Is a life in Thailand worth less than in the West?

[webfact]

Is a life in Thailand worth less than in the West?
by STEPH JOHNSON


Featured image is via Swongviggit

BANGKOK: -- Most people familiar with Thailand will agree that, in many ways, it’s a land of contradictions.

From personal freedoms to political restrictions, to the meeting of Eastern beliefs with Western expectations, and the undeniable clashing of the old against the new, Thailand as a country can be pretty paradoxical.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this – in fact, it’s what endears the country to many – but occasionally, something will happen so utterly at odds with our preconceived notion of ‘Thainess’, that it gives pause for thought.

One of the issues I wrestle with over here is the value given to individual life. Something I find hard to reconcile is the Thai people’s tangible devotion to family and community with the not-uncommon apathy displayed towards the life and death of others.

Sometimes, it feels like there’s almost a frivolity attached to loss of life; and I mean that towards the country’s expat community too (myself included).

Death is everywhere, but in Thailand it’s just another day at the office.

Traffic accidents, suicides, murders transpiring from loss of face, bodies turning up in the Chao Phraya – these stories are almost mundane, right down to the badly pixelated corpses splashed across news websites and social media.

Another farang found dead at the bottom of a tower block? We roll our eyes. Another 12 people crushed in a minivan crash? We question what fools trust their lives to the whimsy of a minivan.

Why don’t we care? Is a life in Thailand worth less than in the West? [read more...]

Full story: http://whatsonsukhumvit.com/is-a-life-in-thailand-worth-less-than-one-in-the-west/

-- (c) What's on Sukhumvit 2016-03-31

[Somtamnication]

Yes.

[kotsak]

Does the sun rise every morning?

[ezzra]

The short answer, Yes, the long answer, hell Yes..... the mind boggling carelessness, the blaze attitude

to safety and common sense in all walks of life and everyday activities Thai people engage in,

the horrendous numbers of the dead and injured can only

lead to one conclusion that life in this country if indeed cheap, very cheap.....

[Smiley Face]

The answer is NO! BUT, in the eyes of Thai people it is perceived as such. It's shameful but true.

[jaywalker]

As some clown politician/police officer recently said, "Just make another one".

[uthaithanirules]

The US would seem to be the exception.

The amount of gun related deaths there

[starky]

Na, people in the West just have an severely inflated view of their self worth. Dead is dead from the highest to the lowest all human life is worth exactly the same no use making a big song and dance about anyone's passing.

[jamesbrock]

As some clown politician/police officer recently said, "Just make another one".

Laura Witheridge wrote this on her Facebook page, during the trial of the scapegoats. She wrote that Thai judges and court officials made comments such as: "Why are you here? Why do you care? She is dead already" and: "Why are you so bothered? Just go home and make another one" and: "Why are you making such a fuss, she will be back in 30 days as something else, she may have better luck next time."

This last statement pretty much sums up the attitude/logic here, and also why Thais drive the way they do.

Edited March 30, 2016 by jamesbrock

[canuckamuck]

The value of life is tied to your income potential here.

[Yunla]

The title of this thread is one of those broad sweeping generalisations that can not be answered by nature of the question itself.

So my answer is "yes and no" which is the only possible way to reply to a broad sweeping generalisation.

If we are comparing nations that have become very advanced by the wealth created from early industrial manufacturing etc., the West, versus countries that are still catching up in wealth and social terms, then yes obviously life is worth more in wealthy countries. Because road-safety and workplace safety etc. the citizen is an investment with a lot of training and financial obligations which make them the kind of investment that needs to be kept safe at work and on journeys. But those are macro social views, generalisations. They apply to general perspectives, and not to individual cases.

Pictures of specific situations are very different. If you go to ground level, and visit a hospital in Bangkok, you will see highly-trained Doctors and Nurses working extremely hard to save peoples' lives, to make patients comfortable, and to try and keep their spirits high with flowers and gifts etc. I've said before that I think Thai doctors and nurses are the best in the world, based on my experiences in the fairly huge amounts of time I've been hospitalised here. And since their job is to save lives, the huge amount of effort and genuine human compassion they show at work, would mean that the answer to the OP is "no" and life here is worth at least as much as anywhere else.

But it is a bigger and more complex picture, and so "yes and no" is my answer, depending on which specific situation you are looking at.

[TomJoad]

Depends on your karma. If you happen to get reborn as an insect, it could potentially cause some problems.

[uthaithanirules]

As some clown politician/police officer recently said, "Just make another one".

Laura Witheridge wrote this on her Facebook page, during the trial of the scapegoats. She wrote that Thai judges and court officials made comments such as: "Why are you here? Why do you care? She is dead already" and: "Why are you so bothered? Just go home and make another one" and: "Why are you making such a fuss, she will be back in 30 days as something else, she may have better luck next time."

This last statement pretty much sums up the attitude/logic here, and also why Thais drive the way they do.

Assuming any of that is actually true

[lostinisaan]

Is that a rhetorical question?

[selftaopath]

YES. Here money matters more. EVERYTHING is about money -everything. Lives don't matter/education doesn't matter/religion doesn't matter/ a government to support the populous DOESN'T MATTER. It's all about the money.

