Did America Make Thailand what it is today? Bloomberg seems to thinks so ....

[TonyClifton]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-08-16/how-war-made-thailand-a-tourist-destination-video?utm_source=line&utm_content=bloomberg&utm_campaign=article&utm_medium=news

 

History is so important.  We forget so easily.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

[marcusarelus]

Didn't you folks know?  Thailand won the Vietnam war.  Vietnam lost millions of people and ruined infrastructure same Laos and Cambodia.  America lost respect and many American lives and screwed up the psyche of the country for decades.  Thailand gained a communications and road network.  Millions of Thais were trained in construction and other trades.  Thousands of small business sprang up to deal with American refueling and logistics businesses.  Port cities and airports were built that are still in use.  Colleges and Universities got the left over equipment to teach with when the Yanks left.  America pumped billions into the Thai economy for war supplies as it was the only safe close place to store petroleum and bombs.  3/4 of the bombs dropped came from Thai airbases creating a giant industry.  Thailand was a backwater before the Vietnam war after it was the economic tiger of Asia. 

[grollies]

Aye, and look where it got them. 7/11, Starbucks, Macdonalds, KFC, ad nauseam....

 

Now Thais are getting fatter and only aspiring to the above.

 

The rates of heart disease and diabetes are rocketing.

[TonyClifton]

1 hour ago, grollies said:

Now Thais are getting fatter

 

Fantastic news for the chubby chasers!

[grollies]

5 minutes ago, TonyClifton said:

 

Fantastic news for the chubby chasers!

So you've gone from a serious (?) discussion to 'chubby chasers'?

[TonyClifton]

Just now, grollies said:

So you've gone from a serious (?) discussion to 'chubby chasers'?

I'm so sorry, what was I thinking?

 

Damn your eyes all your Westerners who made the Thais eat fattening foods.  Damn your eyes!

[NanLaew]

7 minutes ago, grollies said:

So you've gone from a serious (?) discussion to 'chubby chasers'?

Well you started it with your blathering about American convenience stores and fast-food franchises... which didn't exist in Thailand way back then either.

[EVENKEEL]

4 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Well you started it with your blathering about American convenience stores and fast-food franchises... which didn't exist in Thailand way back then either.

Back then they didn't exist in many US towns either.

[ravip]

Has the US done any good to any country, up to now? Has the US 'uplifted' any undeveloped country to the developed status?

[TonyClifton]

3 minutes ago, ravip said:

Has the US done any good to any country, up to now? Has the US 'uplifted' any undeveloped country to the developed status?

Of course, we have.  Just ask the Iraquis or the Japanese.  

[Spidey]

Well it certainly turned Pattaya into the worlds biggest brothel. Also made Thailand the pariah of South East Asia after allowing it to launch bombing raids on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from here, including the use of Napalm and Agent Orange.

 

Personally, I don't think that the Thais have much to thank them for.

[grollies]

37 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

Well you started it with your blathering about American convenience stores and fast-food franchises... which didn't exist in Thailand way back then either.

I think the clue here is '...what it is today'. Sorry for 'blathering', I was just making an observation. If that's not allowed on this forum, so be it. What are you, a wannabe mod?

[grollies]

50 minutes ago, TonyClifton said:

I'm so sorry, what was I thinking?

 

Damn your eyes all your Westerners who made the Thais eat fattening foods.  Damn your eyes!

Yep, there is a discussion to be had on the 'westernization' of Thailand but not in this topic.

[marcusarelus]

3 hours ago, grollies said:

Aye, and look where it got them. 7/11, Starbucks, Macdonalds, KFC, ad nauseam....

 

Now Thais are getting fatter and only aspiring to the above.

 

The rates of heart disease and diabetes are rocketing.

Thailand's GDP is much higher than the combined GDP's of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos had 3 million people killed - dead.  Thailand 351.  That's where it got them.  Why not ask the 3 million families in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos which they would prefer. 

[grollies]

2 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

Thailand's GDP is much higher than the combined GDP's of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos had 3 million people killed - dead.  Thailand 351.  That's where it got them.  Why not ask the 3 million families in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos which they would prefer. 

Sorry, thought we were talking about Thailand.

