Ask KJS what's not so great about living in Thailand

[KJS]

Didn't want to hate on Degen's thread so here is another.

I lived in Thailand from Nov 2002 until May 2004. Had a great time and I would recommend a trip there for sure. But it is not for everyone and if you want to know why someone might not like it, ask away. As with Degen's thread the emphasis is on taking up residence there not going for a trip.

I should add that I was 32 and married, travelling and living with my (American) wife. I did live there for the final 6 months by myself, still married and faithful as well as not into paying for sex, so no prostitute experiences myself. But I am no prude and saw plenty that friends were up to so I can answer some questions about that side of life there.

I had a job as a journalist and editor and did not play poker so no help on that.

KJS

[CardSharpCook]

I expect this thread to take-off.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

what's not so great about living in Thailand?

[KJS]

I don't want this thread to die by just writing a treatise. I will say that my reasons could fit in the following categories:

Issues of money/power
Issues of communication
Value Differences
Cultural Vibrancy
Cultural Diversity
Treatment of Women

KJS

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

you might as well expand, unless you want them to guess why you felt things....

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

waiting....

[KJS]

Here are some questions that I would wonder the answers to from people who like it there so much:

Do you feel that status in society should come from hard work or go to people born into wealth?

Do you think people's job opportunities should be driven by choice more than necessity or necessity primarily?

Do you think it is important that women are treated as equals to men?

Is it important to you to that the culture you live in produce innovative works of art and that art and music contribute to a culture that questions society and politics?

Do you feel it is important for you to have in-depth conversations about ideas with the people you meet?

KJS

[KJS]

One of the interesting things about Thailand is that it is the only country in SE Asia that was never colonized. They had some very adroit rulers who went to the French and English and said it would be best for Thailand to remain an independent kingdom and act as a buffer between British Burma and French Laos/Vietnam.

In my opinion, one affect from the independence of the Thais is that they have never really embraced multiculturalism because they never had immigration like those in the West are used to. I found a lot of the views towards "different" people unappealing. That goes for how I was treated as a non-Thai and the treatment that I observed towards my Burmese friends as well as the mistreatment of the hill tribe and Burmese and Lao immigrants by the government and police.

Also, as an American, I found the lack of foreign influence kind of a bummer. I am used to being in cities with people from all over the world and being able to experience their food, art, music, etc.. Thailand has great native food but I missed Indian food, Mexican food, French food. Only poor copies exist there, particularly outside of Bangkok.

Related, I love seeing live rock and roll music. I think good, local rock and roll contributes to a vibrancy about a place and adds a lot to my enjoyment of that place because I get great enjoyment from it and it is cathartic for me. I also like to see young people expressing themselves through that art form. In Thailand I think I saw 2 original acts in 18 months. It is all awful cover bands and techno music. People would rather hear Hotel California for the thousandth time than something fresh. That got old for me really fast.

[KJS]

Here is a way of explaining the root of some of my feelings about being a foreigner in Thailand by way of an analogy.

Imagine for a minute if many wealthy people from the Arab world decided to start moving to say, Miami. That they were in love with the fact that they could live in a sunny beautiful place and they had some much more money than everyone else that they could have great housing, eat at wonderful restaurants and buy tons of stuff. But they did not work there, they just spent the money that they accumulated in the oil business.

Now imagine that these people did not speak any English, only Arabic or other languages local to the place they lived. And imagine that they had a craving for gay sex, like they just wanted to screw young men all the time and were willing to up to pay $5,000 without even thinking about it to [censored] one. Even more if they were underage.

But imagine also that they were very attached to the culture of their homelands so they wanted to eat the food they liked, watch movies from there, and generally replicate the life they had in their home country but in Miami without trying to assimilate whatsoever. Not try to learn English, not try to understand what was important to Americans, throwing our values in our face by calling people derogatory racist names even though we don't do that, going against our tabboos about sex, creating a demand for debauchery we did not have, etc.. Imagine that Miami developed a red light district all its own and that soon package tours ran from Brunei, Saudia Arabia, Mumbai, etc. to take part in the "culture of Miami" created in the wave of immigration of these extrememly wealthy people.

How would the presence of these people change Miami? For one, you would guess that a lot of businesses would develop to deal with the demand for the food they liked. You would imagine that people would start learning that language to give them access to the demand created. You would imagine that boys from all over Florida and the South would go there figuring I could go to college for 4 years, go into debt and maybe not have job anyway or I could go blow dudes in Miami for $5,000 a pop. Imagine the affect on the ability of people not in the class of people paying the $5,000 or receiving the $5,000 to keep up in society. To have access to affordable housing, to compete with these wealthy people for property, goods and services. Imagine the affect on the family values in rural Georgia where parents owned up to the reality that yes, we were going to send Tommy to Miami because he can make more than Dad if he gives good head and the wealthy people like him.

Imagine how you would feel if you met one of the wealthy Arabs with 2 18 year old boys on his arms told you in very broken English that Miami was his favorite place ever because the booze and gay sex was so cheap! And he had a great apartment! And he never had to work because he was so rich!

Would you like it if America or parts of Western Europe opened their doors to this kind of tourism so it could grow its economy through this kind of spending? Would you feel comfortable working in this kind of industry? Would you anyways because the money would be so so good? How would that make you feel? Would the impact of these people be good or bad for Miami?

KJS

[farang0]

Man, you are really hating Thailand.

Thailand is a DEVELOPING COUNTRY. Meaning, without all these farang pumping cash into the economy it wouldnt be where it is today. Yes, there are problems, but these will iron out over time.

No place in the world is perfect but you seem to really hate thailand. Must be cause you were traveling with an American chick.