Questioning why i live here....

[JaiLai]

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Been here over 28 years and have many of my friends 25++ an we all agree with this statement!!!

That is extremely sad state of living. I can understand that it can happen, but to live in a glass prison, does not sound like something I wish to do in the future.

It's not sad, I'd imagine its based on many experience over those years which lead to these choices.

[phuketrichard]

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Been here over 28 years and have many of my friends 25++ an we all agree with this statement!!!

That is extremely sad state of living. I can understand that it can happen, but to live in a glass prison, does not sound like something I wish to do in the future.

you go it all wrong, i speak thai, have thai friends, have raised a half thai daughter,love living here, i dont live in a glass prison. BUT to make life easier the less time spend interacting and being frustrated the eaiser it is to remian happy living here,

You learn to accept thigs the longer u remain here, wait till u have been here 15 ++ years and tell me how you think

[Guest]

you go it all wrong, i speak thai, have thai friends, have raised a half thai daughter,love living here, i dont live in a glass prison. BUT to make life easier the less time spend interacting and being frustrated the eaiser it is to remian happy living here,

You learn to accept thigs the longer u remain here, wait till u have been here 15 ++ years and tell me how you think

I actually try to learn from the old timers experiences living in here. From you as well. You and other old timers present some of the possibilities which I could become after time.

I have now lived 7 years in Thailand. During this time there are some changes on my way of thinking, which I can be proud of and unfortunately there are the changes which I'm not so proud of.

Then there are things in Thailand, which I consider very unfair or lack of empathy towards others, which I simply do not wish to be part of.

Untill for the past few years, I thought that the good parts living here trumps the bad ones. Now I'm not so sure anymore. I still have few decades before retirement and possibly have the energy to start my life all over once again, if there is enough reason.

I still wish to be part of the society I live in. Not just an visitor, but a member who can make things better, when needed.

When it comes to the OP, he is living in one of the worst locations on Phuket, where it's rare to see the original Thai smile and hospitality which comes along it anymore. There are many better places even on this island. But at the same time, the dark cloud is spreading from the tourist locations forward. I don't want to live here, when it reaches where I live in.

[kannot]

Every morning I get up and walk down the road in front of my house and never question why I live here!

DSC00829.jpg

Great answer !!! I too live in a quiet place wake up to birds singing in the morning .

Ah but at any time a Thai neighbour could move in close to you and ruin that peace..........they really dont give a flying <deleted> about anyone but themselves the King And Buddha..............in that order

Take my village..........water usually off, when on it can be black and stink...........no one cares, roads mor e holes than road, nothing changes..............but, want to build a shiny new temple or local plaque to his greatness, well go right ahead money flows forth...........anything else??? couldnt care less.

[tyler2208]

Every morning I get up and walk down the road in front of my house and never question why I live here!

DSC00829.jpg

looking at this picture of a dirt road in the middle of overgrown weeds, i wouldn't question why I live there either, the only questions I would ask is how did this happen to me! and which way is the way out...

[kannot]

Every morning I get up and walk down the road in front of my house and never question why I live here!

DSC00829.jpg

Great answer !!! I too live in a quiet place wake up to birds singing in the morning .

Ah but at any time a Thai neighbour could move in close to you and ruin that peace..........they really dont give a flying <deleted> about anyone but themselves the King And Buddha..............in that order

Take my village..........water usually off, when on it can be black and stink...........no one cares, roads mor e holes than road, nothing changes..............but, want to build a shiny new temple or local plaque to his greatness, well go right ahead money flows forth...........anything else??? couldnt care less.

[ggt]

Have only been to phuket once,but from what i have heard your experience there is not unique.There are laws here but they are not enforced and the police are generally lazy unless "tea money" is forthcoming.This is the reality of living here,and its all ok until something like what happened to the OP happens to us.I have no idea if such an incident would affect me as it has the OP.

To live here successfully,happily,its important understand the culture here.

Plus in my opinion its not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket,anywhere in the world.

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

That's drivel; many of the locals are good people. yeah, in the tourist area there will always be the usual scum, but don't tar all with the same brush.

I went to my local village last night, for some food. I ended up staying for about 3 hours, as plate after plate of food was delivered to my table. At the end when I went to pay, no one would take the money. So, maybe I am getting a different experience from your jaded views, but there are plenty of good, honest decent people around.

