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CMHomeboy78
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Posts posted by CMHomeboy78
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Why stop?The sheer stupidity you are met with all the time. The inability to speak even a single sentence in another language no matter how long they have in school. The total lack of empathy, the lazyness ang ignorance at all levels in society. The curroption. The criminals in brown uniforms. I stop here.
Why not continue right on to the airport and go home where you belong?
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The literature is extensive.
Probably the best overview of the subject is A History of Southeast Asia. D.G.E. Hall. First published in 1955.
My copy is the 4th edition. 1981. There may be later ones.
Hall was a professor of history at the University of London. As a general outline of the history of this area his book has never been surpassed.
For information on the 1880's campaigns against the Jeen Haw in Northern Thailand and Laos see Surveying and Exploring in Siam. James McCarthy. Reprint: White Lotus. Bangkok. 1994.
And there is much more out there.
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Quite true Choonpon.It's called Facebook.
Make some friends, and meet their friends.
Dear guys
,Looking for gf in Thailand? Many many women here use black magic/ love spells
to hold on to their bfs/husbands. Of course you guys won't know whether you yourself is spelled, unless you have your own trusted acharn whom you visit often.Trust me on that. Meanwhile good luck in finding true love.
But when black magic fails to hold the guys, the gals sometime resort to cutting off their penises.
When you go to your "own trusted acharn" holding your severed penis in your hand you'll know that black magic has failed you all.
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Don't just think about it. Do it. Leave. The sooner the better.
If you've been here for a number of years and still don't know any Thais you can fully trust then it's time to think about leaving.
Only if they see you as a gullible farang to be fleeced.Never buy or rent anything in a Thai nationals name.
It may seem like a good idea at the time, but it isn't.
If it's a family member you trust and have had a long- term relationship with, then it makes sense.
Dysfunctional losers who can't even trust their own families are as out of place in Thailand as they would be anywhere else.
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If I'm a "gullible farang in the making" it's been a long slow process.
Only if they see you as a gullible farang to be fleeced.Never buy or rent anything in a Thai nationals name.
It may seem like a good idea at the time, but it isn't.
If it's a family member you trust and have had a long- term relationship with, then it makes sense.
...and here we have the perfect example of a gullible farang in the making....here is old Soutpeels advice....dont trust anyone fully, the highest level of trust is with your direct blood relatives (not GF or wife) next level of trust could be your GF or wife....the term of the relationship means absolutely nothing in this scenario...Thirtyfour years of being overcharged, scammed and ripped-off in various ways have been lessons learned the hard way.
My experience also includes thirty years of marriage to a girl from an old Chiang Mai family who raised our two daughters in a traditional manner while also educating them for careers in the modern world.
They have both turned out very well I'm happy to say.
To tell you that I trust my extended Thai family and their circle of friends would be an understatement.
That has been my experience here.
The tone of your post suggests that yours has been somewhat different; but perhaps no less valuable than mine.
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Only if they see you as a gullible farang to be fleeced.Never buy or rent anything in a Thai nationals name.
It may seem like a good idea at the time, but it isn't.
If it's a family member you trust and have had a long- term relationship with, then it makes sense.
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You're dead wrong young Bro.Welcome to Chiang Mai.
You come on a flood-tide of visitors to a city that is growing and changing very fast.
After you get your bearings here, you might want to learn something about the history and culture of a city that was founded over 700 years ago.
In so doing you will meet Thais with similar interests who take pride in their traditions.
If it hasn't become obvious to you already, you should realize that most of the Thais who contact foreigners provide goods and services of one kind or another.
All of them, from the hooker sitting on the barstool to the kid who drives the tuk-tuk, they want to get as much out of us as possible for what they provide.
A metaphor might be made with the city itself which has changed out of recognition since I first came in the late '70s.
What now resembles some concrete-jungle in California has everywhere the remains of chedis, wats and historical sites; some in a very good state of repair, others no more than a pile of bricks and rubble.
