Not even tabloids are that bad, this is just a Thai thing. Typical xenophobic Thai attitude - the foreigner is always wrong! And add to that gangs of Thai “men” and soldiers kicking hell out of foreigners in Bangkok (and then following them to hospital and being allowed another kick - 30 against 3!!) and you get the picture of “modern” Thailand, a total cesspit.
God I’m glad I’m not there anymore!!!

Thanks for the site Lost Boy, I will read it often for I too am lost here somewhere in Thailand. I watch the TV everyday but they really don’t let much on it that I can understand. Unless I need Bloomburg…. Thanks keep it up I will return :)

I totally agree woth you. I’ve never read Siangtai but I read Thai Rath. On rape news , they write if as if they were in the real situation or were the ones who raped the victims. I do hate them.

I believe all of it! How could you doubt? I believe everything I hear in this country because I know Thai people would never, EVER lie to me! If you stay long-time you know. Thais are morally incapable of lying. It just isn’t in their genes. Please think about that next time you write something so horrible about a Thai person, even a journalist! ;) Vern

It is a new day; it is another nitpicky subject.

We should read the Sun or The Mirror.

Maybe?

I’m working my way south. I’m enjoying the job I have right now and want to stick it out for a year or so, and then I’d like to go to Indonesia and then on to Aus. That’s the idea anyway. Wouldn’t mind a visit back to the motherland too!

There is nothing “so-called” about my fluency in English. I am English, it’s my native tongue. Also, Piers Morgan was sacked in a scandal, which shows he did something wrong. It also shows that there is a line that even the British tabloids cannot cross. My attitude has nothing to do with this.

I’m really not sure why you are having such a go at me. How is this nitpicking? A woman was labeled a drunk-driving killer on the front page of a newspaper. Do you really value Thailand’s media so little?

Sooksiam, you really should read the facts first. Piers Morgan didn’t fabricate anything at all. He was presented with fake photos which he used in good faith. Only after did it emerge that he had been the victim of a hoax, and a very sinister one at that.

I’m not defending The Mirror, or any of the British tabloid press, but remember, at least they have the freedom to print what they do. Thailand doesn’t enjoy any such freedom, unless of course it is the freedom to victimize and slander innocent foreigners - which is accepted from the very top of the system right the way down to the level of Sooksiam.

If you are Thai, and I perhaps doubt it, then it’s understandable that you will never accept any wrong-doing from a Thai or your “wonderful” Thai system, as you’ve been programmed from an early age never to question anything Thai. Perfection through ignorance!

Keep up the good work Matt!!

When did I say that Thais never did anything wrong? I do not think Thailand is such a wonderful place either; just as with Australian society maybe, if you are an Aussie. I will deal with your attitude later, but I am going to tend to the writer’s nitpicky subject first.

It is always sad to hear that people get killed on the road in Thailand. As a matter of fact, road accidents are the second most common cause of death in Thailand. Should not everybody feel sorry for the deceased people? Amazingly, the writer deftly turned the tragedy of the victims around by tackling the unethical issue of the press instead. As I said earlier, foreign press never sensationalises a story, of course.

For the poor farang woman, whether she was drunk when she drove her car into that family or not, she certainly is going to deal with her guilt for the rest of her life, the wave of guilt is going to keep assaulting her conscience forever, if she knows what the word means. In the mean time, the distraught lady, at the moment, does not even know that her tragic story is being used as a tool to attack innocent people. I wonder what would happen if the dead people were farangs and the poor driver was Thai. I bet the writer would not hesitate to tackle the story differently; it would definitely be a big deal.

Back to LOE’s unbelievable attitude; isn’t it funny to know that he or she keeps going round and finding fault with other people? I would like to ask what makes you so concerned with other people’s business. I bet Aussies, if you are one, probably never do anything wrong, of course. I hardly see any Thai person bossing Aussies around and latching onto your people’s business. Again, this is quite common for a person who has a problem with his or her insecurity.

If you check back the origin of LOE’s country, you will come across the dark spot of your ancestors too. Attacking other people is another way to compensate your guilt, I suppose. I feel so sorry for what happened to the native Australian: the aboriginal people. Take what happened to them on the island of Tasmania for example. I strongly suggest LOE visits the museum on the island sometime. There is quite a marvellous story about what LOE’s ancestors did to the native people on the island. It is a jaw-dropping real story.

When you accused other people of being xenophobic, you are telling yourself who you are. In all probability, it is LOE’s special skill to label someone as this and that. At least, Thai people are not going to commit “race warfare” against immigrants like some Aussies did in 2005. Try to search “Riots shock Australian press” on the BBC website, you will come across the spectacular news of the so-called civilised Australians.

