There is a reason why expats are not glued to their TV sets like the West

[rooster59]

There is a reason why expats are not glued to their TV sets like the West

By Dan Cheeseman

 

 

Glancing through my Facebook news feeds reveal a lot to me. In one stroke of my thumb on my mobile I can view 20 or so news feeds and in less than a minute I can see what my UK and Expat friends are up too, and I must say their lifestyles are poles apart.

 

More so than ever I have been looking at the option of relocating to the UK with my family, driven mainly be my Russian wife. The problem is the more I dig deep into what it would be like to return, the more it petrifies me.

 

My fellow Brits spend much of their time posting on Facebook about a TV show called ‘Love Island’. They all have opinions about who on the reality show they love and who they don’t. This kind of thing does not go on with my fellow expats in Thailand and the reason is the lifestyle is so different.

 

I spoke to two of my friends back in the UK, both now with a family so we are in the same boat. They confirmed that when they got home from work they watched TV in the evening, it was how they spend their leisure time. They also spoke about how they live for the weekends as this is when they have two days where they do not need to work. What a life, how could I possibly go back to such humdrum after creating a more extraordinary life?

 

In the UK much of the year it is dark and cold in the evening, so even if you wanted to go out the weather would soon put you off. Thailand is, on the whole, year round sunshine and as such expats spend a much greater period of their leisure time out and about. Sun makes you happy and the cold does not.

 

Full story: https://danaboutthailand.com/2018/07/13/there-is-a-reason-why-expats-are-not-glued-to-their-tv-sets-like-the-west/

 

DAN ABOUT THAILAND

Weekly Vlogs and Blogs from in and around Thailand

[transam]

Well back in the UK near all the pubs that were on near every street have closed down so the TV took over..

[Lungstib]

Even in the U.K. (till I was 27) I never watched much TV. Then I spent many years in adventure travel and TV wasn't available. Since spending more time in a home in Thailand I have found the TV to be almost impossible to watch. The programs are poor and the ads so awful that I drive my wife crazy with my comments. Books took over in my mid 20's and are still my main form of evening entertainment.

[colinneil]

Reason i am not glued to watching tv is i havent got 1.

Dont need 1 get enough laughs reading some of the crazy comments on here.

[Kwasaki]

I wasn't glued to TV set in UK only late evening.

I had interests much the same as I have here but more here cause the weathers better.

[transam]

38 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Reason i am not glued to watching tv is i havent got 1.

Dont need 1 get enough laughs reading some of the crazy comments on here.

I do try......

[transam]

44 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

Even in the U.K. (till I was 27) I never watched much TV. Then I spent many years in adventure travel and TV wasn't available. Since spending more time in a home in Thailand I have found the TV to be almost impossible to watch. The programs are poor and the ads so awful that I drive my wife crazy with my comments. Books took over in my mid 20's and are still my main form of evening entertainment.

The best thing I ever did here was buy a Smart TV which has YouTube built in, stuck it in my own space and watch...In fact I have learned more history and other stuff on that than I ever did during my life...?

[Just1Voice]

10 years ago when we bought our very nice house, one of the things we purchased was a big screen tv.  I think I've watched a total of 30 minutes on it in that time.  My wife is not much better.  The only one who really watches it is our son, and then only when there is a particular football game he would rather watch on it than his All-In-One computer in his room.  I think that's possibly twice a year.  Ahhh, but it looks so nice in our Entertainment Center. lol

 

 

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Read the first sentence, knew exactly who wrote this

[LomSak27]

Live TV, movie viewing habits to continue sharp decline in 2018

This is in the US - TV capital of the world. It has a whole industry petrified. It has been in decline since 2014 and before that viewing was "stationary" at best. This is  backed up by my trips back home. There might be a sports game on but nothing else friends and family are watching. Cheesehead needs to get out more often, I bet its the same in the UK.

Edited July 15, 2018 by LomSak27

[marko kok prong]

Thai tv is unwatchable,i have netflix.

[Dogbarker]

But there is a certain attraction to love island I am told .. And not going to share that here..  Haha... Risky UK TV......

[tweedledee2]

1 hour ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Read the first sentence, knew exactly who wrote this

How could you not know?  He's the only contributor that highlights his name in red. I started reading the bold text and stopped after "Facebook news feed".  I went to the comments knowing they would be entertaining.

[maximillian]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Well back in the UK near all the pubs that were on near every street have closed down so the TV took over..

 

After many cinemas closed, TV is replacing the pubs as well. What a loss and what a shame.

I stopped watching TV about 20 years ago.

But now addicted to computer, youtube, e-mails and such...

 

Edited July 15, 2018 by maximillian

[Jane Dough]

I don't have time to watch TV. It's all taken up by Facebook, duh.

[earlinclaifornia]

2 hours ago, marko kok prong said:

Thai tv is unwatchable,i have netflix.

