All I seem to read lately is so and so is.....

Why can't we all try do get along together and help each other wherever we can and start chillin.

I imagine most posters are educated and should we not support each other and get along in this climate.rather then knocking each other.

I wonder the same thing myself, sometimes.

It's probably the glass half full, glass half empty thing....

Seems to be the Haves V Havenots,more so in the Puket Section.

Always wanted to post something like that, albeit I'd probably have ranted a bit more, as I usually want to post when I see it in action

On a plus side, the forum/'s full of intelligent, articulate and well-informed people, many of whom make great efforts to help out when asked and clearly enjoy the interaction....and there are some great senses of humour about too! But the experience is often spoilt by others - I don't even need to describe them. 'Nasty' springs to mind though And I am completely sick of the over-use of the word 'apologist' by the way! So lazily overused here.

Its a dam_n shame - it won't put me off though and I can see the Mods do their best to keep things even. You just have to live with the fact that there are those about who feel better when imposing their 'glass half-full' views or insecurity-driven bullying on others. No fix for that, you can't pick and choose here and I guess it makes us appreciate the better posters even more

So - ignore it if you can, don't take it to heart of you can't!

Personalities differ providing various viewpoints, perhaps?

I think a lot of it stems from the anonymity of an internet forum affording the members the chance to engage in good old fashioned behind the back gossip and backstabbing but "in public" as it were.

Be a lot different if it were mano-a-mano.

From what I have observed, Phil states it very well. I compare one of the local restaurant/watering hole discussions here in CM, to TV and they are not comparable. The locals, with a frequent mix of visitors/tourists seem to carry on discussion of topics where vastly differing views/opinions are expressed without personal attacks. Granted, some remarks may sound biting but the manner in which they are made in a oblivious joking manner.

Maybe the smileys use is ignored by some of the posters on TV, which due to lack of observing a persons facial expression, may give a false impression of real intent.

The Thai language is not the only language where tone/emphasis can change meaning. When you consider the number of different mother tongues involved on TV and the lack of the printed word to convey our intended meaning/mood/etc, I am surprised their is not more piss fights on some of the topics.

Whilst there will allways be people trying to increase there own business by knocking others as well as valid reviews of establishments on the internet, I feel that the increase of 'knocking' on the Chiang Mai forum over the course of the last two to three years can be correlated to the strength of the Baht against members home currencies.

Iain

It's all good. Everyone needs to vent sometimes and some people need to vent all the time. Can't have rules to address the few who vent constantly and thus spoil things for the many who vent occasionally.

Besides, what fun's a circus without clowns?

Unhappy moments make people want to spit...

Or...

maybe members feel enough at home on the forum and at ease with fellowmembers that they feel free to quarrel and fight like siblings do...

Wherever I've lived, worked or been in this world I've always tried to be friendly, polite and helpful to others. However; I have always found that no matter how nice you are to others there are always people around that are basically just miserable gits! The world is full of them and we are forced to live with it and rise above it.

Wherever I've lived, worked or been in this world I've always tried to be friendly, polite and helpful to others. However; I have always found that no matter how nice you are to others there are always people around that are basically just miserable gits! The world is full of them and we are forced to live with it and rise above it.

Well-said trainman!!!

Posts discussing moderation are not allowed as all members are aware. they have been deleted. You are well aware that you should be PMing the mod in question, that is me, if you have questions.

Yeah, I hear ya. But you know, this forum is what you wanna make of it, and some ppl just wanna talk trash all the time. Others are quite sane, responsible, helpful, civilized, intelligent, and so on. I generally try to avoid the obnoxious ones, and have even made a few pretty good friends/ acquaintances thru TV and TV parties. The only trouble is doing the sifting for the quality.

All that being said, sometimes posts are obnoxious, products n services in town are terrible, and you feel a need to let others know and let the perpetrator have it. I understand.

I'm guilty of being crabby every now n then too. What often gets in my craw is people failing to use the title and subtitle lines effectively and honestly to inform readers what the topic is. I also can't deal with one post 5 people like, and then quote the whole frigging thing right back in their replies, so a pg in the forum is essentially taken up by the same msg again n again n again. I can follow a thread, all you need to do is cite something n I get it. Anyway... I know what gets me going. Everybody's got a little crankiness in 'em somewhere.

I embrace both sides, but always err on the sunny side of things.

"However; I have always found that no matter how nice you are to others there are always people around that are basically just miserable gits! The world is full of them and we are forced to live with it and rise above it."

