tom07

Well the technology has changed a lot even in the nearly 5 years since Garry started this thread. I've been looking at the TV subforum for IT, and it seems that some are using online movie streaming services like Netflix, and even Plex media serving to stream their own content back homeI They are all fantastic technologies of course, but me personally I'm using True for movies, and old-style DVDs. I'm trying to de-tech my life here (I guess this is a kind of de-tox) , but still haven't completely succeeded.

On another thread I mentioned the lack of real friends and I was mainly talking about the ExPat community in Pattaya.

Where Farangs are concerned I will always feel that I am an ExPat whilst living in Pattaya even with the great and friendly set of ExPats that I play golf with and with whom I bike

When I am with my Thai family or close Thai friends I feel as though I am at home wherever home is at that time and if one is to follow that logic then I appear to consider myself in another category, Not ExPat, not Alien, not immigrant

I am sorry CC for not answering your question within the parameters that you have set but I felt that there would, may be an other option to consider

Touche, u really have hit it.

Thabks RJB, I met the results of a number of US missionaries that arrived here 40 years ago.....

the missionaries seem to want to be here on long term holiday, as they have no other way of getting a visa....these ppl are not at the bottom of farang society in my opinion, but the are close to it.....

CraigP, I guess from your Simon Templar avatar you may be English....

fishing as we knew it in England doesn't exist in Thailand... there are 2 obvious logical options arising out of this, and at the moment I am feeling too polite to advise either....

Yes, I am.

Thanks for the observation.

I'd never tried fishing in the UK, but when you're feeling a little less polite, please enlighten me of the 'logical options'.

So, my simple observation wld be, if u never fished in the UK, why on earth come to a country to take up a hobby which you don't understand in yr own, and u never will here ?

CraigP, I guess from your Simon Templar avatar you may be English....

fishing as we knew it in England doesn't exist in Thailand... there are 2 obvious logical options arising out of this, and at the moment I am feeling too polite to advise either....

_{A pileup on the motorway is always bad news, thank golly goodness the pileups here are generally less severe and less frequent than back in ole Europe...}

Oh don't be too apologetic, it's not a secret, it's been on Lonely Planet and the Rough Guides for decades.

It's really like anywhere else: if you have good family here it's good, if u don't it's not.

A contributor once described Phuket as having all the farang money, and Chiang Mai as having all the farang brains. She was wrong... but Chiang Rai has neither.

https://www.volunteerhq.org/volunteer-in-thailand

here's another one..pay $300 a week to sleep in a crappy dorm room and go work for free? How much profit is made on these "volunteers"? Unfortunately it seems that CR province has become the HUB of this entire INDUSTRY.

Hi PC, I agree about the Christian profiteers here. And I also agree that CR province seems to be probably the most established centre of Christian missionaries inside Thailand. You know, I really find this wierd. I am British, my country gave up (in general) missionary work in the early 20th century or before (100 years or before), ie during the days of rampant colonialism. Even British Christians would probably find the idea of missionary work primitive.

Most (actually all) of the the Christian missionaries that I know of here are from the US. Pls don't interepret this as a criticism of US citizens, or even of Christianity. But I find this kind of evangelism wierd and distasteful in the extreme.

Depends how you define “expat” and “immigrant”.

To me an expat is more than just a foreigner; it has overtones of professional or managerial workers of European descent in the colonial and post-colonial periods. I’ve met some guys who fit this description but none in Thailand.

An immigrant to me is an erstwhile foreigner who has obtained citizenship in a new country. I have met a few bona fide Indian immigrants in Thailand who came here decades ago to flee the mass killings during partition in northern India. I have never met a person of European descent (farang) who has Thai citizenship, though I know there are a few.

But words have actual definitions, not ones we make up as we choose.

An expat is someone who lives outside their home country. No more, no less.

What you say is true as far as it goes, but it doesn’t really go very far…most words are subject to different meanings depending on a variety of factors…. I’ll just give 2 examples, specifically regarding the word “expat”.

I have met one or two of the original colonial-type expats (not in Thailand). They would describe themselves as expats, but definitely would not consider themselves to be in the same class of people as 99% of the farangs who live in Thailand, whom they would probably describe as tourists at best (including those on longer term visas). This may in part be due to snobbery, but it’s mainly due to the process known as semantic change.

The writer of the original article clearly sees the term expat as overlaid with all sorts of socio-cultural, political and historical meanings, mostly negative, which many readers of this forum would not.

Depends how you define “expat” and “immigrant”.

To me an expat is more than just a foreigner; it has overtones of professional or managerial workers of European descent in the colonial and post-colonial periods. I’ve met some guys who fit this description but none in Thailand.

An immigrant to me is an erstwhile foreigner who has obtained citizenship in a new country. I have met a few bona fide Indian immigrants in Thailand who came here decades ago to flee the mass killings during partition in northern India. I have never met a person of European descent (farang) who has Thai citizenship, though I know there are a few.

