Thailand versus Philippines Culture
Thailand versus Philippines Culture
The feeling are harsh, distinct, real, I can feel a critical different between cultures. One day or two days, more and I will stop comparing; I will be living in Thailand and forgetting the Philippines.
However, as of last night or yesterday, I am still mentally living in the Philippines and my body is in Thailand.
I see�
The people of the Philippines are friendlier.
The girls of Thailand are more snobs.
Thailand is cleaner than the Philippines
The men of the Philippines are scammers.
The people of the Philippines are culturally less hip or cool than Thailand, fashions and understanding of the world is behind in the Philippines.
The food is better in Thailand.
The travelers in Thailand are children.
The tourists in the Philippines are perverts.
Thailand is Asian, I am not sure the Philippines culture is definable easily.
Thailand seems to be winners and confident, the Philippine people have all the same opportunities and seem to drop the ball.
Women in the Philippines can do anything the men in the Philippines are severely in trouble.
Philippines people are pigs, the Thailand are clean.
I like the Philippines people more, however I trust the Thailand people more.
The Philippines are delusion about what the value of what the sell or what they are worth. The Thai people sell things and services for a good value.
The government of the Philippines is arrogant, stupid and does not have a clue; the government of Thailand fully understands what their resources are and how to use them.
Thai people are cold.
Thai people are surrounded by people that speak English and refuse to learn to speak English.
Travelers in Thailand do not care about Thailand they are just here to buy.
Travelers in the Philippines live there.
I feel clean in Thailand.
I have better access to purchase and buy things in Thailand of an Asian nature, if I wanted to purchase something American I could maybe find easier in the Philippines.
My room is twice as good in Thailand for half the price of the Philippines.
Transportation in Thailand is easy; the travel in the Philippines is ridiculously difficult.
There are more people in the Philippines, they all live in Manila.
I am not sure which one I like more, I would say the Philippines, however I really do not like the men of the Philippines, they have this macho way of acting that reminds me a Mexican, a sort of arrogance that never stops. The USA culture can have the same on many levels. The USA culture or arrogance is easy for me to avoid, I do not think a person in the Philippines can avoid the arrogance of the men.
Thailand is great but the people are cold and distance, a sort of cruelness to them as is all the Asians. Guilt or the ability to feel guilty is more prevalent in the Philippines.
In the end, I really do not care about the differences. I go and carve out a place to live as quickly as possible and set up my travelers nest, then go out and explore.
Thailand versus Philippines Culture
13 Comments:
This is truly perceptive, Andy. A brilliant dissection of two cultures that, to those of us not lucky enough to travel much, might seem quite similar - although the Phillipines has a long history of first Spanish and then American colonialism, is Catholic and inevitably very different from Thailand, which resisted European and American colonisation, is Buddhist, and has a revered monarchy. I'm going to use your comments as the basis of a 10th Grade class I'm giving at Poubelle High, Wisconsin.
David MacGubbins
great post, I linked/mentioned it in my blog.
It has been said that "Filipino women are the strongest men in Asia". There is much to this.
I see the problems in the Philippines relating to it's being dominated, raped and used by western society for hundreds of years. First the Spanish, and then the Americans. "Four hundred years in a Spanish convent, fifty years in Hollywood". The people are always looking for a big brother to save them. And they have always been taken for a ride.
At one time after WWII the Philippines had as good a chance for growth as any of the current Pacific Rim Tigers. But first America, then the oligarchs and powerful families (most reaching back to Spanish rule) took more than their share. By the time Marcos left, the country was broke and in ruin. And he had the backing of the US!
I don't know if your travels allow time for reading but two I could recommend are The Marcos Dynasty by Seagrave and Gold Warriors: America's Secret Recovery of Yamashita's Gold also by Seagrave.
Desperate people do desperate things, even run scams...
Oops, sorry, here is my link:
http://perispostings.blogspot.com/2006/05/thai-vs-phil.html
In the end it is all about tolerance and acceptance. Even though the Philippines and Thailand are close in proximity, they are culturally separated by different religious practices. I have spent a considerable amount of time in both cultures and only seek to take the best of each.
It is also important to note that Filipinos are poor yet generous; oppressed yet happy. They view their many challenges as opportunities to overcome. This is what really stuck with me during my time there. I love these people.
Gihigugma ko ikaw, Philippines!
I am a Filipina who has visited Thailand twice. I find your comparison of the two countries quite entertaining so much so that I skimmed some of your post while you were staying in the Philippines.
Sad to say, it seems that you really had a difficult time adjusting in our country.
I do agree with one of the comments that it is best to travel in the Philippines with a Filipino friend.
There are a lot of sites to see in the Philippines but unlike Thailand there are not a lot of information that is available about them.
I am pure Filipino, and I have to agree with what you had posted here...
Andy, you are correct about the differences between Thailand and the Philippines being stark and real. This very difference is what makes Southeast Asia so unique from the rest of the world: each of the countries forming this region is markedly different on the surface yet so similar in spirit.
Please visit www.breezesandbridges.net.tf and see how the spirit of Southeast Asia unifies the social and cultural differences between Thailand, the Philippines, and the nine other nations forming the region.
:: Paul A.
Mumbai, India
It's quite interesting to see the Philippines through your eyes. I'd say most of what you perceived is true, especially your observations on the Filipino male and people in government.
It is true that much of what we are (I’m Filipino) has to do with our history, including our warmth, our ability to smile in the face of hardships and our inability to trust other people, especially those from government. Double standard morality, though at a decline, is still very prevalent. We suck at nationalism, and are very much westernized.
Perhaps the reason you can't seem to distinguish what the prevailing culture is of the Filipino is because we have long been a melting pot of diverse cultures. If you go to the California for example, you will meet thousands of Caviteños, Visayans and Ilocanos who speak English, Tagalog and another Filipino dialect, all aspiring for the Great American Dream.
I'm posting your entry on my blog to show my filo folks. ;)
I post many comments on many countries. The Philippines is amazing in one aspect.
People do care about the Philippines, both the foreigners and the Philippine persons.
This is also about Thailand, however there is a strange lacking of comments about Thailand.
Andy HoboTraveler.com
Andy, Just one discrepancy... you can find more perverts in Thailand than Philippiness, for sure.
Yeah! Thailand is more clean than Phils, but, what would you say about Thailand after being in Singapore? So, to call them "pigs" is too much scornful.
I understand when you say that you are mentally living in the Philippines... It's a virus. Nice virus by the way.
Seems most of the comments are from the Philippines. Poor Thai they still need English Tutors from the Philippines to contribute to this thread. Good thing there are a lot of online English teachers in the Philippines, teaching not only to Asians but to Europeans and Americans as well. Hehehehehehe....
;-)
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home