Southeast Asian - Tumblr Posts

namuwithhoneybee

1 year ago

Same experience :'D

Some will say they forgot ㅠ

I hate how much locals like spicy food. I always forget to tell them not to make it spicy 〒▽〒

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southeast asian spicy food is okay for me but too spicy? no-no

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theangelsheardyou

11 months ago

"Why don't you speak your native language" BECAUSE THIS MOUTH IS FOR DICK AND PUSSY ONLY !!!!

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yall dont realize how many people in my country dont know how to speak our own language yes i am part of the problem teehee *smiles cutely* its literally become such a problem esp in schools cause students (me) are failing their classes in the language funny southeast asia southeast asian filipino philippines only in the philippines pinoy pinoy pride Filipina

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subjectomega12

3 years ago

Thai-Chinese and White Trans Man in California

I’m making this post because I’d really like to see more Southeast Asian representation in media, and I hope that my perspective would help people become more interested in our cultures. I grew up in the California Bay Area, in the largest majority-Asian city in the US. My dad is white and his family has been in the US for several generations, while my mom is an immigrant from Thailand, who came to the US in her adulthood. Her own parents are from families that came to Thailand from China. I am a dual citizen of both the US and Thailand.

Experiences at School

Looking back on my life, I feel lucky to have grown up in a place with such a large Asian population. The school I went to was public, so our student body was even less white than the wealthier schools in the area. Most of my friends and classmates were Asian, many Southeast Asian, and we would often chat about our different backgrounds, our families, our languages, and cultures happily. We would have school-wide celebrations for the lunar new year, as a large number of students were from cultures that celebrated it.

In high school, my Asian friends would often make jokes that parodied the racism our communities faced. Jokes about our eyes, our food, our… dick size (lol, ironically accurate in my case) were things we heard every day from the outside world, but when we made them, they were to assert our identity and let the constant micro-aggressions roll off our backs.

Language

First off, a brief guide to language. Every language has a different way of romanizing itself (the phonetic translation to Latin characters), and I see a lot of people misunderstand Thai romanization. “Ph” and “Th” are NOT used the way we use them in English. The “h” simply signifies an explosive, or a small release of air after the consonant. “Ph” = “p” sound, “Th” = “t” sound. While there is an “f” sound in Thai, this will be written as an F, and there is no “th” sound (hence why “Thailand” is pronounced the way it is). Please stop making jokes about the city Phuket; it’s PUU-ket, not “fuck it”.

In regards to my personal relation with language, I was not able to learn much Thai as a child. My mom and dad only shared English, and my dad did not make an effort to learn Thai to communicate with my mom (Thanks Dad!), which meant that we only spoke English at home. In late childhood, my mother tried sending my sister and I to Thai classes, but they cost money, and there wasn’t a strong enough Thai community in our area to teach us naturally.

Struggles with Identity

A large part of my issues with claiming my identity come from the strife I have with my mom about my transgender identity. My mom is my main connection to my Thai heritage because of the lack of a central Thai community here in the US, and my concept of my identity is inherently tied to my relationship with her. However, she also dismisses my gender identity, and as a result I often have to struggle between embracing my heritage and rejecting her transphobia. For example, I couldn’t turn to her when choosing new names, I can’t talk to her about gender as it relates to Thai language or customs, and I can’t talk to my extended family without her knowing.

Another issue is with the extreme lack of SE Asian representation and resources I had as a child, and even now. Though I knew many other SE Asian kids, Asian rep in media was extremely rare, and if it existed at all, it would most likely be East Asian. The two Asian minority districts in my area were San Francisco’s Chinatown and Japantown, both of which were places we visited frequently because it was the primary source of Asian culture. As a result, I tended to accept East Asian characters and culture as a proxy for my own identity, and even understood it as a representation of the whole eastern side of the continent, a misconception that many westerners hold today. I was lucky enough to have a first-hand connection to my Thai side, but this erasure of SE Asian identities is something that is still a huge issue today, and leads to incorrect ideas of the relative status of the SE Asian diaspora in the US.

On a more humorous side, being of a minority culture in the US meant there were definitely some things that I thought were normal growing up, that I only realized weren’t normal when I was older. Like for years, I thought my mom had a generic “American” name, though her name was very clearly ethnic; and it was a shock when I found out that other families don’t take their shoes off indoors!

Being Thai-Chinese

In Thailand, my mom calls herself Chinese, while in the US, she calls herself Thai, because her culture is much closer to Thai diaspora than it is to the Chinese diaspora here. Thus, in most instances I consider myself Thai. Thailand has a significant minority of ethnic Chinese people, many of whom assimilated into Thai culture (Thai culture and language also has some influences from Chinese culture because of this). Some families have Chinese influences on their holidays and other traditions, such as celebrating the lunar new year, or death anniversaries.

