social behavior
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The Thai Character: Flexibility and Adjustment Orientation
Flexibility and Corruption
Since the Thai are not principle oriented, and with
the high value for personal relationships, they also appear not to be
strictly law-oriented. In practice, principles and laws are
ever-adjustable to fit persons and situations. In other words, laws are
rules laid out in papers; but what is wrong or right depends not on the
rules, but instead on who the person is or whom the person knows. A
prominent Thai businessman ironically described this phenomenon in a
seminar:We Thai are not a society of law; we are a society
of relationship…. It is not what a person has done that’s wrong; it’s
who he is…. If he is your cousin, or your friend, then what he has
done is not wrong. But if another person does the same thing, and it’s
somebody you don’t like, then what he has done is wrong…
This is the reason why law enforcement in Thailand hardly works. If
it does, it is selectively enforced on those who are either nobody or do
not know anybody, or who have no money to ease their wrong-doings or
buy their way out of problems. As a society of relationship, it is easy
and common for an officer, upon request from even friends of friends, to
pull out, cross out or destroy a traffic citation issued. For the sake
of a smooth relationship, officers would overlook, turn a blind eye, or
keep silent. The point here is that, while the basic Thai value system
should not be blamed as the major factor for corruption, it definitely
does not help to inhibit corruption either.
In general, this characteristic “Flexibility and
Adjustment” value orientation has perhaps accounted for varieties of
behavioral patterns, ranging from the facilitation of ethnic
assimilation process, to the tendency of being corruption prone. In
addition, it provides a deeper understanding to the various existing
interpretations of the Thai being “unpredictable”, “non-committing”,
“irresponsible” or even “selfish” and “opportunistic”, by foreigners.
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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by abnormal social behavior and failure to understand what is real. Common symptoms include false beliefs, unclear or confused thinking, hearing voices that others do not, reduced social engagement and emotional expression, and a lack of motivation. People with schizophrenia often have additional mental health problems such as anxiety disorders, major depressive illness, or substance use disorders. Symptoms typically come on gradually, begin in young adulthood, and last a long time.
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“These blind slaves are told they are “free” and “highly educated” even as they march behind signs that would cause any medieval peasant to run screaming away from them in panic-stricken terror. The symbols that modern man embraces with the naive trust of an infant would be tantamount to billboards reading, ‘This way to your death and enslavement,’ to the understanding of the traditional peasant of antiquity.”
– Michael A. Hoffman II, Secret Societies and Psychological Warfare
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“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.
Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.”
– Edward Bernays, Propaganda