I look at "Thai Visa" since many years. We always had sometimes interesting and sometime boring topics. And the usual repetitions.

All together there were enough interesting members and topics to keep going.

But now?

 

It seems to me that many long-term members are not here anymore. 

And some (new) members try to beat each other about how many useless posts they can publish in a day.

Is that it? Is this the death of this forum? Is there any hope that it will get better again?

 

Maybe there is a new site out there and all the members moved over to there - and nobody told me.

Maybe it's just that forums are something the granddads who still know the world from before the internet use, but new generations use social media or whatever.

What is going on? Is there still hope for this forum?

Stuff changes. Whinge or move on. I have no attachment to AN even after 17 yrs. Lots of the outside world's influence and dichotomies and non-netiquet have inevitably seeped in. 

39 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

What is going on? Is there still hope for this forum?

Well, fact is that there are only just so many people interested  in posting on what is primarily  a forum designed to appeal to ex pats or long time Thailand visitors.

 

Once you have succeeded in banning large numbers of them it is tantamount to killing the goose that lays the golden egg.

 

This is Dan's problem. How to make the forum look like a vibrant and active place. Hence now more than ever before there are a lot of posters of questionable authenticity trying to rake over the dying embers of a much reduced membership trying to get it to behave like an electric car and burst into flames.

 

Perhaps banning posters is unnecessary  and just deleting their more offensive posts would be more in keeping with keeping up the number of contributors.

The fun has been lost.

 

We used to have fun posts about sightings of Michelin men and Mountain Dew and the like.

 

Now almost every post degrades into pages of off topic bickering.

 

Name calling rude posters.

 

The noble Internet forum is going the way of the videocassette. I post a bit on Slate and it's the same faces as 5 years ago, facing the same grim attrition as here.

 

I have no problem with idiot posts since it's better than no new posts when I log in. There's no idiot here who I find particularly offensive. As idiots go, our idiots are a genial and fairly moral lot. Without the idiots, there wouldn't be a board left to comment on.

 

The only threads I dislike are the ones where drunks wallow in their chavvy racism, like the Sukhamvit Road thread. If someone makes racist statements here, I'm prone to just ghosting them.

 

But I have no personal problem with them or other Oiks big upping them.

 

Idiots gonna idiot. And Oiks gonna oik.

Yeah forums are retro.

But look at youtube comments section.

The same type of stuff, much more toxic, and not well organized.

 

Or be part of the solution. Toss up a topic.

 

If I do an OP on old jazz records or something, some nice on the spectrum-type will typically wander in and dribble all over it. But then in is this esoteric group, someone else will engage and teach me something.

 

The on the spectrum people here need a telethon, not more shame.

I have been a member of this forum for about 15 years and I have seen this forum change. It used to be a vibrant community of expats, now it is just people reacting to news stories, and posting stupid , anonymous emojis.

 

    

 

7 minutes ago, sirineou said:

I have been a member of this forum for about 15 years and I have seen this forum change. It used to be a vibrant community of expats, now it is just people reacting to news stories, and posting stupid , anonymous emojis.

 

    

 

Totally agree!

It has been highjacked by a hard core of approx. 12 idiots/Bots/paid for posters who may be increasing the "click count" but are ruining the site!

13 minutes ago, Prubangboy said:

Or be part of the solution. Toss up a topic.

 

If I do an OP on old jazz records or something, some nice on the spectrum-type will typically wander in and dribble all over it. But then in is this esoteric group, someone else will engage and teach me something.

 

The on the spectrum people here need a telethon, not more shame.

Yes, it's great for lots of practical living expat stuff.

It's been invaluable to me on a wide range of topics such as buying curtains in Pattaya, what's involved in using a sim card router, how to do a TM30 if you've never done one, etc. etc.

For the most part you get mostly sincere good faith responses on such practical things.

There are still troll posters in such places, but as the minority, they don't take over the joint.

Could instagram or Tiktok do that?

There's also the prob of worn to death topics, entertaining as they be. 

 

 

Some day we will reach peak AseanNow with "How does your bar girl use her bum gun"?

 

Forum Golden Era longing is alway about a time when sites like this had quadruple the traffic. For what it is and for who's left here, I can't complain

 

I read a least a few useful info or interesting personal stories a day here. And I enjoy a diplomatic off-screen laugh at some of the hilarious egos here. Partic the self-proclaimed high IQ people here, all of whom I enjoy.

 

I am very grateful to whoever it is that pays the server fee to provide this place. And if I'm not, I'll demand my money back.

I 'joined' in 2018....so still see myself as kind of a new guy on the block, so to speak. 

But I had already been in TH many years proir to that and had been led to believe (by work colleagues) that what I knew for decades as 'Thai Visa'.....was a forum only for bigoted, rather 'lower-deck' types of falangs who posted vulgar comments between swigs of beer and so on.

