Third World Country?

[mconstant]

Is Thailand still considered a third world country? From doing research it seems to me that a lot of Thailand is similar to the US and looking at Bangkok is similar to any other major us city.

[Tejas]

Thailand is a Third World/developing country.

Bangkok is not representative of Thailand as a whole.

If you just hang around the upscale areas of Bangkok, you might think otherwise.

The fact remains that Thailand has a long way to go before it enters developed world status.

Another fact is that statistics in Thailand are notoriously bad.........always manipulated to make a bad situation look better than it is.

Most people in Thailand are rural "peasants" that live off of "next to nothing."

[Soutpeel]

Yes...3rd World..try getting out of BKK

[gotlost]

Yes...3rd World..try getting out of BKK

Also include...Pattaya, Hua Hin, Phucket, Chiang Mai etc. etc.

[DP25]

3rd world is a pretty useless term these days

[mconstant]

3rd world is a pretty useless term these days

That's what I was thinking because the term goes way back...

A better way of rephrasing it also, is it still considered a developing country?

[beechguy]

Agreed, outside the urban areas it can be very basic, but it is not a "Third World" country. If people consider Thailand to be "Third World" I would suggest a trip to many parts of Africa for a comparison.

[ExpatJ]

No, its not third world anymore. It used to be a low income=third world=developing country but now Thailand is classified as a 'middle income country'.

Edited April 19, 2010 by ExpatJ

[longball53098]

Can someone point me to a web site that explains the use of the terms 1st world and 3rd world countries? Or 2nd world for that matter? I never hear of England or Euro countries or the USA or Australia called 1st world countries. We kick around the words "developing" and "emerging". Where can I read the info that explains this?

I'm like the OP. I have done a "ton of research" and I just don't see it explained.

[chiang mai]

The term "third world" is redundant these days since it refers to politically non-aligned countries and not to wealth or stages of economic development.

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

Edited April 19, 2010 by chiang mai

[kmj]

Third World Countries classified by various indices: their Political Rights and Civil Liberties, the Gross National Income (GNI) and Poverty of countries, the Human Development of countries, and the Freedom of Information within a country. Thailand is still classified as Third World and in world bank members as Lower Middle Income country.

[kicking]

Can someone point me to a web site that explains the use of the terms 1st world and 3rd world countries? Or 2nd world for that matter? I never hear of England or Euro countries or the USA or Australia called 1st world countries. We kick around the words "developing" and "emerging". Where can I read the info that explains this?

I'm like the OP. I have done a "ton of research" and I just don't see it explained.

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

[chiang mai]

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

[Soutpeel]

Can someone point me to a web site that explains the use of the terms 1st world and 3rd world countries? Or 2nd world for that matter? I never hear of England or Euro countries or the USA or Australia called 1st world countries. We kick around the words "developing" and "emerging". Where can I read the info that explains this?

I'm like the OP. I have done a "ton of research" and I just don't see it explained.

If I remember my history classes correcly, the terminology goes back a long way, the original 1st world countries were those in Europe...ie, UK, Spain, Franch, Portugal, Germany, Belgium....ie Colonial countries...even during this period the US was classed as 3rd world...therefore the term 1st world referred to European countries at that time

[chiang mai]

Can someone point me to a web site that explains the use of the terms 1st world and 3rd world countries? Or 2nd world for that matter? I never hear of England or Euro countries or the USA or Australia called 1st world countries. We kick around the words "developing" and "emerging". Where can I read the info that explains this?

I'm like the OP. I have done a "ton of research" and I just don't see it explained.

If I remember my history classes correcly, the terminology goes back a long way, the original 1st world countries were those in Europe...ie, UK, Spain, Franch, Portugal, Germany, Belgium....ie Colonial countries...even during this period the US was classed as 3rd world...therefore the term 1st world referred to European countries at that time

"The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned or not moving at all with either capitalism and NATO (which along with its allies represented the First World) or communism and the Soviet Union (which along with its allies represented the Second World). This definition provided a way of broadly categorizing the nations of the Earth into three groups based on social, political, and economic divisions. Although the term continues to be used colloquially to describe the poorest countries in the world, this usage is widely disparaged since the term no longer holds any verifiable meaning after the fall of the Soviet Union deprecated the terms First World and Second World. While there is no identical contemporary replacement, common alternatives include developing world and Global South and more recently Majority World.[1]. However, there are still scholars who use this term on purpose to point out and challenge the huge gap between the poor and rich of the world".

