Is Farangland Really That Bad

[wilko]

I would hotly dispute that a gene is the main motivator for wanderlust........in fact all countries are made up of immigrants, it's just that US is a recent and much publicised example.

When I talk about problems I say that there could be a million different ones...e.g. even under the heading "economic" it could be anything from not having any food to being sent out to a country to work on a huge salary. Governments and Industry by necessity export a lot of personnel.

If you want to split hairs about my use of numericals as an example - The last time I looked...millions was made up of thousands.......

when it comes to ex-pats....i.e. someone who lives "abroad" but doesn't change their nationality, I'm guessing that proportionally (percentage of population) the Irish would be somewhere near the top of the league, UK and Netherlands being other examples from western culture......India and China to has ex-pats but they tend to settle

[Zpete]

I could go back to Texas and my family, but I won't. Nice place, good people, great warm weather, etc. But they are all too wrapped up in the rat race; Texans are far more homophobic than Thais; cost of living is too high; it would be too hard to supplement Social Security pension, etc. Nice place to visit for a few weeks, but no place to live!

Why do you say, Texans fear Texans and where do you get the impression,Thais may fear Thais.

Rubbish, I would say the complete opposite.

Was not, the Thaksin Government a Thai love Thai party?

Mind you, I could guess many Texans fear George Bush, but not Texans in general.

Where are you coming from? Blondie

I think you should check your dictionary as to the meaning of the word HOMOPHOBIC or at least consider the context in which the poster intended. I am sure you will have figured it out by now.

Homo = Same

Phobic = Fear

Nuff said, if it is an American version, enlighten me.

[Jingthing]

No, the definition of homophobic goes well beyond fear of homosexuals.

If they just feared us, we could say BOO and they would run away. It ain't that simple.

Fear of or contempt for lesbians and gay men.

Behavior based on such a feeling

Edited February 11, 2008 by Jingthing

[Pepe']

I am as straight as they come.

Have gay friends and volunteer in an HIV clinics with an overwhelming large gay male patient population.

Honestly, I don't get homophobic.

Fear of, contempt for hatred for. I just don't get it.

Gay or straight consenting adult what is the difference.

I know that there are those who fit into the category OF HP on TV because of comments that have been made at times.

So maybe one of you guys can explain it to me...

[howtoescape]

For me Farangland has lost its fun factor, i dont really like to go on drinking binges in town any more as you get beat up there, my ecstacy popping and raving days are long since over, i am too lazy to be chasing girls in bars and dont much like the knock back anyway, maybe i am having an early mid life crisis, which will be a pity as i have just got out of my terrible twenties.

For me fun and good times in England seem forced where as in Thailand just sitting down having a coffee and watching the world go by can be the most fun you can have with your clothes on.

[Tony Clifton]

Met my wife, moved here, married, newborn son.

5 years have passed.

Used to love driving and traveling, dangerous and inconsiderate Thai drivers changed all that.

Kid will also never set foot in a Thai school, or ride to and from school on these roads 10 times a week, never.

We're moving to Canada.

[howtoescape]

Met my wife, moved here, married, newborn son.

5 years have passed.

Used to love driving and traveling, dangerous and inconsiderate Thai drivers changed all that.

Kid will also never set foot in a Thai school, or ride to and from school on these roads 10 times a week, never.

We're moving to Canada.

I can see why kids change things, but are Canadian state schools really that much better then Thai private schools or is it more a case that there are more quality jobs when leaving.

I have to say Canadian drivers are the most considerate ive ever seen.

[kat]

Well, I returned to the States in late '06, and I am still officially in transition. I was in LOS for 4 years. I have good educational credentials and good experience, but the transition has been hard. But, that is also because I am picky about the kind of work and life that I want. I came back and got an excellent job that sounds great on paper, but I was profoundly unhappy for various reasons. I am now in transition by choice, as I completely rearrange my life and possibly switch careers.

It's been hard, no doubt. But, stabilizing here will be worth it, in the long run. I want to be able to have the choice of living somewhere and returning, not leaving for good because I can't come back. That, to me, would be truly bad and horrible. Things are not perfect here, but there are laws, decent values, and people who believe in fairness and equality, and devote their energies to creating a better world. As a result, you can be challenged here, to be better, in many ways.

There is no way that I would trade the difficulty of making my way here, for cheap and available, shallow, fraudulent relationships based on little more than money, looks, and mutual opportunism that is the norm in LOS.

*edited for typos

Edited February 11, 2008 by kat

[Pepe']

There is no way that I would trade the difficulty of making my way here, for cheap and available, shallow, fraudulent relationships based on little more than money, looks, and mutual opportunism that is the norm in LOS.

*edited for typos

---------------------

Wow! Kat tellin' it like it is!

[wilko]

Met my wife, moved here, married, newborn son.

5 years have passed.

Used to love driving and traveling, dangerous and inconsiderate Thai drivers changed all that.

Kid will also never set foot in a Thai school, or ride to and from school on these roads 10 times a week, never.

We're moving to Canada.

don't forget your coat!

