Are Women The Strength Of Thailand?

[sirineou]

I read all these negative posts about Thai woman , I thought I would post a little bit about my limited experience, and hear some of yours.

I am in the process of building a perimeter wall around our property.For this I have hired a Husband and wife team, The team consists of the Husband, the wife , a young son, the son-law, and an other unrelated worker.The Husband does all the lay-out, and finish work, The son does very little, the son in-law and other worker helps with the digging and cement block work, and the wife does everything else and is by far the hardest worker in the bunch.

I have never seen a wooman work harder, she mixess mixes cement, puts the steel together, caries block, does everything while her son sits on his motorbike and looks at himself in the mirror all day.

She does all that with a smile, and at lunch time when every one else stops and rests she prepares lunch for them,then when everyone goes for a nap after lunch, she cleans their mess.,I come from a family where my mother was considered a saint, and never worked a day in her life, outside the home,and I am embarrassed to watch her work.

And this is not an Isolated incident, every where I go i watch women work very hard, while men sit around.

Then you have the girls in the sex industry, where they give up their lives in their village, to sell theme selves to strangers, endanger their health and life, to provide for their families. In essence screw them selves (pardon the pun) for their families, and then you have some idiot farang complain that he was screwed by them. If the girl is willing to give up everything and screw her self for her family, what makes you think she will not also screw you for her family, when push comes to shove?

You got to respect these women

[Ulysses G.]

"Are Women The Strength Of Thailand?"

YES!

[regine]

I read far more negative posts about Thai men on TA, including yours ``And this is not an Isolated incident, every where I go i watch women work very hard, while men sit around."

So, what`s the true meaning of your post? To praise Thai women or to bash Thai men? Why even have the above comment in your post.

edit* Or by "everywhere" do you mean men all over the world are generally lazy when compared to women?

Edited May 14, 2012 by regine

[sirineou]

I read far more negative posts about Thai men on TA, including yours ``And this is not an Isolated incident, every where I go i watch women work very hard, while men sit around."

So, what`s the true meaning of your post? To praise Thai women or to bash Thai men? Why even have the above comment in your post.

The meaning of my post is to praise Thai women, I should not had made the comment about the men sitting around as I opened a separate issue that distracts from my main purpose.

[regine]

Save the Children recently released a report about the health, education, and economic status of women in 165 countries. Canadian newspaper The National Post put the numbers into graphics if anyone wants to see. http://nationalpostn..._womenworld.pdf

Thai women:

% using modern contraception: 80

Life expectancy at birth: 78

Expected number of years in school: 13

% of government seats held by women: 16

Ratio of female to male earned income: 63

Other Nations:

Australia: 71-84-20-29-70

USA: 73-81-18-17-62

UK: 84-82-17-22-67

Germany: 66-83-16-32-59

Cambodia: 27-65-10-18-68

Myanmar: 38-68-10-3-61

Laos: 29-69-9-25-76

Malaysia: 30-77-13-13-42

[BigJohnnyBKK]

**YES**.

Among the poor they are the ones holding any semblance of civilization together, often survival.

Amont the wealthy they are usually also a more civilizing influence.

But I think this is true nearly everywhere, world would be a much better place if the women were in charge.

[h90]

I saw very hard working women, I saw very hard working men.

I saw very lazy women, I saw very lazy men.

(same counts for kids)

That women work in construction is a bit strange for central Europe eyes but common in many countries. While women are a bit weaker than men, they are not that weak that they can't.

[bago]

most men come to thailand because of the thai women whether they admit it or not that alone brings in a large revenue house purches ect. so i would say yes

alas its only after a while that these men relise that they have made a mistake and see that there are better women elsewhere in the world smoke and mirrors again

[NanLaew]

Save the Children recently released a report about the health, education, and economic status of women in 165 countries. Canadian newspaper The National Post put the numbers into graphics if anyone wants to see. http://nationalpostn..._womenworld.pdf

Thai women:

% using modern contraception: 80

Life expectancy at birth: 78

Expected number of years in school: 13

% of government seats held by women: 16

Ratio of female to male earned income: 63

Other Nations:

Australia: 71-84-20-29-70

USA: 73-81-18-17-62

UK: 84-82-17-22-67

Germany: 66-83-16-32-59

Cambodia: 27-65-10-18-68

Myanmar: 38-68-10-3-61

Laos: 29-69-9-25-76

Malaysia: 30-77-13-13-42

Thanks for that! I am off to Laos!!!

[NanLaew]

...and see that there are better women elsewhere in the world ...

