Would you fight for Thailand?

[harryfrompattaya]

Is this a joke? I report my address every 90 days. Who in their right mind with no status here would consider this their country?

I have paid millions of baht of tax, provided for 3 Thais, and paid hundreds of thousands in hospital bills for family close and extended. I think I deserve a medal for that alone.

Instead I reported every 3 months to permit myself to stay.

Fight for them? I think I did more than my share.

You are a great and kind man and is very lucky that you have to give. I feel you will give more and you will fight while the rest of your Thai Family sits home.

[Soutpeel]

Interesting responses, I started fighting for people's freedom in Viet Nam.

...

That's a rather absurdly simplistic way of describing the American war in Vietnam. I was fighting back then too ... on the streets with the likes of John Kerry.

16711.JPG

Which one are you Jing ?.....one of the policemen ?...

[klauskunkel]

will fight for food

[travelman]

As a ex-marine I participated in active combat twice. However at that time my country paid me as I was a Man in uniform and to defend the constitution and country objectives was the primary directive/cause.

However now as a retired combatant I would rather protect myself, my family and my assets irrespective of any country I am residing in.

[slipperylobster]

Us Brits would certainly fight!

I would fight with these guys anytime....as long as the beer was flowing.

[indyuk]

Bad enough to get sucked in by your tilac.....but to infatuate myself with the Thai Army....never they lose soldiers in peacetime god knows what chance a Thai soldier her has at war.

[itchybum]

If they would give me captaincy of that aircraft carrier....I would.

Umbrellas and deck chairs, 50b a pop....should be a nice view.

[Cheapcharly]

I would not even save my country.

I don't give a <deleted> what s going on as long I m safe.

And you are all a bunch of hypocrites or liars if you tell me you think differently. Marines or else are just for the money . They will quit if not paid.... Cut the crap, it s true.

If you work for free, why you don't come to clean my car and clean my house.?

The real question would be : would you save the world if aliens from space invade us.

Yes, because if not, they will kill us all.

[nottocus]

Wouldn't fight for any country. Would fight to stay alive tho

[NoshowJones]

Is this a joke? I report my address every 90 days. Who in their right mind with no status here would consider this their country?

That's right Jingthing, also, the Thais are the last people I would want on a battlefield behind me if their 6 to 1 odds of fighting in the street is anything to go by.

[NoshowJones]

I think I might go native here and see who were most likely to win before choosing sides.

If the Thais are going to win any battle, it would need to be a situation similar to the Alamo. Which side would be the Thais?

[DGIE]

No need. Just let uncles sam in the US to do the job for me.

[osiboy]

Thaiatheart, please do not put me in the same bracket as your 4th paragraph above, although I accept you haven't made tat allusion. But I am questioning the statement by you and others you gain nothing from Thailand

Here is my statement on this subject.

All my income, except for money earned on savings interest, I obtain from abroad as pensions, which I have worked for most of my life. (No applause, please). And not expecting any medals. That’s how I get my income, just stating my case.

I qualify to stay here under the imposed Immigration regulations for retirement and spend all my income in Thailand and most of what I have left over I deposit in Thai bank accounts as savings, some for a rainy day, medical, unexpected events and so on.

In exchange I can live in Thailand for cheaper and enjoy a better standard of living and lifestyle than in my own country. So it`s a mutual benefit thing, I bring and spend foreign money into Thailand in exchange for a decent living here. In other words it`s give and take and I pay my way. What Thailand has given me is, the pleasure of allowing me to stay here, but I have and still do pay for everything, fully independent. The old saying in Thailand, no money, no honey is spot on.

Yes, I could say that over the years, Thailand has housed me, fed me, given me medical care when needed and educated my kids, in which I appreciate and deeply grateful. But again, I have paid for this; probably well over the odds farang prices on most occasions. But, going back to the original question, would you fight for Thailand? My answer is, only as a citizen and made to feel that I really belong here, not just as a wannabe or make believe I’m a valid part of Thai society. That`s not enough if I had to consider placing my life on the line for a cause worth fighting for.

This is the only way I can explain, and sorry if it`s too complex for you to take in and understand.

Thailand "gave you" medical care, kids education and housed you " but you paid for it ???..........mai koajai loey ! ,........ thailand gives farang sweet FA !

[Soutpeel]

I would not even save my country.

I don't give a <deleted> what s going on as long I m safe.

And you are all a bunch of hypocrites or liars if you tell me you think differently. Marines or else are just for the money . They will quit if not paid.... Cut the crap, it s true.

If you work for free, why you don't come to clean my car and clean my house.?

The real question would be : would you save the world if aliens from space invade us.

Yes, because if not, they will kill us all.

Beer O'clock already or is it time for the med's Charly ?.....space aliens ?

However, being a dual I national, I did do my military service for one of the countries in one of their little wars and must confess fighting for ones country (s) is tad overrated IMHO, so on the ocassion of Thailand conscripting or looking for volunteers from the farang population , Think I will politely decline and head for the business class lounge at Swampy and await my flight out..

Besides, considering the typical demographic of farangs living in Thailand, one suspects they wouldnt have enough wheel chairs or oxygen cylinders for the farang soldiers to even alloow them to go into combat...

[Emdog]

I regret that I have but one country to give for my life

[osiboy]

So...strictly theoretical, would you fight for Thailand if they were invaded by:

1. USA

2. Japan

3. Aliens

4. the Nazis

5. Bill Gates

6. Hells Angels

Tick all that apply.

