The Bangkok Podcast | Expat Life In Thailand Via Expats From Canada & America

Part 1 of 2! Greg interviews author Andrew Johnson, a cultural anthropologist with an expertise in the supernatural beliefs of Thailand and how they interact with urban planning and architecture. First, Greg inquires about the nature of ‘superstition’ in Thailand, and whether Thai people truly live up to their reputation for being ‘superstitious.’ Andrew notes that the distinction between ‘religion’ and ‘superstition’ is really a modern formalization of certain ‘official’ religions, Buddhism in Thailand’s case. But the nature of Buddhism is such that it is more tolerant of ‘syncretism,’ or the mixing of beliefs, so Thai culture is really steeped in three traditions: formal Theravada Buddhism, Brahmanism (an earlier form of Hinduism), and ‘animism,’ or the folk beliefs of early Thais.  Next, Andrew emphasizes that both the newer systems of belief and the older folk beliefs are actually in a constant state of evolution. Thais from the countryside steeped in animist ideas must adapt to living in a city of high r