Thais Lose Their Smile

[longway]

people hv to help themselves is ur basic premise. i suggest u give money one to the many organisations and institutions in this country that can enable people to do so.

thats the biggest favour u can do.

im not interested in the they're poor coz they deserve it twaddle. and it is just that.

these are people the same as us, good point bad points, no better no worse. without our opportunities most of us would be in the same straits they are in.

[andook]

people hv to help themselves is ur basic premise. i suggest u give money one to the many organisations and institutions in this country that can enable people to do so.

thats the biggest favour u can do.

im not interested in the they're poor coz they deserve it twaddle. and it is just that.

these are people the same as us, good point bad points, no better no worse. without our opportunities most of us would be in the same straits they are in.

Pfft.....

Please don't patronize me, thanks. I pay enough tax and alms here as it is.

[Laulen]

Happiness is ephemeral, just as is beauty and ugliness. Why we feel happy, or notice that something is beautiful or ugly is as much the result of our upbringing and cultural background as anything else.

It all makes for an interesting discussion, that could go on forever without any definitive conclusions. Yes, money can bring happiness; you have only to look at Maslow's Triangle of Needs. But for some, that is still not enough because they renounce earthly things (as much as they practicably can) in the pursuit of Maslow's highest 'need', that of spiritual enlightenment.

Perhaps one's life should not be measured in materialistic acquisitions that increasingly decay and need replacement, but rather in this short note I once saw on the wall inside the bedroom of an old and wise lady:

'Only one life that soon is gone, only those actions of your love will endure!'

Laulen

PS: It speaks of 'one' life; so perhaps this note does not apply to those seekers of reincarnation?

[Plus]

Served them OK so far????

Have you ever read about the political and social turmoil of the 70's? Have you ever thought about the amount of the labor leaders, social and democracy activists murdered to preserve the status quo?

Comparing to Thailand neighbours - what Cambodians, Burmese, Vietnamese and Chinese went through - Thai model served them well. Not as well as Malaysian islam, but well enough.

Incindentally - poor Chinese peasants are the product of the opposite system - socialism, and garanteed equality. Are they better of than "opressed" Thai peasants?

Investment in rural infrastructure, decentralisation and education were national priorities just before Thaksin came to power and replaced them with loans and empty promises.

It's not like Thai elite never cared about imbalances between Bangkok and the regions. Should Thaksin stayed the course prescribed by 1997 constitution 35% of Thailand's budget would have been administered by local administration for their local people and their needs.

Ideas like that were put forward by elites and sabotaged by Thaksin (who conveniently blamed the very people whose ideas he subverted). Ideas like that should be encouraged as they have far better chance of succeeding than bottom up revolutions.

>>>>>>>>>>

Still, the topic of these thread is the National Happiness index. People might question the validity of this particular index, but similar studies have been done elsewhere and they all have at least one thing in common - absolute material wealth and happiness are not correlated.

I think it's relative perception of wealth and poverty that matters more. Small fish in a small pond probably feels happier than in the open ocean.

[longway]

people hv to help themselves is ur basic premise. i suggest u give money one to the many organisations and institutions in this country that can enable people to do so.

thats the biggest favour u can do.

im not interested in the they're poor coz they deserve it twaddle. and it is just that.

these are people the same as us, good point bad points, no better no worse. without our opportunities most of us would be in the same straits they are in.

Pfft.....

Please don't patronize me, thanks. I pay enough tax and alms here as it is.

if u know all this already why do u talk such crap?

[lazeeboy]

people hv to help themselves is ur basic premise. i suggest u give money one to the many organisations and institutions in this country that can enable people to do so.

thats the biggest favour u can do.

im not interested in the they're poor coz they deserve it twaddle. and it is just that.

these are people the same as us, good point bad points, no better no worse. without our opportunities most of us would be in the same straits they are in.

Pfft.....

Please don't patronize me, thanks. I pay enough tax and alms here as it is.

if u know all this already why do u talk such crap?

i think that only 1% of thais really genuinely smile the others only smile if they are taking your money or drunk it makes no difference if they are rich or poor they only smile when it suits them

[ColPyat]

Served them OK so far????

Have you ever read about the political and social turmoil of the 70's? Have you ever thought about the amount of the labor leaders, social and democracy activists murdered to preserve the status quo?

Comparing to Thailand neighbours - what Cambodians, Burmese, Vietnamese and Chinese went through - Thai model served them well. Not as well as Malaysian islam, but well enough.

Incindentally - poor Chinese peasants are the product of the opposite system - socialism, and garanteed equality. Are they better of than "opressed" Thai peasants?

What are you talking about? Have you ever read anything about Chinese history? Are you of the opinion that before Mao the Chinese peasants were any better off?

Investment in rural infrastructure, decentralisation and education were national priorities just before Thaksin came to power and replaced them with loans and empty promises.

It's not like Thai elite never cared about imbalances between Bangkok and the regions. Should Thaksin stayed the course prescribed by 1997 constitution 35% of Thailand's budget would have been administered by local administration for their local people and their needs.

Ideas like that were put forward by elites and sabotaged by Thaksin (who conveniently blamed the very people whose ideas he subverted). Ideas like that should be encouraged as they have far better chance of succeeding than bottom up revolutions.

>>>>>>>>>>

Still, the topic of these thread is the National Happiness index. People might question the validity of this particular index, but similar studies have been done elsewhere and they all have at least one thing in common - absolute material wealth and happiness are not correlated.

You don't need a "National Happiness Index" to find out that absolute material wealth and happiness are not correlated. I don't think that anybody in this thread here would claim that. But your claim - that the rural poor in Thailand are "happy" to be in that situation is simply ridiculous and shows you complete lack of communication and experience with those social classes.

And even worse - your views are skewed by your often repeated extreme social conservative position desperately trying to confirm a status quo based on on ideology mainly supported by fake history.

I think it's relative perception of wealth and poverty that matters more. Small fish in a small pond probably feels happier than in the open ocean.

[longway]

people hv to help themselves is ur basic premise. i suggest u give money one to the many organisations and institutions in this country that can enable people to do so.

thats the biggest favour u can do.

im not interested in the they're poor coz they deserve it twaddle. and it is just that.

these are people the same as us, good point bad points, no better no worse. without our opportunities most of us would be in the same straits they are in.

Pfft.....

Please don't patronize me, thanks. I pay enough tax and alms here as it is.

if u know all this already why do u talk such crap?

i think that only 1% of thais really genuinely smile the others only smile if they are taking your money or drunk it makes no difference if they are rich or poor they only smile when it suits them

but are they happy?

[backflip]

"Maslow's Triangle of Needs"

HIERARCHY of Needs

Edited March 16, 2007 by backflip