Land of Smiles - really?

[fredwiggy]

9 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

Just another observation:

 

Seeing as this thread has got out of control already, I'm gonna throw caution to the wind. I've been called a grumpy old farang, which I have probably become in some ways 🤣 (actually, I'm a really nice guy!), but:

 

- why do so many people here chuck their plastic waste everywhere without any regard for the environment? It really makes me despair. Thailand has such a beautiful landscape, or used to have in some places. Don't people care about the natural environment? My partner says it's because most people aren't educated about it and simply don't understand. And the corporations encourage it (single-use plastic etc.)

 

When you peak behind hedgerows or trees it often looks like a garbage dump. It's so sad.

 

Thoughts?

Laws on the book aren't enforced. Officials look the other way when a payout is made like most other poor countries. Although there is conservation in some places, it isn't as important here, also because it's a poor country and every man and woman for themselves. They try and protect their national parks because this brings tourism money, but their lakes are by and far netted out because it isn't a tourist thing as much here to go fishing. There are deer in those parks but nowhere else because if there were, they would be eaten and disappear overnight. The government has garbage pickup in major cities bit ignore the country areas, so the people have no place to put their garbage besides in the woods or to burn it, contributing to the pollution problem here. And yes, it's about education and enforcement, and that goes to the top.

[SAFETY FIRST]

8 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Along with the brown nosers who think they are somehow gaining favor, the ones who can't see the forest for the trees and those that are dead on with their complaints.

Thailand is not for everyone. 

 

These complainers need to return to their own countries, be amongst similar others, their own miserable people. 

 

[JoseThailand]

15 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

Hi everyone

 

I know each person's experience of Thailand is different, but Thailand is often called the Land of Smiles. Is that really a fair description nowadays? My feeling is that people will smile as long as they can get money from you. As soon as they've got it, it's over with the friendliness.

 

Thais seem extremely hypocritical to me. I feel like I can't really trust anyone. Even Thai friends say this. Is it true?

 

Generally, the country seems very backward in many ways. The majority of people are hugely exploited, but they just seem to accept it as if it were normal. Perhaps that's the deferent culture of the Thais.

 

I've been here for 3 years, but I'm not happy really. Maybe I've just had a bad experience, which is not representative of the country as a whole.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Chris

 

Everything you said is completely true

[JoseThailand]

15 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

Hi everyone

 

I know each person's experience of Thailand is different, but Thailand is often called the Land of Smiles. Is that really a fair description nowadays? My feeling is that people will smile as long as they can get money from you. As soon as they've got it, it's over with the friendliness.

 

Thais seem extremely hypocritical to me. I feel like I can't really trust anyone. Even Thai friends say this. Is it true?

 

Generally, the country seems very backward in many ways. The majority of people are hugely exploited, but they just seem to accept it as if it were normal. Perhaps that's the deferent culture of the Thais.

 

I've been here for 3 years, but I'm not happy really. Maybe I've just had a bad experience, which is not representative of the country as a whole.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Chris

 

Everything you said is completely true

[jerrymahoney]

9 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

Seeing as this thread has got out of control already, I'm gonna throw caution to the wind. I've been called a grumpy old farang, which I have probably become in some ways 🤣 (actually, I'm a really nice guy!), but:

There is a Gay People in Thailand Forum -- maybe you'd get some more meaningful and helpful responses' there.

[JoseThailand]

15 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

Hi everyone

 

I know each person's experience of Thailand is different, but Thailand is often called the Land of Smiles. Is that really a fair description nowadays? My feeling is that people will smile as long as they can get money from you. As soon as they've got it, it's over with the friendliness.

 

Thais seem extremely hypocritical to me. I feel like I can't really trust anyone. Even Thai friends say this. Is it true?

 

Generally, the country seems very backward in many ways. The majority of people are hugely exploited, but they just seem to accept it as if it were normal. Perhaps that's the deferent culture of the Thais.

 

I've been here for 3 years, but I'm not happy really. Maybe I've just had a bad experience, which is not representative of the country as a whole.

 

Any thoughts on this?

 

Chris

 

Everything you said is completely true

[fredwiggy]

Just now, SAFETY FIRST said:

Thailand is not for everyone. 

 

These complainers need to return to their own countries, be amongst similar others, their own miserable people. 

 

It isn't being miserable pointing out what is. People like to see change where they are, no matter if it's their country or not. If you live here, you want things to be right, because there is always a right way and a wrong way, and some countries are still stuck in reverse. Changes some would like to see would help everyone.