The nazis ,... just to see if the thais still like their "fashionable" uniforms after they are colonized

[bitcoinbob]

interesting question, since odds are next wars will be fought in asia. just look at all the problems over small island chains . japanese have been spending more on its military = defence force then ever before. americans are pulling out of korea 2015 , saving 50 billion a year the cost to run the DMZ, koreans will have to foot that bill and are already complaining. americans are being forced out of japanese bases. you may complain about the americans but they brought stability to the region just imagine what it looks like with all asians trying to get along . good luck

[Traveller45]

This is an interesting question. I was asking myself the same thing with respect to United Arab Emirates. The answer is pretty much the same. If the locals were just a tad less haughty and would invite us to take part in their lives, I mean, to a greater extent than just taking our money, then I guess we could talk about it. As it were, that is an academic question. These people are completely unable to even formulate such a desire. This is a place that only knows power and the influence of money, and as such, I guess, it would be much more realistic to ask if they were ever likely to hire a foreign gang of mercenaries.

[Samaaw]

It's already a struggle turning down the last beer at the pub at 2am !! Isn't that fight enough??

[Baerboxer]

I would only fight for Thailand if it was to defend my family. However, if there was a revolution, where the poor rose up against the rich and corrupt; count me in.

So your communist then ?....

he did not mention which side.

of course but suggesting he would support the violent overthrow of a "democratically elected" goverment cetainly smells rather "Red" to me, of course he could be facist also...

Would you categorize the French and American revolutionaries as communist or facists? You seem to pidgeon hole anti-establishment factions into these categories.

For the OP - I would fight to protect my family if necessary. But, fighting for a corrupt regime. that's another matter.

[weegee]

Us Brits would certainly fight!

I would fight with these guys anytime....as long as the beer was flowing.

Yeah....but did you see the no smoking sign?....lost me.

[CIHUAHUA]

The real question is would the Thais fight? I already did fight for my country, the military empire, USA. When I was done the only people that benefited were the generals and the corporations. No!, I've had enough.

[Chicken George]

Just would like to say Yes I love living here but it certainly is not my country! If I could get out with my family I would.. living up north may actually give us more options destination wise. Volunteer to fight absolutely not! Too old and creekie!

Also hoping conscription here will be phased out by the time my boys are old enough ti be called up. Not much chance of thattat all as the Generals need people to boss around and valadate themselves in their position.

[slapout]

I watched a TV documentary on the Thai Special Forces training a few months ago. The training consisted of depriving the volunteers of water and food for extended peroids of time.Now the denial of the former in the traing process in the Thai climate can be deadly. poped to mind as I watched this program. It was filmed real live traing, no holds barred or deleted.

The CO in his summary of how elite this group is, noted they had and planned on a fatility rate of 4_+%. As the drop out rate/kick out rate was over 50%, I just hope the fatility % was from the total at the start of each training session.

I would not fight for any country who fielded leaders who would even try to justify much less accept, this fatality rate in a peacetime training exercise. Having known and worked with a number of Thai military officers, I was amazed at the attitude displayed in the documentary on this modern peacetime military unit compared to past experiences.

[mrtoad]

This is possibly one of the most retArded topics in the history of TV.

As to the question, when they give me rights to own land, not report every 90 days etc, etc might be a bit different.

[dazk]

Is this a joke? I report my address every 90 days. Who in their right mind with no status here would consider this their country?

like jing thing says if they excepted me in this country full time i would fight but now no i would be across the boarder with the wife

[Soutpeel]

Would you categorize the French and American revolutionaries as communist or facists? You seem to pidgeon hole anti-establishment factions into these categories.

The frogs didnt have a democratically elected goverment at the time and neither did the yanks

The froggies overthrew a monarchy, while the yanks over threw a "colonial" power.

If a certain faction of the population in Thailand overthrew a "democratically elected" goverment by force without using the democratic process, then yes I would pigeon hole them as having either communist or facist tendancies, based on the current history of Thailand we know there are certain parts of the population who would love a dictatorship in Thailand

[sunshine51]

Would I fight for Thailand?

Hmmmmmmmm...

In what context is this question being asked...generic terms?

If so then no way.

If asked pertaining to specifics such as property, family etc....

Bring it on SOB's, Bring it on.

However since it appears to be a jive ass rhetorical question...

please re-read line 4.

Edited October 6, 2013 by sunshine51

[Thai at Heart]

Thaiatheart, please do not put me in the same bracket as your 4th paragraph above, although I accept you haven't made tat allusion. But I am questioning the statement by you and others you gain nothing from Thailand

Thais as a rule look down on foreigners, that's their prerogative. I have some great friends there, but as a rule, have run out of love for the place and most of the people.

I owe the place nothing, and have left. Fair deal. I was there for 18 years and realised I was no closer to being accepted than the day I got there. I was just a farang.

Without my contribution several Thais would now be dead, one wouldn't have got his degree and 3 owe their successful careers to be getting them jobs up front.

How many are truly grateful? A couple.

A couple means you are in credit karma wise - you've done good and changed lives for the better - that is reward indeed.

Fair enough. That's how I look at it generally. But if the country expects me to my life on the line for it, there needs to be a little more than a "warm fuzzy feeling" involved.

[Bonefish]

I think I might go native here and see who were most likely to win before choosing sides.

If the Thais are going to win any battle, it would need to be a situation similar to the Alamo. Which side would be the Thais?

Well, they fought the French... and won