Crazy Ideas To Change-make Thailand A Better Place

[Jingthing]

Just piping in here to note that avocados are a VERY healthy food providing excellent nutrition. Yes they have a high fat content but the GOOD kind of fat that promotes heart health. Cheers.

[britmaveric]

Clean up Pattaya Beach/Waters...crazy thought indeed!

[garyh]

Lower tax on wine.

Learn how to produce good beef.

Learn how to produce good avocados.

Learn how to produce good cheese.

Legalize sex toys.

Build some kind of mass transit system for Pattaya metro area, linking to Bangkok.

That should cover it.

I really don’t think you have thought this one through. Lowering the tax on wine would bring more French people here. You know what the French did to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Not a good idea.

If more people eat beef the supplies of rice will go down and the supplies of feed grains will have to go up, ruining the peasant population of Thailand. Plus beef is not good for you. Stick with fish and chicken.

Avocados are among the most fattening vegetables in the world. Thai significant others of Thailand are already getting obese, stop all the fattening foods for gods sake.

The same thing with cheese, you will have all the sex objects looking like Dutch people on holiday.

Sex toys would explode the sexual organs of Thai people. They have no moderation. Look at ya ba and moonshine as only two examples.

If you build a mass transit system between Bangkok and Pattaya all the undesirables now confined to Bangkok will fly to Pattaya at every opportunity and the place will definitely become lower class.

Perhaps you should look at what the yanks did to Laos and all the cluster bombs still taking off limbs/killing today still from the Vietnam war.

Edited April 6, 2010 by garyh

[Heng]

Higher vehicle prices and yearly registration taxes... and yes, even higher taxes for higher end vehicles. Bring back the open roads already.

[WeeGB]

Send the suggestions to the properly elected and voted in as Prime Minister of Thailand, who is fluent in Thai and English. Give them 100 more years to solve tje problems. And add that every Thai must speak American English.

Why burden the Thai people with a second rate language? Better to teach them to speak English properly, as it is spoken in the country that invented it.

I know that there are some spelling differences between proper English and the american version, but until your post, I was unaware that americans spelt "the" with a j replacing the h - is this due to the influx of spanish speakers in america? For example jimenez is pronounced himenez, etc?

[bangon04]

1. There is building going on all over Thailand. If you have not seen it you have not looked. Do gooder foreigners have hung up some things by insisting they don't pollute and poison people but that will be put aside soon.

2. You can already gamble anywhere in Thailand. That you don't know where to go saves you a little money. Thai's cheat.

3.Ya ba is imported and distributed by Thai people. I don't think you want to mess with it.

4. In some towns they eat dogs and don't have a dog problem. Soon this idea will catch on as long as the foreigners keep their mouths shut. Korea doesn't have a dog problem.

5.China controls the water to Thailand. So you can forget about that.

6. Rote learning is good. Before rote learning in Thailand there was no learning at all and all the ladies ran around topless and the men wore skirts and ate with their hands. Besides, it is all rote learning in the west until you either drop out of school or get a masters degree anyway. I would agree that PhD's don't need rote learning but how many PhD's does Thailand need? Who wants a doctor that thinks outside of the box anyway. "No doctor I only have two arms, yes really. I know I am a farang but I still only have two arms. I'm not hiding one, honest." Better than spending a fortune on PhD's, educate some engineers to add and subtract. Take every marketing graduate in Thailand and throw them in the sea, they are a complete waste of time. Rote learning is good. Teach the MBA's to repeat, "lower prices till everything sells and then make some more." That should take care of 90% of the eventual problems they will encounter.

7. Let the Thai's own everything. The smart money is only renting anyway.

I have just printed this out and am framing it for my wall.

[Jingthing]

Send the suggestions to the properly elected and voted in as Prime Minister of Thailand, who is fluent in Thai and English. Give them 100 more years to solve tje problems. And add that every Thai must speak American English.

Why burden the Thai people with a second rate language? Better to teach them to speak English properly, as it is spoken in the country that invented it.

I know that there are some spelling differences between proper English and the american version, but until your post, I was unaware that americans spelt "the" with a j replacing the h - is this due to the influx of spanish speakers in america? For example jimenez is pronounced himenez, etc?

