The fact is that there are Thais of many different religious persuasions here; Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, and so forth. They all respect and tolerate each other. It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand. They are everywhere and in large numbers and in your face and aggressive.

lannarebirth re "You don't know about Buddhist hell, huh? Ever been to Wat Rong Khun?"

Is that the Wat in Phayao? I've got photos if anyone cares to see them. I was surprised when I saw it.

"They are everywhere in large numbers and in your face and aggressive." Huh? I know there are some, but they certainly are not "everywhere" nor "in large numbers" nor "aggressive." IMHO and experience that is In 8 years+ in Thailand I have had ONE pair of JW's at my door, they weren't aggressive and even left without accepting my invitation to come in and have a coffee with my BF and myself In both BKK and in Chiang Mai I have lived quite close to Mormon missions and they have never once bothered us.

The fact is that there are Thais of many different religious persuasions here; Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, and so forth. They all respect and tolerate each other. It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand. They are everywhere and in large numbers and in your face and aggressive.

lannarebirth re "You don't know about Buddhist hell, huh? Ever been to Wat Rong Khun?"

Is that the Wat in Phayao? I've got photos if anyone cares to see them. I was surprised when I saw it.

"They are everywhere in large numbers and in your face and aggressive." Huh? I know there are some, but they certainly are not "everywhere" nor "in large numbers" nor "aggressive." IMHO and experience that is In 8 years+ in Thailand I have had ONE pair of JW's at my door, they weren't aggressive and even left without accepting my invitation to come in and have a coffee with my BF and myself In both BKK and in Chiang Mai I have lived quite close to Mormon missions and they have never once bothered us.

I never said the Thai Jehova's Witnesses were aggressive or in my face. In fact they were VERY polite. You failed to include "It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand." in your quote of my post. If you are not aware that there are MANY here, try spending a couple of weeks in Sansai! Or spend a few days in Chiang Dao. That will change your mind.

If you mean that that these Thai signs are arrogant, I completely disagree. I see them as Thai signs, put up by Thai people, and deal with a religion which is very popular in Thailand. No, I am not a Christian, but I can see nothing wrong with this very small scale advertising

These signs are of no consequence because most people don't know what they mean and almost everyone couldn't care less.

What is amazing though is the incredible lengths that people will go to to try and get you to share their misery.

I'm truly surprised at the number of responses this topic is generating. What better way to spend a Sunday? As for who is putting up the signs, we don't know. My initial thought was that it was/is zealous imported missionaries. Until I find out otherwise, I'll stick with that opinion. I just don't see Thai Christians as being that in-your-face about religion, though I may have them pegged wrong. If that's their sales plan, I'm pretty sure I know where they learned that approach.

As for the signs' being "of no consequence because most people don't know what they mean and almost everyone couldn't care less," the signs are in Thai, and Thai people can read and understand Thai quite well. They've certainly heard of Phra Jesus and know a bit about Christianity...maybe not much at all, but enough to know that it's a major religion in the world, and just maybe some might feel driven to join the new religion--though perhaps not give up the old religion--just to be on the safe side. And, of course, up until today most of us farang didn't care about the signs. We have seen a bit of indignation expressed concerning the signs. Who knows how the Thais feel about them?

I, myself, being a Unitarian do indeed find some good in Christianity, just as there is good in every religion. No single religion has the corner on truth, though. I choose what fits for me, and reject what doesn't, and, as far as I can tell, it's working quite well.

Tally after the first period:

Christians 1 (for the cotton candy)

Buddhists 1 (for religious freedom)

Christians 2 (for climbing so high to put up the yellow signs)

Buddhists 2 (for not going door to door)

Thai Jews 0 (pending further evidence of their existence)

The fact is that there are Thais of many different religious persuasions here; Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, and so forth. They all respect and tolerate each other. It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand. They are everywhere and in large numbers and in your face and aggressive.

lannarebirth re "You don't know about Buddhist hell, huh? Ever been to Wat Rong Khun?"

Is that the Wat in Phayao? I've got photos if anyone cares to see them. I was surprised when I saw it.

"They are everywhere in large numbers and in your face and aggressive." Huh? I know there are some, but they certainly are not "everywhere" nor "in large numbers" nor "aggressive." IMHO and experience that is In 8 years+ in Thailand I have had ONE pair of JW's at my door, they weren't aggressive and even left without accepting my invitation to come in and have a coffee with my BF and myself In both BKK and in Chiang Mai I have lived quite close to Mormon missions and they have never once bothered us.

