Choices
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| Bangkok Thailand - |
[You may have to read the previous paragraph two or three times, but trust me, it'll be worth it]
Addendum: 2 days ago, January 13th 2023 I pulled into a 7-11 parking lot midday. I was on my GT125 Yamaha and drove up to the motorbike parking area where a 1/2 dozen bikes were parked neatly between the yellow lines that defined parking spaces. There is a large orange traffic cone at the end of the line, well actually 2 full spaces past the last yellow line. The outer space was, at the time, being used by a motorcycle taxi driver who was reading some message on his phone. The next space was being occupied by 2 guys chatting about something or other. I pulled up, smiled at them and asked if I could park there. Expecting a smile and a one step to the right was a mistake on my part. Instead of a simple move I was met by a lecture on how people in Thailand don't seem to understand the rules. He continued 'splaining how it's people like me...blah, blah, blah. As he continued instructing me on how things are done in Norway I scooted around to the other side of the parking spots where one had just opened up. The 2 guys seemed to be really enjoying putting me in my place and were smiling and celebrating their accomplishment. I'm an big old guy (6' 205 lbs) with a somewhat gruff demeanor. Once parked and off the bike I made sure I walked closely to those superior humans and said as I passed by "Sorry, I thought you might have been nice guys, my bad."
I've had ongoing arguments with westerners over the issue of their reasoned sense of superiority, that they can teach/instruct others on how to do things right, on how to fix this backward country. I've tried, in vain, to help them understand that many of the decisions that are made here, whether it's a traffic cop or a customer service rep is arrived at from a different path. Thais make their decisions differently than where the foreigner comes from. I try to explain that people here, at least people in positions of authority, have interpretive powers that allow them to add a human element to their decision making process. A lower level worker does not have that flexibility and must stick rigidly to a script. I'll write about that in another blog.
Frinstance: A traffic cop sees a family of 4 (2 little ones, mom and pop) on an old clearly unsafe 125CC motorbike with only one wearing a helmet (wearing a helmet is law here too.) He will look at that and turn away from at least 6 laws being broken right in front of him. He will not take action against that family. He will, however, bust the westerner who's not wearing a helmet with relative glee. He might even have to step around the law breaking family to get to and stop that single foreign lawbreaker. No, it's not bigotry.
Why does he do that? Because of the human factor. The family of 4 are putting themselves in real danger on that bike, not because they like it that way, it's because it's the only way they can get to where they're going. They can't afford any other way. Probably just trying to get the kids to the sitter (grand parent or unemployed sister) while mom and pop head off to their minimum wage jobs is task enough. Trying to squeeze money out of that bloodless stone would be wrong and probably cause that family tremendous hardship.
The rule is simple; don't take from the poor. No one wins when you punch down. The helmet-less westerner on the other-hand has the money to pay the fine (he better have or he's breaking a different set of laws) and not wearing a helmet is just their way of thumbing their noses at Thailand, its police and laws. Like the time we see a tourist walking down the street at 9:00 AM drinking a large bottle of beer, yeah it's illegal, but they don't care. The police aren't “targeting” the poor arrogant westerner who is publicly flauntingly and breaking local law. Basically, put on your f**king helmet or pay the fine, and put the damn beer down, nobody walks around with a beer, I mean like why? Busted everytime (looks good on them IMO)
Sadly, most foreigners will
not admit, in this context, that they choose to live here because
it's a better place to live in many, many ways than where they come
from. Part of the problem is perception, as in, how Thai people see
the world and how western/European people see the world, it is vastly
different.
2nd Frinstance: A
while back I saw a psychology experiment (can't find it now) that
used a picture to differentiate how people from different societies
interpret the same view. The picture: If you were from South East
Asia the picture was of a beautiful bamboo forest, a small gorge
crossing in front with a narrow bridge leading into it.
If
you're from the west it was a picture of a narrow bridge crossing a
small gorge leading into a beautiful bamboo forest. In both cases we
are seeing the same thing, just in a different order. SEA sees:
forest, gorge, bridge. Westerners see: bridge, gorge, forest. Not a
big difference but fundamental in how we go about ruling our
day-to-day lives.
3rd Frinstance:
Thailand recently (6 weeks ago) decriminalized marijuana. Not
legalized, decriminalized. It was, up to April, listed as a Category
5 Narcotic which is the lowest category for any illegal drug here.
The discussion had been in process in government for nearly 2 years
and finally came to a head when it was announced in the Gazette
(Thailand's official government notice of the enactment of a law,
rule change or edict) that a new decriminalization of marijuana
policy would be in place on June 9th. That's the time when the
country's parliament swings into action. They must now spend the time
and effort to craft a law that decriminalizes marijuana, ALL of it
and ALL of it's uses because no other guideline was available at that
time and it had to be done before June 9th.
