Improving Your Country-of-origin

[Ricardo]

We love Thailand, or we wouldn't be posting here, and many of us have moved to live here, from other countries.

So what one aspect of the culture would we wish to copy, and instill seamlessly, into our countries-of-origin ?

My own vote would be for the attitude of mai-pen-rai, not getting too upset, at the trivial obstacles of daily-life.

[Kerryd]

My own vote would be for the attitude of mai-pen-rai, not getting too upset, at the trivial obstacles of daily-life.

Unfortunately, that attitude is probably one of the reasons Thailand lags behind some other "more developed" nations.

Thais tend to take that "mai bpen rai" attitude towards almost everything, diseased dogs in the streets, corrupt officials, garbage, and driving practises to name a few.

Things that would cause an uproar in the west are shrugged off here, and not always for the betterment of their lives.

One thing that I like though, is the Thai attitude towards family. I find that they respect and care for their families (young and old) far more than we in the west do.

[PREM-R]

I suspect that some would say the my moving to Thailand has improved my home country considerably

[TRIPxCORE]

Well I wanted to say that I would bring all the beautiful women from Thailand to my country and that would improve it in my eyes considerably. But you specifically said which part of the "culture" would we apply and the women don't count so I have to choose something else.

It would have to be the friendliness of the Thai people. Most people in the U.S. where I am from have bad attitudes, chips on their shoulders and a generally, unpleasant demeanor. They could stand to learn some lessons about being friendly from the Thais.

[Tippaporn]

My own vote would be for the attitude of mai-pen-rai, not getting too upset, at the trivial obstacles of daily-life.

I second the OP with "mai pen rai." It's an attitude that some westerners will never quite understand. I can definitely see the positive effects it's had for me. I'd include "jai yen yen," too.

Unfortunately, that attitude is probably one of the reasons Thailand lags behind some other "more developed" nations.

Lags behind? Only in ways that are important to you. I detest the "more developed" comparisons. You could say that the west is more developed in some aspects and less in others, whereas the same applies to Thailand. But it's all relative to what you're looking for. People always tend to forget that comparisons are always qualitative.

The aspects of life that some would find to enhance the quality of one's life would not be the same for others. The attitude of "what's good for me is good for everyone" is the invisible belief behind such comparisons.

Thais tend to take that "mai bpen rai" attitude towards almost everything, diseased dogs in the streets, corrupt officials, garbage, and driving practises to name a few.

Things that would cause an uproar in the west are shrugged off here, and not always for the betterment of their lives.

That's precisely why I'm in Thailand. To get away from all the frickin' uproars about everything and anything. I don't need it nor do I want it. You can't change other people but you can change yourself. The west does not understand that concept since they are sooooo obsessed with trying to change everyone else. Perhaps the Thais do, hence the mai pen rai attitude.

One thing that I like though, is the Thai attitude towards family. I find that they respect and care for their families (young and old) far more than we in the west do.

Absolutely. The west definitely "lags behind" this "underdeveloped" country.

Edited March 4, 2006 by Tippaporn

[BKK90210]

So what one aspect of the culture would we wish to copy? What can we learn from Thailand?

Hmm…..let’s see I have several………… I actually like about……

The Thais prefer not to perform smooching your loved one in the middle of the street

The Thai women always wear a bra and not go about having to see such things ‘wobble’ about in public

The Thais do take off their shoes when entering a house, unlike in the west; the Thais don’t need to see the remains of dog waste all over their floors

Oh…and in addition I also like………

Their Dowry System

&

Their Double Pricing System for all tourists

[robitusson]

The prices!

Edited March 4, 2006 by robitusson

[GuestHouse]

Since I spend all my time on assignments overseas, usually one or two years in each country, the only improvement I would bring from Thailand to any of these places is my Thai wife, I do take her with me would not travel without her.

[daleyboy]

How could the U.K improve? Give me some decent bloody weather and lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!! Why should i be taxed %40 to live in such a bloody miserable country?

[marshbags]

The attitude of caring for your husband and children through love without even a hint of the dreaded P. Correct/feminist syndrome that is the cause of so much unhappiness and the consequent divorces in the U.K.

Many of my friends both male and female are influenced by ladies with attitude and jealousy

caused by there own lack of ability to display love and their selfish attitude.

They want it both ways back home i,m afraid and make a mockery of what give and take is all about.

That,s why many of us are endeared towards the ladies in Thailand and want to share our lives with them.

When i was going to take my wife back home all the ladies would say wait till she comes we,ll soon educate her.

They couldn,t understand she was very happy to look after me and showed resentment because she was content to do this.

Remember ladies before you start the lame chauvinist excuses what you married your man for in the first place.

Give AND Take as lots of my male friends do, not Take AND Take

marshbags

[TRIPxCORE]

How could the U.K improve? Give me some decent bloody weather and lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!! Why should i be taxed %40 to live in such a bloody miserable country?