I never said the Thai Jehova's Witnesses were aggressive or in my face. In fact they were VERY polite. You failed to include "It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand." in your quote of my post. If you are not aware that there are MANY here, try spending a couple of weeks in Sansai! Or spend a few days in Chiang Dao. That will change your mind.

The JW's and the Mormons that I have met (and all but 2 that I have seen), have been farang. The part you wanted me to quote (that I find just a tish offensive) just isn't accurate, as they are NOT "everywhere" in my experience, nor have the missionaries I HAVE met been aggressive or in large numbers The fact that you had to pinpoint a couple of specific areas should show you that you are exaggerating.

I'll stick with the simple fact that this is Thailand and Thais are both by nature and by law, tolerant of other beliefs. You are correct about one thing, the intolerance I see does seem to come from farang

As for the signs' being "of no consequence because most people don't know what they mean and almost everyone couldn't care less," the signs are in Thai, and Thai people can read and understand Thai quite well. They've certainly heard of Phra Jesus and know a bit about Christianity...maybe not much at all, but enough to know that it's a major religion in the world, and just maybe some might feel driven to join the new religion--though perhaps not give up the old religion--just to be on the safe side. And, of course, up until today most of us farang didn't care about the signs. We have seen a bit of indignation expressed concerning the signs. Who knows how the Thais feel about them?

Yes, of course Thai's can read and many have heard of Jesus and Christianity (unfortunately).

However, I maintain that these signs are of little consequence, without all the vitriolic rhetorical garbage that gives them meaning.

I can't see how such ludicrous signs can cause someone to either give up a religion or join a new one. They are meaningless until someone with the skills of a vile and desperate used car salesman, is given enough time to scare the living daylights out of them.

Edited April 17, 201115 yr by uptheos

No matter your religious belief, or absence of:

"Until you have done something for humanity you should be ashamed to die." – Horace Mann

Edited April 17, 201115 yr by crusader79

These signs, all on metal boards and mounted about 3-5 meters off the road on poles and trees, are EVERYWHERE on side roads in Chiang Mai, Lampang, Chiang Rai, Phrae, Phayou.... It is my suspicion that they are installed by PSP satelight company because their own signs are ofen mounted too, under the Christian signs.

My feeling is no big deal, there are many Thai and hilltribe Christians that live here, and it gets there ideas some attention.

No harm is done to anyone or anything

I'd like to see Buddhist signs go up in NY or London or Berlin - on public poles! it's absurd and totally arrogant

If you mean that that these Thai signs are arrogant, I completely disagree. I see them as Thai signs, put up by Thai people, and deal with a religion which is very popular in Thailand. No, I am not a Christian, but I can see nothing wrong with this very small scale advertising

very small scale advertising! These signs are absolutley EVERYWHERE nailed up high on trees around the North of Thailand, it's just keeps suprising me the effort that has gone on over the years and the shear scale of it as I ride down a road in the middle of nowhere I spot another and another..

Have not noticed the PSP company signs though I will look out for them. I always wondered how they managed to install them so high up obviously to stop scrap metal collectors who could make a nice earner.

Has anyone ever seen these been mounted? Do they use a cherry picker or someone climbs up a rickety bamboo ladder?

I know I said they were everywhere, but your 'everywhere' makes it seem like they are EVERYWHERE. Of course they are not everywhere. I do a LOT of driving around, and I don't see that many of them. Besides, can you read them? I suspect not.

I actually started a thread on this a few years back. Got some quite amusing replies!

Evangelical Monkeys

Christians 2 (for climbing so high to put up the yellow signs)

Buddhists 2 (for not going door to door)

Thai Jews 0 (pending further evidence of their existence)

Love it......

Bring on the Lions.

There are "BNE was here" stickers literally everywhere in Chiang Mai.

Just for kicks I ask Thai People if they know what it means and they always shrug. They have them in Thai, Korean, English and probably some other languages.

Even though they are in front of their nose all the time most haven't even noticed the stickers. It might be the same gene that allows Thai's to be immune to noise

Edited April 17, 201115 yr by CobraSnakeNecktie

The fact is that there are Thais of many different religious persuasions here; Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, and so forth. They all respect and tolerate each other. It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand. They are everywhere and in large numbers and in your face and aggressive.

lannarebirth re "You don't know about Buddhist hell, huh? Ever been to Wat Rong Khun?"

Is that the Wat in Phayao? I've got photos if anyone cares to see them. I was surprised when I saw it.

