You seriously dated someone who left school at the age of 13.

[NanLaew]

I don't know about you, but when I got off the plane for the first time at Don Mueang Airport, I was inundated with post graduate Thai girls wai-ing and presenting me with garlands.

On arriving down town, everywhere I went I couldn't help bumping into girls that had MBA's, Ph.D's etc.

In fact I thought I had just walked onto the game show University Challenge.

Darn it, I must have arrived in the wrong decade as I only came across taxi touts and a lot of "mister, mister, where you go?"

But obviously like me, you didn't get into the same taxi as the OP where the driver offered, "You want girl? You want massage? You want post-graduate computer scientist?' did you now.

[NanLaew]

There should be some kind of accreditation process where farang can bring their spouses and have them given a colored ribbon to wear whenever leaving the house so that everyone will know their social status and maybe in conjunction with Thai Visa each users avatar could also be marked identifying the social status of their spouse. This would appear to fulfill a very important role in the lives of many Thai Visa users.

Just as long as she understands that the pink ribbon means "I was a ho' "

[AnotherOneAmerican]

There should be some kind of accreditation process where farang can bring their spouses and have them given a colored ribbon to wear whenever leaving the house so that everyone will know their social status and maybe in conjunction with Thai Visa each users avatar could also be marked identifying the social status of their spouse. This would appear to fulfill a very important role in the lives of many Thai Visa users.

์Note to F99.

Every Thai that sees a Thai lady with a foreigner does know her social status. No need for a label.

[Docno]

My dad left school at age 15. I have a PhD. My dad was more learned than I, and more successful in business. Education is not the same as intelligence nor openness nor curiosity. There are more important things in a relationship between two people than letters after a name or a framed piece of paper on some wall.

p.s. some years ago I had a sample 'IQ test' sitting on a coffee table in my house when an 'uneducated' friend was visiting. She started doing some of the items, found them 'fun', and did amazingly well ... I don't think she had completed high-school. There is a lot of hidden potential in poor nations...

[I Like Thai]

Some clarifications on my OP.

Sure choosing a spouse from a radically different socio-economic group will highlight potential difficulties, but to criticize those for doing so, well maybe you do find that acceptable.

The women who I do know would all have higher qualifications, if they had been given half the chance.

All I trying to say here is that I have met some incredible intelligent women without qualifications, but regrettable they were all denied further education, simple because of their backgrounds.

Sure qualifications aren't everything, but try stating that on your CV.

I was far from denigrating those that have been under privilege.

However I was in fact criticizing those who do cast aspersions for dating or marrying women, that in their eyes have "dropped" out of school at 13.

I don't know about you, but I have to really struggle when I try to think of just how many guys I've met, whose girl friends and wives did not in fact leave school at 13.

But perhaps I am showing my age.

This seems to be a new tactic from you. is it because you are unable to delete posts on this forum that don't agree with you ?

Or is it that you are now changing your stance, in order to agree with people that don't agree with you.

People that left school early

Princess Diana dropped out of school at 16.

Publications International, Ltd.

Everyone knows how important it is to stay in school, get a good education, and graduate with a diploma. But it may be hard to stay focused after reading about the success of these famous dropouts. Hard work, drive, natural talent, and sheer luck helped them overcome their lack of education, but many still returned to school later in life.

In this article, you will learn about notable people including inventors, politicians, and entertainers who dropped out of school before their rise to fame.

Thomas Edison is probably the most famous and productive inventor of all time, with more than 1,000 patents in his name, including the electric light bulb, phonograph, and motion picture camera. He became a self-made multimillionaire and won a Congressional Gold Medal. Edison got a late start in his schooling following an illness, and, as a result, his mind often wandered, prompting one of his teachers to call him "addled." He dropped out after only three months of formal education. Luckily, his mother had been a schoolteacher in Canada and home-schooled young Edison.

Benjamin Franklin wore many hats: politician, diplomat, author, printer, publisher, scientist, inventor, founding father, and coauthor and cosigner of the Declaration of Independence. One thing he was not was a high school graduate. Franklin was the fifteenth child and youngest son in a family of 20. He spent two years at the Boston Latin School before dropping out at age ten and going to work for his father, and then his brother, as a printer.

Albert Einstein Although he was named Time magazine's "Man of the Century," Albert Einstein was not an "Einstein" in school. The Nobel Prize-winning physicist, famous for his theory of relativity and contributions to quantum theory and statistical mechanics, dropped out of high school at age 15. Deciding to continue his education a year later, Einstein took the entrance exam to the prestigious Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, but failed. He returned to high school, got his diploma, and then passed the university's entrance exam on his second attempt.