Whatever you do ...do not publish the name of your village...you will be overrun with farangs looking for good, honest, decent people in the Land of Lies...

[kannot]

Every morning I get up and walk down the road in front of my house and never question why I live here!

DSC00829.jpg

Great answer !!! I too live in a quiet place wake up to birds singing in the morning .

Ah but at any time a Thai neighbour could move in close to you and ruin that peace..........they really dont give a flying <deleted> about anyone but themselves the King And Buddha..............in that order

Take my village..........water usually off, when on it can be black and stink...........no one cares, roads mor e holes than road, nothing changes..............but, want to build a shiny new temple or local plaque to his greatness, well go right ahead money flows forth...........anything else??? couldnt care less.

[khrab]

This really happened in Thailand?

The same incident could have happened in Germany. Phone (money, expensive clothes, almost your life) taken from you and the police couldn't care less.

[kannot]

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Been here over 28 years and have many of my friends 25++ an we all agree with this statement!!!

That is extremely sad state of living. I can understand that it can happen, but to live in a glass prison, does not sound like something I wish to do in the future.

you go it all wrong, i speak thai, have thai friends, have raised a half thai daughter,love living here, i dont live in a glass prison. BUT to make life easier the less time spend interacting and being frustrated the eaiser it is to remian happy living here,

You learn to accept thigs the longer u remain here, wait till u have been here 15 ++ years and tell me how you think

If the locals could actually give me a straight answer (unlikely) I might have more to do with them but until then I have as little to do with them as possible and thats just how I like it, they can invent their little tittle tattle stories about the crazy farang all day long as far as Im concerned, my village is full of cheats borrowing off each other, chanotes given out for money and never given back, land theft etc etc leave em to get on with it just stay the heck away from me.

I started off hiring a few and it was a nightmare, now I do everything myself including building 2 houses single handed.

[rgs2001uk]

Have only been to phuket once,but from what i have heard your experience there is not unique.There are laws here but they are not enforced and the police are generally lazy unless "tea money" is forthcoming.This is the reality of living here,and its all ok until something like what happened to the OP happens to us.I have no idea if such an incident would affect me as it has the OP.

To live here successfully,happily,its important understand the culture here.

Plus in my opinion its not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket,anywhere in the world.

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

That's drivel; many of the locals are good people. yeah, in the tourist area there will always be the usual scum, but don't tar all with the same brush.

I went to my local village last night, for some food. I ended up staying for about 3 hours, as plate after plate of food was delivered to my table. At the end when I went to pay, no one would take the money. So, maybe I am getting a different experience from your jaded views, but there are plenty of good, honest decent people around.

Whatever you do ...do not publish the name of your village...you will be overrun with farangs looking for good, honest, decent people in the Land of Lies...

I agree with everything Mr T says, I have a good idea of where he lives, just down the road from me, so can vouch for what he says.

Judging by the OPs username, his problem isnt Thailand or the Thais, its where he has chosen to live, a place whose reputation preceeds it.

An area most Thais are well aware of, blah blah blah.

[paz]

I won't comment on Thailand in general, in this case all stems from a crime, that do happen in any country.

Doesn't the OP country ahve crime ?

In my G7 home country, my wife calls me saying that she has been playing wrestling with a robber in our building entrance. He made it away with her bag, a passerby Philippina did nothing to help when he was down on ground already. The police took the reports and were simpathetic, but at the end did nothing to catch the guy, let alone "track the phone". Other assorted crime of all types and size is also a daily, again the police seems more interested in going after the customers of some 17 yrs old girls that sells themselves for pretty good money, or those that grow pot on the rooftop.

Then since I've lived in difference places, I have seen few more occourences. In Argentina, I've been robbed at gunpoint at the phone shop in one of the better neighboorods. Also burglarized by a slick conman. People gets killed for literally $5. In the US, hanging out in the SF Bay, on San Pablo Av I've been told that peoople get jumped on day and night, with all the guns around is Far West all the time. The list goes on, I think everyone had some bad experience in any place of the world/

All considered I'd say Thailand is still safer than average in terms of crime.

[vincent13]

Get out of Phuket and you will find it's a different "world" out there!

[phuketrichard]

All considered I'd say Thailand is still safer than average in terms of crime.

