Thai Men--What Can Thailand Do?

[mcfish]

The funniest part is the claim that farang men in Thailand are living a life they earned. Coming from Western countries where high salaries are paid in return for minimal effort and where real estate booms have turned ordinary baby boomer generation people into owners of extremely overinflated real estate. Very interesting.

BTW I am not being a Thai apologist. I have been in Thailand long enough to be aware of the faults of Thai society. But I just thought it was a bit much to suggest asset rich farangs are financially comfortable entirely through effort alone.

Your post is ridiculous . You are an apologist and you know it

[tuktuktuk]

Almost nobody around the village here has a job. I can only think of two who work for the government (shady business too). A lot are farmers that work for themselves and live what would be called a subsistence lifestyle in other parts of the world. None of the men in my wife's extended family have jobs. Several have had jobs for brief periods, but they were either fired or had disputes with employers. They don't all have arrest records, but most do. These range from drugs to drunken driving to theft to unstated. I've heard talk about one being in jail for 3 years and being taken out almost nightly for drinking and gambling by his childhood friends who were guards. They aren't trustworthy. My wife won't give them any latitude to make decisions. None of the women will leave children with the men. There have been too many instances of child sexual abuse. None that I am directly aware of and they don't discuss it. On the bright side, they're all grateful to work for 300 baht per day and can put me to shame in their ability to work at hard manual labor for extended times in extreme heat. A lot are known as construction workers or motorcycle mechanics. The 300 baht is almost always spent on alcohol that night.

There are quite a few women that have jobs. Certainly not a 27:1 ratio, but they work as clerks, office help, bank tellers, etc. Probably none of them exceed the 150k threshold to pay taxes. I got the 150k from another reply here. When I asked about that here they all told me there is no income tax.

[Spilornis]

Given that the minimum income to be required to pay income tax is 150,000 per year, and typical wages for manual labor fall far below that figure, it wouldn't surprise me to see such a ratio.

Nor would it surprise me to find out only a small percentage of the women are "contributing" to the tax base given that minimum wage is about half the tax exemption limit.

Like chrisinth, we have hundreds of Thais working for us, and they're generally pretty good folks. (If they weren't, they no longer work for us- and in short order) Most of the office people are women and most of the field workers are men. Just works that way in the Thai oil business. And they all make enough to pay taxes.

This situation is reflective of most Asian economies (Malaysia and Vietnam for example) where a very low percentage of the working population pay income taxes. As value added taxes are introduced through Asia the tax base is being increased.

BTW the tax threshold in Australia is around 200,000 baht but of course minimum wages are higher.

Does not excuse the OP's rant

[Blackheart]

An interesting post,

But when I read "Compared to women, only only 3% of men work in positions that contribute taxable income to the society."

It made me wonder how many of us farangs in Thailand fall into the same category?

I myself could be seen that way.

I have an income form outside of Thailand that is not really taxed here as income, and I have a Thai wife who works and pays taxes on her income.

If we are being honest, I think a lot of foreign husbands of Thai women are "samesame, but different.

And, now..

It's time for all of you "Yeah buts" to reply.

Complete Bs, most men work in other countries.

I am sure some foreign men in Thailand do work in other countries, but I think they are a pretty small percentage of the foreign men in Thailand.

The majority of farangs I know here are either retired, living off of their pensions, social security and the like or are living off their savings and investments, not "working" anywhere.,

If you are confident enough to claim my statement is "Bs", please provide some statistics ( and the source ) to back up your insult.

I'm talking about Australian men working in Australia for eg, not Australian men working in Thailand.

Why would I compare aussie men in Thailand with Thai men in Thailand, the expats done the hard yards, are retired and living off their own earnings.

The comparison as common sense should dictate is between thai men living in Thailand and farang men living in farangland.

In comparison thai men are useless, based on not all but majority rule.

Why would you compare with farang men in Thailand, makes no sense.

[overherebc]

Thai women still prefer a Thai man above faran, most normal thai women wouldn't been seen dead with a farang

That's a real troll post ☺

[thaibeachlovers]

OP, these figures are true across the board, at every social level?

At what government level was this think-tank established?

