13 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

Patriotism is a love of one's country, nationalism is a hatred of other countries. 

Well, I guess that tells us where Thailand stands then.

Maybe actions will speak louder than indoctrination. Show the care for the country and its people and a stronger more favorable response will be forthcoming. Show a stronger concern for power and wealth through corrupt and shady actions and people will respond by rejecting the military and those who oversee the country. Thai's may be somewhat apathetic and more concerned with their own daily lives than the bigger national picture...but they are not stupid. 

2 hours ago, Cadbury said:

Read the story nong88. They are promoting nationalism and trying to disguise it as patriotism. Refer post #16 and you will learn.

You make a fair comment.

Am I alone in thinking I dont like the way this heading?

More toys for the boys and who is the enemy, the enemy within?

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

If they really want to go down this route, they need to use the tried and tested method of instilling fear of a common enemy. Unfortunately, there isn't really one. The Cambos are the usual whipping boys or the Burmese. However, your average Thai really doesn't feel threatened in any way by either of these nations or its citizens.

 

Wouldn't it be good if you had a larger, scarier nation that was, say, riding roughshod over immigration law sending its migrant workers to do Thai jobs despite of such a move being illegal. Wouldn't it be convenient if this nation was anti-royalist by definition. Wouldn't it be handy if this nation were actually invading Thailand setting up illegal businesses, massing in the airports, building railways to invade this beautiful Kingdom, no less!

 

Oh, hang on a minute, I got an idea.

Remember the first actions of the junta back in 2014. Crackdown on immigration. Panicked Cambodians and Burmese heading for the border.

 

I think they will get sick of all that stupid pride. Thinking of being the hub....of what? Ignorance, low education, unworldliness, corruption, reckless disregard of any kind of rules or laws, and much more, but I'm tired to think more about this issue....

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

I think they will get sick of all that stupid pride. Thinking of being the hub....of what? Ignorance, low education, unworldliness, corruption, reckless disregard of any kind of rules or laws, and much more, but I'm tired to think more about this issue....

 

1 hour ago, sawadee1947 said:

I think they will get sick of all that stupid pride. Thinking of being the hub....of what? Ignorance, low education, unworldliness, corruption, reckless disregard of any kind of rules or laws, and much more, but I'm tired to think more about this issue....

I think i have come to the conclussion nothing will change here  You either put up with it or leave Corruption, farang hatred, bad drivers, Thai negativity, Dictatorship, its all there. Thailand is going backwards and one day things will get so bad that it will explode into civil unrest. Soon there will be no more Thai smile 

Just now, Happyman58 said:

 

I think i have come to the conclussion nothing will change here  You either put up with it or leave Corruption, farang hatred, bad drivers, Thai negativity, Dictatorship, its all there. Thailand is going backwards and one day things will get so bad that it will explode into civil unrest. Soon there will be no more Thai smile 

Oh one last question? How many Farang here have Thai friends? I mean like in hanging out together I can tell you i have NONE They just dont like The Farang being here

2 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

Oh one last question? How many Farang here have Thai friends? I mean like in hanging out together I can tell you i have NONE They just dont like The Farang being here

Good question! Been here for over 30 years now and good no male Thai friend that I can trust 100%, got many good male friends both in Malaysia and in Singapore, Hong Kong but not here, same goes for all my other farang friends.

3 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Good question! Been here for over 30 years now and good no male Thai friend that I can trust 100%, got many good male friends both in Malaysia and in Singapore, Hong Kong but not here, same goes for all my other farang friends.

 

3 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Good question! Been here for over 30 years now and good no male Thai friend that I can trust 100%, got many good male friends both in Malaysia and in Singapore, Hong Kong but not here, same goes for all my other farang friends.

 

3 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

Good question! Been here for over 30 years now and good no male Thai friend that I can trust 100%, got many good male friends both in Malaysia and in Singapore, Hong Kong but not here, same goes for all my other farang friends.

