Mai Pen Rai
SOLO EXHIBITION BY
Bitto
SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA:
In order to cope with things and move forward we need to learn how to let go. When it comes to letting go, Thais are the experts, saying “mai pen rai”, brush off all the little troubles, anger, sadness, anxiety, fear, disappointment, frustration and go on with life. But can they really? Mai pen rai may seem to radiate the sense of easygoingness, although in different contexts it can mean several things.
It is one of the usual polite responses like “I’m good, thanks.”, “It’s alright, thanks”, declining help or an offer, fearing that accepting it could trouble or inconvenience someone. If the proposal is tempting enough, the mai pen rai could sound a bit hesitant. According to the common Thai courtesy the offeror then should grasp the other’s actual notion and re-offer, creating even more confusion in conversations seemingly.
Mai pen rai is also a phrase of comfort. When you would like to express your empathy you could say “mai pen rai” but it could turn out to be the trickiest use of the words. Saying mai pen rai in this context could equally mean ‘it’s OK., ‘it’s fine’ or ‘let it be.!’ which can be mistaken as trying to minimize the pain a person you try to console is facing. There are times that things are not fine and they cannot be let go anytime soon, it is okay to not be mai pen rai letting yourself struggle and grieve for a while should be mai pen rai too.