 

But wow! How WRONG I was and had been, all along!

 

I became a member because I sought info' about my visa situation and luckily for me, I was priviliged to be a beneficiary of good old Ubonjoe.

But subsequently I looked into what was being discussed on TV/AN......and realised I had been a hell of a falang 'snob' about the site.

 

Since I joined I have posted queries & received immense help, info & goodwill from members when I asked for it. From people whose collective knowledge & brilliance is amazing.

 

OneMoreFarang, I can understand your point and why you are making your views clear at this time and seeking the opinion of other members. I get it.

 

But my simple view is that it's nothing more than a kind of cyclical thing. You'll inevitably get periods of more trivial postings being made, but then that passes and those 'trivia-posters' will fade away a bit until the next time.

 

Final thing....I don't want to sound like a totally annoying idiot, but I reckon in times of serious world crisis and weirdness....like now (FGS!😉).....I think it might be very natural for people to want to express their feelings (unconsciously) by getting into the absurd or trivial aspects of life. 

 

But your query is a good one to think about....and maybe itself is a sign that AN can raise the bar at times. 👍🙂 

TBH .. I haven't noticed any difference.  Was a member years ago, when TV, and really hated it, along with the format.

 

When joined 2 ish years ago (wow, that blew by), didn't realize AN was TV, and only joined to get thoughts about EV's (scooter) & then Solar, as my first post shows. https://aseannow.com/topic/1183238-electric-motorbike-any-opinions/page/2/#comment-16852392

 

Then realized it was TV, but ignored most.  Then as happens with forums, got sucked in ... and not in a good way.

 

Weening myself off most threads, and use of ignore list is helpful.  Wonder why I'm still here, at times ... boredom.  As got and shared all the info needed, or that I could shared.  1 yrs of having EV (2yr/E-MB) & solar.  Don't know what else I could actually contribute.

 

But it seems to be the same ol' TV, just rebranded IMHO.  Not sure how much more I'll be able to endure 😂

 

Especially after the (rightfully so of course) recent moderation of a couple of my post.

I don't get many messages these days, 2 a year (normally from staff 😏)

It wasn't that long ago we used to exchange family photos and Christmas greetings quiet often.

The forum has definitely changed.

And we used to fairly stick it up each other, just for the fun of it. The humour has basically gone, welcome to the new woke world.

On 10/22/2023 at 1:07 AM, OneMoreFarang said:

I look at "Thai Visa" since many years. We always had sometimes interesting and sometime boring topics. And the usual repetitions.

All together there were enough interesting members and topics to keep going.

But now?

Just wanted to respond that I feel exactly the same. Once upon a time this forum was a place I checked in everyday, and found it to be both worthwhile in terms of knowledge gained as well as being enjoyable in terms of exchanges with other members. Now it is a place I just don't like visiting any more, sort of like a restaurant or bar I used to enjoy visiting so often but which has lost its lustre and the best times there are all in the past.

On 10/22/2023 at 1:05 AM, scottiejohn said:

Totally agree!

It has been highjacked by a hard core of approx. 12 idiots/Bots/paid for posters who may be increasing the "click count" but are ruining the site!

For sure. The typical 2 or 3 that wanna run the show with their boring, predictable, humourless, single-line replies that contribute nothing at all to the forum.

I'm happy to scroll past.

On 10/22/2023 at 1:05 AM, scottiejohn said:

Totally agree!

It has been highjacked by a hard core of approx. 12 idiots/Bots/paid for posters who may be increasing the "click count" but are ruining the site!

The same "idiots" that never contribute anything meaningful to the photography or DIY or farming...... threads.

Just happy to slosh around in the pub annoying everyone.

Art mimics life.

And whilst I'm on my high horse...

I actually think that doing away with the annual POTY thread did more harm than good. There was blood spilt and suspensions handed out enmass, but at least it separated the real-life, living in Thailand, meaningful contributors from the desk jockeys.

I don't remember a POTY winner (or candidate?) that couldn't prove their game.

The damage was done a long time ago and the attempts to fix things mostly haven't worked. Now, a large proportion of decent posters who actually live in Thailand, and not some bedsit in Burnley, have left and don't care any more. 

 

The long term posters knew what was good and worked but mods and site management always seemed to be at odds with those things, it was strange behaviour to behold. Now the site is emoji heaven and loaded with one liners put out by mostly woke individuals who don't seem to have a clue about Thailand but are so easily offended. It's easy to blame moderation but it's not them at all, it's the guidance they've received that did the damage. You could see the path ten years ago or more when the great clear out of undesirables too place, talk about babies and bathwater!

OneMoreFarang - I think that Twitter, X, Facebook, Line etc. have taken a lot away from Forums.

