connda

I thought Boris Johnson was a Brit?

If striving to see others as individuals as opposed to their cultural, ethnic, or racial grouping in the eyes of societal norms (which I tend not to agree with) is being "righteous?" Then I plead "guilty as charged." We are human, and as such we harbor our own biases. Personally I see anti-racial biases as trumping pro-racial biases. I'm quite Ok with the former bias. If you personally see "being judgemental and righteous at the same time" as a problem, well, you are welcome to your own point of view. I know where I stand and I'm comfortable with it.

Thank God Buddha I don't live in BKK.

That's hilarious! Well like all of the Thais in Thailand, if I'm issued a ticket, I'll forget to pay it - like forever.

They're rioting in Africa They're starving in Spain There's hurricanes in Florida And Texas needs rain The whole world is festering With unhappy souls The French hate the Germans The Germans hate the Poles Italians hate Yugoslavs South Africans hate the Dutch And I don't like anybody very much --Merry Little Minute, The Kingston Trio

Ewwww - "educated people." Now there is a civilized lot, 'eh? I see we are feeling our superiority today in a snooty, Ivy League, Oxford-educated sort of way. By the way - the average Indian has a better education than most of the descendants of their former colonial masters - they actually excel in STEM as opposed to 'gender studies.' "Educated people." That's funny!

I had a flight like that between San Diego and LAX one time. Everyone was up and chatting, but the stewardesses were up pouring champagne and and chatting with the rest of us. That was the most fun flight that I've ever taken.

This view: "The older single western male is more into the bar scene and living and hanging out with the prostitutes in public. Thai kids going home from school share Pattaya songteows with drunken sex tourists taking hookers back to their hotels. Younger Farang tourists are often over dosing on drugs at full moon type parties and stealing." ... is no less racist then these views: Bob/Colin/Barboy seems to have it in for the Russians in particular but also Thai males. Others seem to have it in for especially for the one straw one coke Indians. Some like Spidermike from the USA rant on about Chinese and Russians. Arabs and Muslims are also targeted daily. We even have Stephen100 who is endlessly putting the Thais down which is confusing. Each seeks to advance themselves as somehow superior to others. All Russians are this; all Chinese are that; all Arabs and Indians are this, that, and the other. All Western expats are "sexpats." This! 👆 👆 👆 No difference as all. You're just taking racial hatred and directing it inwards toward those who are from the same countries as yourself. "MalcolmB isn't a sexpat, like all those other dirty sexpats!" Good for you. You're superior. Pat yourself on the back. Like I said - learn to see people as individuals, not as a collection of alleged ethnic, cultural, and racial traits which one may personally have learned to hate. It's easy to bash people from the anonymity of a forum; but try sitting down and having a discussion with a Russian, or Chinese, or Arab, or Indian on a one-to-one basis. It's a lot more difficult to harbor hatred for someone when you are looking them in the eye and attempting to have a meeting of minds.

Are we really better than the Russians, Indians, Arabs and Chinese in the eyes of Thais? We are only really better than the Russians, Indians, Arabs and Chinese in the eyes of Western AN members who are "mostly white, older, male, English speakers" who have been raised since birth to be vehement anti-Russian and anti-Chinese haters. Their dislike of Indians and Arabs are part & parcel of their colonial upbringing and their world-view that Indians, Arabs, and other POC are "the white man's burden." Basically most Westerners are cultural racists who feel superior to all others on this planet. Thais ethnocentrism for the most part is only within the borders of their own country. Yeah, Thais are unabashed nationalists but it is difficult from them to haul that nationalism to other more advanced countries. Westerners, especially expats who made their move overseas late in life, take their ethnocentrism with them in their baggage wherever they go. And "no." I don't count myself among these natural-born Western racists. I've traveled internationally since I was a young child and was raised in a family who rejected racism in all it's ugly forms. I was raised to look at people as individuals based on their merit, not as part of the national identify of their country of birth. That latter view just leads to racism.

The term "expert" was a cudgel that was use to beat the public into a panic-filled frenzy for 4 years. My response to the term "expert:" 🐂 💩

As a "free speech absolutist" I find that X fits my needs, plus I personally like using the AI interface, Grok. It can be useful. I don't need a highly moderated "safe space" for my "tweets."

Bluesky or X (formally known as Twitter) - Where do YOU feel "safe" to post. Have you made the shift to Bluesky post Trump's election win or are you remaining on X - or will you use both? Feel free to explain your reasons why.

And that money will put another coat of Teflon on Tony and the accusations will just slip right off and right down the memory-hole.

As I said - F1 Racing: By the Wealthy, For the Wealthy using taxpayer money to fund the event which the average Thai will never see in person, or even get close to. Well perhaps other than the noise.

Yeah - it's going to make already bad Bangkok traffic into a cluster-foxtrot.