Today I had the need to go into the office at the farm in order to make some copies of my syllabi for the two classes I am teaching today, as today is the first day of classes here at Legacy Institute. While I was in the office I took the opportunity to chat with my coworkers there, who I am not able to chat with even on a professional level very often, as my duties keep me nearly exclusively on campus dealing with student requests to leave, with inspections and writing and poking around and providing meat and eggs (and occasionally tofu) to the cooking staff three times a day. And, as may be expected, I enjoy the opportunity to hear about how things are going for other employees in general, to get a sense of morale.

One employee in particular had a lot to say, and a lot of legitimate and rather worrisome grievances. In Thailand, face is vitally important. Now, I am certainly a ferocious opponent in arguments and fights, but in general, I consider myself a fairly proper and respectful person who would prefer to avoid unnecessary unpleasantness and conflict, even as I will ruthlessly and fiercely handle any necessary conflict. What concerned me were two particular and serious failures of communication, both ones that threaten the all-important face of him as an employee, especially as someone who represents our school in face-to-face interaction with government officials at the national, provincial, and local levels.

The first of those problems is a failure to investigate and a failure to remember before lashing out in frustration at an employee. For example, the process for my work permit and non-immigrant visa had been started a few weeks before I actually went to city hall and Immigration [1] [2] but had been delayed for a lack of funds. Unfortunately, the reasons for the delay were not remembered, and before investigating them came the anger and lashing out and accusations of incompetence. This is not good practice. In a culture where face is all-important, to cause someone to lose face over things that are in fact not their fault at all is a deep, even inexcusable offense. When someone can bow reverently to a picture of a king but treat others, especially trusted and loyal employees, with extreme disrespect, that is immensely troubling.

A second serious problem was also revealed that shows some of the particular hassles of life in Thailand. In Thailand there are at least two different ways in which government officials treat others, showing the different status some people have than others. Those people who have a known closeness to the royal family are treated with a great deal of respect by government officials, who do not ask for the usual bribes/payments to do their jobs (with the knowledge that demanding a bribe from someone who knows the king and queen personally could be a very dangerous proposition). However, those without such a closeness to the royal family are fleeced rather mercilessly for 500B here or there to pay the official to do their jobs.

Obviously, the corruption itself is a problem. But an equally serious problem is when people assume that all of their employees and other “people” are going to be treated with the same respect as they are, with the implication that someone is incompetent or corrupt on their side if they do not need bribes to deal with an official for their business but they do for their office and teaching staff when that is not the case at all. Like a good and ethical Westerner (even though he is Thai), the coworker was particularly displeased about the two levels of treatment by Thai officials. That sort of corruption greatly bothers me as well, and I am also troubled by the way in which people assume that their own privileges of patronage will be passed on to their own people when they are not counted as being patrons themselves, with the resulting frustrations when that is clearly not the case in Thai practice.

As someone who is particularly sensitive to questions of honor and personal dignity, I believe that other people also ought to be treated with honor and dignity, because I see all human beings as being worthy of dignity simply by virtue of being created in the image and likeness of our Creator and heavenly Father. Obviously, this is not the general rule in many areas, where dignity is granted and denied for ethnic or class or cultural reasons, but we ought to practice such behavior ourselves to set a good example for the world around us. Learning how to show honor and respect to those who we feel to be “under” us is a good way to demonstrate that our politeness is not merely a show to those we think “higher” than us to be used for flattery for our own self-interest, but is an intrinsic part of our very nature. Given the sad state of this world, we could all use a lot more civility and respect, and this is coming from a person who is often considered to be rather fierce. Alas, it is far too easier to preach virtue than to practice it, but we must give our best efforts.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/chiang-mai-city-hall/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/the-fastest-immigration-experience-one-could-expect/