Lost in LOS Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I fully realize what I gave up in America, let me list just a few, in no particular order : Expensive restaurants Expensive insurances Expensive transportation Expensive housing Politically Correctness out of control Taxes [which I still have to pay, being American] are out of hand Having to pay taxes on my social security that I paid 15% of my income for most of my life Government out of control, Big Brother taking over Much more violent than here People much friendlier here [ever since America was overrun with unfriendly immigrants, that choose to keep their own culture, instead of blending in like the older immigrants use to do] Unrealistic laws for everything. There may be too few here but that is better than having a restrictive law for everything Laws affecting your lifestyle to an unreasonable degree Unions out of hand, controlling companies for unrealistic wages and benefits. Anti Business; every week there was a new fee, tax, insurance etc for my business Majority of Americans hate anyone that has money, even the people that worked hard for it. Everyone with their hand out expecting people that work hard everyday to support the ones that don't wish to work We are invisible to younger women, not so here Aggressive females, I like the calm Asian ones Policemen aggressive to its Citizens I could go on with this rant but I am done. And if you ask if I don't like the new America, why don't I leave? I did and its the best thing I ever did for the last 5 years and till I drop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billd766 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. What a burden that is. If you cannot cope then send a couple over to me. Pretty please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark45y Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I fully realize what I gave up in America, let me list just a few, in no particular order : Expensive restaurants Expensive insurances Expensive transportation Expensive housing Politically Correctness out of control Taxes [which I still have to pay, being American] are out of hand Having to pay taxes on my social security that I paid 15% of my income for most of my life Government out of control, Big Brother taking over Much more violent than here People much friendlier here [ever since America was overrun with unfriendly immigrants, that choose to keep their own culture, instead of blending in like the older immigrants use to do] Unrealistic laws for everything. There may be too few here but that is better than having a restrictive law for everything Laws affecting your lifestyle to an unreasonable degree Unions out of hand, controlling companies for unrealistic wages and benefits. Anti Business; every week there was a new fee, tax, insurance etc for my business Majority of Americans hate anyone that has money, even the people that worked hard for it. Everyone with their hand out expecting people that work hard everyday to support the ones that don't wish to work We are invisible to younger women, not so here Aggressive females, I like the calm Asian ones Policemen aggressive to its Citizens I could go on with this rant but I am done. And if you ask if I don't like the new America, why don't I leave? I did and its the best thing I ever did for the last 5 years and till I drop I pretty much agree with you but imagine you have never worked for a Thai lady. They can be aggressive. Her, “Sing a song.” Me, “I don't sing.” Her, “No problem sing a song.” Me, “There are five hundred people out there, I'm shy.” Her, “No problem, sing a song.” Me, “No.” Her, “I hit your head.” Me, “Old Macdonald had a farm, E, I, E, I, O.” PS. Notice the woman with the stick on the right of the photo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Well what's to miss the most from the U.S? No, not the food; not my friends (some actually get pissed that I'm so relaxed and don't want to talk about Yobama); not the driving skills, nor the holiday season, not the girlfriends that carry more baggage than a redcap at JFK; not even carpet. What do I miss the most............................................? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 SHOPPING AT WAL-MART! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 SHOPPING AT WAL-MART! Behave! That's making me hot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 SHOPPING AT WAL-MART! Behave! That's making me hot. Uh, which one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoticMatter Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I can answer this question, as a UK citizen I had absolutely no rights in my home country, apart from the right to pay tax. I could be picked up and held by the police at any time, with any excuse (and was), my children could be taken away from me, my banks accounts frozen and emptied. In Thailand the worse that happens to me is a policeman stops me for not wearing a helmet, 200bht seems to solve any and all problems. No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. Interesting replies, Lost in LOS - its happening in the UK like you decribe in the US(5 yrs behind or now!);agressive females even MRS TW thinks that most English woman are really 'hard'. we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens), in Thailand we all know what would happen to them. Personally I feel the Buddist culture teaches respect and 'niceness' for example on ch7 in the morning they said something like 'go out and be nice to others and help each other and don't hurt anyone', can you imagine them saying that kind of thing on the BBC or FOX news? If they did I would eat my shorts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoticMatter Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Pissed that your so relaxed haha thats made me laugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJP Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 SHOPPING AT WAL-MART! Oh. I thought that was the Friendship Supermarket in Pattaya. