Sam Gold

Drop it, live and learn, 9,000 baht isn't worth it.

If you're one of those who want to do it "for the principle", here is principle number 1: confrontation never works in Thailand, only shrewdness does, and shrewdness is best learnt the hard way.

Maxing the credit cards, lending money of her mil...

This strikes me as potentially your problem, beyond family visits.

He and Ms. Somchintra decided to press charges against their daughter after she started publishing critical remarks of the monarchy on the internet, which has brought waves of condemnation and intimidation towards their family in recent months.

Ah, face, face... so powerful it can turn parents against their own children.

It's not about face. This woman has recklessly implicated her family in criminal matters. She has also implicated her Facebook Friends still living in Thailand. They are going to be in big trouble, merely for the fact that they are part of her FB feed and response. Technically, they are helping spread words and images that violate Thai law. This woman is incredibly selfish.

It's always about face. But you're right about the rest, no denying that.

He and Ms. Somchintra decided to press charges against their daughter after she started publishing critical remarks of the monarchy on the internet, which has brought waves of condemnation and intimidation towards their family in recent months.

Ah, face, face... so powerful it can turn parents against their own children.

Why China? Because it is the rising power and while the best wild west days are probably gone, there are still great opportunities there. What's more important is that chinese people are actually looking out, something that no thai has done in the last 30 years - and the chinese are actually very interested in what the rest of the world are doing, how we are living, what the world thinks of china etc. They want to learn from others, to work together. The white man is not seen merely as a despicable walking wallet to be fleeced in between <deleted>mongering activities. It's a huge county, massive differences in culture, nature and language. The opportunities there are endless. There are also jobs, there are business opportunities, possibilities to make things happen if you are a hardworking guy. Oh yeah, and their women are far more attractive than the isaan prostitutes or the weird looking halfbreeds adored by the Thai media.

There are just as many Chinese who are rude and dubious towards foreigners than Thais, possibly more, and the whole "China is where it's all happening" thing is turning out to be largely unfounded.

I'd be interested in having your views after a couple of years actually living there.

It means she wants money. Everything else she's happy to take care of herself.

After hitting the bike, the Mercedes’ driver stepped out of the car and announced to everyone who witnessed his tantrum that he was a well-connected big shot.

The only thing that matters here. Probably has a couple of horrendously ostentatious 30,000 baht rings on his fingers too which will be sure to impress the police as they "wai" him and let him go.

another thing i noticed, i believe they usually appear to make little or no effort to speak thai for some reason

Nor do a lot of them speak hardly any English, it's Russian or nothing, to which the Thais readily comply - reminds me of what a Thai ex once told me: "Thais are like snakes, they acclimatize seemlessly with anything and anyone to get what they want."

It's worth taking a stroll down the night market in Jomtien for a demonstration of that statement: Thai vendors, all smiles, going "da, da" and even a young guy serving cocktails while jigging to Russian hip-hop.

Russians are self-centered and don't care what Thais say as long as they get what they want.

Thais are self-centered and don't care what Russians say as long as they get what they want.

They're not that different actually.

Add SCB to the list. I was charged 180 baht today for the very first time.

Masseuse is a female masseur. I'm sure some of you needed this clarification.

So you believe people here to be totally ignorant?

I am only posting this for a possible favor; read below. I have to get your attention first, I understand.

So you believe that in order to interest people here, you need to post a cheap story with sexual undertones?

Besides being insulting, it doesn't make sense: why would you want the opinion of cretinous sex-obsessed lowlifes such as ourselves?

Reply in English, as the muppet they expect me to be. That covers just about everything.

Not just in Thailand. Seems the same everywhere. And not just females.

Indeed. It's much worse in the West. Only Bangkok is like that here.

In the rest of Thailand, people still do some actual socializing.

Sounds like Spartacus fighting for his freedom in the mines - History is just an endlessly repeating loop when you think of it.

Thai loan sharks don't go to the police to report non-payers.

Your friend is Thai and she knows exactly how this works. It's not likely either that she would ever consider asking a farang if all she wanted was advice.

I would be careful.