I'm not sure about you, but i have worked with Thais for the last 10 years (on my present WP and for the same employer) and the workforce of 40+ seem to be an exception to the rules set by your think-tank.

Would suggest you get out a bit more and evaluate for yourself the percentages you have been given............................

Where I live in LOS, most men work. They may not make enough to pay tax, but that is down to the government. It does not make them lazy or indolent. Sounds like a typical female bitch fest.

In the west, women have taken over most of the influential positions like lawyers and teachers. They are currently trying to graduate to the police and military high command and increase their influence in government. Looks like Thailand is going the same way. So, males better enjoy it while they can.

I will be hopefully be dead before it happens, but I don't envy future males in a humourless overly PC world.

PS Given that till recently females expected to be married to a male that supported them while they did not do paid work, and themselves paid no tax, it's a bit rich for a woman to complain about men not working or paying tax.

[Agent Sumo]

OP, these figures are true across the board, at every social level?

At what government level was this think-tank established?

I'm not sure about you, but i have worked with Thais for the last 10 years (on my present WP and for the same employer) and the workforce of 40+ seem to be an exception to the rules set by your think-tank.

Would suggest you get out a bit more and evaluate for yourself the percentages you have been given............................

Where I live in LOS, most men work. They may not make enough to pay tax, but that is down to the government. It does not make them lazy or indolent. Sounds like a typical female bitch fest.

In the west, women have taken over most of the influential positions like lawyers and teachers. They are currently trying to graduate to the police and military high command and increase their influence in government. Looks like Thailand is going the same way. So, males better enjoy it while they can.

I will be hopefully be dead before it happens, but I don't envy future males in a humourless overly PC world.

PS Given that till recently females expected to be married to a male that supported them while they did not do paid work, and themselves paid no tax, it's a bit rich for a woman to complain about men not working or paying tax.

Astonishing.

Imagine living one's life being afraid of women

[Agent Sumo]

Thai women still prefer a Thai man above faran, most normal thai women wouldn't been seen dead with a farang

That's a real troll post ☺

Yeah everyone knows that poor Thai women are brought up with the notion that the only way out of poverty is to take up with a farang

[MobileContent]

I have around 150 Thai friends of which maybe only 10 are females.

I got to be honest Thai guys can be great friends also their wife's seem to be a pain in the ass. My bodies are mostly teachers, army, police, managers and some government officials. If you ever had close Thai male friends they will go through thick and thin with you.

Now back to this Post. The OP is a troll.

Oh yes, I stay normally away from farangs as friends as mostly here in Isaan are retarded.

Bangkok is a different story so maybe its time for me to start a Farang bashing post.

[MobileContent]

An interesting post,

But when I read "Compared to women, only only 3% of men work in positions that contribute taxable income to the society."

It made me wonder how many of us farangs in Thailand fall into the same category?

I myself could be seen that way.

I have an income form outside of Thailand that is not really taxed here as income, and I have a Thai wife who works and pays taxes on her income.

If we are being honest, I think a lot of foreign husbands of Thai women are "samesame, but different.

And, now..

It's time for all of you "Yeah buts" to reply.

Complete Bs, most men work in other countries.

A large number of Thai men too work as well here.

[MobileContent]

Troll post or not anyone who has spent time in Thai villages will see many men in hammocks, gambling or drinking all day while the women work farms or go to the city to work in shops.

I have been living five years in a village and my neighbor runs a casino but it is mainly used by womans who have nothing to do plus those farang wife's that gambles the money away.

Of course you will see guys that get drunk on Lao Kao and they behave very uneducated but surprisingly many own or have a lot of land. You can't blame the Thai guys for not having a job as this year they are only allowed to plant once a year.

But I do agree Sakeo and Sisaket is very extreme and I would't stay their for any honey.

Some blame the Thai guys in those villages for all the problems but I blame the government for it.

[MobileContent]

Thai women still prefer a Thai man above faran, most normal thai women wouldn't been seen dead with a farang

That's a real troll post ☺

Yeah everyone knows that poor Thai women are brought up with the notion that the only way out of poverty is to take up with a farang

Absolute rubbish. I know some bar girls in our village and they wouldn't even bring those Pattaya farang <snip> back to their village. A good looking woman can make 100-150k a month and once she got a farang he might give her 20-40k a month. GoGo bars is easy money for the good looking one and they play the game to make money.

