Things that really shocked you about Thailand

[Takiap]

.....What's truly shocking is how Thais take their family members lives....for granted...

Having sent this picture to our forensic experts for analysis, we feel there is good reason to believe this piece of evidence suggests the offenders are of Chinese origin.


The Thais do lots of daft things, but I really can't imagine them carrying a baby in a bucket.

[Siani]

.....What's truly shocking is how Thais take their family members lives....for granted...

Having sent this picture to our forensic experts for analysis, we feel there is good reason to believe this piece of evidence suggests the offenders are of Chinese origin.


The Thais do lots of daft things, but I really can't imagine them carrying a baby in a bucket.

I know the picture is a bit shocking...however in HH I have seen probably 5 on a bike. This is taking a risk, all without helmets

[Vital Spark]

The Thais do lots of daft things, but I really can't imagine them carrying a baby in a bucket.

Maybe not a bucket Takiap, but have seen a naked one in the front 'poodle' basket of a motorcycle.

VS

[STEVE G]

The Police are after them already:

[Big Boy]

The Police are after them already:

No Helmet?

in HH I have seen probably 5 on a bike

I see 6 regularly - My wife, my son, my daughter, my son-in-law and 2 grand daughters

[Johnnywastaken]

.....What's truly shocking is how Thais take their family members lives....for granted...

Having sent this picture to our forensic experts for analysis, we feel there is good reason to believe this piece of evidence suggests the offenders are of Chinese origin.

I thought of that too.... but your experts should have also pointed out to you.... The infant in the bucket was probably photoshopped in.....

[Pleng]

For me, based on the O'P's original premise of your initial reaction,

I've read and re-read my original post and am still at a miss as to how people have come to this conclusion. Unfortunately I can't seem to edit the original so I'll highlight the main point here:

As in, after having been here so long/for so many times, you just couldn't imagine it being so

Things such as noise, soi dogs, smells, bum guns, old men with young girls.... these are things that are going to hit you pretty instantly.

Things relating to how families/genders/racial groups view each other or take each other for granted, scales of corruption etc.. these are things that surely creep up over time.


Look at my example of the street food. After coming here for (a relatively short, in comparison to many here) 7 years, I had assumed that street food had been buried into the heart of Thai culture; indeed I had imagined it grown up here. To learn that it's a relatively new concept here, brought over by the Chinese, and that 60 years ago Thai eating culture was totally different was a massive shock to me. So much so that I can't imagine Thailand pre-street food.

I was hoping from this thread to find a, probably small, little facts about the history of Thailand, and perhaps some present day issues that may have eluded some of us.

The smells and police corruption I can work out for myself...

[LolaBeltran]

I guess I should have thought better than creating this thread. I was kind of talking about things learned in an instant that made you think "wow! I never expected that", as opposed to things that gradually creep up on you over time.

Shame that ever single post aside from glassdude007's (I've always galled them bum showers, though I do like the term bum gun!) has been a list of things people just generally don't like about the country :S

Hello? My post on noise is precisely what you asked. It was "wow, I never expected a country to be this noisy" It was my reaction when I arrived in Bangkok . . .and I havent gotten over that initial shock/ surprise. Other stuff has crept up over time but I am not listing that here because it doesnt fit. The level of noise shocked me when I arrived. I didnt expect it.

[dtaai-maai]

For me, based on the O'P's original premise of your initial reaction,

I've read and re-read my original post and am still at a miss as to how people have come to this conclusion. Unfortunately I can't seem to edit the original so I'll highlight the main point here:

As in, after having been here so long/for so many times, you just couldn't imagine it being so

Things such as noise, soi dogs, smells, bum guns, old men with young girls.... these are things that are going to hit you pretty instantly.

Things relating to how families/genders/racial groups view each other or take each other for granted, scales of corruption etc.. these are things that surely creep up over time.


Look at my example of the street food. After coming here for (a relatively short, in comparison to many here) 7 years, I had assumed that street food had been buried into the heart of Thai culture; indeed I had imagined it grown up here. To learn that it's a relatively new concept here, brought over by the Chinese, and that 60 years ago Thai eating culture was totally different was a massive shock to me. So much so that I can't imagine Thailand pre-street food.

I was hoping from this thread to find a, probably small, little facts about the history of Thailand, and perhaps some present day issues that may have eluded some of us.

The smells and police corruption I can work out for myself...

I'm a bit shocked at how seriously people take their posts on the forum...

[Pleng]

I don't really take it that seriously, I just consider it a bit of a shame. A thread created in the hope of gleaning some interesting (even if totally useless) insights into the history and culture of the place, demoted to yet another thread for expats to moan about things they don't like about the country. Like there aren't enough of those already...

And LolaBeltran, no I didn't ask for your initial impressions on landing in Thailand.

[STEVE G]

A thread created in the hope of gleaning some interesting (even if totally useless) insights into the history and culture of the place,....

To go back to that kind of thing, one of the things that surprised me about the history of the region was that in the 1700's the old capital of Ayuttaya was one of the largest cities in the world. It was estimated to have a population of about a million at at time when London and Paris had half that:
http://wanderbliss.com/2011/09/29/the-r ... ayutthaya/

[LolaBeltran]

History and culture ? Hmmmmm
"Things that really shocked you about Thailand" isnt that specific you know.

Sorry . .cant think of a thing that really shocked me in Thai history or culture.
Lots of things have delighted me and fascinated me . . .many things have interested me and inspired me to read further but "shock"?
Nope.
Nothing to add here.
I'm out.

[Pleng]

Lola no the subject wasn't terribly specific but I was foolish enough to presume people might have also read the actual content of the post too

Steve, that's pretty interesting. It wouldn't surprise me that England or France didn't have the biggest population at the time, but I wouldn't have imagined Thailand to be vying for the crown either

[Frank Hovis]

What shocked me back in the late 1990's was the wealth in Bangkok, I was expecting a third world country not skyscrapers, elevated highways and Mercedes everywhere. At the time there was some building work for both the skytrain and the metro system and despite their tiger bubble bursting, they've gone on to complete both projects and have a road system that is really pretty impressive.
Over time I've found it interesting, rather than shocking, that most of what makes Thailand typically Thai wasn't here 400 years ago - Chilli, Rubber, Papaya, Pineapple, Cassava/Tapioca, SweetCorn & Tomato. I wonder what Thai food was like two or three hundred years ago before South American crop plants were introduced in numbers? Rice & Fish maybe.

[kendo]

.....What's truly shocking is how Thais take their family members lives....for granted...

It really gets me when i see farangs riding around with there kids standing between there handle bars, we see two yesterday up near the railway station how selfish in my opinon, just because thai's do they think it's ok.
We all come from country's that have good safety mesures for a reason some people land in thailand and leave all there common sence at the airport.

Kendo.