What a brave little girl.

I don't have a Facebook account but if I think of anything I can do I will be sure to do so.

My thoughts are with Tia and her parents.

Anyone who has even the remotest of media contacts in Asia could try to get Tia's story told.

Perhaps flyers at a university with Tia's Facebook page would be an idea. Uni students love "drives," especially for toddlers.

Bone marrow can be donated by those between 18 and 60 (some exceptions are made) and I can't imagine there are less than thousands of mixed heritage potential donors in that age grouping, living here and abroad, who would get the blood test if they were aware of Tia's condition.

Any chance we could get a summary of the situation in Thai? It would make it easier to spread through networks of Thai people.

What a brave little girl.

I don't have a Facebook account but if I think of anything I can do I will be sure to do so.

My thoughts are with Tia and her parents.

Thais use it amongst each other mainly, it's the equivalent of "tight arse".

They use it more often than Westerners would though, as the concept of saving money doesn't exist in Thailand and a lot of Thais just don't get why one would have money but choose not to spend it.

If I may correct you, Thai sex workers use it usually when talking to or about customers.

Actually people also speak Thai in the 99.99% of Thailand outside of red light districts. My brother in law used it to describe his boss just yesterday.

Can Westerners really label Thais as being unable to save when many of us come from countries with the highest level of personal indebtedness?

I wouldn't mind if the comments were made in the spirit of a warning as in "Don't make the mistakes we did" but they're not; some actually have the gall to suggest that we in the West are somehow less susceptible to the lure of consumerism than the Thais and therefore, are somehow superior

Drivel. Pure drivel

The debts incurred by Western countries are the result of governmental actions, not people's spending habits, so not relevant here.

Excuse me? Debts are from both. People borrowing hugs sums of money when the market and job rate was high with out a way to pay it back was one of the biggest reasons of most debt! I think you need to read and check facts a bit more. Banks lending huge sums of money to people who did not meet the qualifications for loans brought most of the banking down.

I wonder what kind of education sam gold has. People who know almost nothing about how it was back home. I work as a tax / adviser / accountant i see all kinds of income and debt. I bet guys like Sam Gold have not.

BA in marketing.

I'm no accountant but I was involved in two Europe-based businesses that suffered from the backlash in 2009 so I'm not completely clueless either.

Ok, enough procrastinating for today, thanks to all of you for your views.

Exactly my point - countries whose citizens traditionally had sound saving habits, such as France and Switzerland, have been backed into a corner and forced into the spiral of debt over the past six years. The people aren't responsible for the financial crisis, and it isn't relevant to mention the recent state of affairs in a debate about people's spending habits in general.

Too funny. You forgot Scotland! Sam tell me you don't really believe this nonsense do you?

I bet he wears a tinfoil hat, nobody forced anyone to borrow too much they all did it themselves.

The link between the financial crisis and household debt is undeniable.

In 2008-2009, the US lost 9 million jobs and cases of excessive debt in France soared by 20%.

Sure no one put a gun on their head and forced them to borrow, and you're free to feel contempt for them if you're comfortable with that.

The bottom line is those in power make decisions in favour of a select few and crush the ordinary people, everywhere.

Where do you people get this shit from?

I know many Thais who put money by for a rainy day and I bet a lot of other posters do too.

Those among the TV forum membership who routinely force these generalizations out of their &lt;deleted&gt; are usually the ones who have the hardest time dealing with life in this country.

NIce bit of psychological profiling, you've got me all figured out, very impressive, and I love the scatophilic reference too, real class.

We all know exceptions but it's essential, for the sake of relevance, to take a step back and remain unbiased. Thais will typically buy gold if they have money to spare, which allows them to sell it back easily when they need cash. If they have 20K they will buy 20K of gold and be "Sabai Jai", on top of showing others they have money which would not be the case if it was in bank. Secondly, as reminded by Somsrisonphimai, they don't worry about retirement as it's normal to be supported by their kids.

