"You think too much"

[swissie 4,925]

How many times have I heard Thai's say to me "you think too much", when it came to debate an issue that is only slightly above trivial day to day matters.
Seems to me, that this avoidance to "think too much" is firmly entrenched in Thai Society. This may reach from your friendly neighborhood Immigration Officer all the way up to high ranking government officials. By not wanting to "think too much", at least that would explain why certain "rules and regulations" and Decisions by "Decision Makers" , can not possibly have not been conceived  by "logic" or the principle of "Cause & Effect" and by "thinking too much".

- I DO know that Buddhist Teachings include "Karma". = Major events are pre-determined and  future planning (thinking too much) is therefore an exercise in futility to begin with, or:

-  The human brain is being considered as some kind of muscle, that (like any other muscle) should not be over strained.

Taking such things into consideration, many things that appear "incomprehensible" , may become somewhat more "comprehensible" for a Farang.
Cheers.

[JJGreen 572]

I used to hear it in my home country occasionally....from people who were not too bright or just lazy to consider things

A lot of it here comes down to not wanting to give an issue any headspace that is not needed.

I havent heard it in a while now...maybe i pick a style of conversation to suit the occaision i didn't a few years back

[tifino 8,355]

 

 

... and sometimes, you hear the next words out of her mouth - "give me headache"

[rogeroc 865]

When a Thai says that to me i think maybe they are right. In reality we are  'but cows in the meadow'.

[paulsingle 177]

We sometimes hear "Que sera, sera" or "What will be, will be" amongst westerners. Variously down to pathos, indolence, resignation to circumstances etc but when I've heard this "think too much" from Thai people it seems to be reluctance or aversion to facing the facts.

[Squeegee 2,914]

The fascinating duality of Thailand.

 

Friendly or xenophobic? Sexy or conservative?

 

Sometimes good, sometimes bad.

 

Up to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

r.i.p.

[Gecko123 7,907]

"You think too much" is just Thais' polite way of saying, "You talk too much." 

[dick dasterdly 11,841]

'You think too much' used to annoy me when I first came here, but nowadays I think they're right - to a certain extent.

 

We (or more accurately I ) do over-think small, relatively unimportant things.

[Berkshire 16,376]

7 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

"You think too much" is just Thais' polite way of saying, "You talk too much." 

 

Yeap, that's pretty much it.  Or to put it another way, it's also a polite way of saying "shut the heck up already because your pointless opinions mean squat to me."

[dick dasterdly 11,841]

8 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

 

Yeap, that's pretty much it.  Or to put it another way, it's also a polite way of saying "shut the heck up already because your pointless opinions mean squat to me."

Agree entirely with your second sentence.....

[richard_smith237 26,037]

Think and worry about what you can change... 

 

As Westerners we tend to discuss and debate many issues which we have no possible control over.... We've often grown up discussing such topics which interest us regardless of the control or impact we may or may not have - To many Thai's this seems insane and a total waste of effort... 

 

To some extent Thai's are correct - why waste so much effort concerning ourselves with issues over which we have no impact... However, this is not so clear cut... as the apathy often extends to issues which we may have 'limited control over'... 

 

We as Westerners tend to feel more empowered over our destiny...  when generalising, Thai's tend not to. 

[manfredtillmann 1,081]

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Think and worry about what you can change... 

 

As Westerners we tend to discuss and debate many issues which we have no possible control over.... We've often grown up discussing such topics which interest us regardless of the control or impact we may or may not have - To many Thai's this seems insane and a total waste of effort... 

 

To some extent Thai's are correct - why waste so much effort concerning ourselves with issues over which we have no impact... However, this is not so clear cut... as the apathy often extends to issues which we may have 'limited control over'... 

 

We as Westerners tend to feel more empowered over our destiny...  when generalising, Thai's tend not to. 

100% supported, thank you for summing it up. it took me a while to learn...

[Kwasaki 10,589]

8 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

"You think too much" is just Thais' polite way of saying, "You talk too much." 

 

My Mrs today asked me where have the flowers gone,  I said what flowers, the ones in the flower beds by the road or the ones in the pots,  No she said the ones on the Buddha spirit house,  ..Well the wild cats knock them over l said maybe there on the floor,  No she said,  

Well in that case someone came in and took em,  No she said,  Well then if you left them out for Buddha, Buddha has got em so what you worried about,  she said " You say to much ". 

   

[eldragon 1,381]

Does it mean "you're overthinking a situation" or does it literally mean "don't use your brain"? I used to think the former, but I'm beginning to lean towards the latter.

[eldragon 1,381]

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

Think and worry about what you can change... 

 

As Westerners we tend to discuss and debate many issues which we have no possible control over.... We've often grown up discussing such topics which interest us regardless of the control or impact we may or may not have - To many Thai's this seems insane and a total waste of effort... 

 

To some extent Thai's are correct - why waste so much effort concerning ourselves with issues over which we have no impact... However, this is not so clear cut... as the apathy often extends to issues which we may have 'limited control over'... 

 

We as Westerners tend to feel more empowered over our destiny...  when generalising, Thai's tend not to. 

 

But idieally somewhere, someone has control or impact over the issues others are collectively thinking about and is thus able to affect change. On the other hand, when you breed a culture of people who resist critical thinking, the society as a whole fails to progress.