True but i've always thought a decent barometer of the 'happiness' level of a particular location can be measured by how many smiling people you see on any given day. Running around town almost everyday here in

Chiang Mai I hardly ever see smiling faces. YMMV, especially outside of town but still....this town is getting 'choke' as the Hawaiians used to say back in the day.

True but i've always thought a decent barometer of the 'happiness' level of a particular location can be measured by how many smiling people you see on any given day. Running around town almost everyday here in

Chiang Mai I hardly ever see smiling faces. YMMV, especially outside of town but still....this town is getting 'choke' as the Hawaiians used to say back in the day.

Which parts of town are you running around?

I see plenty of smiling faces everywhere i go in chiang mai, and for good reasons. Life's good here and chiang mai's one of the great places in this world.

Furthermore compared to my native england i am positively swamped and deluged by smiling people. Smiles over there are rationed it seems, and in seriously short supply.

True but i've always thought a decent barometer of the 'happiness' level of a particular location can be measured by how many smiling people you see on any given day. Running around town almost everyday here in

Chiang Mai I hardly ever see smiling faces. YMMV, especially outside of town but still....this town is getting 'choke' as the Hawaiians used to say back in the day.

Which parts of town are you running around?

I see plenty of smiling faces everywhere i go in chiang mai, and for good reasons. Life's good here and chiang mai's one of the great places in this world.

Furthermore compared to my native england i am positively swamped and deluged by smiling people. Smiles over there are rationed it seems, and in seriously short supply.

Every time I go back to the UK, the people seem angrier and are most definitely fatter!

I see plenty of smiling faces everywhere i go in chiang mai,

Agreed!

I see plenty of smiling faces everywhere i go in chiang mai,

Agreed!

3

It's good to be positive. I'm just saying what I observe around town. Economics and culture are factors for sure, and I can't comment on the UK but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here. How often do you really see Thais (sober & non bar atmosphere) conversing in groups in a jovial way? Sure sometimes, but considering this is 'Land of Smiles' I aint seeing it on a regular basis. Or Thais who don't know each other going out of their way to hold a door open or otherwise go out of their way to help a stranger? Again sometimes, but is there really a happy, carefree atmosphere around town? Honestly. Don't even get me started on road manners.

It's good to be positive. I'm just saying what I observe around town. Economics and culture are factors for sure, and I can't comment on the UK but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here. How often do you really see Thais (sober & non bar atmosphere) conversing in groups in a jovial way? Sure sometimes, but considering this is 'Land of Smiles' I aint seeing it on a regular basis. Or Thais who don't know each other going out of their way to hold a door open or otherwise go out of their way to help a stranger? Again sometimes, but is there really a happy, carefree atmosphere around town? Honestly. Don't even get me started on road manners.

Maybe its just me, but I do tend to notice groups of Thais laughing with each other and I have experienced Thais and Foreigners that have gone out of their way to help me

I do notice it more in social/ family and professional environments so I can see how temporary visitors might not see this in more touristy areas

It's good to be positive. I'm just saying what I observe around town. Economics and culture are factors for sure, and I can't comment on the UK but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here. How often do you really see Thais (sober & non bar atmosphere) conversing in groups in a jovial way? Sure sometimes, but considering this is 'Land of Smiles' I aint seeing it on a regular basis. Or Thais who don't know each other going out of their way to hold a door open or otherwise go out of their way to help a stranger? Again sometimes, but is there really a happy, carefree atmosphere around town? Honestly. Don't even get me started on road manners.

Maybe its just me, but I do tend to notice groups of Thais laughing with each other and I have experienced Thais and Foreigners that have gone out of their way to help me

I do notice it more in social/ family and professional environments so I can see how temporary visitors might not see this in more touristy areas

I see plenty of smiles all around Chiang Mai. Indeed; the most miserable people with long faces I come across are almost without exception Farang! Just walk around Tesco any day of the week and see who the people are with the most angry or miserable faces. Have a smile on your own face and say 'hello' or 'good morning' and see what you get in response. If they do answer they look surprised but in the main you will be lucky if you get a grunt. Seems that they live in their own little 'Chiang Mai World' and are offended that you want to stick your nose into it! There is an attitude problem. I had a Farang I met for the first time in the market this morning ask me how long I had been here. When I told him, his reply was 'Sick of it yet?' I thought that was a very negative way to start a conversation.

I had a Farang I met for the first time in the market this morning ask me how long I had been here. When I told him, his reply was 'Sick of it yet?'

classic! old misery guts himself. don't you just love those guys? nice one.

