Govt Ready To Fly Thais Out Of Cambodia

[dumball]

Sheryl' date='2009-11-16 14:25:31' post='3143934']robint' post='3143789' date='2009-11-16 13:31:02']quote

Ive never noticed ordinary cambodians laughing about anything - their miserable lives are nothing to laugh about

Speaking as someone who speaks the language fluently and spends about 50% time i n the country -- and has done so for decades -- Cambodians love to laugh, their sense of humor is one of the most endearing qualities IMO.

Socioeconomic and health conditions have improved dramatically in the past decade, and I think most Cambodians would sharply disagree with the idea that they lead "miserable lives".

And even those whose lives are indisputably miserable, i.e. the "poorest of the poor", still enjoy laughing and have a great sense of humor.

I give a resounding 'DITTO' to both of your posts Sheryl , very , very well put .

In the past few years I have tried unsuccessfully to point out the same things , and that Cambodia moves forward with advantages for both its citizens and tourists alike , despite being 'ONLY' an emerging country , where as Thailand has been taking retrograde steps by contrast .

Maybe , just maybe , now that some-one with your revered stature on Tv has spoken up , the thai-wise will sit up and take note , you have a long enough experience of Cambodia to beat down even the most desparate of expat posters .

Thank you kindly on behalf of the Cambodian citizens who realy are a happy , easy going populace .

Expat who is happy and lucky he left Thailand when he did to garner a much more pleasant way of life .

[zzaa09]

Only if the Thais continue the massive over reaction to something that was better ignored or at least dealt with at a much lower level.

A little real diplomacy and all could have been resolved, Thaksin has left, Hun Sen has had his fun winding up the Thai govt that he knew would bite hook line and sinker.

Quite amusing to watch and hopefully things will not be allowed to escalate but unfortunately at this time the Thais have their nose out of joint and are quite capable of doing something stupid-hopefully not!

Nationalism. A very destructive emotional base.

[gorshar]

I've lived and worked in both Cambodia and Thailand for nearly a decade now, though more time is spent in Cambodia. My wife is Thai and has been in Siem Reap with me for over five years.

I can also ditto Sheryl and dumball.

The ignorance of Cambodia and Cambodians on the part of not only Thais, but expats in Thailand as well, has been a source of both annoyance and frustration on our part. Even my wife, who is not Isaan (as a majority of the Thais in Siem Reap are), but a college-educated Bangkokian, gets tired of it. And she never in her life imagined herself living and working in Cambodia. I'm not going to say she likes it, she doesn't, but her perspective on Cambodia has, predictably, gone through a lot of changes. If only the rest of Thailand would follow suit.