Foreigner !

[benalibina]

Has living as a foreigner in Thailand changed your opinion about foreigners living in your own country ?

If yes, why ?

If no, why not ?

All this as well for people living with thai partners in their homecountry.does their opinion about your homecountry make/made you see your country through " different, broader, eyes" ?

Edited October 17, 2013 by benalibina

[Jasun]

Yes, I now realise how good they've got it.

[Honkie]

Yes, I now realise how good they've got it.

Hear !!!! Hear !!!!

[ToddWeston]

Yes, I now realise how difficult it must have been for them picking up and moving to a new home without really having the option of returning home for many many years - unlike myself. I wish I could have done more to help with their transition.

[cooked]

I moved to Switzerland at the age of 24 and found out all about racism. I reserve the right to talk about different peoples in racist terms, but I am not obsessed about it. As an employer I got to the point that I was asking which part of Portugal or Spain people came from, some regions were populated by stubborn, lazy and unfriendly people. You get like that after a bit, it makes life easier for you even though you may be causing injustice to some.

[willyumiii]

Must agree with Jasun!

In my country ( USA ) even ilegal forigners can work, earn a pretty good living, get government assistance if needed .

"Liberty and Justice for all."

In thailand it's " Liberty and Just us, that's all!"

But, I must State that I knew Thailand was this way long before I arrived, was this way when I arrived, and will reamain this way.

I still choose to be here!

[Dr Robert]

I feel somewhat ashamed and a little embarrassed that I accepted the racial stereotypes in my own home country of the migrants that were struggling to settle and make ends meet and learn a language and raise their kids...etc

in light of my experiences here I have become much more aware of their plight and more compassionate and understanding of the difficulties of uprooting culture,learning a new language and being transplanted to where, at first, little makes sense.

Edited October 17, 2013 by Dr Robert

[soi41]

Yes I realise how difficult it must be to integrate into a society, who really don't want to know you!

"they don't even speak English, Swedish, German........"

How many of farangs staying here 10+ years, speak Thai any better than a first grader??

[Hedghog]

I don't take social housing,healthcare,state handouts,from Thailand.

Unlike the ever increasing amount of migrants to the UK, some legal,many alleged asylum seekers.

They bring nothing with them and abuse every avenue available to them to gain financially.

They are slowly bringing the country to its knees.

[Dr Robert]

I don't take social housing,healthcare,state handouts,from Thailand.

Unlike the ever increasing amount of migrants to the UK, some legal,many alleged asylum seekers.

They bring nothing with them and abuse every avenue available to them to gain financially.

They are slowly bringing the country to its knees.

That you dont accept state help from Thailand is commendable, but hardly the point given you aren't an asylum seeker here

asylum seekers by their very nature have nothing to bring with them, (if you mean material things)

that they supposedly "abuse" every avenue?-these avenues are legal and necessary-wouldnt you seek financial help too given you were in the same position?

They are bringing the country to its knees? That sort of hyperbole just doesnt stack up with the facts.

Joseph Heller wrote in his celebrated novel "Catch 22" when in the middle of a bombardment in WW2 an old man was telling the young man about why he wouldnt stand and fight;

"Because it's better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees," Nately retorted with triumphant and lofty conviction. "I guess you've heard that saying before."

"Yes, I certainly have," mused the treacherous old man, smiling again. "But I'm afraid you have it backward. It is better to live on one's feet than die on one's knees. That is the way the saying goes."

"Are you sure?" Nately asked with sober confusion. "It seems to make more sense my way."

"No, it makes more sense my way. Ask your friends."

Asylum seekers think like that too-they have nothing left to lose.

[GreenSnapper]

Yep.

i have to show 800000 Baht every year, otherwise I have to leave immediately.

If they would do the same in our home countries, there would be much less problems.

And a second thing i have learned: foreigners never integrate. It is a leftist myth. The best you could demand that foreigners follow the rules and have a proper attitude. That's what i do here. That's what people in our home countries should demand from foreigners as well.

[GuestHouse]

It has not changed my mind about foreigners living in the UK, but it has made me realise the gap between the quality of people the UK imports versus the that which the UK exports to Thailand.

