Why Are There So Many Americans In Chiang Mai?

[happysanook]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

the thai and many other countries have this mentality far in excess compared to americans...

and compared to the snootiness and arrogance of europeans, we're an open, happy lot.

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[chops]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

[BookMan]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

Why limit yourself 'chops'? You could always start a topic 'USA vs Thailand quality of Life'. A good rant is always entertaining.

[zippydedodah]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

While i agree with you for the most part... it is interesting what some folks think determines "quality of life"... for some, it is Walmarts/Target type of shopping... McDonalds or KFC for dinner... being able to shoot a gun out of your car, or many other things that do NOT define a quality life for me.

As for vacation time.. compared to MANY other nations, USA is indeed short on the stick on that measure. Although after 10 yrs working for local govt., i had 3 weeks paid vacation and 3 weeks sick leave every year, and 15 PAID holidays on top of that. What i saw as part of the vacation problem was that many americans don't take their vacation..preferring to get paid out instead and then their work performance and family life suffers as a result of that.

HEalth care IS out of control, cost-wise... and depending on your access points, the quality might not even be very high.

The police state is frightening... my friend from USA, married to thai, living here happily married for 25 yrs had to move back to California for family reasons. He had never been stopped by police or had police at his home (in sansai) .. in the whole 25 yrs he was here.

Within the first 3 months of being back in USA... police were at his home 3 times - called by neighbors cuz they thought they heard "fighting". His wife answered the door and told them they were crazy, leave us alone, no fighting and go away... the guy has a loud voice, but he and his wife just don't fight... he yells during a hockey game and the police show up - called by the neighbors.

He got 4 moving violations in his first 3 months... too slow, too fast, improper lane change, etc...

I speak with him regularly...he can't wait for his kid to finish up school so he can return "home" to thailand...

I wonder how many current american residents of thailand "can't wait to get home" to America?

Edited March 3, 2012 by zippydedodah

[CMX]

Yes, I pity these folks who live in California and have to learn and follow traffic laws. But you know, four citations might indicate that your friend has not abandoned Thai driving habits???

[PlanetX]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

While i agree with you for the most part... it is interesting what some folks think determines "quality of life"... for some, it is Walmarts/Target type of shopping... McDonalds or KFC for dinner... being able to shoot a gun out of your car, or many other things that do NOT define a quality life for me.

As for vacation time.. compared to MANY other nations, USA is indeed short on the stick on that measure. Although after 10 yrs working for local govt., i had 3 weeks paid vacation and 3 weeks sick leave every year, and 15 PAID holidays on top of that. What i saw as part of the vacation problem was that many americans don't take their vacation..preferring to get paid out instead and then their work performance and family life suffers as a result of that.

HEalth care IS out of control, cost-wise... and depending on your access points, the quality might not even be very high.

The police state is frightening... my friend from USA, married to thai, living here happily married for 25 yrs had to move back to California for family reasons. He had never been stopped by police or had police at his home (in sansai) .. in the whole 25 yrs he was here.

Within the first 3 months of being back in USA... police were at his home 3 times - called by neighbors cuz they thought they heard "fighting". His wife answered the door and told them they were crazy, leave us alone, no fighting and go away... the guy has a loud voice, but he and his wife just don't fight... he yells during a hockey game and the police show up - called by the neighbors.

He got 4 moving violations in his first 3 months... too slow, too fast, improper lane change, etc...

I speak with him regularly...he can't wait for his kid to finish up school so he can return "home" to thailand...

I wonder how many current american residents of thailand "can't wait to get home" to America?

What do you really know about quality of life for Americans in America?

As with anywhere else, the culture and seemingly different ways of living your life are both unique to the individual and the community. Of course its going to seem different to you because you have an entirely different cultural lense that you view life through.

Hopefully, as you travel and become accustomed to differences in cultures and individuals, you will recognize your own cultural bias and the limitations of your own cultural lense in which you view others through and relax on the judgements and criticisms.

Edited March 3, 2012 by PlanetX

[happysanook]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

don't forget we also invented the vcr, trains, airplanes, personal computers, practical use of electricity ...and automobiles - to name just a few.

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Edited March 3, 2012 by happysanook

[CMX]

Above is either sytirical, I hope.

[Ulysses G.]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

[thaimiller]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

don't forget we also invented the vcr, trains, airplanes, personal computers, practical use of electricity ...and automobiles - to name just a few.

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End of chat.

[happysanook]

I've always hated that "best in the world" mentality. I think the US is ONE of the best, but it also helps that I can afford healthcare etc etc.

I don't believe there is a best place, just the best place for you.

Well, it produces lots of Nobel Prize winners. About the only thing about it that is "best".

Quality of life there is not good. Heath care is outrageously expensive. No vacation time. Police state is out of control. I could go on and on.

don't forget we also invented the vcr, trains, airplanes, personal computers, practical use of electricity ...and automobiles - to name just a few.

