Help Me To Understand How You See Thailand

[klauskunkel]

Why - does there seem to be so many bitter, angry, attacking, caustically poisonous, soured, miserable posters ??????

The forum is not Thailand.

[AlQaholic]

I think most people who settle in Thailand (like me) have been to Thailand one or a couple of times before. They of course fell in love with the place with all the smiles, sun, beaches, food and plenty of other things to enjoy, all for a very affordable budget.

When they come here to settle then, they may have dreams of starting this or that business, meeting other Thai people and becoming a part of Thai society, in some way or another.

After staying here for a while they start to see the deeper side of Thai society, That is when they already have settled in, bought a house or two, started a business etc....

Now the full scale of Thai corruption and cronyism is revealed, as well as the importance of having connections in whatever business you try, and other ugly sides of Thai society, for example the fact that no matter how much you try to mix in or learn Thai language, you will always be a "farang" in the derogatory meaning (yes it has a derogatory meaning if expressed in the right context).

No doors will be opened for you. No opportunities will present themselves because those opportunities are reserved for the Thai elite and their cronies in the never-ending circle of cronyism and corruption. Try entering a bidding for any project and one will see.

By this time you have been here too long or invested too much to just take a hike, all that you had in your home country is gone. There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone.

By all means, all this can be ignored if all you want to do is be happily retired and live in complete ignorance of what is happening around you and the state of the country which you fell in love with a long time ago.

[JLCrab]

From the above: "Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone."

As per not currently wanting to make a 'positive contribution to Thai society', sez you.

[AlQaholic]

From the above: "Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone."

As per not currently wanting to make a 'positive contribution to Thai society', sez you.

Weeell, if it is not possible, why even try? like dropping a flower in a septic tank and think that the septic tank will be all flowery, grassy and clean by that act..

[asdecas]

Oh go away and be happy somewhere else.

[JLCrab]

From the above: "Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone."

As per not currently wanting to make a 'positive contribution to Thai society', sez you.

Weeell, if it is not possible, why even try? like dropping a flower in a septic tank and think that the septic tank will be all flowery, grassy and clean by that act..

You said it is not possible; it is not easy, but it is certainly possible.

[garrya]

It's an interesting point.. I have done my fair share of winging about this place for sure. I think it might make a difference if people are actually working here of are retired here. I am working and I see so many things that are just not right.

I can imagine this thread will be filled with people saying "they are just negative posters", "sad people rejected at home, now rejected here" or things that are similarly unkind,, however I think there are some really serious issues with living in Thailand.

At this moment there are plans afoot to create horrible problems for foreign business owners, this is going to worry a lot of people which will of course mean a forum full of winging and moaning,, I think completely justified. Also don't forget all of the other things that go on that do and can sometimes have a direct impact on your life such as corrupt police, unfriendly "faring haters", terrible roads and i can absolutely state that foreigners are treated in the workplace as second class,, I have to work very hard to keep this at bay and all the time I keep getting told to avoid confrontation,,, very difficult,, in fact the face issue is one of the things that I think holds the country back.

So, I am very pleased you are blissfully happy and living a good life, thats really great and I hope that it continues for you forever. I too have mostly good days and enjoy my time with the people around me.. But, please don't pretend that there are no major issues with living here and that everyone who voices those is a sad, negative person. If you can turn a blind eye to it all then good for you,, Personally I cannot and if the restrictions come into play on foreign business ownership i am out of here along with many, many others I am sure.

The most thoughtful post I have read here. Thank you mate.

[garrya]

I think most people who settle in Thailand (like me) have been to Thailand one or a couple of times before. They of course fell in love with the place with all the smiles, sun, beaches, food and plenty of other things to enjoy, all for a very affordable budget.

When they come here to settle then, they may have dreams of starting this or that business, meeting other Thai people and becoming a part of Thai society, in some way or another.

