NoshowJones Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. IMO, about 90% of the posters on this forum are OK, you will get some bitterness on any forum. I have had so much help from TV members over the years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. Read my post #61. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davetrout Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 the ghost stories Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 As most of the above - plus: How lazy the men are (especially the police), and that they get away with it. How lovely so many of the women are - beautiful one day, perfect the next. How many farangs hate Thailand, but dont seem to have the guts to leave. I made the mistake of talking to an 'abviously upset' Farang a while ago in a shopping centre. He started going on and on about how bad Thais were (especially his wife) - at first I thought he just needed to let of steam, but he kept going and going, and as I walked away he followed and kept going. Eventually I stopped and told him that perhaps he should <deleted> off - he responded something about leaving Thailand one day - I responded : 'No Mate - you need to <deleted> off away from me before I smack you in the mouth you fat c**t". I am surprised how many Farangs here need a good smack in the mouth The guy has obviously had a problem with his wife and was upset, unless he was drunk, could you not just have listened to him and tried to help him? All you want to do is smack him in the mouth, I could see your point if he was threatening violence, but otherwise, I get the impression that you are the kind of person Thailand can do without. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanLaew Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 what has surprised me over the years is the number of completely dysfunctional foreigners who are living in the country, yeah everywhere I have worked in "foreign" countries, you get the odd 1 or 2 nut jobs who have arrived on a banana boat, but Thailand must the be the regional hub for "broken"/disturbed/dysfunctional foreigners. there many who should be in padded cells for their own protection. and then we have the another demographic of those who have have never traveled outside their own country until the prospect of a cheap available women grew too strong for them and they up root themselves and transplant themselves to Nakon Nowhere shacked up with some bint,with splayed toes and a trick pelvis who gave them the goo goo eyes and promised to love them long time and they are absolutely clueless Where exactly do you meet these completely dysfunctional foreigners, and what are you doing in those places? Dear boy, one only has to open ones eyes in many public places in the major population centers in the country, to see this. unless of course you live in Nakom Nowhere per the second demographic and you would be forgiven for not seeing this Enough about the sad buggers, I need up to date info on finding "bint, with splayed toes and a trick pelvis who gave them the goo goo eyes and promised to love them long time." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdinasia Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I have been here for 18 months not that long compare to many. But unlike many that have been here far longer than me, I have my eyes open. LOS land of smiles ..... what a joke that is. I don't like Thai people. Used to think they were wonderful, but the rose tinted glasses fell off. Show the dollar bill and you are special. Keep it in your pocket, you are scum. Agree w you berybert. Unfortunately in this forum when people are beeing honest and tell the truth as they see it where ever they may live its time for the "truth-bashers" (apologists) to come out and call you racist and many other pretty things ... The word racist has been so watered down, these days its impossible for someone not to be racist.To many people feel the need to apologize for others. My mate has a Thai girlfriend who is pretty clever. She has changed jobs and is now working for a new company that works with vans doing backloads. Transport has been my game for about 25 years. Now other than the odd hello this woman has never really spoken to me. He tells her I know about transport. She buys me a beer then expects me to tell her everything I know for 99 baht. Now she tends to avoid me totally. That for me is typical Thai. Why would she not totally avoid you? You admit openly you don't like Thai people. It certainly comes across to people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhnomKhnom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. I understand the idea of giving space to people to rant as a blowing off of steam, but when that is all a message is on thaivisa.com, I despair of the owners of the site. I guess some stalwart reads every word, geeee, but if so, so much of the bitter nastiness needs to be cleaned out of here. It does not inform any useful information. Why are such trash messages allowed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ammagic Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Endless scamming esp from people one has trusted & helped ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshstiles Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 i was surprised at hiw antisocial foreigners are in thailand. even those from my own country...they are the most unfriendly bunch of sob's i have ever encountered in ANY country. No wonder thai people hate foreigners. never met a more worthless group of "people" in all my days. Soi dogs are more friendly and have more to offer humanity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CharlieH Posted February 28, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. I understand the idea of giving space to people to rant as a blowing off of steam, but when that is all a message is on thaivisa.com, I despair of the owners of the site. I guess some stalwart reads every word, geeee, but if so, so much of the bitter nastiness needs to be cleaned out of here. It does not inform any useful information. Why are such trash messages allowed? Because everyone is entitled to there opinion, good or bad and as long as it is within forum rules it can remain. Just like life, there are many types and many opinions. