What is the Culture Code?

It is what makes us uniquely different. Each country has a different interpretation of everyday words, living things and objects - in other words a 'Code'. When you combine all these different 'codes' together it creates an unique reference system that people living in these cultures use without having to think about. Children born into this environment simply absorb and accept these meanings without thought or question. These reference systems guide people in very different ways. For example, the elephant, which once roamed wild in large numbers in Thai forests has played an important cultural and economic role in the kingdom. 'White elephants' [actually they are a silvery grey colour) were revered as symbols of royalty. The elephant remains a potent symbol in modern Thailand - it can be seen almost everywhere you go. It is incorporated into fashion fabrics and soft furnishings, stone models stand guard at the entrance to hotels and office blocks, wooden carvings are presented at shrines and so on. Elephants figure both in Buddhism and Hindu mythology.