stickman this week

[ALHOLK]

It's all a matter of what intellectual level one is aiming for.

[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.

Excellent point.

 

I don't always agree with everything Stickman says, but he does offer some useful and interesting insights into Thailand. I am really surpised that some take such extreme umbarage about his columns. Constructive criticism and stimulating debate is great, but some here really take it all too personally.

 

I agree with this week's column. There may be a few farangs who would actually enjoy living in "real" (rural and poor) Thailand, but most who pine for the "real" Thailand are indulging in a fantasy based on an inaccurate and incomplete understanding of what rural and poor Thailand actually is. They are welcome to it.

[paul101]

Very well said, in the past there have been what I can only describe as hate threads against the bloke and his site. Some feel he is some kind of traitor because he got married and packed in shagging cheap tarts, while still having one or two sexy links on his site. Obviously he puts out the odd contraversial view but it seems to work, when was the last time barron bonk or bangkok bob had a mention on here? Stick's site seems to get debated every other week, so he must be doing something right.

[BelgianBoy]

paul101 said:

when was the last time barron bonk or bangkok bob had a mention on here?

last week in the Cathouse thread.....

 

BB

[paul101]

 

I stand corrected archive moderator!

[thalenoi]

Gadfly1 said:

I agree with this week's column. There may be a few farangs who would actually enjoy living in "real" (rural and poor) Thailand, but most who pine for the "real" Thailand are indulging in a fantasy based on an inaccurate and incomplete understanding of what rural and poor Thailand actually is. They are welcome to it.

 

Well, the vast majority of farangs don't want to know the "real" Thailand , most of them don't get any further than bkk and P or P, a few adventure to CM, Ko Samui or Ko Tao, they sleep in train or bus until they get there. Never are they more than 1 km away from western amenities.

 

That's fine, they are on a holliday.

 

A handfull of farangs are out to find the "real" Thailand.

What rural and poor Thailand actually is need to be discovered and lived by these farangs, that takes some guts. Still then I understand the guy who craves for a pizza or steak. I could have the Bangkok Post delivered at my door around 5pm, the "real world" is not far away.... But Stickman is bashing that handfull of people in his article.

[Redbaron]

Stick's site seems to get debated every other week, so he must be doing something right.

 

Yep, and he loves it, since it means more views, hits etc... The advertisers would like it too IMO.

[Stickman]

Real Thailand was perhaps not the best term. Traditional Thailand would have been more succinct.

 

I wouldn?t say bashing them?.but I will say one thing. Farangs that one meets in rural Thailand, the real Thailand, well, let?s just say that many of them are seriously dubious. NOT ALL, but a good number!

 

Stick

[Guest lazyphil]

anyone whos prepared to sacrafice living in a pristine country, beautiful, uncrowded, prosperous country, New Zealand for example ::, for what *many* in the west would say is a filthy, stinking 3rd world cesspool of bangkok must be of a dubious nature!.....i like bkk but if push came to shove i'd rarther live in a quiet, uncrowded, unpolluted part of thailand right out in the boonies than bkk.....actually i remember a good friend of mine that went to los and was telling me that to see the 'real' los you have to get out in the countryside miles from bkk, the times i spent sleeping in my mrs parents house 25 mintes from don muang by the chao phrya river with the monks coming for food every morning and the crowds of office workers at the pier i could see and the visits to the temple close by must have all been an illusion!

[Central Scrutinizer]

Stick,

 

Of dubious character you are saying here?

 

Have to agree to a certain extent, but I wouldn't say many, but yeah, some. Some hard drinkers and lao khao drunks, but most seem harmless and keep to themselves in their isolation usually.

 

But I've also met a lot of guys who seem happy to be away from it all as well, the western rat race, and a lot who are just happy to be with their families and don't mind roughing it a bit ... meaning some could care less about the latest farang movie or DVD (and can get the DVD cheap anyway to watch on their home player), eating in a farang restaurant and farang foods, meaningless boring chit chat masking itself as intelligent conversation, (not yours mate, but sometimes it does seem some are talking just for the sake of talking, without much meaning behind the chatter really. I've been bored in BKK by meaningless chit chat or endless pussy talk. Not every conversation in Bangkok is intelligent. You have to choose your mates well I've found. Plenty of boring twats in the city.), gogo bars, big city life, smog, traffic, tourists with attitudes and bad manners, self-important big city Thais who are also rude, corrupt cops everywhere, and those sort of things some try to avoid rather than wallow in just like back in the west.

