Post deleted by Mat Sklansky

[Schmitty 87]

Obviously if you have a job it's different than not having a job.

That said, with the exception of a lot of places in Bangkok, it seems like Thai people are much more laid back and friendly than people in the Western world. I know two Burmese girls currently living in Chiang Mai who work 3-11 everyday in the night market for 150 baht/day and they smile and laugh more than anyone else I know.

There is clearly a difference in attitude between the West and Thailand (and likely SE Asia as a whole), and much less of an emphasis on the accumulation of wealth. Maybe that's because there's no wealth to accumulate, but there's definitely a big difference. It's hard to write about this sort of thing without 100+ pages of space unfortunately. Lots of nuances and little details.