Kissing Thailand Good Riddance

[TommoPhysicist]

My question would be: Why have the young entrepreneurs in the US reigned supreme in computer land and with the internet? Why indeed is the internet almost wholly US? The opportunity there in software and hardware from serious computer games to silicon wafers to faster processors and all in between which makes things work is mind boggling. I know someone who just retired incredibly wealthy from a company you've never heard of, but worked for a startup company with stock options. Her father died young and she just paid off her mother's home, bought her a new car, and built herself a fantastic new ocean front home. She isn't quite 40 years old yet.

And my answer would be, old money doesn't need to take risks.

For every entrepreneur that makes money, 99 lose everything.

Rich peoples kids go into safe and comfortable jobs, lawyers, bankers, politicians, etc.

[NeverSure]

And my answer would be, old money doesn't need to take risks.

For every entrepreneur that makes money, 99 lose everything.

Rich peoples kids go into safe and comfortable jobs, lawyers, bankers, politicians, etc.

I would like to see the 99% documented. I will agree it's a high number.

I don't see lawyers, bankers or politicians making it "big." Those are mundane fields with above average but not big money earnings. When we talk about big money, I need to see the self made multi-millionaires and billionaires who made it on their own by starting a company. I'm thinking of a Sam Walton from small town Arkansas who started Walmart from his own small town store. How about the guys who started Wendy's and McDonalds on their own? How about Michael Dell who started Dell Computers, or those who started Apple and now the IPod etc? How about the guys who started Microsoft?

In all of those, and thousands of other start up companies, there were original employees who got stock options and are wealthy. I mean filthy rich wealthy.

How about Paul Allen who rode Bill Gate's coat tails to become a multi billionaire via Microsoft? There are countless numbers of those people, even if they "only" became multi millionaires at a young age.

[TommoPhysicist]

I think desperately wanting loads of money is something only the poor really want.

If you parents have plenty, you never feel the urge to make the effort.

[BookMan]

...I know someone who just retired incredibly wealthy from a company you've never heard of, but worked for a startup company with stock options. Her father died young and she just paid off her mother's home, bought her a new car, and built herself a fantastic new ocean front home. She isn't quite 40 years old yet.

Single you say?

[NeverSure]

...I know someone who just retired incredibly wealthy from a company you've never heard of, but worked for a startup company with stock options. Her father died young and she just paid off her mother's home, bought her a new car, and built herself a fantastic new ocean front home. She isn't quite 40 years old yet.

Single you say?

Yes she is. She speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese because the startup company which made her rich was involved in having high brands of clothing manufactured in China. Her job was to act as liaison between large clothing companies and the Chinese manufacturers. There are opportunities abounding right now, but it is just different than it was even 20 years ago and most older people just don't see it. I think they (we) keep looking backwards.

I know personally a guy who also got very rich working with China for Nike shoes. I remember when Nike was a brand new company. I was young and working in a bank, and a young man from Nike came in, sat at my desk in Portland, Oregon, and showed me a pair of shoes. Nike was located just a few miles away and I had never heard of it.

I wasn't impressed by the style of shoe either. I thought it was the weirdest thing I'd seen. If only I had bought stock right then...

[jbrain]

...I know someone who just retired incredibly wealthy from a company you've never heard of, but worked for a startup company with stock options. Her father died young and she just paid off her mother's home, bought her a new car, and built herself a fantastic new ocean front home. She isn't quite 40 years old yet.

Single you say?

Yes she is. She speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese because the startup company which made her rich was involved in having high brands of clothing manufactured in China. Her job was to act as liaison between large clothing companies and the Chinese manufacturers. There are opportunities abounding right now, but it is just different than it was even 20 years ago and most older people just don't see it. I think they (we) keep looking backwards.

I know personally a guy who also got very rich working with China for Nike shoes. I remember when Nike was a brand new company. I was young and working in a bank, and a young man from Nike came in, sat at my desk in Portland, Oregon, and showed me a pair of shoes. Nike was located just a few miles away and I had never heard of it.

I wasn't impressed by the style of shoe either. I thought it was the weirdest thing I'd seen. If only I had bought stock right then...

But at that time you thought, Neversure.

[arthurwait]

In fact I have known 2 people that this happened to, one had a VW Golf Gti and the other a Peugeot 205 Gti (it was a while ago).

I had a 205 Gti. One of the UK car mags has just voted it the best hot hatch of all time with the Delta Integrale in 2nd place

I've got a Proton Persona, and I've never been stopped by the police. Could we get JT to set up a pole on the topic? I'd put the Persona in pole position

SC

I'll join in.

