ZigM

Marin, I have plenty of experience. As I already said, this is "my take" on the situation based on actual experience and discussions with Thais who have managed to free themselves from the shackles of Thai conformity and subservience. That includes my ex-wife, my own Thai children (who are now adults) and Thai family and friends. Of course, I have no idea whether every single Thai is affected, and obviously, the higher up in the hierarchy they are, the more freedoms they enjoy, and most likely have less mental health triggers. Many mental health issues are hereditary but are triggered through negative events. But instead of throwing around insults and blaming everything on me, where's your evidence that I made bad choices? Where's your evidence that Thai society is not affected by the things that I mentioned in my post. You need to learn to discuss and debate things without aggression.

I have a BSc in Psychology. My take on this is that because Thais are taught to accept their lot in life and not to challenge authorities, throw-in the face-saving nonsense and subservience, Thai women, in particular, are prone to keeping stress, discontent and bad experiences locked up within themselves. I have seen how the lack of affection between Thai family members, parents and their children, can lead to additional mental health challenges. For example, when I met my first Thai wife, she already had a 4-year-old daughter. There was no affection between them (which is normal). My wife demanded obedience and she wanted her daughter to crawl around us, bowing in a subservient way. When I started tucking her into bed, her eyes lit up and she accepted any and all hugs. If she had to go to the dentist, only I could go with her and hold her hand. Her cousin had two grown sons. When we visited, they had to bow their heads lower than my head. If I sat on the floor during dinner, and they had to pass me, they literally crawled on all fours to meet the silly subservient criteria. Thai men appear to destroy Thai families while Thai women try to hold them together to save face. Fast forward, my current Thai wife also has a daughter. She's much older than my first ex-wife's daughter. Both suffer depression. My current wife divorced her previous husband more than a decade ago but the marriage was already over a decade before that. My wife never told her children about this until a few years ago. This caused a major mental episode in each child. Every time my wife's ex-husband misbehaves, and we hear about it, it triggers depression or an irrational response from everyone. Keeping reality from children and faking that life is "good" makes those already predisposed to mental health issues susceptible to mental health episodes. When reality comes crashing down, it affects those more who are desperate for the fake reality to continue. I've tried to explain how Thai societal expectations can trigger underlying mental health issues, and while it may be true that there is a lack of mental health professionals in this country, perhaps a rethink of how Thai people are boxed-up, indoctrinated and crushed with unrealistic, subservient expectations, may alleviate the onset of mental health issues. Thais are not happy. They are forced to smile, lie that everything is good, just to save face. My ex-wife left me when our son was 12 years old. Just like that. Yet, she refused a divorce. In fact, she'd call me every now and again to tell me that a friend was coming around. She'd then show up, hold my hand and pretend that we're still together. How sick is that? I spoke to a Thai friend recently who has lived in Australia for 6 years. She said that Thai people don't understand the concept of freedom and that she'd never leave Australia. I heard similar phrases from my now ex-wife. Freedom is important in any context. All these things affect a person's mental health.

I've never been to a bar. I don't drink or smoke and all of the ex-pats I know, are pretty much decent people who keep to themselves. If a Brit or anyone of any nationality misbehaves, as in this case, jail them.

All I can say is fantastic. That is what police should do. I wished the authorities in my country would do this as there are thousands and thousands of Asians in Australia operating illegal businesses in plain sight and all over the country. Having said that, there are millions and millions of Thai citizens in Thailand operating illegal businesses and breaking all sorts of laws. Can the Thai authorities now focus on them, please?

My parents are long dead but I know someone who brought over his retired parents and they live happily and independently in their own house in an estate. This guy runs a business and the houses are owned by the business. The son of the old folks admitted that while minor health issues can be dealt with in a Thai hospital, once they need regular care, it's back to Germany. This is because he can't look after them 24/7 and a qualified carer and overheads would even break his bank. He also stated that he doesn't trust the Thai health system and I concur out of my own experiences.

Just for educational purposes and everyone's sake of understanding what we're discussing: "Nazism implements systemic racial laws, which culminated in the Holocaust, aimed at the extermination of Jews and other undesirable groups. Militarism and Expansion: Fascism is militaristic with the aim of restoring national pride and expanding territories but lacks a racial component in its foreign policy". Therefore, Trump is more of a fascist and less of a Nazi. Trump doesn't really care about race as long as they can make him richer and make him look good. He uses fascism to force compliance. However, to increase his wealth, he'll declare any race or group of people as evil in an eye blink. See: https://testbook.com/ias-preparation/difference-between-fascism-and-nazism#:~:text=Nazism%20implements%20systemic%20racial%20laws,component%20in%20its%20foreign%20policy.