Get with tje program, Lamey!

[purplehaze]

Toughen the visa requirements and enforce the current visa laws with zero tolerance. This should get rid of alot of foreigners that I dislike. Perhaps it is time to impose the same education, wealth and skill requirements that countries like the USA, Canada, Australia etc. impose on those that seek residency visas.

seconded!

and this weeks free yellow shirt to the elitist <deleted> of the month goes to....................

Seconded

[Garry9999]

Just piping in here to note that avocados are a VERY healthy food providing excellent nutrition. Yes they have a high fat content but the GOOD kind of fat that promotes heart health. Cheers.

Did you know they grow avocados in the Mae Sod region. It was a royal initiative as part of replacement crops for opium poppy's. When they are in season there's thousands for them at the markets, you can get a big bag full for 30b.

[makescents]

There are FAR more people I've come across that should be destroyed than the local dogs.

Sounds like you might be more at home in Cambodia....35 years ago.

[JimShortz]

Just piping in here to note that avocados are a VERY healthy food providing excellent nutrition. Yes they have a high fat content but the GOOD kind of fat that promotes heart health. Cheers.

Did you know they grow avocados in the Mae Sod region. It was a royal initiative as part of replacement crops for opium poppy's. When they are in season there's thousands for them at the markets, you can get a big bag full for 30b.

I've got to say that even the discussion of Avacados is more interesting than the rest of this thread...

Did you know? Avocados are about 22% fat, with the average medium size avocado containing 300 calories and 30 grams of fat. and...

Spanish conquistadors discovered that avocado seeds yield a milky fluid that turns red when exposed to air. They used this indelible natural ink in documents that are preserved to this day.

Wow!

[endure]

Toughen the visa requirements and enforce the current visa laws with zero tolerance. This should get rid of alot of foreigners that I dislike.

Perhaps it's time to put you in charge of all immigration so you can clear the country of all those foreigners who you dislike. Oh, I'm sorry - you are a foreigner and you have no influence whatsoever in the way the country is run. You have no rights, you have no vote.

[IanForbes]

Why burden the Thai people with a second rate language? Better to teach them to speak English properly, as it is spoken in the country that invented it.

I know that there are some spelling differences between proper English and the american version, but until your post, I was unaware that americans spelt "the" with a j replacing the h - is this due to the influx of spanish speakers in america? For example jimenez is pronounced himenez, etc?

Because English is the world's business language at the present time, then I would suggest all Thais learn proper English. However English is spoken it is still understandable, no matter what nationality speaks it. But, as far as choosing the English pronunciation over the American pronunciation I'm ambivalent to that. Have you ever tried understanding what a Cockney Londoner was saying?

[tigerfish]

Why burden the Thai people with a second rate language? Better to teach them to speak English properly, as it is spoken in the country that invented it.

I know that there are some spelling differences between proper English and the american version, but until your post, I was unaware that americans spelt "the" with a j replacing the h - is this due to the influx of spanish speakers in america? For example jimenez is pronounced himenez, etc?

Because English is the world's business language at the present time, then I would suggest all Thais learn proper English. However English is spoken it is still understandable, no matter what nationality speaks it. But, as far as choosing the English pronunciation over the American pronunciation I'm ambivalent to that. Have you ever tried understanding what a Cockney Londoner was saying?

your having a "bubble bath", me old "china plate". you dont honestly "adam and eve" that the way "septic tanks" pronounce the queens english is any better than how my fellow londoners do.

youve got it all "pete tong" and i think your "bang allan border" to suggest otherwise.

now go and sort that "barnet fair" of yours out ian, before i have to go out and buy you a "syrup of fig"

only joking, just thought id try and lighten the proceedings up slightly. no offence meant, hope none was taken.

Edited April 7, 2010 by tigerfish

[IMA_FARANG]

Compare hailand and Singapore today. In 1947 (picking a year) bothThailand and Singapore were at about the same level after the devastation and Economic disruption caused by World War II. Why did Singapore grow like it did, to far outpace Thailand economically. Thailand after all had a bigger population and seemed to be a better bet in 1947.

