After leaving New York, the land of freedom and opportunities, I have been living in Surat Thani, Thailand for the past 10 months. I have found myriad problems in our society. Personally, I believe they all root in Thai people’s easygoing nature.
It is typical to hear Thais say Mai Pen Rai meaning “that’s fine” or “never mind”. Thai people tend to use this sentence to ease tension, solve problems and find solutions for conflict. Mai Pen Rai has basically been the silver bullet to cure all problems.
I used to be OK when people use this sentence in the past. That, however, changed when I grew up. Instead of letting go of things, I started to find at least a reason for all problems occurring in my beloved country. There are thousands of times, for example, that accidents took place at big traffic lights just because someone did not obey a simple universal law, to slow down by yellow light and stop at the red light. So far I have lost keeping track of how many times I have heard of accidents that people cut through the red light. Even worse, I once lost my British colleague to the exactly same type of accident because an 18-year-old boy who did not have a driver’s license did not stop when the red light was on. That ended his life at that very intersection and he did not ever get to say good bye to his family.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying all of these and giving all tragic examples to complain about my country. My message is, in fact, something needs to change. NOW.
A tedious careful consideration and countless discussions with my dad have brought me to a conclusion that
If I want to make a change, it’s me who have to do something different.
I have also come to an understanding that that something does not have to be big. However, it should be substantial for you to care and want to make a difference. More importantly, it should be something strong enough to keep you going, and powerful enough to empower you and people around you.
Nobody can change the world but you.
2/23/2018 10.01 pm.
