Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I know modernisation is happening all over the world but I haven't seen it so fast as here.this week I had to attend a meeting in Bangkok and I realised it is just a mega city such as New York,London,Berlin and so on...it is loosing its character,charm and identity.peoples behaviour their way to dress their outlook has changed dramatically ( not judging just observed). The once exotic ladies becoming the same as their western counterparts...blond,pale and attached to their mobile devices... Where there has been street markets and vendors are now gigantic shopping malls( with all the western products) ,sure there are some left but for how long? Also here in phuket things are changing the friendly and genuine attitude by the locals is mostly disappeared.where there were beautiful surroundings there are now hotel complexes... The exotic,common and charming Thailand is slowly disappearing... And please don't come with:then go to Issan...ubon,udon,mukdahan are also changing just that the locals are more genuine and friendly... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4evermaat Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) IMHO, as long as casual sex is in demand for the human species, Thailand (and other places with similar, transparent views on romantic relationships) will never FULLY lose its charm. Edited December 5, 2015 by 4evermaat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METV Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Welcome to mass tourism reality. Tourist numbers have been multiplied by 3 in 15 years. TAT"s job is to make sure they shop in expensive malls rather than 20 Baht markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, when a man is tired of Bangkok, he's tired of life. Everywhere changes. Only a fool would expect otherwise. But Thailand is still awesome if you approach it with an open mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 I get tired when even thinking of Bangkok...in and out as fast as I can... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ttthailand Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 "Take paradise and put up a parking lot " But was it really paradise or just a black market country for sex, copies, dirty street stands, scams, trafficking, drugs etc etc ..... I think we all were in amazement at how everything was possible and around every bend we were shocked or surprised and now it is getting cleaned up and brought under control, sort of..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KhunBENQ Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) I agree about the general trend, but want to remind: Bangkok is not Thailand, Thailand is not Bangkok. I live upcountry. Little except some fancy shopping/sightseeing motivates me to visit Bangkok not to speak of living there. After four decades of living in a crowded city I got enough of that. Edited December 5, 2015 by KhunBENQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) I tend to view this as a change in perspective even more than a change in Thailand. After dinner the other night I stopped to talk with a group of first-timers at another table. They seemed to be as enthralled with Thailand as any visitors I have talked with over the last forty years. If the initial appeal for anything is its newness or novelty then you are going to hit a phase where you either find some deeper affinity for that thing or you lament it having become familiar and go off in search of something new again. I do not buy into the arguments over where the ‘real Thailand’ resides. When I moved to Thailand in the 70s people in my life would ask when I was returning to the ‘real world’ and they had a hard time understanding that where you live is ‘real’ regardless of where that might be. Edited December 5, 2015 by villagefarang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 "Take paradise and put up a parking lot " But was it really paradise or just a black market country for sex, copies, dirty street stands, scams, trafficking, drugs etc etc ..... I think we all were in amazement at how everything was possible and around every bend we were shocked or surprised and now it is getting cleaned up and brought under control, sort of..... In a nutshell...if visiting the respective places... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Personally I find it fascinating to witness at first hand a country becoming more sophisticated and modern. But if you fetishise the undeveloped and primitive as 'exotic', I can see how progress might disappoint you. Seems unfair to deny a people development just to keep them in a state that pleases you, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 I tend to view this as a change in perspective even more than a change in Thailand. After dinner the other night I stopped to talk with a group of first-timers at another table. They seemed to be as enthralled with Thailand as any visitors I have talked with over the last forty years. If the initial appeal for anything is its newness or novelty then you are going to hit a phase where you either find some deeper affinity for that thing or you lament it having become familiar and go off in search of something new again. I do not buy into the arguments over where the real Thailand resides. When I moved to Thailand in the 70s people in my life would ask when I was returning to the real world and they had a hard time understanding that where you live is real regardless of where that might be. Change/ innovation are good things if applied within an appropriate time because people need the time to adapt...if done too fast difficult to handle... As example when the Berlin Wall disappeared ( me behind the iron curtain at this time)I was sixteen and within one year thousand of new things were available- chaos for the next 3-4 years and to adopt completely it took about ten years...but here it is more like a time warp without the time to adapt ...just my two cents Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) Personally I find it fascinating to witness at first hand a country becoming more sophisticated and modern. But if you fetishise the undeveloped and primitive as 'exotic', I can see how progress might disappoint you. Seems unfair to deny a people development just to keep them in a state that pleases you, though.Modernisation for the price of loosing your heritage???...and is not a bit arrogant or insulting to name Thais 10-15 years ago undeveloped and primitive??? Edited December 5, 2015 by Crazy chef 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 (edited) I tend to view this as a change in perspective even more than a change in Thailand. After dinner the other night I stopped to talk with a group of first-timers at another table. They seemed to be as enthralled with Thailand as any visitors I have talked with over the last forty years. If the initial appeal for anything is its newness or novelty then you are going to hit a phase where you either find some deeper affinity for that thing or you lament it having become familiar and go off in search of something new again. I do not buy into the arguments over where the real Thailand resides. When I moved to Thailand in the 70s people in my life would ask when I was returning to the real world and they had a hard time understanding that where you live is real regardless of where that might be. Change/ innovation are good things if applied within an appropriate time because people need the time to adapt...if done too fast difficult to handle... As example when the Berlin Wall disappeared ( me behind the iron curtain at this time)I was sixteen and within one year thousand of new things were available- chaos for the next 3-4 years and to adopt completely it took about ten years...but here it is more like a time warp without the time to adapt ...just my two cents With my view of change in Thailand being spread over such a long period of time, I don’t see it as a time warp. It certainly doesn’t seem as abrupt as the fall of the Berlin Wall. I can see how your experience being so dramatically different from my own could lead you