1. Singapore instituted a program in which all Singapore residents had to pay a certain amount of their salary into a government bank account, The money was deducted as a tax on workers before they got their weekly income. When it stated the Singaporeans HATED it.

2. The money collected went to gaurentee that all Singaporeans were to be given governemnt housing, not free, but paid for from the government bank funds. As the Singaporean workers began to retire in the 60's and 70's government housing (flats or apartments, whatever you want to call them) were built for them...which they bought at a cheap rate with their government bank mandated savings accounts.

3. The Singaporean government had used the savings as LOANS to private companies to build housing in Singapore. These loans had to be repaid, but over a extended period, and with a specified interest rate. So the Singaporean builders used the loans to construct housing which they sold through the government bank to Singaporeans at a low cost...but they made a profit. They repaid the loans to the governement with interest. The interest went back into the government bank to pay interest on the mandated savings accounts. So the constructruction companies benefited, they provided jobs for Singaporeans, the banks benefited, and the workers benefited by having low cost housing available for them and their families.

4. The Singaporean officials involved...in fact most government officials in Singapore had been taught the old Confucian ethics that government workers were servants of the people. So there was almost no corruption in the government. It was a point of honor that a government official answered to the people, not a political arty or any special interest group...especially not himself.

5. By the 1960's qnd into the 1970's a cycle was running...in which the government waqs investing public money into companies who were building Singaporeand Singaporean jobs. As they companies became sucesful and repid the government loans...with interest...the government had more funds available to build infrastructure for Singapore. At the same time there were more and more jobs being created by these companies in Singapore. It was a win/win situation for the government and the private comapnies.

6. Now most Singaporeans say the forced savings program was wong of the best decisions the Singaporaen government ever made.

So my crazy idea...and yes Thailand and Singapore are not the same....but I say that all Thais should be required to place 10% (just to pick a number) of their monthly income into a government savings account. The money must be in that account for a minimum of 10 years. The interest rate will be at least 5% a year. The Thai government will use that money as loans to stimulate construction of cheap housing by Thai companaies. Most of the workers must be Thais. There will be strict penalties for any government official who steals any money out of the funds. (I personally like the cutting off of the left hand as they do in Saudi for theives) The loans to Thai companies must be repaid within a specified period and at a specified interest.

In other words...although it may be just a dream...I'd like to see Thailand follow Singapore's lead.

[daoyai]

Just piping in here to note that avocados are a VERY healthy food providing excellent nutrition. Yes they have a high fat content but the GOOD kind of fat that promotes heart health. Cheers.

Did you know they grow avocados in the Mae Sod region. It was a royal initiative as part of replacement crops for opium poppy's. When they are in season there's thousands for them at the markets, you can get a big bag full for 30b.

They did not plant enough varieties to have avos in the market all year. Hawaii has it down, there are varieties for every season so always available. Someone should do that here, also guavas, there are so many varieties but here we only get the big hard ones (big hard farang ). not the best.

[daoyai]

Install stop signs at intersections AND teach people what they are for (dreaming again) it is caos out there!

[mark45y]

Just piping in here to note that avocados are a VERY healthy food providing excellent nutrition. Yes they have a high fat content but the GOOD kind of fat that promotes heart health. Cheers.

Did you know they grow avocados in the Mae Sod region. It was a royal initiative as part of replacement crops for opium poppy's. When they are in season there's thousands for them at the markets, you can get a big bag full for 30b.

This was a complete failure. Even with Bob Marley music playing in the background and the sun setting over the rice fields those avocados don’t smoke worth a darn.

[rivers2020]

I really love Thailand, and plan to stay here the rest of my life - Having actually lived here how long? , however Thailand has it's share of problems, now I am not offering solutions to everything but ideas to ponder. Lived here 5 years

1. like the red shirts or not something should be done to improve things outside of bangkok, when i moved here to Chiang mai 5 years ago they were building and now completed 2 business class hotels the LE meridian and the shangrila, So I figured Chiang mai was also building office parks, factorys etc but nothing happened.? What do you suggest? Why I ended in a question mark, just seems strange 2 business class hotels opening without customer base to account for them

