How Do You Handle Living Here?

[DawnHRD]

I'm sorry, Edwina, but in my own opinion, that last post of yours comes across as extremely arrogant.

You want to "change the glaringly obvious issues that make this place bad."? Well, good luck with that.

Do "a little to improve the life of the masses and create a safe and fair world here at least...". Well, do it then. As johnnyk said, go & find an organisation that needs your help, befriend some local kids & teach them English for free. Anything!

[Wanderlust]

Once again Dawn has hit the nail on the head I think. I would like to add, or rather emphasise something else as well - the Thais are a very proud people - proud of their King, proud of the fact that they have never been colonised, proud of many things in fact, and I think this has a lot to do with why they may appear to you, edwinadanish, as not wanting your help, or to learn, and it envelopes another key Thai (and Asian) issue which I still struggle to understand myself, that of 'face' and avoiding the loss of face. I understand the basic concept of course, but in Thailand it goes way beyond that, and I think any attempts by 'farang' to instruct or tell Thais how to do something will involve a loss of face; on the other hand, subtle helping with something would not. There are others on here who I am sure understand the 'face' thing much better than I, who will be able to explain it better.
One final thing, which it appears as if you have realised already, is that the Buddhism practiced in Thailand is far removed from that practiced in the West or even other Asian countries, and on a day to day basis is mixed with animism a great deal. If your belief was one of the things that brought you here, then I would imagine you have been very disappointed in how Buddhism is lived here, and that may be a constructive reason to go to another Buddhist country instead; alternatively stay here and learn more about the Thais and their way of life, and be an observer for a time rather than trying to be proactive. I think it is possible that you had a mental picture of how life was going to be in a Buddhist country, and Thailand has fallen well short of that expectation.

[SuperTonic]

[lindosfan1]

Dawn and Wanderlust are quite correct, I was reading through the threads this morning and in 2 threads the suggestion was to consider notliving in Thailand, does this not make you think that you may have a problem.
Yes Farangs do help the Thais but not change them. I suggest you sit back chill out and consider your options
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Woke up this morning breathing I thought this is a good start to the day.

[Farang]

So you’ve been a Buddhist for 20 fashionable years? One of the first ones in your circles, eh?
Very, avant-garde, very fashionable, I am sure. Surely you can teach a thing or two to Thais about Buddhism.

And now you’ve come to Thailand with its 97 % of Buddhist population, and you did not find this a society
uniformly enlightened, smiling, serene fellow Buddhists? Must’ve been quite a come-down, wasn’t it?

Oh, I feel your growing pains. It is not easy to grow up, and the rite of passage to mental adulthood
truly is excruciating. And ever more so as it is so much easier to be a (insert here Buddhist, Communist,
or any other convert to any fashionable set of beliefs afflicting teenagers) in the comforting folds of
Nordic welfare society. It never is as easy in the Real World where one must feed the kids,
get another piece of cardboard to mend the leaking roof and somehow find the money to cure
grandmother’s stomach pains.

No council housing here, no free medicine, no dole, no relief!

Somehow the lofty thoughts and noble ideas of (insert here your favorite -ism) fly more daringly in the
absence of everyday realities, particularly the grinding, hopeless, incessant poverty.
An old adage has it that good deeds originate in welfare, bad deeds in poverty. It is so very, very
true here in Buddhist Thailand. This is no paradise for a naïve believer, no matter how fervently wished for.

I whipped up some energy to have guts to will some of my values onto you:

Stop whining even if Thais do not instantly convert to your way of thinking.
Stop arrogantly thinking that your values are the only good ones.
Stop talking about improving the life of the masses,
Star doing something about it, and, above all:

Grow up.
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Your ad here!

[Chas]

I have to give Edwin (a) credit for bringing up issues that I am sure we have all struggled with if we have lived here for any length of time. I admire his/her obviously thoughtful posts and I am not so sure the tirades that those posts have generated are deserved. I dont agree with everything in those posts, I dont think every conclusion is well thought out. .but the discussion is worthwhile . .and I feel it would be good to continue this discussion with respect for each other as we work our way through the issues that affect our lives here.

[Georgy Porgy]

Well facilitated, Chas!

[Francois]

[KelpieKiss]

I wasn't in Thailand 30 years ago so I don't know what it was like before major western influence. I did go to Laos 10 years ago when there was almost no western influence. What I found was nothing but incredibly honest, polite, friendly, amazing people. I loved it.

Went back 2 years ago and a lot of the people seem to have undergone a huge change in attitude towards foreigners. I tried to do some friendly bartering on the price of a tuk tuk and was told very abruptly to pay or f-off. The more time I spent there, the more of this kind of person I met. Mind completely corrupted by greed and money. I don't see anything wrong with trying to make a buck but it does seem to go hand in hand with people losing their good natures.

In the west we have learned to hide our greed somewhat and rip people of under the guise of respectability. Maybe it's just that the Thais haven't quite got the hang of that yet so they come across as greedy when maybe they're just not as good at hiding it. Possibly more honest? I don't know but to think that the Thais are all going to be walking around constantly mindful of Buddhist teachings is a bit naive. They're just as human as the rest of us and like to make money.

If I was going to try and change one thing about Thailand it would be to get them to use some soap on their hands after they take a dump and before they make me food. Also covering their mouths when they cough.

[DawnHRD]

[Francois]

[edwinadanish]

[edwinadanish]

To add to my previous post, I just scanned around a few other threads here on HHAD and it is quite amazing how many times the same old voices just answer every discussion with -

go somewhere else

HH is not for you

you should think abouyt why you live here


or some other variation.

The same old unimaginative superior (I've been here longer than you and probably drank more than you) negative response.

WHat's the point iof a forum if people outside the old guard can't make fair points or ask for help without getting told to leave...

Well, I am leaving - I find it very depressing here on HHAD forum.

No offence to anyone in particular here but I just find it more constructive on other forums where the moderation sets an example of tolerance and shows more respect to the posters.

[DawnHRD]

[crazy88]

Edwina

Don't be such a lightweight . Taking your ball home will not solve anything .Get back on your soapbox and show some of the conviction in your beliefs you claim to have .

Crazy 88