How does that happen? Is it some special spectacles? Or maybe some hi-tech webcam that enables them to 'see' better women overseas while squatting in LOS?

Put me down as 'intrigued'.

[kerryk]

I have to say that the lady boys I have had working for me worked harder than the men or the women. The ones who worked for me were like women but stronger. It took two women to carry a keg of beer where as only one lady boy could do it. Saving on labor of course. It is all part of Amazing Thailand and <deleted> Bangkok. Lady boys tell better jokes too and speak better English. Ask the teachers, lady boys are always willing to go the extra mile.

[NanLaew]

It's not a uniquely Thai thing. I worked in the backwoods of China in the early 1980's and on a road construction job there we had women doing all the hard, dirty manual work of using hammers to change large boulders into road-grade gravel whilst the men got to drive the trucks and sleep and play cards while they waited for the 'rockettes' as we named them to make up a load. Generally women worked and men goofed off.

Also in China, we had a team of local land surveyors that consisted of very conscientious girl surveyors and their male supervisors and drivers. The guys were always goofing off and playing games to 'impress' the girls and simple work jobs took forever. We recommended that we replace the entire team with women. The Chinese client suggested that because the women can't drive and are the obvious cause of distraction, they will be replaced with men so the hard working girls got canned instead and we ended up with an office of dipshits.... that could drive.

I worked for Aramco in an office environment totally devoid of women of any sort. Work got done but sometimes the decision making took second place to immense and absurd, testosterone-driven levels of debate and conjecture, I sometimes longed for the modifying influence of the professional, qualified lady engineer on these sessions. Even a having a pretty face at the receptionists desk would have answered a prayer! I did find that the very senior local management of Aramco did have their own Private Secretary's and Personal Assistants that manned desks outside their bosses offices just like senior management in more 'aligned' countries.

The OP has witnessed nothing out of the ordinary for SE Asia and yes, the women here, like the women anywhere else in the world, are the glue that holds the handbasket together.

[David48]

Nice story ... thanks for the read.

I come from a family where my mother was considered a saint, and never worked a day in her life

Are you inferring that Thai woman work harder then woman of other Cultures?

[garrya]

Why do you think she is more special than anybody else? I bet she makes a lot of money and saves a lot by working hard.

I respect anybody that works hard but I can't see why I should pay more attention to this particular person. In my area I have seen many hard-working women as labourers and not as business owners. It seems to be quite common in this country comparing to the western world.

[isanbirder]

Women are the strength of most countries. How many women waste their time posting trivia on TV? No, they're keeping the household going.

[zzaa09]

I read far more negative posts about Thai men on TA, including yours ``And this is not an Isolated incident, every where I go i watch women work very hard, while men sit around."

So, what`s the true meaning of your post? To praise Thai women or to bash Thai men? Why even have the above comment in your post.

The meaning of my post is to praise Thai women, I should not had made the comment about the men sitting around as I opened a separate issue that distracts from my main purpose.

One could even go as far to suggest that Thailand has more of a matriarchal bent than not....

[NanLaew]

One could even go as far to suggest that Thailand has more of a matriarchal bent than not....

Oh indeed but it's very subtle. My ex- mother-in-law had me drive her from Korat to Ayutthaya land office so she could make a multi-million baht cash purchase. Something to do more with my having a flash new Toyota Crown rather than having a farang son-in-law but she certainly gave me the impression she was the one holding the purse strings and not her Thai army captain husband.

However, wind forward 20 years and the new mother-in-law and I are sitting across the street watching the new house being built in Udon. There was a minor stir when the chap from the local land office stopped by and started asking where the building permit was. I witnessed father-in-law (who was foreman of the builders) skulking away whilst mother-in-law was told to get down to the land office as soon as possible and get the plans approved and the permit issued.

My take after these two incidents is that even the patriarchal duties such as paying big gobs of money, signing titles and getting house planning permission, although legally something that only the male can do, can be foisted off on the wife. This whole thing about the husband having to sign certain documents has been legally stepped around by the mostly male legislature passing a law that he only needs to sign the paper or, if the title is in the wife's name, he has another legal piece of paper that says she has his permission.

The males are all lazy sods!

[TommoPhysicist]

The meaning of my post is to praise Thai women, I should not had made the comment about the men sitting around as I opened a separate issue that distracts from my main purpose.

So are you calling non-Thai women lazy?

[GuestHouse]

Are Women The Strength Of Thailand?

Women are the strength of every other country, why not Thailand?