I had an XR3I while at uni in Coventry. Getting stopped once a fortnight was good, getting stopped 3 times a week wasn't a rare thing.

[rene123]

I used to get stopped by the police all the time, but that is because I drove a convertible with my top down and no bra.

[londoedan]

Endure,

If you think being stopped by the police is venomous racism I suggest you look at a few other countries. Yes, it's wrong, yes I am opposed to it, yes, it shouldn't happen, but it hardly life threatening is it?

It depends how often it happens, doesn't it? How would feel if you were stopped and hassled 2 or 3 times a week every week for no other reason than your skin was white? How would you like it if you'd got yourself a decent car and you kept being pulled over because you're white? It's easy to dismiss things that don't happen to you as trivial but just imagine a lifetime of such hassle simply because you're white.

In fact I have known 2 people that this happened to, one had a VW Golf Gti and the other a Peugeot 205 Gti (it was a while ago).

I had a 205 Gti. One of the UK car mags has just voted it the best hot hatch of all time with the Delta Integrale in 2nd place

I've still got one - a lovely 1992 Emerald Green 1.6, unmarked, 130K miles, original wheels, unmodified, no knocks etc.. It looks lovely in the sun.

Its in storage in the UK at the moment - about 50 GBP a month. Its probably going up in value at the mo'

[TommoPhysicist]

I used to get stopped by the police all the time, but that is because I drove a convertible with my top down and no bra.

Photos please?

[StreetCowboy]

I used to love cruising topless, particularly in the small hours of a summer morning when it's clear and bright, with no traffic on the roads in the city

[chonabot]

The racism comes from small minded idiots in a small country town near Oxford.

Out of interest, which one?

Wallingford

[chonabot]

any adult Thai female, will also be miserable in the cold west with no sun, food, family, etc...

Really?

My wife loved her 15 years in Sunny UK - apart from the odd bigot

Edited December 25, 2012 by chonabot

[Interman]

Canada is very multicultural where I grew up. Perhaps my opinion on racism differs than others on here. I dont view racism as just getting picked on or called names because of ethnicity. Those are generaly personal opinions back home. My bone to pick is with Thailand as a whole, view on racism. I put on a video of Mariah Carey and asked the students if they thought she is beautiful, they answer yes. Then tell them she's half black and literaly see them change their opinion. Black teachers from America..... no job for you.

And I feel my kids would benefit 10 fold from being educated at home and then making the decision themselves if they wanted to live here. Like one posted before, being raised in Thailand and then going to a western country is a struggle for obvious reasons.

"Black teachers from America..... no job for you."

Many years ago I worked with a US charitable organization in Africa as both a teacher and school administrator. The Ministry of Education of the country where I was based accepted teachers from other African countries as well as European and American whites, if qualified, but would always reject applications from American Blacks. It wasn't racism. It was a blanket bias because of perceptions of attitude issues.

On the other hand, I knew of several American & Canadian (essentially middle class white) couples who raised their children in the African setting, educated in International schools, who returned to North America when their children were ready for high school, and almost all those children faced major difficulties adjusting, including one attempted and one "successful" suicide. For the most part they were better prepared academically than were most of the students back "home" but they weren't prepared for the cultural differences.

Life can be difficult if you're considered different. And as The Ugly Duckling tale demonstrates, "different" has nothing to do with being superior or inferior, just different from the local norm. And children are both most vulnerable when they are rejected by their peers and they are often the most cruel when doing the rejecting.

Exactly...... hence our moving forward.

[Interman]

The old chestnut of blaming the schools for the quality of education. Sorry, but that is a canard. The most important factor is parental involvement. Westerners have a bad habit of trying to slough off responsibility for their children's education. It's always someone else's fault. Well, here's a newsflash, pull up your socks and assume your parental roles and teach your children by example and by supplementary effort, such as giving books and then discussing the books. Education s more than sitting in a classroom. Children learn to think by their parents. Exposure to new experiences and discussions of alternative viewpoints should take place at the dinner table and not just in a classroom.

X2

I could not agree more. All school really does is teach you the basics of reading and learning. Anything of value is taught by the parents. It is up to the parents to instill self reliance, independence and a willingness to learn. Schools can teach a child to read, write, add, subtract, multiply and divide, and a knowledge about the world around them, but after that the child is on its own. It is up to the parent to make life interesting and make the child want to learn more. Without an inquisitive mind the child is lost. I'm not knocking teachers at all. The best ones carry on from what the parents have instilled in the child... an interest and willingness to learn more.The broader the range of knowledge the child has the better its opportunities are in the future.

