What makes Thailand a third world country?

[sdanielmcev]

Bananas. Bananas make a country third world. That and bwana calling Europe first world and the Americas the new world.

[Aussieroaming]

I agree that most of the asian country's that were once classified as third world are actually developing country's with some pretty slick building and infrastructure.

[umbanda]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

[rabid old goat]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

within a 100 meter radius of where i currently sleep in bkk, any given night there will be at least twenty people sleeping on the footpaths, public spaces, etc. up to a hundred if you looked hard on other nights.

sanam luang and under the road leading to the pinkcow bridge used to be major sleeping areas. not sure if it is still the case.

Edited February 8, 2015 by rabid old goat

[fitzcaraldo]

I would think a certain elite has kept the country a little backward being better for their business .

[Derek M]

A corrupt government. No or a distinct lack of a middle class, a lack of a decent living wage for the majority of locals (should be twice what they are given), Lack of employment rights to said employee's or respect given to said employment laws! frequent military coups. Very low substandard public education system. Poor health care, (Actually locals having to pay for a health care system is 3rd world in my book!) government pension No uemployment benefit or benefits for disabled or indeed a government pension. Poor public transport system (yes including Bangkok! no where enough Skytrain stations as there ought to be for a city of that size and populus) Distinct lack of infrastructure. Lack of sewage treatment or clean drinking water on tap in ALL homes new or old! Reliable safe electricity 24/7 365 days a year!

I am certainly no Thai or Thailand basher, despite its faults I love it here and Thank god I aint no Thai! All of the above faults certainly do NOT add up to a first or second world country.

Edited February 8, 2015 by Derek M

[willyumiii]

Threads like this, on forums like this...

and comments like your's.

why do you bother?

[kannot]

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.

tell me how do you find the emerging worlds ambulance service?

[ttthailand]

The corruption and police are what makes and keeps this country 3rd world. If you could clean these two things up then everything else would start to fall in place. As long as the corruption and the police remain the same Thailand will be a banana republic.

[willyumiii]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

I think it is more common in Thailand than you think.

If you know where to look, it is not hard to find homeless people in Thailand.

Maybe just not in your neighborhood.

[kannot]

Clean drinkable running water puts a country up a notch. Not the bottled stuff from the shop.

nail/head

[willyumiii]

Everything here is getting better by the year in some cases...

I am at present watching a house being built next door by a Thai Myanmar crew. What a top job of building they are doing.

The Thai builder went to college and learnt, and now builds probably the best construction, I have ever seen so far. It's straight and even overbuilt in many ways.

The Expat building the house KNOWS how lucky he is....he can relax and let it happen. AND there is no ripoffs with things. The house will be completed in under 3 months, at a cost which is more than fair.

SO!...nah, not stalled anymore.. This place is going ahead...I see it more now, which is good for Thailand.

Yeah sometimes, we, living here get cranky with things and have a rant...But we would be doing the same in our Mother countrie

Everything here is getting better by the year in some cases...

Sorry, I just had to quote that line.

Everything...in some cases!

Do you see the humor in this?

[SoiBiker]

I can't believe people are still discussing 'third world' countries in 2015.

Out of date much?

[Crazy chef 1]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

within a 100 meter radius of where i currently sleep in bkk, any given night there will be at least twenty people sleeping on the footpaths, public spaces, etc. up to a hundred if you looked hard on other nights.

sanam luang and under the road leading to the pinkcow bridge used to be major sleeping areas. not sure if it is still the case.

that's are pissed farangs...

[rabid old goat]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

within a 100 meter radius of where i currently sleep in bkk, any given night there will be at least twenty people sleeping on the footpaths, public spaces, etc. up to a hundred if you looked hard on other nights.

sanam luang and under the road leading to the pinkcow bridge used to be major sleeping areas. not sure if it is still the case.

that's are pissed farangs...

are you in the running for a thainess award somewhere or something?

[watcharacters]

Its not a "nanny" state thank God ! stop trying to make it one, why oh why do people have to make comparisons to the place they would leave given the chance. It is what it is, now leave it the hell alone or just stay in your "nanny" cotton wool you precious little thing.

Are you offended by or opposed to some TV members expressing their opinions about Thailand? If so I wonder why.

[Crazy chef 1]

In most "3rd world" countries a lot of people sleeps on the street, even families with small children. That's is not common in Thailand, but is getting common in the US. The world is changing....

within a 100 meter radius of where i currently sleep in bkk, any given night there will be at least twenty people sleeping on the footpaths, public spaces, etc. up to a hundred if you looked hard on other nights.

sanam luang and under the road leading to the pinkcow bridge used to be major sleeping areas. not sure if it is still the case.

that's are pissed farangs...

are you in the running for a thainess award somewhere or something?

got it already-two times...

[ginbkk]

Life is cheap here, that's what makes it a 3rd world country.

[VIPinthailand]

Thailand is not better, it s worse. I know plenty of Thais who are now in debt, they bought car and now need to pay over 1 million and they make only 10 to 20000 baths a month with children to feed.

how retard is that? who brainwashed them to sign for a loan that they can not even pay back.? it s obvious that these people don't know how to count.

they are mostly broke(90% of Thais are poor) .

And Thais kills thousand of Thais on the road. even Africa is better. give them a car, and count the dead bodies left behind.

Thailand is a third world country, even my Thai friends say it.

Edited February 8, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[dragonfly94]

Ha ha public buses, don't stop at the stop, stop 3 lanes over and everyone pushing to get on. Once saw a blind man pushed aside being helped off bus by the conductor as people pushed to get in. Another time was on a bus racing another one and it would not stop to let passengers get off. Grengjai is just a word here, it has no basis in reality.

