Why Thailand’s Sexpat Community Hates Thaksin

[Nisa]

Thaivisa syndicates many different types of articles, mostly a selection of mainstream media articles, but from time to time we also publish opinion articles and blogs from less mainstream media in the mix.

We do this to make the news selection less boring and more wide, especially in election times like now.

Sometimes we syndicate articles critizicing Thaivisa for our members to discuss. So long as the articles are not in violation of Thai laws, of course.

This article is but one example.

hi George

i thought you were Dan for a while

it has your mark all over it after the April fool success

its certainly proved to be as controversial............

The exact same thoughts came to my mind when I first glanced at the article. I expected to follow the link to some kind of faux news site.

[canuckamuck]

The writer simply failed to connect the dots to support his headline.

The headline should have been, "Dan Waites assumes, but can't offer any proof, that sexpats hate Thaksin", or "Dan Waites proves blogging is not journalism".

Or maybe even, "How random inconclusive statistics can be mangled to fit an opinion".

[dunkin2012]

An incompetent article by an incompetent writer. All expats are sex deviates and here for only one thing.....insipid beyond belief. Go back to where you left Dan and dig a hole.....and do your research rather than putting all your apples in one barrel.

A lot of what he says is very true! you only have to read the pattaya mail or the bangkok post. In the SIXTH paragraph he makes the distinction of an Ex pat and a Sex Pat! and as for Thaksin, I believe it was him that started the thirty baht hospital plan for the poor folks, he also gave a buffalo to every farmer, a hundred thousand baht to every village. AND he was elected by the majority of the Thai people!

additional info. for ya.

1.Placed the anti-drug war which killed thousands of innocent farmers plus one old fridge got hit.

2.Tax avoidance,Temasex from Singapore

3. Dishonestly purchased piece of land in Ratchada (now on the run) cos' this charge.

4. Killed 80 + in southern riot

5. Attempted to buy judges

6. Swap benefits between the Aussie for Free trade agreement and the use of his Sat. in Australian Regional areas

many more please do some research then.

[Ulysses G.]

Read it again: he didn't say most foreigners living in Thailand are sexpats. He said most sexpats living in Thailand hate Thaksin.

The kind of drunken,sexpat, loser that he describes would not know or care who Thaksin is.

Edited May 20, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Nisa]

Read it again: he didn't say most foreigners living in Thailand are sexpats. He said most sexpats living in Thailand hate Thaksin.

The kind of drunken,sexpat, loser that he describes would not know or care who Thaksin is.

LOL - I thought the same thing after reading the article in terms of somebody thinking, "I despise Thaksin because he may make it harder to get my sex on."

I really don't want to read through the article again but what I got from it was the only coloration between Thaksin and having an impact on sexpats was that Thaksin came down on bars staying open late... without the proper permit.

[dunkin2012]

Thaivisa syndicates many different types of articles, mostly a selection of mainstream media articles, but from time to time we also publish opinion articles and blogs from less mainstream media in the mix.

We do this to make the news selection less boring and more wide, especially in election times like now.

Sometimes we syndicate articles critizicing Thaivisa for our members to discuss. So long as the articles are not in violation of Thai laws, of course.

This article is but one example.

hi George

i thought you were Dan for a while

it has your mark all over it after the April fool success

its certainly proved to be as controversial............

that's why?.....

cos' many of us don't like Politics.

Since last week you put too many election related topics. Dunno know much how to participate.....

Sure you got slightly lower hits on the counter. election is Boring..!!!!!!!!!!!

[FOODLOVER]

An incompetent article by an incompetent writer. All expats are sex deviates and here for only one thing.....insipid beyond belief. Go back to where you left Dan and dig a hole.....and do your research rather than putting all your apples in one barrel.

A lot of what he says is very true! you only have to read the pattaya mail or the bangkok post. In the SIXTH paragraph he makes the distinction of an Ex pat and a Sex Pat! and as for Thaksin, I believe it was him that started the thirty baht hospital plan for the poor folks, he also gave a buffalo to every farmer, a hundred thousand baht to every village. AND he was elected by the majority of the Thai people!

additional info. for ya.

