NanLaew Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) ... the highways death toll is very well above average too.even an acclaimed world leader... And moving right along from whatever gives you the shits in LOS, I just completed another trip from the east coast to Isaan with the odometer now ticking over 60,000 km of accident-free driving in Thailand. The other car has a bit more with maybe the wife claiming one accident (not her fault) in that 8-year period. Then there was my first car in Thailand that managed around 50,000 km accident free before I divorced the owner... Add on about 100,000 km in various rental cars and others... I reckon as well as doing about half-a-million kilometers without a prang, I never got the shits either. Glad to know you have found YOUR Nirvana (I think). PS. I am not a 'dodgy farang' either (so the wife sez) Edited February 9, 2015 by NanLaew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seadog57 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I dont know about it being a 3ed world country as some of the 3 world places i have seen make it look good, but everyplace has it drawbacks UK USA ect, but i wish the uk would have the same immigration policies as thailand then we would not be turning into the 3ed world country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IAMHERE Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 My opinion is the bribery system that influence everything is what makes Thaland a 3rd world nation. No rule by law, it is strictly justice by pocketbook and/or connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggt Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Spicy Papaya salad...butt washer in the toilet...trash everywhere...and everyone taking advantage of foreigners... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Friendly Stranger Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I wanna apologize. It's a poorly worded title. However I do think that public bus service is definitely third world country like. This does not include bts or MRT which is definitely better than where I come from. Apologize! Don't be such a Canadian. Dude, if you're referring to the TTC, anything is better than that crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Same discussion - same result - and I have same opinion - 2 for 2 !! I am a visitor (Farang) and it is not my place to complain - especially in an open forum!! Example: If you come into my house and complain about the house or insult my way of life or wife, I will offer you two choices: One involves me taking your foot out of your mouth and putting it up your backside and helping you out the door, and the other is to leave by yourself. If you think Thailand is a 3rd world country because the buses are bad and you say so in public - then you have two choices pal ........ (keep complaints and insults to yourself and other close farang friends over a beer - or better still just get over it, we all have bad days) You miss the point of a Web Forum... 'Open discussion'... Many of us live here with our families, have integrated into society with numerous friends both Thai and International. We have developed opinions which for the most part would bring improvement. Many of these opinions are identical to our Thai friends. While we have no right to a vote, anyone in any country has a right to an opinion and a right to express it - I believe this right to express an opinion comes with some responsibility to do so at the right time and in the right place - This forum is such a place, as is while enjoying a beer with close friends (Thai or Western). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smotherb Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I wanna apologize. It's a poorly worded title. However I do think that public bus service is definitely third world country like. This does not include bts or MRT which is definitely better than where I come from. I have the answer. Don't ride the bus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stonycan Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Love papaya salad. And when i think of a woman washing everytime they use the toilet is amazing. Walk around any canadian city at night and watch the rats run and garbage piled in the alleys.i admit i wasnt parting on the walking street .nor there on a big drunk. I shared food with the rich and the poor .and avoided the russians and i felt safer and more at ease then in vancouver. Maybe its a matter that i didnt play tourist i played guest. And felt it was a gift to enjoy the thia culture. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Papaya salad = third world? I love me some som tam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanLaew Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 (edited) ... And when i think of a woman washing everytime they use the toilet is amazing... I tend not to think about women and their ablutions but I think I get your drift. Note: I said I only think that I get your drift. I don't think about what you think about but each to their own. Edited February 9, 2015 by NanLaew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quandow Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 There are PLENTY of things wrong with this place, but the borders are not in lock down. You may leave ANY time you please. Thailand is a developing country, and (for the most part) I've found the general population to be as polite to me as I am to them. Of course, I carry my wallet in my front pocket, have a chain on it, and never carry more cash than I can afford to lose at any given time. Oh and, yeah, the soapies . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonki Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 You want to see what a third world country looks like? Ride a subway in New York! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realenglish1 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 3rd world country is because of its politics Thailand = Banana Republic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pittsdaulga Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 "Also any lack of facilities on the bus for disabled people makes it very third country." --theguyfromanotherforum Trust me, the lack of disabled accessibilities in 'first world' countries for public transportation is still present. Going back to the topic... I never questioned what a third world country was and what was not. I was told Thailand was a third world country before I came to Thailand. However, after going to Cambodia (also was told to me to be a third world country) I questioned "my" definition of this category. There was a big difference between the two countries. The highway systems for example are night and day. At least from what I have seen. It seems that the definition of this idiom has changed over the years and is more of a political definition rather than a definition of tangible status: Underdeveloped or developing countries, as in “The conditions in our poorest rural areas resemble those in the third world.” This expression originated in the mid-1900s, at first denoting those countries in Asia and Africa that were not aligned with either the Communist bloc nations or the non-Communist Western nations. Because they were for the most part poor and underdeveloped the term was transferred to all countries with those characteristics, and later still to poorer groups within a larger prevailing culture.* *third world. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Houghton Mifflin Company. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/third world (accessed: February 08, 2015). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 It is amazing how many westerners want to come and live in this "third world country " . Not really. Some personality types prefer living in a third-world country. To each his own. But they could just a well stay home. With all the overwhelming debt, pretty soon our own countries will be third world. The North America Free Trade Pact and all these free trade agreements around the world were designed to bring the working man to his knees and make the rich richer. This has now been accomplished. Now the jobs are starting to slowly trickle back to North America because wages have fallen and with the shale boom energy costs are sustainable and dropping. The only problem now is the working man only has enough money to buy the necessities. Even with governments dropping interest rates to zero (some banks are charging you to park your money there) the working class are financially tapped out. All the central banks are flooding their countries with funny money and stock markets are feeding on this. When the music stops playing look out 2008 will look like a walk in the park. The government helps big business with fudged cost of living figures, climbing employment numbers but disregarding underemployment and workers that have dropped out of the work force. They provide cheap money so companies can buy each other out cheaply not expand and create jobs. Most new jobs are hamburger flipping jobs, come when we need you otherwise go home jobs. Its a sad sad world we live in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandalf12 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Canada is not a good example. Many of its systems are way behind the equivalent in Thailand. Banking is an example Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fitzcaraldo Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 holy shit http://www.wsj.com/articles/big-data-and-bacteria-mapping-the-new-york-subways-dna-1423159629 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wow64 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 We just had a power outage in our office while giving a presentation to people from our head office. Thats twice while they have been here in the past week... Simple things like this doesnt make thailand look like a developed economy/nation. Sent from my c64 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronwparker Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 It is amazing how many westerners want to come and live in this "third world country " Mainly ollder men for sex or retired people looking for a better climate and lower cost of living-but it is now getting more expensive as the Baht is artificially strong! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddinChonburi Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 No one brought up that Thailand has never been occupied by a foreign nation and pushed to transform into a modern nation. There is some good argument on both sides here and op used the wrong words but come on this is no first rate nation. Engineering on so many levels fails miserably just look at the storm sewer system that floods thru out Thailand and when they try to make improvements , they fail again. Controlling traffic congestion well it took 8 months for them to finally sink the traffic lights going thru Si Racha to move the darn traffic. Clean drinking water would also be nice and should we look into the quality of construction, is your shower floor flat ? mold grows on a flat shower floor. OK had my fun for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheard Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Rampant corruption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwest5829 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I guess I should have phrased the question differently. . Maybe … what about Thailand makes it a first-world country? That would cut down on the confrontational posts. Of course, it would also cut down on posts altogether. and... it would stop the majority of expat to live here, since they could not afford to live in a first-world country anymore... Hmmm, true that the lower cost of living was one major reason for making Thailand my home in retirement. More comfortable than I could have lived in the U.S. Call it developing nation or third world but I have all I desire here. I confess to referring to Thailand being the 3rd world with folks at home in order to "tweak" them that I have so much product and service availability at a much more reasonable cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneday Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 For me Thailand is stuck in between. This country certainly has as many up-to-date and modern items or conveiences as any first world country, but there are still many things that put them in the 3rd world status as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nithisa78 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 There is a difference between bashing and facts. Fact, help out or go back where you came from. It is the same for you there. 