ChumpChange

This thread started with some interesting thoughts and opinions, but it didn't take long for it to race into two pages of the battle for the lowest common denominator. Seems like it's already run its course and reach its expiration date.

Yes, I didn't mean to say it's impossible to gain a higher level of acceptance amongst locals if you put in the effort to make friends and get to know people and then treat them with the same caring and generosity you would like from them. The same is also true the world over. People are people. I was just making a sweeping statement based on an accepted generalization about the superficiality of perceived acceptance of foreigners in Thailand. But as you said, at the lower levels in Thai society, it's much harder to get an acceptance from the locals, even when trying to get closer to them. Lack of education, feeling jealous of you, not understanding you, lacking their own confidence, making judgements based on stereotypes and perhaps, even a level of racism, all play a role. It isn't as much like that in other countries though. Regarding the OP, yes, he thinks he can act pitifully and still be treated well because he considers his money to be his calling card. But that rarely works well anywhere in the world with locals when you mistreat them, not even in poor and/or developing countries. He will of course deny that's how he does them. But "deny" stems from the word "denial" and there you have your answer when it comes to his experiences and interactions. For the most part, his stories and posts complaining about bad treatment in Thailand are better just ignored. Another point very often less discussed are the benefits of being and remaining an outsider. The less you fit in then the less you are expected to follow and adhere to any petty social norms that are required in order to fit in. That's what makes Thailand so pleasant for many of the long term foreigners living in Thailand. The locals care much less about how foreigners behave and foreigners aren't shamed in the same way that locals would be if they acted similarly. So foreigners have much more social freedom than locals do in Thailand. Of course if foreigners do cross the line and physically hurt a local or damage the property or reputation of a local then the foreigner can expect the legal ramifications to be exponentially worse than they would be for a local. Ask some Thai people living in the USA or Europe why they prefer living there though as opposed to living Thailand. Many will tell you more freedom. They don't have to act, dress, etc a certain way. Nobody cares what they do. More autonomy. So foreigners living in Thailand also benefit from more privacy/freedom/autonomy than the locals by not being accepted. So I much rather be an outsider and not be accepted too much into the Thai social hiarchy. I don't want to be considered too much of a local. No benefit. Just more social scrutiny. On the other hand, speaking Thai fluently reduces a bit of that social freedom for foreigners even though the language can be a valuable tool. Now you are expected to not only know the polite use of the language, but also to understand and fit in with social norms. So "going native" can and will reduce some/a lot of your freedom and autonomy. Eventually though you learn when to hide local language proficiency and stick to English. It can have its benefits too. I spend a lot of time in other Asian countries too and I purposely avoid learning the language and trying to integrate at all. I much prefer remaining an outsider and the benefits that go with "getting a pass" and being treated with kid gloves because I'm the all unknowing outsider.

How they see you and how they treat you is very different. Two very different things. And that's the most important part. Who cares how they see you. High, low, or in between, doesn't matter. As long as they treat you with superficial respect and a smile that's all you need. If you think it's ever really going to be more than that then you are just fooling yourself. On the other hand, the OP constantly posts long complaints about how he's paying good money for things and still gets no politeness or respect. Now that's a problem if you can't even buy yourself some courtesy in Thailand. But people who are in that category of the OP are a rarity and are typically a product of how badly they treat others. But that's a subject for a whole different discussion.

Good luck with that. Decisions like this in an autocratic society are made by people in power and are based solely on their own personal financial interests. A bunch of signatures on a piece of paper changes nothing. Even protests won't do anything when decisions are always made in such fashion. Sad but true.

Another really important point is that you are here by choice. You aren't a political refugee. Nobody is forcing you to do anything or live any particular way in Thailand and you can leave anytime that you want to. You have options. You are here because your life here seems better to you than it might be in your own country. So it's a good deal for you in your eyes no matter what the locals may or may not think of you. And what they think also doesn't affect your daily life in Thailand. So again, what this all means is that what they think really doesn't matter. It's what you think that counts. That's the only reason why you're here to begin with.