1.Placed the anti-drug war which killed thousands of innocent farmers plus one old fridge got hit.

2.Tax avoidance,Temasex from Singapore

3. Dishonestly purchased piece of land in Ratchada (now on the run) cos' this charge.

4. Killed 80 + in southern riot

5. Attempted to buy judges

6. Swap benefits between the Aussie for Free trade agreement and the use of his Sat. in Australian Regional areas

many more please do some research then.

Thaksin to be Indicted in the Internatioanl Criminal Court, the

Hague

( Last edit 2010-06-12 )

There have been plenty of rumours of Panthongtae Shinawatra

being addicted to drugs. Some classmates, spoiled children

from rich families, in Triam-Udomsuksa were addicted to methamphetamine. Unlike his sisters, Panthongtae has

always been the dropout in colleges. He failed in Thammasat

evening undergraduate course in computer science in 2000.

At an open university, Ramkamhaeng political science faculty,

he was found cheating in an exam in a subject on history.

Most of widely available and cheap drugs on black markets

in Thailand are euphoric stimulants: amphetamine, ecstasy

or ice. To the lesser extent, opiate group is also not too difficult

to buy: morphine, dextromorphine, and codeine. The golden

triangle between Myanmar, Thai, Laos harbor all sorts of

drugs mini-factories. Illicit trades fund the minority armed

struggles in Myanmar against the military dictator regime.

Amphetamine tablets, despite of being illegal, have been

so abundant even in some petrol gas stations, because of

secretive collaboration with local corrupt polices.

Having a son being a drug addict, Thaksin certainly abhors

drug traffickers. He officially announced the iron fist policy

on drug trafficking, setting up blacklists of thousands of

suspects and ordered provincial governors and the police

to effectively decrease the numbers within three months

of 2003.

Thaksin, PM then, set the goal for the police for monthly

10 per cent, 25 per cent 30 per cent reduction of the suspects

on the lists. Circulating letters to provincial governors

instructed officers of three methods to reduce the number

of suspects by: getting medical treatment as drug addicted

patients; report themselves to the police; or police could

shoot them on-spot. Thaksin also made official letters insisting

people on the lists to personally report to the police.

Immediately, after such personal visit to local police stations,

on the vehicles back home many of them were fatally

ambushed with suspicious traces of drugs planted in their

vehicles.

During the 3 months of Thaksin's "War On Drugs" the

murder statistic doubled. From February to April of 2003,

there were 2,559 murders whereas approximately 1,400

murder cases were present in the equivalent periods of the

previous two years, and of the two years after the harsh policy.

There was no attempt by local polices to investigate into those

thousands of so-called "Cut-Off Link" murders. Police blames

that the murders were among drug traffickers. For obvious

police's involvement in the extra-judiciary killing, over a

hundred cases of on-site police's shoot to kill, including some

obvious innocent victims such as a toddler and children were

lifted from indictment by state prosecutors. Unlike, cheap

loans to the poor and reform of health care, Thaksin rarely

brags about this successful iron fist policy on drugs as well

as the massacre of over 80 civilian Muslims in the south of

Thailand.

The investigation into such unaccountable deaths was possibly

opened up only after the coup to topple Thaksin, during the

interim government of PM Surayudth Julanond in 2006. It

was silenced again in Thaksin's proxies, PM Samak's and

Somchai's terms.

It is obvious that Thaksin Shinawatra, during his PM term

had committed Crimes Against Humanities with his initiative

to illegally eradicate drug traffickers, while the genocidal

massacre against Muslims was also executed. His policy

resulted in significantly brutal and widespread murders of

people who were only at the worst, just suspected criminals.

They were supposed to be put on fair trials. Instead, thousands

of civilians, presumably innocent were systematic attacked

against, under Thaksin's policy driven, in organized and stepwise manners.