The traditions of civility and refinement that characterize Lanna Thai culture exist like the historical remains among the flashy modern city that seems to overpower them.
Enjoy your stay.
thank you. in the few weeks I've been here.. it seems if you don't want the naughty stuff, it's easy to stay away from it. I've done a few cultural things, but still got a lot on my list. I've learnt most of the tourist traps but the colour of your skin is a detriment no matter what in some cases here, TIT lol
thanks mate
White skin [if that's what you mean} is no detriment here.
Quite the opposite as a matter of fact.
Those who have light skin in Thailand enjoy numerous social advantages.
Attitudes that we have been taught to shun are ingrained here.
And it's nothing new. It goes back thousands of years; at least to the conquest of most of Northern India by the Aryans who introduced the caste [caste is varna in sanskrit, meaning colour] system from where it spread far and wide along with their culture. Indo-China included.
As part of your language studies you might watch a little Thai television. You will be surprised at how many of the ads feature skin whiteners and cosmetics promising to make you look several shades lighter. Some are even aimed at men.
Beauty contests - wildly popular, especially in rural Thailand - almost always have a category for "Nong Peu-Kow" Miss White Skin.
Excuse me if I've somewhat misunderstood your post.
Perhaps you meant that your light skin-colour is subjecting you to being overcharged for goods and services.
That's not only possible, it's probable.
My advice is this: learn Thai as soon as you can and use it to bargain with courtesy and humour.
Choke Dee... Good Luck.
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Too many farangs indeed.It took me 25 years to escape Farangland, now it appears Farangland has followed me here.
How many farangs now living in Chiang Mai? Too many.
Hope they raise the visa extension money requirements by about 400% and cut down the numbers.
Not because of our numbers - great as they are and growing by the year - but because of the way so many of us behave.
When it comes to being obnoxious it would be hard to surpass The Bangkok Thai who have been actively plaguing the Kohn Muang since the 1880's and on sporadic military incursions even before that.
But at least they're Thai and have some claim to belonging here.
Farangs have settled down in Chiang Mai with all the hubris that characterized their ancestors who colonized Southeast Asia with the sole exception of Siam.
Thailand is a beautiful country.
Come for a visit. You're more than welcome.
Enjoy the beaches. Trek in the mountains. Have a good time.
Then go home.
Don't stay here if you can't or won't assimilate to one degree or another.
Living here in cultural isolation without family relations that have stood the test of time; without speaking the language; without any real interest in the country and people or their history and traditions can only lead to mercenary relationships based on self-interest that will sour and become contentious sooner or later.
Realize that home-truth and don't deceive yourself otherwise.
Thailand has a long history of dealing with foreigners who settled down here in enclaves and proceeded to live life as they pleased with no regard for their hosts.
Everything from the massacres of Europeans following the death of King Narai in the late 17th century to the targeted military strikes against the Jeen Haw in the 1980's attest to the fact that Thai hospitality has it's limits.
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You sound like someone who hasn't been in Chiang Mai long yourself.Chiang Mai is a great place. However...
Papa swindles, Mama swindles
Grandma's a lying thief.
We're all quite shameless
yet we're blameless.
For you see it's our belief
that nowadays the world is rotten
honesty has been forgotten.
Fall in love, but after kissing
check your purse to see what's missing.
,but perhaps he's not as daft as you eh.
If you want some experience of life here, meet me tonight on Loi Kroh. I'll introduce you to some girls I know.
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Welcome to Chiang Mai.
You come on a flood-tide of visitors to a city that is growing and changing very fast.
After you get your bearings here, you might want to learn something about the history and culture of a city that was founded over 700 years ago.
In so doing you will meet Thais with similar interests who take pride in their traditions.
If it hasn't become obvious to you already, you should realize that most of the Thais who contact foreigners provide goods and services of one kind or another.
All of them, from the hooker sitting on the barstool to the kid who drives the tuk-tuk, they want to get as much out of us as possible for what they provide.
