THE LOOSELY STRUCTURED SOCIETY OF THAILAND IN THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ASEAN PEOPLE

Abstract

This paper focuses on the problem of loosely structured society of Thailand as well as potential positive and negative impacts on the country as it will become a part of ASEAN Economic Community in the year 2015. Since Thailand is an agricultural and Buddhist country in which people like being self-employed and set their own working time ; thus, they are highly individualist. They are in favour of doing everything in their own way, with little attention to the rules of society. Thailand also has a habit of entertaining and the people do not like being forced. They love a simple life, usually with no long-term, precautionary planning ; they mostly deal with immediate problem, on an ad hoc basis. From the foregoing, it can be seen that the loose social structure has both advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage is that Thai people are flexible so they can be easily adapted in order to coexist with others in society amidst diverse people with different economic status, urban - rural disparity , different ethnic, religious and educational backgrounds. But this do not create much severance. They are still able to live together despite such differences. The downside is that the people always lack planning ; they are self-centered and often avoid complying with the statutes, regulations or rules of society. Therefore, it is necessary to find measures to modify the loose-fitting structure into a tighter and clearer one. This is by providing a way to change Thai people’s attitudes for the sake of the common good, solutions to common problems, effective enforcement of regulations, good relationship based on intimate discussions as well as building  mutual trust. If really implemented, this would be in consistence with the characteristics of the people of ASEAN and the three pillars of the ASEAN Community namely : politics and security, economy,  society and culture.