail glass at a society event? How long can we bury our heads in TV soap operas and gossip rags, or mask ourselves behind 6cm of skin whitening cream? How long until we surgically remove the tattoo on our foreheads that says "mai pen rai"? How long before we get off our behinds and do something about this beloved country of ours?

The answer is we can put up with all the incompetence, corruption and repression for a very, very long time. We don't mind being kept ignorant and docile for a very, very long time. Why? Because of three little words that spell out the attitude of our society. Mai pen rai. The attitude that says: It doesn't matter. No big deal. It hasn't anything to do with me. This is Thailand. It's just the way it is.

As long as the vanity of the rich is fed by their glamorous lifestyles, the ignorance of the poor maintained by keeping their eyes glued to television screens and the middle class kept busy paying bills and financing homes, cars and debts and panicking over an economic crisis that occurs every few years - it's mai pen rai to the social and political ills of this country.

Sure, at times we might cry and whine about it. Some of us may even write newspaper commentaries about it. But afterwards everything goes back to the status quo. Mai pen rai.

Two schools brawling and killing each other for over 30 years? Mai pen rai - these are just poor, working-class students who couldn't get into top colleges.

Children drinking poor quality milk while industry and bureacracy get rich on their milk monopoly? Mai pen rai - only poor kids have to drink school milk.

Organic herbs get banned because big business lobbyists have more money than government officials have morals? Mai pen rai - the Academy Fantasia all-stars reunion is on TV. Priorities, don't you know?

Censorship? Repression? Mai pen rai - we'll just by the DVDs on Silom.

Black magic? Well, this is Thailand, so that stuff is real. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

That seems to be our attitude. We don't express outrage. We don't demand justice. We don't monitor action. We just sit back and let the authorities pay lip service to having an investigation, then a few months later everyone forgets about it. Mai pen rai.

We Thais have it easy. There's fish in the sea and rice in the fields. When we run out of fish in our sea, we just fish in other people's seas and either get kidnapped by Somali pirates or thrown into prison by Burmese authorities. But that's okay, mai pen rai. They are just poor people.

Mind you, this attitude of mai pen rai, this cancer of apathy isn't just confined to just Thailand. It's a worldwide plague. However, at least to my knowledge, no other country has ever used "mai pen rai" (or the apathy of a culture) as a proud tourist attraction. There are even books written about the beauty of the "mai pen rai attitude".

Dear people, this mai pen rai attitude, for the sake of our King, our country and for the future of our children, we need to stop it. We really do.

[buksida]

Very good article, very good points and a lot of truth but nothing is ever going to change so mai pen rai!

[PeteC]

AMEN!!!!! I've been saying the same thing for a few decades now. Pete

[Sabai Jai]

A very good article and I'm very pleased to see it.

I have been concerned recently about the increasing censorship - blocked websites in particular but anyone who is really critical seems to attract uncomfortable attention

SJ

[The understudy]

To the writer and to all the comments posted by my HHAD Fellas above!

The wirter has truly nails the point but as Buks said it rightly

but nothing is ever going to change

! I

Well There goes Thailand! The Home land of my parents (DA roots where I comefrom!!!)

Your's The understudy!!!

[margaretcarnes]

It's good to see someone speak out - but the author is sadly true in that Thailand isn't alone in it's social problems, censorship, poverty and other ills. They just deal with it in a different way.