From The Letters Page Bangkok Newspaper

[RedStain]

I saw this in the letters page , .........

White Faced refugees from Islam

Even now we can see it plating out on Europe's streets, the beginning of the conquest of non - Muslims. After 30 years of appeasement , accommodation and cultural abidication to foreign Muslim immigrants, Europe is rapidly evolving from a judeo - christian civilisation to a secular - Muslim transitional society on its way to Sharia by the end of this century. European governments encouraged Muslim immigration into Europe, discouraged assimilation, and fostered the dissemination in Europe of Islamic perspectives on history and contemporary politics . All for oil.

Now its too late, France, England and much of Scandinavia are already essentially Muslim states. After the Beslan child massacres and the bombings in London and Spain. it won't be much longer before migration of white Europeans becomes a mass exodus of those who can afford to leave.

Where will all these future white - faced refugees from Islam go ? most probably to the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. However ,many will doubtless find their way to faraway lands offering tolerance and freedom, places like the Dominican Republic and Thailand .

How will the Thai people react to an ever increasing number of Europeans in their midst ?. Will the Europeans be able to integrate into Thai society and culture or will they segregate themselves in housing estates ?What effect will their presence have on Thailand and on the European immigrants , themselves ?How will Thailand cope with this influx of white refugees and what are the long - term consequences for Asia and for Buddhism ?.How can those of European descent already living in Thailand and integrated avoid being caught up in any backlash that might develop from the swelling numbers of new arrivals ? .

What is he/she trying to say....?

...... Red

[cdnvic]

What is he/she trying to say....?

That he/she writes without doing research, and is prone to hyperbole?

cv

[taxexile]

that is actually a very interesting letter , and its a point of view (well the first bit anyway , the bit about thailand is just an extrapolation of the first bit) that has been discussed (whispered) for a while in europe.

its not too difficult to imagine that in 100 years time , given the rate of immigration and birth rate of muslim women and the benefit systems that support high birth rate minorities , that many cities in europe will have muslim majorities , along with muslim majorities will come muslim governments.

maybe this is just normal social evolution , once america was populated by indians , and spain used to be muslim.

but the fact is that christian europe is slowly and irreversibly changing , the events in paris over the last week and the way in which minorities these days react if they perceive they are not getting enough respect or rights does not bode well for the future though.

discussions along these lines are very difficult , especially in europe , because of the racist connotations of the subject matter and the sometimes extremely polarised views of the participants.

as far as the thailand angle goes , again its a valid question , as more and more whites come here to settle , will thais feel drowned by a tide of white immigration , and if so how will they react. racism here in thailand is certainly more openly expressed than back in europe.

[GuestHouse]

The sheer absurdity of it. Immigrants FROM the west discussing the 'negative' views of immigrants TO the west from the haven they themselves chose to bolt to.

And when they do consider the impact of their own immigration, they focus on how to avoid the backlash they see as inevitable.

I guess it never occurs to some people that the best way to avoid racism and xenophobia is not to contribute to it in the first place.

Edited November 7, 2005 by GuestHouse

[Guest endure]

Now its too late, France, England and much of Scandinavia are already essentially Muslim states.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At the last UK census (2001) 3.8% of the population professed to be Muslim. Hardly makes us 'essentially a Muslim state', does it?

[Boon Mee]

I wonder what the life-expectency of this thread is?

[britmaveric]

Pretty simple - if Western Nations are worried about muslim populations I'm quite certain they would impose quota(s) or outright bans for immigration purposes.

[COBBER]

I found this letter very interesting and it got me thinking. Essentialy its about intergration or perhaps more accurately the repercussions from a lack of intergration.

Coming from Australia, we had mass migration and IMO treated migrants fairly well, giving them equal oppertunities and accomodating their various cultures. Certainly Australian culture has changed , for the better in my view. Perhaps it could be argued that Australia, being a fairly new country did not have a strong traditional culture.

In contrast i see other countries viewing migrants as a cheap labour force and taking the attitude that if they wish to come to that particular country they should adopt the culture of their new country and in some cases actively surpressing the old cultures, not wanting to change the face of their own culture. In MO this is a recipe for dissaster and i am not surprised to see what is going on in the streets of Europe at present.

In relating this to Thailand, i cant see us becoming a cheap labour force,or rioting in the streets for equal rights. Personally i dont feel any great undertones of racism and ive allways been treated fairly in this country. Sure Thais allow us to stay in the country for their own economic gain. What country that takes in migrants doesnt. I cant see Thailand westernising quickly. I really dont think they want to. If you want to stay here you have to accept that. As far as Thais accepting westerers goes, i dont think they will ever fully understand our cultures, but will be happy to allow us to remain here as long as there is economic gain.

Edited November 7, 2005 by COBBER

[Guest endure]

I found this letter very interesting and it got me thinking. Essentialy its about intergration or perhaps more accurately the repercussions from a lack of intergration.

Coming from Australia, we had mass migration and IMO treated migrants fairly well, giving them equal oppertunities and accomodating their various cultures. Certainly Australian culture has changed , for the better in my view. Perhaps it could be argued that Australia, being a fairly new country did not have a strong traditional culture.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was an immigrant into Australia in 1959 (a ten quid kid). Admittedly I was quite young but I can remember a lot of moaning by the local Aussies about the fact that Italian immigrants were 'taking over' Melbourne. There was also the 'White Australia' policy. Has all that gone now? Genuine question - not a wind-uo.

[COBBER]

I found this letter very interesting and it got me thinking. Essentialy its about intergration or perhaps more accurately the repercussions from a lack of intergration.

Coming from Australia, we had mass migration and IMO treated migrants fairly well, giving them equal oppertunities and accomodating their various cultures. Certainly Australian culture has changed , for the better in my view. Perhaps it could be argued that Australia, being a fairly new country did not have a strong traditional culture.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was an immigrant into Australia in 1959 (a ten quid kid). Admittedly I was quite young but I can remember a lot of moaning by the local Aussies about the fact that Italian immigrants were 'taking over' Melbourne. There was also the 'White Australia' policy. Has all that gone now? Genuine question - not a wind-uo.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

White Australia policy went out in 1972. I think initially mass migration was a big cultue shock but certainly now the consensus would be that migration was beneficial both economically and culturally. The first waves of mainly Italian, Greek and Brits tended to live close to the hostels that they stayed in when they first arrived,but as they prospered and moved into the middle classes they dispersed all around the place. So you dont have so much now pockets of certain ethnic groups, and now you are seeing that same with the second wave of mainly Vietnamese and Chinese migrants who have prospered and are starting to disperse. In general i think migrants have assimilated fairly well.

[Kerryd]

One of the big differences between Thailand and many Western/European is the quotas on immigration.

From my understanding, Thailand limits applications for immigration to 100 per country, per year ! (approx 187 total countries in the world ? That would make a maximum of 18,700 immigrants per year, not including any accepted as refugees).

Compare this to Canada, that plans on accepting up to 300,000 immigrants per year !