why so much negativity about Thailand and its ppl?

[Crazy chef 1]

we all read here about so many negative points about Thailand,the scams,rip off's,traffic...etc.and many of us get frustrated and start generelazing and bashing.

but how we got brought up?we get tought to ask: WHY?

i think it is comparable with parents and their kids.( and no i don't think we are superior or in any parental status here i just want to use this as a example as a comparison because many of us have learnt out of mistakes in the past and try to pass the knowledge on).

usually parents love their kid so as we love our host country but if we see that the same mistakes get done over and over again- ppl get frustrated and start to geting angry or even bashing or giving up.

can you guys remember how patient your parents have been?

unfortunately we are not asked,allowed or welcomed to give any ( positive?)) advise we are just what we are- guests.

sure many things are looking / are just wrong from our perception and it seems they don't learn from the past but before to get frustrated remember the old saying.never try to change a running? system.

just take it as it is and don't get used to do the same silly things( like riding without helmet or under influence) rest up to them,isn'it?

preach over!

[benalibina]

It takes 2 to tango.

Intention many times overlooked.

We are all same but different, therefore important to find a good partner to dance with.

Some have/do, some are lucky/clever and some dont.

Thats life.

[bocceball1]

I like the part of your post where you say

"can you guys remember how patient your parents have been?"

And to be honest with you....NO I can't.....When I grew up if I was out of line my Parents WHACKED me.....Don't recall social services, kids hiring lawyers against there parents, kids divorcing parents. etc.

Thailand is what it is....and often it can be very frustrating....Yeah......get over it! We all make our own beds....(ie our lives are what WE make of it)

[GuestHouse]

unfortunately we are not asked,allowed or welcomed to give any ( positive?)) advise we are just what we are- guests.

I have no idea where you get the idea that we are not allowed or welcome to give any opinions.

[kikoman]

I agree, Live and let live, agree to disagree and leave it at that. Everyone has a right to an opinion, but to constantly state the same problem you have, is the same problems all expats have in Thailand, is pure speculation, post to what you believe and leave it at that!

Cheers:

Edited October 20, 2013 by kikoman

[CharlieH]

"Alien" : a foreigner, especially one who is not a naturalized citizen of the country where he or she is living.

We are not "guests" we were not invited, we are and always will be "aliens"

[yingyo]

why so much negativity about Thailand and its ppl?

White Man Superiority Syndrome?

[x0r1987]

Go to a few other expat forums... Expat Forum in Australia is a good laugh...

Expat forums for China are heaps of fun....

Expats love to complain.... They move to a different country, usually enjoying big pays, but then complain non stop..... Some are warranted... Most are ^&^$(#@ stupid..

[x0r1987]

I like the part of your post where you say

"can you guys remember how patient your parents have been?"

And to be honest with you....NO I can't.....When I grew up if I was out of line my Parents WHACKED me.....Don't recall social services, kids hiring lawyers against there parents, kids divorcing parents. etc.

Thailand is what it is....and often it can be very frustrating....Yeah......get over it! We all make our own beds....(ie our lives are what WE make of it)

I can not argue at all with the first point.... When you are out of line, parents should give you a whack... never hurt me...

But.... I feel so bad for you that your parents never gave you any patience... Something all children and teenagers need at time....

My thoughts are with you buddy Hoepfully you can offer kids a better go one day (if you are not already)

[Crazy chef 1]

unfortunately we are not asked,allowed or welcomed to give any ( positive?)) advise we are just what we are- guests.

I have no idea where you get the idea that we are not allowed or welcome to give any opinions.

flood prevention,traffic rule enforcement,help after the tsunami and so on.if you need more examples just browse a little bit.no offense intended, i see you are a long time member just confused about this kind of comment.

[Crazy chef 1]

anyway i am just astonished to get so far just thoughtfull and behavied replies- not usually for the open forum.

thanks mates- keep it going and constructive.

btw sorry for you boccebal1 to hear that your parents lost their patients- my one sometimes as well( and it hurts,believe me) but think it was my fault just did to many crap though they had to respond to make a halfway presentble ppl out of me...555

[GuestHouse]

CC1, there is absolutely nothing stopping foreigners in Thailand expressing the same range of views that Thais are allowed to express in Thailand. The only real barrier I know of is language skills.

No extra laws and from my own experience Thais are very interested to hear other views.

As you've noted I've been around here a while - I have expressed a wide range of views on a wide range of topics to Thais I know, political discussion is a favourite topic as is corruption - Thais I speak to on these subjects hold and express negative views of political corruption, though they tend to have positive views of he civil service and a lot more positive view of the police than we frequently hear from foreigners here.

The Thai language web forums which attract political and social comment are full of comments about what's wrong and how things are done elsewhere in the world.