[arthurwait]

There's a lot of generalising in the OP, but yes certainly you often do see the woman doing all the work while the husband sits around drinking with his mates in Thailand. Especially places like locals eateries where the husband ocassionally gets up and collects a plate or two before going back to his whiskies/fags/mates/ TV, but you also see a lot of hard working men here as well. Try welding 12 hours a day in this heat or any physical labour for that matter. Our laziest employee by far is a woman.

And yes there are girls on the game supporting their families, but there is an awful lot of them on the game simply because they are good time girls who are very happy to give up their life in the village for the nightclubs and bars of the city. Who want to sit around getting pissed with their mates at someone elses expense and sleeping with strangers is preferable to doing a days work. These girls usually don't give much if anything to the families who are bringing their kids up for them which they often have to try and trap a man Thai or western into paying for them to sit on their arse for the rest of their lives. The money often just goes on gambling and whiskey for them and their real boyfriend. Many are on the game gold digging to get someone to pay for them for the rest of their lives. It's amazing how many girls that get sponsors never get another job that would contribute to the living costs and reduce the sponsorship money. Anyway I don't respect this type of girl ; drunks, layabouts, con artists, theives. To compare them to the hard working women of Thailand isn't fair. The girls genuinely doing it to feed their families yes they deserve respect, but a fair percentage really aren't.

[simple1]

"Are Women The Strength Of Thailand?"

YES!

+1

[nocturn]

Yes, women are the strength of Thailand.

Without the tireless labour of mothers, sisters and daughters, this country would grind to a halt.

This seems especially true of lower income families.

The higher the level education, the more it seems the male actually contributes to the family.

But then It seems to me any woman of any nationality with a hungry child will have a work ethic to be reckoned with

Edited May 14, 2012 by nocturn

[nocturn]

**YES**.

Among the poor they are the ones holding any semblance of civilization together, often survival.

Amont the wealthy they are usually also a more civilizing influence.

But I think this is true nearly everywhere, world would be a much better place if the women were in charge.

you managed to put my thoughts into words

[sirineou]

Nice story ... thanks for the read.

I come from a family where my mother was considered a saint, and never worked a day in her life

Are you inferring that Thai woman work harder then woman of other Cultures?

No Not really, I made sure in my OP to say "In My limited experiences" I don; t know many other cultures,and I dont entirely know the Thai culture ,But I have being exposed to a few cultures, I am American of Greek decent, and have spend a considerable amount of time in Greece, where one of my sisters lives, and in Italy, where my other sister lives, and consequently I have travel extensively through out Europe, I have imported silver from Mexico, so I have spend some time there,and have spend a litle time in China, and based on that limited exposure, I cant help but be impressed by Thai women. , I can only talk about what I know. I am sure that there are other hard working women in the world,as others have pointed out ,but I don't feel qualified to talk about them..I am barely qualified to talk about Thai women, if that.

[cdnvic]

The meaning of my post is to praise Thai women, I should not had made the comment about the men sitting around as I opened a separate issue that distracts from my main purpose.

So are you calling non-Thai women lazy?

Stop trolling

[sirineou]

**YES**.

, world would be a much better place if the women were in charge.

except for that one week of the month , when all hell would brake loose

[BigJohnnyBKK]

One could even go as far to suggest that Thailand has more of a matriarchal bent than not....

Among the poor for sure, they'll support their man's "face" in public but more often than not call the shots, since they're usually the ones keeping the finances together, many guys don't seem to live up to their breadwinner responsibilities, letting distractions get in the way.

However domestic violence always lurks, and I'm sure the female-on-male variety is much less common in Thai-Thai relations than it seems to be with farang involved.

except for that one week of the month , when all hell would brake loose

Oh shut up. . .

[phuturatica]

Of course women are the strength of Thailand. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a woman. I do see a lot of Thai women keeping the families together and working hard.

[Heng]

Probably one of the worst places outside of Islamic countries for women. Just IMO. The whole turn everything into a beauty pageant culture, glass ceilings set by men all over the place, and then more often than not, they get saddled with taking care of their parents AND children. Great for the ones that can, but it's a sentence of a life treading for many as well.

[mjj]

And the winners for desperately trying to find negativity and missing the point of the op are.....

I read far more negative posts about Thai men on TA, including yours ``And this is not an Isolated incident, every where I go i watch women work very hard, while men sit around."

So, what`s the true meaning of your post? To praise Thai women or to bash Thai men? Why even have the above comment in your post.

edit* Or by "everywhere" do you mean men all over the world are generally lazy when compared to women?

Are you inferring that Thai woman work harder then woman of other Cultures?

So are you calling non-Thai women lazy?