Crime yes but keep in mind that Thailand is the 3rd worse country in the world for accidents. Alot has to do with the mentality of the drivers.

THis thread has morphed into something i would not have expected here, the truth...

[jacksam]

Man up or go home. I would have called his bluff

[jacksam]

Man up or go home. I would have called his bluff

[jacksam]

Man up or go home. I would have called his bluff

[nicolas18]

All considered I'd say Thailand is still safer than average in terms of crime.

Crime yes but keep in mind that Thailand is the 3rd worse country in the world for accidents. Alot has to do with the mentality of the drivers.

THis thread has morphed into something i would not have expected here, the truth...

Yes, the mentality of the local drivers, of course. And absolutely nothing to do with the idiots who visit Thailand, have never ridden a bike before and decide to go back to their hotel at 3AM while being completely hammered.

I've been driving a car for the past 2 years here, and the biggest idiots/madmen on the road are:

a) Thai minivan drivers

b ) Tourists on motorcycles

Edited January 27, 2014 by nicolas18

[jacksam]

Not sure how to reply being newbie. However the <deleted> that said "man up ,I would have called his bluff" is just typical of some of <deleted> I have met here. X cop 40 years

[rayongchelsea]

C) people driving whilst talking on the mobile.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rwdrwdrwd]

First story don't blame you being sad at all.

Second story however sounds like you were driving in the right hand lane with a clear left hand lane? If so, you shouldn't have to move over, since you should be keeping left anyway. I'd beep you too. How is the driver behind you to know that when you indicated left from the right hand lane to encourage him to pass on that side that you weren't intending to move there?

Edited January 27, 2014 by rwdrwdrwd

[nicolas18]

To go back to what the OP and that "I hate most Thais" guy were saying, I have to say that I can't help being somewhat puzzled by the attitude of some of the expats who live here.

I have lived as an expat in four different countries now: Italy, Japan, France and Thailand. Each of these countries has one or several "expat-oriented" online forum, much like Thai Visa. Japan, for example, has Gaijin Pot, etc...

The weird thing is that, in each of those countries and on each of these forums, expats seem to have a deep appreciation of their new home. Yes, they can bitch sometimes about specific rules or the way the police treated them, or whatever, but I have never read or heard from an expat in, say, Japan: "Ugh, I hate Japanese people, what a barbaric race." Not to mention the entitled attitude some of the expats here in Thailand seem to display like a badge of honor (You know the type, we've all seen them in shops, hospitals or government offices, acting as if any worker there should automatically bow down to the mighty white man and treat them as if they were royalty).

I guess my point is that we, as expats, shouldn't be surprised of the way some Thais view us, when some of us don't even want to interact with the locals and, when they do, actually treat them like crap. Not to mention the Singha wifebeater-wearing alcoholics wandering around the street.

Yes, I know that there are many decent expats living here, but a vocal minority is unfortunately making things more difficult for us all.

[ttthailand]

These tourist areas are what they are, tourist areas. They attract the worst of the worst as that is where the money exchanges hands the most. You need to get far away from the likes of these places and you will be amazed at the change in local people. Everyone knows each other and are very friendly. There are however crazy things that happen all the time but normally only minor issues. I think most tourist areas can be a little dangerous at midnight.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[jerome2]

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

Could you please remind us again why you moved to a country whose country or people you are not interested in?

i'm here because it's cheep sexy and warm....no joke ,and happy do you think you can have thai friends?

never see

[louse1953]

O

Have only been to phuket once,but from what i have heard your experience there is not unique.There are laws here but they are not enforced and the police are generally lazy unless "tea money" is forthcoming.This is the reality of living here,and its all ok until something like what happened to the OP happens to us.I have no idea if such an incident would affect me as it has the OP.

To live here successfully,happily,its important understand the culture here.

Plus in my opinion its not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket,anywhere in the world.

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

BS.

[Card]

Have only been to phuket once,but from what i have heard your experience there is not unique.There are laws here but they are not enforced and the police are generally lazy unless "tea money" is forthcoming.This is the reality of living here,and its all ok until something like what happened to the OP happens to us.I have no idea if such an incident would affect me as it has the OP.

To live here successfully,happily,its important understand the culture here.

Plus in my opinion its not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket,anywhere in the world.