Edited February 8, 2015 by dragonfly94

[NoshowJones]

Everything here is getting better by the year in some cases...

I am at present watching a house being built next door by a Thai Myanmar crew. What a top job of building they are doing.

The Thai builder went to college and learnt, and now builds probably the best construction, I have ever seen so far. It's straight and even overbuilt in many ways.

The Expat building the house KNOWS how lucky he is....he can relax and let it happen. AND there is no ripoffs with things. The house will be completed in under 3 months, at a cost which is more than fair.

SO!...nah, not stalled anymore.. This place is going ahead...I see it more now, which is good for Thailand.

Yeah sometimes, we, living here get cranky with things and have a rant...But we would be doing the same in our Mother countries...hey?

Good post Weegee, I could say almost the same thing about my house. When I first came to Thailand to be with my girlfriend, now wife, the house was only half built, but I saw a lot of things getting done.

That also applies to all the building additions what has been done over the years. It is a Thai type house, and I'm very pleased with it.

[FritsSikkink]

34, 20 years never had the shits.

What a joke !!!!!!!

pull the other one guys.

we all get sick a little bit no matter who or where you live in the world at some point in time.

Been sick from booze (tell your boss it is food poisening), not from food.

Edited February 8, 2015 by FritsSikkink

[Keesters]

did i mention food contamination? where in the first world you get ill from food so consistently as in thailand? yes third world for absolute sure.

30+ years and been food related ill only a few times. Eat out regularly, shopping malls, open air markets, street stalls etc. Nothing wrong with the food generally, it must be your stomach.

[Lukecan]

For a long time I have been interested in just what defines a first ans third world country..and what about the second world??

After searching a lot on line, I found out that the second world was considered the Soviet block of countries, no longer an issue I guess.

An interesting statement I found about the third world was that the two things third world countries have in common are:

1) a corrupt government and

2) a lack of a middle class...only the wealthy and the poor.

Interesting huh?

My question is, if the rating went as low as 4th, 5th........or 50th world,

What countries would fall into what world classification?

When you think about it, since there are only first and third world countries now,

They could be classified as pretty good, and not too good.

It would be less confusing!

For a direct answer to the OPs question..

In my opinion, what makes Thailand a third world country is the Mai pen rai attitude.

I say " Pen rai mak mak!"

If you take corruption into account then Italy,Greece, Spain etc can all be classified as 3rd world, but are they 3rd world?

[Lukecan]

Many points which put Thailand in the 3rd world category actually make it a better place to live.

Opening a business is easy, less hassles, much less paperwork. If you have some cash to spend you can speed up the process a lot, in the west you can't do this. Anything which makes life easier is good in my opinion.

Yeah, so the police are corrupt to a certain extent, but does it prevent you from enjoying this beautiful country, just give em 1000thb and they'll be happy, it'll hardly dent your budget.

They tried to strip search me in Heathrow while I was traveling on a diplomatic passport, the person who ordered the search was a officer of pakistan descent, I created a scene. I ended up not getting searched, but that day I said to my self I've had enough of this first world BS.

Nothing this embarrassing has ever happened to me in Thailand. Yeah sure, taxis try to scam you, touts try to rip you off, so what? I can live with that.

[willyumiii]

For a long time I have been interested in just what defines a first ans third world country..and what about the second world??

After searching a lot on line, I found out that the second world was considered the Soviet block of countries, no longer an issue I guess.

An interesting statement I found about the third world was that the two things third world countries have in common are:

1) a corrupt government and

2) a lack of a middle class...only the wealthy and the poor.

Interesting huh?

My question is, if the rating went as low as 4th, 5th........or 50th world,

What countries would fall into what world classification?

When you think about it, since there are only first and third world countries now,

They could be classified as pretty good, and not too good.

It would be less confusing!

For a direct answer to the OPs question..

In my opinion, what makes Thailand a third world country is the Mai pen rai attitude.

I say " Pen rai mak mak!"

If you take corruption into account then Italy,Greece, Spain etc can all be classified as 3rd world, but are they 3rd world?

That is only half of it.

Do Italy, Greece, Spain etc. have a middle class?

[Lukecan]

For a long time I have been interested in just what defines a first ans third world country..and what about the second world??

After searching a lot on line, I found out that the second world was considered the Soviet block of countries, no longer an issue I guess.

An interesting statement I found about the third world was that the two things third world countries have in common are:

1) a corrupt government and

2) a lack of a middle class...only the wealthy and the poor.

Interesting huh?

My question is, if the rating went as low as 4th, 5th........or 50th world,

What countries would fall into what world classification?

When you think about it, since there are only first and third world countries now,

They could be classified as pretty good, and not too good.

It would be less confusing!

For a direct answer to the OPs question..

In my opinion, what makes Thailand a third world country is the Mai pen rai attitude.

I say " Pen rai mak mak!"

If you take corruption into account then Italy,Greece, Spain etc can all be classified as 3rd world, but are they 3rd world?

That is only half of it.

Do Italy, Greece, Spain etc. have a middle class?

yes they do, but so does Thailand. Thailand has a very strong middle class, the people that fill up those food courts in malls aren't hi-so trust me. They are members of the "middle class"

[swampdonkey]

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?

None of the above.

But it does suffer from extreme moaners

[zierf1]

At least Thailand is able to properly house its population. In my country(usa) people are sleeping in cars and in sewers these days because the rent is so high and wages are so low. Which country is 3rd world?

[onemorechang]

Thailand