Chuan Leekpai, PM in 1999 signed the Rome Statute of the

International Criminal Court to engage Thailand in international anti-crimes against humanities. Later, Thaksin PM then during

his term, refrained from ratification of the treaty. The present

PM Abhisit is refreshing the investigation of the unaccountable

deaths during Thaksin's terms and considering to file the case

convicting the fugitive international terrorist Thaksin Shinawatra

to the International Criminal Court, at the Hague, Netherlands.

COMMENT: Perhaps now his attorneys can argue these

crimes are 'politically motivated' by Thaksin's enemies in

World Court. His punishment would be death or life

imprisonment. NOTED: NOT IN THAILAND. A fitting

end to the international terrorist.

What happened to" just say no"?

Edited May 20, 2011 by FOODLOVER

[dunkin2012]

An incompetent article by an incompetent writer. All expats are sex deviates and here for only one thing.....insipid beyond belief. Go back to where you left Dan and dig a hole.....and do your research rather than putting all your apples in one barrel.

A lot of what he says is very true! you only have to read the pattaya mail or the bangkok post. In the SIXTH paragraph he makes the distinction of an Ex pat and a Sex Pat! and as for Thaksin, I believe it was him that started the thirty baht hospital plan for the poor folks, he also gave a buffalo to every farmer, a hundred thousand baht to every village. AND he was elected by the majority of the Thai people!

additional info. for ya.

1.Placed the anti-drug war which killed thousands of innocent farmers plus one old fridge got hit.

2.Tax avoidance,Temasex from Singapore

3. Dishonestly purchased piece of land in Ratchada (now on the run) cos' this charge.

4. Killed 80 + in southern riot

5. Attempted to buy judges

6. Swap benefits between the Aussie for Free trade agreement and the use of his Sat. in Australian Regional areas

many more please do some research then.

Thaksin to be Indicted in the Internatioanl Criminal Court, the

Hague

( Last edit 2010-06-12 )

There have been plenty of rumours of Panthongtae Shinawatra

What happened to" just say no"?

cos' his son IS/was a junkie?....... so he made the anti-drug war on the innocents.

dub him again "UNFORGIVEN".

[FOODLOVER]

Thai people really want this man to run their country, even the great scholar Waites approves?

[trisailer]

If anyone wonders why the Thai's think we're a bunch of idiots all they have to do is take a look at this debate.

[FOODLOVER]

If anyone wonders why the Thai's think we're a bunch of idiots all they have to do is take a look at this debate.

works both ways

[animatic]

TVF Expats in large percentage hate Thaksin -

Some Expats are Sexpats in unknown percentage,

but assuming most are sexpats -

Therefor Sexpats hate Thaksin,

and explains why TVF members hate Thaksin -

Expats who hate Thaksin do so because

he closed down their sexpat fun....

What other explanation can there be... < insert

multiple sarcasm and irony smilies here.

It is a patently false generalization argument that doesn't connect the dots.

Edited May 20, 2011 by animatic

[jayboy]

The whole piece sounds like an autobiography to me.

Actually the whole article is meaningless. Its written by a blogger, not a journalist per se. At least not a journalist people are queueing up to read. Writing for Asia Correspondent I'm afraid is an occuptation which is getting a bit like an expat in similar occupations to those the author describes. Asian Correspondent used to get quite good reviews, even the Guardian liked it. But they gave it a good review without really watching it for a while. Its now populated by a lot of wannabe journalists. expounding on their personal views I don'r know any ex foreign correspondent falling in line to write there. I do not believe Bangkok Pundit is the guru some people imagine.

The fact that here may be certain characters as the 'author' describes actually has nothing to do with whether foreigners like Thaksin or not. Generally foreigners take a western stance rather than an Asian one. Asians forgive corruption much more readily. And as we saw most Thais actually supported Thaksin's drugs war , in which most victims were innocent.

