Once upon a time, a foreign employee working in Bangkok, who specialized in selling foreign-made water purifiers, was enjoying a plate of delicious Pad Thai and sipping on local sake at a bustling food stall in the heart of the city. The vibrant atmosphere and fragrant street food were the perfect distractions, so much so that he didn’t even notice when his bag was stolen.
Inside that bag were important documents—resumes from dozens of high school students who were scheduled for interviews. The students had been praised for their good skills, strong reading comprehension, and sociability, and he was looking forward to hiring some of them soon. But now, with the resumes gone, he was at a loss.
The next day, at his office in Bangkok, he confided in a Thai female staff member about his misfortune. “I need to find some smart, capable people to interview, and fast!” he said, clearly stressed.
The Thai woman paused, thought for a moment, and then said, “Well, there’s a friend of a friend. He’s Canadian, works as an English teacher up in Chiang Mai. I hear he’s quite… unique. Maybe you could ask him for advice?”
With no better options, the expatriate quickly made contact and booked a flight to Chiang Mai. The next day, he found himself sitting at a quaint tea shop in the northern city, waiting to meet this so-called “unique” individual.
When the Canadian finally arrived, he was quite a sight. Dressed in the orange robes of a Buddhist monk, he smiled serenely and introduced himself. The expatriate, taken aback by this unexpected appearance, wasted no time. “I’ve been struggling to find smart people to hire. It seems like no one here has the foundational skills I’m looking for—problem-solving, literacy, you know what I mean?”
The Canadian raised an eyebrow and responded calmly, “That’s a narrow way of looking at things. Problem-solving ability, as you describe it, is a very Western concept. It may not apply in the same way here in Thailand, or even in Buddhist cultures.”
The expatriate blinked, confused. “But surely something like a water purifier—people need that, right? It’s practical, it’s useful. Everyone wants clean water.”
The Canadian smiled again. “Perhaps. But a water purifier? That’s something you’d mostly find in foreign-owned hotels down in Phuket. People live differently here. The skills you’re looking for might not align with the values and ways of life in this part of the world.”
The expatriate leaned back, processing this unexpected philosophy. He had come to Thailand with clear ideas about what skills were important, but perhaps there was more to learn about the local way of thinking.
In the end, while the stolen bag and resumes remained missing, the expatriate left Chiang Mai with a new perspective. He realized that navigating cultural differences required more than just finding people who fit a pre-set mold. It required understanding a different way of life altogether.
All names of people and organizations appearing in this story are pseudonyms.
Fostering Foundational Skills in Thailand: From a Skills Crisis to a Learning Society
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