Thailand A Third World Country? Come On!

[redrio]

Hi all,

I hear people to refer to Thailand as a third world country..

What exactly is a third world country?

Since when has Manchester Uk, had a sky train and sky scrapers?

We are talking about Thailand not Nicaragua.

Thailand a place where people will help anybody, not hold a grenade to your face for a dollar.

Probably the best place to get medication or health services cheaper and cleaner than the Uk.

Thailand os not a third world country, 85% of people have a mobile phone.

Someone will kill you in Russia if you are wearing a $40 dollar pair of Levi's.

Rio

[londonthai]

thailand is a country of a huge contrasts - next to bangkok's skyscrapers are slums and shanty towns, build from corrugated sheets.

I would say it's a country somewhere between second and third world. You have to look at the low level of living, with not any form of social budget or explosive political situation, with military and sercet services controlling the whole country

[ThaiEye]

with military and sercet services controlling the whole country

Oh no.... now, we have the conspiracy theorists posting in the travel forum.

Perhaps you ain't been back to the UK for a while and forgot what it's like. But personally, i'd prefer to live in a rundown shanty town or impovirished Isarn Village than i would a slum in Bradford, Paisley, Northern Island or even London.

And talking about poverty, besides the usual tourist areas of Thailand, i see more beggars on the streets of the UK than i do in Thailand.

[londonthai]

with military coup every few years (with an exeption of one - all very bloody ones) and them having their own banks and mass media (tv, radio, papers) you have to see that they are more than just an army under the rule of law - they are an entity in their own rights, not responsible for their actions to anybody.

that's characteristic of the country less than the first, most advanced economically and socially, world.

as to living in a shanty town or a poor issan village that's your personal choice and opinion

Edited December 17, 2008 by londonthai

[bkkjames]

with military and sercet services controlling the whole country

Oh no.... now, we have the conspiracy theorists posting in the travel forum.

Perhaps you ain't been back to the UK for a while and forgot what it's like. But personally, i'd prefer to live in a rundown shanty town or impovirished Isarn Village than i would a slum in Bradford, Paisley, Northern Island or even London.

And talking about poverty, besides the usual tourist areas of Thailand, i see more beggars on the streets of the UK than i do in Thailand.

Don't imagine there are many beggers in your issan village.

[5tash]

Thailand is a "newly industrialized country" (NIC), NICs are countries whose economies have not yet reached first world status but have outpaced their developing third world counterparts.

[duncaw]

Fifth world banana republic

[henryalleman]

with military coup every few years (with an exeption of one - all very bloody ones) and them having their own banks and mass media (tv, radio, papers) you have to see that they are more than just an army under the rule of law - they are an entity in their own rights, not responsible for their actions to anybody.

that's characteristic of the country less than the first, most advanced economically and socially, world.

as to living in a shanty town or a poor issan village that's your personal choice and opinion

In general I feel much more safe in any Thai town including Bangkok than in my own home town Antwerp

[Plus]

with military coup every few years

1991-2006 is a lot more than "few years", and the last one was exceptional in your own words.

Actually the coup of 1991 itself was bloodless, too. Violence erupted next year when Suchinda refused to step down as promised, and people have won.

[neverdie]

I dont think they call them 'third world' anymore....tis called 'Developing country' ...... banana republic >> is ok still, i think

[ourmaninbangers]

Hi all,

I hear people to refer to Thailand as a third world country..

What exactly is a third world country?

Since when has Manchester Uk, had a sky train and sky scrapers?

We are talking about Thailand not Nicaragua.

Thailand a place where people will help anybody, not hold a grenade to your face for a dollar.

Probably the best place to get medication or health services cheaper and cleaner than the Uk.

Thailand os not a third world country, 85% of people have a mobile phone.

Someone will kill you in Russia if you are wearing a $40 dollar pair of Levi's.

Rio

you have got to be kidding if you honestly truly think thailand is not a 3rd world country

your logic had this room laughing....is this joke?

thialand is a place where anyone will help anyone... yes, usually for a fee and that is statement which can apply to anywhere, and I wonder if those brits who were murdered would agree

I could fill a page with counters

healthcare is great, but only for the rich, which means mostly non local, I had great healthcare in cuba.... your logic???

mobile phone logic.....l love that one

I tell you what , lets do a massive airdrop of mobile phones into north korea so that will change everything will it?

the facts now, like or not

thailand is a very much a 3/rd world- and will be in ourlive time

look at the place

its like a monty python sort of satire

controlled by a corrupt consortitiuim who do not give a dam about about is own people, and also by western interests

the people here are also subject to thought control, hence one cannot question certain insitutions

[mijan24]

Hi all,

I hear people to refer to Thailand as a third world country..