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surayu Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens) Perfectly understand your feelings, it's seems to be the same all over the EU, don't get me wrong, it's nice to help others in any possible ways, but when a country -any country-, still got his own problems to deal with, then is better to stick to them, find a reasonable solution and only then help others to overcome their difficulties, in my country we still have huge problems and the law simply make things even more unbearable for local people, and local the goverments is not hesitating in giving foreigners what a local citizen can't get, so just a sort of reversed double standards, which it make me smile sometimes but is crazy, tragically crazy. IMHO what all governments should do, is simply becoming a bit more technical and follow something very similar to an airplane emergency procedure, just see our troubled country as a very big "airplane" and all the other extras we want to help as our "kids", here is an extract : "Since you should be coherent and able to think fast to assist your kids, you should put your mask on first, then assist your children in getting their masks on. ", what does it mean? simply that if you are not able to stand up on your own legs first, forget about helping others, because if you really are their last hope, better you get well in shape first to not to make even that last hope to disappear.... But obviously our governments aren't really moved by that need of being helpfull, there are more or less hidden interests in whatever action they are taking, and maybe every now and then they throw in some minor real humanitarian help just to keep up with the show Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracer5050 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Yes your life changes fast in LOS and you become Nit Noi Thai before youknow it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1fanatic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I can answer this question, as a UK citizen I had absolutely no rights in my home country, apart from the right to pay tax. I could be picked up and held by the police at any time, with any excuse (and was), my children could be taken away from me, my banks accounts frozen and emptied. In Thailand the worse that happens to me is a policeman stops me for not wearing a helmet, 200bht seems to solve any and all problems. No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. Interesting replies, Lost in LOS - its happening in the UK like you decribe in the US(5 yrs behind or now!);agressive females even MRS TW thinks that most English woman are really 'hard'. we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens), in Thailand we all know what would happen to them. Personally I feel the Buddist culture teaches respect and 'niceness' for example on ch7 in the morning they said something like 'go out and be nice to others and help each other and don't hurt anyone', can you imagine them saying that kind of thing on the BBC or FOX news? If they did I would eat my shorts! Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StreetCowboy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 8>< SNIP NESTED QUOTES DELETED ><8 Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Of all the stories I've been told about monks in Thailand, none have really merited the telling. Most have been a poor attempt to denigrate the monastic fraternity on the basis of hearsay of misdemeanours by individuals. Its lucky that the caged birds have been captured from the wild, and not factory-farmed, as that would introduce mass-farming diseases to the wild population, and also the birds would not be able to fend for themselves, having been institutionalised from birth. Though I think that the real benefit results from the piety and reinforcement of traditional values that is involved. As you say, for someone with a more Western, 'bigger picture' lifecycle - ecosystem view on life, it might make more sense to give the bloke selling the birds a good kicking (or an alternative source of employment) and thus try to break the cycle. But that's just us taking a different view point on life, and I am not so disturbed by it that I woudl want to upset other people's traditions and beliefs. Lazy, I know, but I am here as a contractor and a guest, not a missionary or a crusader. The Thai buddhist culture runs far deeper than the golden temples and saffron robes - just the same as our Christian culture underlies all our upbringings, whether we go to church or not. To say that christian culture is a joke because so few of us attend church and we're all riddled with sin is to misunderstand culture. SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1fanatic Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 8>< SNIP NESTED QUOTES DELETED ><8 Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Of all the stories I've been told about monks in Thailand, none have really merited the telling. Most have been a poor attempt to denigrate the monastic fraternity on the basis of hearsay of misdemeanours by individuals. Its lucky that the caged birds have been captured from the wild, and not factory-farmed, as that would introduce mass-farming diseases to the wild population, and also the birds would not be able to fend for themselves, having been institutionalised from birth. Though I think that the real benefit results from the piety and reinforcement of traditional values that is involved. As you say, for someone with a more Western, 'bigger picture' lifecycle - ecosystem view on life, it might make more sense to give the bloke selling the birds a good kicking (or an alternative source of employment) and thus try to break the cycle. But that's just us taking a different view point on life, and I am not so disturbed by it that I woudl want to upset other people's traditions and beliefs. Lazy, I know, but I am here as a contractor and a guest, not a missionary or a crusader. The Thai buddhist culture runs far deeper than the golden temples and saffron robes - just the same as our Christian culture underlies all our