“Images of brawling youths are splashed across the front pages of all Australian newspapers, with headlines crying “shame”, “race warfare” and “blood on the beach”.
Many see the fighting between youths of European and Middle Eastern origins in the beach resort of Cronulla as a challenge to Australia’s image as a modern and open society at ease with itself.”

I dislike doing tit-for tats, but sometimes, I need to make my point. It is a self-defence mechanism of human beings to react when an outsider rudely launches a diatribe so as to attack them. I do not think you will appreciate it either if some dingbat Thais stick their noses in and tell what you should do with your own problem. Again, only LOE is qualified to do so.

;o)

Sooksiam, why is that anytime anybody is critical about Thailand, you immediately go into defensive mode?

This is a website about Thailand, not about England or Australia or the US or Timbuktu.

I suggest that you go to websites that discuss England, Australia, and the US and see how much criticism does go on by both natives and foreigners concerning those respective countries. If you don’t know, it is quite a bit. There are literally tens of thousands of blogs that criticize farang politics and farang media.

Compared with what goes on in the farang blogosphere, what foreigners say about Thailand in the English language blogs is insignificant, especially with the terrorism in the South and coup happening right now.

My attitude is that not enough people care about what is happening in Thailand. There should be more complaining!! Nothing is going to progress if people just stick their heads in the sand like you and hope for the best.

And if you don’t like all the negative attention that Thailand is getting, then why don’t you start a blog either refuting what is being said(if it is untruthful) or have a positive uplifting blog that only publicizes Thailand’s virtues. I’d certainly read it.

Sawaddee Fonzi! How is your relative? I hope he/she is improving.

Wind you up later ok?

Take care

My name obviously says who I am.

I never think writing anything in English is wasting my time. In fact, it helps me to improve my writing skill.

Oh! The people who were your ancesters, who also killed the native aboriginal people on the island of Tasmania were Brits, by the way. They even issued a license to kill the poor people as a sport, which is similar to fox hunting in the modern UK; albeit the hunting was banned recently, some people still go on hunting as a sport. Of course, this is a very civilised practice.

I am not suprised that you are not perfect. Everybody is imperfect, including myself. Nonethelss, do you think it is fair to label other people as xenophobic? I guess there is no racial tension in the UK, of course. Maybe you think it is rightly justified to accuse Thai people as foreign haters. Where is the evidence? At least we do not go round and invade other countries like some other countries do. Besides, Thailand has no racist party like the British National Party in the UK either.

Going round and being spiteful to other people is merely another way to release your day-to-day frustration in life. It is typical of a homesick person. I sympathise with you. If you want to make a change, why don’t you launch a formal complaint to the Thai authorities, since you say you feel justified in doing so, because you have been living in the country for so long, instead of taking the hatred out on other people. In all probability, you are just a coward who is full of hot air.

;o)

Oh Sooksiam, you poor thing, you just can’t seem to get it right for getting it wrong. I’m not in Thailand, I left because I couldn’t stand living there anymore. I don’t feel grateful for my time there because every few months or so I was forced to jump through hoops to get permission to stay for another few months. Being married and having child meant nothing. As a Thai official once barked at me, “You farang, should not be here.” My Thai wife has full residency for this country (the UK), can work here, pay tax, even stand for parliament. These things will NEVER be available to me in Thailand. Also I want my daughter to grow up in a stable country where she is not forced to kowtow to her “betters” and where she can get an education that doesn’t brainwash her and fill her head with outdated crap.

Of course the UK is such a racist place. We have segregation of races here, foreigners are not allowed the same standard of life as locals, illegal immigrants are kept in filthy inhumane camps on the borders, police and soldiers regularly kill these immigrants, foreigners that are married to locals are regularly killed by their British spouses for financial gain, if a local kills a foreigner the sentence is softer than if the victim was local, foreigners regularly have their money removed from them etc etc. Oh, sorry, THIS WAS A DESCRIPTION OF THAILAND!!!

The BNP isn’t a racist party, it’s a nationalist party. In Thailand all the parties have nationalistic tendencies. The last democratically elected party was the Thai Loves Thai party for f’s sake. You said that I should go to the local authorities if I have any suggestions. Presumably this is just a joke, either that or you don’t know your own country (though I’m still not convinced you’re Thai). Foreigners DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS in Thailand.

You should check your history. Thailand has stolen land and continues to do so. Siam was a considerably smaller country than modern Thailand. Through history Thailand, or Siam as it was known once the Tai of southern China created the state, has always stolen land in battle from it’s neighbours. BTW even notable Thai historians are calling for the history books in schools to be re-written to reflect the truth, ie.that Thailand was every bit as aggressive as it’s neighbours.