If some fat bolded guy comes by and want to marry her and is that stupid to build the house and buys a car she sees it as good luck to take his money and then dumps him.

Just two weeks ago an American came by our village and stayed for one day in a Bamboo hut with his new found love from some Pattaya GoGo Bar. This is the third guy that came by the last 4 years but that smart lady keeps bring the farangs to the bamboo hut but no to her 2 homes she have already. When I met her last week I asked her how much he gave her and she told me she skinned him for 350,000. I told her well done and she opened a few bottles JW. She now left back to Pattaya and hopes to fish another farang sucker in Pattaya.

At least Thai guys are not that stupid as most of the farangs that fish for love in Pattaya.

[tifino]

Does the Number Of Men Working (or not), take into account the sheer numbers of males that are Monks?

[willyumiii]

An interesting post,

But when I read "Compared to women, only only 3% of men work in positions that contribute taxable income to the society."

It made me wonder how many of us farangs in Thailand fall into the same category?

I myself could be seen that way.

I have an income form outside of Thailand that is not really taxed here as income, and I have a Thai wife who works and pays taxes on her income.

If we are being honest, I think a lot of foreign husbands of Thai women are "samesame, but different.

And, now..

It's time for all of you "Yeah buts" to reply.

Complete Bs, most men work in other countries.

I am sure some foreign men in Thailand do work in other countries, but I think they are a pretty small percentage of the foreign men in Thailand.

The majority of farangs I know here are either retired, living off of their pensions, social security and the like or are living off their savings and investments, not "working" anywhere.,

If you are confident enough to claim my statement is "Bs", please provide some statistics ( and the source ) to back up your insult.

I'm talking about Australian men working in Australia for eg, not Australian men working in Thailand.

Why would I compare aussie men in Thailand with Thai men in Thailand, the expats done the hard yards, are retired and living off their own earnings.

The comparison as common sense should dictate is between thai men living in Thailand and farang men living in farangland.

In comparison thai men are useless, based on not all but majority rule.

Why would you compare with farang men in Thailand, makes no sense.

You either did not read my original post or you failed to comprehend what I said.

It is pretty clear that I was talking about foreign men, married to Thai women and living in Thailand.

and yet you jumped at the chance to insult me and call my post "Bs"

I really don't care what Australian men do in OZ and that has absolutely nothing to do with this topic.

Thanks for the apology !

[kannot]

I have around 150 Thai friends of which maybe only 10 are females.

I got to be honest Thai guys can be great friends also their wife's seem to be a pain in the ass. My bodies are mostly teachers, army, police, managers and some government officials. If you ever had close Thai male friends they will go through thick and thin with you.

Now back to this Post. The OP is a troll.

Oh yes, I stay normally away from farangs as friends as mostly here in Isaan are retarded.

Bangkok is a different story so maybe its time for me to start a Farang bashing post.

i dont know whats more unbelievable the 150 friends or the Op's story

[Odysseus123]

Irrespective of whether one believes that the OP is a troll post or not the fact is that in this part of Issan it is a problem.The women work whilst the men look on.What percentage of the male population is actually doing this I simply do not know but it is quite evident in this village .If the women sit around it is because they are engaged in a communal work activity such as shucking corn etc.but when the men sit around they are romancing a bottle of Lao Khao-I know because I am frequently asked to join them-which is a most convivial activity certainly but hardly productive in the greater scheme of things.

Whether change is desired or not, if change is to come it would have to be initiated by the grandmothers,mothers,wives,sisters and daughters who appear to foster and support this form of co-dependence and denial.(no-one escapes from here)

Given my Thai family's behaviour when the brother-in-law destroyed two businesses thru excessive drinking and when my son in law destroyed my wife's restaurant thru utter laziness and heavy drinking (absolutely no criticism allowed but increased demands for money) I do not hold out much hope of change in the immediate future.