[1FinickyOne]

14 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

but isn't that the same everywhere,

until you get out of the tourist areas... 

[Yellow Fever]

It’s simple, thais view farangs as a financial life raft and that’s all they really view them as.. if you aren’t willing to splash that cash Thai’s won’t give you the time of day generally

 

It’s a transactional relationship between Thai and farang, always has been. 

 

[Mekmong MICK]

1 minute ago, Yellow Fever said:

It’s simple, thais view farangs as a financial life raft and that’s all they really view them as.. if you aren’t willing to splash that cash Thai’s won’t give you the time of day generally

 

It’s a transactional relationship between Thai and farang, always has been. 

 

Yep, I'm starting to realise this with my missus. Everytime I ask her to go to the shop to grab a 6 pack she asks for extra money to get her nails done or feet manicured. Still, happy wife happy life I guess and it keeps the old girl smiling

[Nemises]

15 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

My feeling is that people will smile as long as they can get money from you.

And it’s taken you how many years to work this out?!

[retarius]

I find Thai women almost always smile when you make eye contact.....men rarely if ever make eye contact and generally don't smile when they do. 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, 1FinickyOne said:

until you get out of the tourist areas... 

I'm talking all over the world people will say anything to sell you stuff

[MalcolmB]

10 hours ago, ChrisThailand1977 said:

do so many people here chuck their plastic waste everywhere without any regard for the environment? It really makes me despair

They do it for their descendants to become wealthy.

About 40 years ago a farang came over to Thailand and dug up an old canal in Bangkok.

He found old plates, and other “artefacts” that sold for a lot of money. The Thais just thought it was just rubbish that was discarded but now the farangs are getting and paying high prices for what they considered rubbish.

That M150 bottle and Lays crisps wrapppers will be worth a lot of money one day. 
 

Smart people.

[Bungditin]

I’ve always compared the Thai smile to the American use of the phrase

“ Have a nice day”. Neither are especially genuine. 

[simon43]

Chris, perhaps you need to listen to the oft-quoted Thai phrase "you tink too mut".  In other words, (and I see this in many people nowadays), stop worrying about things, stop with this self-reflection, stop worrying about what others think of you and simply enjoy the fact that you are alive and with a partner in a country with a wonderful climate etc.

 

IMHO, many of the so-called mental health issues that seem to plague society nowadays are down to too much self-reflection, too much wanting to please others, too much concern over whether you have upset someone or not.

 

I don't give a flying fig what others think of me, (I'm sure most people have no opinion of me at all, I'm just another human on this planet). I accept my faults and I accept that the world is far from perfect.  I just get on with my life 🙂

 

I'm also a scientist, so I will only make the comment that we are in the warming part of an interglacial cycle that occurs typically every 100,000 years.  That means that it is natural for the climate to be warming up right now.  But iIt seems that the current rate of temperature increase is faster than the last increase some 100,000 years ago, and this can certainly be attributed to human activities/industry etc.

 

Finally, my knowledge of Thai helps when it comes to people dropping and burning litter.  If I see this I tell the person that Buddha can see them dropping litter or burning trash, and they are likely to be reborn in their next life as a cockroach if they continue to do this. (I have scared some Thais half to death when I solemnly tell them this!).

[SAFETY FIRST]

Weird foreigners come to Thailand and want change. Go back to your own country and complain. Your own country is not perfect, could do with lots improvement. 

 

 

Omfg, what's wrong with people today? 

 

[save the frogs]

why would you expect anyone to smile at you?

why do you think someone owes you a smile?

 

do you smile at everyone for no apparent reason? 

[fredwiggy]

13 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Weird foreigners come to Thailand and want change. Go back to your own country and complain. Your own country is not perfect, could do with lots improvement. 

 

 

Omfg, what's wrong with people today? 

 

Many are blind to what's around them, and are content to live in a place that is wrong for them. Change takes place when complaints are listened to. Change can be good for everyone, besides those that prosper on others misfortunes and are content to keep things that way.

[SAFETY FIRST]

3 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

because America is a great place to live,

Now I know you are having a laugh, thanks for the chuckle. 👍

 

Very funny, have you thought about a career in comedy, you'll make a fortune. 😂

 

 

[John49]

I have always thought that Thailand is mischaracterised as the ‘Land of Smiles’; Indonesia is much more the real ‘Land of Smiles’?

