bob smith

like leaches they are, blood sucking parasites. all smiles when they approach and all sulky when you tell em to get stuffed. bob.

finally a post with a modicum of sense! @Hummin & @susanlea take note! bob.

what the hell are you on about at all. about as clear as mud, as usual. bob.

so do the Thai's with cambodians. what's your point? bob.

thai men are some of the most aggressive people I have ever met, especially after a little whiskey... the women aren't far behind either. especially the bar hyenas. bob.

so they judge us on our body language/appearance? whatever happened to 'dont judge a book by it's cover?' thais are pretty shallow, wouldn't ya say? bob.

is it? bob.

I do. I also use mouthwash and hair gel. The only time I see thais smiling and being friendly these days is when you are paying the bill! bob.

well that hasn't been my experience at all. bob.

care to share? bob.

why though? i think this is the only country in the world that locals don't appreciate farangs speaking the lingo. it's a bloody strange place ! bob.

where do you find these friendly people, susan??? bob.

I thought more foreigners would mean a happier populace, given that more foreigners = more money and Thais love money... bob.

we had all those pre covid, BMT. bob.

more than you. bob.

Ok. what are the positives of living in Thailand in 2024? list them all. bob.

I wouldn't call in progression, richard. More like regression. Thailand could have progressed had they allowed the elected government to be in power, but in typical Thai fashion they fumbled it. They seem to fumble everything! bob.

are you trying to tell me that things weren't better back then?? bob.

...better in what way? bob.

I travel all over, trans. and it's pretty much the same story wherever I go. do you ever actually leave the house??? bob.

I disagree. It was still a relatively fun and vibrant place in 2012. bob.

..a friendly word of warning, this is going to be a long winded post. mods, before you close my thread please remember that these are my own experiences that I am posting about and that they are valid, even if they do not align with your own! With that out of the way, let's get down to it. When I first moved to thailand many, many moons ago, it was a vibrant place, full of happy go lucky people enjoying themselves. It was such a blessing to be here and I thoroughly enjoyed the first few years in (what was back then worthy of the name) the land of smiles. I started to notice some big changes around 2013, especially with regards to peoples attitudes toward farang. Then when the coup hit things slowly started going downhill. Now the Thailand that I live in is unrecognizable to me. everyone seems stressed, nobody is smiling and the locals seem to have zero patience for farangs in general. Just today I was in a tourist ghetto meeting a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while. I was sat at my table enjoying a nice cold beer when a hawker walked past and plonked her stuff on my table. I politely said no thanks in english and smiled. She persisted. Then I said the same in Thai, to which she reacted angrily, and gave me the 'oiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii' and stormed off. I did nothing wrong, other than said no thank you. what has happened to the Thai people? are they all stressed out because of money? is it because their politics are a mess? is it social media that is influencing how they feel about us? It certainly is not the place that I remember when I first came here. It has now changed beyond almost all recognition. Most thais on the street completely avoid eye contact when they see a farang walking without their mask on. some even cross over to the other side of the road, or at the least move as far away from them as possible. my honest opinion is I think they are terrified of us. a combination of negative media portrayals recently and the fact that farangs don't like to wear masks has shaped their current perception of us. Pre 2013 I can count on one hand the amount of times I had a bad experience in Thailand, now it is almost daily.. Also It seems that the economy is in dire straights. So many closed shops, roller shutters down, boarded up buildings etc. Once bustling areas of famous tourist hot-spots now seem to be on their knees. Something just doesn't seem right. How about you? do your experiences align with mine? if not, then do tell me where you are having positive encounters with locals because, as someone who travels around Thailand a lot, I would love to know where this utopia is. bob.

...another attention seeking Thai with nothing better to do that just wants his blurred face on the news! bob.

...You're not though! bob.

...don't let the door hit your ar$e on the way out! bob.