[overherebc]

Thai women still prefer a Thai man above faran, most normal thai women wouldn't been seen dead with a farang

That's a real troll post ☺

Yeah everyone knows that poor Thai women are brought up with the notion that the only way out of poverty is to take up with a farang

Absolute rubbish. I know some bar girls in our village and they wouldn't even bring those Pattaya farang <snip> back to their village. A good looking woman can make 100-150k a month and once she got a farang he might give her 20-40k a month. GoGo bars is easy money for the good looking one and they play the game to make money.

If some fat bolded guy comes by and want to marry her and is that stupid to build the house and buys a car she sees it as good luck to take his money and then dumps him.

Just two weeks ago an American came by our village and stayed for one day in a Bamboo hut with his new found love from some Pattaya GoGo Bar. This is the third guy that came by the last 4 years but that smart lady keeps bring the farangs to the bamboo hut but no to her 2 homes she have already. When I met her last week I asked her how much he gave her and she told me she skinned him for 350,000. I told her well done and she opened a few bottles JW. She now left back to Pattaya and hopes to fish another farang sucker in Pattaya.

At least Thai guys are not that stupid as most of the farangs that fish for love in Pattaya.

I'm a little bit confused with your post. Remember this little part of the thread started with ref to 'real' Thai women so it follows that you consider a hooker from Pattaya who spends her time looking for gullible ex-pats to rip them off is a real Thai woman.

Not sure what country you're from but I can say for sure it will have exactly the same type of woman working the same trade. Does that make them 'real' women in your society.

Edited July 4, 2016 by overherebc

[MyFrenU]

"Over the many years, I have maintained a friendship with one or two Thais who have risen to positions of authority in the government. A few days ago, I had dinner with a friend, as she participated in a small conference of government officials from different specialties to brainstorm solutions to some of the more pressing issues of Thailand's future."

So Thai-bashing on this forum is completely disallowed,until you have an imaginary friend that allegedly works for the Thai Government in a position of authority?
You just couldn't make this stuff up!

[Blackheart]

Thai women still prefer a Thai man above faran, most normal thai women wouldn't been seen dead with a farang

That's a real troll post ☺

Yeah everyone knows that poor Thai women are brought up with the notion that the only way out of poverty is to take up with a farang

Absolute rubbish. I know some bar girls in our village and they wouldn't even bring those Pattaya farang <snip> back to their village. A good looking woman can make 100-150k a month and once she got a farang he might give her 20-40k a month. GoGo bars is easy money for the good looking one and they play the game to make money.

If some fat bolded guy comes by and want to marry her and is that stupid to build the house and buys a car she sees it as good luck to take his money and then dumps him.

Just two weeks ago an American came by our village and stayed for one day in a Bamboo hut with his new found love from some Pattaya GoGo Bar. This is the third guy that came by the last 4 years but that smart lady keeps bring the farangs to the bamboo hut but no to her 2 homes she have already. When I met her last week I asked her how much he gave her and she told me she skinned him for 350,000. I told her well done and she opened a few bottles JW. She now left back to Pattaya and hopes to fish another farang sucker in Pattaya.

At least Thai guys are not that stupid as most of the farangs that fish for love in Pattaya.

After your rant about no decent thai woman would be with a farang, tell us who live with in this small village where you have befriended prostitutes.

Whose house are you in and who paid for it.

When you point your finger be aware the other four point Right back at you.

[MyFrenU]

That's a real troll post ☺

Yeah everyone knows that poor Thai women are brought up with the notion that the only way out of poverty is to take up with a farang

Absolute rubbish. I know some bar girls in our village and they wouldn't even bring those Pattaya farang <snip> back to their village. A good looking woman can make 100-150k a month and once she got a farang he might give her 20-40k a month. GoGo bars is easy money for the good looking one and they play the game to make money.

If some fat bolded guy comes by and want to marry her and is that stupid to build the house and buys a car she sees it as good luck to take his money and then dumps him.