I am truly shocked that I got three (3), yes three down votes (the red thumbs down). Based on aggregated data from Wikipedia's "List of wars by death toll", it is estimated that roughly 570 million to 1 billion+ people have died in all wars throughout human history. Like I said in my earlier post, Trump is your average human psychopath. Not an extraterrestrial. History is littered with small to medium to big Trumps. They may have had different names in the past but they all are/were selfish psychopaths. Therefore, it's not a one-off issue. It's a human issue because narcissism, psychopathy and evil are part of our DNA. There's no devil 👿. If there were, he'd be a human being, like Trump et al..🤥. Please upvote as I can't handle the rejection...😬

I don't believe Trump is better or worse than his predecessors. After all, he is only human. And what history has shown, is that humans are capable of the most heinous acts, void of all logic where the outcome is so openly bizarre, it defies any common sense and contradicts what humans have been trying to sell to each other for centuries: that we humans are really all good. Trump wants to annex Greenland, Canada and do a lot of silly things yet hardly anyone pushes back and tells him to go away. Ergo, this isn't just a Trump issue, it's a humanity issue. Every human has a little psychopath waiting to get out. Trump, Hitler, Netanyahu, the guy in China, North Korea, and the thousands of psychopaths before Trump, and thousands that will emerge after him, is nothing more than human beings letting their little psychopath out of the closet. We don't need AI, we don't need a new world order and international law (that no one complies with anyway), we need a DNA make-over to remove violent and selfish tendencies. Human beings will most likely obliterate themselves making way for a new species. Maybe Planet of the Apes, Planet of Household Pets or the Planet without Human Beings? How peaceful would that be?!

Trump will soon post a video, similar to that of Gaza, with hotels, resorts and statues of him in gold everywhere.

I understand. You're one of those who make up their own reality to appear to be important. You must be really bored. I have a Thai ID card. My Thai ID card is called a Thai ID card because it is issued by the local Thai authority. They are the ones who called it a "Thai ID card" because it is issued by a Thai authority for use in Thailand. The Thai ID card for foreign temporary residents is also called the Pink ID Card (formally the Identification Card for Foreigner). It is issued to non-Thai nationals with long-term visas who are registered in a yellow house book (Tabien Baan), providing a 13-digit identification number for use in place of a passport for local transactions. I have never heard of permanent residency for a non-Thai in Thailand. As per a lengthy notice issued by Thai Immigration in 2013, the purpose of introducing a "Thai ID card" for foreigners who are temporary residents is to make life more convenient by not having to drag a passport around everywhere. According to Immigration and the local office that issued the "Thai ID card", I can book a hotel, hire a car, open a bank account and do almost everything that a Thai citizen can do, except vote. It was pointed out to me when the card was handed to me that I can now also access various public services. Are you saying that Thai Immigration and local council staff who issued the ID are wrong? Also, when you ramble on about tightened security regarding foreigners, that is a call that only Thai police/Immigration can make. A hotel clerk has no authority whatsoever to make Thai immigration policy or to make up nonsense.

A while back when Cambodia and Thailand were still exchanging skirmishes, I wanted to book into a hotel with my Thai wife. As I am a resident of Thailand, and according to Thai immigration, all I have to do is present my Thai ID card. I am not required to present my passport to anyone if I have a Thai ID card. However, the receptionist demanded to see my passport. When I asked her why, she said: "We are at war with Cambodia and we have to make sure you're not a spy!". Looky, looky.... I really don't see how a lily-white "farang" in his sixties (me), accompanied with his Thai wife, could be a spy. No one asked my Asian-looking partner to present her passport!!! And my passport doesn't say whether I'm a spy or not. I have come to accept that many Thai people (not all of them) twist and turn, manipulate, lie and embellish to make themselves important or to hide ignorance and naivety. I admit, I have no idea what the fires are about in Cambodia - but neither do those who dramatise it. Thais burn rubbish and grass all day long and all over Thailand. Despite it being illegal, the police do not stop the burning. Let's start within Thailand's own borders and stop illegal burning and then work our way outwards once we have cleaned up our own back yard.