The simple truth is that in reality none of this debate even matters. In any country foreigners never have equal rights to the native locals/citizens. In addition, locals rarely ever give foreigners the same respect as natives. In many countries the immigrants are outright rejected by the native population. You can find that in many poor, developing, and rich developed countries. And even if you have money and contribute, it often doesn't earn you any better treatment or respect. Nor, if you get naturalized in a foreign country, are you often going to get treated any better by the local population. At best you get the right to live, work, vote, pay taxes, etc, but it often it still doesn't gain you any greater status amongst the locals in the social hierarchy if you have money or gain citizenship. At least in Thailand, if you are a foreigner, have money, pay your way, and don't bother anyone then they usually leave you alone and treat you with decency and politeness on the surface. That's the beauty of Thailand. Even though they might see you as an outsider and not value you equally as one of their own, you will at least be treated with superficial respect if you act friendly, dress cleanly, pay what you owe and don't patronize or make a fuss.

Right in between the rats and the roaches running around in the streets of your Soi.

You take the blue pill and the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. Remember; all I am offering is the truth, nothing more.

Fat dogs fart. Bears shlt in the woods. Trump is a stable genius.

Cannabis poses health and safety risks in the hub of weed. Not.

A friend once said the only difference between gay and straight in the hub of effeminate men is a bottle of Sangsom.

Perhaps the Africans that line Sukhumvit Road around Thermae have scared all the Westerners away?

You're just a national treasure then aren't you? God's gift to trannies and sub-humanity? Would you say you are almost as appealing as Ron Jeremy?

He's may not be out of wood, but he's out of lube, which is even worse. Seems the country is not going to let him slide any longer.

Ex-con? When did he become Ex?

If there is no street CCTV footage it might also indicate she intentionally chose that particular place as the drop point so that her accomplice could pick it up without being identified by video later. Again, this assumes she was part of a criminal conspiracy. I'm still assuming though that she is innocent and was just very unfortunate, unless there is some evidence that comes out later to prove anything criminal occurred.

Nearly impossible to understand why a tranny has never grabbed you. Usually they only avoid the repulsive looking ones.

If it was really lost in earnest, and not a criminal conspiracy involving multiple actors, then there is a good chance it would get returned. It depends on who finds it though. Some may not return it, but many Thais wouldn't keep something big and valuable like that. They would feel for the loss of the other party and wouldn't want the bad Kharma from keeping it. They would also worry about the shame of possibly get caught with it later if they kept it. There have been many stories over the years of a foreigner accidentally leaving a large sum of cash in a taxi and the taxi driver having returned it.

Thanks. No interest in any further details. But for the rest of the members who might be, they will need photos of everything or it didn't happen.

Governmental Hub of baseless conjecture, anecdotal data, confusion, ineptitude, flip-flops, u-turns, hypocrisy, double standards, powerful personal interests, lies, deception, misdirection, misinformation, incompetence, incorrect facts, sensationalism, and propaganda. If I've managed to inadvertently leave anything out then please let me know.

Seemingly the government is hoping to turn the large existing grower industry into an export product for medical use cannabis to avoid a large financial collapse for the growers. I don't see that happening though. The growers probably don't meet the international standards required for that and would likely be unwilling to invest more to meet those standards. Furthermore, I suspect the market of supplying flowers to the international medical use cannabis industry is already very large and competitive and not requiring more supply. So it sounds like another pipe dream and that the government is merely providing lip service to all the heavily invested growers who will be totally stuffed if they do criminalize it again. Well, I guess they can grind it all up and make T-shirts out of it to sell to backpackers on Khao San road. Hub of cannabis T-shirts.

As you are the official expect on the matter, then that must surely be correct.

Hub of useless cannabis plant materiel. Sounds like a winner.

There is a possibility that she dropped the bag in that spot intentionally and that it was then picked up by someone who she was working with to commit the crime. Of course she might also be innocent, but all possibilities should be investigated.

I read a few in the early nineties. So long ago can't even remember the writing very well. Back then it seemed the place was filled with foreigners doing jobs they weren't good enough to get hired to do back home. So he probably fit in quite well amongst the crowd if his writing wasn't that great. There were a number of underwhelming foreign fictional writers back then as well.