What exactly is a third world country?

Since when has Manchester Uk, had a sky train and sky scrapers?

We are talking about Thailand not Nicaragua.

Thailand a place where people will help anybody, not hold a grenade to your face for a dollar.

Probably the best place to get medication or health services cheaper and cleaner than the Uk.

Thailand os not a third world country, 85% of people have a mobile phone.

Someone will kill you in Russia if you are wearing a $40 dollar pair of Levi's.

Rio

There are many catergories and factors that say a country is 3rd world.

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/thir...rld.htm#regimes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

[technocracy]

He he he . . . the mobile phone things is actually an indication that the country IS under developed - due to there being a lack of infrastructure for land line communications.

Just like Laos - here every man and his dog has a mobile phone but I am dam_n sure Laos is a under-developed country.

Infrastructure underlying it all is one of the main considerations of if a country is under-developed and last time I checked Bangkok had very poor sanitation. The water supply is unpottable and if you aren't looking where you are going you stand a chance of falling into an open sewer - I didn't see any of them the last time I was in Manchester!

Anyway Manchester has a tram system and it has plenty of condos albeit not 60 storey buildings - but then again even London only has one or two 'skyscrapers' and doesn't have a Skytrain is London a third world on this basis?!?!

But I reckong the OP is just troll on a fishing trip.

Edited December 17, 2008 by technocracy

[ThaiEye]

with military coup every few years (with an exeption of one - all very bloody ones)

Bit of an exaggeration to say the least.

The last bloody coup in Thailand i can recall is the failed Manhattan Coup of 1951.

1991 saw blood on the streets, but that was the aftermath of a coup - not the coup itself

1976 saw public hangings and the notwhat but had nothing to do with a coup, bunch of supposed royalists cracking down on supposed communists.

1973 saw deaths but that was after the arrest of some student activists - a coup followed but the crackdown had nothing to do with a coup.

1958 and Pol Gen Sarit saw the beginning of a huge bloody crackdown on supposed leftists - but had nothing to do with a coup

*************

From Wiki:

"Somalia is considered a Third World country due to rampant poverty and lawlessness"

If you consider the latter a a definition of 'third world', then you had better not go to The United States.

Edited December 17, 2008 by ThaiEye

[PhilHarries]

What do you, or anyone for that matter, mean by "Third World" and what are the other two?

Well......

The use of the terms First, the Second, and the Third World is a rough, and it's safe to say, outdated model of the geopolitical world from the time of the cold war.

There is no official definition of the first, second, and the third world.

The origin of the terminology is unclear. In 1952 Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer, wrote an article in the French magazine L'Observateur which ended by comparing the Third World with the Third Estate: "ce Tiers Monde ignoré, exploité, méprisé comme le Tiers État" (this ignored Third World, exploited, scorned like the Third Estate). Other sources claim that Charles de Gaulle coined the term Third World, maybe de Gaulle only has quoted Sauvy. However...

Four Worlds

After World War II the world split into two large geopolitical blocs and spheres of influence with contrary views on government and the politically correct society:

The term "First World" refers to so called developed, capitalist, industrial countries, roughly, a bloc of countries aligned with the United States after World War II, with more or less common political and economic interests: North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia.

"Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China.

"Third World" are all the other countries, today often used to roughly describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The term Third World includes as well capitalist (e.g., Venezuela[showing the age of the article, this is currently open to debate but I'll leave it in]) and communist (e.g., North Korea) countries, as very rich (e.g., Saudi Arabia) and very poor (e.g., Mali) countries.

The term "Fourth World" first came into use in 1974 with the publication of Shuswap Chief George Manuel's : The fourth world : an Indian reality, the term refers to nations (cultural entities, ethnic groups) of indigenous peoples living within or across state boundaries (nation states).

Source : http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/thir...d_countries.htm

So Thailand is, ging along with this outdated model, third world with a bit of fourth. However in these more enlightened times the term "Developing Nation" used in conjunction with countries like Thailand has found more widespread acceptance. Certainly, despite all it's faults and foibles, Thailand does not deserve a listing alongside the likes of Mali and North Korea. However there are areas where Thailand certainly tends more towards Mali than towards Singapore.