upbringings, whether we go to church or not. To say that christian culture is a joke because so few of us attend church and we're all riddled with sin is to misunderstand culture. SC Good to see that you've missed the actual point of my post, or prefer not to argue the points raised. And no, I'm not talking about hearsay, but agree that they are about individual monks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StreetCowboy Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 8>< SNIP NESTED QUOTES DELETED ><8 Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Of all the stories I've been told about monks in Thailand, none have really merited the telling. Most have been a poor attempt to denigrate the monastic fraternity on the basis of hearsay of misdemeanours by individuals. Its lucky that the caged birds have been captured from the wild, and not factory-farmed, as that would introduce mass-farming diseases to the wild population, and also the birds would not be able to fend for themselves, having been institutionalised from birth. Though I think that the real benefit results from the piety and reinforcement of traditional values that is involved. As you say, for someone with a more Western, 'bigger picture' lifecycle - ecosystem view on life, it might make more sense to give the bloke selling the birds a good kicking (or an alternative source of employment) and thus try to break the cycle. But that's just us taking a different view point on life, and I am not so disturbed by it that I woudl want to upset other people's traditions and beliefs. Lazy, I know, but I am here as a contractor and a guest, not a missionary or a crusader. The Thai buddhist culture runs far deeper than the golden temples and saffron robes - just the same as our Christian culture underlies all our upbringings, whether we go to church or not. To say that christian culture is a joke because so few of us attend church and we're all riddled with sin is to misunderstand culture. SC Good to see that you've missed the actual point of my post, or prefer not to argue the points raised. And no, I'm not talking about hearsay, but agree that they are about individual monks. Sorry. I thought your point was that the Thai buddhist culture was a joke becuase by the standards of that culture, most Thais were hypocritical sinners, and many monks fell into that category. And my point was that regardless of the individual foibles of people, whether in the minority or the majority, culture and perceived values shape us all. Good people behave in a certain way depending on the morals that underlie the culture, and wicked people behave in other ways, and display hypocrisies appropriate to their culture. The culture is none the weaker or stronger for the relative proportion of wicked and good people that fall within it. Perhaps you would choose to clarify what was your point, if it was not that? SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Does it ever bother anyone not having any human rights in Thailand or basically being treated as a third class(none) citizen? It bothers me and I think it bothers a lot of other people. There are other expat destination countries where expats have more rights, so in that sense that may be an extra thing expats give up coming specifically to Thailand. A lot of things we give up are generic to leaving our home countries to anywhere. Which expat destination have more rights for expats than Thailand then? Maybe Mexico where, under Napoleonic legal system you are presumed guilty until proven innocent? Ooops, nope! But they do give good visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Athough I agree with some of your points, this statement is way too harsh in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 (edited) Pissed that your so relaxed haha thats made me laugh It's the truth! What matters to them (or, more correctly, what they think matters to them is of absolutely no interest to me. Yackity-yack about religions, sports teams, and news personalities and whose right and whose wrong and I change the subject to how I caught a 20 pound mackerel using an earthworm from my garden and they go dead silent...then they say, "why don't you care about what's happening back in your country?" Yawn. I once had a friend come visit and the little resort's motto was, "slow down your life, " he said, "sounds good, let's hurry and unpack!" Edited January 14, 2011 by happyrobert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Thank you for this. i've been in Thailand for about 6 years now from the UK and am/have gone through similar emotions. I too think i can't go back , nor do I want to. On my last trip, like you, i can't get over how preoccupied with trivial matters they all are. As an example, I'd taken a new camcorder there and was practising by filming a VERY large ground with about 6 5 aside football fields on. I was maybe 100 metres ( sorry yards!!) away. Kids of i guess, 10 to 15 were playing. DON'T i was told ,they'll think you are a paedophile and you haven't asked permission! What on earth is happening to a country that once fought the Nazis ? what are they on about? Give me the chaos of Thailand every time Good question. I lived there 10 years from 1998 till retiring in LOS, and can't believe that it's the country that ruled half the world, let alone stood up to the Nazi machine. I would often say to English people I worked with that I was glad not to be English, as would not be able to accept what was being inflicted by the pols. Not just Britain, my home country is just as ruined by PC, political ideologues and greedy layabouts. There are no ethics anymore, just me, me, me. The attraction of LOS ( other than the obvious ) is that it is, at least so far, NOT PC, and the women like to be feminine. Unfortunately, the strong baht has made my continued residence here doubtful, and it will be the saddest day of my life if I do have to move back "home". Have been working overseas since 1992, and every time I go back, have less friends, as most have moved far away. Also, the country becomes more and more alien