 

Seems I meet more dubious farangs in the farang ghettos and tourist traps of the big and larger cities than I meet in the countryside. Most seem content and happy with their choice up here and around the countryside I've been, but we all like to gripe once in a while. Human nature. It's not the heaven on earth some try to portray it as. Everywhere has its downside at times, but nothing that can't be overcome with some advance thought and preparation, or a trip to the Mango once in a while to recharge, or a holiday to a beach or resort, or mountain top, or temple ruins, or waterfalls, etc., etc.

 

I do see the affliction you pose about these isolated farangs wanting to talk a hell of a lot more when finding someone who speaks their language, but hell, that's really only natural. Their isolation is self imposed, but they seem to be enjoying their retirement for the most part. But yeah, they can chew your ear off if you let them. (Me too!)

 

Some do seem to drink more because they get bored after a while. The ones that have no other hobbies or outlets they can direct their intellect or energies toward anyways. What I think happens is some do no real planning in advance and have no idea how it will be once they go into the boonies. There's no thought or advance immersion in the culture or area they plan to live in to get an idea of how living out in the hinterlands will be before they jump in with both feet. :: :: I also do think some tend to retire with less money than they will need to be able to be flexible and mobile, and happy.

 

Myself, I can say that I have just about everything I want and need up in Surin, and even in the village now. It's a decent medium sized city. We have a Makro, a BigC, a new Tesco, a KFC, and soon a Pizza Connection and possibly a McDonald's. My library contains a couple hundred unread books. I can afford to go to BKK or take trips quite a bit. Travel is still fairly cheap. The bus is cheap, but the ride's long, but you travel at night and sleep the trip away and you are there already grabbing a taxi to a hotel or a family member's or friend's house. If you want though a plane ride is cheap enough, and very quick, to almost anywhere in the country. Like I said, I think some may retire with less than they should have if they want to be happy and have that flexibility you need if you live upcountry. There are characters, and then there are "dubious" characters. I like characters. Dubious ones I am wary of and watch myself around, but that goes for anywhere, and you cannot say that BKK doesn't have a much larger chance of your running into dubious characters of all nationalities than in the rural areas. Wouldn't you say? It just stands to reason with the much larger numbers of expats and tourists one is bound to run into in the Big Mango and Pattaya or Phuket.

 

Bashing? A little bit, nothing serious in my eyes. It maybe came across as a tad arrogant in some parts, but then you are up front in your likes and needs, and a latent "metro-sexual", a big city kind of guy. :DI (Just ribbing you, Stick.)

 

I know lots of expats who feel the same as you do about living out of the metro Bangkok area (many are my friends who you know). Most of them would hate to have to live in their wives villages and in the houses they built up/out there for them. Especially for an extended period of time. They want their farang pleasures, foods, and amenities on a daily basis. Plus a lot of farangs HAVE to stay in Bangkok because they still need to work and earn money. Not everyone needs or even wants or likes that, and not everyone needs to work, so they can be more flexible where they live, and when they can travel, and how long they can be away. And not everyone living up country is surviving on an English teacher's salary either. To each their own I say. And it is a MUCH less expensive cost of living outside of BKK and the farang areas and tourist areas. So the money you save can be used elsewhere for other things. I'm not putting anyone down for their lifestyle. Everyone's different.

 

I have seen though that you can get most anything you need without having to live in Bangkok or the other farang areas mentioned. It just takes a bit more planning and work, maybe a big freezer, :-) and a bit of occasional travel, which has its own rewards at times really. I'll bet you my steak tastes a thousand times better than yours once I get to eat it! Anticipation, and absence making the heart grow fonder, and all that! For you it's just a walk down the street or a short taxi cab ride away or ride on the Skytrain. I have to plan for it, and trek for it. Makes it taste all that much better really.

 

Traditional Thailand has a nice ring to it. Like I said, the real Thailand is ... Thailand, all of it. We can pick and choose what we like and be happy. Up to you really. There is loads to choose from and many ways to enjoy oneself here in the LOS. Individuality is what makes it best. Doing your own thing and loving what you are doing. It takes all kinds, thank God.

 

To close let me say you have a great site and you put a lot of work into it. I may not always agree with what you say, but hell, it's your site and you can opine any way you choose to. No one's forcing me to nod my head in agreement when I read you. And yes, a bit of controversy is good for traffic, and you are always interesting to read, and your site informative and fun. Keep it up. Just lay off us country boys! :-)

 

Anyone who disagrees can put the money, time, and energy into an alternate site of their own, and say whatever they want to as well. Or they can start another "Stickman this week" here and state their piece!

 

Just my thoughts and opinions. YMMV.

 

Cent