Although outdated the above model is still used in judging nation's status and I'll think you'll find it all hinges on rather more than a head count of beggars.

[PeaceBlondie]

I lived briefly in rural Nicaragua, 1998-1999. Definitely almost completely undeveloped and desperately poor except for the Ivy League graduates who ruled it as a ...well, as a banana republic, corruptly. But you could drink the tap water in the capital city. And it was never Third World during the Cold War because its dictator, Somoza, was controlled by the USA. President of the USA said that "Somoza may be a bastard, but he's our bastard."

[dave9988]

sounds like OP is some middle aged guy who just figured out the internet and mobile phones and now "can't believe that 85% of Thais have a mobile phone"... "Gee Golly, you can top it up with a scratch card"...

Edited December 17, 2008 by dave9988

[samuibeachcomber]

would n't have classes thailand third world,maybe 2nd.

[henryalleman]

Hi all,

I hear people to refer to Thailand as a third world country..

What exactly is a third world country?

Since when has Manchester Uk, had a sky train and sky scrapers?

We are talking about Thailand not Nicaragua.

Thailand a place where people will help anybody, not hold a grenade to your face for a dollar.

Probably the best place to get medication or health services cheaper and cleaner than the Uk.

Thailand os not a third world country, 85% of people have a mobile phone.

Someone will kill you in Russia if you are wearing a $40 dollar pair of Levi's.

Rio

you have got to be kidding if you honestly truly think thailand is not a 3rd world country

your logic had this room laughing....is this joke?

thialand is a place where anyone will help anyone... yes, usually for a fee and that is statement which can apply to anywhere, and I wonder if those brits who were murdered would agree

I could fill a page with counters

healthcare is great, but only for the rich To this standards the US is a 3th world country also., which means mostly non local, I had great healthcare in cuba.... your logic???

mobile phone logic.....l love that one

I tell you what , lets do a massive airdrop of mobile phones into north korea so that will change everything will it?

the facts now, like or not

thailand is a very much a 3/rd world- and will be in ourlive time

look at the place

its like a monty python sort of satire

controlled by a corrupt consortitiuim who do not give a dam about about is own people, and also by western interests Again by this standards the US is even so a 3th world country.

the people here are also subject to thought control, hence one cannot question certain insitutions

And again by this standards of human rights the US is even so a 3th world country.

[MyphuketLife]

Hi all,

I hear people to refer to Thailand as a third world country..

What exactly is a third world country?

Since when has Manchester Uk, had a sky train and sky scrapers?

We are talking about Thailand not Nicaragua.

Thailand a place where people will help anybody, not hold a grenade to your face for a dollar.

Probably the best place to get medication or health services cheaper and cleaner than the Uk.

Thailand os not a third world country, 85% of people have a mobile phone.

Someone will kill you in Russia if you are wearing a $40 dollar pair of Levi's.

Rio

you have got to be kidding if you honestly truly think thailand is not a 3rd world country

your logic had this room laughing....is this joke?

thialand is a place where anyone will help anyone... yes, usually for a fee and that is statement which can apply to anywhere, and I wonder if those brits who were murdered would agree

I could fill a page with counters

healthcare is great, but only for the rich To this standards the US is a 3th world country also., which means mostly non local, I had great healthcare in cuba.... your logic???

mobile phone logic.....l love that one

I tell you what , lets do a massive airdrop of mobile phones into north korea so that will change everything will it?

the facts now, like or not

thailand is a very much a 3/rd world- and will be in ourlive time

look at the place

its like a monty python sort of satire

controlled by a corrupt consortitiuim who do not give a dam about about is own people, and also by western interests Again by this standards the US is even so a 3th world country.

the people here are also subject to thought control, hence one cannot question certain insitutions

And again by this standards of human rights the US is even so a 3th world country.

have you lived in the us?

"healthcare is great, but only for the rich To this standards the US is a 3th world country also"

I can tell you from experience from a person coming up making minimum wage and at the time of being the "low" class having a back operation, to what I make now getting treated has never been an issue.

"controlled by a corrupt consortitiuim who do not give a dam about about is own people, and also by western interests Again by this standards the US is even so a 3th world country."

Controlled by western interests, being that its a western country thats true..... or are you talking about not giving a dam_n about its people? because thats not accurate at all....