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End of chat.

and from england we have ummm... pubs.. and darwin...though einstein woulda whipped that boy at just about anything.

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[amexpat]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

Do you know about Snopes.com? Or just google "Al Gore invented the Internet" and it will direct you to Snopes or other sites that expose internet rumors, urban legends, and outright lies.

One site sums it up:

"Of course, he never really said that, but after a year of repetition from a brain-dead political media, amplified by late-night comics looking for punchlines about two pretty dull-seeming candidates in 2000, you'd be hard pressed to find a voter in November 2000 who didn't think Gore had really said that. It was one of a number of exaggerations and outright falsehoods that became running jokes about Gore in 2000, that he'd claimed cleaning up Love Canal, etc."

But that won't stop you, will it?

[Fookhaht]

Yanks don't tip that's why in the states they add on 15%.

Rubbish.

Europeans were adding 10-15% "service charges" at hotels and restaurants 30 years before we ever heard of this in the states. I remember the shock of visiting Europe in the 60's and 70's, trying to figure out what a "service charge" was, and then finding out that they were "charging" the tip.

In the USA, we've always given a tip because we appreciated the service, not because our "appreciation" was demanded on the bill--sometimes presented to a dissatisfied patron who could do nothing about it.

What a crappy system.

Edited March 4, 2012 by Fookhaht

[Fookhaht]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

Uh...thanks for the reminder.

[BookMan]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

Do you know about Snopes.com? Or just google "Al Gore invented the Internet" and it will direct you to Snopes or other sites that expose internet rumors, urban legends, and outright lies.

One site sums it up:

"Of course, he never really said that, but after a year of repetition from a brain-dead political media, amplified by late-night comics looking for punchlines about two pretty dull-seeming candidates in 2000, you'd be hard pressed to find a voter in November 2000 who didn't think Gore had really said that. It was one of a number of exaggerations and outright falsehoods that became running jokes about Gore in 2000, that he'd claimed cleaning up Love Canal, etc."

But that won't stop you, will it?

I thought UG was being humorous. Maybe i don't know some history here. Everybody knows Bill Gates invented the internet.

[Fookhaht]

I thought UG was being humorous. Maybe i don't know some history here. Everybody knows Bill Gates invented the internet.

[jackjones]

I got cheered up by an American over here. I was at the buffet lunch in the Empress and the Thai entertainer started to sing "When the saints come marching in." A large American suddenly recognised the tune and started clapping loudly over the song and looking around for others to join in. He then shouted quite loudly, " Yeah, God Bless America, best goddam country in the world." The memory of that still makes me smile.

[happysanook]

I got cheered up by an American over here. I was at the buffet lunch in the Empress and the Thai entertainer started to sing "When the saints come marching in." A large American suddenly recognised the tune and started clapping loudly over the song and looking around for others to join in. He then shouted quite loudly, " Yeah, God Bless America, best goddam country in the world." The memory of that still makes me smile.

dude straight out of a movie.. can picture it. surprised he even made it to thailand...

I remember coming back to LA and all the sour police wannabe TSA...one asking me why I was in thailand so long... asked him if he'd ever been there. his 'no' and face were something to the effect of 'why the f would I want to leave america and visit some trashy little asian country'

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Edited March 4, 2012 by happysanook

[Ulysses G.]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

Do you know about Snopes.com? Or just google "Al Gore invented the Internet" and it will direct you to Snopes or other sites that expose internet rumors, urban legends, and outright lies.

One site sums it up:

"Of course, he never really said that, but after a year of repetition from a brain-dead political media, amplified by late-night comics looking for punchlines about two pretty dull-seeming candidates in 2000, you'd be hard pressed to find a voter in November 2000 who didn't think Gore had really said that. It was one of a number of exaggerations and outright falsehoods that became running jokes about Gore in 2000, that he'd claimed cleaning up Love Canal, etc."

But that won't stop you, will it?

I thought UG was being humorous.

I guess that I should have added the smiley guy.

[BigBangkokTheory]

I think it's because USA is one of the more sexually repressed societies. I mean, if you were having hot sex with your lover in the USA, would you even give Thailand a second thought? Somehow you'd find a way to make the expensive living costs, nanny state laws, and whatever other shortcomings bearable.

Let's face it...if cheap sex or ease of relationships (the latter a euphemism for the former?) were not available in Thailand, if would be a veritable ghost town as far as USA farangs are concerned. It's just too far away and there are other cheap and warm locales in the western hemisphere.

I know CM is not Pattaya, but Pattaya is definitely not for everyone...too much in-your-face, certainly for me.

Anyone care to agree?

[nicksal37]

Oh dear,why has this topic caused so much interest? Most of the replies are total rubbish.There are good and bad people from all countries/colour and religions.i know many good Amaricans and some bad ones.I think it is time the Mods closed this boring topic down.