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

[chiangmaikelly]

The old chestnut of blaming the schools for the quality of education. Sorry, but that is a canard. The most important factor is parental involvement. Westerners have a bad habit of trying to slough off responsibility for their children's education. It's always someone else's fault. Well, here's a newsflash, pull up your socks and assume your parental roles and teach your children by example and by supplementary effort, such as giving books and then discussing the books. Education s more than sitting in a classroom. Children learn to think by their parents. Exposure to new experiences and discussions of alternative viewpoints should take place at the dinner table and not just in a classroom.

X2

I could not agree more. All school really does is teach you the basics of reading and learning. Anything of value is taught by the parents. It is up to the parents to instill self reliance, independence and a willingness to learn. Schools can teach a child to read, write, add, subtract, multiply and divide, and a knowledge about the world around them, but after that the child is on its own. It is up to the parent to make life interesting and make the child want to learn more. Without an inquisitive mind the child is lost. I'm not knocking teachers at all. The best ones carry on from what the parents have instilled in the child... an interest and willingness to learn more.The broader the range of knowledge the child has the better its opportunities are in the future.

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

There are at least two different kinds of freedom of speech. I'm not the revolutionary type and don't care much about politics but I know a casual conversation that would get me fired in the West is nothing more than an a laugh at the office in Thailand.

Perhaps you all like to watch every word you say and worry about the office PC police but I never did. I don't have to in Thailand. I'm free to speak just about anything I would want to. Matter of fact the women I work with are quite a bit more liberal in their speech than I am.

[Interman]

The old chestnut of blaming the schools for the quality of education. Sorry, but that is a canard. The most important factor is parental involvement. Westerners have a bad habit of trying to slough off responsibility for their children's education. It's always someone else's fault. Well, here's a newsflash, pull up your socks and assume your parental roles and teach your children by example and by supplementary effort, such as giving books and then discussing the books. Education s more than sitting in a classroom. Children learn to think by their parents. Exposure to new experiences and discussions of alternative viewpoints should take place at the dinner table and not just in a classroom.

X2

I could not agree more. All school really does is teach you the basics of reading and learning. Anything of value is taught by the parents. It is up to the parents to instill self reliance, independence and a willingness to learn. Schools can teach a child to read, write, add, subtract, multiply and divide, and a knowledge about the world around them, but after that the child is on its own. It is up to the parent to make life interesting and make the child want to learn more. Without an inquisitive mind the child is lost. I'm not knocking teachers at all. The best ones carry on from what the parents have instilled in the child... an interest and willingness to learn more.The broader the range of knowledge the child has the better its opportunities are in the future.

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

There are at least two different kinds of freedom of speech. I'm not the revolutionary type and don't care much about politics but I know a casual conversation that would get me fired in the West is nothing more than an a laugh at the office in Thailand.

Perhaps you all like to watch every word you say and worry about the office PC police but I never did. I don't have to in Thailand. I'm free to speak just about anything I would want to. Matter of fact the women I work with are quite a bit more liberal in their speech than I am.

I get the feeling that this is yet another sexualy related reply......... is that so?

Im leaning more to the civil rights side of freedom of speech. A country where You cant say you know what about you know who, and slander laws are a bit ridiculous.

[chiangmaikelly]

X2

I could not agree more. All school really does is teach you the basics of reading and learning. Anything of value is taught by the parents. It is up to the parents to instill self reliance, independence and a willingness to learn. Schools can teach a child to read, write, add, subtract, multiply and divide, and a knowledge about the world around them, but after that the child is on its own. It is up to the parent to make life interesting and make the child want to learn more. Without an inquisitive mind the child is lost. I'm not knocking teachers at all. The best ones carry on from what the parents have instilled in the child... an interest and willingness to learn more.The broader the range of knowledge the child has the better its opportunities are in the future.

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

There are at least two different kinds of freedom of speech. I'm not the revolutionary type and don't care much about politics but I know a casual conversation that would get me fired in the West is nothing more than an a laugh at the office in Thailand.

Perhaps you all like to watch every word you say and worry about the office PC police but I never did. I don't have to in Thailand. I'm free to speak just about anything I would want to. Matter of fact the women I work with are quite a bit more liberal in their speech than I am.

I get the feeling that this is yet another sexualy related reply......... is that so?