Every country in the world has committed atrocities, including England. But most of ours are now history. Thailand seems to have some recent atrocities, Tak Bai to name but one.

Check: http://youtube.com/watch?v=fk_ZEuE-70M
and: http://youtube.com/watch?v=2fX-Drjqyps

Oh, of course you might not be able to view those clips as freedom to look at youtube is still not restored in Thailand. But do try and look at those clips in entirity, they make interesting viewing. I’d just love to hear your views. You see, the crap you keep mentioning about Australia and the UK is all in history and happened a long time ago when the world was a different place. But this? This Tak Bai atrocity where so many innocent and unarmed people were slaughtered by laughing soldiers and locals was in the last five years and is real (they even filmed if for fun).

I really think it’s not fair to Matt to keep arguing on his blog. If you want to continue a debate somewhere else I’d be happy to, as long as you can control your little temper and not resort to violence and name calling.

Difficult to continue as you seem not to understand what is written in front of you. Regards the name calling, I was referring to you calling me a coward, for some reason (odd when you seem so proud of 30 Thai men beating 3 Brits, isn’t that cowardice?).

You clearly know nothing about this country (I’m in the UK, not Thailand as you continue to imagine) and obviously know nothing about the BNP or the current state of political correctness in the UK. If your warped opinion of the UK is based on your occasional search online then it hardly qualifies you to be critical of the system. My comments about racism in Thailand are based on more than 8 years living there and the fact that I have been on the receiving end of it on numerous occasions.

I notice you chose not to comment on the Tak Bai clips. Who is the one suffering amnesia now? But then isn’t that exactly what the Thai education system teaches; gloss over all unpleasantness. Come on, what’s your excuse for that. And the Thai treatment of refugees, and the way immigrant workers are treated, and the recent alteration of company law regarding foreigners? And on and on. Interestingly Thailand is the only country where I’ve heard the expression “black is bad” actually used, and meant. I know many Thais, from all walks of life, who have said this and make no secret of the fact they utterly despise black people. And I’ve had black friends in Thailand who have suffered miserably because of this attitude. Your comment please.

Shame you can’t reveal your true nationality either. My money is on you being a Brit. I feel sure you’re not Thai. BTW the BNP also has close ties with Sikh and Hindi groups. Can’t be that racist then.

AND, I started patronising you with the “poor thing” comment first, please try to be original.

Tiresome now. Try reading before commenting and try to understand what you’re watching on TV.

1 - I know perfectly well when the Tak Bai incident occurred but I seem to remember the government (which went on to be re-elected again with a huge majority) being supported in its actions by the majority of the populace. And why is the fact that Taksin’s government was responsible somehow an excuse for wrong doing?

2 - Watch the clips you linked more carefully and you’ll notice that it was about foreign workers being recruited by foreign gangs in a foreign land for exploitation in the UK, by more foreigners. We have some of the toughest labour laws in the world and worker protection is something to be proud of. Bad things do happen and some still get exploited, but no where is perfect. But to compare worker conditions and protection in Thailand to the UK would show a huge lack of understanding, experience, and a large amount of naivety.

3 - I hope you had a drink for me in your little celebration. I can assure you that my celebration on leaving your Utopian country was greater than anything you could have replicated. I imagine it was akin to being released from a long and arduous prison sentence.

4 - Nobody colonised Thailand because no one ever really wanted to. Why colonise Thailand when it readily capitulated to all demands already? Better to take what it had, with the approval of those in power, and keep it “independent” as a buffer between French and British territory. It’s very fashionable for people like you to talk about how evil we Brits are but you seem to forget it was a British warship that chased all the French ships down the Chao Praya when they came to attack Bangkok, that it was British engineers and cartographers that were the first to map Thailand, that the biggest overseas aid donor to Thailand has been for many years, yes, you guessed it, Britain and that after the tsunami the biggest donation of money in the world came from, ah hum, us Brits (most of which was siphoned off by corrupt Thai officials before it got to the people who really needed it). Not blowing trumpets here just pointing it out to someone who is so clearly blinkered.

5 - The “black is bad” comment was always used by Thai people referring to black people, no mistake. In one incident I was having a drink with a Nigerian friend. He went to the loo and a Thai friend came to “warn” me of the dangers of being friends with black people. You can twist it and make as many silly assumptions as you like but it was straight racism. EVERY incident. And yes, I am aware that not only Thai people are racist but I experienced more racism in Thailand than anywhere in the world. What was it that my ex-finance’s father once shouted at her? Oh yes: I don’t care if you love him, he’s a foreign c##t! Another cultural misunderstanding I guess.

