12 | Culture Ways of Life and Wisdom
“ Culture is a tool to unite social
members, engage them in
harmony, and cultivate the right
attitudes, beliefs, and values.
In addition, culture is subject to
a never-ending process of
changes through time. ”
The Definition of Culture,
Ways of Life and Wisdom
Culture or “Wattanatham” in Thai, is composed by two words:
“wattana” means growth and prosperity, while “tham” refers to action
or practice. The overall meaning is the action for growth.
The National Culture Act, B.E. 2553 provides the definition of
“culture” that refers to the ways of life, thoughts, beliefs, value, norm,
custom/tradition, rituals and wisdoms which a group of community
or society incorporates in creation, accumulation, cultivation, transfer,
learning, improvement, and change for growth both mental and physical
aspects peacefully and sustainably.
Culture therefore covers all aspects created by humans whether
they are abstract or concrete. It also means the behavioral pattern of
the society from the past, through the learning, invention, adaptation in
response to the needs and development of livelihood. It evolves from
generation to generation systematically to create growth and social
security.
Ways of life refers to Thai people’s ways of live from their birth
to mortality, including the four requisites necessary for living: shelter,
food, clothing and medicine. It also means social knowledge, culture,
wisdom, behavior, practice, education from past to present.
Wisdom is knowledge and skills developed over a period of time
through cognitive process, selection, improvement, development and
transfer to be used for solving problems, life development with nature
balance and suitable to the current period. Thai wisdom is outstanding
in many areas including agriculture, arts, literature and language.
It is obvious that culture, ways of life and wisdom reflect on
the competence of local people as a product of various knowledge
collection, dynamic adaptation to environment. The process has been
ongoing through many generations to become the ways of life that suit
Thai society.
• Religion is one of the factors that influences the ways of live and
culture. Thai culture has its root from Buddhism and it has been
inherited through generations in the pattern of beliefs, rites, morality,
law, literature, language and custom.