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

I tend to agree with this. I have very little to do with Thais, or farangs for that matter, apart from my long-term Thai partner. Don't know much Thai language and seldom have much to do with them. Sounds a bit sad, I know, but I've always kept myself to myself and enjoy being alone and private. Apart from my partner, I don't rely on Thais for finance, jobs, friendship, favours, loans, appointments, etc becuase I know in the long run they will let you down, and badly.

[louse1953]

O

Have only been to phuket once,but from what i have heard your experience there is not unique.There are laws here but they are not enforced and the police are generally lazy unless "tea money" is forthcoming.This is the reality of living here,and its all ok until something like what happened to the OP happens to us.I have no idea if such an incident would affect me as it has the OP.

To live here successfully,happily,its important understand the culture here.

Plus in my opinion its not a good idea to put all your eggs in one basket,anywhere in the world.

To live here happily / successfully it's best to have as little interaction with the locals as possible.

Why would you want to learn the cultures? You'll never be fully accepted or understand them.

That's drivel; many of the locals are good people. yeah, in the tourist area there will always be the usual scum, but don't tar all with the same brush.

I went to my local village last night, for some food. I ended up staying for about 3 hours, as plate after plate of food was delivered to my table. At the end when I went to pay, no one would take the money. So, maybe I am getting a different experience from your jaded views, but there are plenty of good, honest decent people around.

It's not drivel, the only thing that you fail to understand is its more blatant in tourist areas.

My views are jaded yes but I have a very broad overview on which to base them.

Don't think coz you got a few plates of road kill for free everyone's your friend. You are right there are SOME decent locals about but not many of them are honest.

Farangs are mocked more in rural Thailand than in the tourist areas imo

You maybe mocked,but don't include me in that.

[louse1953]

Give the OP a break! He is obviously still suffering from shock and he already stated the issue ain't his phone being stolen it's more that he is realising now that the LOS ain't the paradise he thought it was and now it's been confirmed by his awful experience when facing down the barrel of a gun with a complete lunatic at the other end of it! And his understandable frustration of trying to motivate the lazy greedy scamming local BIB to help and get this lunatic off the streets before he does pull that trigger on some unfortunate soul!

I must concur with the argument that like every other country in the world has exactly the same problems with its fair amount of lunatics .... And because of a few nutters it's wrong to say everyone's the same!

I've got lots of genuine caring gentle thai close friends and I'm sure as the OP stated he has too but to call him high and mighty and to call him a racist is so unfair! There are lots of Thais that see a walking ATM every time they spot a farang and I've noticed myself how much they are getting more and more dishonest and will try anything to scam every last baht from you!

So to say he wasted his time going to the police or saying to him to get over it and move on is wrong! I admire him for standing his ground and insisting on a written report and it was his duty to report this lunatic before someone loses their life!

My advice to the OP is to take some time out... Go back to your home country and spend some time with your family and friends and when your mind is more clearer and you are recovered from what must have been a terrifying and depressing episode then you and only you will be able to make the right decision on where your future goes....

Hope you can get over this quickly good luck to you in whatever you decide you must do.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Calling him a racist is unfair? Which part of "a very barbaric race of human beings" is not racist exactly?

The OP is absolutely a scumbag racist. Condemning an entire society because of one or two individuals? Thailand would be better without him.

I most certainly am not, i am married to a thai admittedly half thai, i have not only european white, but also middle eastern, Caribbean extended family so how you can call me racist ill never understand... but have also probably travelled more than you and made many friends, the statement had you read it properly did not single out all thais but the few that think they can do such with no consequence, had some one pulled a gun on you ... WHAT WOULD YOU DO I WONDER???

Further more i interact with over 200 thais daily who work with me, and many thai friends, but i mean this minority/majority that think they can do this with no repercussions so please do go back to your rock...

HOWEVER i must agree, there are some racist remarks and i am sure these people dont even live here.

Being married to a Thais doesn't make you not a racist,infact,some of them are the worst.

[jimky]

Typically the police don't help Thai people either.

[Loles]

When the perp road of i was in good mind to chase him down and hit him in the car,

I bet you regret not doing that now

Yes, and if those 44 Kg weighted bastard gets injured you will be charged attempted murder and reckless driving, and you have to pay the idiot's hospital and motorbike repair costs also.

Why? Cause the legal defence situation was over.

Thank you.

I was those road already.

Edited January 27, 2014 by Loles