36. Experiment with meditation. It gives us tools to mitigate nearly every thing human beings complain about — fear, boredom, loss, envy, pain, sadness, confusion, and doubt — yet remains unpopular in the West. You seem to need help with all these. It will make you more appreciative and less of a bother to the rest of us. Less of a third world snob like the poster. TV, lets all post our insensitive, we only think about ourselves comments. This poster is by far the least developed of any Canadian I've ever encountered. They wouldn't be allowed on any bus I was driving. Okay , now you can go back to crying old lady status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevvy Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 what defines a third world country? basically - extrem poverty.. - lacking industry - lacking infrastructure (TV, Internet, Phone connections, electricity, water) - lacking health system - lacking education system any of these things that you would say Thailand suffers from? Here in Chiang Rai , I do see many Thai nationals living a good life . Sure there is some poverty but in general most people here live above the poverty line If you go down to Chon Buri you will see the "Detroit" of Thailand. I have internet speed of 21 mps (c.a.t optic fibre) Here in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai there are very good goverment and private hospitals , same goes for Sriracha . The education system well ,you can talk about many western schools also . I think for the westerners living here, enjoy it as much as I do . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mok199 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 educaion and language.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benmart Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 I retired here and never gave it a thought as to what "position" Thailand occupies. While these types of discussions are entertaining, they serve no measurable purpose. Live as I wish, where I wish and as long as I am given the time. I make no demands on others that I don't make on myself. Take a deep breath and remind myself that I'm not the center of the universe and don't run the show. One Day at a Time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre0720 Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Anyone who calls Thailand a third world country probably hasn't been to a third world country before. Go to Sudan, South Sudan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh , Myanmar etc, these can be regarded as 3rd world countries. Bangkok has a public transport infrastructure which rivals that of the first world. Skytrain is amazing, the highways road system is above average etc. Thailand is an emerging country, def not 3rd world. So it is the people here, culture that is, that gives Thailand the look and feel of a third world.... But I still prefer here to my country, which is also Canada.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post dao16 Posted February 9, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 9, 2015 what defines a third world country? basically - extrem poverty.. - lacking industry - lacking infrastructure (TV, Internet, Phone connections, electricity, water) - lacking health system - lacking education system any of these things that you would say Thailand suffers from? 1. Extreme poverty Not usually "extreme" here, although definitely a lot of people living on the edge. Still, I have yet to encounter children with bowls tied to their wrists waiting for scraps in markets or on the street as I have in other places. 2. Lacking industry They make cars, rice, lots of other products and sell them here and abroad. Even going to Laos or Cambodia will be an eye-opener when you see how many products are Thai. 3. Lacking infrastructure I have a TV, Internet, Phone connection, electricity, water and much more here in Thailand. Have been to many places where those things were not available. 4. Lacking health system I do have my problems with how hospitals and clinics often operate here, but I am not carrying my own syringes, scalpel and other medical instruments here, as I have had to do in other places. 5. Lacking education system I agree that the education system here could use a lot of improvement, but the kids do go to school and do learn something. Imagine a place where people have no school at all or are actively and/or violently prevented from going to school. So, while Thailand still needs to improve like other places do, it is at a certain level of development which I wouldn't call "3rd world," which is also a troubled term. Do a google search about the history of the term "3rd world" and you will get some idea of how irrelevant it is. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willyumiii Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Put as simply as possible.. There is no second world. The best countries are the first world. Since there is no lower rating than 'Third" Any country that is not the best, is third world. That's a lot of countries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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