Walt Disney In 1918, while still in high school, future Oscar-winning film producer and theme park pioneer Walt Disney began taking night courses at the Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago. Disney dropped out of high school at age 16 to join the army, but because he was too young to enlist, he joined the Red Cross with a forged birth certificate instead. Disney was sent to France where he drove an ambulance that was covered from top to bottom with cartoons that eventually became his film characters. After becoming the multimillionaire founder of the Walt Disney Company and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Disney received an honorary high school diploma at age 58

Britain's Sir Richard Branson is a self-made billionaire businessman. He founded Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Records, Virgin Mobile, and most recently, a space tourism company to provide suborbital trips into space for anyone who can afford them. Suffering from dyslexia, Branson was a poor student, so he quit school at age 16 and moved to London, where he began his first successful entrepreneurial activity, publishing Student magazine.

Colonel Harland Sanders overcame his lack of education to become the biggest drumstick in the fried chicken business. His father died when he was six years old, and since his mother worked, he was forced to cook for his family. After dropping out of elementary school, Sanders worked many jobs, including firefighter, steamboat driver, and insurance salesman. He later earned a law degree from a correspondence school. Sanders' cooking and business experience helped him make millions as the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC).

Charles Dickens, author of numerous classics including Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol, attended elementary school until his life took a twist of its own when his father was imprisoned for debt. At age 12, he left school and began working ten-hour days in a boot-blacking factory. Dickens later worked as a law clerk and a court stenographer. At age 22, he became a journalist, reporting parliamentary debate and covering election campaigns for a newspaper. His first collection of stories, Sketches by Boz(Boz was his nickname), was published in 1836 and led to his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, in March 1836.

[wolf5370]

My mother left school at 14. My parents have been married almost 50 years. They are both retired now. My mother's last job was as a executive of a major UK high street bank. Education may maketh the man, but it is not necessarily a be-all and end-all - and not a mark of intelligence at all - more one of finance and opportunity.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

My mother left school at 14. My parents have been married almost 50 years. They are both retired now. My mother's last job was as a executive of a major UK high street bank. Education may maketh the man, but it is not necessarily a be-all and end-all - and not a mark of intelligence at all - more one of finance and opportunity.

Good luck getting that job at the bank today with no education.

[wolf5370]

My mother left school at 14. My parents have been married almost 50 years. They are both retired now. My mother's last job was as a executive of a major UK high street bank. Education may maketh the man, but it is not necessarily a be-all and end-all - and not a mark of intelligence at all - more one of finance and opportunity.

Good luck getting that job at the bank today with no education.

She started as a filing clerk - took her more than 20 years. She did well, impressed successive bosses - working in Insurance, Mortgages, Special Projects (IT) as a business analyst, and eventually in to management and up. Once employed, qualifications mean less than performance. She would not have got the job turning up on the day for a interview (she wouldn't have got the interview) - this is the real benefit of qualifications - getting the interview for the job.

Having worked for blue chips in IT for a quarter of a century, I almost always had post grads working for me - from all over the world. I saw great variance in their ability - mental ability - I also had pre-grads (university work placements usually) and saw a lot more intelligence from some of these guys than some of the Ph.D / DoM guys. I have post grad quals too, but it was experience that mattered most in my job interviews.

[cornishcarlos]

There should be some kind of accreditation process where farang can bring their spouses and have them given a colored ribbon to wear whenever leaving the house so that everyone will know their social status and maybe in conjunction with Thai Visa each users avatar could also be marked identifying the social status of their spouse. This would appear to fulfill a very important role in the lives of many Thai Visa users.

์Note to F99.

Every Thai that sees a Thai lady with a foreigner does know her social status. No need for a label.

What is her social status ??

[NanLaew]

There should be some kind of accreditation process where farang can bring their spouses and have them given a colored ribbon to wear whenever leaving the house so that everyone will know their social status and maybe in conjunction with Thai Visa each users avatar could also be marked identifying the social status of their spouse. This would appear to fulfill a very important role in the lives of many Thai Visa users.

์Note to F99.

Every Thai that sees a Thai lady with a foreigner does know her social status. No need for a label.

What is her social status ??

Same same the foreigner she is with.

Are you not paying attention again?

[inthepink]

Thai universities hand out degrees like candy.

So do many Western unis nowadays. Just take a look at the stats.

