Tin shacks

[sargeant]

I must reply to Pete and Lomu
Lomu I think we agree the questions must and should be asked and that it is a question of how they are asked. I to feel i have been here long enough to ask those questions and do and will continue to ask them but the second i feel that the person i am asking is not appreciating it I back off
As for foreigners asking questions in the UK i never had any problems with questions, i effing well did when some demanded and got the right to wear turbans and not crash hats and climbed right out of my perambulator when they forced the govt to pass the race relations act which gave immigrants more rights than me whose family is in the doomsday book and the sex unequality act did it for me hence i am here.
I will ask the questions politely and when asked put all the logic i can muster and leave it to my hosts to decide on the logic

Pete please dont think i have lost my intelect or never had one but on many occasions i have been stunned at the sound logic behind things i think are absurd. I agree with your bit about corruption but Thais always tell me it only tax I wont go into it on this thread but when we have that beer we can talk it over.
Now quick to trigger criticism thats what i am talking about the pure as driven snow farang the evil witch on her broomstick the Thai is always at fault . Something has gone wrong blame a Thai never the farang, now that is what does piss them off
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[sargeant]

HH two words from your post to add to integration Attempting/trying and willingness super words in the totally correct context thanks
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[DawnHRD]

[lomuamart]

Good point, Dawn.
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"I spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars - the rest I just squandered". George Best.

[sargeant]

Dawn there are many things that drive me bonkers about thailand but i question politely i do not demand or believe i have any rights to demand
A sound well stated logical argument will normally win the day eventually because contrary to belief the Thais are not stupid.
More often than not most farangs come here because they are pigsick of jobsworth (its more than my job is worth to let you do that) and buerocracy and yet when they come here they want to regulate everything nearly every factory boasts British standard something or other Mrs Sarge cannot do her produce direct into the banana leaves anymore oh no it must be put in a plastic bag first etc etc
As for no unconverted on this website think again we have one who thinks we should leave the poor because they will always be there and someone who thinks he is enriching the thais lives by asking them to cut his grass and seems upset that they wont and cant understand why
If only a few start to think about it then great and if it only makes the few of us slipup a little less then great this thread will have been worth it.
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[DawnHRD]

[prcscct]

I'm going to steer the ship a bit to the left with this one and reference the two below old threads. One only received four responses and no idea how the other was received or supported.

Do the Thai's really see, or for that matter care, how much many farangs care for them and their country? We seem to be talking about what NOT to do but do they see and really appreciate what GOOD we do? Or, is it just a chuckle for most Thai's thinking the rich farang should give and give and give and maybe when it's all gone, they'll go home?

Besides formal events and programs, I would say each and everyone of us gives something almost on a weekly basis. The person who comes to the gate collecting for a Wat or school, the tips we give to people, the ice cream we may buy some kids in the market, old clothes given to needy construction workers. The need and the supply is endless and I've never met one long term expat who is not generous based upon his/her financial ability to give. I've never met a bah humbug long term expat here and saying that from the Pattaya side is a strong statement.

Maybe we don't advertise ourselves enough to offset some of the negativity the Thai's seem to have about us? Pete

http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5132&postdays=0&postorder=asc&vote=viewresult

http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5034&highlight=charity

[Parahandy]

Thank you, Dawn. You are absolutely right. Don't know where Sarge got the idea that the man doesn't cut our grass for us. On the contrary, he does so regularly, and I have a faint suspicion that he waters it in our absence to make it grow faster... It wasn't actually me who wrote that - it was the better half, but I stand by what she says - it certainly enriches his wallet, so, in a roundabout way, his life, just as Pete so rightly said, I think that most of us actually do a fair amount of good, one way or another. It's just that so many tourists have a tendency to undo the good that we do.

Going back to the OP, are we not all being extremely 'local' about all this? I am certainly not arguing with anything said so far - it has all been well written and thought through. So what is my point? Simple. We lived in Nakhon Pathom for four years, where we were two of not more than ten farangs amongst a population of 120,000. There we integrated easily and happily into the Thai way of life, respected our hosts, who in turn respected us. We loved living there and still have Thai friends whom we visit whenever possible. We really were living in the Land of Smiles. Imagine our surprise, nay, our horror when we moved down to this area four years ago, and wandered into Hua Hin. By comparison to NP, there were very few smiles, and a generally pretty surly attitude towards farangs, and, it seemed to us, to other Thais too. Not everybody, by any means, but compared to a non tourist resort, the difference was quite marked. That is what I mean by 'local' when referring to this 'problem', as has already been said about Blackpool and Brighton.

As a final thought, surely respect is a two-way street. Until farangs understand that they must respect the Thais and their country and culture, how can they possibly expect any respect in return? Here, I must agree with Dawn once more. On this thread, at any rate, I feel that I am preaching to the converted...

