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If
you want to truly understand what Thais
value in a person, jai
yen is a good place to start.
The culture places considerable importance
on a person who is cool-headed and avoids
confrontation. Even in the face of provocation,
the man or woman who can maintain a smile
has the respect and admiration of all.
A second usage of jai
yen is to remind someone who
has lost their cool (it may be yourself)
to calm down and to restore a sense of
inner peace and harmony.
In
one respect jai
yen is the Thai equivalent of
a stiff upper lip in the face of adversity
or provocation. You may have suffered
an emotional setback or disruption but
you are able to feel (or give the appearance
of feeling) emotionally collected and
cool in the face of the problem. John
is stuck in a traffic jam for hours or
has a flat tire on the expressway while
driving at 100 kilometers per hour. The
key is the ability to remain in control.
John does not panic when the car tire
blows out. Being stuck at Asoke and Sukhumvit
intersection for forty minutes does not
cause him to explode. If John does not
show anger or swear, or express any other
outward emotion, but deals with these
incidents of distress with patience and
composure, then it can be said that he
is jai
yen.
If
you frequently hear others asking you
to be jai
yen it is a signal that your
actions are impatient or hot-blooded or
you have trouble controlling your temper.
None of these personal attributes will
serve you well in personal or business
relationships in Thailand.
Hot
Heart
jai
rÓOn (adj.) ใจร้อน
Jai
rÓOn applies to a person
who has an impatient predisposition. Such
a person may react negatively to standing
in a post office queue, or waiting in
traffic on Sukhumvit Road. In the extreme
case, it may be that one boxer bites off
the ear of another. Or a lover takes revenge
by slicing off a body part associated
with manhood. There are shadings to this
phrase which are usually far less negative
in nature. A jai
rÓOn person generally
has a temperament which demands that tasks
and assignments are done quickly, and
insists on rapid reaction and response
from others. In other words, a jai
rÓOn person is an impatient
person. In the Thai cultural context,
the impatience and the lack of an easy-going
nature, especially if this results in
demands being placed on others, may lead
the Thais to judge the person as hot-hearted—never
a positive quality. |
Sample jai
phrases from hearttalk
Learn more