A metaphor might be made with the city itself which has changed out of recognition since I first came in the late '70s.
What now resembles some concrete-jungle in California has everywhere the remains of chedis, wats and historical sites; some in a very good state of repair, others no more than a pile of bricks and rubble.
The traditions of civility and refinement that characterize Lanna Thai culture exist like the historical remains among the flashy modern city that seems to overpower them.
Enjoy your stay.
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Farangs as organ-donors here?
Would it include their brains?
What will the consequences be?
Geriatric Thais walking the streets holding hands with teenage girls?
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This is a good example of the kind of verbose analysis so beloved of farangs and the type of Asians that look to them as role models.Chiang Mai first developed a "hub and spoke" transportation pattern with major spokes from the hub of Chiang Mai to Mae Rim, Mae Jo, Doi Saket, San Kamphaeng, and Hang Dong and Lampang. This is very traditional development. Then came the intersection with new ring roads, like the rims on the wheel. These aren't always really ring roads in Chiang Mai. For example, there is the Superhighway becoming Nimmenhamen at Rincome Junction with a bypass through the airport/air force base. It certainly is not strange to see development first at the hub (the old city), then outwardly along the travel corridors (spokes) and finally the around the ring roads.
The corridor that now seems to be building up faster and faster is the San Kamphaeng corridor. That definitely looks planned. The Hang Dong Road (south from the hub) seems to have been the first road for heavy development. It is now the road from hell if you are traveling south. The Mae Rim Road from Mae Rim south to the city seems absolutely packed much of the time, the town itself is a real (and dangerous) traffic choke point, and the area around Mae Rim seems to get more and more developed. If ever a town needed a bypass, it seems Mae Rim does. The Mae Jo corridor seems to be developing at a slower pace but is certainly beginning to boom, especially where the Mae Jo Road intersects with the first ring road outside the Superhighway (which is not very far away, quite close to the hub, actually). The DoI Suket road is especially busy within the two outer ring roads, and the situation can be brutal inside the Superhighway.
Economic development and population growth have moved very quickly. Some was clearly anticipated by traffic engineers even if the new roads do not completely satisfy. The Irrigation Canal road to the west has been pretty successful relieving the Hang Dong Road, but the jam ups at Huey Kaew and Suthep roads can be agony, and further hotel development has been allowed there!! Generally, perhaps university and seemingly unrestricted condo development should be blamed.
There were some major unfortunate "oversights." Basically, where the spokes meet the hub is the rub. In the city the failure to negotiate a clear passage past the airport and redevelopment of Nimmenhamen being one. Allowing Airport Plaza to be built as it is is another. The new shopping mall at the north end of Nimmenhamen at Huey Kaew seems to be a mind-boogling error in city planning. Perhaps the city planner and the developer should be made to lie down in the middle of the intersection!
"In town," of course, getting around is at odds with the desire to sustain the traditional charm of Chiang Mai. Not all of Chiang Mai is charming, of course, but this is a valid concern. Large modern changes such as trolley lines and subways might make some contractors very rich, but are they appropriate for a town that is centuries old, even if located outside the old walls?
Songtaos, tuk tuks, and (fairly recently) taxis have basically taken the place of the disappearing samlor (three-wheeled bicycle cabs pedaled by old men with legs of steel). The one attempt at bus service was an unfortunate boondoggle for a few reasons, the major ones perhaps being no one could figure out where they went and when they'd show up. In addition, the buses were really too few, too large, and too expensive to operate. It would be possible to use more suitable vehicles, such as relatively small (12 passenger) enclosed electric buses.
Songtaos draw a lot of criticism: too many and heavy polluters. Don't know about the number being too many, but the diesel pollution is terrible. But, in my view, songtaos are a very efficient, flexible and inexpensive form of travel (and that includes the fixed routes going out of town. (I hope the new fixed routes in town work, but doubt they will.) Songtaos are also a source of gainful employment. Perhaps reducing the number can be left to market forces, but why not demand a change (over time) in fuel? What about hybrid or electrical engines? Yes, diesel engines are improving, but they still are very heavy polluters, especially when not maintained.
