stickman this week

[chuckwoww]

It always throws me when the term 'real Thailand' comes up. Usually it comes down to nostalgia for lost innocence or the differences between rural and city Thailand. Aren't the cities real? Bangkok and Pattaya seem like a major part of Thailand's reality to me. And the reality in the countryside is that lots of rural Thais go to the cities to work, shop etc.. I think Stick's example of the family and their new Jazz caught the 'real Thailand' very well.

 

Farang who want to disappear into remote villages are usually working their own issues out. I went through something like it myself. I had considered a walk across the Sahara. I'm not sure what it had to do with reality.

[pattaya127]

Can't answer for Stickman, but in my case the answer would be very rarely.

--------------------------------

Yep, if the farang is well adjusted to his thai environment, there is little case to talk "laundry", though TIT anecdotes always provide some of the best chuckles.

 

If the farang has a chip on his shoulders, best to pretend one is not in Thailand, because it's a painful sight to witness a grumpy guy in the throes of TIT, as if he was a fly caught in a cobweb of thainess he can't escape.

 

I think it's just wonderful to feel its roots anywhere we stay around the world, and friendship abroad with a co-westerner is a most special thing. I never liked the type that goes native, you have to be able to throw a few punches once in a while (don't mean literally, ie. just be yourself, and that ain't thai).

[pattaya127]

Let's add that for the powers to be, in the last century, the real thailand was to be avoided, looked down, the dictators made rules to force people to adopt western ways, what the west (America) did was the only way up for the country (for all the talk of thairakthai, it has not changed a bit).

 

Just look as you enter any town, all buildings are the same, the clock tower and roundabout is almost the same in medium size cities. The guys who own SIAM CEMENT were probably the architects and designers..Just kidding?....NO!

 

IMO, the story of the real Thailand is the story of a country paying little heed to its identity, and running legs up its neck towards ever elusive status in the concert of industrial nations. Except it's running barefoot. that's the sadness of thairakthai demagoguery: "See ma! no shoes, aren't we thai enough?". It' redeemed by the fact that like anywhere, people are people, so the machine takes its trime to grind down.

 

I never liked to go trekking, or deep in the jungle. There is no real Thailand there. A chick in Pattaya, with a kid to feed and school, a CD of molam next to black rap, and laughs while saying "papa die, mama no money", is as much Thailand as you care to have. It does not even matter if she lies or never plays the....molam CD! ..... ::

[monkey39]

Mekong said:

To no one in particular

 

Why knock stick?

 

I'd be the first to say that most of his assumptions / observations differ greatly from mine, but that is no excuse to belittle his take on Thai life.

 

Stick wears his heart on his sleeve and tells it as he sees it, if his site was that bad why is "Stickman This Week" a recurring thread?

 

Constructive critisism is acceptable, general abuse is easy ... if you disagree with comments made why not state the reasons for disagreement, better still try to put the hours in that stick does to give us all an alternative website.

 

Keep it up Stick!

 

I agree, I always enjoy reading his perspective on Thailand, whether I agree with it or not, but I never make the mistake of thinking that he's the definitive word on all things Thai (sorry Stick! ). And I'm sure he would agree that he does not purport to speak for all farangs in Thailand. 6.5 billion people in the world, and each one has a unique outlook on life; let's not get our panties in a twist over one man's view. Anyway, arguing about what constitutes the "real" Thailand is like arguing what the "real" [any country] is.

 

monkey39

[STDAY3]

"I'd be the first to say that most of his assumptions / observations differ greatly from mine, but that is no excuse to belittle his take on Thai life"

 

I agree with this...

 

"Stick wears his heart on his sleeve and tells it as he sees it, if his site was that bad why is "Stickman This Week" a recurring thread?"

 

Don't really get your point here though.. The "Stickman This Week" topic could be a recurring Thread because the site is good or bad.

 

Personally I find the Site informative and Often read the Weekly column. However I stopped reading the "Dana in America" etc. postings a long time ago, because I started to find them boring.

[Mekong]

STDAY3

"Stick wears his heart on his sleeve and tells it as he sees it, if his site was that bad why is "Stickman This Week" a recurring thread?"

 

 

I did not imply the content of the site ... merely the fact that "Stickman this Week" is a Thread that appears here on Nanaplaza board most sunday evenings BKK time

 

It stimulates debate, you probably misunderstood my posting

[David_66_UK]

The "real" Thailand?

 

I have never bothered as I know it does not exist, anymore than the real "England" exists.

 

IMHO a "Real" place exists insofar as it is where you live, anywhere else is just a place you are passing through.

 

I have been all over Europe and around the World in my time and have found that one tree looks much like another - and that it's the people you meet that make the difference - whether it's the drunken "f#ckwit" you spend the evening drinking with in Sukhumvit or the "Freindly Local" in NE nowhereland....... doing local things ::, whatever it is that you can get enjoyment from.

 

For me I need to have at least the option of communicating with folk, at least sometimes, so for me "NE nowhereland" in Thailand is not an option - and besides I have seen lots of trees already - and coming from small place, a big city has it's own attractions / in built novelty.

 

(BTW I lived 2 minutes walk from a beach for 20 years and probably went on that beach half a dozen times - mostly to vomit on the way home - so personally I am unlikely to get any enjoyment from going around the world, to either look at or sit on a beach - I appreciate that someone who grew up in sunny Birmingham may view things differently and appreciate the natural beauty somewhat more - but IMHO it does not make it any more "real" than Sukhumvit)

[Guest]

The filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard said that the answer to a bad film was another film. Meaning that you should make your own film in response to it. I'm not saying that Stick's site is bad -- far from it, I like it -- but I'd say if anyone feels very strongly against his site, they could start their own. He gives his perspective for what it's worth, other people could give their perspective for what it's worth, too.

 

But I wonder how many would be able to brush off the childish whining from those who are disappointed that their own views are not reflected thought for thought in the website.

[doxx]

I dont fully agree with the ATM thing (in this article) and spending time in those small villages of Udon I never got the impression anyone was looking to use me. At this board we tend to demonize the Thai people and I dont quite like it. Not all women are bar girls and even amongst the bar girls there are good girls (although I haven't found one yet *laughing*).

 

I enjoyed the countryside mostly because the number of fat tourist farangs were less and also people are generally more polite than in the big cities. On the downside of course were the toilet standards and lack of english speakers as well that people weren't very active and I hate doing nothing.

[STDAY3]

Mekong,

 

Yeah Get your point..

 

I did misinterprate..

 

Tks

 

Ste