Is it me, or has Bangkok's Weirdo Quotient gone up in the last few years?

[cyborgx]

Perhaps its just me, but I have noticed a change in the attitude and persona of the average Expat living in BKK over the past few years.

Moreso than ever, it feels that everyone is just looking out for and thinking about number one. Ideas of general loyalty, respect, even friendliness to strangers seem to have all fallen by the wayside.

The average person I meet these days seem selfish, self involved, and think they know it all. They also appear to want to lecture you on everything they know, in some weird ego tripping attempt to display a kind of self imposed superiority......

Even basic manners, consideration for and empathy with our fellow man (or woman) are being lost in a more and more competitive, fast paced lifestyle, that leaves no time for building strong bonds with REAL people (2000 Twitter and Facebook friends that you've never met and never even heard their voice don't count!).

Like I said at the start, perhaps it's me, and the rest of the world has been like this for a long time already, but BKK is starting to feel like just another dog eat dog metropolis, and I for one am sad at the change.....

[ATF]

You've had a close encounter with the Digital Pikey.

[MisterTee]

No, it's not just you.

A lot more of them are coming and conditions in their home countries aren't getting any better.

Look at the increase in Thai-bashers on this forum in the past few years.

[cyborgx]

No, it's not just you.

A lot more of them are coming and conditions in their home countries aren't getting any better.

Look at the increase in Thai-bashers on this forum in the past few years.

Something similar happened to me recently, when I said I met a very well educated Phillipino guy, the person I was talking to said "but they don't have culture like us, for example they don't have Shakespeare...!"

I pointed out that actually EVERY country has its own culture, and their own revered writers.

The concept was lost on him.......

[mrtoad]

Cheap air tickets, bogus ED visas, sense of entitlement and free wifi - that's the root of the rise of The DP

[MisterTee]

No, it's not just you.

A lot more of them are coming and conditions in their home countries aren't getting any better.

Look at the increase in Thai-bashers on this forum in the past few years.

Something similar happened to me recently, when I said I met a very well educated Phillipino guy, the person I was talking to said "but they don't have culture like us, for example they don't have Shakespeare...!"

I pointed out that actually EVERY country has its own culture, and their own revered writers.

The concept was lost on him.......

It could be a non-literary culture with aspects that might be worthwhile for us to learn.

[rayongchelsea]

No, it's not just you.

A lot more of them are coming and conditions in their home countries aren't getting any better.

Look at the increase in Thai-bashers on this forum in the past few years.

So you are a weirdo if you do thai bashing?

A lot more are coming because it's easy to get here..

Weirdoes have been coming here for decades, but they had sensibility empathy and manners..as did the majority.

Now if they are lacking those characteristic , again it's just a reflection of the majority.

Thais will also tell you how much their society has changed and not for the better, it's not just the expats.

I do agree , as the people arriving here and contributing to this forum get older and more in number..the criticism of thailand has been way to much on this forum. People get disillusioned with the place after a few years.

[Ulysses G.]

There have always been plenty of weirdos here, but there are WAY more normal Westerners than when I first got here. It was nothing but oddballs back then - other than me of course.

[ttthailand]

OP if what you say is True or not I am not sure... but it sure seems that most people's best friend is now their cell phone. The interpersonal contact that many of us grew up with is now being replaced by the Internet and social networking. There are people I know who's night out is basically a change of place to sit and bury their head in their phone. Try to carry on a conversation with them and they go into a trance and back to their phone..... Socially retarded !!!

As far as the me me me thinking, it is now the normal mindset.

I miss the good old days when messages and documents were sent by fax machine and people talked to each other face to face. I guess times are a changing and we have to be changing with them or be left behind talking to ourselves.

[smokie36]

Cheap air tickets, bogus ED visas, sense of entitlement and free wifi - that's the root of the rise of The DP

Perhaps the OP's luck will change and he will happen upon an evening of conviviality between friends who don't often meet up...but make the most of it and are willing to chat with anyone in the pub....so long as they aren't Wolves fans.

[Loptr]

The phenomenon the OP is describing is hardly unique to Thailand... I've noticed the same detachment by recent generations... You know, the folks that can't separate themselves from their digital persona for more than 30 seconds... I used to think it was confined to the US, but it's not... Technology is both a blessing and a curse...

[Gonsalviz]

Never liked BKK. Stay away as long as possible.

[cyborgx]

No, it's not just you.

A lot more of them are coming and conditions in their home countries aren't getting any better.

Look at the increase in Thai-bashers on this forum in the past few years.

So you are a weirdo if you do thai bashing?

A lot more are coming because it's easy to get here..

Weirdoes have been coming here for decades, but they had sensibility empathy and manners..as did the majority.

Now if they are lacking those characteristic , again it's just a reflection of the majority.

Thais will also tell you how much their society has changed and not for the better, it's not just the expats.

I do agree , as the people arriving here and contributing to this forum get older and more in number..the criticism of thailand has been way to much on this forum. People get disillusioned with the place after a few years.

Yes, Disillusionment is definitely a contributing factor. a couple of weeks holiday is definitely not the same as living here, and some people don't cope well with the difference.