Foreigners who support and understand one side of the Thai perspective will support Thaksin. Foreigners who stick rigidly to their established code that a murderer is a murderer, a thief is a thief and must be treated as one etc will not. Its got nothing at all to do whether they go to girlie bars or not or Purachai establishing a curfew. Nobody in any city in the world wants a midnight curfew nowadays. It was inane and boring but he threw in a couple of things to get some hits.

Mmm.Up to a point Lord Copper.I'm not sure there's much difference these days between an ex tabloid stringer and a blogger.

Incidentally many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war.I don't.I do dispute your simplistic analysis of how foreigners think.You are right however to kick the absurd Purachai connection into touch.

Who said anything about Bangkok Pundit being a guru? Still it's an indispensable reference point as most "proper" foreign correspondents would unanimously agree.But with respect it's not really your area is it? Last time I checked you were writing about a UK Thai wiggling her bottom, where Fergie hung out during the royal wedding, UK criminals in Pattaya etc etc.Nothing wrong with that of course but Shawn Crispin it sure ain't.

[thaihome]

The article is just one more salvo in a long term propaganda campaign waged by the likes of Andrew Spooner and Waites, among others, particularly on Asia Correspondent, to promote the UDD as some sort of liberal reformist organization promoting democracy.

With this article they have targeted the members of TV, as TV is one of the few forums where the UDD apologist brigade have made little headway in silencing any rational discussion and debate on the UDD and its true nature. Because the moderators here do not tolerate personal attacks and insults or irrational rants which are the usual tactics of the UDD apologists, they cannot keep the true facts about the UDD from coming out again and again.

The discussion here is meaningless to them, as they have made their point, despite the fallacious disclaimer about stereotypes at the start of the article, the usual TV member is a sexpat still angry at Thaksin for the social order campaign he supported.

TH

[geriatrickid]

A most amusing thread and one where a large number of comments are what one one would expect based upon ThaivVisa's annual survey.

The TV survey showed members were heavily skewed to the single, male age 40-65, marginal income UK/North American demographic.

I don't think it's any big secret that these type of people are usually grumpy, miserable <snip> that hate anything and anyone that upsets their view of things. I am willing to wager that the majority of respondents most vocal in their "hatred" of Thaksin fall into this demographic. A successful entrepreneur, a happy retiree, a young person or anyone engaged in life doesn't have time for hate. Hating people is a waste of energy. Who has time for hate when there is a beach to walk, a national park to visit, a bit of fun with the kids or a romantic walk with the significant other? One can dislike Thaksin and all that he represents without it becoming a defining characteristic as it seems to be for some.

Edited May 20, 2011 by soundman
Removed un-necessary profanity.

[Thaddeus]

It was a well written article. Most of you couldn't dream about writing anything to that standard.

Choices, choices, choices..... which smiley to use, could be this one or this one certainly not this one :jap:

[TAWP]

one thing they forget of course is that Mr Abhisit's government have had 4 1/2 years to roll back Thaksin's legislation on booze bans, early closing of bars and nightclubs and the restrictions on karaoke bars and 'entertanment venues' ' but have chosen not to do so. Maybe Thasin was speaking for wider Thai society after all?!?!

4 1/2 years? A red apologist being liberal with the facts again, how unusual.

OMG.. Was that personal attack to Millwall really warranted? Surely you understood what he was saying? Why do you make this your debating tactic?

The point he made, without getting overly exact-science about it, was: The stricter controls on night-life that started under Thaksin/Purachai are still very much in effect. Under the military government, the PPP government in between, and now the Democrat led government there has been no significant change. Closing hours are still enforced, entertainment areas go dark at set times, and we still have the somewhat humorous liquor selling laws whereby people have to plan their 2pm-5pm binge a little in advance, because you can't actually buy alcohol during those hours, unless of course you buy really a lot. In addition, we see an extension of the liquor crackdown by the banning of advertising and showing beer and alcohol signage at bars, to the point that restaurants are taping up ash trays and other bar items that had a logo of some beer company on it.