Have a nice day!

P.
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I used to have a life, but now I've got a computer...

[sargeant]

As you quite correctly say dawn an unfortunate use of wording that is exactely what i am talking about and all i am asking for is for people to stop think and word it better. Once the genie is out of the bottle it is damn hard to put it back.
I know 2 farangs that read this web site every day in fact it was one of them that introduced me to it but neither ever post. I would think that there are many who do the same and some of them are Thai.
It is the petrie dish and the single bacteria that splits to 2 then to 4 then to 8 and so on which is also a concern I dont have a problem with a lot of the views and concerns that are posted but i do cringe sometimes at how it is worded (i am also guilty on occasion) I just ask and i need to listen myself for people to stop and think and rephrase things or do things a little differently and that applies to the converted sometimes
I do not know if Thaistyle (another thread)is Thai or a farang pretending but it is interesting that it was not entirely what he said but more the way he said it and some took umbrage at it (up to a point me to) why do some people seem to think it doesnt happen when reversed
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[Vital Spark]

Hmmm. I somehow feel I have to comment here, as my other post was under the 'shared' name of the other half.
'enrich' - definition: to improve the quality of something by adding things/something to it.
This is very much a positive act. We rent our lovely house, with a couple of rai of land, and, quite frankly, we don't have the time (we both work full-time) nor energy to cut the grass - I use that term loosely as most of it is weedy scrub. We give the 'nod' to our landlady, who owns the shop next door, and she finds a man with a bushwacker, and we pay him 500 baht, for an honest day's work. He's happy as larry, and we're pleased as punch. It's mutual satisfaction.
If we ever have a problem, and need some help, our neighbours are only too happy to help us. Not because they want to 'rip us off', but because they are genuinely helpful people. Often, our offers to pay for their valuable assistance is refused.
This is the Thailand I love, and this is the reason why we will probably spend the rest of our lives here.

VS

[sargeant]

I sent a pm to your better half yesterday with an apology
Two small questions though do you feel enriched when you recieve your pay or do you feel you have worked to earn it
How would you feel if your employer was telling you he was enriching your life by paying you what you have earned by your hard work
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[sargeant]

Before I came to/was introduced to this website I was already troubled by what I was seeing and hearing. Before I posted my first post I read virtually every post in Thai Life and relationship, FOO, Property & real estate, visas legal and employment and the beach bar and was not impressed with what I read in the slightest. I have never joined night crawlers aptly named and something I am not.
In my first ever post Low cost housing for Thais I wrote “I can see the Thais getting peed of soon (if not already) if this continues”. Later in the same thread I wrote “I think the potential for it to get out of hand is a real possibility”. If (and god forbid I would not do it) anyone read all my posts they would find they have had a consistent theme I have asked the members and guests of this website to consider our hosts FIRST before action or word I have warned consistently of where I think it would go if we did not pay more consideration of our hosts feelings and aspirations.
I have watched in a mere 9 years this small fishing village go from a virtually zero crime rate to what is now a large town with a growing Thai on Thai crime rate I knew it would eventually go Thai on farang but hoped that it was a long way down the track. Unfortunately Richards post BEWARE (there have been 3 other break ins around here in the last month) shows me that that has now past and it will steadily get worse.
Shoot the messenger is a distinctly human trait and this messenger shot full of holes is too old too tired to be a colander/sieve any more.

TO ALL MEMBERS AND GUESTS
I sincerely and deeply apologize for firstly being to late with my advice and secondly for my inability to write and phrase my deep concerns in such a way they could be understood.

As my fear has now become reality (and this genie will never go back into the bottle that’s for sure) I feel I have nothing left to offer this website and so I bid you all farewell and goodbye good luck and my hopes that it will not go to far.

Lev I would appreciate it if you could delete my registration but leave me as a guest so I can read best of British and not so funny occasionally i.e. just don’t allow me to post even if a load of old crap tempts me.
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A Greatfull Guest of Thailand

[Lev]

sargeant,
No need to take your angst out on HHAD, we are simply a platform for people to air their views, many of which will differ from your own.
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[richard]

Sarge dont go

Your like a breath of fresh air on this site

You will be missed
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Shine on you crazy diamond


Khun Richard of Yorkshire (Halifax) and Hua Hin

[richard]

Lev's right Sarge

Forums are about expressing one's personal views within the boundaries set by T's and C's

Everbody's views are valuable as that is how we learn. Just the same as sitting round a bar table to discuss how we are going to change the world

HHAD is the best forum site I've been priveledged to be a member of and that is because of good management and attentive moderators

Although an outspoken Yorkshireman I have to bite my tongue now and again

Sarge - please don't go
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Shine on you crazy diamond


Khun Richard of Yorkshire (Halifax) and Hua Hin