Australia was racist up until the late 1970s and there are still a few racists around. But overall, Australia has come a long way. If we don't point out racism, regardless where we live, we will never evolve into an enlightened species.

20% of Thailand's GDP comes from tourism. I alone spent 10 million baht here over the past 12 months - and I paid taxes too - as a resident...but I'm not Thai and don't want to be. Although some tourists behave badly, most are well behaved. Most tourists, ex-pats etc are good people. Yet, the racism experienced is real. There's always an excuse for racism. As I treat everyone with respect and decency, I expect the same in return.

In over 23 years, I have not noticed an increase in racism. It has always been like that in Thailand, and in fact, most Asian countries. The generally accepted definition of racism is when a person or a group of people treat another person or group of people differently based on heritage, language, skin colour etc. Whether or not the racism was deliberate or not is irrelevant. It's the act of treating someone differently, or poorly, based on heritage, language, skin colour etc.. We are merely talking about behavioral facts - not emotions. So, yes, I get treated differently several times a week compared to my Asian-looking wife in retail, by trades-people and under Thai law. My Thai son gets treated differently too just because he doesn't look Thai enough. He looks more Italian. I'm as white as you can get but my son's mother has jet black, curly hair. Hence the Italian look. I admit that I made a mistake in retiring in Thailand. I'd lose a lot of money if I were to pack my bags and relocate back to a western country where I'd be more accepted. But I have to say that South Korea is worse. I lived and worked there some 23 years ago. Some of the comments here will no doubt down play xenophobia and racism and gaslight your experiences as if it's your fault or you're over sensitive. Yes, racism is a human condition that most nations have experienced one time or another...but if unchecked, it threatens all peace-loving and enlightened societies and its people. To just 'go with it', 'accept it', 'ignore it' or 'leave Thailand if you don't like" is a weak response. Enlightened humans should be highlighting all and any racism - not defending or excusing it. But if I may give a few examples of my own: when paying at the supermarket checkout, the operator takes my money but then turns away from me and gives the change to the Asian-looking woman next to me and bows to her, not me. My Thai son is ordered by a dude to go from the Thai entry queue to the foreigner queue based on his looks alone without ascertaining his nationality. The mere fact that the attraction had two separate queues, one which charged foreigners double, is racism. The various gaslight excuses that I am wealthy because I am 'white' is also racist. And yes, I paid Thai taxes last month. The trades people that I let into my house recently walked straight past me looking for an Asian to speak to. When they saw my son-in-law, they started talking to him although I was the one who called the tradespeople. You can slice it and dice it anyway you want but the fact is that if someone treats another person or group of people differently based on heritage, language, skin colour etc. then that is simply racism. The affected person has all the right to be upset about this. There's no comeback or excuse from the racist person. On a final note, in the mid 1970's, a television program discussed apartheid in South Africa. My father made a grand and ignorant comment that "...you can't just abolish apartheid immediately and give 'blacks' equal rights immediately. Equal rights must be earned and introduced slowly, over time". I was around 10 or 11 years old when he made that stupid statement...and I was quite shocked. No one introduced me to equal rights. I always knew that racism was wrong. Imagine abolishing slavery but it only starts in let's say 10 years. Every decade, the slave gets a few more right. How dodgy is that?! In 100 years, your grandchildren could be free. Equality is not something that needs to be earned and it shouldn't depend on your nationality or looks.

Why? Because you're a foreigner. Like me, foreigners have little rights here. Even a Thai citizen, who happens to look like a "farang", like my son, has fewer rights than a Thai...just because he doesn't look Asian enough...or my white man genes came through too much...oops. Shouldn't have said that. In modern and enlightened societies, it's called racism.

It's disturbing how journalists refer to Trump using his "favourite tool". They make it sound benign and funny that the most dangerous man on the planet with oodles of nukes uses bullying tactics to get his way. If I did that, I'd already be behind bars. More disturbing are those commentators in the thread that advocate for nuking Trump. This idea is just as st***d. Seriously, everyone, grow a brain. We either respect each other and learn to get along or we all go nuts at each other. Something has to give with egomaniacs in all corners of this planet.

Good answer. I'm not going to get upset about things that I cannot change. I'm going to focus on a great retirement, and for Thais who are stuck in the past (i.e. outdated and primitive social order), I don't care about them. It's their ignorance not mine. So, the above response: "...ignore them completely as if they don't exist and eventually they won't" is a good response.

