Rich Indians to the Rescue as Chinese Tourists Shun Thailand

[SoulKid]

42 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

Who do you think implemented this education system? Is it any coincidence that spoken English is far advanced in those countries that were formally colonised?

 

Living in India during the 90s I met plenty of people who grew up under (and remembered) British rule prior to 1947. As I made clear, the grandfather in my story was the only one I remember of that generation who expressed this view of injustice, and I didn't hear this opinion from other people of a similar age to him, who I found to be much more critical of modern India. Don't forget also, that while the older generation have their own memories of days under colonial rule (whatever these might be), the same people have also seen first hand the 20th century decline in many aspects of the country - only a fool would blame such things on the British. 

 

As you point out, India was little more than a collection of warring kingdoms prior to the British. You'd have to be an idli short of a tiffin box if you think they'd have developed modern medicine, education and industrialisation by themselves - though your comments about the Indian education system suggest that you believe it. 

OMG do you really believe Indians were living in stone age before the British and Mughals arrived?
I thought you knew history. But I wrong.
I wonder how India was the biggest economy in the those times if they knew nothing about education, industrialization, medicine, etc.
Try to read history of India and not the what the British education system teaches. I wouldn't be amazed if they teach that the British started the civilization on Earth and lifted everyone out of poverty, after-all the monarchy has to look the best.

The modern medicine finds its roots in India and Middle East where it all started. The first surgeon and surgical operations was performed in India way back in 600BC.

Here's a fact - Indians were cleaning their teeth with Neem Sticks centuries before the west even thought of cleaning their teeth and invented toothbrush and were using pee to clean teeth. That was the difference in level of education.
India was the epicenter of education. Search for Nalanda, Taxila and Vikramashila if you don't know about them. Scholars from all over Asia used to come and study there until the Mughals destroyed it. They were the earliest international universities you can say.

 

India was very developed and rich in resources in those times. But obviously development was not concrete houses and electric cars in those times. It was trade, education, money and science. The Europeans accidentally discovered America when they were actually looking for India to get those resources that were severely lacking in the western world. That's why they named native americans as Indians because they thought they were actually Indians. And everyone know what happened after that. They wiped out millions and took over their land. The diseases they brought with them killed millions more.

[Small Joke]

1 hour ago, SoulKid said:

 

Do you really think westerners eat in Thai restaurants and support Thai economy. Nearly all of them eat in western own fast food chains and restaurants because they cannot get enough of their burgers and pizzas and think that Asian food is going to make them sick. So all of them stick to foreign owned brands which contributes nothing to Thai economy. Even shopping at 7/11 is giving the revenue to US and Japan. 
If you really want to contribute to Thai economy then eat at roadside stalls and Thai restaurants and food chains and not at McDonalds and 7/11.

Indians eat in Indian restaurants because majority of them are vegetarians and there is hardly any veg food in Thai dishes. They have no option and that's why there's always an Indian restaurant anywhere you go in the world. Get your facts straight. Indians will always go to an Indian restaurant and not 7/11 because they don't eat bread like the farangs. I hope you know about Gaggan restaurant in Bangkok which is consistently ranked Asia's best for many years. It's an Indian restaurant and owned by an Indian. Really hard to even get a reservation there as it's always book for the whole year. There is another called Rang Mahal in Rembrandt Hotel which is an experience on its own and always full of farangs who come there with their dates and families. So don't think that no one eats Indian food because I always see many westerners in Indian restaurants drooling over the food and cannot comprehend how good the food is compared to soggy breads they eat all the time in the west.

If you have never tried Indian food then you have wasted your life.

 

 

I've been to India and, courtesy of my company employer enjoyed some of Mumbais finest hotel dining establishments. 

They would not allow us to eat street food in order to remain fit for work! A nice essential perk.

 

Indian food is usually superb, from all the states, but I am discerning, especially here, Thailand sadly attracts many fly by night operators selling garbage to tourists. And they stay in business!

 

Dosa King just off Sukhumvit in BKK.

Mid priced, well established, I love it.

 

I've eaten Indian cuisine from Glasgow to Joburg.

And of course, India.

I've cooked up UK based Madhur Jaffreys recipes.

 

Escaping the Chiang Mai smog, Indian and Turkish food was all I ate in Pattaya over Songkran this year.

 

Beg to differ on some points.

 

Western chains here employ Thais, hundreds of thousands combined. The franchisees are Thai, the entire management  structure, Thai.  McDonads is run as a standalone "McThai Corporation" under license, it's on the receipt!