Do you think it is possible to stop the insistence upon door-to-door automobile traffic? I doubt it, but it might be significantly reduced by various methods, such as creating different transportation zones. Perhaps the old city within the moat ought first to be considered with peripheral parking except for residences and deliveries (which would have restricted hours). Driving into the city from the "suburbs" would require restrictions and conveniences, such as peripheral parking. This works quite well in some cities. In the city itself, residents might be made to prove they have an off-road parking place. That is done, I believe, in Tokyo. Or what about something as simple as more one-way streets? Look at the lanes off Nimmenhamen, for example.
There are many more useful tactics in the traffic engineers' kit than those suggested above. The short answer to Chiang Mai's traffic problems is that there is no simple elegant solution that fits all situations, but rampant development, population growth (including the burgeoning university community), and economic development continue apace, exaserbating the situation --- and Chiang Mai seems to be losing its charm as a special place.
The real solution to the problem could be summed-up in two words "fewer cars".
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Give him strong drink, until he wink,
haha you crack me up dolly mixed up man(regarding whisky,i,m sure there ae things you know about)
for Helly dolly to read again Slowly regarding real and taste hint GENUINE and BEST IN THE WORLDbought a genuine bottle of LAGAVULIN 3 weeks back yes and it was the singapore import
.I must be blind as i was expecting booze shops everywhere from reading past posts but i only found one.
basically after imigration i went down the stairs into the market turned left
hussled by viagra sellers kept on walking quickly
went as far as the market goes turned right and there is a shop there on the right hand side
good selection of various whiskies and even had torro wine from spain class drink
then i spotted the lagavulin
you cant even get this in scotland as it is a small distillery,well i should add you can but it sells out quickly
so i checked the bottle, the label, the seal for about 30 minutes and it seemed and felt good to me
was expensive but hey its my birthday soon and its the best whisky in the world at that price.
the girl in the shop who spoke good english did mention another shop but i didnt see any apart from a market stall type on the bridge just befoe you collected your paspport again on the burma side
Well not being a Scotsman I couldn't really reply to the quality of it. All I know was Johnny Walker and Cutty Sark were good enough for me. Bear in mind I drank it rather than sip it.
By the way you mentioned best whiskey in the world at that price. Which side of 300 baht was it on?
yes culp down yer cutty sark and johhny walker like a one night stand easily forgotten after the next one nighter.
whereas a single malt full bodied, warm, complex ,slowly given up its sectets ,releasing it s power slowly on your body and mind yes its good to sip it because every sip will touch a nerve in your body and soul
.Lagavulin no two bottles the same.no two sips the same,
ok thats my wee lecture to dolly for everyone else there are real quality whiskies at mae sae
.I could split hairs and say they are owned by the French but they know abit .quite a bit about the complexities of smell taste and sensual intoxications
,,so have no fear like people have said previous poster.In amongst the fakes and all the bulshit shines diamonds that few have embrassed.
aye some dont know there feet fi their arse slainte
That's sinkin' in despair;
An' liquor guid to fire his bluid,
That's prest wi' grief an' care;
There let him bouse, an' deep carouse,
Wi' bumpers flowing o'er,
Till he forgets his loves or debts,
An minds his griefs no more.
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The Burmese rum mentioned by rene123 and which I remember myself from about ten years ago in Rangoon was, like he says, good and cheap.We used to have a 'connection' that had connections and you could order whatever you wanted and I have carried cases of Australian 'penfoils' that was smuggled across the border at Maesai and it was genuine at 1/4th the CM prices.....lost that connection years ago unfortunately.
