Why Do We Hear About So Many Farangs Committing Suicide In Thailand

[dansat]

There seems to be at least one a week sometimes more about a Farang committing suicide becuase they have broken up with there Thai Gf or even just becuase they have had a argument with a Thai Gf. Most of the Farangs who seem to do this sort of thing are not ones that live here but rather ones that come on Holiday to see there Thai GF. So if they are just here on holiday for a month or 2 a year, can they really be that in loved with there GF to the point that a argument can mean the end ?? I just cant see how they can get this attached to Girls they hardly know. Its a very sad topic i know. But i just cant see how it can all end like this for so many people. Why do they do it ?

I dont think breaking up with any girl in the world is worth even feeling sorry for your self for over 1 week never mind taking your own life becuase of it. There are plently more girls ( and more in Thailand ) willing to be your GF. Things have changed all over the world now. Most people who are getting married this year will end up divorced within 5 years. The rate for Thai - Farang marrages must be much higher than most. So whats the point in worrying so much over 1 little breakup or even smaller a argument.

[KeyserSoze01]

Quite a bit of conjecture in this post.

You have any statistics to back up your assertions?

My take is this trend is this:

1. Alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant and when people overindulge, they become depressed and sometimes become suicidal over issues in their lives.

2. Money problems.

3. I believe many of these so-called suicides are anything but suicide. Draw your own conclusion.

4. Health problems, leading to suicide as a means to end the pain.

5. Farang trying to make a go of it with a bar girl as you surmise.

The odd thing is that this 'suicidal tendency' seems to flourish in only one place and that is Thailand. You rarely hear of this sort of behavior in other locales around the world. Perhaps it's the spicy food.

[lovelomsak]

I think they do because they can. Also many maynot be suicides.

[GuestHouse]

More than a few Farangs wash up in Thailand with 'Excess Personal Baggage'

When the reality of their situation hits them they are not emotionally able to deal with it - One small step for a man, one more sorry tale ended on the side walk.

[anothertorres]

same reason that you have suicides across the world. next question?

[Forethat]

Most of the Farangs who seem to do this sort of thing are not ones that live here but rather ones that come on Holiday to see there Thai GF

Can you please tell me how you acquired the information that you based this statement om? Or at least what kind of information you have? Source?

I question the validity of your statement.

[Forethat]

Most of the Farangs who seem to do this sort of thing are not ones that live here but rather ones that come on Holiday to see there Thai GF

Can you please tell me how you acquired the information that you based this statement on? Or at least what kind of information you have? Source?

I question the validity of your statement.

[chickenslegs]

Looking at the WHO stats (LINK) it seems that the Scandinavian and Eastern European countries have the worst male suicide rates in the world.

The Thai stats seem quite respectable by comparison.

But I agree with a previous poster that alcohol, financial problems and health problems must surely be a factor.

In many studies, failed marriage/relationship is identified as a major contributor to suicidal tendency - as is lack of access to appropriate psychological care.

Taking into consideration all the above factors, it's surprising that there are not more suicides here.

[MSingh]

I think the Country attracts soem of the World's biggest Losers plain & simply, Men who are Social Misfits in their home Country's who have had rejection from the opposite sex for Years, come to LOS & believe everything they hear because of all of a sudden someone is showing them the attention they have craved..

Next thing the Person showing them attention is showing someone else the attention, they find out & simply can't deal with it..

You only have to have a stroll around any Tesco Lotus on a Saturday afternoon in one of your more Farang orientated Cities to see what i mean..

[Forethat]

I think the Country attracts soem of the World's biggest Losers plain & simply, Men who are Social Misfits in their home Country's who have had rejection from the opposite sex for Years, come to LOS & believe everything they hear because of all of a sudden someone is showing them the attention they have craved..

Totally.

You only have to have a stroll around any Tesco Lotus on a Saturday afternoon in one of your more Farang orientated Cities to see what i mean..

You sure you don't mean "browse TV on any given day"..?

[PingManDan]

www.aathailand.org

This might help someone thinking of suicide :jap:

[Ulysses G.]