Why? Its because they rely on nice, giving and caring citizens such as yourself to finance a whole lot of things that you have no idea about, have never heard of and would never approve of. If we knew about half of the things governments did with our tax money there would probably be revolution. For example, back in the late 80's, the U.S. government was allied with Iraq and the U.S. was sending over goods that Iraq claimed it needed for its people. Things such as toliet paper and food. What Iraq did with this stuff is turn around and sell it to countries that actually needed it. With the profits they made off of this money they bought lots and lots of weapons and financed their war machine. The same war machine they eventually used to invade Kuwait and later fight the U.S., who incidentally, gave them the money to acquire this stuff. The worst part about this was that the U.S. knew what Iraq was doing but didn't care but Saddam was supposedly "on our side" or so they thought.

[kaopadguy]

Canadian cities would be littered with venders hawking the most delicious food in the world.

Oh, and a Pantip Plaza in every city as well

[NovaBlue05]

How could the U.K improve? Give me some decent bloody weather and lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!! Why should i be taxed %40 to live in such a bloody miserable country?

Why? Its because they rely on nice, giving and caring citizens such as yourself to finance a whole lot of things that you have no idea about, have never heard of and would never approve of. If we knew about half of the things governments did with our tax money there would probably be revolution. For example, back in the late 80's, the U.S. government was allied with Iraq and the U.S. was sending over goods that Iraq claimed it needed for its people. Things such as toliet paper and food. What Iraq did with this stuff is turn around and sell it to countries that actually needed it. With the profits they made off of this money they bought lots and lots of weapons and financed their war machine. The same war machine they eventually used to invade Kuwait and later fight the U.S., who incidentally, gave them the money to acquire this stuff. The worst part about this was that the U.S. knew what Iraq was doing but didn't care but Saddam was supposedly "on our side" or so they thought.

.....and the moral of the story is ???

[TRIPxCORE]

How could the U.K improve? Give me some decent bloody weather and lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!! Why should i be taxed %40 to live in such a bloody miserable country?

Why? Its because they rely on nice, giving and caring citizens such as yourself to finance a whole lot of things that you have no idea about, have never heard of and would never approve of. If we knew about half of the things governments did with our tax money there would probably be revolution. For example, back in the late 80's, the U.S. government was allied with Iraq and the U.S. was sending over goods that Iraq claimed it needed for its people. Things such as toliet paper and food. What Iraq did with this stuff is turn around and sell it to countries that actually needed it. With the profits they made off of this money they bought lots and lots of weapons and financed their war machine. The same war machine they eventually used to invade Kuwait and later fight the U.S., who incidentally, gave them the money to acquire this stuff. The worst part about this was that the U.S. knew what Iraq was doing but didn't care but Saddam was supposedly "on our side" or so they thought.

.....and the moral of the story is ???

No moral here. Simply giving an explanation as to why we are paying such large amounts of money towards tax.

[Tippaporn]

I'd import Songkran! Too bad it would probably be banned after the first year for safety reasons.

[DavieA]

Since I spend all my time on assignments overseas, usually one or two years in each country, the only improvement I would bring from Thailand to any of these places is my Thai wife, I do take her with me would not travel without her.

Like your American Express card hey Guest!

I would definately say the Thai food for sure. Go Som Tum, Sticky rice and fried chicken!

Oh.....and DVD's for the 2 bucks! But I guess thats not really culture is it? More crime really....There's a new post topic. What crimes would you like to see in your own country? I like cheap copies of things.

Edited March 5, 2006 by DavieA

[NovaBlue05]

How could the U.K improve? Give me some decent bloody weather and lower taxes!!!!!!!!!!! Why should i be taxed %40 to live in such a bloody miserable country?

Why? Its because they rely on nice, giving and caring citizens such as yourself to finance a whole lot of things that you have no idea about, have never heard of and would never approve of. If we knew about half of the things governments did with our tax money there would probably be revolution. For example, back in the late 80's, the U.S. government was allied with Iraq and the U.S. was sending over goods that Iraq claimed it needed for its people. Things such as toliet paper and food. What Iraq did with this stuff is turn around and sell it to countries that actually needed it. With the profits they made off of this money they bought lots and lots of weapons and financed their war machine. The same war machine they eventually used to invade Kuwait and later fight the U.S., who incidentally, gave them the money to acquire this stuff. The worst part about this was that the U.S. knew what Iraq was doing but didn't care but Saddam was supposedly "on our side" or so they thought.

.....and the moral of the story is ???

No moral here. Simply giving an explanation as to why we are paying such large amounts of money towards tax.

My mistake mate. I didn't make the immediate connection between the taxes in the UK and US foreign policy 25 years ago.

Cheers !