Speaking of rum, which is my favorite hard spirit....there is a new local rum that beats any imports. Called 'Uncle Tom R' and it's a clear rum with a hint of molasses and says on the label that it is distilled from sugarcane.....not the usual grain alcohol with fake coloring and flavorings. If you like rum, give it a try.........219thb/bottle at tesco and Big C.
An earlier post mentioned a Burma rum that I would love to try.....any sources in CM??
Unfortunately I forget the name.
In all probability it was a state enterprise product - the private sector doesn't exactly flourish in Burma.
And no, I don't think it's available in Chiang Mai. Although I may be wrong. But it probably is in Tachilek or Mae Sai. I'll try to find it on my next run up there.
Incidentally, I like your signature. I feel the same way myself.
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Mehkong and the lore surrounding it would make a good topic in itself.
Thanks for the tip Semper, I'll try it.Of all the other cheap whiskeys nothing goes as well with manao and sodaHave you tried Chin Shun (sp?) ?
But could you be a little more specific please.
Is it Thai or Chinese or something else?
Where is it available in Chiang Mai?
If it's more like Mehkong than what I've been drinking I'll be much obliged to you.
Bottoms up!
It was always a part of the scene here. Something taken for granted and not fully appreciated until it was lost.
It tasted a lot like Cruzan Gold Rum from St. Croix, but I was told it was rice spirit with molasses added after it was distilled.
I'd like to know how far it went back and who - foreigners or Thais - started making it.
It must have been some time before WWII because it was one of the things local Thais in and around Kanchanaburi gave the allied POW's when they had the chance.
Mixed with soda and the juice of a manao it was popularized by the Chiang Mai artists Theo Meier and Gert Barkowsky and their circle. Barkowsky claiming to have invented it and giving it his own last name. But he and Meier drank so many of them maybe they had the right to name it.
Anyway, the name "Barkowsky" slowly faded away, but the drink remained as popular as ever, going especially well with spicy hot Thai food.
What malign forces caused it to disappear?
I've never liked the other cheap Thai whiskies. To my taste they don't come close to Mehkong.
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Now that you mention the rum, I do remember it, and as you say, cheap and good.I heard from a fairly reliable source that the Burmese rum is as good as it gets and it's very cheap. I might try it out the next time I'm up there. I don't drink much myself, but I have friends who like a snort once in a while and it would be nice to offer them something. Apparently the British taught the Burmese how to make rum a long time ago and they didn't forget.
But it was in Rangoon that I bought it about ten years ago. If I can find it in Tachilek the next time I'm there I'll buy it.
Thanks for the reminder.
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Does anyone have recent experience buying wine and spirits in Tachilek?
Recommendations or warnings would be appreciated.
Some time ago I bought what I thought was Van Houten chocolate there. It wasn't bad chocolate, I've tasted worse, but it definitely wasn't Van Houten.
Since then I've been wary of buying well known brands of anything in Tachilek or even Mae Sai for fear they may be counterfeit.
Thanks for any information.
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Acceptable quality printers can be found in many areas of the city.
For hi-resolution fine art scans; color separations; high quality inkjet prints on archival paper etc., try Pattrara Prepress located near Chang Puek Gate. www.pattrara.com.
Choke dee.
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This seems to be the topic that refuses to die.
At the risk of prolonging it even more, let me thank everybody who responded.
Those who knew Gringo, with their memories and necessarily mixed emotions, and those whose knowlege and experience of Chiang Mai are limited and short. Their callow opinions added interest, if nothing else, to the thread.
It was a vindication of the belief that Chiang Mai has too many of you here. You're no doubt posting from a modern condo, hi-rise apartment or gated community, safely isolated from anything or anybody even remotely connected with traditional life.
Somehow I just can't see you in an old teak house surrounded by your Thai and look-kreung family.
But who knows, I may be wrong.
Gringo and others who assimilated, to one extent or another, had a totally different life here.
You would be as incapable of understanding him as he was of understanding you. It's not that people like him and local Thais dislike you, it's just that they would prefer you were less opinionated, judgemental and bloody arrogant.
