Thais only live for the day

[prettypriyanka]

I've only ever seen 'Land of the Giants' when I was about 7 so can't really comment! :erf:

 

[dirtt_diver]

well obviously can't label all but here is a classic reason why it applies to some.

I e-mailed a friend from New Zealand who manages a hotel in Phuket to let him know I will be coming over soon for a visit and said it will be good catching up and getting down to his local bar in Soi Eric. He said he doesn't go to that bar anymore as they ripped him off.

My mate was a regular there at least once a week and when friends come to Phuket he would take them down and I know if him and I were there on a Saturday night we would spend a few thousand baht each and would always shout the bar staff.

I said why would they rip you when you spend and your friends spend thousands over a year and his reply was some thais only live for the day.

Bad move by this bar to look at making a dollar short term rather than over a longer period. They must have pissed him off as he's not tight with his money and if it was only a small amount he would have let it pass.

Another bad move is the bar knew my mate is a local and the worst type of advertising is from an unhappy customer, especialy one who manages a hotel and many guests ask him wheres a good bar

Plenty more bars to spend a dollar and I will make a point of spending a dollar at Mai Thai

 

[Barrack]

The example is hardly front page news (stop press.. Man ripped off in ****** bar for tourists ) but the point is valid.. One of my mates once described them as 'consequence blind' and it does seem to be true. Its the same whether its putting in foundations on a building, regular servicing of cars, letting thier children ride to school 3 up and helmetless, or losing it in a rage and commiting acts that ruin their own life through going to jail.

Its strange and one of those cultural differences that you have to adapt to stuff that we might call 'common sense' isnt that common.

 

[Bret]

I always prefered "Lost in Space" when I was little on the Sunday afternoon Channel 4 slot! So maybe you could create an analogy using the robot or Dr!

 

[Megs]

same same that Thai guy in KP who stuffed up the german accented Noggies bungalow....bringing about the buffalo conversation.....he has stifled his business for falang perhaps for evermore on an island that could see a huge growth in bungalow building in the near future

I've sen thousands of examples of this....and even some falang have started imitating it as well.....do so at your own peril in these times!

 

[Marian]

Its not just in business tho, it is an asian cognitive trait. There seems to be a difference in perception and deductive reason, in cause and effect logic. You see this right into all manner of issues (not putting lights on at dusk, indicating when turning, etc etc)..

Its been shown asians think differently to westerners, we are detail oriented and focus on individual parts where asians absorb the whole.

 

[geekan]

Way before my time our kid! Cough!

I remember Land of the Giants was like watching Petter in the MTB! :bad:

 

[Massage Therapist dubai]

and whenever Ao is putting on the "woe is me" too much and feeling sorry for growing up poor i point out that she grew up very much like this with all this support and yes, they were poor but its a different lifestyle being poor in village and being poor were i grew up and that i had it just as bad or worse than her

 

[MoToCroSSS -30]

Sorry Paulie, I can't buy that!

 

[another therapist]

so did the japanese learn this or are they different.....they certainly out detail most falang

 

[Vahbiz C]

Exactly why I no longer consider Thailand as the LOS. Rather I think of it as the LOO (land of [the] oblivious). Thais (Asians) seem to be totally oblivious to any "Western" logic or forethought. You accept it or you don't, but if you stay here you haven't much choice. It's sometimes infuriating, but I try to see it as "interesting". (Or I'd go totally mad!)

 

[Ashlei]

The essays I read about cognitive studies where done (I think) with Chinese.. Interesting also that HK Chinese have a sueforum.xxx IQ score (second only to Ashkenazi Jews as a grouping IIRC) something like 106 ??

So variables like cognitive ability are hard to argue.. It was a perception and cognition difference.

 

[mechvegas]

Good reading material is 'geography of thought'.. Also less so as its more about social development 'can asians think'.

 

[the_super_pessimist]

what can't you buy?
graham just pointed out with experience how it is in the village, no one goes hungry and i have seen it myself

now, i know with my experiences growing up poor with no heat in boston winters, not enough food to go around for everyone. i lived that and i would say id rather grow up poor the way Ao did than grow up poor the way i did

what is not to buy?

and my point to Ao is she uses her poor background as a crutch and i try and point out that growing up poor in US is just as hard or worse than growing up poor in her village

 

[SARAHH]

Theres an old saying..
"You can take the girl out of the bar, but you can't take the bar out of the girl"

Should be written in letters of fire at all Thai airports and border crossings, then stamped in your passport on entry.

 

[Coleen]

I just don't!

I don't know your circumstance, neither Ao's so can't and won't comment or make assumptions....But I have travelled a fair bit as you know and seen 'Poor' believe me! I've seen people sleeping on the streets of Maryland/Florida and Chicago as I have seen them in Bangkok/Patong and here in Kamala. I won't even get into Africa.

Many people harp on about Thailands 3rd world status and just how little or no support or the corrupt infrastucture here. You are saying it is as bad in the States? The help is there in the States if you pipe up, bit the bullet and ask for it.

There are poor people living in the heat here with no electricity, no fan, no fridge, kids being born in wriggly tin huts then bitten to bits by anything that flys. I am looking at them out of the window as I type! (Not the baby being born bit!)

None of them will go to school, get innoculated, recieve a penny is social security.Very few 'Rags to Riches' storys here, more "Rags, to slightly better rags!" IMHO.

I agree that the 'Family' structure here of helping each other out works! As it should do and I for one think it will become more prevalent around the world as this recession starts to bite and people lose thier jobs and houses.

Are you saying that for once, in one respect at least, Thailand is better than the West?

Just my opinion Paul. I know where I would rather be poor and it isn't here!

 

[tandrews]

i don't know, i'm really torn

have seen the really bad/dark side of Thailand many times

that being said, i have seen so many acts of warmth, generosity in Thailand that i have never seen anywhere else in the world that makes me feel so good when those things happen in Thailand

i am telling you, i have had many people-to-people experiences in Thailand that have left me feeling so good about people, i can't even count them( but i have had the opposite too)

 

[kitty]

They all give it that story about how poor they were, and of course they were / are poor by our current standards, which is measured in wealth or pure cash terms

Jeez my wife's family (when she was a kid) lost their house and their land and were pretty much homeless for a while until other family members sorted them out, of course papa was gambling and used the house and land as security

Thai's from Isaan or other rural areas are rich in so many other ways which are not affected so much by consumerism, they grow and rear their own food, if they need cash they sell it at the market or open up a small shop at their house. They also use their land to raise cash either through local loans or with banks

In saying all of that their richness comes from the support environment they have, if you spend enough time up their you witness it with your own eyes, its very comforting in a way its something we have lost in the western world

Anyway i think ive just said the same thing again as my original post 5555

 

[archjohnson]

or the old saying
"a 20 something old girl doesn't fall in love with a man twice her age even for 50k baht a month"

 

[michelehoodlmt]

Very true. Every country/culture has their bad/dark sides. I don't think anyone is trying to say they are bad people. Just different, and different in a way we will (mostly) never completely understand! :rules:

I enjoy it here. I enjoy it because it's different. But I keep in mind that as I may never totally understand their "ways", neither will they ever totally understand ours. (It's a ha-sip ha-sip thing!) :intello: