In the classrooms, on the streets and in the alleys, the word "cheater" can now be heard, directed at some friend believed to have committed a wrong. It doesn't require a degree in child psychology to decipher that this probably resulted from last week's defeat by Singapore in the Asean Football Cup Final. On stumbling into a beer-chugging, cigarette-puffing, Thai PE teacher acquaintance of mine, he was quick to point out that "Those Singaporeans are a bunch of chop-suey cheats!" I can only imagine how many PE teachers all over the country have been venting their frustrations and anger with such words to their young students. A truly wonderful example to set!

Thailand seems to have suddenly, and quite amazingly, forgotten about the many very dubious decisions which have fallen in their favour in past international sporting events. Excellent examples of this were witnessed in abundance at the 2000 Asian Games, which where held - where else - in Thailand.

Singaporeans and Thais aren't the only ones suspected of having tried to pull a string or two. A few years back the Laotian team took to the field to take part in a competition for those under the age of 18. The crowd grew just a little suspicious when, instead of witnessing half a team of short skinny kids running on to the pitch, they instead witnessed a troupe of macho-looking six-foot-tall guys lumbering in. Then, in the family and friends' enclosure, spectators got a clear view of a squad of young women cheering away, who quite obviously appeared to be the wives and girlfriends of the Lao team. Association authorities were set to take strict action against this gross violation, but the Laotians were so hopeless despite their size advantage that they were immediately knocked out of the competition.

Locals while bellowing "cheater, cheater" at Singapore's antics, seem to have forgotten that once upon a time, not so long ago, cheating was rampant here in sporting events. (Of course it still is today, but it's all a little less obvious). A classic example of a sport that was rife with cheating was boxing. Thais even have an expression for these spectacular fainting performances that are worthy of Thai soap operas - "lom muay". Even though gambling is illegal, even your blind cat can inform you how much of a love the country has for gambling, and that fixation for dirty cash has certainly spilled over into to boxing.

I can recall a few years ago watching two championship-level matches on the same card. Stepping into the ring with millions of viewers and tens of thousands of gamblers glued to their television sets, the two boxers got off to awesome starts in their respective matches.

Then, after just three rounds, with their opponents wobbling on their last legs with cut and blackened eyes, suddenly out of nowhere comes a punch to the champ's heads. In both matches, before you could say "cock-a-doodle-doo", the beloved champs were on the deck, out for the count. Spectators and gamblers were up in arms when watching instant replays on television and seeing that - rather than ferocious Mike Tyson-like blows to the head - the champs had been floored by no more than a couple of flicks of the hair. A few days later and the dejected former champs are pleading their innocence - from behind bars.

It is not only the local Thais who are obsessed with gambling on boxing - a lot of hairy-legged foreign tourists are as well. Not so long ago in Pattaya, I had the not-so-envious opportunity to witness for myself the goings-on both in and out of the ring. In comes this local tourist guide with a platoon of foreign boxing fans wearing their not-so-groovy-looking "muay Thai" shorts. Their guide is soon affording them a few valuable inside tips about the boxers. After the first few bouts, the tourists are boozing away, delirious at making a bit of cash and rolling in their good fortune at having met such a great tipster. Feeling the urge to make stacks of cash, the tourists are soon betting big! Unluckily however, the tourists had failed to read up about "lom muay", and sure enough the guide's brilliant inside knowledge soon turns into absolute waffle and the frivolous foreigners are on their way home, with empty wallets. As for the dodgy guide, he has a large smirk on his face.

Cheating is everywhere and it isn't just sports. In past years and in some cases still today, even though you had the eyesight of a hamster and the driving skills of a chimpanzee, it was still perfectly plausible to pass your driver's test. Of course a handsome donation to the office's monthly whisky fund was much appreciated.

As for the average foreigner, even today, who needs to pass his driver's test but can't read Thai, it is advisable for him to show up at the authority's office with a lawyer. The latter will be able to point out the correct translations and perhaps a few answers too.

Even the land's beauty pageants have been involved in seedy scandals. A couple of years ago, one dainty darling beauty champion was disqualified after it was found out that she had once been married. The media cottoned on to her painful plight and there she was on our television screens for the next few nights balling her eyes out and pleading her innocence along the lines of, "Yes, I got married, but my parents had forced me into it". Sadly, however, our brimming beauty never did reclaim her crown. It was reported that one of the old fuddy-duddy judges said something like: "It is all very unfortunate, but the disqualification must stay in place. All the contestants, before they can participate, must be virgins".

The most prominent location for abundant outright cheating, however, just has to be the nation's classrooms. Anyone who has ever stepped foot in one will have realised that the "brains of the future" love nothing more than spending the entirety of their days copying their buddies' homework. As for the students' actual teachers, most of them just turn a blind eye and pretend they don't notice.

As you can well imagine, ridiculous adult behaviour like that detailed here isn't exactly setting decent moral standards for the new generation. What the "brains of the future" really need, is to be taught that cheating by anyone ought not to be an acceptable everyday life.

Stephen Cleary is a co-founder of www.thai-blogs.com.