I think the Country attracts soem of the World's biggest Losers plain & simply, Men who are Social Misfits in their home Country's who have had rejection from the opposite sex for Years, come to LOS & believe everything they hear because of all of a sudden someone is showing them the attention they have craved..

Next thing the Person showing them attention is showing someone else the attention, they find out & simply can't deal with it..

You only have to have a stroll around any Tesco Lotus on a Saturday afternoon in one of your more Farang orientated Cities to see what i mean..

I looked at the title of the thread and all of this came to mind immediately. Thanks for a very insightful post.

[travelmann]

Many who arrive here are already broken goods living on borrowed time failed relationships elsewhere scrimping a living doing anything they can to get by one more slight incident weeds them out..or down shall we say.

[IanForbes]

Some good replies here, and thankfully, no flaming. When you have a concentration of misfits in one area then the answer becomes obvious. If you remove the few hotspots like Pattaya and Phuket out of the picture then the farang suicide rate probably drops substantially. The misfits from other countries hear that Thailand is a utopia, and they come here ill prepared to handle the differences. They don't fit in just as they didn't fit in at home and the inevitable occurs. On the other side of the coin, there are thousands of foreigners who have adapted well and love Thailand.

[geriatrickid]

As explained above, the starting point is a social demographic that is likely to demonstrate suicide. If there was a more diverse population, the suicides would not be as visible.

And then there is the perception. The local english language media focuses on violent crime and suicide. These events are of interest to the readers. In some cases, I'd suggest that there is a morbid over interest. However, is it any different than the elderly folks back home that read the obituaries to see who died? In London or Toronto, when someone jumps in front of a subway train, discretion is shown by the media and it doesn't draw much attention. When it does, it is a buried story without pictures and without the brazen zeal shown by the local media here. I think that's one good thing about western culture, in that there is a respect given to the families not to be intrusive. Do I really need to see a deceased's passport or a pixelated photo of a hanging body? What's the point of putting the photo up. One can't see anything. All that it does is feed into the suicide frenzy.

[thaihome]

As explained above, the starting point is a social demographic that is likely to demonstrate suicide. If there was a more diverse population, the suicides would not be as visible.

And then there is the perception. The local english language media focuses on violent crime and suicide. These events are of interest to the readers. In some cases, I'd suggest that there is a morbid over interest. However, is it any different than the elderly folks back home that read the obituaries to see who died? In London or Toronto, when someone jumps in front of a subway train, discretion is shown by the media and it doesn't draw much attention. When it does, it is a buried story without pictures and without the brazen zeal shown by the local media here. I think that's one good thing about western culture, in that there is a respect given to the families not to be intrusive. Do I really need to see a deceased's passport or a pixelated photo of a hanging body? What's the point of putting the photo up. One can't see anything. All that it does is feed into the suicide frenzy.

Well said, demographics and reporting are the keys. In certain areas of the US, such as South Florida, the local newspapers don't even report the almost daily suicide jumps from the high rise condos.

TH

[Boater]

Quite a bit of conjecture in this post.

You have any statistics to back up your assertions?

My take is this trend is this:

1. Alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant and when people overindulge, they become depressed and sometimes become suicidal over issues in their lives.

2. Money problems.

3. I believe many of these so-called suicides are anything but suicide. Draw your own conclusion.

4. Health problems, leading to suicide as a means to end the pain.

5. Farang trying to make a go of it with a bar girl as you surmise.

The odd thing is that this 'suicidal tendency' seems to flourish in only one place and that is Thailand. You rarely hear of this sort of behavior in other locales around the world. Perhaps it's the spicy food.

excellent post, esp points 1 2 and 3

[Heng]

Financial issues are the ones I see most often. Not necessarily future suicides in the making, but an awful lot of foreigners are on dead end roads and likely know it. Once you're on that road, it only takes a bit of bad luck, a head on collision or two and you're done. The labor laws are to blame somewhat, but so is rampant myopia in terms of long term financial planning (that's one local tradition some foreigners pick up all too quickly).

[Forethat]

Quite a bit of conjecture in this post.

You have any statistics to back up your assertions?