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, Spidey said:

Well it certainly turned Pattaya into the worlds biggest brothel. Also made Thailand the pariah of South East Asia after allowing it to launch bombing raids on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from here, including the use of Napalm and Agent Orange.

 

Personally, I don't think that the Thais have much to thank them for.

Pattaya was not an American/Australian R&R site that was Bangkok (you might want to check how many bars were in Pattaya when the Americans stopped R&R).  Thailand was the only nation in the neighborhood that was not overrun with dictators and turned into a killing field like Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.  Thailand lost 350 people during the war and Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 3 million.  I know which I'd prefer.  Thailand asked America for help under the SEATO treaty and America assisted Thailand in not becoming like Laos and Cambodia with the slaughter of their populations by the Khmer Rouge and the Pathet Lao.  Maybe ask some Thais who were here at the time if they appreciated the American help.  My mother in law told me they did and everyone I knew from that period in Thailand was grateful although I knew mainly businessmen who were getting rich from the war. 

[marcusarelus]

21 minutes ago, grollies said:

Sorry, thought we were talking about Thailand.

As a result of the Vietnam war Thailand's GDP and general economy is greater than the combined economies of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.  You were bemoaning the fact that Thailand along with being a successful economy has international restaurant chains whereas the poor countries surrounding it don't.  Thailand like China is a prosperous market and restaurant chains from all over the world are anxious to do business here.  What country worth living in does not have international restaurant chains?  

Edited December 26, 2018 by marcusarelus

[zzaa09]

History is made up and contrived - easily forgotten.

 

Dumbing down.

[mauGR1]

War is apparently the most profitable business, for the ones who don't get destroyed, and , as the old Latins used to say, money doesn't stink.

[elliss]

     

                Without  American  forces  based  in Thailand , there would not have been the bar ladies , 

                 Being the  main reason ,  most of  came to Thailand . Ouch the truth hurts.

                

[marqus12]

2 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Pattaya was not an American/Australian R&R site that was Bangkok (you might want to check how many bars were in Pattaya when the Americans stopped R&R).  Thailand was the only nation in the neighborhood that was not overrun with dictators and turned into a killing field like Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.  Thailand lost 350 people during the war and Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia 3 million.  I know which I'd prefer.  Thailand asked America for help under the SEATO treaty and America assisted Thailand in not becoming like Laos and Cambodia with the slaughter of their populations by the Khmer Rouge and the Pathet Lao.  Maybe ask some Thais who were here at the time if they appreciated the American help.  My mother in law told me they did and everyone I knew from that period in Thailand was grateful although I knew mainly businessmen who were getting rich from the war. 

What kind of comic book do you get knowledge from? Captain America ?

 

Khmer Rouge was produced by Americans through the bombings

of eastern Cambodia. Pol Pot after murdering 2.5 million Khmer
stayed for a while on vacation in Thailand .

Khmer Rouge was the result and not the cause.

[EVENKEEL]

2 hours ago, elliss said:

     

                Without  American  forces  based  in Thailand , there would not have been the bar ladies , 

                 Being the  main reason ,  most of  came to Thailand . Ouch the truth hurts.

                

They would all be karaoke ladies for the Thais. 

[marcusarelus]

7 hours ago, elliss said:

     

                Without  American  forces  based  in Thailand , there would not have been the bar ladies , 

                 Being the  main reason ,  most of  came to Thailand . Ouch the truth hurts.

                

http://www.snesejler.dk/bill77.htm

 

95% of the bar industry in Thailand is Thai and always was although there were laws governing the relationship between bar girls and Portuguese and French sailors 300 years ago in Thailand.  Look up the Kingdom of Ayuttaya and the history of prostitution in Thailand.  "In 1957, an estimated 20,000 prostitutes were working in Thailand. By 1964, that number had grown to 400,000.  Now tell me how many American troops were in Thailand in 1964?

 

 

[marcusarelus]

7 hours ago, marqus12 said:

What kind of comic book do you get knowledge from? Captain America ?

 

Khmer Rouge was produced by Americans through the bombings

of eastern Cambodia. Pol Pot after murdering 2.5 million Khmer
stayed for a while on vacation in Thailand .

Khmer Rouge was the result and not the cause.