I'm willing to bet that the majority of western expats living in Thailand are not graduates anyway so why does somebody always feel the need to make statements like this?

[Warhammer820]

Thai universities hand out degrees like candy.

So do many Western unis nowadays. Just take a look at the stats.

I'm willing to bet that the majority of western expats living in Thailand are not graduates anyway so why does somebody always feel the need to make statements like this?

The only universities that I know of doing this are online schools. I've never met a major in a foreign language that could not converse in the language they graduated in from a Western country. Thai universities don't care that their graduates can't speak the language. Thai people are wonderful, but their education system is failing their society.

[plopmeister]

My mother left school at 14. My parents have been married almost 50 years. They are both retired now. My mother's last job was as a executive of a major UK high street bank. Education may maketh the man, but it is not necessarily a be-all and end-all - and not a mark of intelligence at all - more one of finance and opportunity.

Good luck getting that job at the bank today with no education.

It is still possible...A friend of mine was a "power man" in the Army. When he left he took a job with Barclays driving one of their mobile units. He got the job because he had an HGV license and could take care of the generator....He started reading the brochures..then started dealing with customers untill he ended up running his own unit. He is now regional manager for Barclays mobile units...Not an o level in sight.... and bloody good company in the pub too!!.

[Jerry Cornelius]

No, this isn't a thread about dating 13 year olds, rather those that left school at the age 13.

I thought that such a statement deserves a thread of it's own.

The original post to do it justice from another thread was:

(When was your last holiday in the west where you had everything done for you be a local girl that left school at age 13?)

Back to school here on the spelling I'm afraid - Ed.

and it gets better with another post in the same vain:

How many in the West would marry a girl who dropped out of school at 13?

Why would anyone do that here? By the way, my wife has a computer science degree -- that probably makes a difference.

There but for the grace of God, go I.

So what's my point.

I couldn't believe that these individuals, would make such naive, crass, uneducated statements.

Thailand is an agrarian country, and it's only since we entered the present century, that the women have come out of the rice fields.

Free compulsory education in the UK up to 16 years of age came into force in 1972.

By comparison free education in Thailand was only up to the age of 12 years, as late as 2002.

Only in August 2002 was it increased to 16.

The 1999 National Education Act also legislates that compulsory education shall be extended from six to nine years and shall be completely undertaken within the year 2002:

http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/thailand/rapport_1.html

So that makes the said computer scientist wife only 23 or younger - lucky guy.

No.

If she is older than 23, by default this means she was privately educated, along with the other 10% of the population.

Whilst the other 90% were condemned to work in the rice fields, because free state education was only up 12 years of age.

I don't know about you, but when I got off the plane for the first time at Don Mueang Airport, I was inundated with post graduate Thai girls wai-ing and presenting me with garlands.

On arriving down town, everywhere I went I couldn't help bumping into girls that had MBA's, Ph.D's etc.

In fact I thought I had just walked onto the game show University Challenge.

I dated some-one who had to finish her education at the age of eleven, I also married her after an acquantance of two years,

She is one of the most amazing women I have ever met.

Although not academically gifted she has an outstanding acumen for conducting business.

When we lived in England, she took a Mensa test and returned a score of 126 at 47 years of age.Truly outstanding in my view.

With the opportunities she grasped after our meeting, she went on to amass her own weath and it's significant.

Intelligence is not solely measured by documentation in the real world. The ability to apply ones knowledge is paramount.

It's wrong to belittle people who haven't been blessed with the opportunities that we in the west take for granted (and in some places don't even pay for).

Some may be educated, but know nothing of value.

Jerry

[Jayroo]

No, this isn't a thread about dating 13 year olds, rather those that left school at the age 13.

I thought that such a statement deserves a thread of it's own.

The original post to do it justice from another thread was:

(When was your last holiday in the west where you had everything done for you be a local girl that left school at age 13?)

Back to school here on the spelling I'm afraid - Ed.

and it gets better with another post in the same vain:

How many in the West would marry a girl who dropped out of school at 13?

Why would anyone do that here? By the way, my wife has a computer science degree -- that probably makes a difference.

There but for the grace of God, go I.

So what's my point.

I couldn't believe that these individuals, would make such naive, crass, uneducated statements.

Thailand is an agrarian country, and it's only since we entered the present century, that the women have come out of the rice fields.

Free compulsory education in the UK up to 16 years of age came into force in 1972.

By comparison free education in Thailand was only up to the age of 12 years, as late as 2002.

Only in August 2002 was it increased to 16.