"the people here are also subject to thought control, hence one cannot question certain insitutions

And again by this standards of human rights the US is even so a 3th world country."

again not true, show me how I am subject to thought control, or that institutions are not questioned..... Closing TV stations that don't report what you want them to, blocking internet sites, arresting people for discussing the royal family..... Those are all examples of thought control.

You frankly don't speak from experience if you think the USA fits any of the 3rd world deffinitions.

but enough about the us, this is about thailand... I would not call Thailand a 3rd world country I would call it a 2 or 2.5 rating.

Edited December 17, 2008 by MyphuketLife

[MyphuketLife]

sounds like OP is some middle aged guy who just figured out the internet and mobile phones and now "can't believe that 85% of Thais have a mobile phone"... "Gee Golly, you can top it up with a scratch card"...

[henryalleman]

What do you, or anyone for that matter, mean by "Third World" and what are the other two?

Well......

The use of the terms First, the Second, and the Third World is a rough, and it's safe to say, outdated model of the geopolitical world from the time of the cold war.

There is no official definition of the first, second, and the third world.

The origin of the terminology is unclear. In 1952 Alfred Sauvy, a French demographer, wrote an article in the French magazine L'Observateur which ended by comparing the Third World with the Third Estate: "ce Tiers Monde ignoré, exploité, méprisé comme le Tiers État" (this ignored Third World, exploited, scorned like the Third Estate). Other sources claim that Charles de Gaulle coined the term Third World, maybe de Gaulle only has quoted Sauvy. However...

Four Worlds

After World War II the world split into two large geopolitical blocs and spheres of influence with contrary views on government and the politically correct society:

The term "First World" refers to so called developed, capitalist, industrial countries, roughly, a bloc of countries aligned with the United States after World War II, with more or less common political and economic interests: North America, Western Europe, Japan and Australia.

"Second World" refers to the former communist-socialist, industrial states, (formerly the Eastern bloc, the territory and sphere of influence of the Union of Soviet Socialists Republic) today: Russia, Eastern Europe (e.g., Poland) and some of the Turk States (e.g., Kazakhstan) as well as China.

"Third World" are all the other countries, today often used to roughly describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The term Third World includes as well capitalist (e.g., Venezuela[showing the age of the article, this is currently open to debate but I'll leave it in]) and communist (e.g., North Korea) countries, as very rich (e.g., Saudi Arabia) and very poor (e.g., Mali) countries.

The term "Fourth World" first came into use in 1974 with the publication of Shuswap Chief George Manuel's : The fourth world : an Indian reality, the term refers to nations (cultural entities, ethnic groups) of indigenous peoples living within or across state boundaries (nation states).

Source : http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/thir...d_countries.htm

So Thailand is, ging along with this outdated model, third world with a bit of fourth. However in these more enlightened times the term "Developing Nation" used in conjunction with countries like Thailand has found more widespread acceptance. Certainly, despite all it's faults and foibles, Thailand does not deserve a listing alongside the likes of Mali and North Korea. However there are areas where Thailand certainly tends more towards Mali than towards Singapore.

Although outdated the above model is still used in judging nation's status and I'll think you'll find it all hinges on rather more than a head count of beggars.

An institute who categorize Turky as a first world country and Greenland who is part of Denmark as 3th world country lost all credibilities IMHO.

[ThaiEye]

you have got to be kidding if you honestly truly think thailand is not a 3rd world country

your logic had this room laughing....is this joke?

thialand is a place where anyone will help anyone... yes, usually for a fee and that is statement Same as every other country in the world which can apply to anywhere, and I wonder if those brits who were murdered would agree sensational - shouldn't have married a bargirl in the first place or done dodgy illegal business

I could fill a page with counters

healthcare is great, but only for the rich, which means mostly non local, I had great healthcare in cuba.... your logic???

mobile phone logic.....l love that one

I tell you what , lets do a massive airdrop of mobile phones into north korea so that will change everything will it?

the facts now, like or not

thailand is a very much a 3/rd world- and will be in ourlive time

look at the place

its like a monty python sort of satire reads like an angry old resentful farang

controlled by a corrupt consortitiuim who do not give a dam about about is own people, and also by western interests now blaming westerners for Thailnd's troubles! just sensationalist.

the people here are also subject to thought control, hence one cannot question certain insitutions

who are these 'certain institutions? Guy's been reading too many of the conspiracy theories on the news clippings. Thought control? What kind of nonsense comment is that.