The hypocrisy of expats in Thailand (often by means of misuse of their host's visa systems) b1tching about foreigners going to live in their own country is a measure of that quality.

The lack of their ability to understand this was illustrated when the UK government brought in exactly the kind of restrictions they had been baying for (from overseas), it them dawned on our high quality expats that the change in the immigration regulations affected their own 'rights' to take their own 'foreign family' back to the UK.

[Rinrada]

No.

[GuestHouse]

Yep.

i have to show 800000 Baht every year, otherwise I have to leave immediately.

If they would do the same in our home countries, there would be much less problems.

And a second thing i have learned: foreigners never integrate. It is a leftist myth. The best you could demand that foreigners follow the rules and have a proper attitude. That's what i do here. That's what people in our home countries should demand from foreigners as well.

I could introduce you to a whole bunch of foreigners in the UK that you'd be hard pressed to know where foreigners, OK, they've done a lot better for themselves and their families than most indigenous Brits, but apart from that you would see no outward sings that there were not born and bread in the UK.

Points of note: the vast majority of foreigners in the UK do obey the law while it is clear that Thailand is attracting a disproportionate number of foreigners who are doing their best to avoid the law.

[Hedghog]

Dr Robert.

In my previous post.

I mentioned alleged asylum seekers,of which are many.

Genuine are few.

Also in addition, said asylum seekers should return to their home country when safe to do so.

[Hedghog]

Guest House.

In times gone by migrants to the UK were totally different than they are today.

Nowadays the influx is from,the EU claiming welfare,and working farm labour,illegally.

Then sending money home,for the rest of the extended family to join them,and the cycle continues.

Schools in the midlands have have a far greater percentage of non native English speakers,to native speakers,thus causing harm to the education system,in those areas.

As to the law,how is it a person of a certain religion can wear a turban whilst riding a motorcycle,but I can't.

There are basically to many foreigners in the UK and it is undermining the general harmony.

It is time a firmer stance was taken.

Something along the lines of Thai immigration,would do fine.

[Naam]

Guest House.

In times gone by migrants to the UK were totally different than they are today.

Nowadays the influx is from,the EU claiming welfare,and working farm labour,illegally.

Then sending money home,for the rest of the extended family to join them,and the cycle continues.

Schools in the midlands have have a far greater percentage of non native English speakers,to native speakers,thus causing harm to the education system,in those areas.

As to the law,how is it a person of a certain religion can wear a turban whilst riding a motorcycle,but I can't.

There are basically to many foreigners in the UK and it is undermining the general harmony.

It is time a firmer stance was taken.

Something along the lines of Thai immigration,would do fine.

convert to Sikhism, save money on razor blades and barbershops, wear a turban instead of a helmet and increase exponentially your risk of head injury in case of an accident. problem solved!

[seajae]

_{After seeing what the refugees get away with in Australia I think they are much better off than me. They arrive there by boat, they have already destroyed their passports so they cant be identified, they are given shelter and fed then they are put onto social security and given housing, free hospital/doctors and never have to renew visas etc. They can work if they want to but most just refuse to because they are getting paid to do nothing by the govt anyway. Here with no passport you cannot get into the country, you must renew your visa every year and have a good reason or have heaps of money in the bank. You will never get govt help, you cannot just go out and get a job and the govt will never help you with accomodation and social security, no free hospital/doctors, you need a wp to work and only then in jobs that they allow, the overtones are extremely racist in Thailand but I accept that and love being here. I have seen just how much the refugees going to Australia are getting away with and yet they are bitching about it, go figure. If you did the same thing here that they are doing in Australia(burning down the facilities , bashing others, protesting etc) you would be kicked out of the country. Has being here changed my opinion of those going to Australia, yes, they are a pack of whinging bastards that just want everything for nothing. Do I like Thailand, yes I love it here, doesnt mean I agree with what they do but I love the people and the country plus with all the crap that the immigrants are causing in Australia I would much rather stay here anyway.}

Edited October 17, 2013 by seajae

[Naam]

oh the hardship we foreigners endure in Thailand and the luxuries the foreigners in our home countries enjoy. shouldn't we consider to make a stand and instead of bitching return to where we came from?