I've been asking myself that very same question. I paid cold hard cash in the supermarket recently. The cashier hands out the change to the Asian-looking person next to me (who happens to be my wife). The cashier then does the wai to my wife but completely ignores me although I am the one who paid. Anyone see anything wrong with this? OK, next one, I enter the bank to conduct business regarding my bank account. The doorman does the wai to the Asian-looking person next to me (who happens to be my wife) but completely ignores me. He gives my wife a ticket for the queue but ignores me. No words are spoken. I go to the hospital because of a cut that got infected. After establishing that the doctor speaks English, he asks me to explain what happened. However, mid-sentence, he looks to an Asian-looking person down the hallway mid sentence (who happens to be my wife). He just interrupts me and talks to her in Thai. Anything wrong with this picture? When residing in Germany and later on in Australia with my Thai wife, every Caucasian greeted both me and my wife. Had the white people only greeted me and ignored my Asian-looking wife, we would have been labelled racist. My wife excuses her fellow country men and women's impolite behavior that they can't speak English or a shy. As I already explained to my wife, the rude Thais don't know whether I speak Thai or not just as my German or Australian friends and colleagues who shook my wife's hand didn't know whether she spoke German or English or not. Also, if you're that shy, don't work in customer service. Politeness has nothing to do with nationality or language skills. A wai requires no voice. Everyone by now understands a "hello". The wai, according to my research, is not specifically for persons of Asian appearance or of a particular nationality. Thai custom requires every junior person to greet a senior person, regardless of looks. In particular in retail, the sales person is required to greet me. I have observed, for example, when I go to HomePro, that if an Asian couple enter the store, both male and female are given the wai - period. If I and my Asian-looking wife enter Home Pro, in most cases, only she gets greeted and the staff look away when I pass them. I have a problem with that. So, racial profiling and racism is alive and well in Thailand. Thailand is still stuck in a kind of 1960's similar to when when western countries were coming to grips with racism. I still remember the racism in Australia in the 1960's and 1970's (and the White Australia Policy). So, regardless of the various excuses being presented for not greeting me or you, for ignoring me or you or not making eye contact with me or you, although they do it with other 'strangers', it's based on simple racism. At best, it comes down to extremely poor education, prejudice and rudeness. At the end of the day, I choose where I want to live. I'm here to be with my wife upon her invitation. I'm a 100% legal resident. I'm a self-funded retiree. No bribes were paid. If anyone tells me to go back to Australia where I was born, then the millions of Thai women who married an Australian for a visa should return to Thailand and the millions of bribes taken to hand out visas to illegitimate residents should also be returned. Again, no matter how someone spins it, politeness is pretty much universal globally and it has nothing to do with language, appearance or heritage. In Thailand, a good Thai knows that they must wai me. If not, they obviously have a problem with white people. I don't have the problem.

Thais are human beings with issues, like the majority of humans on Earth. Are Thais better or worse than other humans? No way! I've had excellent experiences with Thai immigration and practically all government agencies. However, I am aware that there are rude operators everywhere.

Sadly, I must agree with you. My (Thai) wife recently retired after being a high school teacher for 35 years. When I asked her what the Thai numbering system looked like prior to adopting Western Arabic numerals, she did not know. When I asked how non-English speaking Thais navigate the many western bill boards, ads and technical information and manuals (which is usually in English), she also did not know. Both of my Thai children from my former Thai wife only speak English and they've never needed Thai anywhere in the world - only English. Thais need to wake up to reality and understand that they are not the center of the universe and it is they who must adjust to, and adopt, international standards to make their way in the world.

