The hypocritical criticisms of Thailand...

[Nautilus05]

This is one thing I don't get. Some people have genuine gripes about Thailand, and those are fair game, so no problems there. However, it seems as though almost the majority of complaints against Thailand on this forum are hypocritical, and those issues are just as bad if not worse in the West. I'll give you some examples:

The pollution is horrible! -- Yes, if you live in the middle of an 11 million person city, the pollution is probably going to be pretty bad. That goes for every 10+ million person city in the world though. Have you ever looked at the Los Angeles skyline in the morning? I would hardly call that clean and pristine air. Ok, CM residents have a legit complaint due to the burning, but you guys knew that moving in.

The food is unhealthy! -- What do you think you're consuming out West? All organic and free range food, with no additives or preservatives? Food out West is chock full of steroids and chemicals, and in many cases we don't know what the health effects are, because there hasn't been enough time to conduct long-term studies. And that's not even getting into all the processed crap that ends up in the food supply.

There's too much corruption! -- Really? No offense, but Thailand pales in comparison to the corruption out West. Difference is, out West it's more hidden and called business, and/or legalized and called lobbying. For example, the US govt straight-up stole $800 billion from its citizens, and didn't even try to hide it or cover it up. Instead, they marched the US President down the red carpet during primetime TV, and he straight out told everyone they're stealing $800 billion, and giving it to the banks, which is exactly what they did.

Thai people are lazy! -- Considering our home countries are the largest welfare states on the planet, I won't even get into this one.

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

Thai are materialistic and shallow! -- Yes, because out West we're all very caring and empathetic, as can be seen during events like Black Friday.

Customer service is horrible! -- I have no idea, but I've never had a problem? After 4 years here, the longest power outage I've experienced was abour 3 hours during a typhoon like storm, which is way better than I've ever experienced elsewhere. If internet or breaks down, it's one call in the morning, and a tech is literally up the pole within hours. If I need my air conditioners serviced, it's a quick trip into town in the morning for a chat (I can't talk Thai over the phone well enough), and then the service man actually comes back to my house with me. Out West it was always, "please be home next Wednesday between 9 - 5".

Another example, I break my laptop screen? I take it down, and literally two hours later I have a new screen in my laptop for cheap, I think about $70. Out West that would be, "ok, we need to send this one, and it shouldn't be more than a week or two. we'll call you when it's done".

And the list goes on. My only point is, if you're going to criticize Thailand, please at least try not to be so hypocritical when doing so. It really makes you look stupid.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Nautilus05

[benalibina]

I dare not write anymore.

[David48]

Marked as Read ...

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[sundrenched]

A lot of your examples are very weak. Pollution, corruption, service,... Well hell yeah, they ARE worse here than in the West. A problem I see here more often is Thai apologists /reflexive West-bashing who have have no sense of magnitude. Just because there is pollution in the US and Europe doesn't mean it's as bad as in Thailand. It's not a binary thing, either on or off.

[samran]

Mostly I put it down to when you move countries you aren't settled yet. You are exposed to everything and starting from scratch.

But yes. There are plenty of idiots about. People who shouldn't be given passports, and unfortunately they like to end up in Thailand.

Others who don't realise that as white people, for the most part they are actually getting treated better than the average Thai and definitely better than the Burmese migrant worker.

The complaints I read on Thai Visa astound me. Makes me think I live in the same country but parallel universe.

And don't get me started about the anti foreigner foreigners who move to Thailand.

[sundrenched]

PS: I spent two months in LA about 10 years ago, and the pollution was NOTHING like Bangkok. lived in London and New York for many years, and again nothing like Bangkok. Of course there's occasional peaks, but they're very little to the constant pollution here. Comparing measles to the plague.

[benalibina]

Mostly I put it down to when you move countries you aren't settled yet. You are exposed to everything and starting from scratch.

But yes. There are plenty of idiots about. People who shouldn't be given passports, and unfortunately they like to end up in Thailand.

Others who don't realise that as white people, for the most part they are actually getting treated better than the average Thai and definitely better than the Burmese migrant worker.