[cyborgx]

There have always been plenty of weirdos here, but there are WAY more normal Westerners than when I first got here. It was nothing but oddballs back then - other than me of course.

True I guess, most of the people here were strange in one way or another, usually running away or hiding from something, but IMHO they were still friendlier than the hoard roaming around BKK today.

Perhaps that's it..... Back then, the numbers were so low that there was an instant sort of comradery felt between strangers, which rarely happens today, at least in BBK, Pattaya etc...

These days, rather than comradery, it feels more like a mass of testosterone toting, Viagra popping men (of all ages) wandering around thinking they are all born again gorgeous handsome and virile Brad Pitts.... and no longer friendly to each other, its more an atmosphere of competition.......

I'm not saying there is anything WRONG with competition per say, but not as a replacement for good manners and friendly social interaction......

[cyborgx]

OP if what you say is True or not I am not sure... but it sure seems that most people's best friend is now their cell phone. The interpersonal contact that many of us grew up with is now being replaced by the Internet and social networking. There are people I know who's night out is basically a change of place to sit and bury their head in their phone. Try to carry on a conversation with them and they go into a trance and back to their phone..... Socially retarded !!!

As far as the me me me thinking, it is now the normal mindset.

I miss the good old days when messages and documents were sent by fax machine and people talked to each other face to face. I guess times are a changing and we have to be changing with them or be left behind talking to ourselves.

Yes, also a good point and another contributing factor.

Good conversation is becoming a lost art, being replaced by a requirement for skills in textspeak and emoticons. LOL as they say

I can't remember the last time anybody bothered to actually tell a joke, these days, people'd rather text it to you while you are standing right in front of them!

[Rumblecat]

Sounds like a lot of you are hanging out with the wrong people- are you sure the company you keep isn't, y'know, a reflection on some of yourselves..? It might be like that bit in the classic HP Lovecraft story when the guy looks in the mirror... and the monster is staring back at him...

Have to say most of the people I know who work in digital industries are pretty smart and engaging- and very social as well if the number of meet-ups and strength of their community is anything to go by. Unless they're of the older generation where admittedly you get some social malcontents and weirdoes- guys who are forty five up and never advanced their skill set as technology moved on. But I guess that's the same with many 'teachers' I meet- guys who have socially failed in their own countries and set themselves up here as low-skilled teachers on low-level wages- it tends to bring out the fantasist in a lot of them.

[mrtoad]

Sounds like a lot of you are hanging out with the wrong people- are you sure the company you keep isn't, y'know, a reflection on some of yourselves..? It might be like that bit in the classic HP Lovecraft story when the guy looks in the mirror... and the monster is staring back at him...

Have to say most of the people I know who work in digital industries are pretty smart and engaging- and very social as well if the number of meet-ups and strength of their community is anything to go by. Unless they're of the older generation where admittedly you get some social malcontents and weirdoes- guys who are forty five up and never advanced their skill set as technology moved on. But I guess that's the same with many 'teachers' I meet- guys who have socially failed in their own countries and set themselves up here as low-skilled teachers on low-level wages- it tends to bring out the fantasist in a lot of them.

Don't hang out with the wierdos but have observed more over the last few years. The digital pijey is the latest fantasist

[neverdie]

There have always been plenty of weirdos here, but there are WAY more normal Westerners than when I first got here. It was nothing but oddballs back then - other than me of course.

What are you talking about old boy, you started it all. It's those studded leather pants you wear and that god aweful eye makeup. You freak me out.

Not hansum like me.

[neverdie]

Never liked BKK. Stay away as long as possible.

When you know the city, it becomes,part of you.

Nothing wrong with bangers, but there's lots of idiots around these days and plenty of rejects from the west.

I hate all people equally.

[TheSpade]

Cheap air tickets, bogus ED visas, sense of entitlement and free wifi - that's the root of the rise of The DP

The bulk of the weirdos I've met in Bangkok have been older guys.

The young, digital nomad types, I've met mostly have their heads screwed on (which is standard for running a business), and their life together in BKK.

They aren't drinking beer from breakfast time, you won't find them spending all their days in bars or hanging around Soi 4 making small talk with hookers, they don't have bar girls for girlfriends. they aren't paranoid and deluded.

And it's not because they can't afford to drink in bars all day or spend time with hookers either before someone says it, they simply don't want to and don't need to.

Edited November 26, 2014 by TheSpade

[cyborgx]

Cheap air tickets, bogus ED visas, sense of entitlement and free wifi - that's the root of the rise of The DP

The bulk of the weirdos I've met in Bangkok have been older guys.

The young, digital nomad types, I've met mostly have their heads screwed on (which is standard for running a business), and their life together in BKK.

They aren't drinking beer from breakfast time, you won't find them spending all their days in bars or hanging around Soi 4 making small talk with hookers, they don't have bar girls for girlfriends. they aren't paranoid and deluded.

And it's not because they can't afford to drink in bars all day or spend time with hookers either before someone says it, they simply don't want to and don't need to.

That's all well and good, sadly, its a load of rubbish. The so called digital Nomads in BKK and Pattaya can be found out in bars every night of the week.