2. legalize gambling in specific areas ....ubon and chiang rai for example, make a large area near those locations open to legal gambling and encourge compitition so more than one casino can do business, and encourge entertainment, shopping restaurants etc Vegas style a relaxed not formal place. Yes i know so some gambling is a sin and with it comes problems that is why i would encourge compitition including transportation ie-tuk tuks cabs etc. This might bring in tons of needed jobs and would keep thais from giving money to the junta in burma. OK, a suggestion that is worth considering, but why is a change needed? If you think only the 'junta in Burma' are making money from this ...... because keep thai money in thailand

3.yaa-baa...now correct me here from what i understand it-yaa -baaa comes from 2 sources 1 the karen tribe who use the money to fight the junta and 2 the wai tribe who is protected by the junta. so why not just give the money to the karens...would cut down distribution and enable Thai police to go after the real bad guys, also the west should support that 100% and put our money where our mouth is and do something to help those in burma not just talk. 'The' money - are you saying that the Thai government should give money to the Karen tribe? give weapon money ...not only thailand but the west, easy condem burma and declare they commit crimes against humanity yet do nothing? talk is cheap

4 dogs. I am getting sick and tired of some mutt biting at my ankles when i ride my motor cycle, and many of them have owners the owners just let them run wild. start a licience program loose dogs go to the pound and give 30 days then put them to sleep.

dogs are a responsibility take care of them, but then this is a buddhist country so fat chance of that happening... No idea where you're living but you obviously don't like dogs. I've only once (in my 4 years actually living here) had one nip at my ankles as a game - not bite. There are FAR more people I've come across that should be destroyed than the local dogs. I like dogs in fact own a dog and he is well fed, taken care of and behaved and does not run wild in the streets, oh i live in maejo outside of chiang mai. and your right i think we should destroy people...those who dont take care of their dogs and let them run wild ...thanks your right

5.somehow someway provide more water to issan...i dont have any answers here but they do need it.

6. get away from rote learning in Thailands school system, let them ask questions and think outside the box in the long run it will not only make them better students but better citizens and might stop the lock step blind following of leaders. Not going to happen. It suits the wealthy to keep the poor uneducated and stupid. i agree

7 allow 100% outside ownership of homes this for non-thais.. perhaps no more than 2 houses or value up to 10 million....that could be hashed out. No personal interest involved here? Personally, I don't blame the Thais one bit for wishing to keep Thailand owned by Thais. no personal interest and not asking for much. again hash it out make it 3 mill or less

[PeaceBlondie]

WeeGB, I used to speed-type at 55 words per minute, accurately, for 50 years. Now I hunt and peck miserably, and don't catch all my typos. My suggestion to the Thai PM was in jest, as shown by the emoticon. You merely insulted me, so you're Shittish.

[rivers2020]

Lower tax on wine.

Learn how to produce good beef.

Learn how to produce good avocados.

Learn how to produce good cheese.

Legalize sex toys.

Build some kind of mass transit system for Pattaya metro area, linking to Bangkok.

That should cover it.

but those thin skined florida types of avacados dont cut it.

better the mexican haas type smaller much better tasting and has rough skin

[toybits]

Criminalize the sale Fastfood (e.g. Big Mac's, pizza, Svensens, Haagen Das). Its painful to see once svelt Thai ladies balloon into XXls.

[toybits]

Reciprocal Rules - If US allows foreign nationals married to US citizens to have green cards, then Americans married to Thais should likewise be allowed similar privileges (hopefully with less paperwork).

[Loz]

Banish all that are in the deluded state of mind that they accepted here by their purchased family where they was not in their home countries and wear a Buddah Amulet and look the other way when a fellow countryman walks past them.

He may be a troll, but this post is golden. Still sniggering at it now...

[MONKEYGIRL444]

if this place was not so fuc_ked up, it wouldn't be nearly as endearing. if we fixed the joint up, it would look like Japan, S. Korea or Malaysia. boring and expensive.

YUP!YUP!YUP! MEANING YES YES YES!

HOW MANY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOS if issan girls had other ways to climb the social ladder!

[mark45y]

Banish all that are in the deluded state of mind that they accepted here by their purchased family where they was not in their home countries and wear a Buddah Amulet and look the other way when a fellow countryman walks past them.

