What Do You Love About Thailand?

[Bluecat]

this is serious folks...when I was young in california I used to surf...and any surfer will tell you that a good ride is better than sex. So...how are we to judge when it comes to middle age and cheeseburgers? Can't surf no more...can hardly get it up even when presented with flowering Asian beauties but a cheeseburger and beer hits the spot every time.

I have wasted time - now time has wasted me. Goethe

[ChrisP]

My Thai "family" who starts with food cooked Mai Pet then slowly heats it up.. until I burn my tonsils..!

The same family who are always more concerned about me, and my well-being than they are about themsleves... and they struggle.

The peace and beauty of the huge reservoir outside BuriRam at sunset

Holding hands with the bf.. and nobody bats an eyelid.

CP.

[Jeff1]

Thanks everyone,

I needed that.

[Guest IT Manager]

Jeff Thanks for mentioning it. It's good IMO to sit and ponder the absolute joy of living here. I can relate to nearly everything, most of the time. Every now and then a good tonsil searing keeps the heat in life, and the life in the old body.

[The_Eye_Of_Sauron]

I like the National Anthem, I like that it is played at sunrise and sundown - and that people stand still for it even rushing home from work.

I like the sense of National Pride (especially coming from Indonesia, where people didn't give a rat's ass about their country).

I like the Royal Family, the reverence for them and wish my own country had the common sense to see likewise.

I like the fact that Buddhism works better as a national creed than all the proselytising religions in nearby countries.

I like the skytrain.

[12call]

Getting up in the morning, to greet the day when it's still black outside, so I can take my boy to school.

Being waved at by the neighbours kids as catch the song taew to their school.

Being waved at by the neighbors.

Watching the footy and cheering when our team scores.

Watching the takraw and wondering how the he1l they do that. Cheering when our side scores.

Getting my washing machine fixed for 15 baht.

Buying a frig for 120 bucks... new.

Paying the power bill. 600 baht.

Paying the water bill. 48 baht.

Paying for 3 months supply of gas. 235 baht.

Living here

Loving here

Missing my wife here.

Watching my kid stay healthy.

Meeting people without ever seeing them.

Making new mates daily on Thaivisa.

Marveling at the intelligence of new friends.

Wondering why new friends are challenged to become new friends.

Having a beer with a few friends for 100 baht.

Not having a lot of money, living well,

Not being thought cheap because I only buy 1 round of drinks.

Playing pool at the village bar. Watching the balls slide the last 3" in a new direction, and not caring, just because it's fun to do it.

Feeding 5 people for 180 baht including 1 beer.

Watching Loong Yen being a big pooying, then laughing when he says Jaow and tries to kiss me.

Not feeling strange about supporting a queer community on a big web site.

Not being afraid.

Being proud of what my wife and I have been able to do in our small community.

Not feeling bad because I don't want to go out at night all the time and get smashed.

Being proud of peoples' trust in me.

well put IT.

[tutsiwarrior]

I am confused...too many conflicting modes of expression.

Me for unlimited cheeseburgers and pizza.

As Prime Minister Tutsi said in the famous speech during the Blitz "I am not an ogre...'

[tutsiwarrior]

It is, by the way, quite pleasing to see the nieces coming down the street after school in their uniforms, raid the fridge then turn my lonely refuge into a riot of delighted sceaming and laughter with their play.

Never had that in the US or England...

[Bluecat]

It is, by the way, quite pleasing to see the nieces coming down the street after school in their uniforms, raid the fridge then turn my lonely refuge into a riot of delighted sceaming and laughter with their play.

Never had that in the US or England...

Happened to me many times in "continental" Europe.

Must be different in the "anglo-saxon" world,...

I now understand why SO MANY of you are in Thailand,...

[tutsiwarrior]

How many nieces you got bluecat? I'm talking from the perspective of a falang that lost everything from failed marriage...who would want children to smile and give them a cuddle when home after school. Happens everywhere not just in the deprived anglo-saxon world...the desire, that is...

But let's not quarrel...home and happiness is a subjective matter. We could endlessly prattle on about personal circumstances and a perceived 'happiness' scenario. I would prefer to rage about the lack of blowjobs resulting from the new 12 oclock closing dictum.