"They are everywhere in large numbers and in your face and aggressive." Huh? I know there are some, but they certainly are not "everywhere" nor "in large numbers" nor "aggressive." IMHO and experience that is In 8 years+ in Thailand I have had ONE pair of JW's at my door, they weren't aggressive and even left without accepting my invitation to come in and have a coffee with my BF and myself In both BKK and in Chiang Mai I have lived quite close to Mormon missions and they have never once bothered us.

I never said the Thai Jehova's Witnesses were aggressive or in my face. In fact they were VERY polite. You failed to include "It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand." in your quote of my post. If you are not aware that there are MANY here, try spending a couple of weeks in Sansai! Or spend a few days in Chiang Dao. That will change your mind.

The JW's and the Mormons that I have met (and all but 2 that I have seen), have been farang. The part you wanted me to quote (that I find just a tish offensive) just isn't accurate, as they are NOT "everywhere" in my experience, nor have the missionaries I HAVE met been aggressive or in large numbers The fact that you had to pinpoint a couple of specific areas should show you that you are exaggerating.

I'll stick with the simple fact that this is Thailand and Thais are both by nature and by law, tolerant of other beliefs. You are correct about one thing, the intolerance I see does seem to come from farang

Wonder what the reaction here on TV would be if these signs were quoting the Koran in a similarly aggressive way ??

Wonder what the reaction here on TV would be if these signs were quoting the Koran in a similarly aggressive way ??

"aggressive" lol

The reaction would probably be the same. If you are intolerant to one religion ......

My guess is that the less tolerant posters would be more "aggressive" towards criticizing Christians than Muslims. It is more fashionable

> And, of course, up until today most of us farang didn't care about the signs.

I still don't care about them. These signs are all over the place, especially in rural / mountainous areas. The only thing I noticed is that they tend to be up REALLY high. High enough to make it very hard to remove them or edit them a little.

But.. whatever. Some Thai friends of mine are Christian. My kids go to a Christian school. We have an animist shrine in our garden. As long as it's all in moderation I couldn't care less.

My guess is that the less tolerant posters would be more "aggressive" towards criticizing Christians than Muslims. It is more fashionable

Having seen the posts about Islam on this forum, I would guess you are not correct

Strange that you would bring "fashionable" into it though

No matter your religious belief, or absence of:

"Until you have done something for humanity you should be ashamed to die." – Horace Mann

Actually - Thats a very good quote and may prove to be the best common sense on this post today!

Ayn Rand would disagree...

No matter your religious belief, or absence of:

"Until you have done something for humanity you should be ashamed to die." – Horace Mann

Actually - Thats a very good quote and may prove to be the best common sense on this post today!

If you mean that that these Thai signs are arrogant, I completely disagree. I see them as Thai signs, put up by Thai people, and deal with a religion which is very popular in Thailand. No, I am not a Christian, but I can see nothing wrong with this very small scale advertising

very small scale advertising! These signs are absolutley EVERYWHERE nailed up high on trees around the North of Thailand, it's just keeps suprising me the effort that has gone on over the years and the shear scale of it as I ride down a road in the middle of nowhere I spot another and another..

Have not noticed the PSP company signs though I will look out for them. I always wondered how they managed to install them so high up obviously to stop scrap metal collectors who could make a nice earner.

Has anyone ever seen these been mounted? Do they use a cherry picker or someone climbs up a rickety bamboo ladder?

I know I said they were everywhere, but your 'everywhere' makes it seem like they are EVERYWHERE. Of course they are not everywhere. I do a LOT of driving around, and I don't see that many of them. Besides, can you read them? I suspect not.

They are present in many out of the way roads you probably have never 'driven' down, of course they are not on every tree and road but the scale of the effort by whoever is putting them up in all of the Northern Provinces is what I mean by everywhere.

'Besides, can you read them? I suspect not' Yes.. and also have a laugh about them with my Lisu Lahu Akha and Hmong acquaintances,

Ayn Rand would disagree...

She died in 1982, I doubt she has an opinion

Just for my own research, was that a google, bing, or duckduckgo?

Much like Buddhism, a few generations from now she will be worshiped as a alive and almighty!

Ayn Rand would disagree...

She died in 1982, I doubt she has an opinion

Just for my own research, was that a google, bing, or duckduckgo?

Much like Buddhism, a few generations from now she will be worshiped as a alive and almighty!

Ayn Rand would disagree...

