avoidance, (c) power distance, (d) masculinity and femininity, (e) long- or
short-term orientation, and (f) an activity orientation. This theory of cultural vari-
ability attempts to assess the range in which countries differ in cultural values on a
continuum.
Referring to the above Thai Value Study, Komin identified nine value clusters
according to their significant positions in the Thai value system, namely:(1) ego-orientation (which is the root value underlying various other key values,
such as“face-saving”and“kreng-jai,”),
(2) grateful relationship orientation (“tob thaen bun-khun,”or paying back in kind
or“mee kwam katanyoo”(the realization that one must pay back gratitude.),
(3) social smoothing relationship orientation (caring, pleasant, polite),
(4) flexibility and adjustment orientation (situation-orientedness),
(5) religio-psychical orientation (believe inkarma, having superstitious beliefs),
(6) education and competence orientation (form is more important than substance),
(7) interdependence orientation (peaceful coexistence of ethnic, religious, etc.,
groups),
(8) achievement-task orientation (achievement is the least important value among
Thai, and it connotes social rather than task achievement), and
(9) fun-pleasure orientation (fun loving is both a means and an end in itself).
“These are the major value orientations registered in the cognitive world of the
Thai, and serve as criteria for guiding behavior, or as the blueprint that helps to
make decisions at the behavioral levels”(Komin 1988 : 172).
She explains that these value orientations have to be taken into consideration in
any development program as they often prove to be“stumbling blocks”to social
change. One of the big stumbling blocks for Thais in the future ASEAN Economic
Community (AEC) is the education system and the lack of English proficiency.
Being able to speak English is an important criterium for a Thai to get a good job.
However, the Bangkok Post ( 2015 ), in a special issue on the state of Thai
education, observes“We No Speak English. Language teaching and learning are in
a parlous state in the Kingdom,”which is further commented by Echachai ( 2015 ):
“The goal of our education system is to instill youngsters with a set of cultural
values that endorses and perpetuates the existing social and political hierarchy...
Our education system has utterly failed to help our kids be competitive in the
modern world because it suppresses creative and independent thinking”(see also
Scientist 2015 ). In addition, Buripakdi ( 2014 : 103) reports in her research on the
ability to use English by Thais that people are selected on the basis of their ability to
produce an accent that is close to that of a native English speaker rather than
assessing the content of what that person can deliver.
In Table4.2, I summarize the Thai system of worldviews and values and provide
a few examples of the resulting symbolic representations.
More examples of these symbolic representations in interpersonal and mass
communication in Thailand are (see also Malikhao 2012 , 2014 ; McCargo 2000 ;
Servaes et al. 2009 ; Seypratub 1995 ):
62 4 A Village in the Jungle: Culture and Communication in Thailand