Will Thai luck ever run out?

COMMENTARY

Published: 13 Jan 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

Thailand's culture is a passive and superstitious one that relies on faith, fate and sheer luck, with the ingrained belief that things will always turn out just fine. After all, karma dictates our destiny, and we bribe her quite well. So mai pen rai.

This, of course, is a generalisation. There are many exceptions, but not enough of them, and so the generalisation rings loud and true.

Every other day, there could be news of tourists killed, raped and scammed. Every day there could be dual pricing, xenophobia, corrupt police, inept officials, outdated visa rules or the like _ none of these things matter. Tourists will keep coming, foreign residents will keep growing in number and businesses will keep pouring in money. Things are just fine.

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The Dark Side
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Discussion 33 : 19 Jan 2013 at 20.1433
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Khun Vorani. Once again you have hit the bulls eye dead center. Would you ever possibly consider entering politics. Your country is in desperate need of minds like yours!
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JP

Discussion 32 : 17 Jan 2013 at 13.4732
Will Thai luck ever run out?
... # Well as for your neighbours, Myanmar last year boom tourist figures of one million visitors. Then Cambodia and Vietnam with tourism on the increase. As for foreign residents of Thailand, some who find the immigration process a slight exasperating at times especially when married to a Thai national and having
children of registered Thai nationality.
Changes are sure soon to happen in many of Thailand's neighboring countries, so the question certainly begs an answer.
from iPhone application.
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rockderk
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Discussion 31 : 17 Jan 2013 at 11.0231
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By gosh I think Khun Voranai may have just written the new Thai constitution.
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jimbly
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Discussion 30 : 16 Jan 2013 at 11.4030
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Usually I agree with Khun V, but not today. Thais are Buddhists. Buddha said to concentrate on the present moment and not look back or look forward. One thing that makes Thailand exotic to us westerners is this simple approach to life. In this You are much too western Kuhn V!
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tg1955
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Discussion 29 : 15 Jan 2013 at 10.4229
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Khun Voranai-so true, so true. Another country that has an eerie resemblance to Thailand in almost all respects (except religion) is the Philippines. I know as I spent the first 29 years of my life there. There is corruption everywhere; there is overzealous faith in the Catholic church; well-heeled folks bask in the limelight; ordinary people buy lottery tickets, many more betting on underground 'hweteng' (or lottery); yuppies play frisbee, then party and drink booze with friends, stroll at Greenbelt, etc. Life goes on without any care in the world ... There are some who DO care, but they are a minority. Same same in Thailand.
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mogy71
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Discussion 28 : 15 Jan 2013 at 06.5628
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Ploydonut25: just as well the author of the article is Thai. I'd also hazard a guess at your happineess being that as you're reading the Bangkok post on your PC/laptop/smart pad/smart phone that you're not on 200-300 baht per day.
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DonAleman
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Discussion 27 : 14 Jan 2013 at 02.0827
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Further to my earlier comment.Many Pattaya people work 12 hrs./day,6days/week, are paid only 20B/hr.O.T. and some managers "extract" 2-5000B a month for job "protection". A Thai friend was recently hired by a foreign firm at double her salary,5 days a week with 80B O.T. ! Ooh, no "job protection" fee ! Foreign firms will solicit the employee "cream of the crop" getting the top people.Other employees will hear of this, make demands and/or resign. Asean will bring many more like this company and there will be a "new boss in town" - he won't be Thai so present employers better "get them before they get you" or "get out of town by sunrise " !
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sanam-bin
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Discussion 26 : 13 Jan 2013 at 22.3926
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Thailand is not the only one headed for a fall. The entire global civilization is going to run out of luck later on this century. The delusion of never ending growth is going to hit a brick wall in the form of resource depletion, overpopulation and environmental degradation. Human desire and greed are infinite but the Earth is finite.
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ploydonut
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Discussion 25 : 13 Jan 2013 at 22.1825
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I am Thai, I am happy. I am also know that everything on news is either not very happy news, or can be very happy news, otherwise it will not be news. Most people here who have write something do not understand this. Even if I say 10000 time that Thai people are happy, the foreigner will always find something bad to say because read too much of the news.
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ronniec
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Discussion 24 : 13 Jan 2013 at 21.0124
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The Einstein quote that sums up the predicaments our times:

"We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."
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