[Tony Clifton]

Met my wife, moved here, married, newborn son.

5 years have passed.

Used to love driving and traveling, dangerous and inconsiderate Thai drivers changed all that.

Kid will also never set foot in a Thai school, or ride to and from school on these roads 10 times a week, never.

We're moving to Canada.

I can see why kids change things, but 1 are Canadian state schools really that much better then Thai private schools or 2 is it more a case that there are more quality jobs when leaving.

3 I have to say Canadian drivers are the most considerate ive ever seen.

1: Yes, I think there a much better options for schools over there and that they are also free of corruption and tolerated incompetence, add to that that no nutter of a bus driver is tolerated over there. Here I've even seen a mini-school van loaded with kids cutting off another mini-school-van also full of kids, right here in our moo ban. Ever seen the way these guys drive? Ever seen the way Thai drivers treat these school buses?

2: Working here is a pain, the paperwork is a constant pain and you have to deal with different people and different immigration offices who keep interpreting the laws differently. Jobs reserved for Thais etc.

There? In no time, without tons of hassles and restrictions, my wife can work where and when she pleases, even with the government for decent wages, unlike me here. Also doesn't have to constantly report every 90 days and bother with visas or visa runs once the initial paperwork is done.

3 : Yes, Canadian drivers are generally very courteous and considerate, unlike here, Neanderthals on wheels.

Met my wife, moved here, married, newborn son.

5 years have passed.

Used to love driving and traveling, dangerous and inconsiderate Thai drivers changed all that.

Kid will also never set foot in a Thai school, or ride to and from school on these roads 10 times a week, never.

We're moving to Canada.

don't forget your coat!

Gave all of that away for the needy back then.

Will have to buy three of them now.

[distortedlink]

Back in 2002, my family and I had our own 2-bedroom house in Hayes, Middlesex, England. Just on the outskirts of London. We had lived there for 12 years. Over that time the area was going into rapid decline, as was the rest of the country, but of course this has been happening in England well over the last 30 years.

In 2002, the streets were becoming over run by young thugs. One morning I had to confront thugs after they began throwing stones at me outside my home in Hayes, Middlesex, in an unprovoked attack.

I paid the price over the next few months for exchanging words with them, by the thugs throwing more stones, kicking down our front wall, vandalizing my car, tipping rubbish over the car and onto my property, having to escort my daughter to school for her own safety, verbal abuse and stone throwing at my property during the night.

We called in the police who were practically powerless to do anything.

Soon realised that in Britain there are no strong laws to protect victims of these terrorist yobs and that my beloved London, a city I thought I’d never leave was not the same city as when I was a child.

My family and I immigrated to Thailand in 2003 and kissed hellhole Britain goodbye. Since then, we are financially secure, safe and happy.

For what I am reading in the British on line newspapers everyday, give me no incentive to ever want to return to England to live or ever visit.

Good ole Blighty is gone forever. I am still a patriotic Englishman but these days prefer to be a patriot from afar.

[KhunG]

I currently live outside Houston, Texas. It is one of my favorite places in the world, and I've lived in several other countries and travelled to many more. My Thai wife also enjoys our life here. I will still retire in Thailand, because it's another of my favorite places in the world, my money will go a lot farther there, and my wife's family is there.

[Pepe']

Back in 2002, my family and I had our own 2-bedroom house in Hayes, Middlesex, England. Just on the outskirts of London. We had lived there for 12 years. Over that time the area was going into rapid decline, as was the rest of the country, but of course this has been happening in England well over the last 30 years.

In 2002, the streets were becoming over run by young thugs. One morning I had to confront thugs after they began throwing stones at me outside my home in Hayes, Middlesex, in an unprovoked attack.

I paid the price over the next few months for exchanging words with them, by the thugs throwing more stones, kicking down our front wall, vandalizing my car, tipping rubbish over the car and onto my property, having to escort my daughter to school for her own safety, verbal abuse and stone throwing at my property during the night.

We called in the police who were practically powerless to do anything.

Soon realised that in Britain there are no strong laws to protect victims of these terrorist yobs and that my beloved London, a city I thought I’d never leave was not the same city as when I was a child.

My family and I immigrated to Thailand in 2003 and kissed hellhole Britain goodbye. Since then, we are financially secure, safe and happy.

For what I am reading in the British on line newspapers everyday, give me no incentive to ever want to return to England to live or ever visit.

Good ole Blighty is gone forever. I am still a patriotic Englishman but these days prefer to be a patriot from afar.

--------------------------

We had a similar problem starting here in and around my neighborhood in San Diego last year.

We found out who the leaders were. Myself mid fifties and my two neighbors mid sixties got a hold of them.

We had a little conversation and calmly and clearly told them and guaranteed what was going to happen if the

havoc continued.

They moved on to terrorized others elsewhere.

Just give' em an offer they can't refuse. It's very peaceful and quite these days.

So there was some value to being raised in Newark after all...

[kat]

Back in 2002, my family and I had our own 2-bedroom house in Hayes, Middlesex, England. Just on the outskirts of London. We had lived there for 12 years. Over that time the area was going into rapid decline, as was the rest of the country, but of course this has been happening in England well over the last 30 years.