Just two weeks ago an American came by our village and stayed for one day in a Bamboo hut with his new found love from some Pattaya GoGo Bar. This is the third guy that came by the last 4 years but that smart lady keeps bring the farangs to the bamboo hut but no to her 2 homes she have already. When I met her last week I asked her how much he gave her and she told me she skinned him for 350,000. I told her well done and she opened a few bottles JW. She now left back to Pattaya and hopes to fish another farang sucker in Pattaya.

At least Thai guys are not that stupid as most of the farangs that fish for love in Pattaya.

After your rant about no decent thai woman would be with a farang, tell us who live with in this small village where you have befriended prostitutes.

Whose house are you in and who paid for it.

When you point your finger be aware the other four point Right back at you.

From a Farang with an indecent Thai woman then?

[WishWashMan]

why not if the 27-1 is true?

i doubt if its true.

[bamukloy]

having lived here for almost 10 years I can admit that I find Thais in general to be much more pleasant and friendly people than Europeans and Americans

To add to that, Thai more friendly from Southern continent countries also IMO

[thehelmsman]

An interesting post,

But when I read "Compared to women, only only 3% of men work in positions that contribute taxable income to the society."

It made me wonder how many of us farangs in Thailand fall into the same category?

I myself could be seen that way.

I have an income form outside of Thailand that is not really taxed here as income, and I have a Thai wife who works and pays taxes on her income.

If we are being honest, I think a lot of foreign husbands of Thai women are "samesame, but different.

And, now..

It's time for all of you "Yeah buts" to reply.

Complete Bs, most men work in other countries.

I am sure some foreign men in Thailand do work in other countries, but I think they are a pretty small percentage of the foreign men in Thailand.

The majority of farangs I know here are either retired, living off of their pensions, social security and the like or are living off their savings and investments, not "working" anywhere.,

If you are confident enough to claim my statement is "Bs", please provide some statistics ( and the source ) to back up your insult.

Feel free to include me in the working elsewhere category, as are many within my company who reside in Thailand.

[thaibeachlovers]

OP, these figures are true across the board, at every social level?

At what government level was this think-tank established?

I'm not sure about you, but i have worked with Thais for the last 10 years (on my present WP and for the same employer) and the workforce of 40+ seem to be an exception to the rules set by your think-tank.

Would suggest you get out a bit more and evaluate for yourself the percentages you have been given............................

Where I live in LOS, most men work. They may not make enough to pay tax, but that is down to the government. It does not make them lazy or indolent. Sounds like a typical female bitch fest.

In the west, women have taken over most of the influential positions like lawyers and teachers. They are currently trying to graduate to the police and military high command and increase their influence in government. Looks like Thailand is going the same way. So, males better enjoy it while they can.

I will be hopefully be dead before it happens, but I don't envy future males in a humourless overly PC world.

PS Given that till recently females expected to be married to a male that supported them while they did not do paid work, and themselves paid no tax, it's a bit rich for a woman to complain about men not working or paying tax.

Astonishing.

Imagine living one's life being afraid of women

Astonishing.

Where did I say I was afraid of women? I was in a female dominated job and worked with thousands of women over the length of my career, so hardly scared of them. I do, however, despise the PC that western women in authority relish. Seems Thailand is going down the same track if this thread is correct.

[thaibeachlovers]

Absolute rubbish. I know some bar girls in our village and they wouldn't even bring those Pattaya farang <snip> back to their village. A good looking woman can make 100-150k a month and once she got a farang he might give her 20-40k a month. GoGo bars is easy money for the good looking one and they play the game to make money.

If some fat bolded guy comes by and want to marry her and is that stupid to build the house and buys a car she sees it as good luck to take his money and then dumps him.

Just two weeks ago an American came by our village and stayed for one day in a Bamboo hut with his new found love from some Pattaya GoGo Bar. This is the third guy that came by the last 4 years but that smart lady keeps bring the farangs to the bamboo hut but no to her 2 homes she have already. When I met her last week I asked her how much he gave her and she told me she skinned him for 350,000. I told her well done and she opened a few bottles JW. She now left back to Pattaya and hopes to fish another farang sucker in Pattaya.

At least Thai guys are not that stupid as most of the farangs that fish for love in Pattaya.

I'm a little bit confused with your post. Remember this little part of the thread started with ref to 'real' Thai women so it follows that you consider a hooker from Pattaya who spends her time looking for gullible ex-pats to rip them off is a real Thai woman.