She died in 1982, I doubt she has an opinion

None of the above (She died my Sr year in H.S., easy to remember!) A friend had a coffee shop named Galt's in Denver etc etc etc

Fear, Fear, Fear

Its the same camp. Politicians, big business, major religious leaders - Fear this, Fear that and remain divided

Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Mormonism - they all stem from the same Male dominant over Female philsophy which equates to an unnatural imbalance which allows a few to control and dominate the many

The same people behind the extreme push for religion are also behind the extreme No Religion - they are placing people in an artificial box that says if you dont believe my story then dont believe anything

The ancients knew a great deal about our soul, relationship to the stars, sacred geometry, etc - that knowledge has been systematically removed from mass consumption and perverted and twisted in babylonian mystery schools

I've always thought that Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion as there is no 'God' to worship in the sense that most religions concentrate on. As an agnostic, I can truly say that if I were to be given a choice of 'religion' it would be Buddhism. No God to worship, just be nice to other people and you get a better life next time around. Perhaps I'm too naive in my thinking. The Jovies and Mormons are harmless enough, we should be thankful that the followers of L Ron Hubbard aren't making their presence felt here as they are in Bangkok.

Whenever I see something like this, whether ot be a sign, or a street preacher, or Karen nuns, I always think to myeslf what a lovely and tolerant society this is that I live in. When I read these kinds of comments and think about the kinds of people that must be making them, that view is reinforced with respect to Thai tolerance.

you're missing the point.... they take advantage of that tolerance in a way Buddhists do not - it's disrespectful

The fact is that there are Thais of many different religious persuasions here; Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Muslim, Mormon, Jehova's Witness, and so forth. They all respect and tolerate each other. It is the farang bible thumping morons that I can't stand. They are everywhere and in large numbers and in your face and aggressive.

lannarebirth re "You don't know about Buddhist hell, huh? Ever been to Wat Rong Khun?"

Is that the Wat in Phayao? I've got photos if anyone cares to see them. I was surprised when I saw it.

Hi, I would like to see them.

Ayn Rand would disagree...

No matter your religious belief, or absence of:

"Until you have done something for humanity you should be ashamed to die." – Horace Mann

Actually - Thats a very good quote and may prove to be the best common sense on this post today!

That woman should be dug up and shot. Perhaps that might be my contribution to humanity

The irony is that poor old Horace was eventually done in by religious (Christian) sectarianism.

Who are you guys to say what a person believes are not believes. They are not hurting anyone with their signs. If you don't like it don't look. And don't waste your time thinking about it and taking photos of it. What have you accomplished? Absolutely nothing.

I see signs all the time. There are all sorts of signs in society. Drinking signs, karaoke signs, and other types of signs that benefit society in no way what so ever. Feel free to protest about those signs too.

If you want to get away from Christianity, Chiang Mai is not the place for you. There are churches all over the city and they are not ran or supported by foreigners. They are Thai churches led by Thai people. You are the guest in this country. You should respect that.

However, if you don't like it, feel free to try to tell Thai people what to do. That will probably get you as far as me trying to tell people on ThaiVisa what to think.

Freedom of religion is a western concept. Perhaps Iran would be more appealing to you.

I've always thought that Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion as there is no 'God' to worship in the sense that most religions concentrate on. As an agnostic, I can truly say that if I were to be given a choice of 'religion' it would be Buddhism. No God to worship, just be nice to other people and you get a better life next time around. Perhaps I'm too naive in my thinking.

You might be interested to research what life under the lamas of Tibet was like. Emperor Hirohito's official ideology was Zen and he was regarded as 'a god'. His fascism was used to conquer and reduce the rest of Asia to subservience. What ideology does Than Shwe and his wicked cronies in Burma follow? Read the history of Sri Lanka and the statement "This island belongs to Sinhalese only and everybody else need to be eliminated." The prophesies of the soothsayer's of which ideology, swayed Lon Nol in Cambodia by telling him that his destiny was to wage war against the unbelievers in Vietnam?

Now back to road signs

Edited April 18, 201115 yr by uptheos

The signs were put up just around the time a car with a loudspeaker was driving around with the same message. There were also these newspaper-like pamphlets with a big picture of hell on the cover (not that appealing) being handed out. Apparently it's a localized Thai church that's doing it.

No matter how you feel about it, why get all upset and emotional about it? The fact is, we have to share this planet with people who have different beliefs and ideas. When they express those beliefs and ideas, why act like it's some violation of our rights?

you're missing the point.... they take advantage of that tolerance in a way Buddhists do not - it's disrespectful

Seen your avatar you look like a fanatic yourself.

ah a new member! with so many posts!!! you don't like my avatar?