How Does A Farang Stay Over 2½ Years In Thailand?

[taxexile]

the one and only syd barrett , the musical brain behind the first incarnation of pink floyd , is still alive. he lives a quiet life in cambridge.

i read somewhere that he does suffer from psychological problems as a possible result of drug usage many years ago.

may i suggest that the main posters to this ridiculous thread turn off their computers and go and relax to some of the wonderful music penned by pink floyd.

[HEXtaB]

I have lived here for 6 years now (admittedly a rarity in this forum nowadays

How is it a rarity?

It's a rarity, because ...

Few posters seem to not to live here ie are NOT not expats, NOT married to Thai women, have NO connections to Thailand (save their lucid memories of summer '97) (sorry for stating the obvious)

Duh!

[Thomas_Merton]

the one and only syd barrett , the musical brain behind the first incarnation of pink floyd , is still alive. he lives a quiet life in cambridge.

i read somewhere that he does suffer from psychological problems as a possible result of drug usage many years ago.

may i suggest that the main posters to this ridiculous thread turn off their computers and go and relax to some of the wonderful music penned by pink floyd.

Thank God.

I'm off to the Gates of Dawn in celarbration.

Yours,

Thomas Merton

(Mossad Rtrd. - shsh - don't tell anyone)

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Let's see what it brings spellbound.  Heheheheh.  We do get a lot of Thai cultural newbie experts telling the old hands where they are wrong.

Did you know, BTW, in my school the official name of the old boys' organisation was The Old Farts Club.

A newbie Brit in Europe....hmmm. Are you available to help the farang with a lot of Thai experience. We call knowalls things I really can't say here, but with your capacity for knowing all, you can guess. Why not try offering a worthwhile contribution ? All you do is offer gratuitous cheap shots to everyone. Get a life.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I, like my erstwhile Australian Red Drinking chum wait with interest and eagerness.

Erstwhile IT ? Hurt

[Guest IT Manager]

I have lived here for 6 years now (admittedly a rarity in this forum nowadays

How is it a rarity?

It's a rarity, because ...

Few posters seem to not to live here ie are NOT not expats, NOT married to Thai women, have NO connections to Thailand (save their lucid memories of summer '97) (sorry for stating the obvious)

Duh!

OK... I guess..

[Thomas_Merton]

Let's see what it brings spellbound.  Heheheheh.  We do get a lot of Thai cultural newbie experts telling the old hands where they are wrong.

Did you know, BTW, in my school the official name of the old boys' organisation was The Old Farts Club.

A newbie Brit in Europe....hmmm. Are you available to help the farang with a lot of Thai experience. We call knowalls things I really can't say here, but with your capacity for knowing all, you can guess. Why not try offering a worthwhile contribution ? All you do is offer gratuitous cheap shots to everyone. Get a life.

What an extremely clever technique you have of arguing for a so called Doctor:

• A racist slur

• Comments about my ability and experience upon which you have no knowledge whatsoever and are under no circumstances qualified to judge

• “worthwhile contribution” – it’s a good job we are not offering Brownie points on what you fire from the hip every time someone disagrees with you

• And then the piece de resistance “Get a Life” – exactly what sort of life should I get?

Perhaps you could inform us all about your life and the particular qualities we should emulate in order to reach your eminence. But then…

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Oh you can give but not take.

[Guest IT Manager]

Let's see what it brings spellbound.  Heheheheh.  We do get a lot of Thai cultural newbie experts telling the old hands where they are wrong.

Did you know, BTW, in my school the official name of the old boys' organisation was The Old Farts Club.

A newbie Brit in Europe....hmmm. Are you available to help the farang with a lot of Thai experience. We call knowalls things I really can't say here, but with your capacity for knowing all, you can guess. Why not try offering a worthwhile contribution ? All you do is offer gratuitous cheap shots to everyone. Get a life.

What an extremely clever technique you have of arguing for a so called Doctor:

• A racist slur

• Comments about my ability and experience upon which you have no knowledge whatsoever and are under no circumstances qualified to judge

• “worthwhile contribution” – it’s a good job we are not offering Brownie points on what you fire from the hip every time someone disagrees with you

• And then the piece de resistance “Get a Life” – exactly what sort of life should I get?

