ICAAP11

My week has focused on participating in the 11th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP11) which was held here in Bangkok.  It was educational, lively and entertaining, meeting so many great characters and strong individuals.  I gained many insights.  I won't bore you by listing them all but simply wish to share one that, after eight years of living here, linked a couple of more dots in my jigsaw puzzle named Thailand.

One issue that continues to plague people with HIV/AIDS, and was identified strongly at ICAAP, is discrimination.  I listened to a presentation on a programme in northern Thailand that helps young Thais who are HIV positive deal with discrimination.  I thought that, time and again, I hear westerners coming here say that they find a society where ones are free to be themselves.  That may be true living in Bangkok but my understanding and hunch is that this is not necessarily so for Thais, especially in rural Thailand, where expectations may be quite strong.  What they experience is huge pressures to conform to family and local expectations.  I have just never been sure how it works here or what it is like for a Thai who is different from the expected social norms.  It does seem freer but I read and see otherwise in reality.  This week I got my answer - I think.  At least, it is a reasonable theory. 

Whether or not stigmatization as a result of being different is real in Thai society, what matters more is what one experiences.   This is named as self-stigmatization where internally one is harsh on oneself for being different and so stigmatizes oneself.  So there is a stigma in being HIV+ or gay but that may be self-imposed as one feels the expectations of  society and sees how they can't meet them. 

In Thailand, this happens within a society that has shame as one of its pillars.  If you don't fit into your place or do wrong, you are shamed.  Now shame is a basic control mechanism and this is in a society where members are highly controlled.  The fact is that all Thais know their place in a highly structured and hierarchical society.  They can't step out of their allotted place in the tree.  So what do you do if you so obviously don't fit in where you are supposed to?  You feel bad about yourself.  You come to feel ashamed.  You end up stigmatizing yourself, not needing outside others to do it for you.  So maybe this explains how Thai society deals with those who are different - they have a social structure that lets those outside the norm destroy themselves and so no one else needs to do anything at all.  Very effective way of social control!

Fascinating theory!  Amazing Thailand!