 

I used to contribute to the KoratFart forum which died a lonely death, (once a lively place) and still contribute to the Korat-Farang forum - but there, I might just, sometimes, get a reply or two.

 

But on ASEAN and KF, if you ask for advice or help it is good.

 

OMF I think you might be underestimating the life left in ASEAN. A topic introduced on EV recently brought hundreds of responses, (most of which were on topic LOL).

 

Cheer up ! Keep going !

1 hour ago, Mike Lister said:

It's easy to blame moderation but it's not them at all, it's the guidance they've received that did the damage.

As far as I know the moderators here don't get paid.

With some exceptions, I wonder who would want to do such job with the current users.

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I know the moderators here don't get paid.

With some exceptions, I wonder who would want to do such job with the current users.

There were stories floating around about them being offered an incentive, as in a percentage when the business was sold, but who knows (or cares).

1 hour ago, TorquayFan said:

OneMoreFarang - I think that Twitter, X, Facebook, Line etc. have taken a lot away from Forums.

 

I used to contribute to the KoratFart forum which died a lonely death, (once a lively place) and still contribute to the Korat-Farang forum - but there, I might just, sometimes, get a reply or two.

 

But on ASEAN and KF, if you ask for advice or help it is good.

 

OMF I think you might be underestimating the life left in ASEAN. A topic introduced on EV recently brought hundreds of responses, (most of which were on topic LOL).

 

Cheer up ! Keep going !

I guess what annoys me most are the constant new posts from a few members. It seems like they just have to post something new all the time - independent of any value.

 

It can happen that I ask two questions in one day. And then maybe nothing for two weeks. It just depends if something interesting comes to my mind. Just filling the forum with new threads is irritating - at least for me.

I blocked most of the annoying people. But I still see all their new threads in the list on the right. Skip, skip, skip, this might be interesting, skip, skip... 

15 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

As far as I know the moderators here don't get paid.

With some exceptions, I wonder who would want to do such job with the current users.

For the sport of it

11 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I guess what annoys me most are the constant new posts from a few members. It seems like they just have to post something new all the time - independent of any value.

 

It can happen that I ask two questions in one day. And then maybe nothing for two weeks. It just depends if something interesting comes to my mind. Just filling the forum with new threads is irritating - at least for me.

I blocked most of the annoying people. But I still see all their new threads in the list on the right. Skip, skip, skip, this might be interesting, skip, skip... 

Agreed, I liken it to the 12 year old going through puberty and discovering what their penis can do.

There are a couple of other forums that are unpolluted, civil and not as populated, though I’m not going to give specifics, don’t want the trolls to migrate and cause havoc.

On 10/22/2023 at 1:19 AM, Prubangboy said:

There's also the prob of worn to death topics, entertaining as they be. 

 

 

Some day we will reach peak AseanNow with "How does your bar girl use her bum gun"?

 

Forum Golden Era longing is alway about a time when sites like this had quadruple the traffic. For what it is and for who's left here, I can't complain

 

I read a least a few useful info or interesting personal stories a day here. And I enjoy a diplomatic off-screen laugh at some of the hilarious egos here. Partic the self-proclaimed high IQ people here, all of whom I enjoy.

 

I am very grateful to whoever it is that pays the server fee to provide this place. And if I'm not, I'll demand my money back.

Have you been to Luang Prabang. Could one say you are a Laos Lover

I agree but at the same time what interests someone not permanently living in Thailand may be different to those living there permanently. The threads on car accidents, double pricing, possible corruption, cost or availability of this and that, can follow the same pattern with same old comments. At least the threads on more social issues have the possibility of being interesting. Maybe too many outsiders on this site for the real expats.

Then there's the ones on the same old political issues, gender, climate change etc that I don't bother reading now.

So more obscure topics can be a bit of fun. But having daily or hourly threads on whatever pops into people's heads can be a bit over the top. 

24 minutes ago, Fat is a type of crazy said:

I agree but at the same time what interests someone not permanently living in Thailand may be different to those living there permanently.  

On the other hand, the discussion today on whether Thai people prefer Asian partners is a good as any Thai social customs book I might pay $20 to read. Nowhere else gives such a wealth of lived experience. I may not care about solar panels in Issan specifically, but reading about that kind of life is valuable to me.

 

If I were doing a PhD in Asian Studies (I keep thinking about Chunglakorn Uni), I could do a very decent thesis on Eastern/Western relationships without going too far off of this page.

 

Evil Apple arbitrarily locked me out of my laptop. Getting back in meant a lot of lost passwords.

 

Hence my rebirth here of as PrubangBoy -which I envision as a kinder, gentler iteration in the 2.0 version. No more making fun of Trump Trash. I vow it. Chavs? Still fair game.