He may be a troll, but this post is golden. Still sniggering at it now...

It must be five years ago that I was eating dinner at John’s bar in Chiang Mai with friends.

Myself, my girlfriend and an Italian friend with his wife. We hadn’t seen each other in a while and we were catching up on our lives. We all knew each other and were involved in a lively conversation in English, Thai and Italian. It would have been difficult for anyone else not speaking all three languages to follow. The mamma san at Johns ran out of seats and put this old guy at an empty seat at our table. He was lonely with a Buddha amulet. I assumed his wife was at home while he went out for a beer. He wanted to talk and asked some inane questions.

We gave the guy the cold shoulder and he eventually left.

I didn’t think about the incident for a couple of years when as chance would have it I was alone on New Years Eve. I was eating dinner in a pub trying to stay out of trouble as my GF was out of town on business. I was feeling sorry for myself when an older gentleman with a Buddha amulet asked if he could join me and we had a pleasant dinner and some light conversation to pass the time on New Years Eve since we were both alone. I appreciated his gesture and it brought to mind the incident where I had been discourteous to the old guy in Chiang Mai.

You said you sniggered at the golden post of the man with the purchased family and Buddha amulet who was trying to ignore other expats.

I don’t think I will change your mind. I don’t think I will make you more sensitive to the plight of others less fortunate than yourself.

Maybe Karma will.

[mark45y]

if this place was not so fuc_ked up, it wouldn't be nearly as endearing. if we fixed the joint up, it would look like Japan, S. Korea or Malaysia. boring and expensive.

YUP!YUP!YUP! MEANING YES YES YES!

HOW MANY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOS if issan girls had other ways to climb the social ladder!

It is a non issue. All of the posters on Thai Visa have hi so Thai Chinese partners who are titans of industry and commerce. I know I do!

[Sing_Sling]

if this place was not so fuc_ked up, it wouldn't be nearly as endearing. if we fixed the joint up, it would look like Japan, S. Korea or Malaysia. boring and expensive.

YUP!YUP!YUP! MEANING YES YES YES!

HOW MANY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOS if issan girls had other ways to climb the social ladder!

In what ways are Malaysia and Japan boring? I've lived in both, actually still live in one, and neither are boring. Japan expensive? Sure.

In other words you'd like Thailand to stay the underdeveloped backwater it is now because it suits your needs . . . cheap booze and cheaper hookers . . .

Oh, and how did 'you' fix up Korea, Japan and Malaysia?

[Marksamui]

1. I would like to see Thailand make an effort to put all Electric power lines in towns under ground. This would improve the look of the place 10 fold and make it much safer.

2. Also tidy up the stray dogs (but they did take 10 dogs or so off the soi where I have a house this week so that is a start).

3. Pick up the litter! Some areas are spoilt by litter/rubbish just dumped on them.

4. I would like to see an improvement in the visa/work permit regulations for foreigneers wishing to enter Thailand. Not just Thailand but globally and for Thais travelling. It is a human nature to explore and these generally silly rules need to be modernised so what.

5. Allow foreigneers to own Thai land, yes I would like the option.

[mark45y]

if this place was not so fuc_ked up, it wouldn't be nearly as endearing. if we fixed the joint up, it would look like Japan, S. Korea or Malaysia. boring and expensive.

YUP!YUP!YUP! MEANING YES YES YES!

HOW MANY WOULD BE INTERESTED IN LOS if issan girls had other ways to climb the social ladder!

In what ways are Malaysia and Japan boring? I've lived in both, actually still live in one, and neither are boring. Japan expensive? Sure.

In other words you'd like Thailand to stay the underdeveloped backwater it is now because it suits your needs . . . cheap booze and cheaper hookers . . .

Oh, and how did 'you' fix up Korea, Japan and Malaysia?

You hit the nail on the head. It’s cheap! I don’t drink nor do I go out with hookers. But I might.

Korea and Japan were administered by the US Army for quite some time and that gave those countries a leg up when it came to infrastructure and commerce.

Malaysia of course was a British colony and by 1929 had the highest per capita income on any country in Asia.

I don’t think it is fair to compare them with Thailand.