 

McDonalds or 7even are not engaged in colonial pillaging of Thailand, it would never be tolerated by the elites.

 

My Thai lady runs her own popular Thai food concession, mid-range I'm a big fan and a lucky man.

 

 

 

[SoulKid]

27 minutes ago, Small Joke said:

 

 

I've been to India and, courtesy of my company employer enjoyed some of Mumbais finest hotel dining establishments. 

They would not allow us to eat street food in order to remain fit for work! A nice essential perk.

 

Indian food is usually superb, from all the states, but I am discerning, especially here, Thailand sadly attracts many fly by night operators selling garbage to tourists. And they stay in business!

 

Dosa King just off Sukhumvit in BKK.

Mid priced, well established, I love it.

 

I've eaten Indian cuisine from Glasgow to Joburg.

And of course, India.

I've cooked up UK based Madhur Jaffreys recipes.

 

Escaping the Chiang Mai smog, Indian and Turkish food was all I ate in Pattaya over Songkran this year.

 

Beg to differ on some points.

 

Western chains here employ Thais, hundreds of thousands combined. The franchisees are Thai, the entire management  structure, Thai.  McDonads is run as a standalone "McThai Corporation" under license, it's on the receipt!

 

McDonalds or 7even are not engaged in colonial pillaging of Thailand, it would never be tolerated by the elites.

 

My Thai lady runs her own popular Thai food concession, mid-range I'm a big fan and a lucky man.

 

 

 

Never ate in Dosa King tbh even though I heard a lot about it, but I would recommend Bawarchi in Intercontinental Hotel and Indian Hut near Silom for mid range and great ambience and quality.

All the businesses employ Thais. Even the Indian restaurants do too. I've seen many Thais in Indian restaurants but they cannot have all Thai employees as there have to been some Hindi speaking ones to cater to majority Indian customers and cook Indian food properly. But they are not all from India but Burma and Thailand itself and very few from India. They are contributing to Thai economy as much as any other western owned restaurant if not fast food chain which can employ thousands.
 

Those western franchises are not 100% contributing to Thailand as a large amount of money still goes outside where they are originally from and licensed to.

[JamJar]

13 hours ago, DrTuner said:

The American of course. He'll have more dosh to convert to baht at the airport. This is about tourism in Thailand, not local purchasing power in a Mumbai ghetto.

 

That's a big assumption, since he might have less of a disposable income as he has to spend a lot more on housing and just about everything else.

As I stated, you can continue to fool yourself about who is richer. 

Some are still trying to convince themselves even if they are living in tiny bedsits and scraping together enough cash for a blowout in Thailand.

Their quality of life heading downwards, whilst others going the other way.

The Thai's purchasing power is growing and growing.

Which is why we are hearing continuing complaints about the baht being too high. The Thais are buying up assets abroad with their increasing purchasing power. Leicester City anyone?

Their king is the richest monarch in the world. 

You might be earning US$4000 per month, but that is no good if you have to spend US$2500 to US$3000 on your housing.

 

Whereas someone in a 'poorer' country might earn US$2000, but might have just US$500 in housing costs or simply own their home outright.

 

So I wouldn't make assumptions. I personally know a fair few Indians who are doing a lot better than their western counterparts.

 

 

 

 

 

[wisperone]

1 hour ago, SoulKid said:

I wouldn't be amazed if they teach that the British started the civilization on Earth and lifted everyone out of poverty,

Wrong..that was the Thais.

[terry augustus]

thai baht no value anymore, will be looking for another destination soon, it's a shame but thailand it too expensive now which was one of it's attractions

[observer90210]

Quite sickening some of the comments here against the indians which seem to be plainly out of frustration and jealousy from the posters. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

[SoulKid]

47 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

Quite sickening some of the comments here against the indians which seem to be plainly out of frustration and jealousy from the posters. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I Know right.
I have been experiencing this trend from past several months and I know it's been going on for several years.

These people always do and say the same thing whenever there is a topic on Indians or anything related. Majority don't even know Indians or even tried to know them or their history and keep repeating the same stereotypes and remarks they hear from others. It's not just with Indians, same thing happens in case Chinese are in the news or people from other countries they consider 3rd world.

 

Generalizing the whole population based on the actions of few is a really bad thing to do.

I can even pick out specific users who say such things. The same group of people on every topic saying the same thing again and again. Their ignorance, jealousy and frustration towards growing Asian society is sickening.

Majority of users on this forum are westerners and very few Indians who are not even that active. They all will run away if Indians come on this platform and teach them a few things.

[balo]

SoulKid, are you Indian yourself? Interesting topic. 

 

[sydneyjed]

TAT clutching at straws..just like the Indians one bottle between four.Rich 'Cheap Charlies'!

[lamyai3]

5 hours ago, SoulKid said:

OMG do you really believe Indians were living in stone age before the British and Mughals arrived?
I thought you knew history. But I wrong.
I wonder how India was the biggest economy in the those times if they knew nothing about education, industrialization, medicine, etc.
Try to read history of India and not the what the British education system teaches. I wouldn't be amazed if they teach that the British started the civilization on Earth and lifted everyone out of poverty, after-all the monarchy has to look the best.

I won't quote your whole post out of forum etiquette, but your one sided and highly politicised view of history is way off balance. You'd be better off at least having a chip on both shoulders. 

 

Of course Western colonialists plundered much of the globe in their own interest, this is a matter of historic record. But in India most of the worst excesses happened earlier on, and there was massive investment in the later years of the Raj in terms of medicine, infrastructure, mechanisation and education - these legacies remain part of the fabric of the country today. But did you ever question why places like Singapore and Malaysia are so much more successful than India since independence? It's because they're not hampered with regressive strictures such as the caste system and the archaic religious beliefs which hold the country down. The poverty and injustice seen in modern India is entirely of their own making.

 

Your claims that India was once one of the most advanced cultures in the world is certainly true, but all this proves is that glories of past empires don't travel in a straight line. If this were so, the ancient cultures of Rome, Egypt, Greece etc ought to have led the world in every field, and the culture that invented the wheel would have gone on to invent the motor car. I include the British empire as a culture that has been in decline for a long time - I don't have the same delusions of grandeur you hold about India. To claim the Indians would have invented modern medicine because of ancient Ayurveda, or to boast that India has an excellent education system and is far ahead of the pack in English proficiency without crediting the British for creating and implementing this system is beyond ridiculous. My point is that almost everyone I met while living in India recognised this. 

 

Aside from your absurd nationalism (it's evident you're Indian in spite of your evasiveness on the subject), you come over as pretty articulate when not off on an anti-colonialist and Caucasian hating rant. Get over yourself. 

[DrTuner]

5 hours ago, JamJar said:

You might be earning US$4000 per month, but that is no good if you have to spend US$2500 to US$3000 on your housing.

4k is a pittance. Most westeners I know are in five figures. But they don't holiday in Thailand anymore, it's now seen as a low quality cheapo destination. Most stay in Europe or opt for new and upcoming places.

[bert bloggs]

6 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Quite sickening some of the comments here against the indians which seem to be plainly out of frustration and jealousy from the posters. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I find that there are two 'India"s" one is the Hindu India ,which i quite liked the other is the "Islamic" India which i found shall we say not very nice .

[petemoss]

7 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Quite sickening some of the comments here against the indians which seem to be plainly out of frustration and jealousy from the posters. You should be ashamed of yourselves.

No, entirely based on personal experiences/observation.

[ThomasThBKK]

11 minutes ago, petemoss said:

No, entirely based on personal experiences/observation.

Same same, i went to india to holiday, i made business in india and still do, but hell i am not going there ever again personally.

 

What's so hard to understand that i absolutely disliked everything i saw? It's a fact. I've never been threatened worse in my life. I never felt more sick and never had worse food poisons, nor did i ever got annoyed more by people touching and trying to sell me stuff. 

 

So that's my opininion and no amount of 300 year old history does change anything about that, i care only about the here and now, about what i personally experienced.

 

 

[petemoss]

3 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Same same, i went to india to holiday, i made business in india and still do, but hell i am not going there ever again personally.

 

What's so hard to understand that i absolutely disliked everything i saw? It's a fact. I've never been threatened worse in my life. I never felt more sick and never had worse food poisons, nor did i ever got annoyed more by people touching and trying to sell me stuff. 

 

So that's my opininion and no amount of 300 year old history does change anything about that, i care only about the here and now, about what i personally experienced.

 

 

I have observed Indians and their behaviour in India, the UK and here in Thailand. IMO the worst behaved are those who come to Thailand.

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, JamJar said:

Whereas someone in a 'poorer' country might earn US$2000, but might have just US$500 in housing costs or simply own their home outright.

I know some Thais with millions, but I still wouldn't want to live in their teak house.

Although most poorer Thais still essentially live in bamboo huts.

I like modern.

