PAD and foreigners

[utapao1]

First of all, this IS Thailand. It is the Thais country and as foreigners we are welcome to leave at any time. That said, The Thais are also welcome to tell us to get out. Finding a balance is a very fine line. Thailand does not do a stellar job of enforcing theirs laws in certain areas (left open for reader interpretation). The foreigners have brought in BILLIONS of baht worth of business and in general I know they are most grateful. On the other hand it seems they are also trying to bite the hand that feeds them. One needs only look at the fleecing being done by jet ski operators, tuk tuk drivers and other groups too blind to see where their bread is buttered.

Let me briefly use the tuk tuk drivers as example. They will blockade the port demanding a share of the business yet at the same time demanding a fee that is borderline on usery. IF the service was worth what they charge, I would have no qualms but it isn't.

On the other side of this equation is the meter taxis. They provide a good service at a fair price and while many are well maintained, there are others with no business on the road. This morning was just such an example. My taxi to my appointment was brand new and had less than 1000 Km on it. The trip back from my appointment should have been junked about 5 years ago and had/has no business on the road.

As foreigners we use many of the businesses and infrastructure created by countries other than Thailand. I personally believe that if all countries with any type of business or influence in Thailand were to pull out and leave, Thailand would be back in the 19th century within 2 years. If Thailand is to succeed in the world and reduce its dependence on the outside world, it must change its educational system. The same education available to the rich and affluent MUST be made available to the less wealthy and less affluent. If Thailand does not do this Thailand's educational system will only produce the next generation of farmers / farm workers, factory workers, street vendors and bar girls.

Giving iPads or laptops to every student is NOT the answer to the education issue. The answer is good teachers in all the schools and a full court press to eliminate graft and corruption that runs rampant.

Sorry to be rambling.....

[namrepus]

[quote][Canuck, do some deep digging and research regarding the Amart System in Thailand and contemporary Thai history - you'll find some answers possibly....../quote] - Surinfarm

Those so-called 'grassroots red leaders' have now become the new 'amarts' that they so despised and use to turn the real disenfranchised against. Do you see that they live in expensive homes, have maids and nurse-maids for their children, and send their children to international schools here and abroad? Many foreigners innocently believe in the hype and have not looked closely at the 'mouthpiece', those who have deceived and //// to the real 'Prai' in the countryside.

Where are those red leaders now that they have been gifted with ministerial and parliamentary positions when their supporters are inundated for the past months?

[scrap]

what about sex industry? Thailand is famed for that.

[hawaiiman]

SCRAP: yes, along with Cambodia, Korea, China, Japan, India, Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Philippines, and most of Eastern Europe. Now...who did I forget?? Maiphenrai

[kusa]

Ouch! You forgot to mention, souvinier shops and the makers of said souviniers, taxi drivers (with or without "meters") Tourist bus companies, tourist guides, the list goes on and on!
By Thai law, you (farang) can own a business here but you cannot work in it, therefore, how many more Thais would be out of work! (if all the foreigners were made to leave) Dear oh dear.

It is amazing how people try to brame others for their problems. Forget about it!!!

[johnivan]

WHY are the PAD leaders STILL running free ??????????????

[clarkkent]

WHY are the PAD leaders STILL running free ??????????????

How come those red leaders are in Parliament after trying to burn down bangkok??

[jerrelli]

Kickout all the foreigners...financially, according to my research, that would be at best unwise for Thailand to do as a policy. I am American. Just to expatriate to Thailand is a lot of work and to find reasonable employment will be diffucult still I feel I need to come for my love lives in BKK and she needs my help to thrive better. I will teach English I suppose, few other jobs are available given the laws and certainly I wish to never take away from Thailand only add to it and to take a Thai's job away from them is not ever to be my plan at all. I have a Military American Army retirement pension which will all be spent here, yet I am still forever farang and never to be accepted as anything but an outcast by some and as a second class citizen at best. Most countries would give me a far better break to expatriate there instead, but my love lives here and is Thai and wishes to remain here, for now; maybe later, if the political front becomes unstable we will all be required to move? to be safe... I see Thailand from the outside view, without the fears and repressions of Thai perspectives, and what I see is great potential sadly often lost because of dissention and the struggle for power, this is hurting the people. It makes me sad... so much about Thailand is lovely and wonderful, yet it seems some would cut off it's (Thailand's) nose to spite it's face, "kick out the foreigners" will destroy the economy, as this thread points out...and they who wish it are NOT ignorant, so they know this, so the continuing drive to do it...is to achieve what goal? not one that seems good for Thailand's people to me... but I am merely an uninformed observer who knows only what he sees as the obvious. I will come, if the Thailand Government will let me stay and live and work and love and die here, for the sake of a single Thai citizen who will own all I work for since by law I can never own anything. So be it, to me this lovely lady is worth it all.

[bennu]

Kick out foreigners is mostly not wise in a globalised world, most developed societies are multicultural to a degree, that degree hasn’t been reached by far in Thailand that is quite homogeneous.

[zama]

It will "Never Happen!"