What do you guys think about this issue ,it seem like we are in the 21st century but I believe that this ridiculous thing still exist.

I still believe that both of the Thai society in Thailand and abroad is divided people by class. The lower one try to climb up the
higher one try to put down the lower one. Some girls wanna married the rich guy or charisma guy to upper her class. Some rural people try to become city people. IMO we still got the cast system.

Is it like this?

Bangkokians
Luk Krung
Thai
Issan
Minority ethnics

woowwwoowoooOOh
and about the slave? Servant?? Royal Member?

^ i hope slaves don't still exist in Thailand. However servants and royal members wouldn't surprise me. So now:

Royal members
Luk Krung
Thai
Issan
Minority ethnics
Servants

well judging by economic inequality (big f*ck mansions, people who can afford to send their kids to study/spend their money abroad, colosal fortunes but some people barely scraping a baht a day.... hmm) and the uh.. "meritocratic" nature of thai society (money !) i do think classism does exist although im not sure labelling it as a caste system would be the right way of labelling it - people tend to marry within their own social ranks. i find it funny how luk krungs are mentioned as second tier hehe - the famous ones most probably are, but i doubt that luk krungs who are ugly or don't fit the stereotype of being in the entertainment biz are seen as superior.

anyway i don't think its necessarily a caste system like in some indian societies, but more to do with classism. in alot of societies people with money will look down on people with less money whilst people with less money will try and boost their earnings/status up. problem is that every tier of society has its own issues (not all millionaires are financially secure - external debt etc, personal problems etc) but you don't realise that until you're in that level of society i guess. i think its ironic that such classism exists in a society where nearly everyone is a buddhist. you're not really a good buddhist if you're overtly materialistic are you?

^ Like you're not a good Christian unless you...?

why are half breeds second place....they dont even belong in that system, might as well put full whites who go there on top and in control

man, it's time for you, for thai people to change it.. and quickly

Is it legal to buy/sell people in thailand? example, a farmer selling his daughter to a pimp/whore house.

yes cast system is different,

in a caste system ppl do not change caste, maybe, in just few cases there might be a mix up, but over all, it is not allowed.

In Thailand, anyone can become rich, its hard thing to do, but its more about money.

but Light skin ppl are seen as more higher then dark skin ppl. mainly because ppl with dark skin tend to work in the fields,

fa rang, well most of them that are in thailand have more money then the average thai person, so that is a money issue not so much any thai ppl looking up towards them.

Money is an important factor for being recognize. But the family background and connection is also play an important role. When both are rich the one who come from the well known family is being recognize.

For example, when go clubbing people might pay attention on the son of general X than the infamous rich Farang ,cuz he got better connection and good family background.

^ That sounds exactly the same as Cambodia, except replace famous rich farang with Cambodian celeb. Generals kids in Cambodia are a bunch of turds, its sad nothing can be done about it. -_-, unless you want your head in a noose.

Well my list obviously isn't definitive, I was only guessing. The reason I put luk krung in second place is because most of them have more money than the average Thai, usually because of their farang parent. The reason I don't include farang on the list? I don't consider then Thai.

And yea, its more like classism, not really caste-ism.. O_o

Communism will fix that.

hmm and most luk-krungs that i have encountered are arrogant little $hits that need to be taken down a peg or two. i think kids in general across the world are a bunch of turds - people have been saying "kids these days have no respect for their elders" for generations (i think somebody in ancient rome was complaining about it in some official document or something.......).. i think the luk-krungs who are on the covers of glossy magazines or on those (awful) lakorn are a step down from royalty but your average luk-krung probably holds no special status... as for the ones who don't know who their father is i can't see them being regarded as the cream of thai society (kind sad that people judge kids by their parents and where they're born).

hate to say it but a dose of soviet propaganda for 50 years might sort out those attitudes about people being better than others (joke). i thought classism was bad in england (especially when coming from mainland europe) but when i started to open my mind about such issues and started obversing it in thailand (amongst other places) i came to the conclution that its worse than here. i hope one day i can be proven wrong.

oops posted in wrong thread

ohh one more class: ladyboy, and boylady and ...

