How Philippines differ from Siam

The film Anna and the King starts with the arrival of Anna Leonowens with her son Louis in Siam. She has been appointed by King Mongkut to teach his children. She was implicated in the king’s business, from the awful problem of a young concubine in trying to create an agreement with Britain to a war with Burma.
Very impressing movie, as what we had seen in the film, Thai have different and amazing traditions. We like the setting so much, even though it was not taken in Thailand [but in Malaysia], but still the quality is there.
If we are given a chance to compare the different customs and traditions of Siam and the Philippines, perhaps we have plentiful of ideas about it.
There are many ways in which our country and Siam have similarities. The customs and traditions of Philippines and Siam have similarity when it comes to family issues regarding strong family ties and bond. In Thailand, the family bond is quiet strong and also in the Philippines, where Filipinos do really care and spend time with their love ones.
Both Thais and Filipinos display respects when it comes to spiritual aspects. Other thing is that, in marriage, or in seeking partners in life, some chose foreigners from abroad for desire or interest in their culture and of course for financial reason.
In Southern Philippines, where Moslems reside, they can have as many wives as long as they can support it. In Siam, King Mongkut had a big family, in the scene where he presented his family, here’s what he exactly said: “The Royal Family: Twenty-three wives, forty-two concubines, fifty-eight off springs, and ten more on the way ..”
Man is considered as the head in the family.
Politically, Siam and Philippines both have inferior political advisors. They fear too much about there colonial threats.


Although, when it comes to an undesirable difference in beliefs of two nationalities, included there is the topic about reincarnation. In the film, sometime later after the death of Princess Fa-Ying, the king saw that one of the monkeys get his glasses, which her daughter’s used to do, and then the belief of reincarnation bring into being, where not all Filipinos are convinced that reincarnation does exist.
In celebrating holidays, Filipinos celebrated it luxuriously by preparing a lot of foods, by having festivals, which sometimes we invited our closest relatives to celebrate with. While in Siam, they do have some holiday celebrations but they didn’t celebrate it extravagantly, except for the most important holiday in Siam, which they called the Thai New Year.
There is no equality between the two sexes. They consider women as subordinates and are low-graded. In the scene where Anna arrived, an interpreter yells at her because only men were allowed to stand within the presence of the king. One more, when Lady Tuptim suffers from punishments for having an affair with a monk, Anna said, “How many lives do you need to sacrifice so just you can save your face?”, and lastly, they do not ask forgiveness to women.
They have excellent respect for their leaders. In Philippines, we have a democratic type of government, while in Siam, they are monarchy.

These are not only the things which Philippines and Siam differ and alike, in connection with the film Anna and the King, it makes us easier to compare its traditions and practices.