Im leaning more to the civil rights side of freedom of speech. A country where You cant say you know what about you know who, and slander laws are a bit ridiculous.

Oh come on now. Who cares really. I got in trouble in the West for using language appropriate to a ships kitchen while the PC brigade was walking by. Nothing to do with sex. The PC brigade wanted power and to put the fear of their little narrow brains in the minds and hearts of the big ole cooks who thought they got paid to cook food and not excel at their curtsey technique.

[rene123]

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

I agree with you there. Obedient subjects don't argue the truth. They are easily manipulated later in life and believe all the propaganda the hierarchy wants them to believe. All those huge, annoying speakers in rural villages are typical of that. The churches of all denominations have used that principle for centuries in all countries.

[chiangmaikelly]

I think your post is on the right track, but fails to acknowledge the main goal of the Thai ministry of education. That is to create obediant subjects. You cant honestly think that the MP's of this country that have been educated abroad and know a better method to educate would not implement a better method if not for the true goal of "education" in this country?

Forgot one more reason to leave...... freedom of speech.

Feel free to take a piss of my spelling, or contribute to critical thinking in a positive way.

I agree with you there. Obedient subjects don't argue the truth. They are easily manipulated later in life and believe all the propaganda the hierarchy wants them to believe. All those huge, annoying speakers in rural villages are typical of that. The churches of all denominations have used that principle for centuries in all countries.

They must not be doing a very good job of keeping people dumb cause half of the country don't like the Red Shirts. The last election was pretty close eh?

[Rancid]

Some people distinguish between fiddling your expenses and running down a policeman.

How are the Santika prosecutions going?

In the UK, we get upset about corruption that sees politicians lining their pockets with thousands of pounds in tax payer's money.

SC

Edit: It seems, British MPs have tidied up their expense claims. How many night clubs and bars have been closed down in Bangkok because of failure to comply with fire regulations, licenses etc.?

You've missed the point with your whataboutery. Thai people also tolerate corruption. I'll go further and say Thais are largely under very few illusions about how just how rotten their system is and are so jaded by it that they will seldom hesitate to engage in the corruption themselves - there, happy? - unlike in the west, where there is a critical mass of taxpayers naive enough to enable the mendacity to operate on a scale and sophistication that compromises everyone far more insidiously.

I don't really understand.

Are you saying

a ) that corruption is a good thing, and one of the advantages that Thailand has over the West?

b ) that corruption is a bad thing, but the UK is more corrupt than Thailand?

I disagree on both counts, but I have never seen anyone change their mind on the internet, so perhaps we'll just leave it there

SC

Neither.

My earlier point was that intolerance of corruption in the west is patently untrue, as evidenced not so long ago in the UK by the fact that most of the MPs who were publicly exposed as coldly and calculatingly shafting taxpayers for large sums of money for their personal gain still largely have their seats in parliament.

There were very few prosecutions despite the already damning prima facie evidence. The entire 'system' the electorate were supposed to be able to depend on for justice dragged their feet until the media felt like it was the right time to drop the stories and that's where the matter stayed. So what are the people doing about it?

There appears to be very little ground level corruption in the west, which has some obvious benefits for everyone, not least for those corrupt persons who would rather go for the higher hanging fruit without the people looking past the 'pristine' lower branches.

Your bloody dreamin'. Corruption in the West is full steam ahead, they are just more careful about it. Banks are vile cesspits of corruption and are never prosecuted, now why is that (no not the odd broker)? Politicians retire and get their directorships, speaking tours etc as payback for favours, The biggest political donars are always taken care of, open ye eyes and glimpse the ugliness of the reality. Thailand is probably worse on number of participants but way less on actual corruption dollars.

Q. Why do you imagine the west is slowly collapsing poitically and economically?

A. Corruption at every level.

[chiangmaikelly]

Might want to check the London Interbank Offered Rate?

[moe666]

The grass is not necessarily greener on the other side, BYE

[Trembly]

Your bloody dreamin'. Corruption in the West is full steam ahead, they are just more careful about it. Banks are vile cesspits of corruption and are never prosecuted, now why is that (no not the odd broker)? Politicians retire and get their directorships, speaking tours etc as payback for favours, The biggest political donars are always taken care of, open ye eyes and glimpse the ugliness of the reality. Thailand is probably worse on number of participants but way less on actual corruption dollars.

Q. Why do you imagine the west is slowly collapsing poitically and economically?

A. Corruption at every level.

I think you'll find that you are actually violently agreeing with me.

Edited December 26, 2012 by Trembly