“Free-style” is one of my host mom’s favorite words. It’s very useful because it applies to everything…the way we eat dinner (take whatever whenever), choice of clothing on the weekends, sizes of clothes (some shirts are ‘free-size’)..the one way I don’t think really makes sense is when Maream says Thailand is free-style. I realize that the word free is problematic here. There are unwritten AND written rules about respecting the King above all. His picture graces homes, is right next to Buddha statues in temples, and is all over streets and billboards. My host sisters wear rubber bracelets that say ‘Long Live the King’. There is a rule to stand in the beginning of a movie to respect the king, and any sort of slander about the royal family is a direct route to prison.
[Temple in Phitsanulok]I try not to get political with my family because it’s hard enough for them to understand words like “vote” and “freedom” as Americans define them. There is an invisible hand that governs life here and although most everyone in Bangkratum is happy with the monarchy…PaChub talks about the evil “red shirts’(anti-King, in support of exiled P.M. Thaksin) stirring up trouble in Bangkok. My family’s “yellow shirt”(royalist) Thai loyalty to the king is intriguing to me. I want to learn more about the government and why it is so loved. Do Thais pay taxes for their schools? I know all the temples are funded directly through donation and are exquisite no matter how poor the area. I will continue to look at the meaning of free-style…
"worlds apart" really does have new meaning here !
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