Although, I really like Thailand, there are a few things that I dislike and would like to see change. They are:

1) Government corruption (tea money). At almost every level Thais and falongs have to pay off someone in authority to speed up paperwork, land jobs, or avoid traffic fines.

2) Double Pricing. For falongs you wind up paying two, three, or even more multiples of the basic Thai price for things. If you read Thai and speak a little, you can generally (but not always) get vendors to come down to the Thai price. Still it is irritating.

3) Extreme Poverty. In spite of hard work, many Thais do live right at the edge of survival. The gap between rich and poor is much greater than it should be.

4) Substance abuse. Alcohol abuse and yaa baa are destroying the lives of way too many Thais. In some areas, stores no longer sell alcohol before 5 pm. This is a good start IMO.

5) Prostitution. Thailand is world famous as a "sex tour" destination. I would really love to see a strong local and national government effort to halt this epidemic.

6) Caste System. Thailand has a very real caste system. This is slowly being eroded by younger Thais and I hope this trend continues.

7) Westernization. The growing middle-class has enthusiastically embraced consumerism. Although many labor-saving devices have made life easier, many Thais are becoming deeply in debt, trying to buy the latest and greatest gadgets. This puts increased pressure on bringing in more money, and is eroding many of the traditional Thai values, as they compete for jobs and baht.

8) Political instability. Thailand needs to become less violent in their approach to partisan politics. Let the Thai people decide who will be the prime minister and let it go at that. Using the military and violence to overthrow elected officials raises a red flag to any country wanting to invest in the Thai economy.

That's my list of things I dislike about Thailand.

Santi,

RickThai