I can understand where the writer – a black African in Africa – is coming from, given the history of European intervention in Africa and its aftermath. Thailand’s history is very different of course, particularly wrt colonialism, so I think the article has little relevance here, and the question is almost meaningless.

We persons of European descent are all farang here of course. It’s just about the only thing we have in common!

I feel so embarassed about some of my previous typos, but i hope u got the msg, i am in an extremely remote location.

Not just geographically remote, but culturally remote. No one here knows what a hamburger is, who the Beatles were (except maybe JL).JFK is unheard of , possibly some sort of burger.

Now u guys seem to be living in a different place and time, u like to argue about who is the biggest glutton in a 5 star u cld never afford back home for example, and be honest some of u spent months argiung abt this. Sorry my post is not 1oo% organised, i have just been summonsed to local village meeting, it pisses me off, but its a real village life xxxx

ok let go back to basics

initially my question was.... praraphrased..are there expats here who feel they have contributed to TL, well some have spent a few evenings reading Jane Austen etc ,,, nuff said

blv me, I am not against u, i am genuinely trying to help yr evident limitations in T-l.

some of u have been here 20 plus years. but its obvious from yr posts that u are longterm tourists rather than ppl who who have really acclimtaised....

apologies for any typos

nice to see someone else with a postgtrad, we are a the tip of the top lol

oh i forgot the name of the belgian guy who funded the flintstones football rehearsal place in mae sai

I lurv yr car pix so much, I, mean so sexy. Now, I have read a few posts from u posh geezers here. I'm a bit confused. Should I hire a valet for my super sports car or use my own elbow grease , ty in ultra humbleness xxxx

u are as free as your hamburger :-)

Lol,

Given the difficulties of internet where I am, there may be some glitches. I’m sure u 1^st world ppl wld understand that, or not J

Ok the skinny is simple…

I respect people that respect other ppl’s culture

I respect no-one else.

Why do all u ageing expats have so much difficulty in living in a different culture?

I've only just read all of the responses to my original post. For what it's worth I have received no PMs.

There are many threads and subforums here aimed at the intellectually challenged, they do not interest me. I assume there may be one or two here who also hanker for somthing more than advice on shopping, bars and cheapness.

So let's cast the net a bit wider... I would be interested in responses from people with a a postgradurate degree....

Hi Rich,

I haven't see enough of your posts to be prejudiced one way or another. But surely I'm not the only person here whot gets bored with tips on burgers and cheapness.

I don't agree with some of Don's political views (profoundly) (and I'm too posh to admit to liking burgers), but I also respect the fact (profoundly) that Don has more experience of business and earning a living here than anyone - bar none.

XXXX

Hi Rotweiler,

I was in a central coffee shop recently (1 coffee half the price of an agricultural worker's daily pay). The next table was occupied by some wierd nice white/pink boys and girls from Australia and UK, 2 days' experience collectively in T-L ... and full of wisdom in how to tame the natives...

what should I do,

yours sincerely,

T

_{re previous poster...}

_{just to elaborate ....}

_{I have many friends here...almost all Thai.... 50%+ of those have higher level degrees...the farangs i have met in general have barely finished secondary (12th grade in th r US system ) ... very very few foreigners have higher level education.... maybe u have ;-)}

@ Don Battles,

your response is one of the few that actually addresses my post, so thanks for that. I believe you are an octogenarian, quite probably with more experience of the realities of making a living in Thailand than 99.99 % of TV contributors, and I respect you for that immensely.

I thank you for your reply, and I respect your opinions. I am sure that I could learn a lot from your experience here even though I don’t seem to share your political complexion.

cheers

Tom

Hi Brian,

thanks for sharing personal insights which I am sure will be helpful to other members who are actually living here, and who are worrying about which doctor/hospital to go to.

I have had pretty bad experiences at Chiang Rai Overbrook, Chiang Rai Sriburin and Chiang Mai Ram.

I have also had pretty good experiences at Chiang Rai Overbrook and Chiang Rai Sriburin.

Many of the GPs (General Practioners - ie normal day-to-day doctors) at these hospitals are rotated up from Bkk on an annual contract. This means that they may (or may not) haver broader experience, but they certainly will be spending a lot of their energy adjusting to their new work environment rather than focusing on patients.

Cheers

Tom

PS . Please never feel you have to apologise for your English, most of us native English speakers are unable to speak any other language at all!

Hi, new in town here.

I'd be interested in meeting up with any arty or intellectual people - by which I mean people who earn (or earned) their living from the arts or their intellect in one form or another.

Have no interest in meeting any of the numerous foreign druggies (prescribed or otherwise) or alkies with artistic aspirations who plague northern Thailand, or self-procalimed "writers" and "bloggers".

A PM would be best.

Are there any ?

Somewhat bemused by this talk of thanksgiving and and "civilised". The cultures that colonised nth america don't celebrate "thanksgiving" in their homelands, but I guess that societies with such limited history do need to invent new "traditions".