Not sure what country you're from but I can say for sure it will have exactly the same type of woman working the same trade. Does that make them 'real' women in your society.

I'm a little bit confused with your post

Are you saying a Pattaya hooker ISN'T a real woman?

If they have a vagina they are, indeed, a real woman.

[Tomtomtom69]

Hmm. Interesting. Some of the observations I have made of Thai men (and my own personal experiences):

My Thai male friends are all at least 20-30 years older than me. They are pretty cool people. Thai males my own age? Only have a couple of friends in this category, interestingly, I am closer to their girlfriends than with them (which they don't mind - besides, I'm married anyway). These same guys barely have any of their own guy friends though - they simply serve their girlfriends and accompany their girlfriends when they meet up with their friends. Perhaps 3 guys my own age I can somewhat find some common ground with, they happen to be my wife's work colleagues. However, not once have I met up with them privately, we have however spent some time together with my wife, and it turned out to be OK. Nothing particularly interesting, conversation wise though. Obviously they share more in common with my wife, considering they work together.

In general though, I can't find much in common with Thai guys, especially not those in their 20s-early 40s. I have no idea what they do all day (apart from playing video games perhaps?) The gay ones are particularly annoying - they are obviously feminine, but have this annoying habit of always wanting to be right in every conversation. They are totally self-absorbed and narcissistic. I now no longer have any male Thai friends who are gay, but a few years ago for some reason most of them were!

That brings me to my next point - Thai society will probably be unrecognizable in just a generation's time because so many of it's men are homosexual. In other words: gay. According to a survey from a couple of years ago, a staggering 25% of all Thai men living in Bangkok are gay - I think it could well be even higher than this. Obviously this doesn't bode well for the nation's women.

The extraordinary low fertility rate of Thailand's women doesn't help either. The fertility rate of Thai women is at around 1.5 children per woman, according to the CIA World Factbook, well below the 2.1 replacement level needed to keep a population stable. This means Thailand's fertility rate is actually one of the lowest in the world and likely the lowest in the developing world (no kidding). Many western countries have higher fertility rates than Thai women and that's before taking immigration into account - in Australia it's around 1.7, while in France it's around 1.89 I think.

In Thailand, it's probably closer to 1 for most city dwelling working women, while 2 or more for Muslim Thais, hill tribes and migrant labourers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. I only know one Thai women who has borne 2 children recently, every other Thai women of childbearing age either has no children or only 1, with no plans on having any more. By contrast, a lot of my friends back home have children now, some 1 others even 2.

[Tomtomtom69]

Irrespective of whether one believes that the OP is a troll post or not the fact is that in this part of Issan it is a problem.The women work whilst the men look on.What percentage of the male population is actually doing this I simply do not know but it is quite evident in this village .If the women sit around it is because they are engaged in a communal work activity such as shucking corn etc.but when the men sit around they are romancing a bottle of Lao Khao-I know because I am frequently asked to join them-which is a most convivial activity certainly but hardly productive in the greater scheme of things.

Whether change is desired or not, if change is to come it would have to be initiated by the grandmothers,mothers,wives,sisters and daughters who appear to foster and support this form of co-dependence and denial.(no-one escapes from here)

Given my Thai family's behaviour when the brother-in-law destroyed two businesses thru excessive drinking and when my son in law destroyed my wife's restaurant thru utter laziness and heavy drinking (absolutely no criticism allowed but increased demands for money) I do not hold out much hope of change in the immediate future.

You might want to consider hiring some Burmese, Cambodian or Lao menial workers for your wife's business. They can reportedly be hired easily, apparently there is no foreign/Thai ratio (I don't think there's anything stopping you from hiring only guest workers from these countries and not a single Thai), moreover they are hardworking and generally don't complain. I would go for Burmese and Cambodians - both tend to be quite reliable.

[MyFrenU]

"Thai Men--What Can Thai Visa Do?"

There,fixed the headline now!

