Living in Thailand/ Thailand vs the World

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banpaeng
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Living in Thailand/ Thailand vs the World

Post by banpaeng » September 5, 2009, 8:09 pm

I have read from many poster over the years about how they are unfairly treated by the country of Thailand. On one thread one poster told of how they are unfairly treated by law but only could offer up the 51% ownership law. One thinks the police only capture falangs in the police stops. And the list goes on and on.

I do have to ask, "How many of the members have taken a Thai back to their own home country?" I have read about this on many threads and found it is not a so easy task. I have done this as found it a not so easy task, but doable. I have seen a lot of the prejudices that come with a mixed race marriage. I have lived a few nightmares dealing with my own Government here in the US and ask why my own government is quite bad. Yes some of these made me question why I brought my wife to the US.

I have had the luck to travel the world quite a bit and love to sit and talk to the locals. It truly amazes me how much we are all alike. As you get into immigration in all countries is an issue. We can't let those folks from that country (plug in any country name) come here as it will only increase crime or other problems. They might even want to marry our sons and daughters which will screw up or community.

I know the Thais are no different. Sure on some areas I feel they might be overboard but on many levels they are very open. On another thread someone wrote about how we bring our own culture and thoughts to Thailand and then question why they are not like ours. It really has a simple answer, they are not ours but the Thais.

I do appreciate BKKStans attitude. He states (this is my interpretation) that there are things he does not like but he looks at the situation and then does not get into that situation or learns how to cope with it. I use to think he was negative but learned he is really not. He likes Thailand and learns to deal with what ever life deals. He is not real keen on the education system, so he makes sure his kids are taught extra. On this count, several others do the same.

As for the police stops, I see Thais lined up to pay fines every time there is a stop. I had a Thai license and if stopped showed them this and was waved thru with a smile.

I often wonder if Thailand was a vacation spot that was so nifty that One feels he must move to. Living in a place and vacationing in a place can be very different.

On another thread Papaguido ask to name laws that are anti falang. So far the ony thing said is the property law of 51% ownership. Again that is not anti falang. Ownership of property is anywhere from 100% to 0% all over the world with some saying you can not own unless you really have a lot of money.

Oh well, I am trying to throw a wide net and not just deal with one front. Lets see what happens now.



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Michael C
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Re: Living in Thailand/ Thailand vs the World

Post by Michael C » September 6, 2009, 12:06 am

For your first question, I have brought my wife to 15 countries. When attempting to get her a visa for Japan before we were married, simply so that we could travel on to the US (Guam) together afterwards, she was denied a visa. I had no problems with any of them after we were married, primarily because we have travelled together and at the time she was the spouse of a US military member; however, we did not go anywhere long term (more than 3 months) other than Japan and here to Thailand. There are countless numbers of Thais I have come across that have been denied visas for to the US and EU, for nothing, except being Thai. A good friend of mine, who is an academic of note, had tremendous trouble bringing his wife to his home country; it took months for him to get his wife a visa. Someone else from the same city he is from travelled back and forth numerous times over the past couple of years and his wife still cannot get a visa, simply a tourist visa- and people on this forum complain about immigration here in Thailand!

After arriving here in Thailand, I read numerous immigration horror stories and heard numerous others second hand. Sorry, but I have nothing but positive experiences, except for sometimes waiting a long time in the queue in Bangkok, but now that only negative point is gone going through Nong Khai.

Concerning police stops, I have only been accused of a traffic violation once (the famous northbound toll way stop at Don Muang), where I was accused of driving 100km/hr when I was driving 75km/hr. The police officer must have tired of listening to me and let me go. A couple months ago, I was lectured about the speed limits in Thailand at a stop, because I was driving slower than the speed limit- no threatened fine or anything. Other than that, I have not been stopped for a traffic violation in over 200,000km of driving through 70 of Thailand’s provinces.

I must have a charmed life here, because I have nothing to complain about. I have nothing but positive interactions with people, the police and the government. I guess the only thing that I could really dream up to complain about anything would be I cannot get high speed internet where I live; however, I do have enough bandwidth to do anything I really need to do (just not everything that I would like to do).

Either many people on this forum are among the most miserable people on earth and would not be happy anywhere or they just enjoy constantly complaining about something. Although I can appreciate Stan’s practice of avoiding everything that may bother him, from reading his numerous posts on this forum, one can only imagine that he might be one of the most miserable foreigners living in Thailand.

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banpaeng
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Re: Living in Thailand/ Thailand vs the World

Post by banpaeng » September 6, 2009, 8:02 am

Michael C, that is exactly my point except for Stan. I have met him and he is really a nice person. Maybe one day you will meet him and find out he is not negative at all.

Other than that I think I agree Loy %.

I choose not to live in Thailand but it was choice of a lot of personal items. I might not succeed but try not to blame others for my problems.

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Michael C
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Re: Living in Thailand/ Thailand vs the World

Post by Michael C » September 6, 2009, 8:39 am

Yes, I met Stan on a couple occasions at Night Market gatherings and he does seem to be a nice guy and did not portray a negative attitude at all. I even asked him the first time I met him about a thread he started commenting how it is not appreciated by Thais when a foreigner learns Thai and that foreigners will never be accepted here, because I have found it to be the complete opposite- overwhelmingly I have found that they greatly appreciate any foreigner that takes the time and effort to become fluent. I also find myself not only feeling accepted, but actually often receiving preferential treatment from Thais, doing more for me than what they would do for their fellow Thais. It is just from Stan’s posts that he appears to so miserably negative about so much here, which is why I referred to ‘from reading his numerous posts on this forum, one can only imagine that he might be one of the most miserable foreigners living in Thailand’.

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