How Much Of What People Write On Here Is Stuff They Learned/Experienced In Real Life

[farang000999]

My general feeling is that much of the knowledge espoused upon Thai Visa is not something that the user picked up living in Thailand based on his own personal real life experiences but rather just crap they read on the internet and now have now decided to repeat for the next generation of Thai Visa internet experts on all things Thailand. If everyone around here knows so much about Thailand why do I rarely read anything that I have not seen said a million times? The exception is some of the niche forums like farming where it is obvious people know what they are talking about. Seems like in real life most farang don't do a whole lotta communicating and interacting with the Thai population, yet on the internet they are a PHD expert rattling off a 10,000 word thesis analyzing the ups and downs of Thai culture and society.

[tailspin]

64.7%

[canuckamuck]

So are you looking for Thai Visa members to agree with you?

Why don't you start a poll?

Are you a loser

Yes

Maybe

No, I post in the farming thread

[MAJIC]

i can't see the purpose of your thread,but as another Poster has said why not start a poll,if its so important to you personally!

[Totster]

I would imagine that some information is recycled, however this being Thailand what is ones experience will not be anothers, especially when it comes to bureaucracy.

Due to this, accurate information on Thaivisa is only as good as the day it was written which is why there is a constant learning curve

totster

[McGarty]

Not everyone lives in Pattaya, BKK or other large cities. Many of us have also lived out in the sticks or often visit family out in the sticks. That tends to give us a different view of thai life to those who have never been out of the city. Some of us do have friends here and we talk and listen to each others experiences and learn from those or at least take note of the information for future use. Yes there is going to be a lot of bullsh*t about but better to be forewarned and then use your brain and your judgement in the future.

What % is crap? I would not like to hazard a guess but I take in the information and try to weed out the crap. Yet, this is Thailand and so many odd things do happen to people. We are at a disadvantage from not knowing the language too well and in many cases not having any recourse when things do go tits up. So that many of these stories may have basis in fact but be embelished like any good garden fence gossip can be.

[ludditeman]

I can see you learned to say "farang", probably the only Thai word you will ever know.

Did you learn it from the Internet or from a bar girl?

[phaethon]

I can see you learned to say "farang", probably the only Thai word you will ever know.

Did you learn it from the Internet or from a bar girl?

Internet, otherwise he'd spell it 'falang'.

[bkkjames]

If people (newbies) keep asking the same questions, chances are they will keep getting the same answers.

"Where can I find nutella in bangkok?"

Answer: in a grocery store

(unless the question is really about looking for some crazy palm reader)

[Beetlejuice]

Everything posters publish on here is true stories.

Only the names have been changed to protect the brain deads, the stupids and the painfully naive.

[Soutpeel]

If you dont like it...why dont you just leave....

[autan]

I will rise to your question. I live in England. My Wife is Half Thai, her Mother is full Thai. Her village is located between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, I have spent approximatly one year in Thailand accumulated over the past 10 years. I know around 80 Thai people personally mostly relations, from farmer to boss men. I know around 70 expats and around another 50 who visit thailand every year for a least 3 weeks a year since the 1980's.

The advice and opinions I give are my own or of those who I respect.

What more can I offer you.

[terryq]

" but rather just crap they read on the internet " from Farang000999

I'm amazed... there's crap on the internet ??

Surely if it's on the Interwebnetthingy then it must be true, next you will be claiming that Wikipedia is not guaranteed 100% accurate

[elgato]

"Seems like in real life most farang don't do a whole lotta communicating and interacting with the Thai population"

And just who do you suppose you're communicating and interacting with here?

[scorpio]

Everything posters publish on here is true stories.

Only the names have been changed to protect the brain deads, the stupids and the painfully naive.

NEGITIVE / NEGITIVE/ NEGITIVE !!! wise up and get a life beetle

[mahtin]

Since you use the word so much, it's NEGATIVE.

[slapout]

As the man said "to have the vast experiences you claim, you must be at least 120 years old". Then again, we all know the younger generation seek out/listen to their elders, just to get life experience advice, so they will not have to endure such a long flat learning curve.

[Misplaced]

I don't see why so many people became unhinged over what the poster asked. It's certainly a legitimate question.

Personally, I feel much of what is written on here are "exaggerated truth". It has some truth in the story line but embellished just to get attention. I highly doubt that so many farangs on this forum has as much problems in Thailand as he/she states. If it's so bad than they wouldn't be here absorbing the abused.

If you feel offended by this poster's thread than you must be one of the NUMBNUTS on here who continually post fictitious or exaggerated comments.