After staying here for a while they start to see the deeper side of Thai society, That is when they already have settled in, bought a house or two, started a business etc....

Now the full scale of Thai corruption and cronyism is revealed, as well as the importance of having connections in whatever business you try, and other ugly sides of Thai society, for example the fact that no matter how much you try to mix in or learn Thai language, you will always be a "farang" in the derogatory meaning (yes it has a derogatory meaning if expressed in the right context).

No doors will be opened for you. No opportunities will present themselves because those opportunities are reserved for the Thai elite and their cronies in the never-ending circle of cronyism and corruption. Try entering a bidding for any project and one will see.

By this time you have been here too long or invested too much to just take a hike, all that you had in your home country is gone. There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone.

By all means, all this can be ignored if all you want to do is be happily retired and live in complete ignorance of what is happening around you and the state of the country which you fell in love with a long time ago.

Excellent post. Thanks mate.

[mick01827]

Had to get up this morning early and run an errand.....beautiful day in CM - birds singing - perfect weather.....

Unfortunately that's how it is in the west, instead of looking for the good in people we sometimes look for the bad things hence why the west is how it is. I will say that when I started to holiday in Thailand for just one month at Xmas I thought it was the most incredible place I'd been to, now I spend 6/7 months here and the rest back in uk working it's kind of spoilt the fantasy image a little bit, yes it's still a beautiful place with a lot of beautiful happy people but there are still a lot of problems here like the rest of the world. I'm still very happy coming to Thailand and spending time here, let's facet it at 43 yrs old it if I can get away with working for only 6 months of the year I think I'm doing ok, I'm just a bit more on my guard while I'm here.

Pried myself slowly awayfrom the beautiful woman that is my wife so not to wake her up - watched her reach out/search for me with her arm and one foot while dead asleep - smiled and tip toed out....

Then one of my biggest decisions of the day on my way out - do I wear the Tevas or flip flops.....

Then on to my errand......

We live in the land of plenty - an easy place to live and get along

If hungry you can find what/who you'd like to eat 24/7....smiles are plentiful....many things to do and see....many events as well as interesting places waiting to be explored.....interesting people to talk to everywhere - while out and about 2 women struck up conversations with me (no - not those kind of women - or places) makes for a very pleasant environment.....

Why - does there seem to be so many bitter, angry, attacking, caustically poisonous, soured, miserable posters ??????

Maybe it just that they are everywhere but no official "Miserable Forum" for people to share their grief with others so they poison threads that they have no business even commenting in....maybe in their home country they just fit in....maybe they come here and turn miserable......

Can anyone enlighten me?

[BadBouy]

You Have Two Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

...(videVfl2)

'Yes it is,' Jerry said.

'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body....

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied. 'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything.' 'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

'Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you - is your attitude,

so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Now you have two choices to make:

1. You can ignore this message or

2. You can learn and apply the lessons from this story.

[thailiketoo]

I think most people who settle in Thailand (like me) have been to Thailand one or a couple of times before. They of course fell in love with the place with all the smiles, sun, beaches, food and plenty of other things to enjoy, all for a very affordable budget.

When they come here to settle then, they may have dreams of starting this or that business, meeting other Thai people and becoming a part of Thai society, in some way or another.

After staying here for a while they start to see the deeper side of Thai society, That is when they already have settled in, bought a house or two, started a business etc....

Now the full scale of Thai corruption and cronyism is revealed, as well as the importance of having connections in whatever business you try, and other ugly sides of Thai society, for example the fact that no matter how much you try to mix in or learn Thai language, you will always be a "farang" in the derogatory meaning (yes it has a derogatory meaning if expressed in the right context).

No doors will be opened for you. No opportunities will present themselves because those opportunities are reserved for the Thai elite and their cronies in the never-ending circle of cronyism and corruption. Try entering a bidding for any project and one will see.

By this time you have been here too long or invested too much to just take a hike, all that you had in your home country is gone. There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone.