to look at things differently and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. We all have our own unique view of the world molded by our life experiences. I can’t help but wonder, at what point in history are we supposed to stop the clock and move no further? Ones heritage is not lost, it simply resides in history along with many other things from our past. Edited December 5, 2015 by villagefarang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I guess older people come to dislike change wherever they live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villagefarang Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I guess older people come to dislike change wherever they live. That is an oversimplification in my opinion. I am getting older (61) and change has never been a problem for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I guess older people come to dislike change wherever they live.That is an oversimplification in my opinion. I am getting older (61) and change has never been a problem for me. I should have put the word 'some' in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 I guess older people come to dislike change wherever they live.That is an oversimplification in my opinion. I am getting older (61) and change has never been a problem for me.I should have put the word 'some' in there. And modernisation,innovation or globalisation is not ALWAYS positive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Welcome to mass tourism reality. Tourist numbers have been multiplied by 3 in 15 years. TAT"s job is to make sure they shop in expensive malls rather than 20 Baht markets. If it's mostly only expensive malls that are left, that is one sure way to cut the tourist numbers drastically. IMO. A lot of tourists come here to shop in these markets because they cannot afford to shop in the expensive malls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoshowJones Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I guess older people come to dislike change wherever they live. That is an oversimplification in my opinion. I am getting older (61) and change has never been a problem for me. There is nothing wrong with any change if it is going in the right direction, and not just for changes sake. Give most people the authority to make changes in any job, and they will do it, only because they have that authority. This does not just apply to Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Bangkok probably seems like it's all malls and no markets if you never explore more than a hundred yards from Sukhumvit or Silom, but there's still plenty more to the city than those two roads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orac Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Welcome to mass tourism reality. Tourist numbers have been multiplied by 3 in 15 years. TAT"s job is to make sure they shop in expensive malls rather than 20 Baht markets. If it's mostly only expensive malls that are left, that is one sure way to cut the tourist numbers drastically.IMO. A lot of tourists come here to shop in these markets because they cannot afford to shop in the expensive malls. There is huge vested interest in those shopping malls which wields a great deal of influence when it comes to tourism - note the current minister for tourism is the granddaughter of the M and B in MBK and her family have many interests in other tourism and leisure related businesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sipi Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Thailand is still a charm, just not as much as it used to be. It is evolving as one would imagine, but it still has that aura about it. I hope Thailand never loses it's charm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy chef 1 Posted December 5, 2015 Author Share Posted December 5, 2015 Thailand is still a charm, just not as much as it used to be. It is evolving as one would imagine, but it still has that aura about it. I hope Thailand never loses it's charm. Me too.hope it doesn't become a copy of the west... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circusman Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 IMHO, as long as casual sex is in demand for the human species, Thailand (and other places with similar, transparent views on romantic relationships) will never FULLY lose its charm. A sad definition of charm...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomchop Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 "Take paradise and put up a parking lot " But was it really paradise or just a black market country for sex, copies, dirty street stands, scams, trafficking, drugs etc etc ..... I think we all were in amazement at how everything was possible and around every bend we were shocked or surprised and now it is getting cleaned up and brought under control, sort of..... [Adam Duritz] They paved paradise and put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot [Vanessa Carlton] Ooooh, bop bop bop Ooooh, bop bop bop [Adam] They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them No, no, no Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot [Vanessa] Ooooh, bop bop bop Ooooh, bop bop bop [Adam] Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT I don't care about spots on my apples, Leave me the birds and the bees Please Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot Why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 "Take paradise and put up a parking lot " But was it really paradise or just a black market country for sex, copies, dirty street stands, scams, trafficking, drugs etc etc ..... I think we all were in amazement at how everything was possible and around every bend we were shocked or surprised and now it is getting cleaned up and brought under control, sort of..... [Adam Duritz]They paved paradise and put up a parking lot With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot [Vanessa Carlton] Ooooh, bop bop bop Ooooh, bop bop bop [Adam] They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them No, no, no Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot [Vanessa] Ooooh, bop bop bop Ooooh, bop bop bop [Adam] Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT I don't care about spots on my apples, Leave me the birds and the bees Please Don't it always seem to go That you don't know what you got 'til it's gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot Hey now, they paved paradise to put up a parking lot Why not? Especially given her recent health issues, it would only be polite to credit the lyrics to their actual author. Get well soon, Joni Mitchell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mihalis Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 Its charm will always be there.. Hmmm unless your a burn farang, thinking god owes you.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomchop Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 soi biker you are correct...my apologies to joni and best wishes for her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyFriend You Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 I agree about the general trend, but want to remind: Bangkok is not Thailand, Thailand is not Bangkok. I live upcountry. Little except some fancy shopping/sightseeing motivates me to visit Bangkok not to speak of living there. After four decades of living in a crowded city I got enough of that. I agree wholeheartedly, my colleagues used to get pissed at me when I would say "They're not Thai's, they are Bangkok Thais" my early years in Thailand were all in the South, used to avoid bangkok like the plague, until I got assigned there, I rarely ever went "up north to Bangkok". Sattahip, Pattaya, Baan Sarey were the furthest I ever wanted to go, once took a train to Chiang Mai - now that was Real Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoiBiker Posted December 5, 2015 Share Posted December 5, 2015 The whole 'Bangkok is not real Thailand' thing is just silly. Sure, it's different from life on the farm (thank God), but it's as much part of the country as anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now