Nonsense - read about it yourself.  King Sihanouk disbanded the Cambodian government and National Assembly before securing independence from French colonial rule in 1953.   Cambodia was in a state of civil war, with civilian massacres and other atrocities being carried out by all sides. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pol_Pot#Return_to_Cambodia:_1953–1954

[LomSak27]

12 hours ago, Spidey said:

Well it certainly turned Pattaya into the worlds biggest brothel. Also made Thailand the pariah of South East Asia after allowing it to launch bombing raids on Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos from here, including the use of Napalm and Agent Orange.

As the Americans were gone by 73, I believe the Germans and arabs,  were in the forefront of turning Pattaya into the Worlds biggest brothel - Not that it could have compared to the "Hall of Mirrors" in its heyday. run by the Bien Xuyen in Saigon Cholon under French rule.  But as that it is a Euro thing, its's easily forgotten.     by Euros & Ozites

 

This was only one place, however there were many more smaller venues, so definitely dwarfed Pattaya, but as this was the big one, impressive. The "Hall of Mirrors" brothel in Saigon employed 1200 ladies and the Police Chief was at its opening ceremonies. The police chief was also the leader of the Saigon crime syndicate. The robbers had turned into cops. The Grand Monde casino was said to be the most profitable in Asia in 1955 and paid $2,600 per day in protection money to the Saigon mob which was a lot of money in 1955. 

 

With stuff like that and, say Indonesia killing off three quarters of a million of their own people 65 was it, Thailand flew under the radar and never became a pariah, except in your overheated imagination, and that  fifty years after the fact.   

Edited December 27, 2018 by LomSak27

[wwest5829]

13 hours ago, ravip said:

Has the US done any good to any country, up to now? Has the US 'uplifted' any undeveloped country to the developed status?

The history of colonialism/imperialism, whether onsite or economic, is a mixed bag. Negatives aplenty but, on balance, one has to deal with any economic living standard improvements, as well as, medical, educational, institutional, infrastructure, etc. improvements. The good, the bad, the ugly...

[Emdog]

Funny not a lot of mentioning colonization of SE Asia by France, Britain and Dutch perhaps contributing to root cause of the conflicts... USA totally backed wrong horse when supported France in returning to Indochine.... ever read VN declaration of independence? Modeled on US declaration. Ho asked US for help first.

[mauGR1]

19 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

The history of colonialism/imperialism, whether onsite or economic, is a mixed bag. Negatives aplenty but, on balance, one has to deal with any economic living standard improvements, as well as, medical, educational, institutional, infrastructure, etc. improvements. The good, the bad, the ugly...

Spot on.

Let's not forget cheap air flights, if not for the development of the 4-engine bombers in the 2nd world war, we would not have had Jumbo Jets.

 

[marcusarelus]

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

As the Americans were gone by 73, I believe the Germans and arabs,  were in the forefront of turning Pattaya into the Worlds biggest brothel - Not that it could have compared to the "Hall of Mirrors" in its heyday. run by the Bien Xuyen in Saigon Cholon under French rule.  But as that it is a Euro thing, its's easily forgotten.     by Euros & Ozites

 

This was only one place, however there were many more smaller venues, so definitely dwarfed Pattaya, but as this was the big one, impressive. The "Hall of Mirrors" brothel in Saigon employed 1200 ladies and the Police Chief was at its opening ceremonies. The police chief was also the leader of the Saigon crime syndicate. The robbers had turned into cops. The Grand Monde casino was said to be the most profitable in Asia in 1955 and paid $2,600 per day in protection money to the Saigon mob which was a lot of money in 1955. 

 

With stuff like that and, say Indonesia killing off three quarters of a million of their own people 65 was it, Thailand flew under the radar and never became a pariah, except in your overheated imagination, and that  fifty years after the fact.   

Last R&R from Vietnam was very close to the end of 1971 as I remember.

 

Australia also invited US servicemen for R&R and hookers and booze at Kings Cross and Australia didn't turn into nation of hookers. 

These were the choices:

Hawaii

Sydney, Australia

Bangkok, Thailand

Hong Kong

Kuala Lampur (later changed to Penang), Malaysia

Manila, Philippines

Singapore

Taipei, Taiwan

Tokyo, Japan

http://www.tourofdutyinfo.com/Notebook/Essay4-R&R.htm

 

Edited December 27, 2018 by marcusarelus