By all means, all this can be ignored if all you want to do is be happily retired and live in complete ignorance of what is happening around you and the state of the country which you fell in love with a long time ago.

I came over and taught a few thousand children to be better people by lessons and example and financed a number of women and their families and saved a few lives in the process. Now my work done I retired with enough funds to keep myself and my wife happy. Or I guess I could go home to St Louis?

[geronimo]

You Have Two Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

...(videVfl2)

'Yes it is,' Jerry said.

'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body....

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied. 'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything.' 'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

'Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you - is your attitude,

so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Now you have two choices to make:

1. You can ignore this message or

2. You can learn and apply the lessons from this story.

One of the best posts I've seen on this forum.

[Si Thea01]

I enjoy reading positive posts and am sick and tired when those writing positively are continually attacked by those who continuously hold negative views on everything, no matter what it may be. We can all, at times, feel negative, but who wants to live a life surrounded by negativity so we look for positive things to write about and surround ourselves with positive people. This has enabled me to be successful in life and now enjoy the fruits of my labour.

There are many who only offer negative posts so one can only imagine how unhappy they must be and that they are ones who get their kicks out of trying to draw others into their miserable life styles. They will tell you how good they are, why they are correct and we have no idea what we are talking about. Got new for all of them. I find that when they post, their attempts to quote what you have written has wording changed; they are selective with what they answer or intentionally misinterpret the context so that when they post they use only certain aspects to justify their criticism and one eyed opinions.

I am not rich, nor am I poor and came to Thailand to live a lifestyle that, in my twilight years, I find more enjoyable and relaxing, then I have found anywhere else, and I have travelled extensively. What is happening in the political field is none of my business, I cannot alter what is occurring and it has no effect on me in any way, nor has the coup, nor has the corruption that everyone of the negative posters are up in arms about. if they all live in Thailand, are they able to tell me how it affects them. I do not know what they are going on about as this has been happening since time immemorial.

I have a good wife and her family has readily accepted me. Her brother is a doctor, 2/IC in a large regional hospital, the wife is a teacher, whilst their sister owns a large successful sweet manufacturing business. We live in a large village in north east Thailand, not in the sticks, and wherever I go in the village I find the people pleasant and courteous. I also find that when I need anything, I just tell the storekeeper, the farang ban, they know where to come and deliver without an extra charge.

The costs here are negligible, and I am able to live very well and have a life style well above what I initially expected when I first came here. I could not live in my home country in the style I do now as there costs there are about four times higher. The weather here is fine; gets a little warm in summer but the comforts of home take care of this. The food is great, being able to speak the language helps immensely and I am able to travel whenever I feel like it. Have explored the north and north east, learning the culture and going to many historic sites has given me a broader insight into this country.

I enjoy TVF but the negativity does become a little much. Maybe sometimes I can be critical of those getting their rocks off by posting negatively it does get annoying when people post after reading media reports and appear to accept as gospel what they read. They guess, assume and speculate, nothing is ever based on direct factual evidence, yet they continue to criticise others who have a different view.

Edited November 26, 2014 by Si Thea01

[SoiBiker]

I enjoy reading positive posts and am sick and tired when those writing positively are continually attacked by those who continuously hold negative views on everything, no matter what it may be. We can all, at times, feel negative, but who wants to live a life surrounded by negativity so we look for positive things to write about and surround ourselves with positive people. This has enabled me to be successful in life and now enjoy the fruits of my labour.

There are many who only offer negative posts so one can only imagine how unhappy they must be and that they are ones who get their kicks out of trying to draw others into their miserable life styles. They will tell you how good they are, why they are correct and we have no idea what we are talking about. Got new for all of them. I find that when they post, their attempts to quote what you have written has wording changed; they are selective with what they answer or intentionally misinterpret the context so that when they post they use only certain aspects to justify their criticism and one eyed opinions.