[terdsak_12]

The Hookers.

[tutsiwarrior]

Wouldn't Goethe agree? Nietzsche on the other hand was modern and would condemn crass sentimentalism.

Leave it up to groucho...

[Thaksin]

I'ts funny, but a similar vein runs thru many of the "good points of Thailand" posts, and they seem to be the simple things that "touch one's heart." We all know the feeling. Back home, people are civil, but generally uncaring. I like the one about parking in Phrae "over by chicken." It's just the little things.

[Martin]

Some excellent posts above on the delights of living up-country (or among people who have retained up-country joys in down-country places). Can't comment on the BKK expat scene.

As a typically brain-washed Western engineer (retired now), I started thinking "Why does it work?, how does it work?, is there an underlying 'formula' that explains it all?".

Think there may be two underlying, interlocking common causes of many of these heart-warming little things that make the lovable whole. First it is a country where the people feel they are on the up-and-up (albeit bouncily). A confident spirit makes folk feel and act nicer. Second, Thais are non-aggressive (but, of course, have to know how to defend themselves), which makes for tolerance and trying to react to all pebbles on Life's smooth path with "Mae pen lie" or "Bo peng yang, karp".

The good spirit of confidence that this year is a bit better than last, and next year will be even better reminds me of my years in Canada in 1956-1961, and in Singapore in 1986-1993.

In each case, I had previously just had a long spell in England. In 1945 to 1955, there had been a general pessimism that the UK was clapped out as a result of WWII. In 1980-1986, there was a pessimism that the UK had descended to accepting 'private greed and public squalor'.

To go to a country where folk, particularly the young ones, had good spirit was uplifting. Now to come to another one warms the cockles of the heart.

[DanTheMan]

- Watching my father-in-law to be eat a big bowl of fish head soup and enjoying it.

- Watching my fiancee smile when I try to tell her in Thai that she is very beautiful, but instead wind up saying that she is much bad luck--but she knows what I mean anyway.

[Jeff1]

Good one Dan,

I know so well what you mean, I think we all do.

One slight mistake with the language means two compleatly different things !

Ouch

[Bluecat]

QUOTE (tutsiwarrior @ Thu 2004-02-12, 20:40:46)

It is, by the way, quite pleasing to see the nieces coming down the street after school in their uniforms, raid the fridge then turn my lonely refuge into a riot of delighted sceaming and laughter with their play.

Never had that in the US or England... 

QUOTE (bluecat @ Thu 2004-02-12, 20:40:46)

Happened to me many times in "continental" Europe.

Must be different in the "anglo-saxon" world,... 

I now understand why SO MANY of you are in Thailand,... 

How many nieces you got bluecat? I'm talking from the perspective of a falang that lost everything from failed marriage...who would want children to smile and give them a cuddle when home after school. Happens everywhere not just in the deprived anglo-saxon world...the desire, that is...

I have a few nieces, nephews, sons and daughters,...

I do not see them as often as I would like but this is how it is,...

I love them, they love me.

How do I know?

They do not tell me, I tell them.

But when they meet me, when I meet them, we HUG.

I FEEL it, they FEEL it.

Love is like electricity, without contact, the flow is difficult,...

Works for me anyway,...

[Guest The Judge]

I like not hiding my love, for my love.

I like to sit with his grandparents and talk about small things.. temple fairs, tambun, the Wat and the gay phra.

I like being accepted in the village as a person in my own right not as "the one with the boyfriend".

I like asking the neigbours wife how to make Tom Yum Gai, and not feeling stupid about not knowing, nor asking the recipe.

I like Thailand... a whole lot.

[the gentleman]

Going to the market and buying 3 bags full of fruit and veg, for 120 baht -

I love sailing my boat around Koh Yao Islands, the prettiest views of Thailand!

I love filling my truck up for half the cost of most countries.

I love that things arent the same as my country - like the roads, the language, the simplistic ways of life, the genuine smiles, the bewilderment of the kids when you speak to them in Thai, haggling prices with a smile and the high morals of the average Thai - lovely.