compared to Thailand, which I now consider my "spiritual" home. Unfortunately, loving a country does not pay the bills, or fullfill the visa requirements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forethat Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Athough I agree with some of your points, this statement is way too harsh in my opinion. Absolutely not. I'm assuming that F1fanatic is referring to a common perception of the general Thai population which dictates that many Thai's are not living according to any precepts and are not following any paths. By doing so, he is in fact describing the very essence of Thai Buddhism (which is Theravada). Buddhism is a path of practice and spiritual development leading to Insight. Just because one hasn't developed the individual and spiritual skills doesn't mean they are not Buddhists, it's a matter of time and personal development. Another fantastic feature of Buddhism is that one never gets condemned for not being fully learned and practising the eigthfold path to perfection. For some people it takes many lives, thousands if not even millions, to gain the knowledge required. Perhaps the Thai people F1fanatic has met is just at the beginng of the path and has yet to learn? Remember that the greatest patience is humility. But then again, I may be wrong here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I can answer this question, as a UK citizen I had absolutely no rights in my home country, apart from the right to pay tax. I could be picked up and held by the police at any time, with any excuse (and was), my children could be taken away from me, my banks accounts frozen and emptied. In Thailand the worse that happens to me is a policeman stops me for not wearing a helmet, 200bht seems to solve any and all problems. No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. Interesting replies, Lost in LOS - its happening in the UK like you decribe in the US(5 yrs behind or now!);agressive females even MRS TW thinks that most English woman are really 'hard'. we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens), in Thailand we all know what would happen to them. Personally I feel the Buddist culture teaches respect and 'niceness' for example on ch7 in the morning they said something like 'go out and be nice to others and help each other and don't hurt anyone', can you imagine them saying that kind of thing on the BBC or FOX news? If they did I would eat my shorts! Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Hmmmm. That used to be common in the Christian religion too. If Jesus returned to earth today, what do you think he'd have to say about the riches of the Vatican? "Sell all you have and give it to the poor" springs to mind! Plenty of war leaders going to church- did they forget about "love your enemies" and "thou shalt not kill"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJP Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I can answer this question, as a UK citizen I had absolutely no rights in my home country, apart from the right to pay tax. I could be picked up and held by the police at any time, with any excuse (and was), my children could be taken away from me, my banks accounts frozen and emptied. In Thailand the worse that happens to me is a policeman stops me for not wearing a helmet, 200bht seems to solve any and all problems. No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. Interesting replies, Lost in LOS - its happening in the UK like you decribe in the US(5 yrs behind or now!);agressive females even MRS TW thinks that most English woman are really 'hard'. we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens), in Thailand we all know what would happen to them. Personally I feel the Buddist culture teaches respect and 'niceness' for example on ch7 in the morning they said something like 'go out and be nice to others and help each other and don't hurt anyone', can you imagine them saying that kind of thing on the BBC or FOX news? If they did I would eat my shorts! Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Hmmmm. That used to be common in the Christian religion too. If Jesus returned to earth today, what do you think he'd have to say about the riches of the Vatican? "Sell all you have and give it to the poor" springs to mind! Plenty of war leaders going to church- did they forget about "love your enemies" and "thou shalt not kill"? Most, if not all organised religion is a shake down for money, a power grab. Spiritual and agnostic people have my sympathies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougLee Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I fully realize what I gave up in America, let me list just a few, in no particular order : Expensive restaurants Expensive insurances Expensive transportation Expensive housing Politically Correctness out of control Taxes [which I still have to pay, being American] are out of hand Having to pay taxes on my social security that I paid 15% of my income for most of my life Government out of control, Big Brother taking over Much more violent than here People much friendlier here [ever since America was overrun with unfriendly immigrants, that choose to keep their own culture, instead of blending in like the older immigrants use to do] Unrealistic laws for everything. There may be too few here but that is better than having a restrictive law for everything Laws affecting your lifestyle to an unreasonable degree Unions out of hand, controlling companies for unrealistic wages and benefits. Anti Business; every week there was a new fee, tax, insurance etc for my business Majority of Americans hate anyone that has money, even the people that worked hard for it. Everyone with their hand out expecting people that work hard everyday to support the ones that don't wish to work We are invisible to younger women, not so here Aggressive females, I like the calm Asian ones Policemen aggressive to its Citizens I could go on with this rant but I am done. And if you ask if I don't like the new America, why don't I leave? I did and its the best thing I ever