Just as Schrockwell has said:
Hash.each |a| returns an array of the form a = [key, value], so for the hash @status_fields you can write:
<%= collection_select('thing', 'status', @status_fields, :first, :last) %>
Alternatively, if you'd like the key to show up in the select list and the value point to the select list value, then:
<%= collection_select('thing', 'status', @status_fields, :last, :first) %>
This will select the option given by thing.status or nothing if nil is returned
If you want to just create any selection not tied to an object use
<%= select_tag('name', options_from_collection_for_select(@status_fields, :first, :last, '2')) %>
where '2' is the index of the desired selection
PS: I don't have enough reputation to just amend the original post or comment on it