Added to Netflix I like the free movie web sites. Three are my favorites. I avoid CAM movies on all. Quit US TV 30 years ago

[OneMoreFarang]

What is worse: Looking at the TV or looking at facebook what over people write about TV?

 

[sirineou]

3 hours ago, transam said:

The best thing I ever did here was buy a Smart TV which has YouTube built in, stuck it in my own space and watch...In fact I have learned more history and other stuff on that than I ever did during my life...?

 Love YouTube, 90% percent of my TV viewing is on YouTube loads of documentaries and content from around the world. Watching a documentary  on the railroads in India right now. Fascinating.

sometimes when I can't sleep, I would put some lecture from the Royal Institute   (RI chanel) then close my eyes and listen to it.  

Hours later i will wake up and there would be an entirely different lecture playing, 

I wonder if I learn anything in my sleep?  LOL

[PoorSucker]

4 hours ago, colinneil said:

Reason i am not glued to watching tv is i havent got 1.

Dont need 1 get enough laughs reading some of the crazy comments on here.

Neither have I. ☺

[Odysseus123]

Australian TV is pretty rotten, tho'I have met a number of "square eyes" since I have been back..usually glued to sports channels where the adds feature pretty sylph like females selling dietary foods to the bovines...or flogging funeral insurance to the aging couch potatoes existing in God's Waiting Room.

 

Like other posters I enjoy YouTube.

 

I don't have facebook and I am not even remotely tempted to go there.

[55Jay]

3 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

Read the first sentence, knew exactly who wrote this

He must have nearly popped a blood vessel restraining his ego and conceit ALL THE WAY to the second to last paragraph. 

 

Quote

What a life, how could I possibly go back to such humdrum after creating a more extraordinary life? 

Dan is the man though.  He's been a crusty old expat for sooooooo long, he'd completely forgotten the UK has shit weather. ?

[ThiAmo]

We occasionally watch à la carte quality tv with a 14 days' history for every transmission.

[4MyEgo]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

they have two days where they do not need to work

That in itself says it all.

 

I learnt a long time ago that 5/7th's even 6/7ths of my life was going to be working, "the life sentence".

 

I couldn't see myself working a single day, ever again, never, it ain't gonna happen, nop, nah, ever ! 
 

[newnative]

5 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Live TV, movie viewing habits to continue sharp decline in 2018

This is in the US - TV capital of the world. It has a whole industry petrified. It has been in decline since 2014 and before that viewing was "stationary" at best. This is  backed up by my trips back home. There might be a sports game on but nothing else friends and family are watching. Cheesehead needs to get out more often, I bet its the same in the UK.

        Deceiving with the 'live' and 'movie viewing'.  Latest statistics I could find, 2017, show Americans still watching 5 hours of tv a day, on average.  Different surveys put it from 4 to 8 hours but 5 hours came up several times.  Whatever survey you choose, that's a lot of tv watching.  "Live" and 'movie viewing' might be declining in America but I doubt tv watching in general is.

[AlexRich]

TV is the opium of the masses, and the op is correct about the UK, the normal work day leaves most people exhausted to do anything else and the weather leads most to seek indoor pursuits ... and that’s TV for most people. The younger generation are hooked on their own opium, Facebook, instagram ... and other such nonsense, giving the impression of an exciting and glamorous life ... that’s not a reflection of their reality. The weather in Thailand and the lower cost of eating out leads people to get out more and be more social, not a bad thing.

[connda]

My US friends talk about TV and TV stars and I don't have a clue what they are talking about.  Game of Thrones is about the only show I've attempted to keep up with and given all the restrictions on Internet viewing that pretty much means waiting for the DVDs to be released.  But given that GRRM has dropped the ball on the whole epic, I'm about to drop it too. As far as I can tell, HBO just wrote the end to the SOIAF series.  A Dream of Spring?  <laughs>  Never gonna happen.  Can't even get Winds of Winter to press and DB Weiss must be winging it. So as far as TV goes? <yawn>

[Thingamabob]

Please, no more rubbish from this clown. 

[The manic]

In the UK I literally threw my TV out of the window because of the rubbish it produced and lived without TV for years. Here in Thailand I only watch what I download using the TV screen.

[Odysseus123]

1 hour ago, AlexRich said:

TV is the opium of the masses, and the op is correct about the UK, the normal work day leaves most people exhausted to do anything else and the weather leads most to seek indoor pursuits ... and that’s TV for most people. The younger generation are hooked on their own opium, Facebook, instagram ... and other such nonsense, giving the impression of an exciting and glamorous life ... that’s not a reflection of their reality. The weather in Thailand and the lower cost of eating out leads people to get out more and be more social, not a bad thing.

"to get out more and be more social.."

 

I agree with you 100% and it is,in fact,one the biggest things I miss about Thailand.The colour,vibrancy,sheer energy and the sociable people.

[weegee]

8 hours ago, transam said:

Well back in the UK near all the pubs that were on near every street have closed down so the TV took over..

Was that because they didnt want to upset the Muslims?...?