spirit_of_town_hall Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Interesting comment, I feel the same when I am in Thailand I feel that I am living more. In the west we are wrapped in cotton wool. There is very very little danger at all. In Thailand death is always much more visible, I dont mean that in a macabre way, merely that when you are more aware of your own mortality , life is that bit sweeter. In the west unless you are in the emergency services, work in a hospital or are an undertaker you very rarely see a body. I too know that I can occupy myself, reading, internet, swimming, motorbike. Men in my experience can occupy themselves, women can't. STH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardinalblue Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Lets keep in mind LOS is still a developing country compared to the West. It has yet to develop or reach many of the things we enjoy in the West. I think both the language and culture can be barriers to intelectual stimulation here. We just have to look harder or create your own mental stimulation. I used to be part of a group think tank back but ask myself is this possible here? I used to to belong to chamber of commerce, civic activties, foreign affairs associations, alumnni associations, NGO's. etc. Here, I think one needs to look really hard to find some of those organizations but believe they can be found especially NGOs............. Maybe one can start their own organization of interest via this board....... Cardinalblue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Says OldAsiaHand: I've been here, mostly, for the past fifteen years, but I'd go absolutely stir crazy if I didn't travel very frequently to Europe and the US. The flavor I get from many of the posts above is similar to my own feelings -- a sense that, while there are many positive things about living here, a truly huge negative is the lack of any real substance to daily life, at least in a western sense. This may well offend many of you, but my own observation is that Thailand tends to attract a much lower level of expat (economically, intellectually, and...well, maybe even morally) than do most other countries in this region, let alone most European countires. I think the reason is pretty obvious. Lets not even bother to go there. Still, when I'm in Singapore or Hong Kong, while I sure wouldn't want to live there, it IS nice to be with some folks for a while who have something more interesting to talk about than the current prices at the blow job bars. I think, at the root of it, that's why expats almost inevitably get sick of this place. Life here just doesn't have enough real substance to hold you for all that long. Of course, there are always those guys who marry an illiterate village girl in Nakornnowhere, start wearing a sarong, and then write a stream of endlessly boring posts on this board lecturing the rest of us on how only THEY understand how to live among the wonderful, gentle Thai people. Maybe that amounts to substance for them. Or maybe they're just trying to convince themselves that it does. Spot on. Excellent post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 Zero inflation???Taxi fees,visa fee,driving fees,work permit fees,hotel room prices, flagrant extortion by the police,increased tollway fees,bus fares!!!!What do you know of that has not been inflated pricewise?Even violent crimes and theft have increased from the attack on drug suppliers have increased the price not stemmed the demand. Best Regards ,Stan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 >>>Where are the hobbyists? The collectors?<<< at the amulet shops and markets. a vast field of collecting... not answering to anyone in particular, but i believe it is very difficult to live in thailand other than in a outsider/expat situation if one just starts living here at a later age. one thing is language, i would say that not speaking thai excludes westerners from 99% of thailife. it is often not that easy to form friendships with locals here, you gotta be fairly young to start doing that, it does take many years and rarely older people are flexible enough to get used to such a different cultural environment. personally, nowadays i do not find it difficult to get to the cultural things the west has to offer - literature one can order from amazon, classical music too (i know, it does not come close to really experience a great opera in an opera house, but on the rare occasions of going to the west it makes it than just so much sweeter). i am 35 now, and have lived in asia since i was 20, in those years i have built up a vast network of friends and acquintances all over asia from so many different walks of life. for me it would be very difficult to ever move back to the west - i would be like a fish out of water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 >>>>Of course, there are always those guys who marry an illiterate village girl in Nakornnowhere....<<<< condescending as usual... those illiterate girls might not be able to offer you a discourse on cicero, but that does not mean that they have not a wealth of other knowledge which one can benefit from if openminded enough. >>>>but my own observation is that Thailand tends to attract a much lower level of expat <<<< yeah, you get the ones who only are interested in living their carnal desires to the extreme, and others who live in their own gaga-land of pseudo-colonial americo-euro-centric supremacy. both are equally annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 Where's the national art museum? --------------------------------------------- just across the north west part of sanam Luang, and actually, next to the Fine Arts dept ! Bangkok philarmonic ------------------------------ not earth-shaking, i think just abour 5 concerts a year. Still, there are many cultural and musical happenings in BKK, just open the BKK post or the Nation, one day a week, they post all the events for the coming week. To speak thai will probably help to access many of the cultural riches Thailand offers. i said i did not find Thais stimulated by intellectual activities, but that does not mean these activities do not exist at some level or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 yeah, you get the ones who only are interested in living their carnal desires to the extreme, and others who live in their own gaga-land of pseudo-colonial americo-euro-centric supremacy. both are equally annoying. -------------------------- heyhey, and in the middle (way?), is our very own FlyW . Only you could write that, but i command you you for it, it is both a-propos and hilarious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 Zero inflation???Taxi fees,visa fee,driving fees,work permit fees,hotel room prices, flagrant extortion by the police,increased tollway fees,bus fares!!!! --------------------------------- this is really where the divide between visitors and expats is flagrant. visitors do not have to deal too much with what you cite, as it is still way below what one pays back home. So, who gets the best of it? Should we blame the visitor who loves Thailand without knowing the real country, is his happiness to be smirked at? Should we ask the expat what's the point of itemizing every annoyance to the point of asking oneself what is it he finds rewarding at last, and at least, in this ever-changing hostile environment? i mean: :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted July 31, 2003 Report Share Posted July 31, 2003 I feel the same when I am in Thailand I feel that I am living more. In the west we are wrapped in cotton wool ---------------------------------- interesting. at the same time, we feel we live more, and i think that's because life is back to his basic tenants as we experience and see thais going at it daily. a great lesson of humility in a way. But also, we are definitely ecstatic, which may often translate as living a dream awake. Like ping-ponging between harsh reality and heavenly bliss. No wonder we keep coming back, like reading a book that never ends, with such drama and exultation we can never put it down. Yoopie! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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