4 Canine Related Cultural Differences Between the U.S. and Thailand

As one would suspect, Thailand is fundamentally different than the U.S. on many levels. Buddhism represents approximately 93% of the country’s religious demographic. I was fortunate to receive a tour of the Wat Po Buddhist temple complex in Bangkok. My tour guide was a retired monk (I know right…I didn’t know they could retire either). I can’t pronounce his name but he was able to enlighten me, no pun intended to the spiritual focus of Thai culture. 

What does a Buddhist temple complex have to do with dogs? Well, to understand how a population interacts with dogs one needs to understand something about the culture itself. This is why I spent the first 2-3 days of my trip getting to know the local people, sites, and common practices. It wasn’t long before some common themes began to emerge.

1. In keeping with the beliefs of the Buddhist majority, the people in Thailand are some of the most respectful, polite, and peaceful people that I’ve ever encountered. My tour guide monk stressed the mantra no worries, no anger, no stress. He probably repeated this about 50 times on our tour. Given this mantra, the Thai people have a very low tempo in comparison to Americans. They work diligently but they do not work obsessively. They drive expeditiously but they do not drive with anger. Bangkok has some of the busiest streets I’ve seen anywhere yet during my visit I didn’t see one person react in anger and I didn’t see a single episode of road rage. The service workers are top notch. From street vendors to taxi drivers to the hotel concierge everyone was superbly polite and respectful. When I began to encounter dogs and their owners in Thailand this low tempo mantra was immediately evident. I interacted with 6-7 individual dogs/owners while visiting and the dogs all had a noticeably calm nature about them. In contrast with the U.S., I regularly encounter dogs and owners that are stressed out and have dangerously high anxiety levels. This is something to consider further.

2. Thailand has recently outlawed the consumption of canine meat. I realize this is shocking to some in the States but many countries around the world source their meat very differently from that in the U.S. Beef and chicken are not the primary proteins in many geographic locales. Thailand does however still export many strays to Vietnam and China both of whom still consume canine meat. These observations can be graphic to some but are nonetheless a reality outside of the United States. 

3. The pet training and merchandise market is virtually non-existent in Thailand. Thailand’s pet services market was worth less than 1 million USD in 2023 in contrast to the U.S. which boasted a 247 billion USD pet services market for the same time period. No Chewy, no Amazon, no PetSmart, nada. This can be attributed to a difference in culture. American society is designed, very intentionally, to extract as much money from each consumer as possible. If there is one thing that the United States has continued to refine with razor like precision is the ability to market and price goods to the nth degree. We can’t buy dog food anymore without having 50+ products to choose from many pricing in the 50-100 USD or higher range. Spend, spend, spend is our mantra vs. no worries, no anger, no stress. Quite certainly, this impacts not only our human canine relationships but undoubtedly our human/human relationships.

4. Lastly, the Thai people along with the support of the Thai government have gone to great lengths to preserve the traditional culture. They have done this through significant investments in the arts, community projects, and spiritual centers. A theme that constantly surfaced is that the Thai people believe that their culture will ultimately be lost to technological advances. Not in the sense that computers or technology are inherently evil but that they tend to be equalizers across nations. As tech advances many of the cultural idiosyncrasies that define a particular region are lost as more and more individuals take up tech oriented careers. The temple of truth is a spiritual shrine constructed entirely by hand. Barefooted wood carvers chisel each piece that goes onto the temple which is put together without nails. The wood pieces are fit together using only wood joinery and glue. In the background people are able to ride elephants with a guide. This speaks to a desire to remain connected to a natural purpose. When we slow down and observe, we can see that dogs serve a similar purpose. In the United States work and employment are often priority number one. This can quickly become a fruitless obsession. Dogs are a way for people to connect with nature. Many of the struggles that owners face with their dogs in the U.S. can be traced to this lack of connection. Because of the blindness that work, unchecked capitalism, and ultimately greed can produce we run the risk of losing that connection as well. The same connection the Thai people are working so hard to preserve. 

Thai dogs like Thai people are calm. I only observed 2 leashes throughout my entire visit and both dogs were walking calmly and happily without issue. All of the other dogs were off leash and calm. To be frank, I can’t imagine this being the case in the U.S. We would have to fundamentally examine our culture and make some significant changes in order to bring about this type of calm. In most if not all instances there is a cause and effect relationship. When one observes not only the U.S. but many countries throughout the world through a lens of mental health, economics, technology, and spiritual/natural connection much is to be desired. Natural connection and technology growth seem to be diametrically opposed to one another. Meaning, the more one grows the more the other ceases to exist. The more connected we are to nature and our relationships the less influence that technology plays in our lives. On the contrary, as nations push their populations young and old into computer based careers does that not naturally reduce or eliminate the poets, artists, and craftsmen? Does that not reduce our time and connection with nature as a whole and subsequently our dogs, whom by essence and design are nature?