That was done, a
law was crafted removing marijuana as a Category 5 narcotic thereby
decriminalizing it as of the 9th of June. Stores and shops and
growers and users at all levels dove in head first on that day. But –
it's not legal yet, that comes later. Right now various federal government committees are in action defining, redefining and creating
a set of rules, laws, restrictions, business stimulating add-ons and
so on. And yes, the politicians are making a meal out of it as they pander for votes.
In Canada the debate over marijuana had been going on
for decades. Finally the government decided to legalize it. So
various committees were formed to define, redefine and create a set
of rules, laws, restrictions, business stimulating add-ons and pass
that onto parliament where it was debated and eventually became law.
Bridge (legislation) gorge (illegality) forest (marijuana)
In
Thailand the debate over marijuana had been going on for about 3 or 4
years. Finally the government decided to decriminalize it and
announced that intention in late April in the Gazette which makes
that action official government policy to decriminalize it on June
9th. Then various committees were formed to define, redefine and
create a set of rules, laws, restrictions, business stimulating
add-ons and pass that onto parliament where it will be debated and
eventually become law(s). Forest (marijuana) gorge (legalizing)
bridge (decriminalizing).
Addendum 2: In Canada, cannabis was legalized on November 1st 2018. Each province (10 provinces and 3 territories) set up their own distribution, licensing and control laws. How did that work out? Glad you asked: Ontario, Canada's most populous province, crafted their laws based on lobbyist's advice that was given to them by a handful of 'retired' politicians, investors with very deep pockets and the banks who support them. The rules to qualify at the grow and distribution level were only for the wealthy. No small guys needed, the well heeled would do the job for everyone. It's kind of a shame that the entire system in Ontario virtually collapsed due to mismanagement and a complete misunderstanding of the market and the eventual consumer. Prices soared, then collapsed, then soared again, then...well, you get my point - total chaos.
Is there chaos in the Thai weed arena these
days? From a westerner's point of view – "absolutely, it's insane
the way they did this, nobody knows what's going on. Is it legal or
not, why won't someone tell us what we can do and think? After all,
the one size fits all system where we came from is so much better, we
know where we stand, human decision making scares us."
A Thai's
point of view on this issue– No, no chaos, just the normal way of
doing business. It's do it now, we'll sort out the deets later. No
biggie.
I've got more examples of how the “human decision”
element affects many of us here. How they don't take from the poor,
how they make choices (within the law) that seem to conflict with
other laws. It's more important in Thailand to maintain official
flexibility when human conditions are in play. Everyone is different,
everyone's life is different, how things pan out for you is different
from the guy next to you. So how the hell does a “One size fits
all” approach to laws that governments in the west enact work? When
you fall through the cracks in Canada you are, normally, completely lost.
In my opinion this is why people in Canada and other western
democracies distrust and even hate their institutions. The lack of
flexibility and allowance for the human condition is just plain
wrong, it always has been. The entire system in the west is about
absolute power over absolutely everything. We know one size does not
fit all and feels, just about always, like oppression.
Western
societies have taken the humanity out of the humanities. They have a
set of government rules that govern all decisions made by everyone.
Being right or wrong is not a consideration, the rules are what
matters. A bad decision can be appealed by using the supplied one
size fits all appeal process that may or may not fit your situation.
Even if an adjudicator agrees with you that the decision you are
appealing is wrong you may still lose because the law is the law,
right or wrong. The system matters, you don't.
Many years ago
I took a retail management course at Radio Shack head-office in
Barrie Ontario. A guy, who had been part of Charles Tandy's business
vision, spoke extensively on Charles' way of looking at business,
employees and customers.
He was a firm believer in making
human decisions that fit human beings and their needs. The lecturer
would lay out a customer issue then apply a corporate rule to make a
decision. Once we had all agreed that, based on corporate rules, the
best decision had been arrived at regardless of customer needs or
complaints. Then he raised the stakes. He tossed a variable into that
issue that took it outside the existing rule, a 'new' choice had to
be made. Charles Tandy's response to that sort of 'outside the box'
issue? “You be the hero. Step outside the rules if you have too,
fix the problem, satisfy the customer. Do your job.”
An
aside: Tandy made everyone one of his original partners, employees
and investors millionaires, all of them, because that's the way he
worked. Employee first, customer second, lower management third then
all the bankers, lawyers and stockholders. He built a company of over
8,000 stores. Once the 90s rolled around and the MBAs got a hold of
the company they stole (legally) everything and beat the company into
the ground. Killed it out of selfish greed.
That's how I see
human decision making. You be the hero. Make decisions that benefit them, you, us, and all the rest. No one loses when everyone wins. One
size does not fit all.
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