Made in Thailand were the first words I ever heard and read that included the name of the country were I now live. There were also plenty of jokes flying around about goods "Made in Thailand," being of poor quality and unlikely to last very long. However as a boy in the UK I first heard the name Siam when I was given a huge collection of stamps from around the world. Later I associated Siam with Siamese twins. Which I assumed were first seen in Siam. At that time I did not realise Siam and Thailand were the same place.
I have however always been interested in geography and history so during my studies I found out that Siam actually became Thailand back in 1939 just before WWII. Unfortunately one of the first acts that the newly formed state of Thailand did was to allow the Japanese to occupy the country on the day after Pearl Harbour in exchange for some territorial rights to areas of modern day Cambodia and Malaysia that the colonial powers(France and UK) had seized. They also declared war on the UK and US!
After the war the country was briefly called Siam again (by those outside Thailand) but despite several attempts to rename the country since then by various Thai governments Siam remains Thailand to this day. Perhaps this has to do with the strong Nationalist culture that exists in the country.
As for Siamese twins well it seems the name did have links to the then Siam, since twin boys name Chang and Eng who were born here and joined at the torso travelled the world in a sort of freak show with the famous P.T. Barnum circus. Since they were from Siam, folk refereed to them as the Siamese twins which was the name used for conjoined twins before the PC brigade took over!
So what about made in Thailand? Well the shoddy goods often associated with the brand name of my childhood days are long gone, now all major Japanese and Western brands are manufactured locally under their original brand name, so my Panasonic fridge, LG TV and Samsung microwave were all made in Thailand. I am glad to say they are all working fine.
Finally upon reflection I now find that in a strange way life has gone full circle for me since I live in a country that was Siam but is now Thailand and my Thai friends don't make jokes about goods made in Thailand instead they joke about goods that are made in China.
Mind you I don't collect stamps anymore either.
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3 comments:
I would say 'Thai' goods and services in general are well below 'par' and the "Made in Thailand" symbol stands more for 'cheap mass produced' than 'quality'. The only thing they seem to do well and consistently is that they do nearly everying 'half hearted' and rarely seem to completely finish anything.
I remember being a little boy and going to the store with my Mom and just about everything at this store was made in Thailand and pretty junky stuff it was.
It's funny how full circle Thailand has come in manufacturing and China as well. When I hear Thais up around Nakhon Phanom make that joke it's usually at Lao expense.
Lloyd electrical stuff seems ok however I sometimes get a little frustrated with the quality of services/goods at a local level. Particularly when it comes to finishing a job and tidying up.
Talen, it doesn't surprise me about Laos and I guess Cambodia too!
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