People down here is care on how other dress or act too much ,if you are Thai and wearing short in BKK downtown people might think this guy is too low

If you are Thai and speak English in the public in Thailand people might think you fu-king smart and arrogant.

No, i don't think the caste system exists in Thailand. Caste system is of religious origin, and doesn't allow upward mobility. Class system on the other hand is not religious but economically motivated. In a class system, the lower class businessman can wield influence over the lives of the higher class through being economically smarter than the later.

In Thailand, I think a feudal mindset still exists with regards to the monarchy. But it doesn't amount to a rigid caste system by any means.

No. It is all about money and connection these days.

For example, if your kids not smart enough, but you want them to go to the best school/uni, you need money and connections. Just having well-known family name wont help.


My cousin just paid 120,000 Baht to get his son into a well-known Uni.

If his son dont make it thru first semester, they dont even give the money back.

"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" - Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels

Thailand can eradicate the caste system by moving to communism. Problem solved

That's class system above!!!


Btw, when i recall how Sirikittong used to brag about his family's military history and all... I had thought how goddam fuedal he was! Are there really people like that in Thailand's military class?

though there is no caste system in buddhism but we got it from khmer culture (heavily influenced by hindu). with regards to the monarchy if its not caste system then i dont know what it is. kids are atm being taught to blindly glorify the royal family. they have become untouchable and inviolable beings which is absolutely pathetic. maybe the CNS wanna go and check how much the royals are using tax payers money and also fund from various foundations on their extravaganza lifestyles. thailand will not go anywhere if we still have this kind of belief. good king needs to be praised and bad king needs to be condemned. not just anyhow blindly praise.

^ what are the various castes in the Khmer hindu cultural system? can u elaborate on that and how that still exists in Thai society?? thx!

sikittong wherever he is, is a nobody and had to take on the alter-ego of his imagination to give his life some kind of meaning. i think thats say more about him than he realises (and my comments on this also say quite alot about me as well). i don't know anybody in thailand who holds any special kind of reverence for the military in the way he described - if you must know several of my relatives were decorated in korea i beleive (they went there - that i know for sure) and a few were also trahan prahans. is it something that's ever come up in our conversations? no. do i hear people talk of their military service - no. i know more about what the male korean students did during their military years than i do about any of my thai peers.



the current king deserves the respect he gets but i don't think that should be shown to the heir when he ascends to the throne unless he proves otherwise. people's respect should be earnt and not demanded.

ps. no, no caste system exists but i do think there is a feudal mentality in relation to people of different classes and the way rich and poor views themselves and each other.

The ancient Vedic Hindu caste system never took root in Thailand nor in the Indochina states... cuz I believe the Theravada buddhist movement ensured that such a system did not take root. What do u think of this proposition?

I mean when you talk to an indian national, u can ultimately get this feeling that no matter how highly educated he/she is, an indian inherently has this fatal pessimism that he/she is destined to be in that caste or position in society.

Whereas, you don't get this kinda fatal pessimism in Thais.... or do u???

Wierdly enough, those underclass folks in India (the untouchables) who are fighting against the caste system are almost always converted to Buddhism first before they launch their fight with the Indian government for more quotas in the top universities or hospitals..

Caste system only exist in India. Thailand has social class like America. It is mostly determined by money. The rich is the upper class, while the poor is the lower class.

I don't think divided social statuses in Thailand is the same as the caste system in India. Thailand, having Monachy, is the system similar to many other once-upon-a-time-Monachy countries: bloodline and wealth together forming superior social status, e.g. if one is a "Boonak" with wealth would be more respectable ( in Thai society) than the one with a "sirihongsakun" with wealth since Boonak is a long and true royal bloodline than the mixed Chinese-Thai Sirihongsakun. However, money in modern day is the key.