[dao16]

Yep.

i have to show 800000 Baht every year, otherwise I have to leave immediately.

If they would do the same in our home countries, there would be much less problems.

And a second thing i have learned: foreigners never integrate. It is a leftist myth. The best you could demand that foreigners follow the rules and have a proper attitude. That's what i do here. That's what people in our home countries should demand from foreigners as well.

Of course, the situation is different in the US and Europe, but in the US I would definitely say they integrate, but it takes a generation or two. It is easy to forget the hatred of the Irish and the Italians (among others) when they came to the US all those year ago. Now people who barely have any trace of it declare themselves Irish or Italian and the real descendants would have to tell you their origins for you to know.

Hating Mexicans seems to be all the rage in some places in the US now, but if you look around, you will meet a lot of people who are second generation and, other than possibly having a nice tan, you wouldn't know they were Mexican at all.

I'll never forget when, on a trip to Mexico, a guy asked me where I was headed. I said Mexico City and he (Mexican-American guy) said, in accent-less (American) English "Mexico?!?! Mexico!?!?!? I wouldn't take a bus, train, plane, taxi or boat in that country! Why would you go there?" One generation or two and he wouldn't even consider going to his family's place of origin.

As for going abroad changing how I interact with foreigners at home, I would say definitely, since I have some idea of what they are going through. However, this happened way before I came to Thailand.

[h90]

More than ever I think these foreigners in my home country who don't want to work and make troubles should be kicked out. And to make it more hard for them to get the citizenship. We should be as protective as Thailand.

[cpofc]

Guest House.

In times gone by migrants to the UK were totally different than they are today.

Nowadays the influx is from,the EU claiming welfare,and working farm labour,illegally.

Then sending money home,for the rest of the extended family to join them,and the cycle continues.

Schools in the midlands have have a far greater percentage of non native English speakers,to native speakers,thus causing harm to the education system,in those areas.

As to the law,how is it a person of a certain religion can wear a turban whilst riding a motorcycle,but I can't.

There are basically to many foreigners in the UK and it is undermining the general harmony.

It is time a firmer stance was taken.

Something along the lines of Thai immigration,would do fine.

Bloody Foreigners!

Times have changed mate. Not all the time for the better. I grew up, in Australia, (5th Gen) in the great post WW2 migration period in Oz. Nowadays almost one in four Australian residents were born outside of Australia and many more are first or second generation Australians, the children and grandchildren of recently arrived migrants and refugees.

I remember teasing the Italians, when the country town I lived in began to transform and they started laying asphalt on the dirt roads and making drains and footpaths from concrete. it was the migrants who did most of this work. Sometimes I think if it weren't for the Italians we would never had footpaths! LOL We would pass them walking home from school and tease them. The Semi Polite term of the day was 'New Australians'. The less polite term was '<deleted>'. And there were 'Poms' of course. Then there was the Snowy Mountain Scheme (look it up). Visited it many times as a kid with my father. Australia did not have Black or Asian Migration at this time because of the White Australia Policy. Which PM Gough Whitlam finally removed the last vestiges of, as late as 1973.

The migrants of my day had to work. There was not much in the way of State Welfare. It was the same for the natives.

We had a family of italians who lived just down the road from us. We called them. 'The Italians'. Large families of not so well off Irish Catholics, who probably ranked second to 'The Italians' LOL. I could write volumes about this period.

What happened is that successive governments kept on buying votes by giving and giving. Setting up Welfare States. Rewarding the bludgers. In my day, it was shameful to be on Welfare. Now people openly brag about it. Almost 1,000,000 of working age Australians (Pop:23 Million) are receiving Disability payments of some kind from the Gov't.

No wonder the world's populations want to migrate to these countries. Can you blame them? We only have ourselves to blame.

Bloody foreigners!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWaZVowRjMg

[simple1]

Yep.

i have to show 800000 Baht every year, otherwise I have to leave immediately.