So I really do not see any restriction on foreigners expressing opinions.

I have frequently come across foreigners being told if they don't like something about Thailand they should go home - but has alway always always come from another foreigner - I've never heard it from a Thai.

[SickOfEm]

we are and always will be "aliens"

If we have come to communicate with intelligent life forms we've all failed miserably here.

[h90]

why so much negativity about Thailand and its ppl?

White Man Superiority Syndrome?

Together with Japanese Man Superiority Syndrome and Chinese Man Superiority Syndrome.

I guess this Syndrome does not go with skin color.

[h90]

One reason is that people tend to see the past better than it is.

So the remember the work someone did at home and that is was done very well.

They ignore that it was 2000 $$, while here they paid for the same 2000 Baht.

And than tells that the Thais work very bad. Ignoring the fact that, if they would have paid 60.000 Baht here, same price as at home than they would have got it perfect as well.

[kandi]

To me, "complaining" about a country is rather a sign that you care about it. It's the human nature that we tend to just enjoy the good things and speak out the bad things. Because there's no need to discuss about the good things. Even though I sometimes get a harsh opinion of some things here in Thailand, I still prefer to live here. And I think most of the expats who complain still are happy to be here in the end.

[crumpled]

I have found that 1 on 1 with a reasonable Thai person you can talk about things (good or bad)and if those things can be fixed between two people that is great. On a larger scale though, we stand very little chance of hoping to change things for (what we see as) better. The Thai population will always muddle along with what they have and what they have to put up with.

Not much different to being back in the home country in many ways. Many of us can see the larger problems but are unable to do much about about them besides voting in yet another load of useless politicians who seem to have no common sense and are the same the world over- for themselves 1st and the population 2nd.

[HeavyDrinker]

I'm having a wonderful night.

The inlaws and friends are down for one of the family coming out of the monkhood and we've a houseful but all the blokes are in my den having a crafty drink watching Spurs battering Villa....

1-0 at HT (to Spurs)

[Beetlejuice]

There is a difference between sharing opinions and some Thai visa members continuous moaning and groaning about their constant daily struggles with the Thais and their plight of living in Thailand.

It appears there are a lot of extremely disgruntled ex-pats living in Thailand and often wonder why they remain here? Although I am now beginning to find all these gripes about everything Thai quite entertaining. It really does make me think that all my troubles in life are very trivial indeed.

My prognosis is; that there are too many ex-pats that are spending too much time in isolation, (most of it self imposed) with too much time to think about too much. The solution is; Thai visa creates a forum called; rants and raves, for the participation and whinging entertainment pleasure of the moaning old farts, or simply just get a life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAtSw3daGoo

[HeavyDrinker]

To be fair Beetlejuice, the amount of time you spend on here whining about other expats being unhappy and bitter would maybe suggest that maybe things ain't so green in your own garden...?

[yingyo]

I'm having a wonderful night.

The inlaws and friends are down for one of the family coming out of the monkhood and we've a houseful but all the blokes are in my den having a crafty drink watching Spurs battering Villa....

1-0 at HT (to Spurs)

So wonderful you're sitting at the computer talking to us, while all that is going on. Must be great.

[Thai at Heart]

I like the part of your post where you say

"can you guys remember how patient your parents have been?"

And to be honest with you....NO I can't.....When I grew up if I was out of line my Parents WHACKED me.....Don't recall social services, kids hiring lawyers against there parents, kids divorcing parents. etc.

Thailand is what it is....and often it can be very frustrating....Yeah......get over it! We all make our own beds....(ie our lives are what WE make of it)

I can not argue at all with the first point.... When you are out of line, parents should give you a whack... never hurt me...

But.... I feel so bad for you that your parents never gave you any patience... Something all children and teenagers need at time....

My thoughts are with you buddy Hoepfully you can offer kids a better go one day (if you are not already)

Well possibly there comes a point when your out of patience and it's time took move on.

[Thai at Heart]

There is a difference between sharing opinions and some Thai visa members continuous moaning and groaning about their constant daily struggles with the Thais and their plight of living in Thailand.

It appears there are a lot of extremely disgruntled ex-pats living in Thailand and often wonder why they remain here? Although I am now beginning to find all these gripes about everything Thai quite entertaining. It really does make me think that all my troubles in life are very trivial indeed.

My prognosis is; that there are too many ex-pats that are spending too much time in isolation, (most of it self imposed) with too much time to think about too much. The solution is; Thai visa creates a forum called; rants and raves, for the participation and whinging entertainment pleasure of the moaning old farts, or simply just get a life.

Not sure of your point is true. Maybe a lot of the grievances are true?

[Beetlejuice]

To be fair Beetlejuice, the amount of time you spend on here whining about other expats being unhappy and bitter would maybe suggest that maybe things ain't so green in your own garden...?