I see plenty of smiling faces everywhere i go in chiang mai,

Agreed!

3

add mine to that list also..Will be my very first trip to CM next month

It's good to be positive. I'm just saying what I observe around town. Economics and culture are factors for sure, and I can't comment on the UK but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here. How often do you really see Thais (sober & non bar atmosphere) conversing in groups in a jovial way? Sure sometimes, but considering this is 'Land of Smiles' I aint seeing it on a regular basis. Or Thais who don't know each other going out of their way to hold a door open or otherwise go out of their way to help a stranger? Again sometimes, but is there really a happy, carefree atmosphere around town? Honestly. Don't even get me started on road manners.

Maybe its just me, but I do tend to notice groups of Thais laughing with each other and I have experienced Thais and Foreigners that have gone out of their way to help me

I do notice it more in social/ family and professional environments so I can see how temporary visitors might not see this in more touristy areas

I see plenty of smiles all around Chiang Mai. Indeed; the most miserable people with long faces I come across are almost without exception Farang! Just walk around Tesco any day of the week and see who the people are with the most angry or miserable faces. Have a smile on your own face and say 'hello' or 'good morning' and see what you get in response. If they do answer they look surprised but in the main you will be lucky if you get a grunt. Seems that they live in their own little 'Chiang Mai World' and are offended that you want to stick your nose into it! There is an attitude problem. I had a Farang I met for the first time in the market this morning ask me how long I had been here. When I told him, his reply was 'Sick of it yet?' I thought that was a very negative way to start a conversation.

It's a Chiang Mai phenomenon for farangs to completely ignore other farangs on the other side of the world.

i know two guys that are nice enough but theyre always knocking people.

a nice pair of knockers.

quoted from 'macsurf'.........."but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here...."

.............................................................................................

Totally agree.

I'm a Thai who've been living in the US for over 2 decades. Always been taken by the friendlyness and conviviality that the Americans have showed to a stranger as myself.

Now I'm starting to act like one of the Americans,. always got a habit of greeting people, that goes with when I'm in Thailand too. It's a natural for me to say........ 'Good morning' or give them a friendly smile.

Is this supposted to be LOS, isn't it ? Sad! I seldom get a smile back or a friendly gesture back. A few times I jokely said to them........." nobody is going to tax your smile, so why not put in a pretty face of smile, it costs you nothing anyway."

From my years of observation, I receive plenty of smiles or polite wais in the tourist related business such as restaurants, hotels, giftshops, travelel agencies etc . So I guess Thai smile has a price tag.

Tinkerbell, you probably summed the topic of smiles up better and more concisely than several of us poster put together.

I do notice a lot of smiles when I pick up the kid up from school, more from the students than the parents/drivers. Then I remember that that seems to be true for schools/students everywhere when the day ends.

It's good to be positive. I'm just saying what I observe around town. Economics and culture are factors for sure, and I can't comment on the UK but I witness far more friendliness and conviviality amongst strangers in big cities in the states compared with here. How often do you really see Thais (sober & non bar atmosphere) conversing in groups in a jovial way? Sure sometimes, but considering this is 'Land of Smiles' I aint seeing it on a regular basis. Or Thais who don't know each other going out of their way to hold a door open or otherwise go out of their way to help a stranger? Again sometimes, but is there really a happy, carefree atmosphere around town? Honestly. Don't even get me started on road manners.

Your post reminds me of a time back in the States one morning as I walked into a convenience store for coffee. As I walked in I saw out of the corner of my eye someone walking in directly behind me so I held the swinging door open as not to slam him/her in the face. It turned out to be a women and she stopped, put her hands on her hips, and with a look to kill said "don't you think I'm big and strong enough to open that door myself?" Well, I didn't say anything and just let the door go then proceeded about my business. Point being, my 23+ years in Thailand I have always received smiles and "kap khoon ka's" from holding a door for someone. Just the way my folks raised me.

From my years of observation, I receive plenty of smiles or polite wais in the tourist related business such as restaurants, hotels, giftshops, travelel agencies etc . So I guess Thai smile has a price tag.

Very interesting post, but I have to admit that having a Thai acknowledge me and say something friendly just because I happen to walk through the parking lot he is guarding or massage ladies yelling hello to me every day when I ride by on my bicycle - even though I never patronize their business - are all good, positive things. They certainly did not happen often in San Francisco and there were not a lot of smiles for strangers there either. I guess that no place is perfect, but IMHO Thailand is better than most.