If they would do the same in our home countries, there would be much less problems.

And a second thing i have learned: foreigners never integrate. It is a leftist myth. The best you could demand that foreigners follow the rules and have a proper attitude. That's what i do here. That's what people in our home countries should demand from foreigners as well.

For a foreigner to retire in the UK you must at a minimum be 60 years of age & an annual income of £25,000 (without working) and to prove "close connections" to the UK. The upside is that after meeting the criteria the applicant will usually be granted a four year visa. Once you have spent four years in the UK, as long you still have the requisite income, the Home Office will normally grant indefinite leave to remain.

http://www.ukimmigration.com/retirement

[kannot]

I don't take social housing,healthcare,state handouts,from Thailand.

Unlike the ever increasing amount of migrants to the UK, some legal,many alleged asylum seekers.

They bring nothing with them and abuse every avenue available to them to gain financially.

They are slowly bringing the country to its knees.

That you dont accept state help from Thailand is commendable, but hardly the point given you aren't an asylum seeker here

asylum seekers by their very nature have nothing to bring with them, (if you mean material things)

that they supposedly "abuse" every avenue?-these avenues are legal and necessary-wouldnt you seek financial help too given you were in the same position?

They are bringing the country to its knees? That sort of hyperbole just doesnt stack up with the facts.

Joseph Heller wrote in his celebrated novel "Catch 22" when in the middle of a bombardment in WW2 an old man was telling the young man about why he wouldnt stand and fight;

"Because it's better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees," Nately retorted with triumphant and lofty conviction. "I guess you've heard that saying before."

"Yes, I certainly have," mused the treacherous old man, smiling again. "But I'm afraid you have it backward. It is better to live on one's feet than die on one's knees. That is the way the saying goes."

"Are you sure?" Nately asked with sober confusion. "It seems to make more sense my way."

"No, it makes more sense my way. Ask your friends."

Asylum seekers think like that too-they have nothing left to lose.

Go stand on the French side of the "chunnel" and see them queuing up to sneak into lorries etc, if they just wanted a safe haven they could stay in France, many bleed the benefit system dry in the UK, all they have to do is destroy their passports ( they knpw exaclty how to beat the system) , sneak in on a lorry jump out hand them self in at a police station and get many things, claim they are under attack in their own country etc, they get released immediately and told to report back weekly..........guess what MANY dont. The Uk has no idea how many illegal immigrants it has, I dont care as long as they dont ask for any handouts.

[benalibina]

Yep.

i have to show 800000 Baht every year, otherwise I have to leave immediately.

If they would do the same in our home countries, there would be much less problems.

And a second thing i have learned: foreigners never integrate. It is a leftist myth. The best you could demand that foreigners follow the rules and have a proper attitude. That's what i do here. That's what people in our home countries should demand from foreigners as well.

The integration part is interesting in your comment. When you went to live in LOS, assume you do, did you ask the thais about info or your fellowcountrymen, about whatever ? When you live in a place with plenty of foreigners, do you hang out more with them than with the thais ? The overwhelming majority of foreigners living in "our countries" obey the law, same as the expats do in LOS. The majority of foreigners in our countries hang out with their own lot. Same as the expats in LOS.

Apart from the moneyside, wealth/choice, its same same but no different for everybody. Anyway, just my take on it.

[Hedghog]

Enoch Powell.MBE

Maybe he was right all along.

But no one listened.

[Hedghog]

Interesting choice of topic,benalibina.

[simple1]

Interesting choice of topic,benalibina.

It could be, but not so if it continues with & ends up just being yet another topic being deluged with content containing asylum seeker/refugee bashing posts.

Edited October 17, 2013 by simple1

[benalibina]

Interesting choice of topic,benalibina.

It could be, but not so if it continues with & ends up just being yet another topic being deluged with content containing asylum seeker/refugee bashing posts.

I have faith in people. Reread the OP and reply/comment accordingly.

Have not read anything yet about the thai partners influence regarding, possible, change of view on the posters homecountry.

[farang000999]

There would be no shortage of members for a Thailand EDL charter...