12 years later...as my Dad used to say: "Better late than never". I have a BSc in Psychology. Not that it matters but for all of those who are in a similar situation, if the relationship/marriage is harmful to you in any way, exit as fast as possible. No one will accuse you of negligence or abandonment unless the accusers are daft. My first wife suffered severe self-induced paranoia schizophrenia due to her drug and alcohol abuse. I divorced her. My second wife was involved in a severe car accident followed by cancer. Both events and the resulting hormonal fluctuations post surgery caused severe depression. None of these people took their illnesses, which were diagnosed, seriously. Their family's initially sided with them until I got a call and requests for help post divorce. My third wife (we are now in our sixties) just admitted to me that she's had mental health issues since long before we met. She always claimed that she was free of any mental health issues. But that was a lie - obviously. I know a mentally unstable person when I get to know them. As with all people that I know that are ill, they all believed that they can control it. In reality, they can't, especially when the illness progresses. Around 2013, my brother tried to force my mother to undergo gruesome facial surgery that would have left her wearing a mask. The judge told my brother that you can't force a person to do things they refuse to do, even if it means their own death. Thai law may be different. I have no idea, but I doubt that it would be in any mentally ill person's interest to force them to take medication, lock them up or have them submit to gruesome surgery against their will. As selfish as it may sound, your responsibilities are limited. Your powers are limited. Treatment options are limited. I will not divorce or abandon my third wife. Her condition is mild. I'm hoping she can indeed control it until one of us passes away. But for those in the one-way street of torture, it's OK to bail.

I sued Masterton Homes in Australia in 2009-2010. We settled out of court. Their workmanship was non-compliant with the BCA (now NCC). While it is true that there are good and bad builders all over the world, if you want completely and totally unqualified workers who bring infants to work and use your property as a daycare center, go for a Thai builder. I've spent 2.5 million baht on renovating two houses in Thailand, and while I might have also had issues had the properties been in Australia, Thailand is the worst by far. Workers use a jackhammer barefoot, they weld without goggles or insulating themselves and they lie. I just had a German solar installer rewire my house by his qualified electrician. Yes, there are qualified people here too but because nothing is regulated, I wouldn't know where to look. Because the Thai builder who oversaw the renovations hired people from Cambodia, the quality was as expected. When I spoke to the German solar installer, we understood each others' expectations... but the Thai builder just laughed when I pointed out issues.

No idea. I don't drink! Get an iced coffee instead.

I recently moved into my freshly renovated house with a few new extensions. Although the builder lives opposite my house (and she showed me one of her building sites to convince us to go with her), she completely failed in all aspects of our renovation and build. This has caused so much tension between me and my wife that she wants to divorce me now, mainly because she wants to resolve things the Thai way by letting the mistakes progress until she can no longer ignore them rather than pointing out unacceptable workmanship as they arise during the build. For example, the main bathroom floods during showers as the water doesn't flow away. The other bathroom stinks 24/7. Presumable, the plumber did not install venting pipes. I know that they poured unused cement down the pipes. Also, instead of installing plumbing to accommodate a dishwasher, they merely installed a blue pipe sticking out of the wall and no connections under the sink, and, we've already had water leaks. As the blue pipe prevented the dishwasher from being installed, I told them to remove it and I made the proper connections under the sink myself. That alone caused a lot of argument between my wife and I. The paint is bubbling and peeling off of the outside walls. They used ordinary indoor plaster to smooth out areas where they had removed moist render/cement before painting the outside. The brand new gutters are leaking. Instead of using proper fit for purpose rebar for the gigantic triple car port, they used ordinary chicken-wire. Instead of using dedicated expansion foam, they used white packing Styrofoam. They wanted to create crack joints two months after the concrete had dried although I sent them instruction how and when to cut them. The solar installer (who is German) just told me that instead of using 4mm wire and a 30A breaker, they only used 2.5mm wire and a 20A breaker for high current-draw areas. Home Pro installed 7 air cons and used one breaker for three of them. My wife thought that I was a pedantic trouble-maker and know-it-all. In the meantime, she acknowledges that I was right about everything. All failures have occurred as I had predicted. All arguments with my wife have occurred as I had predicted. yet, if I identify an issue post-build, she practically tells me to shut up and let it go. When the independent solar installer and his Thai wife explained the risks of fire and other electrical issues and dangers to my wife, she was forced to listen. She could not dismiss them as she does me. It is appalling that Thailand lets unqualified tradespeople rip. Worse is that Thais generally accept poor, non-compliant workmanship, even if it endangers their lives.

Again, Kwilco, you did not read my post(s). You are misinterpreting them and misquoting me. My children said that: "Thailand is a backward country and does not meet 21st Century expectations". Had you read my post, you would know that. You ramble on about personal grievances which don't exist? You just make up stuff and invent confected outrage. You don't know me. If you can't contribute meaningfully to this forum, stay away. No one wants to be insulted by your ignorance and troll-like behaviour. Thank you, now stop commenting.