I Love Thai

Thai noodles are the best, and I drool everytime I think about them. Which is why I was shocked to hear a week ago that protesters had completely stormed the Bangkok International Airport and stopped all air traffic, dealing a massive blow to its developing economy. More surprising yet is the news just today, about an hour ago, about the Thai Court disbanding the ruling political party and banning the Prime Minister from politics for five years. Yeah, I know.

The political turmoil reminded me of just how clueless I am about the still so many world news going on. Besides Thai noodles, I really don’t know much about the Thai culture. I know they like sour and spicy, and that they have pointy palaces for Buddhist monks, and that it is somewhere in Southeast Asia near Laos and Vietnam, but honestly, I surprise myself in how little I know. This kind of ignorance exists in a cesspool of similar lack of general knowledge, and it troubles me that I am not compelled to find out the backgrounds to these events. I remembered what a friend said to me once about his experience at a Global Leaders conference when he was rooming with another student from Mexico. He was impressed by the extent of knowledge the Mexican student had, and commented that he felt ignorant. The Mexican student replied, “That’s okay. You don’t have to know about us. We are trying to be like you and so we must learn about you.” The statement both shocked and saddened my friend, and it moved me as well.

Thailand. A country of diversity, of history, of the lives of millions of people. And all I know about them–all I care about them–is their Thai noodles. I love Thai.