The “Realm” That Is The People Of Thailand’s Reality
This essay was originally published on September 17, 2021, on my previous travel blog, Travel Creecher.
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Someone recently reached out to me after reading my essay about street cats and dogs. They asked if I think people in Thailand look at life in a different “realm”? That is, are Thai people aware of reality through a different lens than people of the Western world? Specifically, they asked whether I thought Thais look at existence outside of their own in a different way. It’s hard for me to answer, given that I am not a native Thai, but nonetheless, I would say they do look at life differently than much of the Western world, or at least Americans, to be specific. Although, I would argue that this “realm”, or their awareness of the world, is not necessarily divorced from reality, but more aligned with it. It seems it is Americans who live in another realm. A realm farther removed from reality than of the people in Thailand.
What About This “Realm”?
When I heard, “realm”, I first thought of something mystical. However, I take it to simply be a different awareness of the world in comparison to someone else’s. In this sense, I would undoubtedly agree that Thai people have a vastly different awareness of the world than Americans.
I have already written extensively about the number of differences I have noticed in Thailand versus the States. There are plenty. Of course, there are many similarities, but the differences are more apparent as a foreigner. The result of these differences, however, seems to cumulate in a major perceptual difference of life and the world.
Some Examples to the Point
For example, to begin where this question of “realms” began, we can look at street cats and dogs in Thailand compared to the United States. Like I said before, in Thailand, it is completely normal for cats and dogs to be on the street. But I have never seen one in the US. To Americans, the thought of these animals (specifically these animals) on the street seems absurd. “They belong in a household,” an American would say of a dog, but of course, not of other fellow mammals such as squirrels or rats. The question is, how come?
Let me illustrate another example. When I get street food in Kalasin, I sit next to my meal. What I mean is, there are chickens who roam around the tables where I sit and eat. These are the same chickens who laid the eggs that are on my plate and will possibly one day be the same chickens on my plate themselves. In the US, there appears to be a much larger disconnect between animals and food. Hence while factory farming gains notoriety, many people become dissonant with their choice to eat meat and are instead opting to become vegetarian. The reality that cooked meat was once a living creature like ourselves is not always obvious at a restaurant. But at the restaurant in Kalasin, it couldn’t be more blatant.
The American “Realm”
The cumulation of differences in culture and society in Thailand generates these types of perceptual differences when looking at the world. Now, given these perceptual differences, it is clear Thais must have a different awareness of the world than Americans. But contrary to the question asked of me, it seems like it is Americans who are aware of the world in a way altogether different from reality, whereas the Thais are the ones who are aware of the world in a way much more aligned with the reality.
It is actually quite obvious when you examine American culture. We are well-known for our obsession with status in the form of wealth, job titles, or social media fame. Moreover, we are known for having the most materialistic and abundancy-driven conception of the world. Take these perceptions of the world and add the ever-growing technology that removes us more and more from nature and into cyberspace, and the result is an awareness of the world that can truly be considered another “realm”.
The Trend of Human’s Place in Reality
So, in short, my answer is yes. Thais do live in another “realm” compared to Americans. They live in a “realm” more akin to “reality”, while Americans live in a “realm” more akin to “ideas of reality”. Whereas Thai people seem to have a better grip on how humans exist in the world, Americans do not. It is in fact Americans, not Thais, who then look at existence outside their own in a way that differs from the existence of reality.
As a result of American food, technology, culture, society, and way of thinking, Americans seem to have lost touch with the basis of reality and how we humans exist in relation to the world. We have not lost touch entirely, of course. But in comparison to the people of Thailand, we have by a large margin. Although, it seems that this trend is not necessarily specific to America, but potentially one occurring everywhere through time. Whether to call it progress, modernizing, or human conquering, this relation between humans and the world seems to be trending, for better or worse.
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Published at https://kylecreech.com on September 22, 2021.