There you go again with your name calling. No, I’m not racist, or even ting-tong. And you have no need to worry about any latching, why would I latch onto anything that is associated with you?

So I guess this is the end of our little rant (unless you’re going to misunderstand what I’ve written and spill more guff). I hope you’re mature enough to know that there hasn’t been any anger involved here. BTW, why don’t you link to your blog when you post comments?

Some day I will sit through and read all these comments.

This blog was originally about Thai journalists, so I will comment on that first.

After a few cost/opportunity calculations, the opportunistic journalists probably took advantage of said opportunity with very little cost (i.e., backlash from the public) and made their money. I am not quite sure why Thai journalism is so dramatic though. Perhaps the Thais are dramatic and feed off of such reporting. I see it all the time in the Pattaya newspapers. As a former college journalist, I find it quite strange the way articles are written here, full of colorful comments and speculation rather than objective, neutral fact reporting.

Yes, it is a shame when anyone exploits victims for personal gain, but, sorry kids, that’s life…and I do not think that is limited to journalists in Thailand. It is my experience that people worldwide will exploit any identified opportunity if there is a gain to be had.

Furthermore, I am enjoyed this Sooksiam, LOE, etc. discussion. It makes me realize everyone is telling the truth from their viewpoint, but when one zooms out a few levels of magnitude, the bigger story is not as easy to describe. Not only has the size of the landscape increase, but the level of detail in any one area has diminished.

I don’t think it helps to complain about dictatorships in Thailand or past behavior of colonizing/imperialistic Western powers. My theory is that human beings are all inherently similar and, given the same situations, they would all basically do the same things. So if Thais were given the same environmental, geographical, social, economic etc. conditions the Europeans had back in the day, they would be imperialistic “bullies” (as Sooksiam called them) just the same. And vice versa.

For example, I recently read about the Burmese slave laborers that died in a truck on their way to Thailand. It is hard for me to imagine, as poor as the Thais are, that there are people poorer than them TRYING TO GET INTO THAILAND TO MAKE A GOOD LIVING!! And it bothers me that Thais look down at them just as Westerners look down at illegal aliens sneaking into their countries!!

It makes me think people truly are hierarchical in nature, whether by nature, by nurture, or both. Thais can look down at Burmese and exploit them for their cheap labor just as Americans do to Mexicans or British do to Pakistanis or whatever. People worldwide, regardless of their specific situations at hand, in essence exercise the same basic behaviors.

It is this kind of thinking that makes it hard for me to side with anyone in the “Thailand vs. Farang” debate or the “x vs. y debate” because we, as human beings, are all capable of the same sh!t and would predictably do the same things as anyone else if given the exact same situation.

I have heard the “Thailand was never colonized” mumbo jumbo before. That is simply denial-based rhetoric designed to soothe the minds of Nationalistic Thais. Never mind the fact that they were occupied by the Japs in WWII. Never mind the fact that they lost many, many a rai to the French before that. Never mind the constant warring between the Burmese and Khmer empires. You can go back to the very first paddy of rice the ethnic Thais planted in this region and find wars between them and other hungry homo sapiens.

But my point is that none of this really matters. I am no expert in Asian history, so if I am wrong please point it out to me. I only know about this stuff because I came to visit Thailand and wanted to understand more about the origins of the monarchy and, well, why Thailand is the way it is and why there is so much angst between Thais and “Farang”. You guys, and myself included, are a minority. Most people won’t spend the time to discuss this. The average farang-hating Thai on the street doesn’t have the time, education, nor inclination to develop a better understanding. But that’s where a lot of hatred and tension comes from, right? It comes from the ignorant and spreads without concern for us, right?

But perhaps there is some biological reason for that. and perhaps there is a reason why censorship exists here. Perhaps there is a reason everyone is overly polite and strives to save face. My answer is simply this: everything makes sense to someone, somewhere. It make not make sense to you, but it makes sense somewhere.

Perhaps there is a reason for everything here that is different than in “The West”. Ah, yes, the ubiquitous “West”. I get so friggin’ angry when Thais lump as all into the collective “farang fruit basket”, yet we are so quick to use words like “Westerner”. I don’t know about you guys, but, as an American from Southern California, I am vastly different in nature from even those “farang” from New York much less someone from, say, France or Belgium.

When we have idle chat in our favorite local pub, do we even know WTF we are talking about when we speak of “The East” or “The West”? East of what? West of what? Constantinople? The former Eastern Bloc? New Delhi? What?