In 2002, the streets were becoming over run by young thugs. One morning I had to confront thugs after they began throwing stones at me outside my home in Hayes, Middlesex, in an unprovoked attack.

I paid the price over the next few months for exchanging words with them, by the thugs throwing more stones, kicking down our front wall, vandalizing my car, tipping rubbish over the car and onto my property, having to escort my daughter to school for her own safety, verbal abuse and stone throwing at my property during the night.

We called in the police who were practically powerless to do anything.

Soon realised that in Britain there are no strong laws to protect victims of these terrorist yobs and that my beloved London, a city I thought I’d never leave was not the same city as when I was a child.

My family and I immigrated to Thailand in 2003 and kissed hellhole Britain goodbye. Since then, we are financially secure, safe and happy.

For what I am reading in the British on line newspapers everyday, give me no incentive to ever want to return to England to live or ever visit.

Good ole Blighty is gone forever. I am still a patriotic Englishman but these days prefer to be a patriot from afar.

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles. Sounds like it was a nightmare.

So there was some value to being raised in Newark after all...

Most definitely. Probably more value than that as well.

(I'm from the Bronx).

[Pepe']

Da Bronx!

That explains a lot.

41st precint?

[wilko]

Back in 2002, my family and I had our own 2-bedroom house in Hayes, Middlesex, England. Just on the outskirts of London. We had lived there for 12 years. Over that time the area was going into rapid decline, as was the rest of the country, but of course this has been happening in England well over the last 30 years.

In 2002, the streets were becoming over run by young thugs. One morning I had to confront thugs after they began throwing stones at me outside my home in Hayes, Middlesex, in an unprovoked attack.

I paid the price over the next few months for exchanging words with them, by the thugs throwing more stones, kicking down our front wall, vandalizing my car, tipping rubbish over the car and onto my property, having to escort my daughter to school for her own safety, verbal abuse and stone throwing at my property during the night.

We called in the police who were practically powerless to do anything.

Soon realised that in Britain there are no strong laws to protect victims of these terrorist yobs and that my beloved London, a city I thought I’d never leave was not the same city as when I was a child.

My family and I immigrated to Thailand in 2003 and kissed hellhole Britain goodbye. Since then, we are financially secure, safe and happy.

For what I am reading in the British on line newspapers everyday, give me no incentive to ever want to return to England to live or ever visit.

Good ole Blighty is gone forever. I am still a patriotic Englishman but these days prefer to be a patriot from afar.

The thing about this posting is it could have been written at any time between now and 1808, .....................nothing ever changes.

[warfie]

I could be lazy and reply without typing a thing... just quote from others posts...

For me the main reason to leave my home country was "over-governance". Rules for every-damท-thing.

I mean as 0Mix1up said "laws for idiots" that said, there is, I believe, such a thing as 'too much freedom'... but I'd like to try-on that set of problems for a while, at least I'm not bored to tears with them...

As so many others have said "I love Thailand". I don't hate "farangland" (in my case Australia) I have no legal issues there, and I was financially secure with my own I.T. business, car, house, high powered motorcy', etc. all that s#it... I just prefer to live here. And I have sold everything 'back home' to do it. That's my level of commitment.

I have been led to believe that the education system here is not up to the standards of the developed, western world, but I have no kids here (left them behind with their mothers) and no intention of having any (snip, snip) so I've not investigated schooling and cannot comment on that aspect.

As for Thai people, I find them to be very kind, gentle and generous. Unlike back in Melbourne, where a request for the time-of-day might just as easily be rewarded with a sneer. But I live in the north, and I notice a vast difference in the attitudes of northerners to that of people in Krung Thep and the south, then again, maybe I've just been lucky...

Every place/society has it's good and bad aspects, I just happen to think the former outweighs the latter in Thailand... for me.

For the benefit of a previous poster, Websters Dictionary defines homophobic as "irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality or homosexuals" I have a Thai friend who is kathoei a very tall overweight and obvious/unconvincing queen. Here s/he can go anywhere and do anything wearing her/is effeminate clothing and accessories, no problem. Back home s/he'd get the s#it kicked out of her/im. I certainly appreciate the tolerance of Thai society (just an example).

The most common complaint I hear is about the standard of Thai driving, maybe I'm jaded by 15 years working as a motorcy' courier in Melbourne, I just don't expect much from other road users, so it doesn't bother me too much... imagine that you're made of glass... that is: hard to see and easily broken, think for the other driver... no problem.

and then of course, there are the girls...

[wilko]

Thai society is not so much "kathoei" phobic as "homophobic".....it actually is easier for a physically male person to behave that way that be a "butch" gay. So the conclusions draw are probably inaccurate...

the point here is that everyone has perceptions of Thailand or their home country - backed up only by individual experience which really means nothing...it has to be looked at in a greater field than that to give any kind of real image......

both the above postings are simply prejudices base on personal experience not on sound analytical judgment.

[warfie]

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