[leeneeds]

Being insulated here as an expat by not having neighbours who are expats

and not visiting expats as friends every day or every week, most i feel

have left their home country for a monetary relief and value for the buck / pound euro etc

But living amongst fatalistic people, and being unable to vote or have a say in the community

takes away any sense of being, your perceived to have more money than a thai and your lady / man who is your

partner is seen as lucky, for those of us who have children to locals we are treated( just a little bit more ) of respect

from my observations, and my children are given more attention being the 50/50 % of skin colour, sometimes it is concerning

the attention that is given, and have spoken to my wife about this.

Having blinkered education and the lack of foreign t v shows that would enlighten a little on life outside of LOS,

all combine in there small way to the worth of a life here, I took my wife home for a visit and we met a thai lady at the beach

she told us she would never come back to Thailand as life for her was so good where she was at, I questioned my self all the way home

was i doing the right thing by cutting ties, Looking at where i am now what life i had then , what attitude to life and its worth is still the same

(all life is special)

I accept the Thai blas'e thinking on life as they have seen so much of it, only education and years and years of non conflict free from corruption,

free speech and that the laws of the land are followed, combined with the generational change after all those years will any difference be seen in life value.

I love this place and its people but sometimes it sure does not pay to know better.

[z42]

Is the pope Catholic??? Is the sun hot??? Shine a light

[clockman]

The US would seem to be the exception.

The amount of gun related deaths there

Hand gun murders, in Thailand. Per population are higher than America!

[worgeordie]

Why ask a stupid question,of course it is,you can see it everyday

in some form or another,especially if you are poor.

regards Worgeordie

[gandalf12]

Of course it is. In Thailand if you have money you can get away with taking peoples lives. You cant in general do that in the West although the OJ trial would indicate otherwise. Dont understand why this question was asked, the answer is obvious.

[stoneyboy]

Do bears crap in the woods.

[ggt]

Death and destruction is a sign of the times...people all over the world are dying at the hands of other people...the numbers grow larger and cries for help louder...but hardly anyone is interested or listening...

We have become accustomed to death...sad world we live in today...

[Barnet]

"But aside from the above behaviours, it’s hard to deny that, day to day, Thai people visibly value and celebrate life.

Where's that then? Value life? They dump rubbish, pollute, drive like maniacs, kill each other over meaningless arguments, spend most of their lives hiding from the sun as they're obsessed with their looks and petrified to get a tan..... If celebrating life involves staring at an Ipad for hours on end whilst making iced green slush in a cup last in order to get free wifi and air con then I'm obviously missing out on the fun.

"There’s a real sense of community here and that people care for their own – not something remotely guaranteed in the West."

Care for who? Let junior take the motorbike to school as it's too early to get up. Stick baby in one hand and drive wth the other, make sure you don't put a helmet on her. So and so is threatening me, treating me like crap....mai pen rai they're richer/older than you, I don't want to know. Somchai's gotta a nice new bike....Really, I wonder how we can pinch it...

Come on.........they care for themslves and money, simple.

I regularly see Thais give to beggars, disabled people and ‘small business’ setups on the side of the road when, shamefully, I just duck my head and continue on my way.

Where is this from? I'm yet to see them give a damn about anybody less fortunate. How many charities do Thais contribute to? How about the festivals where beggars are transported to and from in full view of the public yet nothing is done about it. The only reason most contribute to the temples is so they claim luck back in return or avoid ghostly spirits. This line itself highlights this reporter's complete and utter failure to comprehend life here.

If the editor was worth anything this article would never have got past the junk mail.

[reptile91602]

Thailand is Bhuddist in case you didn't get that info. It is a passive religion. That includes death. A passive awareness of life. They are so passive they allow a bunch of moronic falangs to live here. How much more passive can you get? Yes that has a lot to do with money again. I guess they still like their money.

[Pib]

Like my Thai wife of many decades has told me over and over, Life is worth little in Thailand. She no longer has to tell me this (but she does) because I figured that out long ago after being in Thailand for only a few months.

[Jimbo2014]

Depends who you are. Some life is worth less than others. If you are from a rich or well to do family then your life is worth more. If you are from the raving masses then probably not much. If you are unfortunate enough to be myanmar or cambodian then less than a satang. If you are a foreigner from the west then only as much as your relatives create problems for the powers that be after your likely demise.

[callaway]

Do the Kennedys duck when a car backfires?

[klauskunkel]

One of the issues I wrestle with over here is the value given to individual life

"The value given"..., as long as you do nothing about others valuing your life, your life will be cheap. You have to make your own value, just like all the HiSo, politicians, tycoons, VIPs, government officials, generals in this and any other country do. If you are content with what "they" value your life at, then that's exactly the value of your life...

So, the issue I wrestle with your article is your passive acceptance and then questioning the outcome, while the fundamentals are the same all over the world.

[happy chappie]

There's a pecking order here in Thailand and it goes like this...Thai man,Thai woman,Thai dog,Thai dog flea,then farang.we are nothing but a cash machine and the sooner we spend,lose all of our money,the sooner they can get shot of us and let the next one in.in fact if we die here even better as they can help themselves to anything and if your lucky you get sent home in a pint jar.its a very sad future for us all.

[lostinisaan]

One life in Sisaket is worth around 14 K.