Having worked in both countries and with some learning of the languages, I know that Thai is difficult and Indonesian (with Roman script) is easy - relationships flourish or founder on this communication tool.

Other than that, many similarities including the spoon-fed educational system, with independent thought discouraged.

 

My language mistakes in Indonesia were a source of fun for all and I progressed learning words and phrases, often with repetition giving the perfect accent.

I found the Indonesians to be very outgoing - if I took a local bus, someone would often come and sit next to me and start a conversation - but not always a blessing...

Sometimes, I suspected motivation like wanting to have ‘rich friend’ or looking for job.

 

By contrast, after several years in Thailand (including a 6 month language course), and sometimes trying to start conversations with locals, I have given up.

The Thai language is just a too difficult communication tool (the confusing phonics), and trying to start a conversation usually nosedives after less than one minute. 

Now, I get by with a few dozen parroted phrases - for a smooth passage.

[Thingamabob]

Still the Land of Smiles in my experience 

[fredwiggy]

12 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Now I know you are having a laugh, thanks for the chuckle. 👍

 

Very funny, have you thought about a career in comedy, you'll make a fortune. 😂

 

 

Guess you haven't been there. I lived there 62 years, and never had much trouble at all. It has everything anyone could want.

[SAFETY FIRST]

8 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Guess you haven't been there. I lived there 62 years, and never had much trouble at all. It has everything anyone could want.

You Guessed wrong

 

I have travelled, studied and worked in over 40 countries. 

 

US, I spent a lot of my time in Houston, mostly training courses. 

 

 

[Yellow Fever]

1 hour ago, retarius said:

I find Thai women almost always smile when you make eye contact.....men rarely if ever make eye contact and generally don't smile when they do. 

She’s only smiling cause she’s thinking about how much baht she can drain from you 

[fredwiggy]

33 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

You want it to be like the same 5hit hole you left behind. 

Don't change anything.

 

Since I arrived, Thailand has already seen too many changes, all because of the moaners. 

 

LEAVE THAILAND ALONE. 

 

😡

 

I like it the way it is. 

To add on from before. I of course am not saying you can change anything here because many things are a certain way because of geographical location and climate. I'm saying changes should always be made to help all people, especially those that have been oppressed and are barely making it in life. Thailand has borrowed many things and made changes like other countries. Their justice system is born out of the English standard. Most things that people use here daily are from other countries and trade and tourism from those countries is part of what makes Thailand prosper. Democracy would do well here, where people can actually vote someone in and see them in that position. The driving ere is appalling and people die by the thousands yearly because of a lack of enforcement. This of course needs an immediate change. Thailand is a huge hub for human trafficking and extreme punishment would help curtail that activity, but where there's money to be made, people are kept as slaves. It isn't moaning wanting to live in a better and more safer place. It's mandatory to complain, and that's the only way changes will be made. Anyone who thinks things are just fine and dandy here are living in their homes and rarely leaving.

[fredwiggy]

2 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

You Guessed wrong

 

I have travelled, studied and worked in over 40 countries. 

 

US, I Spent most of my time in Houston, mostly training courses. 

 

 

Maybe you should have stayed longer in the US to actually see what goes on there, as traveling from place to place doesn't lend to understanding what really goes on, and many only go by videos and some news they hear. You can live in one place and never go anywhere besides back and forth from work to home. Locals live here all their lives and never see but a fraction of what goes on here daily.

[bob smith]

I like this thread. A lot.

 

It's very refreshing to see so many farangs finally waking up to the truth about life here.

 

it isn't all it's cracked up to be and it's much better for you in the long run to remove the rose tinted specs so you can see the wood for the trees.

 

Any other approach than that is pure self delusion and/or denial.

 

bob.

[ChrisThailand1977]

2 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

There is a Gay People in Thailand Forum -- maybe you'd get some more meaningful and helpful responses' there.

 

That's a ridiculous suggestion. My original thread had absolutely nothing to do with my being gay and I could just as well be straight.

 

Is there a "heterosexual people in Thailand" forum too?

 

Christ...

[SAFETY FIRST]

2 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

Maybe you should have stayed longer in the US to actually see what goes on there, as traveling from place to place doesn't lend to understanding what really goes on, and many only go by videos and some news they hear. You can live in one place and never go anywhere besides back and forth from work to home. Locals live here all their lives and never see but a fraction of what goes on here daily.

I reckon I've seen more of the US than you.