He is saying that this trend towards nannying over people, whether you agree with it or not, was not a sole trademark of the Thaksin administration, but that it very much continues to this day, and has continued under pretty much any conceivable government be it TRT, PPP, MIlitary or Democrat.

PLEASE be civil!! Don't hate, debate!

Yes, facts are the Red sides weak point.

But thanks for pointing out that any expats dislike of TTT/PT most likely isn't routed in the closing hours etc, as this hasn't been altered under the recent rule by the Democrats and others in coalition.

If only everyone understood this...then Dan wouldn't have written his nonsense post at all.

[webfact]

UPDATE

Examining expat perceptions of Thai politics and the red shirts

By James Goyder

This article is written partly as a response to one published byDan Waites on Asia Provocateur entitled Why Thailand’s sexpat community hates Thaksin Shinawatra.

In his article Dan cites a statistic suggesting that 73.3% of Thai Visa (an internet forum popular with the expat community) members believe Thaksin should not be forgiven and allowed to return to Thailand. He suggests that the reason so many expats are opposed to Thaksin is his penchant for puritanical policies which could potentially threaten a lifestyle revolving around cheap sex and cheaper beer.

I suspect that the real reason the international community in Thailand has such a poor perception of Thaksin is a little less simplistic. There is a geographical element to take into consideration, support for Thaksin amongst Thai people is strongest in the north whereas the majority of foreigners are located in Bangkok and below. But I believe the difference in attitude between the indigenous population of Thailand and its expat community is more about moral perception.

Thaksin is corrupt, a point which was proven in a Thai court of law in 2008 and one that, in private at least, even his most staunch supporters would probably concede. In the West we have exacting standards of politicians and expect them to be squeaky clean, when we find out they are not there is usually hell to pay. In the East the same rules do not necessarily apply. While for a Westerner the all important question is probably ‘is Thaksin corrupt?’ in Thailand, for at least a certain demographic of the population, it is more likely to be ‘does it matter?’

I spoke to one expat recently who had made a home for himself in rural Isaan, right out on the Cambodian border. He spoke fluent Thai, passable Khmer, and was a staunch supporter of Thaksin for the following reasons,

“He’s the best thing that happened to this country. The current guy isn’t even Thai, he was born in England. Yes Thakisn was on the take but then so is everyone else. The only difference is that Thaksin took billions.” [more...]

Full article: http://asiancorrespondent.com/55175/examining-ex-pat-perceptions-of-thai-politics-and-the-red-shirt-movement/

-- asiancorrespondent.com 2011-05-20

[rixalex]

Incidentally many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war.I don't.

Not sure where you have got this impression from.

The view that i believe is most commonly held, by those against the Thaksin regime, when having the argument made to them (usually by Thaksin supporters) that the fact that most Thai people were either in support of the so called drugs war - or if not in support, certainly not vocal in disapproval - makes the decision that Thaksin made, to allow innocent people to be shot and killed by the state, without the bother of trials, somehow less abhorrent, somehow not so bad, somehow acceptable. It does not.

For a start, the Thai public opinion on it was to a large degree shaped by the way in which it was presented to them by the government at the time, and we all now know how accurate that presentation was. Had the government told the people that they were going to kill thousands of people without trial, and that sadly a good number of those people would later be shown to have nothing to do with the drugs trade, whilst others would be killed simply to shift the balance of power in the underworld or killed to settle personal vendettas, would the Thai public have still been so happy with it all? I doubt it.

Either way, it really doesn't make a jot of difference what the public opinion is. Governments and leaders have the responsibility of making the right decisions, and when they make the wrong ones, they can't simply say well "yeah, sorry folks about that, but you did after all agree with us at the time, didn't you, so let's just all share the blame.... and then let's all forgive ourselves... and then forget about it all. No point dwelling eh. What's done is done. Oh, and by the way, all of the good decisions i made, that's all me - don't start thinking that just because you agreed with it that you can share the credit".

