Ignorant About Thailand

I have never been to Thailand, nor do I possess a very strong desire to change that fact. For the most part, Asian countries do not bear much fascination over me. I tend to gravitate toward European countries as places I would like to visit and learn about. For whatever reason, Asian culture just isn't as fascinating to me as European. But, in living with a family who's father is from Thailand and so all the children of the family are half-Thai, half-American, I learned to at least appreciate the culture of Thailand and its people.

In researching stereotypes about Thailand, I didn't come across much at all. I did learn that it is the main destination for tourists out of the Asian countries. I learned that many Americans perceive Thai women as prostitutes. I'm not going to name names, but one of the relatives of the family I used to live with who still resides in Thailand used to be a prostitute when she was a younger woman. But in modern times, Thai women are becoming more assertive, and less likely to turn to prostitution as a way of survival. Prostitution still exists, but it also exists all over the world. Not every woman in Thailand desires to become a prostitute and not even a majority will ever have to become one. So that stereotype is untrue.

The interesting question that came to my mind when digging up the research on American stereotypes about Thailand, is where does the information come from? Why do Americans think of prostitution when they think of Thailand women? Where does that perception come from? Why are those stories being told instead of what Thailand women are really like?

So I decided to approach the stereotypes for Thailand from a different perspective. I'm going to try and unearth the source of such points of view. Where they come from and why they are still regarded as truth when common sense should show that these stereotypes are anything but truth.

Researching the term stereotype, I come to plenty of websites offering analytical research on where stereotypes are founded and why people tend to believe in them. The fact is, stereotypes are born out of ignorance. Typically, an in-group will turn to stereotypes in order to define an out-group when they don't know much about that out-group. I doubt the majority of American people out on the streets could even point to Thailand on a map let alone discuss the culture and attitude of its people. Therefore, it only makes sense for the Thai-ignorant to turn to stereotypes to help define what they think they know about Thai people.

Education is key, as I've illustrated in earlier blogs. Knowledge truly is power. Spouting stereotypes when referring to a culture or a country and its people is a blatant show of ignorance. Its basically illustrating that the individual knows little to nothing about the culture they are describing with the stereotypes. So why pay any attention or give any credibility to such an individual? If they had done the research, learned a little bit beyond what the stereotypes may suggest, they wouldn't have to lean so heavily on stereotypes to try and seem knowledgeable.

But all that aside, I just want to add... Thailand has amazingly delicious food. I could live off Thailand food... :)