| Author: | Heinz Duthel | ISBN: | 1230000124265 |
| Publisher: | Heinz Duthel | Publication: | April 12, 2013 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Heinz Duthel |
| ISBN: | 1230000124265 |
| Publisher: | Heinz Duthel |
| Publication: | April 12, 2013 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
rying To Recover A Life The Wrong Way
It appears that most of the foreigners living in or visiting Thailand make the mistake of looking at Thailand and its associated issues from their own perspective. I’m not pretending to be any different, I’m writing this as much for my own benefit as anyone else’s.
Although the contributions deal with many varied aspects of Thais / farangs, bargirls / heartaches, good times / short times, rip-offs / retributions, one recurring theme is the testy subject of money.
Coming from a typical (atypical?) Western background, I have also been guilty of prejudice against the way that Thai people think about money. I have always considered money to be a necessary evil, something that, although cannot be done without, causes more problems than it could ever hope to solve.
Some of you may differ with my opinion, particularly those with more money than I. However, looking at it from my point of view, I’m probably in as good a position as anyone to make an educated evaluation.
What one must remember is that although Bangkok appears (on the outside at least) to be relatively modern, both in business and way of life, it is in fact, only beginning its journey into the global economy and modern, international society.
Whilst the above can be said of Bangkok, it certainly is not true of the rest of Thailand. Although most Thai people would admit to wanting the trappings of Western materialism, resistance to change, particularly evident in this country, is ingrained. Thais consider themselves, rightly or wrongly, to be better than pretty much everybody else (though doesn’t everyone?), and certainly consider Thailand to be considerably better than most of the other countries in the region. In fact, most visitors to Thailand would probably agree. Why else would so many choose Thailand above other options?
To give you a little perspective, I left home at 17 and joined the RAF. I never, ever, made any financial contributions to my parents. It was never expected, although I fully expected to be able to return to them if and when I needed their assistance, which was not infrequent and always available. Thus, it was with some difficulty that I came to terms with the way that Thais regard money.
rying To Recover A Life The Wrong Way
It appears that most of the foreigners living in or visiting Thailand make the mistake of looking at Thailand and its associated issues from their own perspective. I’m not pretending to be any different, I’m writing this as much for my own benefit as anyone else’s.
Although the contributions deal with many varied aspects of Thais / farangs, bargirls / heartaches, good times / short times, rip-offs / retributions, one recurring theme is the testy subject of money.
Coming from a typical (atypical?) Western background, I have also been guilty of prejudice against the way that Thai people think about money. I have always considered money to be a necessary evil, something that, although cannot be done without, causes more problems than it could ever hope to solve.
Some of you may differ with my opinion, particularly those with more money than I. However, looking at it from my point of view, I’m probably in as good a position as anyone to make an educated evaluation.
What one must remember is that although Bangkok appears (on the outside at least) to be relatively modern, both in business and way of life, it is in fact, only beginning its journey into the global economy and modern, international society.
Whilst the above can be said of Bangkok, it certainly is not true of the rest of Thailand. Although most Thai people would admit to wanting the trappings of Western materialism, resistance to change, particularly evident in this country, is ingrained. Thais consider themselves, rightly or wrongly, to be better than pretty much everybody else (though doesn’t everyone?), and certainly consider Thailand to be considerably better than most of the other countries in the region. In fact, most visitors to Thailand would probably agree. Why else would so many choose Thailand above other options?
To give you a little perspective, I left home at 17 and joined the RAF. I never, ever, made any financial contributions to my parents. It was never expected, although I fully expected to be able to return to them if and when I needed their assistance, which was not infrequent and always available. Thus, it was with some difficulty that I came to terms with the way that Thais regard money.
