“incomprehensible” to the Western world, are described in Holmes and
Tangtongtavy ( 1995 ), Klausner ( 1997 ), Knutson et al. ( 2012 ), and Komolsevin
et al. ( 2011 ).
In Fig.4.1I have attempted to sum up the most important characteristics of the
Thai culture:
4.7 Likay Drama.........................................
Buddhists and animists stress the progression and the temporality of life. Having fun
cannot last long enough. Therefore, most Thai movies easily last for two to three
hours. They have adopted the format of thelikay- drama play, which is still very
popular in rural areas. Likay is a traditional theater form or folk opera of Malay or
Indian origin, thought to have been introduced to Thailand toward the end of the
nineteenth century. It combines music, singing, drama, and narration, with the
performers dressed in traditional Thai costume. Its plots are based upon those of folk
legends. Often the story will be serious, with the costumes identifying the villain, the
victim, and the hero. Spectators get so caught up in the dramatic presentation that
they often weep and may even threaten the villain from the audience. Levity is also
included, usually by one or two“simple-minded”characters. (For more information,
see Virulrak 1975 ; Barry 2013 .) In likay, the message and the medium are closely
tied. Therefore, Davis ( 1993 : 114) argues that“to effectively communicate the
message it needs to be packaged in a medium that will be culturally acceptable. For
Thai this medium is drama. There seems to be no other means of communication
which makes such a powerful impact on Thai audiences as the dramatic arts.”
4.8 Growing Pains: Modernization and Tradition................
Modernization and Westernization have strengthened the animistic concept of power
rather than weakened it. Unemployment, economic, and political crises have made
life for the majority of the population even less attractive, so the need for worldly and
spiritual“protection saints”has increased proportionally, just as the struggle for status
and prestige under the growing Westernized middle classes has increased. Whereas
before one fought with traditional“power-means,”the power of money is under-
mining many traditional relationship patterns. The impersonal and uncontrollable
money is ever present and even throws a shadow on certainbun-khunrelationship
patterns. So it is not surprising that corruption and the misuse of power are on the rise:
The prevalence of bureaucratic corruption stems from the systems of self-remuneration in
the traditional bureaucracy. Officials were expected to remunerate themselves by taking a
cut from revenues they collected, and extracting fees for services performed. In the tran-
sition to a modern form of bureaucracy, these practices were never erased. Meanwhile the
systems for imposing moral and conventional limits on the extent of such self-remuneration4.6 Interpersonal Communication: Mai Pen Rai 59