Thailand vs Laos: A Cultural Thing

[LawrenceN]

I wonder how much time you have spent in the North of Thailand. The way you describe Lao people is how I think of Northerners. I felt it the first time I set foot in Chiang Mai in 1978, and still feel the same. It's the reason I live in CM.

Edited September 18, 2018 by LawrenceN
Additional thought

[Spidey]

Just now, LawrenceN said:

I wonder how much time you have spent in the North of Thailand. The way you describe Lao people is how I think of Northerners. It's the reason I live in CM.

Even more pertinent to North Easterners (Issan folk). Maybe it's just Central Thais that give Thai people a bad rep?

[Skypirate]

I Have lived in worked for two companies Laos and two companies in LOS.

 

Based in VTE ...dirty, corrupt, expensive and becoming dangerous.  But some cultural history and events to enjoy.  Crime on Farangs increasing.  Police not as aggressive towards Farang as LOS , but never miss a chance to pocket some money.

Not uncommon for neighbor or hotel staff to turn you into police if gal in your room.. Police split the fine with them.

Once out of VTE, it is a different Country.  Nice, quiet, little bit more affordable...but increasingly austere as you get off the road.  Very sad to see what the Chinese are doing in NW part of Laos.  Overall, very little regard for the environment by Government.

 

Based in BKK...Not as dirty, still corrupt, becoming more expensive and can be dangerous if your not aware of ur surroundings.  I have been assaulted by taxi/tuktuk in both countries.  Development in LOS has little regard for environment.  I get mixed feelings about anti-farang in LOS then Laos.   I think just more Thai than Laos encounters, so great chance for discrimination.  Once out of the Cities, I have always had good encounters with Thai folks.

 

In SE Asia since 2011.   Long time Thai companion.

[Easy Come Easy Go]

1 hour ago, Skypirate said:

I Have lived in worked for two companies Laos and two companies in LOS.

 

Based in VTE ...dirty, corrupt, expensive and becoming dangerous.  But some cultural history and events to enjoy.  Crime on Farangs increasing.  Police not as aggressive towards Farang as LOS , but never miss a chance to pocket some money.

Not uncommon for neighbor or hotel staff to turn you into police if gal in your room.. Police split the fine with them.

Once out of VTE, it is a different Country.  Nice, quiet, little bit more affordable...but increasingly austere as you get off the road.  Very sad to see what the Chinese are doing in NW part of Laos.  Overall, very little regard for the environment by Government.

 

Based in BKK...Not as dirty, still corrupt, becoming more expensive and can be dangerous if your not aware of ur surroundings.  I have been assaulted by taxi/tuktuk in both countries.  Development in LOS has little regard for environment.  I get mixed feelings about anti-farang in LOS then Laos.   I think just more Thai than Laos encounters, so great chance for discrimination.  Once out of the Cities, I have always had good encounters with Thai folks.

 

In SE Asia since 2011.   Long time Thai companion.

I've been to Vientiane I think 7 times now, I was there for 6 days this most recent trip, and I've never had any trouble whatsoever. I've heard about violence there, but literally have never seen or come across it. The city / town has always seemed very safe to me. And yeah I have made trips back from a bar at 11-12 to my hotel, walking. So maybe I've just been lucky? Not sure. I didn't find it any more dirty than most places in Thailand, a lot of the areas are very clean and polished actually. But there are very dirty areas much like in LOS. I did notice how few police were around, and how non-threatening and or overbearing they are. 

Like you, I've stayed in Thailand for the majority of my time, so that says something. It would be nice to mix together aspects of both countries into one nation lol

[Ulysses G.]

14 hours ago, Spidey said:

We get first dibs at their women.  

No. We don't. We usually get the dregs when it comes to long-term relationships. Thais always laugh at us about picking "ugly women" and - in general - they have a point, but I would say "plain" is closer to the truth.

 

Edited September 18, 2018 by Ulysses G.

[The manic]

Move to Issan and get the best of both worlds.

[zzaa09]

18 hours ago, Spidey said:

Even more pertinent to North Easterners (Issan folk). Maybe it's just Central Thais that give Thai people a bad rep?

There has always been historic cultural prejudices, largely invented by the state, originating from the "pure Tai/Tai" [whatever that is]. 

....and still exist somewhat today. 

 

The irony is quite rich, as most of what is considered Thai - cuisine, dress, architecture, customs, language, music, arts, bloodline, etc - have direct origin from Lao/Khmer/Mon, which are truly the dominate cultural features that are usually dismissed by a version of a created state xenophobia.  

