Dangerous Rain

[stander]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

Edited March 17, 2011 by stander

[Max2010]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

As an immigrant who have lived in the UK, Canada and USA, I can tell you based on personal experience that, Canadians and Americans are more ignorant about the world than Thais. Europeans tend to know the geography better because their countries are tiny and needed to leave to find raw materials and work (Western Europe is the size of DR Congo (if you know where that is) and they colonized the world. I think people who are liivng in developing countries tend to better in geography based on their needs to escape poverty, unstable governments and looking for greener pastures. Thais probably have a much better undertanding of the Middle East than Japan because so many of them work there or have family members there. I ahve yet met a European or North American who can guess what language I speak let alone know where it is located. I shoudn't be shocked of Thai bashing here anymore.

Max2010

[Old Croc]

It may be a hoax, but if it keeps a few hundred thousand motorbikes off the roads for a while it has to be good.

[a51mas]

IanForbes' timestamp='1300329576' post='4288512']

'Jingthing' timestamp='1300284006' post='4287331']

Interesting. I wonder if the majority of Thais have a full concept of how far away Japan is in kilometers (not to mention the radiation level that does travel)?

Most Thais couldn't pick out Japan on a world map written in Thai. But, they can find their way on the cheapest bus from Sakon Nowhere to Nakon Somewhere even if it takes 20 hours of travel.

[/quote

Well noted Ian , most anything outside of Thailand has no importance to most Thai , as far as they are concerned due to the educational brainwashing methods , Thailand is the centre of the universe , this , of course , includes many in government despite their off shore educations .

In my mind it recalls an old adage " You can lead a horse to water , but you cannot make him drink " .

The omni-present " I know , I know " response and " Maipenrai " , are of course the main contributing factors to The learning process , or should I have said the lack of ?

dumball so aptly named.........

[sunholidaysun1]

Simon you idiot youve left two airholes in for this "female" version

Three actually

[robsamui]

, Darling, look out the window, has the wind changed direction.

At least she may look out of the window, your post count suggests that you're on ThaiVisa all of your waking hours with no time to look out of the windows at all.

I bet you never thought you'd end up spending all of your waking hours tapping out endless, meaningless posts on an anonymous internet forum, you could have stayed in the UK and done that, I'll also bet that you tell your family or friends what a wonderful life you have in Thailand carefully leaving out the fact that you spend all day long indoors in front of a PC, never actually seeing Thailand.

Yep, this is what you came to Thailand for.

erm ..... pray ..... and you do ... what?

R

[nidge]

Here's a decent map on how the wind blew recently

http://www.zamg.ac.at/aktuell/index.php?seite=1&artikel=ZAMG_2011-03-15GMT08:26

That's a lovely chart at the bottom of the page, thanks for posting.

[Familyonthemove]

The standard procedure for anyone contaminated by radioactive rain is to remove their clothing and scrub them all over with soapy water.

I've heard there are several places in Bangkok that offer this service and some specialise in Japanese visitors.

Sounds like a good business opportunity?

[geriatrickid]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

As an immigrant who have lived in the UK, Canada and USA, I can tell you based on personal experience that, Canadians and Americans are more ignorant about the world than Thais. Europeans tend to know the geography better because their countries are tiny and needed to leave to find raw materials and work (Western Europe is the size of DR Congo (if you know where that is) and they colonized the world. I think people who are liivng in developing countries tend to better in geography based on their needs to escape poverty, unstable governments and looking for greener pastures. Thais probably have a much better undertanding of the Middle East than Japan because so many of them work there or have family members there. I ahve yet met a European or North American who can guess what language I speak let alone know where it is located. I shoudn't be shocked of Thai bashing here anymore.

Max2010

Your comments on Canada do not hold water.

Here's why; In any given year between approx. 2 million Canadians will either travel or work outside Canada. About 75% of Canadians hold a valid passport. The population of Canada is approx. 34million.