My take is this trend is this:

1. Alcohol consumption. Alcohol is a depressant and when people overindulge, they become depressed and sometimes become suicidal over issues in their lives.

2. Money problems.

3. I believe many of these so-called suicides are anything but suicide. Draw your own conclusion.

4. Health problems, leading to suicide as a means to end the pain.

5. Farang trying to make a go of it with a bar girl as you surmise.

The odd thing is that this 'suicidal tendency' seems to flourish in only one place and that is Thailand. You rarely hear of this sort of behavior in other locales around the world. Perhaps it's the spicy food.

Oh yes. Typical scenario the embassies deals with on a daily basis:

Working class man in his late 50's or early 60's decides to retire in LOS because he enjoyed it while visiting Pattaya with friends 5 years ago. He got some pu**y and enjoyed it. So he sells his house and moves to LOS. He spends all his time hanging out in bars and long times a girl (or two!!) a couple of times a week. The capital he planned to invest in something is slowly but surely spent on alcohol and pu**y. After a couple of months he hooks up with a 23 year old bar girl who tells him she loves him. After getting married he spends a lot of his capital buying a house and a car, everything in her name. A couple of months later they are divorced and he's lost most of his money. He now resorts to more alcohol and soon realises he doesn't have enough to live more than a couple of years in LOS. His working class background disqualifies him for a job in LOS (no academic background), and he also doesn't have any knowledge about making money other than as an employee (there's an exception here, there are a few entrepreneurs with criminal knowledge who sometimes takes up this profession in LOS, it usually involves bars, copy products, drugs and scamming tourists). You'd be amased to learn how many cases like this there are. Some of these poor guys return home to wherever they came from, but a small percentage feel embarrassed and for that reason they decide to remain in LOS. It is in this group of people we often see suicide.

Then there's a case of tragedy when the direction is the opposite - the guy goes to Thailand to find himself a 20 year old meatflute-player and brings her back home. She usually ends up as a mixture of sex slave and servant/cleaning lady in a remote lonely area somewhere. Again, you'd be amased if you knew the number of people doing this. Or maybe not.

Someone might say "but cheezuz, every foreigner can’t be a schmuck like that..!?" And the answer is that they can't, but this discussion involved the ones committing suicide, and there you have them...

[meom]

More than a few Farangs wash up in Thailand with 'Excess Personal Baggage'

When the reality of their situation hits them they are not emotionally able to deal with it - One small step for a man, one more sorry tale ended on the side walk.

You’re probably right.

On the other hand we don’t really know how high the suicide rate would be among people with Excess Personal Baggage had they not ventured out to Thailand and stayed in their home countries instead.

My guess is that it would be higher and that by coming to Thailand the suicide rate among people with Excess Personal Baggage is actually lowered.

Surely there’s a slogan for TAT in here somewhere.

[onnut]

There are a hel_l of a lot more people who have moved here and are very unstable in there heads who do not commit suicide!

[Tonto21]

Some good replies here, and thankfully, no flaming. When you have a concentration of misfits in one area then the answer becomes obvious. If you remove the few hotspots like Pattaya and Phuket out of the picture then the farang suicide rate probably drops substantially. The misfits from other countries hear that Thailand is a utopia, and they come here ill prepared to handle the differences. They don't fit in just as they didn't fit in at home and the inevitable occurs. On the other side of the coin, there are thousands of foreigners who have adapted well and love Thailand.

That’s better, thanks for that Ian.

Up to your post I thought I’d opened a copy of that old favorite magazine “Farang Bashing Monthly” You make a good point, but as far as I’m concerned until I know why so many farang go airborne, (was he pushed or did he fall) I will not live anywhere above the first floor.

[harrry]

In Australia all media agencies have agreed to a voluntary code which prevents them publishing details about suicides. The theory is that if people do not know about it there will not be copycat suicides. I do not know if it works but there are a lot of suicide attempts especially among the young. As there are less high rises tablets are used more often and as they are slower there is more chance of their effects being reversed than in a 30 storie fall.

[Heng]

Tough call. Chemicals are pretty certain, but so is gravity.