Every year, my Thai family holds an event in remembrance of my grandmother and grandfather. This sort of event is normally supposed to be held on the anniversary of their deaths, but we move the date so it’s easier for my mom to travel with my sister and I, as gathering the whole family is important. The whole family comes together and brings many different dishes of food and dessert to set on a table in front of the portraits of my grandma (a-ma) and grandpa (ar-gong). This food is seen as an offering to them. We light incense and everyone takes turns kneeling and praying to their portraits. We also burn sheets that look like money and gold to send wealth to them. Finally, the whole family sits down and enjoys the meal.

Religion, Culture, Government

I am personally not religious, as I was raised without a religion. My mother was raised Buddhist but she is not especially devout. However, Buddhism is a huge part of Thai culture. Beautiful temples are scattered throughout the country, and we would often visit them to pay respects to the Buddha. Many neighborhoods have small shrines for the spirits that inhabit the city, and people place food offerings there (often cups of pink Fanta!). Side note: Commercialization of Buddhist imagery is extremely prevalent in the US and downright offensive in some instances (such as displaying the decapitated head of the Buddha). Please take a second to call out the appropriation of religious symbols when you see it happening.

In the US, the Thai diaspora is pretty small and scattered. Thai temples serve as community centers so people can come together and celebrate Thai holidays. Gathering at temples for certain holidays is really important, as many holidays involve interacting with the monks that live at the temples. Furthermore, they often offer cultural education programs like language-learning for those with US-born kids.

Thailand has a very strong cultural presence because the government tries to preserve our traditions by funding cultural projects, like temples, heritage programs, and arts. This is both a good and bad thing. Because of the unification of Thai culture, most of Thailand has resisted the force of things like Christian missionaries which other SE Asian countries have been subjected to, as well as struggles of war and imperialism. However, this means that many minorities in Thailand are subject to assimilation, especially the Muslim religious minority and indigenous minorities in the north. The latter group especially is subjected to the assimilation force of so-called eco-tourism, which causes them to commercialize their traditions for tourists, and are poorer, which means they’re more vulnerable to conversion efforts from Christian missionaries.

The Thai king is traditionally supposed to be well-respected by most citizens. Thailand is not a true monarchy so the king doesn’t have much legal power, but does have a significant role as being sort of a “model” for citizens to look up to. As an example of the country’s nationalism, we are expected to stand in honor of the king before movies play in movie theatres, and the national anthem plays on the radio twice a day. Currently, many anti-monarchy protests are happening in Thailand because people are speaking up about the injustices commited by the monarchy, and their involvement in the military regimes that have been in power in Thailand for the past decade or so. Yet many still respect the monarchy, and only blame the bad actions on the current king rather than the institution itself.

Finally, although Thailand has not been subject to the violent imperialism that many countries in the region have suffered from, our country has not escaped the influence of westernization. Several previous kings have tried to “westernize” Thailand to appease British forces, including by changing the name of the country itself. In Thai, the correct name for Thailand is “Siam” (SEE-ahm), and Bangkok is “Krung Thep” (kroong TAYP). The “nd” sound in “land” is not even a natural sound in the Thai language. Learning English is mandatory in schools, western brands and media dominate the market, western beauty standards shape modern understanding of beauty and gender. The tourism industry is huge, and subsequently, sex tourism (I’ll get more into this later).

Food

Look, I love Thai food. Food is incredibly important for cultural minorities in general, as it’s something you interact with every day, something that’s been passed down from generation to generation, something that you can bring with you wherever you go… But sometimes, I feel like a menu item in the US. How many times have you read a story where the two white main characters are chatting about what to eat, and they say something like, “Hmm, should we get Chinese or Indian? Maybe some Thai?”

As for some popular dishes, well, pad thai is arguably the most well-known Thai dish in the US. I think it helps that people can remember its origin easily from the name. (BTW, it’s pronounced “pahd” with an “ahhh” sound.) Some dishes that are my personal favorite and that I encourage people to try are pad krapao (spicy fried meat and egg with lots of savory basil), tom yum kung (spicy sour shrimp soup), tom kha (sour creamy coconut soup, normally with mushrooms and chicken), and laap (spicy ground meat with lime, glass noodles, and onions). I’m personally vegan so I choose to change the recipes of these dishes slightly when cooking, but I don’t find that it affects my connection to my culture at all. Plus, many are quite easy to veganize since Thai food doesn’t use dairy!

Dish sharing is the norm in Thai culture. Even in restaurants, it’s the standard for the whole table to decide on what dishes to order, and then place them in the middle for everyone to take scoops of. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t normal in USAmerican restaurants, because for years my mom would order plates for the whole table, and then ask for many smaller plates for each of us to put food on!

Names

In Thailand, nicknames are the norm. Thai legal first names are usually several syllables, and most people have a one-syllable nickname that they use in all aspects of daily life. When introducing yourself, it is expected that you use your nickname, and your friends and family call you by your nickname. Normally, it’s chosen by your parents or friends early in life. My sister and I, having been born in the US, did not have nicknames since they wouldn’t fit in with USAmerican culture, but people in Thailand would often ask if we had one.