Considering the large numbers of ethnic groups in Canada, you can be assured that the knowledge of various parts of the world will be extremely elevated for some groups. e.g. The large Philippino and Chinese populations would have a good idea of the Asian region. Canadians as a whole score at the upper end of world knowledge. This is due in part to a country that is actively involved in world development projects. Even in small town rural prairie provinces, the locals will know about other countries because of the active support of groups such as the Mennonite farmers that have aid projects in the developing world. Canadians have been actively involved in humanitarian and peacekeeping missions around the world and those activities make it to the news and are discussed in the media. I think you have allowed your bias to show through because you are very wrong on Canada.

[bonobo]

I've had people telling me not to go outside as well, nor go into the pool at our condo.

I also had someone express concern when I told her I went to Turkey and she hoped I wasn't affected by the tsunami.

I am from the US, and we have no right at any degree of superiority given our horrendous results in geography testing, but yes, I think most Thais, even university educated Thais, are at least as bad if not worse than most Americans in their knowledge of geography.

[bonobo]

The standard procedure for anyone contaminated by radioactive rain is to remove their clothing and scrub them all over with soapy water.

I've heard there are several places in Bangkok that offer this service and some specialise in Japanese visitors.

Sounds like a good business opportunity?

OK< that got a laugh from me.

[bonobo]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

I believe this to be an urban myth. I would really need to see the links to such a result.

Heck, in New York, over 1% of the population is from the Middle East, so they certainly should have known. But mostly, American news agencies love graphics to make their point. And from newspapers such as the USA today, from CNN/FOX/whatever to the Daily Show, maps of Iraq were being bombarded in the media, and just by simply forced osmosis, more than 1% of New Yorkers would have inadvertently learned where Iraq was.

[robblok]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

As an immigrant who have lived in the UK, Canada and USA, I can tell you based on personal experience that, Canadians and Americans are more ignorant about the world than Thais. Europeans tend to know the geography better because their countries are tiny and needed to leave to find raw materials and work (Western Europe is the size of DR Congo (if you know where that is) and they colonized the world. I think people who are liivng in developing countries tend to better in geography based on their needs to escape poverty, unstable governments and looking for greener pastures. Thais probably have a much better undertanding of the Middle East than Japan because so many of them work there or have family members there. I ahve yet met a European or North American who can guess what language I speak let alone know where it is located. I shoudn't be shocked of Thai bashing here anymore.

Max2010

5555

Thai bashing but now we bash others. Real funny so the current generation knows about the world because we colonised it. Boy that was a long time ago and is mostly forgotten. We know it better because we are interested in the world. Also because we dump too much aid money in poor African countries (i believe we should never give anything because it always ends up in the pockets of the elite over there). Your just as bias as the people you accuse to be bias. Next time look in a mirror.

Anyway im pretty sure you could not figure out where i am from just from my language either. But on this forum is enough info about me to know that i am Dutch.

[JurgenG]

Radioactive clouds travel very far and are now reaching continental Europe. Fortunately for us, winds are blowing in the "right" direction and they are travelling through North America, nothing to worry for us In Thailand so far.

Regarding what Americans know, or do not know, Newsweek publishes interesting statistics this week : http://www.newsweek....umb-are-we.html

Edited March 28, 2011 by JurgenG

[mstribling]

Typical media drivel.

Asking Americans civic questions is like asking Italians about Denmark.

But ask a Texan about Texas and you would be surprised.

Seems nobody quite gets how huge and diverse America is.

If were so dumb, why are we so rich?

Edited March 28, 2011 by mstribling

[neverdie]

In 2003 they conducted a survey in New York asking people to point out on a map of the world where Iraq was and only one person out of a hundred could pick it out.

As an immigrant who have lived in the UK, Canada and USA, I can tell you based on personal experience that, Canadians and Americans are more ignorant about the world than Thais.

I had an interesting chat with a Thai man yesterday. He asked me if we used the Euro as a currency in Australia. I explained that we had our own Australian Dollar. His next question to me was how many Australian dollars did I need to buy a baht .......I just knew it was going to be a long afternoon.