I am not rich, nor am I poor and came to Thailand to live a lifestyle that, in my twilight years, I find more enjoyable and relaxing, then I have found anywhere else, and I have travelled extensively. What is happening in the political field is none of my business, I cannot alter what is occurring and it has no effect on me in any way, nor has the coup, nor has the corruption that everyone of the negative posters are up in arms about. if they all live in Thailand, are they able to tell me how it affects them. I do not know what they are going on about as this has been happening since time immemorial.

I have a good wife and her family has readily accepted me. Her brother is a doctor, 2/IC in a large regional hospital, the wife is a teacher, whilst their sister owns a large successful sweet manufacturing business. We live in a large village in north east Thailand, not in the sticks, and wherever I go in the village I find the people pleasant and courteous. I also find that when I need anything, I just tell the storekeeper, the farang ban, they know where to come and deliver without an extra charge.

The costs here are negligible, and I am able to live very well and have a life style well above what I initially expected when I first came here. I could not live in my home country in the style I do now as there costs there are about four times higher. The weather here is fine; gets a little warm in summer but the comforts of home take care of this. The food is great, being able to speak the language helps immensely and I am able to travel whenever I feel like it. Have explored the north and north east, learning the culture and going to many historic sites has given me a broader insight into this country.

I enjoy TVF but the negativity does become a little much. Maybe sometimes I can be critical of those getting their rocks off by posting negatively it does get annoying when people post after reading media reports and appear to accept as gospel what they read. They guess, assume and speculate, nothing is ever based on direct factual evidence, yet they continue to criticise others who have a different view.

Well said.

[kannot]

You Have Two Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

...(videVfl2)

'Yes it is,' Jerry said.

'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body....

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied. 'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything.' 'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

'Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you - is your attitude,

so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Now you have two choices to make:

1. You can ignore this message or

2. You can learn and apply the lessons from this story.

Doh! Ive told you Flanders get the hell outta Springfield!

[JLCrab]

Re "One of the best posts I've seen on this forum."

http://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/humor/bullets.html

[ebonykap]

You Have Two Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

Why？

Because Jerry was a natural motivator.

If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was always there, telling him how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him：

'I don't get it! No one can be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?'

Jerry replied, 'Each morning I wake up and say to myself, I have two choices today. I can choose to be in a good mood or I can choose to be in a bad mood.

I always choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be victim or I can choose to learn from it. I always choose to learn from it.

Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I always choose the positive side of life.'

'But it's not always that easy,' I protested.

...(videVfl2)

'Yes it is,' Jerry said.

'Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk every situation is a choice.

You choose how you react to situations.

You choose how people will affect your mood.

You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood.

It's your choice how you live your life.'

Several years later, I heard that Jerry accidentally did something you are never supposed to do in the restaurant business. He left the back door of his restaurant open And then in the morning, he was robbed by three armed men. While Jerry trying to open the safe box, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him.

Luckily, Jerry was found quickly and rushed to the hospital.

After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body....

I saw Jerry about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, 'If I were any better, I'd be twins. Want to see my scars?' I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place.

'The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door,' Jerry replied. 'Then, after they shot me, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or could choose to die. I chose to live.'

'Weren't you scared' I asked?

Jerry continued, 'The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.

But when they wheeled me into the Emergency Room and I saw the expression on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'He's a dead man. I knew I needed to take action.'

'What did you do?' I asked.

'Well, there was a big nurse shouting questions at me,' said Jerry. 'She asked if I was allergic to anything.' 'Yes,' to bullets, I replied.

Over their laughter, I told them: 'I am choosing to live. Please operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.'

'Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.

I learned from him that every day you have the choice to either enjoy your life or to hate it.

The only thing that is truly yours - that no one can control or take from you - is your attitude,

so if you can take care of that, everything else in life becomes much easier.

Now you have two choices to make:

1. You can ignore this message or

2. You can learn and apply the lessons from this story.

One of the best posts I've seen on this forum.