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theslime Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 What has surprised me the most, are the amount of expats who complain about Thai ways, Obviously travelling and experiencing the culture won,t do, the Thai,s must change to suit western ways. What a joke. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcofer Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I think your initial post was spot on... 14 years of Surprises (and possibly recommendations for the newbies) in no particular order... Gray hair respect... Don't dye your hair when you retire here! Amazing to see the love and attention and honor poured out to any farang with gray hair. Go into a local market with a white head of hair one day and interact with 1/2 dozen people. Go back a week later with a freshly dyed dark head and do the same. Amazing experience. Event organization and creativity in the communal mind... I rarely see a single Thai figure standing with hands on hips issuing commands to organize. Instead everyone sort of mills around doing different things with a smile and light banter and then TADA everything comes together amazingly well done. This drives the farang nuts. How many times do we see an uninitiated farang try to get 'into control'. The Thais just let it be.... farangs are farangs after-all. Trip to get first driver's license... I had so many people come help me fill in forms, move around the office, plus smile and laugh with me during my Thai drivers application; it just about brought tears to my eyes. I thought I had return to long-lost family or something. Yes, there was the testing and forms and that red-tape stuff, but the people were brilliant and truly loving. Saving face... My farang friend marrying into a Thai family; speaks great Thai, really assimilates well into Thai culture. He calls me one day to share his own 'surprise.' The family runs a small business retails sales shop. There are the mom, pop, a couple of brothers and the sister he married. One day he says a brother taking money out of the register discreetly putting it into his pocket. When he questions his wife about the brother skimming from the family, she says, 'yes, he does and everyone knows about it.' But, no one says anything to anyone to rock the boat. Surface level nothing connection vs deep opening... Countless times I've experienced how Thais talk about nothing on-and-on; during a massage, at the local market, meeting each other on the street. It's like everyone has a valley-girl mentality all the time. BUT, occasionally I'll get a Thai alone and they'll tell me everything they've never told another person, about their life, dreams and dramas; it's the download to the stranger on the airplane deal, but I feel revered each time it happens. The mirror thing... Walk into any mall where women and men have to be presentable to the public and count how many people are looking into display or pocket mirrors, wow! 6 people to pick-out, check-out n wrap a gift... Always, always, always a gift purchases and wrapped at the mall takes EXACTLY 6 people to manifest!! How the Thai's LOVE gifts and giving. Sweet!! 3 people for directions... Always, always, always ask 3 people for directions and then take YOUR best guess. Never depend on road signs to get you to a location unless you already know where you are going. DANGER: First 3 days in country for newbies... These are the danger days. Do not get on a motorbike until day 4. Sunburn, holes in the sidewalk, motorcycle leg burn, etc etc Cold water hair and skin care... Yes, every hair salon and every barber everywhere has cold water. Get a facial, cold water. Then, go get a cold water shave, argh. Even got a 'dry' shave one time with NO water. Gotta be a 'Thai' thing. City/street/utility Organization without planning/oversight/western/colonial input... Enough said! Sauces and add-ons... If any food or dish comes with a sauce, that sauce is MADE to go with that dish. Don't bother without it. Super hard on the farang who can't eat the spice or stand the smell of the fish sauce burning in the kitchen or fermented shrimp paste etc etc Filter coffee revolution... 14 years ago ONE place for filter coffee in Chiang Mai. Now, one Nimma intersection has 9 coffee shops. Oh yeah! Goodbye Nescafe. Uneducation... How a college degree can mean so little. Ouch! Creation... Ingenuity, design sense, beauty. Some really cool stuff happening in Thailand temples, markets, clothing, accessories. It's overwhelming seeing it all in one place here sometimes, so it's not until you leave the country and see a Thai silk hanging (or hill-tribe weave/fabric) in a western home does it really pop-out and spread it's beauty/creativity. Eastern mind... Congeniality, respect, go-with-the-flow, organized-chaos. I'm told it take 25 years for the westerner to 'get' it. Row Businesses... Open a business that is the exactly same right next to your competition. Then, have a row of the same businesses over time. At first a stupid idea, but on second look can turn out to be clever. A row of hardware stores makes more sense to me than a row of coffee shops and spas. Business openings... For sure the highest number of business openings are done in the low season in Chiang Mai. So very weird. How many business can be opened with so much initial investment and no cash for marketing or capital for the long haul low season? This too is very hard to watch year after year. And, when the same-same place opens in the same-same spot that wasn't successful before. Ouch! Thai's eating salads, juices and whole-foods... It's really starting to happen. Once the healthy food in city was the heavy oiled, over-cook veggie, tofu/mushroom laced vegetarian spots around the city. But, when hydroponics/organics started to happen and a couple of salad places opened up, Thai's become the main clientele. A VERY big surprise. We even see brown rice at Thai restaurants some times. The beauty of Thai women... I travel around Southeast Asia a lot. When I come home after a month away and go shopping I still get caught with my jaw dropping, even after so many years. I'm not sure why western men have this programmed into their brains or why god/buddha/nature/reality made us this way. Okay that's 20 listing for 14 years. I think you get the idea. I tried to keep it balanced between the good/the bad/the ugly. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotpoom Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 what has surprised me over the years is the number of completely dysfunctional foreigners who are living in the country, yeah everywhere I have worked in "foreign" countries, you get the odd 1 or 2 nut jobs who have arrived on a banana boat, but Thailand must the be the regional hub for "broken"/disturbed/dysfunctional foreigners. there many who should be in padded cells for their own protection. and then we have the another demographic of those who have have never traveled outside their own country until the prospect of a cheap available women grew too strong for them and they up root themselves and transplant themselves to Nakon Nowhere shacked up with some bint,with splayed toes and a trick pelvis who gave them the goo goo eyes and promised to love them long time and they are absolutely clueless I actually left more dysfunctional people behind in the UK than I have discovered here. They are here, that is for sure, but I have met a much higher percentage of charming, mostly genuine, helpful, mainly contented people who doing their best to adapt to a comfortable life in Thailand. I get a call from home once a week and I listen to radio from my home country daily. I have noticed the topic very dear to people's heart at home is their health" People of my own age spend a lot of time searching for preventative medicine and worrying a lot about these type of things..... Myself....I spend most of my time wondering about where to head for on my next adventure around this lovely country. Just come back yesterday from my latest one........Thank God I moved to Thailand...where one stays young no matter how old you are. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MW72 Posted February 28, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 28, 2015 I'm not going to list all of my positives and negatives. Every country and the population has them. Here is one little positive story that made me feel good. A few months back I paid a fabricator to make new goal posts for the village football pitch and I bought a couple of new balls. There are a couple of young teachers who take the local boys of all age groups to play football every night after school and the goals were delapidated and they had a tattered old ball. This is probably the most extravagant thing I've done in the village as I don't want people thinking I am a rich falang that throws his money around. I am definitely not rich in falang terms. Fast forward to this week. The GF's father has a few rai of paddy and an old delapidated wooden shelter beside an old fish pond that is empty and dried out. The GF and I talked about getting some fish in there and she was thinking of rebuilding the shelter. She emailed my to say she was starting to take down the old shelter. Concerned, I emailed here back to ask if she was getting a professional to do this as I didn't want her to do herself an injury. Don't worry she says and sends a few photos showing around a dozen guys all over the shelter taking it apart. I ask her how much she is paying for this? Nothing, zero, zilch. Some of the guys are friends of her father who are helping out and the two teachers who take the boys to play football had heard what was going on and took a couple of friends down to help out. They were returning the favour so to speak. I was well pleased that her fathers friends and the younger lads were are willing to give up their time to help without expecting any reward. They have a good sense of community in the village which is lacking in many places in the west nowadays. Of course the GF bought a load of meat from the market and she and her sisters kept the guys fed not to mention a few beers and some Lao Khow her father contributed. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgordo38 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. Yeah it breaks down into a barroom brawl at the drop of a hat. I guess as we age we become more opinionated mix that with bitterness and boredom and we become TV keyboard critics with a one upmanship complex. Let the battle continue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmann Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I have been here for 18 months not that long compare to many. But unlike many that have been here far longer than me, I have my eyes open. LOS land of smiles ..... what a joke that is. I don't like Thai people. Used to think they were wonderful, but the rose tinted glasses fell off. Show the dollar bill and you are special. Keep it in your pocket, you are scum. show respect ,live a normal life ,be kind ,helpful ,in your village ,your get it back ,don't need to show one $ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berybert Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) I have been here for 18 months not that long compare to many. But unlike many that have been here far longer than me, I have my eyes open. LOS land of smiles ..... what a joke that is. I don't like Thai people. Used to think they were