The 1999 National Education Act also legislates that compulsory education shall be extended from six to nine years and shall be completely undertaken within the year 2002:

http://www.unesco.org/education/wef/countryreports/thailand/rapport_1.html

So that makes the said computer scientist wife only 23 or younger - lucky guy.

No.

If she is older than 23, by default this means she was privately educated, along with the other 10% of the population.

Whilst the other 90% were condemned to work in the rice fields, because free state education was only up 12 years of age.

I don't know about you, but when I got off the plane for the first time at Don Mueang Airport, I was inundated with post graduate Thai girls wai-ing and presenting me with garlands.

On arriving down town, everywhere I went I couldn't help bumping into girls that had MBA's, Ph.D's etc.

In fact I thought I had just walked onto the game show University Challenge.

What's the point of your boring thread?

[Jayroo]

I don't know about you, but when I got off the plane for the first time at Don Mueang Airport, I was inundated with post graduate Thai girls wai-ing and presenting me with garlands.

Which team did you play for? ManU, Liverpool, Real Madrid...

lol that's what I was thinking, <deleted> is he on about! what this a drunken rant?

[jaideeguy]

I seriously lived with a Filipina who dropped out of school at 7 yrs old due to poverty, abusive parents and no future. She ran away to another island and lived with a family member who hid her and she became a street urchin and survivalist.

I met her at 19yrs old.....I was 40 and recently divorced from an over educated western woman who knew absolutely everything and thought that debate was a fine art and would practice with me daily for 7 long years........left me with some serious emotional scars and mistrust for educated western women.

So, I went to the philippines looking for a simple girl and simple lifestyle and my 2 yrs with an illiterate simple girl was quite refreshing and just the cure for me.

I did move on and am now married to a simple college educated Thai woman.............

[SinglePot]

Yep. my story very similar to jaideeguy.

I'm not sure what point the OP is trying to make, but my considered response on this thread is my wife is Thai with limited education. In England she would have been "a grammar school" girl. As for university educated Thai women who have acquired a lot of western attributes....I ain't interested.

[sdanielmcev]

Lincoln and Edison

[jaideeguy]

Simplicity is bliss!!

Most college educated women from the province are blessed with a simplicity that has been long forgotten in the west. I didn't marry a simple girl for intellectual interaction. I married her for her beautiful simplicity.

Admittedly I do get horny for deeper conversation occasionally and that can be fulfilled by my few local falang friends and skype...........not to mention the Thaivisa intellectuals.

Edited August 3, 2013 by jaideeguy

[SinglePot]

yep. it doesn't take Einstein to work that one out jaideeguy.

[pigeonjake]

they cant teach comon sence at any uni,

ive watched my wife do some amazing things, put her arm up a pigs @@@ to check for piglets,

shes brilliant in the garden can make things grow beautiful, i plant the same bloody thing and nothing,lol.

she can go with grandma and pick mushrooms in the woods, she has learnt things she needs to learn, and i love to listen to the stories from her and grandma,

these are the proper things in thailand that will be lost to many by many, some put to much importance in uni education,

life and living your life is an ongoing learning curve,

me and my wife have many many things to talk about, you dont need edgucation to be able to talk,

talking brings education, listening and watching brings education,

live you life and be happy,

and if you have to learn how to do that, then learn how to do it ,its great,

jake,

sorry about the spelling, im not very educated,,lol

Edited August 3, 2013 by pigeonjake

[GreenSnapper]

Simplicity is bliss!!

Most college educated women from the province are blessed with a simplicity that has been long forgotten in the west. I didn't marry a simple girl for intellectual interaction. I married her for her beautiful simplicity.

Admittedly I do get horny for deeper conversation occasionally and that can be fulfilled by my few local falang friends and skype...........not to mention the Thaivisa intellectuals.

It is very rare that a woman is a really good partner for deeper conversations. Even in the West, with all its promotion for all things female, the trait which is called "chick logic" or irrational behaviour is prevalent with even the most intelligent and most educated women.

Why look for something which is not there? A man has his mates and friends for conversation, for hobbies and such. Women have very different qualities and a man should make importance of those.

Yin and Yang. Not equalism.

[rene123]

There is street smarts and there is university smarts. One is not necessarily better than the other. It all depends on the life style that you choose to live. There are lots of university professors who would not survive a month in the jungles of the Amazon or the arctic tundra, but the uneducated locals do quite well there.

Where foreign men tend to make mistakes is they are sexually attracted to pretty, young Thai women , but expect the women to have the same values and ideals as they do. Sorry, leopards seldom change their spots.