Nicknames can come from all sorts of sources. Common nicknames are simply words for things, like colors, fruits, animals, and other nouns. I know people named “nok” (bird), “som” (orange), “moo” (pig), “fa” (sky blue). In recent decades, English names have become more common, and you can find people with names like “Anne” and “James”, or even regular words like “ball”, “boy”, or “bird”. They can also just be shortened forms of your legal name. Not all nicknames have the same connotations and not all words make good nicknames, so if you’re naming a character, I would suggest that you check with a Thai person!

As for last names, they’re a relatively recent invention in Thailand. Last names were introduced about a hundred years ago by the king at the time in an effort to westernize the country and make easier to centralize information. They were required to be completely unique for each family. Thus, most families today will have a unique last name, and it’s not as simple as looking up a name on a list. Last names are usually a combination of words that are chosen to give a sense of status to your family (sort of like how the name Goldblum is a combination of gold and bloom/flower). I would suggest enlisting the help of someone if you want to make a unique name for your character’s family, but I’ve also seen it suggested to simply use the name of a famous Thai actor/actress.

Gender

(Content warning for mention of transmisogyny, orientalism, fetishization)

Okay. This is a heavy one. First off, I need to reiterate that I’m a trans man, and that my words on this matter should not take precedence over SE Asian trans femme people. However, stereotypes about our country are incredibly prevalent and there are so few people out there correcting misinformation that I feel like this needs to be said.

When I was growing up, it felt like the only thing people knew about Thailand was the fact some Thai people are trans women. That’s it. People’s conceptions about my country were inherently tied to an intersection of transmisogyny and racism, and they would take any opportunity to make that clear. Indeed, Thai culture surrounding gender is in some ways different from the US but also similar in many ways, in part because of recent westernization. First of all, concepts of gender arose mostly independently from those in the US, so any English term used for people’s identities will be an inexact translation. It is really important in general to understand that many countries/cultures have understandings of gender and sexuality that aren’t always able to fit into other lenses.

In Thai media, trans femme people have more visibility than in the US. Many talk show hosts and other celebs are openly trans femme, and I grew up with this understanding of gender long before discovering the US concept of transness. However, though Thailand has a prominent trans culture, its global reputation is more caused by the insidious effort of the Thai tourism industry to promote sex tourism and play off the fetishes of foreigners, often military expats. And more visibilty doesn’t mean better treatment either, as trans femme people in Thailand experience all the same issues as those in the US (from both locals and foreigners), often exacerbated by the orientalist views that tourists have of asian trans women. LGBT citizens in general also have less legal protections/rights in Thailand, despite how the Thai government tries to present itself as LGBT-friendly for the sake of tourism.

The stereotype of SE Asia being “exotic” in regards to gender norms and sex is something that’s reinforced over and over in US media and I’m so so tired of it. Because of the widespread, often harmful, misconceptions of SE Asian women, I would personally find it inadvisable for someone not from these cultures, even if well-meaning, to make a trans character whose concept of gender is mostly informed by SE Asian norms. (This is different from, say, an Asian-American character who has a USAmerican concept of gender.)

Representation

This is my “Things I’d Like To See More Of” section. Because that’s it. I literally just want more representation.

Here are the two categories of Thai representation I can think of having seen ever in my life:

- Backdrop for a racist crime/action movie or novel where the main characters are white and all the locals are treated as criminals (men) or sex objects (women)

- Genuine characters, of which I only know two (London Tipton and Anne Boonchuy), both played by the same actor.

And yes, this is across all types of media I’ve seen in my life, excluding those that are made in Thailand for primarily Thai consumption. As for Southeast Asian representation in general, that’s not much more common. SE Asian representation tends to be overshadowed or passed up in favor of East Asian culture, a lot of which already has a positive association for white westerners (though to be fair, much of that is due to the appropriation of these cultures). Even here on this blog, it seems like asks regarding E Asian characters are many times more common than the few about SE Asians.

Pan-Asianism is also pretty harmful in regards to representation, though I didn’t always think so. For example when I was younger, I was a huge fan of ATLA and loved the way I could see my own culture’s influence on the food and architecture of the fire nation, while still allowing other E/SE Asian people to see their own heritage represented. To me, it felt like a much-needed celebration of all of our identities, as good Asian representation was very hard to find. But as I got older, I realized that when most people looked at ATLA’s earth kingdom and fire nation, they didn’t see the Thai, Vietnamese, Filipino, etc influences that I saw. They just saw Japan and China. Those snippets of our identity that were so dear to us were obscured by the cultures that westerners thought they were already familiar with.

Also, I’d like to see more multicultural/biracial representation! Not necessarily just mixed-white folk though, as I feel like that’s a category that’s overrepresented in even the small amount of biracial rep we do have. People can definitely be multicultural with two parents of color, and that would make for a really good way to talk about identity and culture. Same goes for relationships! Please, more portrayal of cross-cultural relationships where both parties are poc, I would love that so much.

End note: I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this, but if anyone wants to hear more or chat about making a Thai character, I would love that and am always available to talk.