Perhaps you could inform us all about your life and the particular qualities we should emulate in order to reach your eminence. But then…

Thomas are you certain you aren't Tomy, with a dictionary?

As to the life the doc suggested, possibilities are endless from what I can see. Next time you come to Thailand, have a wander round the hilltribe villages near Chiang Rai, so you don't have to get dirty or walk too far from the old Rover, and see what the Thomas Mertons" of the western world have done to Thailand (not Thais' please note).

For your entertainment, can I suggest you have a look here?

[Koh_Falang]

In acknowledgement of my n00bie status i wont say much but this....

Being a wise person like urself (Thomas_Merton) ... you might do u well to listen and take advice rather then trying to use your wisdom to make others feel that you are some sort of higher life form then they.

thats just the impression i have got from reading your comments

[stumonster]

2. Is she from a good family?

can some one explain this to me in terms I might understand?

this phrase keeps popping up thoughout the forum, and I keep wondering if it has some race , class connotations.

function before form.... every time

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Money, class, connections. The ladder here is most important Stu, and up to the middle of the ladder, the rungs are slippery.

[Guest IT Manager]

In terms of my view, so it is personmal, the question is nonsense, however asked enough times, it becomes generic.

A good family as in Hi-So, or a good family as in work hard to put the kids through school without them ending up in a bamboo bar in Pattaya or somewhere?

The question can be answered correctly in any way, because the answer given is premised on how you judge a good family. By your standards, or someone elses.

Since I was essentially giving Thomas a heads-up for proseletyzing, as have several other members, the answer was also, in my opinion, moot.

SFAC..

[stumonster]

my apologies.. I meant to make people question their judgements a little... I just have a lot more respect for the family struggling to bring up their children on a minimal wage here in bangkok or out in the country than I have for the supposedly good familys churning out the khun ying/yangs(not a ref to you tomy) I see everywhere.

this statement can easily be transferred to australia where I am from.

[Guest IT Manager]

In my opinion Stu, the people in my village who live happily on about 5-8K per month are worth ten that have kids with 40 million baht writwatches to show off i the Thai News.

Good family - certainly, dad is a rice farmer adn has 20 lamyai. Daughter in Uni, Son in a good public high school.. ? Sure are in my humble opinion.

[Thomas_Merton]

In my opinion Stu, the people in my village who live happily on about 5-8K per month are worth ten that have kids with 40 million baht writwatches to show off i the Thai News.

Good family - certainly, dad is a rice farmer adn has 20 lamyai. Daughter in Uni, Son in a good public high school.. ? Sure are in my humble opinion.

At last a sign of humanity.

I was beginning to think a “good” family was one who spent their out-door time in an air-conditioned Audi. Driving from their air-conditioned workplace via the Mall to their air-conditioned home. Where they emulate their Californian heroes in everything apart from good looks (these being considerable better thanks to their Thai genes and Mummy’s new gym in the cellar). They have of course, with considerable sacrifice (only one new car this year) paid for their children’s education (and their Rolexes). They speak at least 2 languages (English of course), know everything about APEC and nothing about the 2/3 of their fellow nationals living on and below the poverty line.

Thai nationals like my own family, with two “Nr. 1” students (somebody else please explain what this means to the uninitiated), who most of their life have been without shoes. Where the rest of the family goes hungry when school books have to be bought. Where the only work is in the sugar fields for 120 baht a day (I tried one day – spent two days in hospital). Where the 10000 baht we send every month pays Mum’s hospital bills (Mum really does have a heart condition) and allows dad (68 years old) to take things easier spending more time his 12 year old with Down’s syndrome, and where the youngest of these Number One students, Tek, will finish high-school this year and will be able to go to university next year, unlike her older sister, my wife, who had to go to Pattaya and worse to keep her family alive. On my life this is true.

[Guest IT Manager]

Thomas_Merton how did you suddenly do that?

Read your other posts, particualrly the second, and you will see what I mean. You were an up-yourself "lets move to England darling, we can use the Rolls to drive to Mass" Pommie, the next you are real.

I like the real Thomas Merton a whole lot better. And FWIW, I know that family.