wonderful, but the rose tinted glasses fell off. Show the dollar bill and you are special. Keep it in your pocket, you are scum. show respect ,live a normal life ,be kind ,helpful ,in your village ,your get it back ,don't need to show one $ Yes I live in a small village called Bangkok. It takes me 15-20 minutes to walk to the supermarket. In that 15-20 minutes I have to walk often in the road because the sidewalk is full of food stalls. I have to zig zag along what parts of the pavements I can use to avoid parked cars and motorbikes. I went to the shop a while ago. A mother was trying to cross the road with her daughter who was about 6. Now there was a car at the front of the road trying to turn right and was slowly edging out. This person behind who could have stopped and let the mother and daughter cross didn't because he didn't want the gap to get any bigger than 2cm from the car in front. Pure ignorance and it is a trait of Thai people. No one has time for anyone else. It may well be a big city thing. But I really would have little interest living in a village. Edited February 28, 2015 by berybert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gandalf12 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 <script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script> Meanwhile, back to topic.What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. MAkes you wonder why they continue to stay in Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebrown Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 When I lived in the UK many friends and others told me how calm, respectful and easy going I was, and before I came to LOS I had the impression that most Thais were the same. What i didn't appreciate was that in an 'organised' generally controlled and law abiding country this was quite easy. However, my first few months in LOS were a bit of a nightmare because there is such a laissez-faire attitude to the laws, particularly on the roads queues in shops etc. One other aspect to surprise me is the extent to which Thais are driven by 'show' and jealousy of other peoples wealth, which I have seen turn into hatred and even vindictive actions. My biggest 'bash' is not aimed at Thais, but those farangs who give a bad impression to Thais, that we are all the same ie loud mouthed, swearing, boorish alcohol swilling bar stool morons. I had the misfortune to encounter such a creature last week in the service waiting room of my local Nissan dealer (Sukhumvit/Jomtien). I was expecting a 4 hour wait for a 'major' service to my pick-up. After about 2 hours (10am) this '1 step up from a hobo' came into the waiting room, complaing/grunting expletives about the poor service. He then noticed me (the sole farang amongst about 10 people in the room)) and in a most ignorant tone shouted "HEY YOUW " in my direction. Apparently he'd only been waiting outside for 1 hour for his service, which obviously meant he was missing valuable drinking time . He showed his displeasure to all and sundry and I was soooo pleased when he poured himself into his March and drove off. If you are reading this 'Mr Slob' you should be ashamed , but then again I forgot, people like you don't know the meaning of the word! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_Dog Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 The original post on this thread is outstanding, and I agree with everything there. Things I would add that have surprised me are: -The abysmal nature and danger of Thai highways. They are rated second most dangerous in the world but likely MOST dangerous as the government only counts deaths at the scene. -Gun Ownership: The amount of unreported murders in this country is amazing. I have seen guns pulled out in the middle of the day in shopping malls, heard shots during road rage incidents, and seen police picking up shell casings after a fish vendor got into someone else's turf. -The strength of the Sakdina system. -The natural resources in this country. Just watch National Geographic's "Wild Thailand" on YouTube. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DILLIGAD Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 What surprises me, is after nearly a decade here, I can still be surprised by some of the sh!t one sees in Thailand and the miserable existence of some farangs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louse1953 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 I have been here for 18 months not that long compare to many. But unlike many that have been here far longer than me, I have my eyes open. LOS land of smiles ..... what a joke that is. I don't like Thai people. Used to think they were wonderful, but the rose tinted glasses fell off. Show the dollar bill and you are special. Keep it in your pocket, you are scum. at least your honest bert, but it begs the question what ya still doing here if you don't like Thai people and this is a serious question I'm on my way back to England in May. The 2 or 3 week holiday experience didn't translate into a life style. Good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berybert Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) I have been here for 18 months not that long compare to many. But unlike many that have been here far longer than me, I have my eyes open. LOS land of smiles ..... what a joke that is. I don't like Thai people. Used to think they were wonderful, but the rose tinted glasses fell off. Show the dollar bill and you are special. Keep it in your pocket, you are scum. at least your honest bert, but it begs the question what ya still doing here if you don't like Thai people and this is a serious question I'm on my way back to England in May. The 2 or 3 week holiday experience didn't translate into a life style. Good. Are you so sad you worry about what other people do ? Edited February 28, 2015 by berybert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pheat123 