Thais and "White Lies"

[Guest fountainhall]

So now it is official. Government ministers are perfectly happy to tell “white lies” if it is in the interest of the country or the economy!

 

Well, that’s perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. In truth, one Minister – but a pretty important one, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong – has quite only confirmed that he tells “white lies”. When asked if this admission would affect the public’s confidence in the government, the Minister replied –

 

"Those who are criticising me don't have faith in me anyway. They already don't believe whatever I say," he said yesterday. "There's nothing further that needs to be done about it."

And when you think about it, even if you are shocked, there really is nothing further that can be done about it! A group of previous Finance Minsters have come out and blasted Khun Kittiratt, saying no Finance Minister can tell lies to the public and the international community. Yet, businessmen seem less fussed about it.

 

"The 'white lies' remark might draw some criticism, and those already biased [against Mr Kittiratt] probably can't accept what he said," Voravan Tarapoom, chief executive officer of BBL Asset Management, said.

 

"But those who know him well understand this is his working style."

http://www.bangkokpo...last-white-lies

 

Other governments are happier to use more diplomatic language to make ‘unfortunate little fact' A seem like far more like ‘hasn’t the government done well fact' B. Or they employ spin doctors, sometimes with pretty shoddy backgrounds (as in the case of PM Cameron in the UK), with the same aim. Yet, is there not something more at work here?

 

This Board has often discussed the issue of the meaning “truth” in Thailand, especially relating to some of the younger Thais we meet. It sometimes seems that, as with the Deputy PM, white lies are in fact a part of Thai culture. And what makes this all the more strange is that when you look at many of the social networking sites, I’ll lay quite a few Baht on your finding the words “trust” and “honesty” in many of the qualities Thai guys seek in the man of their dreams (or, at least, their man for the evening http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/#EMO_DIR#/ohmy.png ).

 

I know only too well from my business dealings that white lies, failure of acknowledge the truth of a situation, running away from a confrontation etc. seem all part of the business culture. It seems to me this goes way beyond the ‘loss of face’ that is so important in some other countries - like Japan. Indeed, I feel that even the loss of face issue plays an even greater role in Thailand than in Japan.

 

Clearly this is deeply ingrained in Thai society. I wonder why this should be!

[Guest snapshot]

I know only too well from my business dealings that white lies, failure of acknowledge the truth of a situation, running away from a confrontation etc. seem all part of the business culture. It seems to me this goes way beyond the ‘loss of face’ that is so important in some other countries - like Japan. Indeed, I feel that even the loss of face issue plays an even greater role in Thailand than in Japan.

 

Clearly this is deeply ingrained in Thai society. I wonder why this should be!

 

Yep... I agree. Telling a "small" lie to avert a small problem despite the fact that it leads to an even bigger problem. Very common amongst Asians and especially so in Thais. 

 

One thing I recommend when getting into any relationship, personal or business with a Thai or less educated Asian is to get them to understand the value of not avoiding small problems and confronting things when they need to be confronted and not letting things build up.

 

When they internalise and become aware of the flow on consequences of all these little white lies, they start to value being honest and being proactive in confronting issues, rather than waiting until they're forced to do so. 

 

It's not something that can be done in one conversation. More of an ongoing coaching thing that you address with them as situations and examples around them (or caused by them) arise along the way. It's quite rewarding to see the change you can inspire.