[elektrified]

I got cheered up by an American over here. I was at the buffet lunch in the Empress and the Thai entertainer started to sing "When the saints come marching in." A large American suddenly recognised the tune and started clapping loudly over the song and looking around for others to join in. He then shouted quite loudly, " Yeah, God Bless America, best goddam country in the world." The memory of that still makes me smile.

dude straight out of a movie.. can picture it. surprised he even made it to thailand...

I remember coming back to LA and all the sour police wannabe TSA...one asking me why I was in thailand so long... asked him if he'd ever been there. his 'no' and face were something to the effect of 'why the f would I want to leave america and visit some trashy little asian country'

Funny you should mention that. I remember on my first trip back to L.A. after I left the USA in 2002 I had to stop at JFK in N.Y. first and I had been living in Spain and the Czech Republic. The TSA dude that was searching me over and over and interrogating me asked me in his detective wannabe kind of way "What were you doing in Spain and all these other European countries all this time?" (with this suspicious look on his face). I asked him if he had ever been to any of the countries and he flat out told me that he had "never heard of some of them".

[amexpat]

I guess that I should have added the smiley guy.

OK, UG. But even with tongue in cheek it just serves to "churn" the b.s. - keep it alive for the fossil fuel barons and their climate change denier flock who want to discredit Gore. Serious stuff, really.

.

[Diablo Bob]

I guess that I should have added the smiley guy.

OK, UG. But even with tongue in cheek it just serves to "churn" the b.s. - keep it alive for the fossil fuel barons and their climate change denier flock who want to discredit Gore. Serious stuff, really.

.

OK, Let's throw that moronic statement out.

How about his statement in the debates about how he would have surounded Tora Bora to prevent Oasma Bin Laden to escape! Defend that one!

Edited March 4, 2012 by Diablo Bob

[heybruce]

I think it's because USA is one of the more sexually repressed societies. I mean, if you were having hot sex with your lover in the USA, would you even give Thailand a second thought? Somehow you'd find a way to make the expensive living costs, nanny state laws, and whatever other shortcomings bearable.

Let's face it...if cheap sex or ease of relationships (the latter a euphemism for the former?) were not available in Thailand, if would be a veritable ghost town as far as USA farangs are concerned. It's just too far away and there are other cheap and warm locales in the western hemisphere.

I know CM is not Pattaya, but Pattaya is definitely not for everyone...too much in-your-face, certainly for me.

Anyone care to agree?

So all of Thailands U.S. residents, including the missionaries, are sex-pats, while all the foreign residents from other countries are angels? That's a little hard to believe.

[heybruce]

Al Gore invented the Internet.

Do you know about Snopes.com? Or just google "Al Gore invented the Internet" and it will direct you to Snopes or other sites that expose internet rumors, urban legends, and outright lies.

One site sums it up:

"Of course, he never really said that, but after a year of repetition from a brain-dead political media, amplified by late-night comics looking for punchlines about two pretty dull-seeming candidates in 2000, you'd be hard pressed to find a voter in November 2000 who didn't think Gore had really said that. It was one of a number of exaggerations and outright falsehoods that became running jokes about Gore in 2000, that he'd claimed cleaning up Love Canal, etc."

But that won't stop you, will it?

I thought UG was being humorous. Maybe i don't know some history here. Everybody knows Bill Gates invented the internet.

Cute, but actually the internet was the result of research into survivable communication networks by DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department. So the internet is a U.S. invention. So are light bulbs, telephones, transistors, microprocessors, personal computers, weather satellites, GPS satellites, and a few other useful gadgets few people can imagine living without.

Did you know the timing signal from the GPS satellites is essential for most mobile phone service? And the U.S. provides it, and the navigation information, for free. You're welcome.

[mcgriffith]

I think we're drifting (no, more like speeding) away from the original topic, which is why there seem to be more Americans in CM.

This was not intended to be a discussion of how wonderful or shitty America is, or whether the internet was invented by an Englishman or DARPA.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but if this continues on in this vein, the thread will be closed.

Respectfully,

Mr. Wet Blanket

[mcgriffith]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_pioneers

British, French and other nationalities on this list.

( an American who grew up in Silicon Valley)

[connda]

I came here because someone told me that this is the place where sexy American men come to. I'm sexy so I came to Chiang Mai. (Well, at least I think I'm sexy. All the girl on Loi Kroi say I'm sexy -- "Hellooooo sexy mannnn!" I hear that all the time!!!

[heybruce]

http://en.wikipedia....ternet_pioneers

British, French and other nationalities on this list.

( an American who grew up in Silicon Valley)

Yes, many contributors, but where did it all come together?

To the original question of why there are so many Americans in Chiang Mai, probably because there are a lot of Americans, and Chiang Mai is a nice place to be. Yes Americans (both U.S. citizens and the other few hundred million people from North and South America) are a mixed bag; some very good, some very bad, most somewhere in between. Is that different from the rest of the world?