alex88

The Indonesian government said it's protecting Indonesians from drugs, but these guys were taking drugs out of Indonesia not bringing them in!

The cruelest part of this was keeping them alive for ten years. If you must execute them then do it immediately and let their families move on instead of torturing them and their families for a decade.

It's kind of universal that the people in the more privileged parts of society and the people with the power in society are not those who contribute to a more pleasant society

I don't like higher classes anywhere. I think I would agree in the sense that Thai Chinese culture dominates the economy and politics, dominates Bangkok. And that Chinese Thais hold a very large proportion of the positions of power in Thai society and therefore create a relatively oppressive environment.

And yeah I don't have so much admiration for the Thai Chinese as a culture, I try to stay away from them. Thais aren't real keen on them either.

Yeah but the same can be said for Any country. All countries have oppressive minorities. No country is completely open/tolerant/equal. I'm pretty sure such a society would be impossible. The funny thing is that seriously homophobic places such as Uganda have been influenced by heavy propaganda from American Christian fundamentalist organisations. Some irony in that.

Yeah I'm aware of the political correctness phenomenon in Thailand and yes it's quite a different concept. Not being thai I prefer not to involve myself in that.

Thai Muslims and Thai Christians are a different case than the majority of Thais who are Buddhist. They are minorities and special cases. Those issues are more to do with the oppressive nature of abrahamic religions than Thai culture, which is a Buddhist culture.

The west tries to push the political correctness agenda all through the world and in many ways causes more homophobia as non western countries perceive the gay rights movement as some kind of western imperialist propaganda. Sometimes it does more harm than good.

Gay pride style outness is in many ways considered offensive in Thailand due to a culture that emphasises modesty, and the concept of equality isn't necessarily accepted in Thailand as Thailand is a hierarchical society where equality is a very unpopular concept in general. I respect this culture and if they leave me alone and my gay thai friends are fine with it then I don't see the problem.

I also understand that ladyboys are discriminated against, largely for the reasons mentioned above. However I can't think of any country that tolerates trans people more than Thailand.

I think the thing is when making comparisons. The west itself is actually very superficial in terms of gay friendliness. In the west popular culture and political correctness means that people 'support gay rights' in public because they know they will be ostracised if they show their true opinion. Behind the western facade of gay friendliness is an underlying aggressive hostility and a lot of hatred or at least discomfort in regards to gays. Both Thailand and the west have a superficial facade but I would take thaoland's tolerance (even if it is not genuine acceptance) rather than the west having a gay friendly popular culture and stifling of any disagreement on the matter. Gay bashing is still common throughout the west, even in places like Amsterdam. And people being disowned from their families for being gay is also very common in the west. Pride parades and 'glbt equality' mask a lot of the reality of life in the west.

I don't expect to be accepted. As the saying goes 'what other people think of me is none of my business' as long as I and my friends are left alone then who cares?

Ace of Pop I don't entirely agree with you message but I think it does touch on a little bit of why this is an issue in the first place. Activist types will always complain but in Thailand I and my friends are left alone and that's all we want. No need to always turn everything into an 'issue'.

Thailand may not be politically correct or as open to the idea of 'equality' but Thailand is a hero archival society and the idea of equality in general isn't really popular. But the hostility and violence towards gays as seen in the west seems to be absent. I don't see a need to be accepted as everybody has a right to feel however they want. Just to feel relatively safe from homophobic violence is nice enough. Even holding hands, which is certainly frowned upon here for gay or straight, is a lot safer than in the west.

After 9 years I have never met a Thai person who ever had any problems with their family for being gay (apart from some Bangkok Chinese families). Whereas back in Australia a majority of gay people have either been rejected and expelled from their families or at least had issues in the beginning. I know ladyboys and lesbians can have extra challenges but I am just referring to gay males here. The only issues I have heard are some families where dating a farang is taboo, but being gay isn't the issue.

It seems that compared to myself and what I am used to the Thais are very light drinkers.

I hear people talking about Thais being big drinkers but I find that compared to back in Australia where the vast majority of people I know are very heavy drinkers, most Thais I know either don't drink at all, or just drink socially.

The point is that phi phi is in a national park so technically doesn't legally belong to any private owner and is actually owned by the Thais as a right of citizenship. What they do with it is up to them but either way it's theirs.

I understand your point but the vast majority of visitors would be foreigners so that's where the main environmental impact would come from. If charging a fee to foreigners reduced overall numbers visiting then that would be a positive move.

Why should Thais pay the same as farangs? It's their island. There should be a fee for farangs and no fee for Thais.

Someone mentioned Saudi Arabia as an example to show it's not just fundamentalist Muslims. But Saudi Arabia is actually run by fundamentalists on a par with Isis. Saudis don't just follow regular Islam, they follow Wahhabi Islam which is the most extreme form of Islam. No difference between Saudi and Isis except Saudi Arabia is a US ally (oil deals) and therefore the west tries not to focus as much as the extreme human rights abuses going on there.

People in Bangkok, tourist places, anywhere they have to deal with farangs, seem pretty rude. But that doesn't represent thai people. Get out of those places and meet some average Thai people and they are a bit friendlier and not irritated by the sight of a white man.

People are making assumptions based on not seeing many farangs in temples so they must be here for the sex? I dont come to thailand for sex or temples. I come to enjoy the atmosphere, hang out with Thai people (you can have friends and not have sex with them) and eat street food, drink thai whiskey, enjoy the weather etc etc.