Why else have their nomadic lives brought them to BKK and Pattaya? The clean air, the pristine beahces ?

It's not the Internet service either, since that's relatively slow and expensive compared with other countries.

Oh I know must be the ease of living here.... oh no can't be that, coz all they do is winge on ThaiVisa about Visas.....

Ease of running a business here? Oh no, they can't own their own companies, and the majority of the nomads don't bother to setup a company and pay local taxes anyway....

Edited November 27, 2014 by cyborgx

[TheSpade]

Cheap air tickets, bogus ED visas, sense of entitlement and free wifi - that's the root of the rise of The DP

The bulk of the weirdos I've met in Bangkok have been older guys.

The young, digital nomad types, I've met mostly have their heads screwed on (which is standard for running a business), and their life together in BKK.

They aren't drinking beer from breakfast time, you won't find them spending all their days in bars or hanging around Soi 4 making small talk with hookers, they don't have bar girls for girlfriends. they aren't paranoid and deluded.

And it's not because they can't afford to drink in bars all day or spend time with hookers either before someone says it, they simply don't want to and don't need to.

That's all well and good, sadly, its a load of rubbish. The so called digital Nomads in BKK and Pattaya can be found out in bars every night of the week.

Why else have their nomadic lives brought them to BKK and Pattaya? The clean air, the pristine beahces ?

It's not the Internet service either, since that's relatively slow and expensive compared with other countries.

Oh I know must be the ease of living here.... oh no can't be that, coz all they do is winge on ThaiVisa about Visas.....

Ease of running a business here? Oh no, they can't own their own companies, and the majority of the nomads don't bother to setup a company and pay local taxes anyway....

Most of the digi nomads / online business owners I know in BKK either don't drink or aren't heavy drinkers / big into partying. Certainly not in bars every night....a lot of them are into fitness, yoga, business, sport, dating.

There's a lot more to BKK than bars, do you know that? Sure the nightlife is great in BKK (away from the p4p and tourist crap_ but that's not why most people I know are there. It's a fascinating city to live in with a lot going on, the low cost of living, great food, great dating scene for a young guy (not p4p), lots to see and do etc.

And honestly the only people that regularly moan in regard to the digital nomads are guys who are NOT digital nomads. Moaning that there isn't a visa for them so they should leave, moaning that they are breaking the law, moaning that they are cheap etc.

Very few digi nomads are on TV moaning about anything nor claiming there should be a special visa for them but the ones that do have a point. There's a special visa for people over 55, it's called the retirement visa. Given for no other reason than the person happened to have been born on a certain date and lived long enough to reach the age with a little cash in the bank.

So really why couldn't there be a "special" visa for Digi Nomads that had the same amount of cash in the bank? No one is demanding the OAPs to "prove" where their income came from or that they pay taxes for living here like we hear so often from the anti-digi nomad crowd.

In regards to the ease of running a business here I guess you missed the point. Having an online business means you don't have to be fixed in one place or set up a business on the ground. It totally defeats the purpose. Yes you register your business in your HOME country and pay taxes there but not in a county you visit as a tourist (and yes you can be a very long term tourist) because that just wouldn't make sense, would it?

The beauty of many online businesses is that it's a one man band so no need to set up a base, hire local workers, and deal with all the paperwork and other headaches.

It would be like asking someone one a retirement or education visa to pay taxes because they are living here (temporary or otherwise) and using the public services. Yet they don't so why should a digital nomad with an online business that's not doing actual business in Thailand or hiring local workers pay taxes here when they are most likely just here as a (long term) tourist and have no actual rights in Thailand?

[Stradavarius37]

Its just you.

[mitsubishi]

There have always been plenty of weirdos here, but there are WAY more normal Westerners than when I first got here. It was nothing but oddballs back then - other than me of course.

It seems to me the changes in Bangkok have been:

More pensioners

More holiday tourists

More mainstream / liberal types

More farang spawning thai-farang brats

More Digital Nomads.

Less backpackers and adventurer types.

Less independent travelers

Less oddballs (they've gone elsewhere)

I was talking to an old eccentric monger back in the day, even then he told me Bangkok had lost it's magic and this was back in 2000! The upmarket trend is increasing all the way across Sukumvit, a lot of the old characterful buildings are being knocked down and silly expensive ones are going up in there place.

Edited November 28, 2014 by mitsubishi

[muffy]

1. I used to think the USA had all the oddballs , until I met the Europeans .

[fey]

bkk is getting more normal / mainstream expats, not weirder ones.

the strange ones are gravitating to cambodia.

i don't see any of the hippie oddball types your probably thinking of in bkk anymore. maybe a few in khao san road.

if you want UFO weird people, sihanoukville is probably where you would find them now. many people around cans short of a six pack / mentally ill / stoned.

not advocating the place as a good place to live tho. your typical bkk expat would not last long there.

Edited November 29, 2014 by fey

[bkkjames]

OP should wander down to Pattaya for a few weeks. His view on Bangkok nutjobs may well change a little.

Whats the old saying, it's not the crazy ones that worry me....

[raro]

As of today I'm working in Bangkok. Expect it to go further down the toilet

:-P