All the Thai people I know will typically buy land when they have money. All of the Thai people I know do worry about retirement. All of the Thai people I know think it is foolish to dress too well as others will get the impression they are trying to impress people. All of the people I know when they see a Thai person with a lot of gold laugh at them and are critical of the ostentation shown by the lower classes.

What Sam Gold is describing above is trailer trash in any country.

So all the Thais you know are middle to upper class, which is fair enough, but I was referring to Thais in general. Again, it is important to step back from our personal experiences in order to be relevant. 75% of Thais are from rural regions and have below-par education. It's a bit unfair to refer to the vast majority of a country's citizens as trailer trash IMO.

Can Westerners really label Thais as being unable to save when many of us come from countries with the highest level of personal indebtedness?

I wouldn't mind if the comments were made in the spirit of a warning as in "Don't make the mistakes we did" but they're not; some actually have the gall to suggest that we in the West are somehow less susceptible to the lure of consumerism than the Thais and therefore, are somehow superior

Drivel. Pure drivel

The debts incurred by Western countries are the result of governmental actions, not people's spending habits, so not relevant here.

Excuse me? Debts are from both. People borrowing hugs sums of money when the market and job rate was high with out a way to pay it back was one of the biggest reasons of most debt! I think you need to read and check facts a bit more. Banks lending huge sums of money to people who did not meet the qualifications for loans brought most of the banking down.

Exactly my point - countries whose citizens traditionally had sound saving habits, such as France and Switzerland, have been backed into a corner and forced into the spiral of debt over the past six years. The people aren't responsible for the financial crisis, and it isn't relevant to mention the recent state of affairs in a debate about people's spending habits in general.

Can Westerners really label Thais as being unable to save when many of us come from countries with the highest level of personal indebtedness?

I wouldn't mind if the comments were made in the spirit of a warning as in "Don't make the mistakes we did" but they're not; some actually have the gall to suggest that we in the West are somehow less susceptible to the lure of consumerism than the Thais and therefore, are somehow superior

Drivel. Pure drivel

According to Standard & Poors, Thailand has the largest household debt ratio in Asia with an alarming growing rate, so it isn't drivel unfortunately. What do they expect when half the cars on the roads are owned by people who just can't afford them - the direct result of appaling loose lending practices by banks.

It has nothing to do with Thais' IQs. Actually the concept of saving for a rainy day doesn't exist here, I remember reading an interesting article that suggested it was indeed due to the weather. The absence of Wintertime means they never had to learn to store for harsher times.

Where do you people get this shit from?

I know many Thais who put money by for a rainy day and I bet a lot of other posters do too.

Those among the TV forum membership who routinely force these generalizations out of their &lt;deleted&gt; are usually the ones who have the hardest time dealing with life in this country.

NIce bit of psychological profiling, you've got me all figured out, very impressive, and I love the scatophilic reference too, real class.

We all know exceptions but it's essential, for the sake of relevance, to take a step back and remain unbiased. Thais will typically buy gold if they have money to spare, which allows them to sell it back easily when they need cash. If they have 20K they will buy 20K of gold and be "Sabai Jai", on top of showing others they have money which would not be the case if it was in bank. Secondly, as reminded by Somsrisonphimai, they don't worry about retirement as it's normal to be supported by their kids.

Thais use it amongst each other mainly, it's the equivalent of "tight arse".

They use it more often than Westerners would though, as the concept of saving money doesn't exist in Thailand and a lot of Thais just don't get why one would have money but choose not to spend it.

The saving for a rainy day concept exists everywhere.

With the Thais what you are seeing is a false pride/insecurity that manifests as a 'not caring' attitude. Or, lack of brains and education on how to invest or produce something that would yield benefits over time. Like a farm tool that would pay for itself eventually, but costs more initially to purchase. (For example, just using an outdated tool which makes things harder as time goes on and eventually leads to other problems).

Probably mostly lack of brains, or just so many accumulated problems that it's just pissed away on booze at the end of the day.

It has nothing to do with Thais' IQs. Actually the concept of saving for a rainy day doesn't exist here, I remember reading an interesting article that suggested it was indeed due to the weather. The absence of Wintertime means they never had to learn to store for harsher times.