Thread: What I Dislike About Thailand

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

Originally Posted by RickThai

What I Dislike

Still haven’t found that path yet?

A very good and true list. I would add the nationalistic arrogance of thais brainwashed into them since birth contributes to most of these problems which makes them hard to solve. I think the biggest problem here is the inability to talk about any of these problems for fear of a long jail sentence, I mean how can you solve any problem if you cant discuss it.

Everything!

Originally Posted by RickThai

. In some areas, stores no longer sell alcohol before 5 pm. This is a good start IMO.

You really got your finger on the pulse of Thailand there Rick.

Originally Posted by RickThai

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.

Have to disagree with you on that one. I quite like the prostitution.

Agree with you on double pricing though... Us furlongs need to make a stance on that.

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.

And maybe this one:

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.

All of these apply to every Latin American nation I've been to, and probably 90% of Asia.

IMHO the assumptions that this list represents Thailand just makes you look proverbial or travel-challenged. Jeez, poor countries have all this in common. How much of the world is poor .. 50%, 3 billion, live on less than $2.50 a day.

Originally Posted by rawlins

Originally Posted by RickThai

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.

Have to disagree with you on that one. I quite like the prostitution.

Agree with you on double pricing though... Us furlongs need to make a stance on that.

Strange I thought a Furlong was a measurement of distance !

Also, while we're on the subject, it's WE Farang need ... Not US Farang. Us two brothers were born three years apart?

No decent Mexican Food...

Fo sho! I went to BKK looking for a mariachi outfit .. never did find one.

I never could understand why Mexican food isn't Mexican food. After all they have all the ingredients available to them.

The problems mentioned are common to most countries, developing or otherwise.

It is the inward looking nature of the thai, coupled with their refusal to accept responsibility, acknowledge their errors, their assumption of superiority, the inventiveness of their excuses and unwillingness to accept criticism that rankles the most.

.....along with the hypocrisy and superficiality etc.etc.etc.

The availability of food, transport, the convenience of life here and their laissez faire attitude are plus points.

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

Fo sho! I went to BKK looking for a mariachi outfit .. never did find one.

I never could understand why Mexican food isn't Mexican food. After all they have all the ingredients available to them.

Not really.

Even Villa Market doesn't carry Salsa Picante Sauce. Avocados are available but kinda expensive. There is one Mexican Restaurant in CM that used to serve sorta decent food but it's gone downhill lately.

there are a couple of pretty good mex places in patts, expensive though

Agree on the Mexican food, but TIT is that really fair? 555

RickThai, you're not being very Buddhist right now, but nothing new there.

falong

That's an innovative way to spell it. We ought to have a contest to see who can fuck that up more.

phaalung?

MakMak, no offense bro but you've pulled off the rare redneck double whammy coming from Florida and Isaan. Props.

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

I never could understand why Mexican food isn't Mexican food. After all they have all the ingredients available to them.

Cool. Where did you get your masa harina from?

What rankles me most is their bullshit religion that masquerades as Buddhism and the western muppets who believe themselves to be good Thai 'Buddhists'.

Originally Posted by rawlins

Have to disagree with you on that one. I quite like the prostitution.

Love a dude who tells it like it is.

Cheers Mate.

Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog

Where did you get your masa harina from?

No hab. Make your own. Buy some corn tortillas. El Charro if you can find them. Danitas if you can't.
Throw them in blender and grind finely. A substitute but best we can do here.

Farangs who know it all are probably top of my list.

[QUOTE=Marmite the Dog;2439338]

Originally Posted by Camel Toe

I never could understand why Mexican food isn't Mexican food. After all they have all the ingredients available to them.

Cool. Where did you get your masa harina from?

Online? Looks a bit pricy tho.

Masa Harina - Tortilla Flour by Maseca



Flour tortillas

Ingredients:

Servings:

6-10

Units: US | Metric

2 cups flour (you can get creative with your flour choices like whole wheat, spelt, soy, or a mixture of flours)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vegetable shortening or 1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup warm water (may possibly need to add more, up to 3/4 cup) or 1/2 cup milk (may possibly need to add more, up to 3/4 cup)

Since this thread seems to have run its course I wanted to mention masa harina again. I was in a supermarket today and priced Maseca (the most common Mexican brand), 13 Pesos per kilo (12:1usd). I was thinking I could export it to Thailand. Does anyone have any suggestions? Perhaps a distributor or restaurant association?

How is the lack of genuine MEXICAN food a reason to dislike Thailand??

It could be a reason to dislike Mexico.

or texas.

So what you really hate Rick is the Thai inability to hide their shit?

Do you think that government corruption, double pricing, extreme poverty, substance abuse, Prostitution and hierarchy don't accrue in your home country?

Just because it's seen on an everyday level docent mean its exclusive. You've outlined the very obvious problems with a lot cities in the world.

One thing I always found odd is the Thai's need of a calculator. Lemme see, you want 2 of those @ 12 Baht each, that will be, 24 Baht. It costs 1000 Baht and I'm giving you a 10% discount, that'll be, give me a minute .. then he/she shows you the results by pushing the calculator in your face. Yes, dude, I already know.