[Thomas_Merton]

Thomas_Merton how did you suddenly do that?

Read your other posts, particualrly the second, and you will see what I mean. You were an up-yourself "lets move to England darling, we can use the Rolls to drive to Mass" Pommie, the next you are real.

I like the real Thomas Merton a whole lot better. And FWIW, I know that family.

Well there appears to be several buzz words on this forum that create predictable reactions and false assumptions e.g. God, Catholic, Buddah, homosexual, gay, jew, pommie, newbie, duck etc. etc.

Perhaps I should change my name to Johnny Wilkenson, that could liven things up a bit.

[Guest The Judge]

I suspect trigger words rather than buzz words..

[Thomas_Merton]

I suspect trigger words rather than buzz words..

My trigger buzzes, but you are right, my English is getting sloppy.

[pnustedt]

'scuse me - but what is this thread all about? Never read so much dosh!

[dr_Pat_Pong]

'scuse me - but what is this thread all about? Never read so much dosh!

You accidently fell into the mutual admiration society's AGM

[Guest IT Manager]

I called it handing the board back to the members.

[Insight]

Yes, I'm a newbie, so please enlighten me...

Is this one of those "I understand Thai culture more than you" threads?

[taxexile]

Is this one of those "I understand Thai culture more than you" threads?

well put.

i think thats exactly what it is.

and that thai culture ceases to exist inside the boundaries of bangkok,and that the only true way is the way of the humble villager, and if you live in a city,drive a car,especially an air conditioned one and dont share your kitchen with chickens and buffaloes then you have no business being in thailand.

thai culture exists on many levels,all of them valid.

culture moves with the times.

different strokes for different folks.

to those who prefer the rural way, fine. enjoy. but please dont assume superiority or rank over those who prefer a more cosmopolitan lifestyle.

[Guest IT Manager]

Well Tax, as my eyes are dim and I cannot see, can you point me towards that so I can be edified about it, like you, please?

Thanks mate

[Insight]

In which case, maybe I'm the right contender to answer the original question, as I moved here June 2001 and I'm not married.

Why am I still here? Because it's so enjoyable figuring it all out. I'm in a good, steady relationship with a Thai female, but not yet prepared to don the wedding ring. I work with Thais all through the week, and have a 50/50 Thai/Western circle of friends outside the office.

I work as a Software Engineer, not a thief, I'm not running away from anything and simply enjoy being surrounded by a new culture all together. I was lucky enough to be offered the job from home, and knew very little about the country before moving here. And in the two years I've worked here, I'm still learning something new on an almost daily basis as the learning curve here seems exponential.

One thing to note, however, is that I was told a lot of advice when I first got here about what Thais do and don't do by other westerners. Nowadays, I take all that advice with a large pinch of salt.

So let me make all those mistakes and give me a big "som nom na" for the few times I have screwed up. I still feel the wiser man at the end of it all...

[Guest IT Manager]

That was good insight into the life we all came here to share/enjoy/learn about, (well me anyhow).

I find I depend on my Friends in the village for advice about important things and not on my colleagues in the workplace etc., who have a gripe about every little thing and that seems to work pretty well. Glad you are finding things the same.

[sam77]

What ever the reason for being there for so long it got to be more than one good reason for being there that long.

Why would anyone going from western country that have better living condition and with all the freedom of almost everything go to live in the "dustbowl" and got swept under the rug from time to time ???

[the gentleman]

He did ask a couple of questions that went unanswered or unexplained.

q: what does "apec, apec, apec" mean

a: a woman abandoned her child durring apec (The Apec Orphan). and your g/f was saying that she didn't want her child to wind up orphaned that way.

suggerstion: she was probably lying to get you to commit. later she can say she miscarried. very common

touching brother: who was he and what was he doing.

A: gay? perhaps...

A: He may have been offering you a subtle warning. (even if you were to get free of her you may not be free of the family.)

A: I most strongly suspect that he is really her husband or lover. He mught have been checking out the competition. It is very common, so don't discount this. You bring in the money and/or property until they can one day be reunited.

what..............apec, touching brother - what was the question?!?!?!?

Wanderer, I think you wandered off!