I also love that I am about to build a resort on an Island, where I will see out my days in a hammock on a beautiful beach with my wife, my kids and a smile.

[PD0NVJ]

I love sailing my boat around Koh Yao Islands, the prettiest views of Thailand!

I love filling my truck up for half the cost of most countries.

I also love that I am about to build a resort on an Island, where I will see out my days in a hammock on a beautiful beach with my wife, my kids and a smile.

Seems you have an amount of money thet you will be comfortable where ever you go.

Think most of us can't afford their own Yacht or resort.

Best time I had was while I staid in a Bangkok ghetto fore a year in my own build slump house, met people there with the heart on the right place.

[Bluecat]

Best time I had was while I stayed in a Bangkok ghetto for a year in my own built slump house, met people there with the heart at the right place.

Please, PDNONVJ, do not tell us that.

Thai people will never, ever have an heart at the right place with farang without money (or with money).

Actually, they never had and never will have their heart at the right place, they have NO heart with us, farang,...

Believe me, I know, I have been here for many, many years,...

But,..., am I wrong?

[Guest IT Manager]

Yes... but maybe not in Bangkok.

[Bluecat]

Yes... but maybe not in Bangkok.

Or KL, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, London, Paris, Roma,....

Yes, capital cities are capital cities and they do not always (understatment ) bring out the best in the people who live in those cities,...

[plachon]

Best time I had was while I stayed in a Bangkok ghetto for a year in my own built slump house, met people there with the heart at the right place.

Please, PDNONVJ, do not tell us that.

Thai people will never, ever have an heart at the right place with farang without money (or with money).

Actually, they never had and never will have their heart at the right place, they have NO heart with us, farang,...

Believe me, I know, I have been here for many, many years,...

But,..., am I wrong?

What a load of old codswallop! If you ever read any of Fr Joseph Maier's occasional articles in the Bangkok Post, you might appreciate that even the lowliest drug addicted, AIDs-riddled teenager in Klong Toey, can show a heart of gold to others. Whether that person is a farang or not, is immaterial, it's called humanity and Thais are as human as the rest of.............humanity. However, many farangs will tar all Thais with the same brush even before they set foot in this country, due to a nascent fear of different cultures and living patterns. It's some sort of racial-cultural superiority hang-up, which sadly is ingrained in some people to the day they die. Conclusion: you're wrong!

[the gentleman]

Best time I had was while I stayed in a Bangkok ghetto for a year in my own built slump house, met people there with the heart at the right place.

Please, PDNONVJ, do not tell us that.

Thai people will never, ever have an heart at the right place with farang without money (or with money).

Actually, they never had and never will have their heart at the right place, they have NO heart with us, farang,...

Believe me, I know, I have been here for many, many years,...

But,..., am I wrong?

yes you are wrong!

[Bluecat]

Best time I had was while I stayed in a Bangkok ghetto for a year in my own built slump house, met people there with the heart at the right place.

Please, PDNONVJ, do not tell us that.

Thai people will never, ever have an heart at the right place with farang without money (or with money).

Actually, they never had and never will have their heart at the right place, they have NO heart with us, farang,...

Believe me, I know, I have been here for many, many years,...

But,..., am I wrong?

What a load of old codswallop! If you ever read any of Fr Joseph Maier's occasional articles in the Bangkok Post, you might appreciate that even the lowliest drug addicted, AIDs-riddled teenager in Klong Toey, can show a heart of gold to others. Whether that person is a farang or not, is immaterial, it's called humanity and Thais are as human as the rest of.............humanity. However, many farangs will tar all Thais with the same brush even before they set foot in this country, due to a nascent fear of different cultures and living patterns. It's some sort of racial-cultural superiority hang-up, which sadly is ingrained in some people to the day they die. Conclusion: you're wrong!

######,...

How sad to see a beautiful theory killed by a brutal fact. Aldous Huxley

But anyway, sometimes (no too often though), I LOVE to be wrong,...

[The Gentleman Scamp]

I like the skytrain too.

[translator]

JULY VISA RUN

[translator]

JULY VISA RUN

[translator]

JULY VISA RUN