You see  I thought it was me  I am generally a friendly nice guy  But i tried to make a few Thai friends like going out to dinner with another couple  but all that happened there was the wife talked Thai to them all night and they never said a word to me  I can speak a little Thai to get by. Never saw them again They just dont like Farang being in there country

1 minute ago, Happyman58 said:

 

 

You see  I thought it was me  I am generally a friendly nice guy  But i tried to make a few Thai friends like going out to dinner with another couple  but all that happened there was the wife talked Thai to them all night and they never said a word to me  I can speak a little Thai to get by. Never saw them again They just dont like Farang being in there country

There is a huge difference between Thai Male and females  imo, got many female friends but no male ones that I would consider too be true friends. 

17 hours ago, oldhippy said:

Being the only snowless country in the Universe to have a violin player qualify for the ski - Olympics?

Oops, corruption was already mentioned.

 

 

Be honest. Jamaica had a bobsledding team in the Olympics.

13 hours ago, Briggsy said:

Unfortunately, there isn't really one.

There is the Vietnam military that Thai military can't intimidate or defeat according to its past "engagements." When a communist state can stand against communist China, the Thai military is only hot air.

On 6/30/2017 at 4:12 AM, webfact said:

all sectors should therefore promote patriotism among Thai people.

In contrast to upholding the Thai Constitutions that have been treated repeatedly with disrespect by the very guardians of national security? It's hypocritical to promote patriotism among a subjugated people.

18 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

What have Thais got to be proud of about their country, really? 

In a broader sense - why should anyone be proud of any country they're born in? No one chooses their country of birth.

Patriotism = letting the top brass do whatever they want with impunity.

15 minutes ago, tropo said:

In a broader sense - why should anyone be proud of any country they're born in? No one chooses their country of birth.

Similarly:

Why should anyone be a christian, buddhist, muslim, sun worshipper, etc, just because they were born in a country that etc.

3 minutes ago, oldhippy said:

Similarly:

Why should anyone be a christian, buddhist, muslim, sun worshipper, etc, just because they were born in a country that etc.

Fortunately, at least for now, you can choose your religion in Thailand.

"the Thai people" ?

I remember "the Tchecoslovaquian people", "the Yugoslavian people", "the Soviet Union people", "the Austrian Hungarian people" and others.

All very proud to be true nationalists or patriots or whatever.

Where are they now?

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Happyman58 said:

Oh one last question? How many Farang here have Thai friends? I mean like in hanging out together I can tell you i have NONE They just dont like The Farang being here

I guess everyone's experience is different. I have 2 good Thai friends and handful of acquaintances. Also, I live in a very small building and the owners are Thai. There are two generations of the family that occupy the 2 lower floors. I've known them for 10 years and now it's as though I've become part of their family.  I was invited to both their sons' weddings and am normally expected to attend all family occasions (sometimes this is a nuisance as I don't always feel like going).  I went through a 6-month period of being unemployed and when they found out they stopped charging me rent and when I got employed again and I offered to pay it back and they refused to take the money. 

5 minutes ago, stephen tracy said:

I guess everyone's experience is different. I have 2 good Thai friends and handful of acquaintances. Also, I live in a very small building and the owners are Thai. There are two generations of the family that occupy the 2 lower floors. I've known them for 10 years and now it's as though I've become part of their family.  I was invited to both their sons' weddings and am normally expected to attend all family occasions (sometimes this is a nuisance as I don't always feel like going).  I went through a 6-month period of being unemployed and when they found out they stopped charging me rent and when I got employed again and I offered to pay it back and they refused to take the money. 

You are so lucky Hang onto them . No i just find it difficult to get Thai friends Maybe its me because i have an ugly face lol Are u in Bangkok 

2 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

You are so lucky Hang onto them . No i just find it difficult to get Thai friends Maybe its me because i have an ugly face lol Are u in Bangkok 

Yeah, I'm in Bangkok.  I think maybe part of the problem is the language barrier .  My Thai isn't fluent but I can converse on most subjects although I probably sound like I've got a speech impediment.  Having said that, the Thai people I know are pretty forgiving of my linguistic shortcomings.  Also, what does help is that both of my two Thai good friends, and the family I live above, all speak English really well.  One of my two Thai friends also studied in the US for a while and even reads English novels. 

Just now, stephen tracy said:

Yeah, I'm in Bangkok.  I think maybe part of the problem is the language barrier .  My Thai isn't fluent but I can converse on most subjects although I probably sound like I've got a speech impediment.  Having said that, the Thai people I know are pretty forgiving of my linguistic shortcomings.  Also, what does help is that both of my two Thai good friends, and the family I live above, all speak English really well.  One of my two Thai friends also studied in the US for a while and even reads English novels. 

