Who Are your Friends?

[GammaGlobulin]

Dear Friends,

 

Who are your friends here in Thailand?

 

I mean, here in Thailand, how easy is it to identify your 'friends' from your true friends?

And, by this, I mean your "old friends", your Lao Pengyou (老朋友), the friends who will gladly stick by you through thick and thin?

 

I am not exactly a newcomer to Thailand, although, sadly, I was not born here.

 

Also, I guess my skin color, though tanned by the sun, is still not the shade of pale which is most preferred here. I am lighter than most, but not as light as some.  And, anyway, pigmentation means nothing to me.

 

What I am wondering is:  How do we chose our friends wisely, while here in Thailand, if we plan to stay full-term, until the day we die.

 

Fortunately, I live in a very nice community.  And, I have been fortunate to become acquainted with many nice people. Yet, still, I have not really met anyone I would call an "old friend", in the Chinese cultural sense of the phrase.

 

But, this is just because I have recently moved.

 

In my previous neighborhood, I had met two or three nice people who I considered to be friends for life, and still consider them to be so.  During this two-year virus period, I have not been able to keep in touch with them as much as I would have dearly wished.  Yet, anytime I LINE them, they still remember me, and reply with their kindness and best wishes.

 

And so, how do you choose friends here who will be friends with you, for life, through thick and thin?

 

I guess choosing friends here is no different than most other places.

 

Making friends for life takes time.

 

Take it slow.

 

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread, so it is said.

 

Choose your friends wisely.

And then treat your friends with respect.

 

Someday, soon, maybe you, too, will find  one or two friends for life ( 老朋友), hopefully before your life becomes too much shorter.

 

Regards,

Globulin

 

 

[Gottfrid]

2 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Who are your friends here in Thailand?

They are my friends.

[CharlieH]

I find you dont "choose" them, they evolve.

A brief encounter becomes an aquaintance becomes a friend. How long they remain there is another matter. Last one I made passed on, thats the problem when you make them later in life.

 

Here in Thailand it seems many, myself included, prefer not to go beyond the aquaintance stage, a polite smile and nod is sufficient it seems for most.

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

24 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

I find you dont "choose" them, they evolve.

A brief encounter becomes an aquaintance becomes a friend. How long they remain there is another matter. Last one I made passed on, thats the problem when you make them later in life.

 

Here in Thailand it seems many, myself included, prefer not to go beyond the aquaintance stage, a polite smile and nod is sufficient it seems for most.

 

 

 

Your point of view is that of an introvert.

 

Correct?

 

(It takes one to know one.  More power to you!)

[Lacessit]

I have three good friends here, the rest are acquaintances. I define a friend as someone who would try to help me if I had a problem, and I would do the same for them.

I don't socialise much, TBH I find the bar stool standard of conversation extremely limited.

[CharlieH]

43 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Your point of view is that of an introvert.

 

Correct?

 

(It takes one to know one.  More power to you!)

Ambivert.

 

"Being an introvert isn't an all-or-nothing stamp on your personality. Psychologists think of introverts as falling somewhere on a scale. Some people are more introverted than others. Other people fall right in the middle of the scale. They're called ambiverts."

[RafPinto]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

I find you dont "choose" them, they evolve.

A brief encounter becomes an aquaintance becomes a friend. How long they remain there is another matter. Last one I made passed on, thats the problem when you make them later in life.

 

Here in Thailand it seems many, myself included, prefer not to go beyond the aquaintance stage, a polite smile and nod is sufficient it seems for most.

 

 

 

If you put me on your "will", I could become your friend.

[ThailandRyan]

Why? Do you want them? You can have all of them as far as I am concerned.  More and more who cares, why should you OP.

[sanuk711]

 

 

Another Post by

GammaGlobulin

 

 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

23 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

 

 

Another Post by

GammaGlobulin

 

 

 

 

Dear Sanuk,

 

I think this might be your problem?

 

Do you, Sanuk, often worry about this question, at night, after the lights are dimmed, and you find there is still no action?

 

[sanuk711]

10 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Do you, Sanuk, often worry about this question, at night, after the lights are dimmed, and you find there is still no action?

To be honest with you GammaGlobulin---as I am heading to wards the big 8.0  (& my wife isn't that far behind)  those questions  dont seem to have so much relevance anymore.

[RafPinto]

I have six best mates:

 

I met them all in Nana,
1. John, surgeon,

2. Paul, fighter pilot,

3. Mike, lawyer,

4. Flavio, Crypto trillionaire,

5. Manu, ex professional football player, representing his country,

6. Rob, secret agent/spy

 

 

[CharlieH]

5 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

I have six best mates:

 

I met them all in Nana,
1. John, surgeon,

2. Paul, fighter pilot,

3. Mike, lawyer,

4. Flavio, Crypto trillionaire,

5. Manu, ex professional football player, representing his country,

6. Rob, secret agent/spy

 

 

Not a Navy Seall or SAS amongst them. ????

[ThailandRyan]

4 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Not a Navy Seall or SAS amongst them. ????

SSShhh, we have to maintain anonymity amongst the other spies....they might take us for what we know....lol

[petermik]

13 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

I have six best mates:

 

I met them all in Nana,
1. John, surgeon,

2. Paul, fighter pilot,

3. Mike, lawyer,

4. Flavio, Crypto trillionaire,

5. Manu, ex professional football player, representing his country,

6. Rob, secret agent/spy

 

 

Paul,s my mate also....????

[Lacessit]

54 minutes ago, sanuk711 said:

To be honest with you GammaGlobulin---as I am heading to wards the big 8.0  (& my wife isn't that far behind)  those questions  dont seem to have so much relevance anymore.

You'd be surprised at what a little chemistry can do for both of you. Why should youth have all the fun?

[sanuk711]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You'd be surprised at what a little chemistry can do for both of you. Why should youth have all the fun?

Chemistry  or Chemicals ?....... which one are we referring to Lacessit ?........

[Lacessit]

4 hours ago, sanuk711 said:

Chemistry  or Chemicals ?....... which one are we referring to Lacessit ?........

I suppose chemicals, because even they won't work if the chemistry between you is not there.

[zzaa09]

Overthinking most everything, unnecessarily, appears to be a particular cultural dilemma. 

Get over yourself and one's fanciful perceptions.

[Iamfalang]

I've never met a guy (come on, 99% on here are guys) who told me they came to LOS to make friends.  friends with bar girls, sure.  or massage girls, or girls, or whatever...

 

LOS is an "escape."  Tons of friends to zero friends.   This allows you to be who you are.  do what you want, live your best life!!  OK, not live your best life, but relax.

 

you HAVE to meet and talk to people, that's being human.  Even today, maybe 3 hours with people I know, like, but are just OK to talk to......not like a real friend.   passing time.   3 hours is an outliner, it's usually 1 hour.   

 

In the long-run, I'm sure it's deadly.  yes, deadly.  not a hyperbole (correct?).   Go crazy, body shuts down, mental illness, lower immunity, you die if you live without friends.......maybe it takes a decade, not going to find out.

 

friends are instantaneous.  if you don't like someone during the first 2-minutes, you never will

[Sparktrader]

7 hours ago, RafPinto said:

I have six best mates:

 

I met them all in Nana,
1. John, surgeon,

2. Paul, fighter pilot,

3. Mike, lawyer,

4. Flavio, Crypto trillionaire,

5. Manu, ex professional football player, representing his country,

6. Rob, secret agent/spy

 

 

That list describes me

[Sparktrader]

Dont have many friends really

 

Have 3 friends named John. Known them for 15 to 25 years.

 

I should change my name to John too. 

 

 

 

 

[RafPinto]

I can be your friend too.
The girls call me Johnny long long. Don't know why.

[sipi]

All my friends are dead. I dunno what happens. When I meet them they're perfectly vertical. Next thing, kaboom, cold as ice.

So, who wants to meet up for a beer?

[BritManToo]

13 minutes ago, sipi said:

All my friends are dead. I dunno what happens. When I meet them they're perfectly vertical. Next thing, kaboom, cold as ice.

So, who wants to meet up for a beer?

Mine too ...........

We'll meet up and see who is the best survivor! 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, RafPinto said:

I can be your friend too.
The girls call me Johnny long long. Don't know why.

I imagine it's a joke ...... like calling a huge body builder 'tiny'.

[Liverpool Lou]

14 minutes ago, sipi said:

All my friends are dead. I dunno what happens. When I meet them they're perfectly vertical. Next thing, kaboom, cold as ice.

So, who wants to meet up for a beer?

Send the OP an invitation...please.

[RafPinto]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I imagine it's a joke ...... like calling a huge body builder 'tiny'.

Yes.
They only knew LiverpoolLou and everything after him looks giant. 555

[BritManToo]

On 5/2/2022 at 11:04 AM, RafPinto said:

I have six best mates:

 

I met them all in Nana,
1. John, surgeon,

2. Paul, fighter pilot,

3. Mike, lawyer,

4. Flavio, Crypto trillionaire,

5. Manu, ex professional football player, representing his country,

6. Rob, secret agent/spy

 

 

You're meeting a far better class of person than me .......

Mine were, postman, plumber, painter and decorator, miner, fruit picker, dry waller, supermarket shelf-filler, 2 drug dealers, and a bank robber.

[zzaa09]

Only selected Farang friends?

 

Quite telling.