+1

[how241]

Maybe they have never been to Thailand, and enlighten us from their living rooms; courtesy of Google and WikiPedia?

I think you right about a certain percentage of posters. Armchair travelers.

[connda]

Why do you care. It's not about you. I live in CM too. Beautiful weather today. Great day for a walk.

[JLCrab]

As long as one of the best posts ever on this forum is plagiarism without attribution and is probably total fiction from the get go, here is my version:

When the 3 armed men entered Jerry's restaurant, he was able to wrestle the gun out of the hands of one of the 3 robbers and shot the f*()kers dead on the spot.

[thailiketoo]

Maybe they have never been to Thailand, and enlighten us from their living rooms; courtesy of Google and WikiPedia?

I think you right about a certain percentage of posters. Armchair travelers.

Easy to check. They never start topics and never ask questions about Thailand. Can you imagine living here and never having a question about transportation, food, health or all the little day to day things that make Thailand different. Mostly they live in the news forum but occasionally bounce out to general.

[thaibeachlovers]

I think most people who settle in Thailand (like me) have been to Thailand one or a couple of times before. They of course fell in love with the place with all the smiles, sun, beaches, food and plenty of other things to enjoy, all for a very affordable budget.

When they come here to settle then, they may have dreams of starting this or that business, meeting other Thai people and becoming a part of Thai society, in some way or another.

After staying here for a while they start to see the deeper side of Thai society, That is when they already have settled in, bought a house or two, started a business etc....

Now the full scale of Thai corruption and cronyism is revealed, as well as the importance of having connections in whatever business you try, and other ugly sides of Thai society, for example the fact that no matter how much you try to mix in or learn Thai language, you will always be a "farang" in the derogatory meaning (yes it has a derogatory meaning if expressed in the right context).

No doors will be opened for you. No opportunities will present themselves because those opportunities are reserved for the Thai elite and their cronies in the never-ending circle of cronyism and corruption. Try entering a bidding for any project and one will see.

By this time you have been here too long or invested too much to just take a hike, all that you had in your home country is gone. There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone.

By all means, all this can be ignored if all you want to do is be happily retired and live in complete ignorance of what is happening around you and the state of the country which you fell in love with a long time ago.

There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Very true. My home country is now a place I don't recognise, and I feel a stranger in my own land.

[dotpoom]

Personally.I see life through rose tinted glasses...........others are not so fortunate. They are not to be criticized, we are all evolving and each and everyone of us are at different places in our cycle of lives.

[geronimo]

As long as one of the best posts ever on this forum is plagiarism without attribution and is probably total fiction from the get go, here is my version:

When the 3 armed men entered Jerry's restaurant, he was able to wrestle the gun out of the hands of one of the 3 robbers and shot the f*()kers dead on the spot.

It matters not where the message came from but what it contains.

[David48]

You Have Two Choices

Jerry is the manager of a restaurant. He is always in a good mood.

When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would always reply:

'If I were any better, I would be twins!' Many of the waiters at his restaurant quit their jobs when he changed jobs, so they could follow him around from restaurant to restaurant.

<snip>

One of the best posts I've seen on this forum.

BadBouy ... CRAP

Mate ... it would be a great post ... if it was original from him.

Do a quick Google search ... it's all over the web.

Would have been nice though if he had credited his post.

Here is one version ... http://www.virtualteacher.com.au/jerry.html

There are a hundred more.

EDIT ... just read JLCrab's musings above ...

Edited November 26, 2014 by David48

[JLCrab]

As long as one of the best posts ever on this forum is plagiarism without attribution and is probably total fiction from the get go, here is my version:

When the 3 armed men entered Jerry's restaurant, he was able to wrestle the gun out of the hands of one of the 3 robbers and shot the f*()kers dead on the spot.

It matters not where the message came from but what it contains.