Anyway, back to your statement that "many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war". Perhaps you could be more specific about where this opinion was coming from, because it's not one i'm that familiar with.

[norwayeagle]

350 mostly defensive replies in less than a day. The writer will soon have enough additional research data for a follow-up article where he establishes a psychological profile that validates his original story.

Hehe Guess your right !

[jayboy]

Anyway, back to your statement that "many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war". Perhaps you could be more specific about where this opinion was coming from, because it's not one i'm that familiar with.

Yes I could certainly name two or three of the obsessive Thaksins haters who have commented as I reported.I'm not going to name them openly for obvious reasons.

I completely agree with you that it doesn't affect the immorality and wickedness of the drugs war no matter whether most Thais approved of it or not.

[rixalex]

I read your earlier post and thought it hit the nail on the head.

Why do you assume though, that because people get angry about a point of view, that must mean that it has hit a nerve, that there is some truth to it and that it must be insulting them personally?

Do you find yourself only ever angry about a point of view when it accurately and personally insults you? If so, fine, that's you, but don't assume everyone's emotions work in the same way.

I never get angry over an exchange in an anonymous internet forum.None of it is important enough.

On reflection, perhaps angry was the wrong word. You are right. None of what is written here, is really worth that emotion. Impassioned is probably more accurate. And don't tell me you have never been impassioned when responding here. You have. So, going back to my original question, slightly rephrased, why assume that simply because people are impassioned about an opinion written, that therefore must mean that there was truth in that opinion and that truth personally insulted them? Do you think it is impossible to be so moved unless someone has hit your nerve; has struck on some embarrassing truth about you?

[dunkin2012]

Anyway, back to your statement that "many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war". Perhaps you could be more specific about where this opinion was coming from, because it's not one i'm that familiar with.

Yes I could certainly name two or three of the obsessive Thaksins haters who have commented as I reported.I'm not going to name them openly for obvious reasons.

I completely agree with you that it doesn't affect the immorality and wickedness of the drugs war no matter whether most Thais approved of it or not.

they do.................

when Thaksin was in Power.......... but they realized that it was wrong cos' Thaksin distorted the truth....

Given the controlled media to expose things which are opposite the truth. " the innocents are Drug Dealers"?

this ain't the truth.

[rixalex]

Anyway, back to your statement that "many of the Thaksin haters on this forum would dispute your claim most Thais supported the drugs war". Perhaps you could be more specific about where this opinion was coming from, because it's not one i'm that familiar with.

Yes I could certainly name two or three of the obsessive Thaksins haters who have commented as I reported.I'm not going to name them openly for obvious reasons.

I completely agree with you that it doesn't affect the immorality and wickedness of the drugs war no matter whether most Thais approved of it or not.

I see.

So many = two or three.

[animatic]

It was a well written article. Most of you couldn't dream about writing anything to that standard.

Choices, choices, choices..... which smiley to use, could be this one or this one certainly not this one :jap:

comes to mind, like, and gives an indication how fast to off the whole thing

[dunkin2012]

once upon a time, Thaksin was almost like God.

until they found out that he stole heaps of money from Thailand.

ask these people run the forum!!!!!!

my post would be deleted right away, if we were in that period of time.

Edited May 20, 2011 by dunkin2012

[Arkady]

Look into the mirror Dan. You seem to have described yourself pretty accurately. Take a look at your website: articles lacking in depth or notable insight that get published as filler in Thailand Business Report, Asian Correspondent, Siam Voices etc. Hook yourself up to the polygraph. Could you really make it as a journalist in your home country? Are you quite sure you have never drunk yourself stupid and bonked a Thai prostitute? Can you feel your eyeballs swivelling?

