think_too_mut Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 >I know FlyW would scold me, but i have always felt that there was a lot of poverty in Thailand, but rarely misery. Miserable is an adjective i have never found appropriate to affix next to "thai people". Neither you nor your friend have a slightest idea what poverty is. Neither do Thais know. Good for them. Wish they never see that horror. Simple: Get poor Thais living in their shacks and place them under -20C and snow. For 7 months of a year. They would not survive that. At least, not much smiles left for farangs. That would have change their diet, body, teeth, everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya127 Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 Neither you nor your friend have a slightest idea what poverty is. ---------------------------- TTM, I resent your arrogance, and obvious ignorance (how would you know about my family or my friends?), but i gather you have held a grudge against me for quite a while now. I have made a few attempts before, when there was a quibble for you to let me know why you acted so, but it seems you prefer to keep jabbing at me with innuendos about who i am, and now who my family/friends are. This is usually the sign of a bitter person, and I suggest you either work it out for yourself or does not impose it on me, as you hardly know about me. If you feel i am contradicting myself on points, just ask me and i will be happy to clear any misconceptions. AS I did towards you on this thread, earlier. If your contentment with Thailand and thai people is limited to having a GF and taking a vacation, which i find absolutely normal, why the need to post so often here? You certainly have better things to do. Well...Up to you, of course! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thalenoi Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 keekwai said:I think you missed my point that they would not be sending their children to work in Bangkok or elsewhere if they had maintained a simple life. Keekwai, You should read "Germinal" written by Voltaire (a movie was made also) labor people had children with the expectation they would work as-soon-as-possible (sometimes starting age 6) to increase the family's income just to get food. Just eating soup and bread is not a healthy diet. You were at loss if you got an unhealthy child. In the 1950's I lived in such an area and have not forgotten those people's misery. As a baby my gf lived in a shag at the rice field, 3km to school without shoes. The schoolmaster provided her with some clothes, the parents not having any money. Today nothing has changed. She started working in the fields at age 13 and ended up working in Bangkok as maid with two other sisters. She had lodging and food, spent some money to buy some clothes and sent all the rest to the parents. They built a "real" house with that money. Then came the request for a water pump, then to buy more land to cultivate more rice. Father goes to his field everyday on his bycicle which has no breaks nor pedals. I have an old motorbike which I proposed to give to him. The gf asked me "who will ride that motorbike you think?" So i proposed to buy him a new bycicle, to what the gf agreed. I left for farangland early june and she went home for one week. When I asked for the bycicle she told me she had the breaks repared and gave 7.000 baht to her father to buy seed to plant rice. During my stays up there I was invited to eat with them, a huge bowl of rice, leaves from trees and two small fish catched in the rice pond for the 7 of us. Some fish was leftover after the meal.... Content with "A simple life?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thalenoi Posted June 26, 2004 Report Share Posted June 26, 2004 <Neither you nor your friend have a slightest idea what poverty is. I agree there is graduation in poverty, but struggling for food is poverty and there is a lot of this in Thailand also (besides a long list of other places on earth) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keekwai Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 >>>Content with "A simple life? You failed to mention whether or not Father is a happy man. He fits the description of many farmers I've seen. More often than not with a big grin and chatting with everyone as they pass by. The diet is typical but those farmers have far healthier physiques than the typical same aged farang. Certainly to a visiting middle class farang the situation can appear desperate. But I've often watched as they go about there daily business, on the way to the fields or fishing, or just sitting around bullshitting, and compare my lifestyle and it's stresses with theirs. More than once I've found myself envious of the simplicity. Would I want to revert to that style? No, but if born into it and knowing no other way it looks like it would not be horrible to be an Issan farmer as long as there is not a severe drought to contend with. I quote myself from above "since I can't see into their hearts I don't know who is the most content at the end of the day" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 Neither you nor your friend have a slightest idea what poverty is Poverty We should ALL have a look at the website above. Some really sobering reading there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 pattaya127 said:Neither you nor your friend have a slightest idea what poverty is. ---------------------------- TTM, I resent your arrogance, and obvious ignorance (how would you know about my family or my friends?), but i gather you have held a grudge against me for quite a while now. Ok, point taken. But you lost what I said: Get poor Thais living in their shacks and place them under -20C and snow. For 7 months of a year. They would not survive that. At least, not much smiles left for farangs. That would have change their diet, body, teeth, everything. Thais, bathing in tropical climate all year round have never had to experience that. How much are costs of heating, warm clothes, stronger food over winter months? Ball park, 100-150US$ per month. 6K baht. That's how much richer all Thais, poor or wealthy, are than folks in Molodova, Ukraine...without moving a finger. As poor people don't have that money, in Thai or elsewhere, then you can imagine what terrible poverty is and it lives in places other than Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
check_bin_krap Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 "You failed to mention whether or not Father is a happy man. He fits the description of many farmers I've seen. More often than not with a big grin and chatting with everyone as they pass by. The diet is typical but those farmers have far healthier physiques than the typical same aged farang. " ................................................... Thailand does not fare as bad as I expected when it comes to average life expectancy (2000 stats): Average life expectancy year 2000 But they fall short of what we call farang countries. And I suspect if we seperate it into classes, poor people in countryside get a much lower number. I have the opposite view from you, I think the climate and living conditions in the countryside of Thailand actually make people look older than farangs. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
check_bin_krap Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 Its interesting to see that Thailand have a higher average living age than both Ukraina and Moldova in the numbers from 2000 TTM! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted June 27, 2004 Report Share Posted June 27, 2004 check_bin_krap said:Its interesting to see that Thailand have a higher average living age than both Ukraina and Moldova in the numbers from 2000 TTM! Cheers! I'm not surprised, haven't seen the data but would expect it to be in favour to Thais. I can take it only as a support for my post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.