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 (edited) I was very surprised to find packs of 2 pre cooked boiled eggs in 7-11 This find changed my life to such an extent Edited February 28, 2015 by Pheat123 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neverdie Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 A disguised moaning thread, same old, same old. I'm surprised anyone would think this is not something it is. Yes. You are right. Your post shows the same old, same old attitude.Where is your bitterness coming from? What are you talking about, I merely pointed out that this is a moaning thread in disguise, typical tvf stuff really. Now the bitterness is coming from the people that can't accept certain things one way or another. I'd suggest those people can be unhappy no matter where they live. Suck it up and move on and this thread can be filed in the trash with the rest of them. Where are you from Gary, post it up and if I've been there I will moan about what I didn't like from there and hopefully thousands of others come and do the same, see how you like it. Plenty offensive Thai bashing nonsense on this forum, shiiiitliads of it. Time for some people to build a bridge and f u d g e offf me thinks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garrya Posted February 28, 2015 Author Share Posted February 28, 2015 A disguised moaning thread, same old, same old. I'm surprised anyone would think this is not something it is. Yes. You are right. Your post shows the same old, same old attitude.Where is your bitterness coming from? What are you talking about, I merely pointed out that this is a moaning thread in disguise, typical tvf stuff really. Now the bitterness is coming from the people that can't accept certain things one way or another. I'd suggest those people can be unhappy no matter where they live. Suck it up and move on and this thread can be filed in the trash with the rest of them. Where are you from Gary, post it up and if I've been there I will moan about what I didn't like from there and hopefully thousands of others come and do the same, see how you like it. Plenty offensive Thai bashing nonsense on this forum, shiiiitliads of it. Time for some people to build a bridge and f u d g e offf me thinks So what? Some people have negative opinions about Thailand, and others have positive. What's your problem with that? Why does it hurt you? I don't get it. Why are you reading threads in which people have opposing ideas to yours? If you happened to read through the posts, you would find loads of interesting things, not just Thai bashing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post gerry1011 Posted February 28, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 28, 2015 Nothing has really surprised me in Thailand. I just learned a lot of new things and adapted myself to these new things over the years. But what has surprised me, and still surprises me, is the level of bitterness of so many farangs. As well as their sense of superiority, their inability to adapt to the country they decided to live in, their poor local language skills, their arrogance, their totally inacurate understanding of the local society, their jealousy towards the successful Thais, their poor quality, their constant derogatory comments, ... That really surprised me. At first (15 years ago) I was very happy to meet farangs and make friend with them... but after a few surprises I quickly decided to keep away from fellow farangs. I feel much better since then. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post villagefarang Posted February 28, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 28, 2015 Nothing has really surprised me in Thailand. I just learned a lot of new things and adapted myself to these new things over the years. But what has surprised me, and still surprises me, is the level of bitterness of so many farangs. As well as their sense of superiority, their inability to adapt to the country they decided to live in, their poor local language skills, their arrogance, their totally inacurate understanding of the local society, their jealousy towards the successful Thais, their poor quality, their constant derogatory comments, ... That really surprised me. At first (15 years ago) I was very happy to meet farangs and make friend with them... but after a few surprises I quickly decided to keep away from fellow farangs. I feel much better since then. Just change 15 to 38 and I could have written those exact words. Well said. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micmichd Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 The peacefulness of Thai Moslems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadBouy Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Meanwhile, back to topic. What has surprised me in Thailand is the bitterness of expats on this forum. quite, I am surprised at the open and balatant racism displayed on this forum by some members Not just racism, but bashing of any people of any country which is not their own home country. That's right before they start bashing their home country. Bitter. Nationalism is an issue in all countries. You can love your own country and still be respectful to those from other countries. I love my country but I also am not blind to it's flaws. I have met many wonderful people from the same countries as the bashers here and I would not paint them with the same brush just because of the few on this forum or the few I meet personally. Some here are just trying to agitate others for fun or the have some forum grudge but I believe there are a few legit haters here. Life is too short to be overly concerned with their BS, their behavior says volumes about them and it makes it an easy decision to avoid their company. I'm sure this is true of the Thai's as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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