Septic99

I agree with pretty much all your points here. In general, most expats that I've met during my extensive time in Thailand embody the worst aspects of Western imperialism--they tend to be racist and complain non-stop about immigration and how the muslims or Mexicans or Turks are ruining their countries; they look down on Thais as stupid and lazy and speak as if they're experts on Thai life and culture without speaking any Thai and without doing any research beyond beer-bars and go-gos; have no problem manipulating Thai immigration laws or bypassing visa requirements to suit their own personal interests; and show little respect for or awareness of the basic social values that define Thai culture (such as เเกรงใจ, ความกตัญญู, ความไม่เห็นแก่ตัว, ทำบุญ, etc.,). But, it's not surprising to me why you're getting such vehement disagreement here and why people are becoming hostile towards you--and I seriously doubt it's because they're racist or because they can't see their own biases. Your rhetoric incites this reaction, and shows that you're really not interested in having an important and thoughtful discussion on all the topics you raise--but that you're really interested in attacking, demeaning, and inciting a brawl. It's not clear why you're so hostile in this piece and why you're swinging in all directions--because you never say what's motivating this polemic, or why you're so fired up about the loser expats in Thailand, or what the purpose of all this is about. So, yea, even though you're only speaking generally and don't accuse all Western expats of committing these paradoxical blunders, no one here gets this because of the way you frame your argument-- with an arrogant, elitist tone, and with no respect for the people on this forum who took the time to read what your wrote. I'm pretty sure you would've received vastly different responses if your argument was framed with a little more respect for your readers.