The complaints I read on Thai Visa astound me. Makes me think I live in the same country but parallel universe.

And don't get me started about the anti foreigner foreigners who move to Thailand.

Only 1 good point u made.....the last 1.....that should have been mentioned on the "illogical thread" as a counterpoint. It truly amazes me that people who marry a foreign wife complain about foreigners in their own country. Amazing....hmmm no...foreigners !

[BritManToo]

PS: I spent two months in LA about 10 years ago, and the pollution was NOTHING like Bangkok. lived in London and New York for many years, and again nothing like Bangkok. Of course there's occasional peaks, but they're very little to the constant pollution here. Comparing measles to the plague.

Pollution

Litter and builders dumping rubble everywhere. Nothing like it in the UK.

CM smog. Nothing like it in the UK.

[roadrunerboi]

I like the Black Friday one... ever been to Best Buy (or same same) on Black Friday?

555

[Nautilus05]

PS: I spent two months in LA about 10 years ago, and the pollution was NOTHING like Bangkok. lived in London and New York for many years, and again nothing like Bangkok. Of course there's occasional peaks, but they're very little to the constant pollution here. Comparing measles to the plague.

CM smog. Nothing like it in the UK.

What? Go live up around the Teeside area. There's literally ash falling onto your windshield while you're driving, to the point you need to turn the wiper blades on.

Edited April 3, 2014 by Nautilus05

[sundrenched]

OK, very concrete: I just opened my bedroom window to air the room and like every day I smell some really nasty air. A (rare) good day in Bangkok is when you can mostly NOT smell the air. I lived in Central london for 3 years (Notting Hill/Chelsea) and I don't recall ever thinking: "****, should have left my window shut today".

I'll have to look it up but there was an article recently in the Economist that young people in SE Asia have one third less lung capacity than in the West, due to rampant pollution. But I really din't need to look at PSI indices because my nose / irritated throat tells me all I need to know.

[LaraC]

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

No, basically every woman "out West" isnt a lieing gold digger, thanks.

(..and your comparison regarding successful lawyer -v- lazy beer drinker is just plain stupid)

[Sigurris]

Is it not the point of a country specific forum to talk about the good and bad of that country? And bad news always makes the front page.

Most people tend to use broad brush strokes when complaining. Using words like all and most are common in every culture when complaining. It doesn't usually mean all or most it is just a little laziness around the language. As intelligent people we really ought to be able to decipher some of this shorthand and see that the frustration about some specific examples is just that.

But I suppose there are people here who love to jump on us lazy writers. Perhaps we can start a sub-set of the Grammar police. The SS (superlatives squad) can be tasked to wipe out all use of superlatives unless absolutely proven.

[seajae]

opinions are like ars*holes, everybody has one, what you also have to allow for is that everyone sees things differently. I know I can walk for miles in any Australian city and not feel like throwing up due the the stench of rotting food/meat/gutts that has been just tossed in the gutter/waterways next to a city street, it is only around abatoirs that you get anything like it. I also have never had to pay any staff to get anything done quicker or at all, I know it happens but not with every single customer. When you have to pay to have them witness your signature when its part of their job you do wonder how bad it is. Also in the "west" the police are out on the roads pulling over errant drivers breaking the law, not hiding in their airconditioned offices and refusing to even attend a crime/complaint unless you pay them a bonus. As for the thai women, even my thai wife is extremely critical of what many of them do, seems you really need to get your facts correct and not looked at through your rose coloureds, sorry

[thailiketoo]

opinions are like ars*holes, everybody has one, what you also have to allow for is that everyone sees things differently. I know I can walk for miles in any Australian city and not feel like throwing up due the the stench of rotting food/meat/gutts that has been just tossed in the gutter/waterways next to a city street, it is only around abatoirs that you get anything like it. I also have never had to pay any staff to get anything done quicker or at all, I know it happens but not with every single customer. When you have to pay to have them witness your signature when its part of their job you do wonder how bad it is. Also in the "west" the police are out on the roads pulling over errant drivers breaking the law, not hiding in their airconditioned offices and refusing to even attend a crime/complaint unless you pay them a bonus. As for the thai women, even my thai wife is extremely critical of what many of them do, seems you really need to get your facts correct and not looked at through your rose coloureds, sorry

When I first came to Bangkok the stewardesses on the airplane gave two different speeches. The first speech lasted 20 minutes and warned of the perils of Thailand. The second was, "For those passengers coming from Vietnam, have fun guys; nothing in Bangkok going to hurt you."