But Kohn Muang have always had to deal with human-waves of obnoxious outsiders, whether Burmese, Bangkok Thais or Jeen Haws. Now it's farangs.
Chiang Mai has survived them all.
May the city and people always survive. Especially the classy girls with the cultural traditions that were part of their upbringing and define the lovely word "sa-nay".
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Thanks for your interest..I also felt this thread was proceeding in a fashion that reflected his posting style, an apt tribute. Carry on. Would like to see his artwork, any online?
I've made an arrangement with his family - wife and two grown children - to print one of his designs, a real beauty, as a T-shirt.
It's a semi-nude girl riding a tiger with "Lucy's Tiger Den...Bangkok" in letters that are sort of like chinese brushstrokes..
Gringo knew Tiger Rydberg, Lucy's boyfriend and co-owner of the ginmill in Bangkok. I didn't, I was never part of the bar-scene.
If it's a success - and this is the crowning irony - it will probably be worn by grotty old farangs holding hands with girls less than half their age. Just the kind of degenerates that Gringo loathed!
Anyway, thanks again.
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Thank you very much for your intelligent and heart-warming reply.I knew him and his family rather well in the late 80's, early 90's when our children were at Sacred Heart together. He was a talented but complex person.
The paintings of hilltribe people, Buddhist subjects, landscapes, and mandalas that he did during his first twenty or so years here were really fine.
The transformation of Chiang Mai as we knew it, followed by the events of post - 9/11 in the US and beyond, changed him and his work profoundly.
Political and social satire and a dark undercurrent took over.
Maintaining a friendship with him was as difficult as I would imagine it would have been with the likes of Orwell or Kafka.
His relations with Thais, as far as I could tell, seemed good.
The Thai dislike for the pahk-wahn / doot pree-oh type probably worked to his advantage, combined with his innate respect for the people and their culture.
He once told me that the most important part of getting along here was to never forget you were a guest; because if you lived with them a hundred years you wouldn't be accepted on any other terms.
I guess that just about sums it up.
R.I.P. Gringo
I think artists are very complex people. But this is what makes their talents so unique, because they exhibit they’re works in ways as only they can portray and what establishes the fascination as each creative work of art is a one off.
Did not know the guy, but I have always had the most admiration and respect for artists. Maybe he`s up there now rubbing shoulders with people like Rembrandt and Picasso. We never know?
I started this topic as a tribute to a friend - and occasional foe - of many years standing.
In true Thai Visa fashion it soon became a free-for-all of the wildest views and opinions replete with conspiracy theories.
Gringo would have loved it!
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What is reality?
Really more of an account of your current situation than a reflection of "reality",
Guests?methinks...
were not 'guests', we live here now.
We don't even qualify as guests here. I wasn't invited; were you?
We're more like party-crashers - and Chiang Mai was a party in the 70's and into the early 80's as anyone who was here at the time could tell you.
But then again, maybe not. There's an old saying, "If you can remember Chiang Mai in the 70's, you weren't there".
But I can, and I was; sometimes anyway. In my more lucid moments I could enlighten you in all sorts of ways.
Nowadays, we've crashed a party that has ended...a banquet hall deserted. The feast has been consumed - everything from fruit to nuts - and the pits and bones spit out on the floor.
All that's left is the debris and a bunch of know-nothing greenhorns to debate the issue in pubs and on internet forums.
Is the perception of it the same for everybody?
I think not.
I don't know what your's is based on. Possibly more knowlege and a longer experience of Chiang Mai than I have.
If so, I'm sure we could agree that the best way to get along here is by being amiable; if for no other reason than the principal of "Be extra nice when travelling; you never know how the locals treat people they don't like". That attitude has always worked for me.
I like to give out a piece of advise that I learned from Gringo a long time ago. That is, always listen to farangs who have been here awhile; if you don't, you will get lessons from Thais that you won't forget anytime soon.
But the smartasses never listen.