Thanks. I'll take option #1 and ignore the message.

[Cypress Hill]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I think most people who settle in Thailand (like me) have been to Thailand one or a couple of times before. They of course fell in love with the place with all the smiles, sun, beaches, food and plenty of other things to enjoy, all for a very affordable budget.

When they come here to settle then, they may have dreams of starting this or that business, meeting other Thai people and becoming a part of Thai society, in some way or another.

After staying here for a while they start to see the deeper side of Thai society, That is when they already have settled in, bought a house or two, started a business etc....

Now the full scale of Thai corruption and cronyism is revealed, as well as the importance of having connections in whatever business you try, and other ugly sides of Thai society, for example the fact that no matter how much you try to mix in or learn Thai language, you will always be a "farang" in the derogatory meaning (yes it has a derogatory meaning if expressed in the right context).

No doors will be opened for you. No opportunities will present themselves because those opportunities are reserved for the Thai elite and their cronies in the never-ending circle of cronyism and corruption. Try entering a bidding for any project and one will see.

By this time you have been here too long or invested too much to just take a hike, all that you had in your home country is gone. There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Your initial love for Thailand and your ambition to make some positive contribution to Thai society and business and to make a honest business in this country are by now long gone.

By all means, all this can be ignored if all you want to do is be happily retired and live in complete ignorance of what is happening around you and the state of the country which you fell in love with a long time ago.

There is nothing to go back to, and you would not know how to live your life in your old home country anyway.

Very true. My home country is now a place I don't recognise, and I feel a stranger in my own land.

The Cherokees and Cheyenne were heard to mutter much the same and it was their land first

[AlQaholic]

I am not saying I am unhappy with my life here, completely opposite. I do comment now and then maybe in a negative way regarding certain Thai peculiarities, not because I am miserable and unhappy, just because I just can't keep my trap shut sometimes when something really stupid or wrong happens in Thailand.

Why should it be wrong to comment and complain about things you do not like about Thailand? Just like you may comment about other things you do not like, not particularly concerning Thailand.

Everybody is already aware of the good things in Thailand, so there is little point in talking about them.

For example the current massive police corruption that has been finally exposed, is it wrong to make a comment about that? Or any other thing such as the recurring jet ski scams (Last time I used a jet ski was like 15 years ago:). Just because you like to discuss such matters and comment on them does not make you an unhappy person, merely a person that care.

Should one happily applaud the massive police corruption, jet-ski scams etc, or should one keep quiet just because some readers do not like to hear complaints?

[pgrahmm]

I am not saying I am unhappy with my life here, completely opposite. I do comment now and then maybe in a negative way regarding certain Thai peculiarities, not because I am miserable and unhappy, just because I just can't keep my trap shut sometimes when something really stupid or wrong happens in Thailand.

Why should it be wrong to comment and complain about things you do not like about Thailand? Just like you may comment about other things you do not like, not particularly concerning Thailand.

Everybody is already aware of the good things in Thailand, so there is little point in talking about them.

For example the current massive police corruption that has been finally exposed, is it wrong to make a comment about that? Or any other thing such as the recurring jet ski scams (Last time I used a jet ski was like 15 years ago:). Just because you like to discuss such matters and comment on them does not make you an unhappy person, merely a person that care.

Should one happily applaud the massive police corruption, jet-ski scams etc, or should one keep quiet just because some readers do not like to hear complaints?

Those are observations about current events....not constant whining & bitching about everything Thai/living/conditions .....

We all know where we live isn't perfect - but then neither was the place that we left to get here....

There's been some good observations made here......

I realize part of my questions involve the "human condition" but am interested to see what others think...you don't know what you don't know - so I asked....

[SoiBiker]

Even when something positive about Thailand gets posted, a chorus of misery generally forms to discuss how our must be a lie, or they're sure to mess it up because it's Thailand, or things will be as bad as ever in a few months, just you wait.