Like i said my Thai wife has a resturant I go around and try and talk to the Thais that come in  They got that look of their faces like what you doing here Farang? Then you get the odd drunk one that gets abusive i stopped trying to talk to them But some are nice Maybethey think there wives like Farang better so they keep their distance  Only joking lol

7 minutes ago, Happyman58 said:

Like i said my Thai wife has a resturant I go around and try and talk to the Thais that come in  They got that look of their faces like what you doing here Farang? Then you get the odd drunk one that gets abusive i stopped trying to talk to them But some are nice Maybethey think there wives like Farang better so they keep their distance  Only joking lol

Where do live?  My friend and I (we are both originally from the UK) owned a bar here in BKK once right opposite the Apac University campus.  As you can imagine it was a very young student crowd that would get roaring drunk every night but where always cool to us. Apac is full of rich Thais and a lot of them spoke English really well, some fluently. The only people they were ever occasionally rude or aggressive to was each other. The situation was always the same, two guys getting in a fight over a girl.  They only people that WERE bloody awful to us were the local cops.  They extorted so much money out of us that we had to call it quits and sell the place.  One time when I worked up the courage to tell them that I wasn't gonna pay up, they responded by raiding the place. They actually parked a van outside and were drug testing all the students.  That was good for business!  I tried to reason with them saying if they kept raising the monthly "fee", we would go out of business and they would get no more money but this just fell on deaf ears.

Be honest. Jamaica had a bobsledding team in the Olympics.

Ah yes, "Cool Running" - a funny film. Must put it on my list...

41 minutes ago, stephen tracy said:

Where do live?  My friend and I (we are both originally from the UK) owned a bar here in BKK once right opposite the Apac University campus.  As you can imagine it was a very young student crowd that would get roaring drunk every night but where always cool to us. Apac is full of rich Thais and a lot of them spoke English really well, some fluently. The only people they were ever occasionally rude or aggressive to was each other. The situation was always the same, two guys getting in a fight over a girl.  They only people that WERE bloody awful to us were the local cops.  They extorted so much money out of us that we had to call it quits and sell the place.  One time when I worked up the courage to tell them that I wasn't gonna pay up, they responded by raiding the place. They actually parked a van outside and were drug testing all the students.  That was good for business!  I tried to reason with them saying if they kept raising the monthly "fee", we would go out of business and they would get no more money but this just fell on deaf ears.

Not good is it Oh well u are still alive

On 7/1/2017 at 10:01 AM, Happyman58 said:

 

I think i have come to the conclussion nothing will change here  You either put up with it or leave Corruption, farang hatred, bad drivers, Thai negativity, Dictatorship, its all there. Thailand is going backwards and one day things will get so bad that it will explode into civil unrest. Soon there will be no more Thai smile 

yes, you are right (and I agree with other comments you made). While Thailand is moving ...around themselves in a circle....surrounding countries will take the lead in Asia ( as Singapore already, Hongkong of course and Korea), even Burma starts now, also Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines, although they practice strange ways to tackle their problems. But they know their direction: forward! Whereas Thailand with all their institutions (starting from the bottom) are being in a downturn)

9 minutes ago, sawadee1947 said:

yes, you are right (and I agree with other comments you made). While Thailand is moving ...around themselves in a circle....surrounding countries will take the lead in Asia ( as Singapore already, Hongkong of course and Korea), even Burma starts now, also Vietnam, Malaysia and Philippines, although they practice strange ways to tackle their problems. But they know their direction: forward! Whereas Thailand with all their institutions (starting from the bottom) are being in a downturn)

Vietnam is a good example. 50 years ago total warfare  Now thriving  Industry Tourism and an education system that is running circles around the Thai system  Soon many Viets will speak English where here u be lucky if 10% of the population can The answer is the root of all evil CORRUPTION  Ok you might have corruption in Vietnam but you find that in any country But here in Thailand it is out of control  Government Police Army Everywhere The whole country is suffering because of it and therefore sadly will be going backwards at a rate of knots My old saying is If you find an honest government official (Police) Ministers In Thailand Then you will also find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow