Thais need reality check

Postbag

Published: 7 Feb 2013 at 00.00
Newspaper section: News

The 90-second Rosetta Stone spoof was priceless _ it shows once again that Thais can laugh at others, but when faced with a mirror, they cannot laugh at themselves.

Face it folks, what's true is true. I suppose there are no sex venues in Pattaya, Bangkok, etc. All that exists only in one's imagination.

Why not ask many tourists the real reason they come to Thailand? It's not, as the culture minister claims, to see beautiful beaches and historic temples. Thais are in desperate need of a reality check.

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OldThaiHand
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Discussion 6 : 07 Feb 2013 at 21.036
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"Thais need reality check", don't worry, a big one is approaching in 2015, put your seatbelts on.

Soltair

It's already starting. I stayed in my usual hotel this past Monday, when I went to Pattaya on business and was surprised that the Farang owner had hired Filipinas to run the kitchen and manage the hotel. Apparently, his previous Thai manager had been stealing from him and guests had complained about the service and quality of food in the restaurant. I nearly fell out of my chair, when the new manager came over at breakfast and asked me if my toast was toasted enough and if my eggs were ok. Can you imagine a Thai bothering to ask?
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soltair
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Discussion 5 : 07 Feb 2013 at 19.085
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"Thais need reality check", don't worry, a big one is approaching in 2015, put your seatbelts on.
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dao
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Discussion 4 : 07 Feb 2013 at 12.524
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Thailand needs a PM who can be a moral crusader and tackle problems head on and with out fear .
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jck
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Discussion 3 : 07 Feb 2013 at 09.393
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Eggmeng: Spot on, and that is precisely what is holding Thais from facing up to the problems of corruption, fraud, nepotism and incompetence. The fear of losing face is nothing more than an exhibition of insecurity and nothing will change until Thais realise this and start acting as mature adults.
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Eggmeng
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Discussion 2 : 07 Feb 2013 at 08.322
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The many letters and comments suggesting that Thailand is in denial about the sex industry miss the point. Only the most sheltered are not aware of the extent of prostitution, both the sector that serves the tourists and the one for the locals. Certainly the government understands the importance of the former to the tourism bottom line.

The point is that you're not supposed to mention these things. The Thai way is to tolerate everything from minor inconveniences to massive fraud and hypocrisy, as long as everyone's face is maintained.
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Renaissance
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Discussion 1 : 07 Feb 2013 at 07.241
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One of the reasons why I love the "Pirates of the Caribbean" films is because I see Thailand in them. The government is the pirate ship, the Black Pearl, which stumbles from disaster to disaster while trying to get treasure. There are the pirate allies, Captain Barbossa and Blackbeard, with their undead pirates, who join their foe when they think it will lead them to gold, and they all help each other to destroy their well-educated enemy. But everyone is a pirate, and all they think about is getting rich with gold and silver. It isn't hard to work out which character is who on the government ship.
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Thais need reality check | Bangkok Post: opinion