Altogether reads like a guy who ought to go back to his own country, or if he's already there to just stay there and join a local forum instead of trying to trashing a country with idiotic barstool comments.

[ratcatcher]

He he he . . . the mobile phone things is actually an indication that the country IS under developed - due to there being a lack of infrastructure for land line communications.

Just like Laos - here every man and his dog has a mobile phone but I am dam_n sure Laos is a under-developed country.

Infrastructure underlying it all is one of the main considerations of if a country is under-developed and last time I checked Bangkok had very poor sanitation. The water supply is unpottable and if you aren't looking where you are going you stand a chance of falling into an open sewer - I didn't see any of them the last time I was in Manchester!

Anyway Manchester has a tram system and it has plenty of condos albeit not 60 storey buildings - but then again even London only has one or two 'skyscrapers' and doesn't have a Skytrain is London a third world on this basis?!?!

But I reckong the OP is just troll on a fishing trip.

Darn, I've just bought my German shepherd a new ball and now I read dogs have mobiles in Laos, Vientiane I suppose. Oh well, a cheap Nokia should please him.

Edited December 18, 2008 by ratcatcher

[ThaiEye]

LondonThai wrote "I do not know details, but from the commemorative programs on thai tv, tales of my thai family of thousands of dead piled up on sanam luang (and then fed to crocodiles on military governed farms)"[/b]

A slight exaggeration there on 1976 i think Great tales indeed your Thai family tells (when they're not drinking that is). Are they (the family) academics or north-eastern rice farmers?

Interesting in that LondonThai dismisses others for their reading and research into Thai history etc... yet he post links to the totally anti-monarchist Economist articles.

By the way: isn't this a Travel Forum? I thought political agendas, pro-Thaksin conspiracies and other anti Thailand opinion editorial links were suited for other forums.

Edited December 19, 2008 by ThaiEye

[geriatrickid]

You want proof of 3rd world - try clicking on those links from a internet connection in Thailand

Well said. Are people afraid of well researched documented opinions contrary to their own and feel the need to censor reputable news magazines indicative of an advanced society?

Big deal on the cell phones. All it indicates is that cell phones are cheaper and more reliable than the land lines. Thailand has its shadow government in the military and for all intents and purposes any "elected" government governs at its pleasure. One could say this brings order and stability, yet Singapore which is just as authoritarian is able to deliver clean drinking water and full health services to its population and one doesn't have to worry about the police trying to shake people down.

However, one has to give credit where its due. Unlike Greece, the backward corrupt basket case of the EU, the Thais didn't resort to mass looting, arson, vandalism or mob violence as has been the situation in the land that claims the origins of democracy.

I'd say that Thailand has hope and potential. Certainly different than countries like Bulgaria, Greece and Russia which are supposedly 1st world nations.

[londonthai]

]A slight exaggeration there on 1976 i think Great tales indeed your Thai family tells (when they're not drinking that is). Are they (the family) academics or north-eastern rice farmers?

there are the first hand accounts from people, who were at that time students at bangkok universities, some of them farmers, some bangkokians, some police and army officers (low ranks), some university lecturers - who happens do not drink.

as to sources - everybody can read what they want, some read statist propaganda cooked up by the secret services, some others independent, unbiased, well researched international papers.

yes, it's a travel forum, so don't introduce politics and current affairs. I have nowhere on these forums expressed support to thaksin or any other political party - quite opposite, I am against all thai political parties, as representing interests of the different factions of the ruling class.

[samiinjapan]

easy its two and half

[canadianmonkey]

when u gonna give me internet that doesnt go out every 2hours in phuket town.. not some hole in issan maybe thailand might be close to not being a third world country...

Having stable internet and decent cable is already achieved in poor african countries...

here we have tot who cant stay online more than 19hours a day and cheap cable companies with stolen coverage and snowy image + ubc which just sucks

Then add to that, tech support for every company. Any developed country has 2 language, here its thai and thai+3words of english

then add to that cheap and terrible architecture, houses are built with no decent plans, everything is unbalanced and in cheap concrete that goes black after a couple years.

Then add to that warranties.. no company offers warranties.. <deleted>?

etc etc, thailand is far from being developped but its not mongolia or congo

[londonthai]

Suprisingly, I was denied access now to Wikipedia when opened it on topic

it's blocked for 2.5 months now

if your seach for the mntioned link on google, you will see copies of wikipedia, which might not be yet blocked