Every time I visit Thailand – which is not often enough – I’m struck by how much fun everyone seems to be having. Of course, people have fun everywhere. But in Thailand it’s different. The Thais have elevated fun to an ethos, a way of life – one that, frankly, we would all be wise to emulate.
Every culture has a word for fun, but the Thai word, sanuk, is freighted with more meaning, more reverence, than most. Sanuk is not fun as mindless diversion or frivolity; it’s fun as an intrinsically valuable activity.
Walk down any soi in Bangkok, those wonderfully kinetic alleyways brimming with life – or step into any office for that matter – and you’ll see sanuk in action. It might take the form of gentle teasing, clever word play or plain old silliness. It’s almost always good-natured and always includes an element of social harmony.
“The translation of ‘fun’ doesn’t do sanuk justice,” said William Klausner, an American anthropologist who lived in Thailand for decades. “It fails to capture the magic of this rather unique aspect of Thai culture.” Full story...
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Every culture has a word for fun, but the Thai word, sanuk, is freighted with more meaning, more reverence, than most. Sanuk is not fun as mindless diversion or frivolity; it’s fun as an intrinsically valuable activity.
Walk down any soi in Bangkok, those wonderfully kinetic alleyways brimming with life – or step into any office for that matter – and you’ll see sanuk in action. It might take the form of gentle teasing, clever word play or plain old silliness. It’s almost always good-natured and always includes an element of social harmony.
“The translation of ‘fun’ doesn’t do sanuk justice,” said William Klausner, an American anthropologist who lived in Thailand for decades. “It fails to capture the magic of this rather unique aspect of Thai culture.” Full story...
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