Life is like that. Some people fear everything and others were used to the smell before they arrived.

Some people can adapt, those that were exposed to travel and other cultures from a young age.

Some people have a knife and then again some people have a kinfe.

Edited April 3, 2014 by thailiketoo

[Seastallion]

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

No, basically every woman "out West" isnt a lieing gold digger, thanks.

(..and your comparison regarding successful lawyer -v- lazy beer drinker is just plain stupid)

To be fair, LaraC, he was generalising as many on TV do about the Thai women. Of course it's not all, not even a majority. In both cultures.

But there are certainly some Thai women, and some Western women, that "put out" for a guy with money or status. It's just the demograph of TV members and their habits that result in a blip in perceptions.

And to be fair, I can't imagine a lawyer not being more popular over a beer-guzzler, even amongst the non-gold-diggers..

[thailiketoo]

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

No, basically every woman "out West" isnt a lieing gold digger, thanks.

(..and your comparison regarding successful lawyer -v- lazy beer drinker is just plain stupid)

To be fair, LaraC, he was generalising as many on TV do about the Thai women. Of course it's not all, not even a majority. In both cultures.

But there are certainly some Thai women, and some Western women, that "put out" for a guy with money or status. It's just the demograph of TV members and their habits that result in a blip in perceptions.

And to be fair, I can't imagine a lawyer not being more popular over a beer-guzzler, even amongst the non-gold-diggers..

I agree with your point but you probably should have picked a more honorable profession like repo man or professional killer.

[Thai at Heart]

Two of these aren't born out by the statistics. Pollution and corruption . the others are just generalisation.

[KonaRain]

L.A. has a basin, causing an 'inversion layer'. C.M. might be similar..

I liked the O.P.'s comparos..Aloha

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Munger]

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

No, basically every woman "out West" isnt a lieing gold digger, thanks.

(..and your comparison regarding successful lawyer -v- lazy beer drinker is just plain stupid)

YUP, Do you think the OP, has a prostitute as a wife/ girlfriend, and wants to justify his stupid life ? Why has the OP not told us his age, the age of his wife/girfriend, and where he met her. I think I can guess.

[Jimmu]

OP: Utter tripe!

[thailiketoo]

OP: Utter tripe!

You're kidding right?

[Jingthing]

Thailand is not paradise, and it's not hell either, rather like most places.

[kevvy]

Customer service is horrible yes it is ....

The other points OK.

[thailiketoo]

Customer service is horrible yes it is ....

The other points OK.

That's just nuts. Speaking of nuts, what happens when you order a pint at your local? Not in Thailand. The customer service is great. A lady comes over and massages my back and another takes care of the nuts. Snacks of course I love the customer service.

[thailiketoo]

Thailand is not paradise, and it's not hell either, rather like most places.

Kids playing at my old house.

[janpharma]

All of the mentioned...are still Facts...

[taiping]

The OP is dead right. All the complainers please FO and leave us in peace.

By the way, the pollution in Bangkok was far far worse 30 years ago. 2-stroke motorcycles and tuk-tuk's belching out smoke. I remember it well. Of course, nothings perfect but as I say, if you don't like it then bugger off.

[sfbandung]

Thai women are lieing gold diggers! -- Well, that's basically every woman out West as well. Sorry fellas, but woman in general would prefer to marry a successful lawyer, versus someone who lays around and drinks beer everyday.

No, basically every woman "out West" isnt a lieing gold digger, thanks.

(..and your comparison regarding successful lawyer -v- lazy beer drinker is just plain stupid)

And neither are Thai women

[mancub]

Would be interested to know what the OP considers (in his own words) to be "genuine gripes " ?