We have arrived safely in Bangkok, Thailand! We are staying together for the first few days before each team splits off to different areas of the country. My team will be partnering with a ministry in the Bangkok area. We will be racing on August 4th, and this race is exptected to be the cultural experience of a lifetime!
Here are some things we have learned about Thailand:
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Thailand has a population of about 60 million (1998) with the capital city of Bangkok having around
7million people.
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Thai is the national language. English is also understand in most cities (Except for the staff at the local 7eleven, as I have discovered).
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Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist nation with over 93% professing to be Buddhist. They have a saying here in Thailand that says “To be Thai, is to be Buddhist”. In addition to this, there are also 4% of the population that are Muslim and 1% Christian.
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Greeting : “Sawat-dee”
The national form of greeting in Thailand is the “wai”. It is done by placing the hands palm to palm and raising them to the face. About the level with the mouth or chin is normal, with a slight bow of the head. -
Thais consider the head as the most honorable part of the body. The foot is considered to be “dirty” by Thais.
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Thais call any Caucasian visitors “farangs.” Thais love to ask “farang” and other visitors questions. Most questions are quite routine but others can appear quite shocking to foreigners who like to protect their personal privacy. Prying questions such as “Why are you so fat?” or “Why are you not married yet?” or “What kind of birth-control do you use?” are quite normal questions in Thailand and are not considered nosy. A straightforward answer is not always expected and you can make a bit of a joke about it.
Here are some more facts we have learned about Thailand:
- 1.3 million thais live on less than $1 a day.
- 300,000-2.8 million thai women “join” the sex trade/prostitution each year.
- 150,000 thai children lose one or both parents to HIV each year.
- 15,000 thai children are born with or contract HIV each year.
- 3 million thais are addicted to hard drugs, 60% of whom are under the age of 19.
From what I’ve seen our first day here, Thailand is a beautiful country, though there is a strong presence of spiritual darkness. We will be working with a local ministry in red-light districts of Bangkok. Please join with us in prayer as we bring the light of Christ to this place.
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14. Halleluiah!
For more information of the demographics and spiritual dynamics of Thailand, check out the Youth With A Mission: Thailand site.