[SinglePot]

There is street smarts and there is university smarts. One is not necessarily better than the other. It all depends on the life style that you choose to live. There are lots of university professors who would not survive a month in the jungles of the Amazon or the arctic tundra, but the uneducated locals do quite well there.

Where foreign men tend to make mistakes is they are sexually attracted to pretty, young Thai women , but expect the women to have the same values and ideals as they do. Sorry, leopards seldom change their spots.

Well, if that is a mistake call me Einstein.

The generalisation about expectations of Thai women is also way off the mark in terms of my personal experience.

[inthepink]

Thai universities hand out degrees like candy.

So do many Western unis nowadays. Just take a look at the stats.

I'm willing to bet that the majority of western expats living in Thailand are not graduates anyway so why does somebody always feel the need to make statements like this?

The only universities that I know of doing this are online schools. I've never met a major in a foreign language that could not converse in the language they graduated in from a Western country. Thai universities don't care that their graduates can't speak the language. Thai people are wonderful, but their education system is failing their society.

I agree with your comment re. English majors not being able to speak English and have encountered this myself. However, if you think that standards have not fallen dramatically in the West, you are mistaken.

Take Exeter University as an example (no particular reason for choosing this uni, I just happened to stumble across some figures for it online). In the late 70s around 29% of their graduates achieved firsts or seconds. By 2011 this fire had risen to 82%. Nobody can seriously believe that students have become that much more intelligent or hardworking in 30 odd years so the obvious conclusion is that degrees are much, much easier to obtain nowadays than they were in the past.

Edited August 3, 2013 by inthepink

[AnotherOneAmerican]

There is street smarts and there is university smarts. One is not necessarily better than the other. It all depends on the life style that you choose to live. There are lots of university professors who would not survive a month in the jungles of the Amazon or the arctic tundra, but the uneducated locals do quite well there.

Where foreign men tend to make mistakes is they are sexually attracted to pretty, young Thai women , but expect the women to have the same values and ideals as they do. Sorry, leopards seldom change their spots.

2 points to answer here.

"There is street smarts and university smarts"

Usually stated in its many forms by people who have no qualifications at all (or married someone with no qualifications at all).

"Sexually attracted but expect women to have same values as men"

I agree often women don't share the same values as men, it's all about "me" and "my worth" and "what I can get" for many women. Men often expect loyalty, duty and a sense of fair play, which are their values, but rarely get it.

[SinglePot]

"I agree often women don't share the same values as men, it's all about "me" and "my worth" and "what I can get" for many women. Men often expect loyalty, duty and a sense of fair play, which are their values, but rarely get it."

I feel we are straying off topic but nevertheless interested to know if this is YOUR experience of all women, some women, or is it Thai women?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

"I agree often women don't share the same values as men, it's all about "me" and "my worth" and "what I can get" for many women. Men often expect loyalty, duty and a sense of fair play, which are their values, but rarely get it."

I feel we are straying off topic but nevertheless interested to know if this is YOUR experience of all women, some women, or is it Thai women?

It is my experience of all women I have ever had relationships with and my many friends have ever had relationships with. Not sure if this is a reflection on women in general worldwide, or the type of women my friends and I generally associate with. You must choose using your experiences.

I think it's not me, it's them, but I may be wrong.

[rene123]

There is street smarts and there is university smarts. One is not necessarily better than the other. It all depends on the life style that you choose to live. There are lots of university professors who would not survive a month in the jungles of the Amazon or the arctic tundra, but the uneducated locals do quite well there.

Where foreign men tend to make mistakes is they are sexually attracted to pretty, young Thai women , but expect the women to have the same values and ideals as they do. Sorry, leopards seldom change their spots.

2 points to answer here.

"There is street smarts and university smarts"

Usually stated in its many forms by people who have no qualifications at all (or married someone with no qualifications at all).

"Sexually attracted but expect women to have same values as men"

I agree often women don't share the same values as men, it's all about "me" and "my worth" and "what I can get" for many women. Men often expect loyalty, duty and a sense of fair play, which are their values, but rarely get it.

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I was trying to make sense of the OP's topic of why an educated man would marry a girl with no education. When you also add a different culture into the mix then you have a recipe for disaster. I often enjoy the company of street smart people with little or no formal education, but I would not want to live with them long term. You just run out of things to talk about. Sex may be important in a relationship, but it takes so little actual time that there has to be a lot more to a relationship than that.