did for the last 5 years and till I drop Where did you live? if you lived in one of the north-east province, almost none of these apply. American is paradise, i would move there if they weren't so good at catching people not paying taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyrobert Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Geez - you guys are waaaaaaaaaay too serious. Take a valium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JurgenG Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I can answer this question, as a UK citizen I had absolutely no rights in my home country, apart from the right to pay tax. I could be picked up and held by the police at any time, with any excuse (and was), my children could be taken away from me, my banks accounts frozen and emptied. In Thailand the worse that happens to me is a policeman stops me for not wearing a helmet, 200bht seems to solve any and all problems. No one bothers me here, apart from girls young enough to be my daughter trying to get me into bed. Interesting replies, Lost in LOS - its happening in the UK like you decribe in the US(5 yrs behind or now!);agressive females even MRS TW thinks that most English woman are really 'hard'. we get many bad asylum seekers but the gov wont send them home because of their EU human rights(even murderers of UK citizens), in Thailand we all know what would happen to them. Personally I feel the Buddist culture teaches respect and 'niceness' for example on ch7 in the morning they said something like 'go out and be nice to others and help each other and don't hurt anyone', can you imagine them saying that kind of thing on the BBC or FOX news? If they did I would eat my shorts! Perhaps its because they don't need to? The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Basically it boils down to (for most people) go to the temple, give some money to the monks and wish for money to come your way. Buying caged birds to then release them (the birds have been captured from the wild for this purpose) and gain merit, pretty much says it all. Buddhist culture here basically says that if you pay for merit, it doesn't matter how badly you behave. Most of us who have been here for a few years have stories to tell about 'monks' we have seen... Look up 'the serpent mass murderer' to find out how the local police deal with problems that might affect tourism. I don't mean to sound patronising, but you are naive. Hmmmm. That used to be common in the Christian religion too. If Jesus returned to earth today, what do you think he'd have to say about the riches of the Vatican? "Sell all you have and give it to the poor" springs to mind! Plenty of war leaders going to church- did they forget about "love your enemies" and "thou shalt not kill"? It was called Indulgences In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment[1] due for sins which have already been forgiven. The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution.[2] The belief is that indulgences draw on the Treasure House of Merit accumulated by Christ's superabundantly meritorious sacrifice on the cross and the virtues and penances of the saints.[3] They are granted for specific good works and prayers.[3] Indulgences replaced the severe penances of the early Church.[3] More exactly, they replaced the shortening of those penances that was allowed at the intercession of those imprisoned and those awaiting martyrdom for the faith.[4] Abuses in selling and granting indulgences[3] were a major point of contention when Martin Luther initiated the Protestant Reformation (1517). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExoticMatter Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 Pissed that your so relaxed haha thats made me laugh It's the truth! What matters to them (or, more correctly, what they think matters to them is of absolutely no interest to me. Yackity-yack about religions, sports teams, and news personalities and whose right and whose wrong and I change the subject to how I caught a 20 pound mackerel using an earthworm from my garden and they go dead silent...then they say, "why don't you care about what's happening back in your country?" Yawn. I once had a friend come visit and the little resort's motto was, "slow down your life, " he said, "sounds good, let's hurry and unpack!" Yackity-yack haha thats a big fish you caught pla neung manao mmm, my word for you is sublimed . Good attiitude by the way sounds like you've gone native have you been in LOS long then:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Posted January 29, 2011 Share Posted January 29, 2011 The Thai Buddhist culture is a joke. Athough I agree with some of your points, this statement is way too harsh in my opinion. You're such a nice guy UG, but I can't be as civil. F1, your contempt for the Thai Buddhist culture is revealing. You must have a source of reference to suggest that. In other words, you're implying that the other religion(s) of the world and their followers are just so perfect in every way. Can you name one such religion? Christianity? Them of the child-molesting priests. Islam perhaps? Them of the radical extremist set. I can go on and on. Every religion will have those who are devout followers and those who go through the motions, and those who are extremists, as well as many somewhere in between. Buddhism is no different. So why are you singling out Buddhism for your venom? Is it because it's predominantly practiced by the Thais and you despise the Thais? Or are you simply anti-religion period? That would make more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theoutsider Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 yes, weed and work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craigt3365 Posted January 30, 2011 Share Posted January 30, 2011 Please stay ON TOPIC. This thread is about "Leaving your country to live permanently in Thailand". Not about religion. If you want to discuss that, please open another thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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