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Guests?methinks...
were not 'guests', we live here now.
We don't even qualify as guests here. I wasn't invited; were you?
We're more like party-crashers - and Chiang Mai was a party in the 70's and into the early 80's as anyone who was here at the time could tell you.
But then again, maybe not. There's an old saying, "If you can remember Chiang Mai in the 70's, you weren't there".
But I can, and I was; sometimes anyway. In my more lucid moments I could enlighten you in all sorts of ways.
Nowadays, we've crashed a party that has ended...a banquet hall deserted. The feast has been consumed - everything from fruit to nuts - and the pits and bones spit out on the floor.
All that's left is the debris and a bunch of know-nothing greenhorns to debate the issue in pubs and on internet forums.
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An email from his sister informs me that OldGringo the artist and long time Chiang Mai resident died last August at his summer studio at Garrison in the Hudson Highlands north of New York City.
A painter and sculptor of considerable talent, he was an irasible character who I knew here since the late 70's.
Both artists, we had many things in common. But in spite of, or perhaps because of that, there was often friction between us.
I could paraphrase Mark Anthony and say "I come to bury Gringo, not to praise him". But in point of fact there were many things to praise.
He loved Chiang Mai sincerely, with a profound knowledge of it's history and culture.
His early years here, being given over to his pleasure as a stoner and cocksman, more or less came to an end when he married a girl from an old family in the Wat Muang Guy / Sanahm Golf area in the early 80's.
Born to a well-to-do family in New York he attended a private school until his parents split-up when he was a child. That was followed by financial reverses and a nomadic existence with his unstable mother and two siblings.
He quit school at fifteen and went to work on St. Croix in the West Indies as a carpenter. A trade that came as naturally to him as artwork.
Back in New York he enrolled at the Art Students League and took some classes at NYU. A couple of years of that was all he had in the way of formal education.
His twenties were spent trying to make a living as an artist and travelling in Europe once or twice a year.
In 1976 he and a friend went overland on the Hippie Trail from Germany to India riding a BMW 650.
In Iran they met guys working for Bell Helicopter who had been in the USAF stationed in Thailand. The next year he visited one of them here and never looked back.
1977 took him to Chiang Mai to play a small part in a Thai movie being shot on location. This is where he stayed except for summer trips to the US to make money and visit friends and relatives.
He lived among Thais - you had to in those days unless you had enough money to isolate yourself, or were part of the expat business, goverment, or missionary communities with the peer support they provided.
He was a feisty old goat but most Thais liked him well enough.
What he disliked most about Chiang Mai farangs was the arrogance displayed by so many of them. Their almost willful ignorance of the history and culture of the people they are living with, and whose guests they are.
He saw the majority of recent arrivals as nonentities who were trying to recreate lifestyles here that they could no longer afford in their own countries. Their overwhelming presence was as unwelcome to him as it is to the Thais who have to tolerate their often obnoxious behaviour.
He won't be missed by most farangs, but he was a unique character. They broke the mold after they made him
Adios Gringo
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to hold on to their bfs/husbands. Of course you guys won't know whether you yourself is spelled, unless you have your own trusted acharn whom you visit often.
...and here we have the perfect example of a gullible farang in the making....here is old Soutpeels advice....dont trust anyone fully, the highest level of trust is with your direct blood relatives (not GF or wife) next level of trust could be your GF or wife....the term of the relationship means absolutely nothing in this scenario...
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Complications In Thailand?.......
in General Topics
Posted
I was trying to reply concisely to your opinions that were as wrong as the expression of them was comically ill-humored.
My point - in case you missed it - was that chronically dissatisfied foreigners should leave Thailand.
You spoil the scene for the rest of us.
Fly away butterfly, back to Japan
Tempt not a pinch at the hand of a man,
and strive not to sting ere you die away.
So pert and so painted, so proud and so pretty,
to brush the bright down from your wings were a pity-
Fly away butterfly, fly away.