[MyFrenU]

Irrespective of whether one believes that the OP is a troll post or not the fact is that in this part of Issan it is a problem.The women work whilst the men look on.What percentage of the male population is actually doing this I simply do not know but it is quite evident in this village .If the women sit around it is because they are engaged in a communal work activity such as shucking corn etc.but when the men sit around they are romancing a bottle of Lao Khao-I know because I am frequently asked to join them-which is a most convivial activity certainly but hardly productive in the greater scheme of things.

Whether change is desired or not, if change is to come it would have to be initiated by the grandmothers,mothers,wives,sisters and daughters who appear to foster and support this form of co-dependence and denial.(no-one escapes from here)

Given my Thai family's behaviour when the brother-in-law destroyed two businesses thru excessive drinking and when my son in law destroyed my wife's restaurant thru utter laziness and heavy drinking (absolutely no criticism allowed but increased demands for money) I do not hold out much hope of change in the immediate future.

You might want to consider hiring some Burmese, Cambodian or Lao menial workers for your wife's business. They can reportedly be hired easily, apparently there is no foreign/Thai ratio (I don't think there's anything stopping you from hiring only guest workers from these countries and not a single Thai), moreover they are hardworking and generally don't complain. I would go for Burmese and Cambodians - both tend to be quite reliable.

Any slave in a storm then?

[thaibeachlovers]

Hmm. Interesting. Some of the observations I have made of Thai men (and my own personal experiences):

My Thai male friends are all at least 20-30 years older than me. They are pretty cool people. Thai males my own age? Only have a couple of friends in this category, interestingly, I am closer to their girlfriends than with them (which they don't mind - besides, I'm married anyway). These same guys barely have any of their own guy friends though - they simply serve their girlfriends and accompany their girlfriends when they meet up with their friends. Perhaps 3 guys my own age I can somewhat find some common ground with, they happen to be my wife's work colleagues. However, not once have I met up with them privately, we have however spent some time together with my wife, and it turned out to be OK. Nothing particularly interesting, conversation wise though. Obviously they share more in common with my wife, considering they work together.

In general though, I can't find much in common with Thai guys, especially not those in their 20s-early 40s. I have no idea what they do all day (apart from playing video games perhaps?) The gay ones are particularly annoying - they are obviously feminine, but have this annoying habit of always wanting to be right in every conversation. They are totally self-absorbed and narcissistic. I now no longer have any male Thai friends who are gay, but a few years ago for some reason most of them were!

That brings me to my next point - Thai society will probably be unrecognizable in just a generation's time because so many of it's men are homosexual. In other words: gay. According to a survey from a couple of years ago, a staggering 25% of all Thai men living in Bangkok are gay - I think it could well be even higher than this. Obviously this doesn't bode well for the nation's women.

The extraordinary low fertility rate of Thailand's women doesn't help either. The fertility rate of Thai women is at around 1.5 children per woman, according to the CIA World Factbook, well below the 2.1 replacement level needed to keep a population stable. This means Thailand's fertility rate is actually one of the lowest in the world and likely the lowest in the developing world (no kidding). Many western countries have higher fertility rates than Thai women and that's before taking immigration into account - in Australia it's around 1.7, while in France it's around 1.89 I think.

In Thailand, it's probably closer to 1 for most city dwelling working women, while 2 or more for Muslim Thais, hill tribes and migrant labourers from Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos. I only know one Thai women who has borne 2 children recently, every other Thai women of childbearing age either has no children or only 1, with no plans on having any more. By contrast, a lot of my friends back home have children now, some 1 others even 2.

Sorry, off topic but I have to respond.

You write as though a low fertility is a bad thing. IT'S NOT. Too many people in the world and why should women be seen merely as breeding machines in some inane nationalistic BS? In case you hadn't noticed, millions of people from other countries want to work in Thailand. Unless one thinks it has to be Thai over any other race, workers are NOT a problem for Thailand.

If Thai women want to not become merely mothers, GOOD ON THEM.

As for the homosexual thing, Thailand is hardly underpopulated and there are plenty of farang men apparently happy to start families in LOS. Who gives a rat's bottom if 25 or 50% of Thai men are homosexual?

The world is overpopulated by at least 3 billion people. Time to stop overbreeding.