 

As my Thai step-daughter says (plenty of land in the village), "Dad, I'm never going to live in a house without a heated shower again"

[FarFlungFalang]

3 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

you come over as pretty articulate when not off on an anti-colonialist and Caucasian hating rant.

Indians are caucasian,it's a commonly known fact.

[BestB]

17 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Same same, i went to india to holiday, i made business in india and still do, but hell i am not going there ever again personally.

 

What's so hard to understand that i absolutely disliked everything i saw? It's a fact. I've never been threatened worse in my life. I never felt more sick and never had worse food poisons, nor did i ever got annoyed more by people touching and trying to sell me stuff. 

 

So that's my opininion and no amount of 300 year old history does change anything about that, i care only about the here and now, about what i personally experienced.

 

 

So Hardicks not your cup of tea then?????

[lamyai3]

7 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Indians are caucasian,it's a commonly known fact.

If you want to split hairs, those of white European origin. Much the same as the use of the term farang, which for Thais most definitely doesn't include India. In being pedantic, you're missing the whole point. 

[petemoss]

9 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Indians are caucasian,it's a commonly known fact.

Anthropologically yes, socially no.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race

 

"The Supreme Court in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) decided that Asian Indians were ineligible for citizenship because, though deemed "Caucasian" anthropologically, they were not white like European descendants since most laypeople did not consider them to be "white" people."

 

Caucasian in common parlance today is usually taken as white of European origin. 

[FarFlungFalang]

10 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

If you want to split hairs, those of white European origin. Much the same as the use of the term farang, which for Thais most definitely doesn't include India. In being pedantic, you're missing the whole point. 

 

7 minutes ago, petemoss said:

Anthropologically yes, socially no.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_race

 

"The Supreme Court in United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind (1923) decided that Asian Indians were ineligible for citizenship because, though deemed "Caucasian" anthropologically, they were not white like European descendants since most laypeople did not consider them to be "white" people."

 

Caucasian in common parlance today is usually taken as white of European origin. 

If it is a skin colour thing why not just say so,I am aware that it is usually taken as white european but I would still say that it is wrong and the incorrect use of the word thus not conveying the correct meaning of what one is trying to communicate.Thus if you don't say what you mean how can I understand what you are trying to say?

[NightSky]

Is it a case of Cowboys out, Indians in?

 

 

 

 

[petemoss]

6 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

Thus if you don't say what you mean how can I understand what you are trying to say?

In common parlance it means white European. I say what I mean. You would understand if you had learned English at school (like wot I did).

[likerdup1]

"Rich" Indians. Are these the guys we see roaming downtown Pattaya in packs of 4 or more? Hitting up a single beach road hooker in groups? Sleeping 5 to a 500 baht a night Soi Bukauo guest house? Rich? I don't think so. Many girls I talk to won't go with these guys. They don't even shower daily. The stench is evident from 5 feet away.

[lamyai3]

5 minutes ago, FarFlungFalang said:

If it is a skin colour thing why not just say so

It's probably more of an age thing - I always assumed Caucasian was widely understood to mean white European. But I also recently found out Oriental is supposedly offensive, so I tend to disengage when it comes to the latest fads in politically correct terminology. 

[JamJar]

50 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I know some Thais with millions, but I still wouldn't want to live in their teak house.

Although most poorer Thais still essentially live in bamboo huts.

I like modern.

 

As my Thai step-daughter says (plenty of land in the village), "Dad, I'm never going to live in a house without a heated shower again"

 

I like modern too. None of the Thais I know, live in teak houses. I've never visited Baan Nork.

Actually, I did know one with a teak house. But his house was beachfront on Phuket's Karon(or Kata) beach.

[FarFlungFalang]

8 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

It's probably more of an age thing - I always assumed Caucasian was widely understood to mean white European. But I also recently found out Oriental is supposedly offensive, so I tend to disengage when it comes to the latest fads in politically correct terminology. 

I agree I maybe a self confessed pedant and share your dislike of the politically correct!

[FarFlungFalang]

14 minutes ago, petemoss said:

In common parlance it means white European. I say what I mean. You would understand if you had learned English at school (like wot I did).

I think I learnt English at home and why I became a pedant.I was to busy being in trouble at school to learn much there except a total mistrust of authority. 

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

I like modern too. None of the Thais I know, live in teak houses. I've never visited Baan Nork.

Actually, I did know one with a teak house. But his house was beachfront on Phuket's Karon(or Kata) beach.

The peeps I know with the 80,000,000bht teak house live in Lampang.