There is no analysis in your article of who the expats actually are in Thailand or what they really do. Praise is heaped on Purachai's alleged initiative under Thaksin to make it harder for supposedly unqualified farang expats to live and work in Thailand (which incidentally appears to include you, Dan) with no mention of the fact that Purachai's initiatives caused much more damage to Asian expats in Thailand than farangs. For example, he blocked all the applications for PR and citizenship, over 90% of which were from Asians. That seems more like plain old racism to me, Dan, from the so called "Mr Ruler" who managed to scrimp and save enough from his measly salary as a straight-as-a-die police officer, academic and interior minister to pay for several overseas educations for his brood of little rulers and buy landed property in New Zealand (not mention obtaining PR there). Oh and you forgot to mention that a lot of well educated Thai people also hate your hero, Thaksin. I wonder why that is. Do you know?

[samurai]

Just let me clue you in Mr.Dan Waites.

This sort of stereo typing is ugly demeaning insulting and completely false.

Yes there are a handful like this but not as many as you would want us to believe in your stupid story.

Most of my friends are ex-military, or retired form a successful career in the petroleum business. And worked here for contractors servicing Union Oil Thailand.

We stayed for various reasons. For one our retirement pay would not go very far in our home countries. Second some of us are sic of the politics, over regulation and ignorant liberalism that allow black men to call a white man honky, a Muslim to call us filthy infidels, a mexican to call us white trash. But let one of us call one a negro, a terrorist or a wetback and we go to JAIL and get fined for discrimination. They can burn our flags but we cant burn theirs, they can burn a bible but we can not burn a koran. Just like the spell check in Microsoft bible can be in lower case but koran must be upper case. Stupid liberal crap

Regulation yea the Department of Energy demands and will fine and jail you if you do not install a toilet that saves water and the dang thing does NOT WORK. And this is in more than one country. You must have a % of mexican negro or others in your business if you employ more that 25 people. And if you run a business of call center help, answering service or the like YOU MUST HAVE SPANISH, or they shutdown your business and fine you.

...

Is that for real or irony?

[Canexpat]

I agree with many points in this article. I have only been in Thailand just over one year and have found that the stereotypical sexpat moniker applies to the vast majority of expats I have met in Pattaya and Phuket (I have no desire to ever return to either of these places), but not the ones I have met in Udon Thani, Kabin Buri or Hua Hin.

I have no complaints against all the negative replies to this article. They are no different from the majority of replies to any given news article I read in my home country, other than the fact that those who chose to reply to specific negative posters cannot say, "If you don't like it and choose to complain, why don't you go back to your own country."

A couple of points I would like to touch upon though that I have not seen mentioned yet. While travelling through Thailand, while in the company of thai people, virtually everytime I bring the topic around to prostitution and mention how ashamed I am to see the sexpats practicing their vices in places like Pattaya, Patong and Bangkok, I am assured that the majority of prostitution that occurs in Thailand is between thai men and women. On the occassions I have brought up the topic I have been told that less than 10% of the prostitution that occurs in Thailand focusses on foreigners ( I do not know how they come up with that %figure, but I have heard the same statistic mentioned at least 3 times), and have even been driven through the shanty towns in the countrysides by my guides where thai for thai prostitution occurs, to prove their point.

One other statistic I think worth mentioning is that while I agree with the author (because it has been my experience also), that the vast majority of expat business owners I have met really do hate Thaksin, so do the vast majority of thai business owners that I have met. Out of all the thai business men and women I have had the pleasure of golfing or dining with, I have only met one who was a vocal supporter of the red-shirts. The rhetoric that the thai people I have met who dislike the red-shirts and their leader almost always mirrors that which the expat business community uses, and I doubt very much that the rhetoric thais themselves use when voicing their dislike comes from listening to farang or reading english media. I have also found that most educated thai people I have met in the business community, do not blame foreigners for the erosion of thai culture or its rampant corruption, and tell me it precedes the influx of foreigners to their country.

[LomSak27]

Is that for real or irony?

I would say irony but .... you never know. That said, he's pulling a red card and talking about mesikins. Real mericans don't do red cards.