What you mean is that I keep interrupting all the Thai bashing and Thailand whiners with some home truths about themselves.

How about some threads themed on the positive sides of the ex-pats stays and lifestyles in Thailand? I am beginning to think that they don`t have any as far as they`re concerned, it`s all become very mundane for them.

[Mr Average]

I'm having a wonderful night.

The inlaws and friends are down for one of the family coming out of the monkhood and we've a houseful but all the blokes are in my den having a crafty drink watching Spurs battering Villa....

1-0 at HT (to Spurs)

So wonderful you're sitting at the computer talking to us, while all that is going on. Must be great.

Sweet. But obvious.

"I'm having a wonderful night"

I guess some people just don't understand irony.

Edited October 20, 2013 by Mr Average

[HeavyDrinker]

To be fair Beetlejuice, the amount of time you spend on here whining about other expats being unhappy and bitter would maybe suggest that maybe things ain't so green in your own garden...?

What you mean is that I keep interrupting all the Thai bashing and Thailand whiners with some home truths about themselves.

How about some threads themed on the positive sides of the ex-pats stays and lifestyles in Thailand? I am beginning to think that they don`t have any as far as they`re concerned, it`s all become very mundane for them.

More to the fact is that you snipe at others yet fail to share your own joyous life experiences here....

Edited October 20, 2013 by HeavyDrinker

[HeavyDrinker]

Mr Average, Spurs won 2-0...very good night...

[Thaddeus]

Are vowels now an endangered species?

Bggr M.

[MrWorldwide]

OP,

FWIW, I agree with you, but it's futile to bitch about the bitching on TV. Been there, done that, and this is a sample of the level of discourse that ensued:

if you dislike Thailand and the people here dont fckn come here stay in fckn oz with other small minded pricks like your self.theres a lot of good decent people living here and if you are a Ozzie your the worst one i wouldn't like to meet and ozzies are normally cool funny layed back guys go fck ladyboys in your cast off Malaysia

At best, you'll be accused of trolling - regardless of how many of us agree with you. Good luck.

[Beetlejuice]

To be fair Beetlejuice, the amount of time you spend on here whining about other expats being unhappy and bitter would maybe suggest that maybe things ain't so green in your own garden...?

What you mean is that I keep interrupting all the Thai bashing and Thailand whiners with some home truths about themselves.

How about some threads themed on the positive sides of the ex-pats stays and lifestyles in Thailand? I am beginning to think that they don`t have any as far as they`re concerned, it`s all become very mundane for them.

More to the fact is that you snipe at others yet fail to share your own joyous life experiences here....

Glad you asked.

Don`t have to work, no pressures of being involved in industry, my time is my own.

At home I can go to bed and wake up whenever I please.

Nice neighbors who I always get along with and have known for many years without any hassles or disputes. My kids grew up with their kids. My wife gets involved with all the local activities here and is in her element.

If I feel like going out for a meal, or going anywhere at anytime with anybody or just on my own, I just hop on to my motorbike and off I go at a whim.

Have a nice family home, wife, pets, lovely garden, all legal, above board and plenty of space, located in an environment that I could never afford back in Farangland.

Have no debts, everything paid for, owe nobody nothing.

Nice weather most of the time.

Area where we live, relatively safe, have no need to secure our home like Fort Knox as we did in Farangland.

Living a relaxed, decent lifestyle, good food on the table, eat, drink, pee, crap, pick my nose and fart whenever the urge takes me, no need to seek anyone’s permission for anything.

Have a few decent friends, both farang and Thai.

Pretty young girls actually talk with me here and not considered an old pervert for doing so.

All my kids are thriving here, afforded them a good education that was no where near affordable in Farangland. They are well integrated into Thai society, but also still quite Western, so can enjoy the best of both worlds.

When out and about I smile at the people and the people smile back at me, including the pretty girls, except the farangs of course.

Although getting on a bit in years, this is the best time of my life, never had it so good and all for a fraction of the cost if I wanted to archive a similar lifestyle in Farangland. Decided to spend the remainder of my life in Thailand was the best move I ever made.And I can tell you that there are many, many other ex-pats who like me are reaping the benefits of living in Thailand. There is no way that I can complain and consider myself extremely lucky to be in my situation right now. I know of many who are enduring their mundane lives in Farangland who would swap with me and probably you at an instant.

The best part is that one does not have to be filthy rich to enjoy a similar lifestyle in Thailand, it`s all down to good planning, not getting too involved, keeping your head down and making the most of it. Anyone with any savvy will realise that there are more positives than negatives to living in Thailand and for those who can only see the downsides of everything around them, have a problem which stems for their own failures and there is no point in blaming anyone else.