preahko Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 this post will be about neither of the topics in the subject line...because it's about thais. they know nothing about either concept. a thai woman I know pretty well, who lives on lower sukhumvit, was out to find her dinner the other night...maybe 4 nights ago, around 7 pm. and she saw a car--driven by a thai--hit a thai child, about 8 years old by her estimation, and then, of course, the car drove off as fast as he could while the child lay there, potentially dead or dying. I don't know what happened to the child...she saw it being carried by an older child who was with it, maybe an older sibling?...into a taxi, off to an affordable hospital, one assumes...maybe the child is okay, assuming the taxi got there in time, even with the obstacle that no car with a thai driver here gives the time of day to an ambulance with its siren blaring, let alone a ubiquitous taxi... I have to say, despite coming from a country I'm embarrassed to be from--the united states--where at least from the government's point of view, life has zero value, because we put an inordinate amount of our citizens in jail to be raped, beaten and murdered, and regularly sponsor military campaigns where we murder people in other countries...that I think that thais qualitatively value life less than anywhere else I've seen. except maybe Cambodia. oh sure, there's a veneer, a show of "valuing life," of being buddhist, of stopping one's car in the middle of traffic to move a dead dog or bird off the road...oh yes, they're soooo buddhist...but when it comes to the point where one could actually have to pay the price for one's actions (driving wrecklessly fast, driving drunk--I estimate 60% of the male drivers on the road at any given time in thailand are at a state of inebriation that would have them put away for life in most "first world" countries)--they flee from such responsibility like the plague. which gets me to thinking...it's all fucking phony. respect for buddhism, respect for the k*ng...it's all bullshit. on the m*n*rch's birthday, when all the farang bars are closed, thais drink with impunity in their neighborhoods. tomorrow--makkhabuchaa day--all farang bars are closed once again, and I guarantee you that if you live in a primarily thai neighborhood, it will be business as usual, drunk motherfucking bitches on the street everywhere. and you know who takes responsibility for it? absolutely nobody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Yep, i agree....the ambulance thing freaks me out! I hope i'm never so ill i require one, as i know i wont survive the journey, or wait. It is total bullshit, this regard for life or rules....when it suits them, they are absolutely rigid... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junglesoup Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 good writing mate. Its a shame its like this. Maybe you are a little harsh as there are many good people, but I know what you mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 i remember being in the back of a cab in bkk with my parents and we saw a young child in the road (near pavement but very much in harms way)laying still looking quite ill or dead on a very busy highway, the driver saw this and we asked why he didn't stop or at least call someone, i understand why he didn't stop possibly fear of getting a good leathering from angy fellow thais thinking he was responsible......that said i saw no sign of angry thais anywhere....but hey someone will chirp up 'you're not in kansas now dorothy', its very sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Don't just single thais out here. Westerners are capable of the same behaviour. I don't think religion has much to do with it, but agree it is sometimes used to justify certain behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 I agree. I think we are all to blame for see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavanami Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Thais refuse to take responsibility! IMO, that is the core of the problem. If they take responsibility, they admit wrong doing and lose face. Thais are thinking with a 1000 year old mind set while living in 2007. In discussions, I mention to Thais that they are living in 2007, they are using cell phones and the internet, they are not plowing fields with water buffaloes (at least most aren't). All I get is a blank, unknowing, dumb look on their faces in return. They don't have a clue and they do not want to have a clue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukhumvit Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 There seems to be an almost total lack of foresight with some Thais. Walking around the other day went past a building site where they're putting up a new condo/hotel. My eye was drawn to an upper storey, at least 4-5 floors up, and there toddling around was a little Thai kid. No safety barriers in place just an open drop to certain death. Thais wandered past unconcerned. Workers on the site, near the kid, worked on unconcerned. No doubt the kid was one of theirs but how much common sense do they think little kids have not to take a peek over the side and fall? It's as if they think you get one chance only and no lessons. You learn by the mistakes that you make. Fuck you if you fall by the wayside. :thumbdown: Was watching the box last week when they spoke of there being a cleansing ceremony out in the sea off the eastern seaboard. To make amends for bad deeds and shipwrecks that took place there. Was reminded of reading a book by a Vietnamese boat person who mentioned that quite often once the boats were in Thai territorial waters they were in more danger than ever. It seems it wasn't uncommon for Thai fishermen to board and rob them, raping the women along the way. Sometimes murdering and sometimes throwing the Viets overboard. So much for being Buddhist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkkbound04 Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Are we just waking up to the fact that thais are not all the smiling nympho's that we expect? The massacre of students in Oct 76 by the authorities was'nt very nice, there's endless accounts of brutality at the hands of law enforcement agencies,no-one really knows whats going on in the south, because no one is allowed to report on it, but its probably vicious,the judiciary is farcical and I don't know where the current political process will end.Its a society thats hard to fathom, no one can have any real open debate about anything significant because sooner or later it becomes a les majeste issue. Is it that different to many other countries in Asia? I doubt it. Its a farcical country and that sometimes makes knowing when to laugh or cry difficult. But after all is said and done I like the girls, that why I stick it out. JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 Thais refuse to take responsibility! IMO, that is the core of the problem. If they take responsibility, they admit wrong doing and lose face. Can't say I agree with that observation. I think the OP was more about getting involved. I don't see how that can cost face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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