[smokie36]

The clue is in the OP's words. If you want some accurate answers look a little further than the general Forum. This is the home of the keyboard warriors....

[Ijustwannateach]

Though Thaivisa has a higher number of what I consider 'real' posters and members than many other Thai expat websites, I am afraid that the tolerance for 'reality' is still quite low. I tend to anonymise the stories I tell a bit (to keep them slightly different from what I might tell my friends verbally, for example) and I have a sense for how much 'reality' the membership here is really able to take. I avoid telling some of my best stories online for this reason. Many posters here are unwilling to believe that if some types of experiences don't usually happen to them, that they can happen to anyone at all. I ascribe this to the most general population here being unwilling/unable to adapt to speaking Thai and the types of persons that this condemns them to spend their time among; to persons who are here for reasons related to various social and emotional dysfunctions that don't get any better for them while they are isolated in a very foreign culture; and to projection- in which persons who are untrustworthy themselves will assume that this is the stance they should take towards any other unknown parties.

[SimonD]

Though Thaivisa has a higher number of what I consider 'real' posters and members than many other Thai expat websites, I am afraid that the tolerance for 'reality' is still quite low. I tend to anonymise the stories I tell a bit (to keep them slightly different from what I might tell my friends verbally, for example) and I have a sense for how much 'reality' the membership here is really able to take. I avoid telling some of my best stories online for this reason. Many posters here are unwilling to believe that if some types of experiences don't usually happen to them, that they can happen to anyone at all. I ascribe this to the most general population here being unwilling/unable to adapt to speaking Thai and the types of persons that this condemns them to spend their time among; to persons who are here for reasons related to various social and emotional dysfunctions that don't get any better for them while they are isolated in a very foreign culture; and to projection- in which persons who are untrustworthy themselves will assume that this is the stance they should take towards any other unknown parties.

I think I get the gist of what you are saying but the use of paragraphs would help. This forum is all about written communicatiuon after all.

@ OP:

I don't feel the need to justify anything I write about here. You can all take it or leave it as you see fit. The only thing I would say is that I have a far more profitable outlet for creative writing than can be found here, so what would be the point of bullsh_tt_ng? Believe it or not, do I care? Live here long enough and you can make anything seem real or unreal, if that is your persuasion.

At least the Thais haven't become that cynical yet. Don't think too mutt...:jap:

[thaimate]

I cant comment on other users on Thai visa but for myself after 22 years (living 6 years) having buisness and visiting sometimes every 2 months all i can say is that i use the site to get information i might need ,and when i post ,i post my experiances ,not some drival that i have read on the internet or the ramblings of some idiot that came here on holiday ,fell in love with a bargirl and got ripped off or some guy who sold everything got on a plane to come and live here,then went into buisness with the first smooth talking conman that offered to sell him his buisness and lost the lot . there are losers all over the world not just those that wash up on our shores.

[theblether]

By dint of your question......how would you know that any of the answers to your topic are truthful? Things can get a bit heated on here, and a bit surreal too, however it is fair to say that there is more " farang " experience of living in Thailand here than probably any other website in the world.

Thailand is a fascinating and infuriating place, sometimes heavenly and sometimes hellish. No one expects you to believe every word you read on here, but it would do you well to take the gist of the many people that post, including Thai nationals. So instead of attacking the messengers, just sift through the messages and take from it what you will.

ps and if you see the same thing posted a million times, maybe, just maybe, it's true???

[bkkjames]

Well I post a lot of crap on here for sure but when someone asks a question like "are spurs fans really that deluded" I must answer truthfully-yes.

I find that if you ask who, what, where and how questions, the answers are usually ok.

It's the why questions that feed the hungry and self-appointed experts.

[StreetCowboy]

Well I post a lot of crap on here for sure but when someone asks a question like "are spurs fans really that deluded" I must answer truthfully-yes.

I find that if you ask who, what, where and how questions, the answers are usually ok.

It's the why questions that feed the hungry and self-appointed experts.

Why do you say that, then?

SC

[Moonrakers]

I remember once reading a blog written by a guy that was mountain biking all over Thailand, he said one of the most bizarre things I have heard said about Thailand.

The particular comment was an observation he made about Isaan, which was along the lines of: "The people here shun modern amenities and luxury goods". Of course, the reality is much more likely to be that they have not shunned these things at all, they just don't have them. If they were given a large enough lump of cash, they'd be out buying houses, flat screen TV's and all that jazz pronto.

The thing is that this guy's somewhat naive observation would have become his reality and unless he has been shown otherwise, that is his 'experience' of the people in Isaan. I s'pose what I am trying to say is that people's experiences of Thailand will depend largely on their perception and not so much the actual reality.