[Spidey]

4 hours ago, Ulysses G. said:

No. We don't. We usually get the dregs when it comes to long-term relationships. Thais always laugh at us about picking "ugly women" and - in general - they have a point, but I would say "plain" is closer to the truth.

 

I can assure you that I got first dibs.

 

I have a Thai mate who's wife is a munter (lovely lady though) who makes it abundantly clear that he's jealous of my ability to pull a cracker.

[madusa]

On 9/18/2018 at 10:28 AM, PerkinsCuthbert said:

If you wish to know what God's waiting room is like, go to Savannakhet for a night or two.

Do I really have to wait in God's waiting room just for an appointment with God after I die? Never mind I will tell the receptionist there I would rather go to hell. So please show me the exit door. I no longer trust a God that sends his Jewish son to save my soul after I seen what happened in Palestine. How could his chosen people screwed up everything in Palestine and he does nothing. I can't forgive God not God forgiving me. God is making a big mistake.

[madusa]

Love to read this topic on Laos. I lived there about a year in 2001. I found many coffee shops and restaurants very very dirty. I spent time to make friends with the owners of those coffee shops and restaurant  most of them allowed me to visit the kitchens after they got to know me. After my visit to the kitchens I just wouldn't eat there anymore. That's how dirty they were. May be I was unlucky to visit the dirty ones. I am sure there are clean ones but I was not lucky enough to meet the owners of the clean ones.

I don't think Laos are exposed to good foods so I cannot blame them for the bad foods they made.

One thing I do like is that you don't see prostitutes everywhere. They are there of course but not advertise openly. Farmers are too poor to buy chemicals so they don't spray them, the veggie is not so green a little yellowish with holes because insects ate them I was happy to eat veggie with holes which I know is a lot safer because if insects don't die you don't die. The veggies are smaller in size too. It should be.

It's a 100 percent police state can't argue about that. So you have to be careful when dealing with the police or government officials. They do as they please. I conduct a business without a permit while I was there but had no problem because I had a backup, guess who? He is the district headman.  The police visited me but they didn't threaten me or say anything to that effect. Just see my passport and knew it was illegal for me to do what I was doing. But the headman was with the police when they visited me so everything went well. Otherwise I would have been thrown in jail waiting court case.

The district headman was very kind to me I don't know why. I live next to his house and we did quite a bit of drinking together and also visited his farms in the countryside. Had picnic and things like that. So he values friendship enough to tell the police to piss off.

Many Asians and South East Asian countries are police states masquerading as democratic countries.  When you see the words Democratic Republic you should know something is not quite right.

[The manic]

3 hours ago, madusa said:

Do I really have to wait in God's waiting room just for an appointment with God after I die? Never mind I will tell the receptionist there I would rather go to hell. So please show me the exit door. I no longer trust a God that sends his Jewish son to save my soul after I seen what happened in Palestine. How could his chosen people screwed up everything in Palestine and he does nothing. I can't forgive God not God forgiving me. God is making a big mistake.

Palestine? The Holy Land? Like most Middle Eastern states, with the exception of Israel, is a preview of hell.

[madusa]

On 9/19/2018 at 8:07 AM, Spidey said:

I can assure you that I got first dibs.

 

I have a Thai mate who's wife is a munter (lovely lady though) who makes it abundantly clear that he's jealous of my ability to pull a cracker.

Not surprise if farangs love this lady because she has got personality.

[mpyre]

On 9/17/2018 at 2:21 AM, mauGR1 said:

Although i have not spent a significant amount of time in Laos since 2005, my impression at the time was similar.

Refreshing experience, although the buses and transportation in general  seemed a bit too old and slow.

I understand how many Thais may get annoyed with foreigners after decades of mass tourism, but i guess most of them can see the difference between polite or impolite guests.

I understand how many Thais may get annoyed with foreigners after decades of mass tourism

 

This is the key phrase that drives behavior and attitudes in all "tourist destinations" around the world... locals just get tired of the new people/same crap thing, day after day.

 

[mauGR1]

1 minute ago, mpyre said:

I understand how many Thais may get annoyed with foreigners after decades of mass tourism

 

This is the key phrase that drives behavior and attitudes in all "tourist destinations" around the world... locals just get tired of the new people/same crap thing, day after day.

 

Yep, i think so, the locals don't like to have their streets invaded by tourists, apart, of course, the ones who make money with them.