[gpdjohn]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

[chiang mai]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

I think that's an unfair and inaccurate assessment, medical care in Thailand is not uniform but there are world-class facilities in the major cities, whilst the airline infrastructure is very good and road/rail transportation here is better than average. If you want to see poor facilities visit Cambodia or the PI, but there again, all of these things are just snapshots in time and everywhere in the region is improving constantly.

[gpdjohn]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

I think that's an unfair and inaccurate assessment, medical care in Thailand is not uniform but there are world-class facilities in the major cities, whilst the airline infrastructure is very good and road/rail transportation here is better than average. If you want to see poor facilities visit Cambodia or the PI, but there again, all of these things are just snapshots in time and everywhere in the region is improving constantly.

I don't.

Don't have to go there because I see it daily here, outside CM ( where I used to live)

Try rural Thailand..

[Richb2004v2]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

You'll make no friend on here with that kind of unfavourable assessment, chum . Take you're realism and gloomy sentiment elsewhere, it's not catered for in these here forums.

[maccaroni man]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

You'll make no friend on here with that kind of unfavourable assessment, chum . Take you're realism and gloomy sentiment elsewhere, it's not catered for in these here forums.

imo thailand is a developing country because the corrupt get richer by being victims same as haiti, the ngo's should be held accountable for not keeping the cash and aid from being pilaged.

poverty is a state of mind as proven by the many who have raised themselves from the rural deprivation and uneducated masses to make good for themselves and their families.

[kevozman1]

Bangkok similar to any US city! No.

Is Thailand still a third World country? Yes.

No state benefits. Poor wages for the vast majority of citizens.

Poverty in large areas of the countryside and in Bangkok.

[Richb2004v2]

Bangkok similar to any US city! No.

Is Thailand still a third World country? Yes.

No state benefits. Poor wages for the vast majority of citizens.

Poverty in large areas of the countryside and in Bangkok.

The same goes for you. On your way please.

[gpdjohn]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

You'll make no friend on here with that kind of unfavourable assessment, chum . Take you're realism and gloomy sentiment elsewhere, it's not catered for in these here forums.

My observations are for what I see it as, homie...

I'm sure you're not living in the same village as I am, so your visions are not quite the same.

I still stand by my statement.

[anothertorres]

sure does act 3rd world.

[hawthorne]

I will go search for it on the web but at one time the 3rd world designation was established by the mortality rate. If too high then considered 3rd world. This was used because the mortality represented the level of health care and health of the population of the country. It is a standard to represent technology, education, poverty, turmoil etc in a country.

But yes I feel pretty sure Thailand's mortality rate is high enough to fall in the category of 3rd world. I know for sure Ukraine is consider 3rd world by those statistics if that helps. Well I was surprised when I heard and therefore the only reason I have remembered that useless fact.

[hawthorne]

Child mortality

Under-5 mortality rate is a leading indicator of the level of child health and overall development in countries. It is also a MDG indicator.

you can go to the WHO website and read as much as you like to find out the leading indicators for 3rd world designations

[Stricken]

With todays present day Government it is, and will stay thast way as long as they are in office.

[IMA_FARANG]

I refer to it as a backwoods country with no vision to the future.

" Don't care if my medical care is piss poor, corruption runs rampant, insufacture is simplistic at best, but don't let me miss my next installment of Master Key while eating my som tom balat" type mentallity.

By that standard you could also say the U.K. or the U.S was a "backwards country with no vison to the future" if:

U.K.

1. National Health Service...6 months wait required for non-emergentcy treatment some places.

2. MPs being booted from Parliment for abusing their privilages for personal profit.

3. I don't care as long as the footy is on telly.

U.S.A.

1. Many americans can't even afford to go to a hospital...due to no medical insurance and the high cost of medical care.

2. ditto for Senators and Congressmen. (Old joke...everything has a Pro and a Con. In the U.S.A. we have our PROgress and then there's our CONgress.)

3. I don't care as long as Dancing With the Stars is on television.

( of course you really meant "a backwards country with no vison OF the future", but that's just nit-picking).

[Spee]

Noob asked:

"Is Thailand still considered a third world country?"

Anyone who answers yes needs to get out more, or perhaps go visit a real third world country.

[david96]

Noob asked:

"Is Thailand still considered a third world country?"

Anyone who answers yes needs to get out more, or perhaps go visit a real third world country.

One would not call Thailand a "Third world country" if you want to see such a country The Phillipines, Indonesia including the province of West Irian, along with PNG are good examples.

And what would you call Communist China or Iran?

About half the countries in the UN are classified as "Third world", it depends on what standards one judges a country by.