If Thailand is the land of smiles...

[BillytheFish]

SE asians are different than the "rest" of the other asians.

I think teakdoor forum can give you a good insight to what thailand is actually like without visiting.

Thailands economy is largely based on tourism, they way they have things setup is designed for foreigners to come for a short amount of time, blow lots of cash, leave (go home to make more $$) and come again.

yup and they are amazing at tourism. they know people will keep coming back to them and spending money with them. They think holidays/vacations for 30 years not 3 weeks ahead.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

SE asians are different than the "rest" of the other asians.

I think teakdoor forum can give you a good insight to what thailand is actually like without visiting.

Thailands economy is largely based on tourism, they way they have things setup is designed for foreigners to come for a short amount of time, blow lots of cash, leave (go home to make more $$) and come again.

So is it... land of (the fake) smiles? Lol

 

[William Huggins]

SE asians are different than the "rest" of the other asians.

I think teakdoor forum can give you a good insight to what thailand is actually like without visiting.

Thailands economy is largely based on tourism, they way they have things setup is designed for foreigners to come for a short amount of time, blow lots of cash, leave (go home to make more $$) and come again.

Tourism forms only 6%, they actually have a pretty diverse economy..........

 

[shincheckin]

Tourism forms only 6%, they actually have a pretty diverse economy..........

The other 94% is on bar girls, diverse in options lol.

So I am curious as I thought its difficult for foreigners to find work there outside of teaching english and what not.

I know foreigners cant purchase a home or land, and if you create a business for every 1 foreigner employed you must have 2 nationals. Something along these lines is stuff that I have heard. From everything I have been told and also read over on teakdoor, it seems they have no problem with foreigners visiting, they just dont want them living there. Apparently if your a round eye and you try to move out to the sticks, poor rural areas, you can expect to have your house broken into when your gone because your a foreigner, like your a target. "oh hey round eye just built a bamboo house near the village, lets go rob his house and steal all his chickens" something along those lines. Spent most my life in the "ghetto". Poverty goes hand and hand with drugs gangs and violence so its not too hard for me to imagine they way things are in some parts of thailand, as everyone knows its got alot of very poor ppl, and also a big yaba/meth problem like everywhere else in the world, prostitution is legal, theres gotta be a huge criminal/gang aspect over there. Much like Hawaii is a great place in the rich fancy tourist areas, but outside of that, the locals are apparently all just a bunch of poor meth heads. Anyways I am really curious to know of the job market and opportunities for foreigners there because i thought it was basically none.

 

[William Huggins]

Prostitution is not strictly legal but corruption at local level is pretty high, so it's overlooked as long as bars are paying.......they leave them alone.

Regarding working, living, owning property etc, you will need a Thai partner to open a company but there are companies that can facilitate this and the same with owning property.

The jobs market is pretty slim, unless you can work within a foreign company that has a position that a Thai cannot fill.......

There is a big Yaba problem, it's highly addictive and cheap in Thailand, there are criminal gangs but from what I can tell they do not involve themselves at the lower level with regards to prostitution. I think that bit is for the crooked local officials.......

With regards to getting your stuff stolen, you're going to get that anywhere in the world......when you are stupid enough to setup home in an extremely poor area.....

Stick to the districts that have foreigners living in, don't stay in an area longer than 6 months (familiarity breeds contempt), don't get too involved with the locals.

Myself and wife will be teaching Chinese children English online, we just need a reasonable internet connection.

 

[Tayski]

Then why is it that every time I go into an authentic Thai restaurant no one is smiling or friendly? Seems more like Chinese culture and matter of fact business-y to me.

They aren’t exactly rude but there are no smiles to be seen ever

I love panang curry with sticky rice

If you go to tourist restaurants in central Bangkok then no wonder.

Where are those restaurants you're going to?

 

[SaiWa]

Because they are not in the LOS so they have nothing to smile about......ting tong boy.

Real Phanaeng curry is very good.........

As for Chinese food, they pretty much serve us crap bastardised versions of dishes from their country and even dishes that don't exist in China, China is a big place and they have a huge variety of regional differences in cuisine, pretty much like America........

As for you @biscuitsbrah, you better hope the great warrior monk Payak does not pay you a visit........

The majority of Americans can barely eat anything outside of fried food, chicken, beef, pork, salmon and shrimp. And it’s gotta be cooked in a specific way or you bitches will cry about texture or some damn shit. Making average Americans try anything outside what they are accustomed to is an exercise in futility. You would need to starve their fuckin ass for a month or force them to eat complete garbage... then anything remotely tasty will be the most delicious thing they’ve ever eaten...

 

[William Huggins]

The majority of Americans can barely eat anything outside of fried food, chicken, beef, pork, salmon and shrimp. And it’s gotta be cooked in a specific way or you bitches will cry about texture or some damn shit. Making average Americans try anything outside what they are accustomed to is an exercise in futility. You would need to starve their fuckin ass for a month or force them to eat complete garbage... then anything remotely tasty will be the most delicious thing they’ve ever eaten...

I guess a little trip too Lao is in order.......

 

[anthdeg]

hey man I think a majority of people at restaurants are faking a smile if they have one, who wants to serve other people all the time

 

[Paradigm]

Then why is it that every time I go into an authentic Thai restaurant no one is smiling or friendly? Seems more like Chinese culture and matter of fact business-y to me.

They aren’t exactly rude but there are no smiles to be seen ever

I love panang curry with sticky rice

You might be going to the wrong Thai restaurants, bruh.

But they now live in motherfuckin hawaii! (Where everyone is nice too)
I am sure they are 100% thai too. Not sure if the food is authentic but we have a lot of Thai food run by Thais here

From what I've heard from friends and other anecdotes, local boys aren't exactly the friendliest to mainlanders...

 

[biscuitsbrah]

You might be going to the wrong Thai restaurants, bruh.



From what I've heard from friends and other anecdotes, local boys aren't exactly the friendliest to mainlanders...

If they have a hawaii accent (pidgin) like Holloway or Yancy then chances are they may not be the friendliest to white people.

But that has nothing to do with every Thai restaurant in Hawaii not exactly being all smiles.

Btw oahu is mostly white and Asian

 

[fighthug]

Smile, a registered trademark of Thailand, is always stamped on every face, which earned the country the alluring nickname "Land of Smile".

Thais may not understand what you say, they may not be able to communicate with you, but the reaction will almost always be a smile, whether during a negotiation or a conversation in the middle of the street. And you have better medicine?

 

[Reyesnuthugr]

Don't they also smile when they're super angry?

Seen Buakaw do that more than once

 

[Normot]

I live in Hawaii and every time I go to a Thai restaurant all I get our happy smiles. Actually it's like that at every restaurant I go to, waiters and waitresses are always nice... You should probably not scowl at waitresses and you won't have these kinds of issues... I think something is wrong with you.

 

[Tayski]

Don't they also smile when they're super angry?

Seen Buakaw do that more than once

Nah that's only when ring fighting as part of "psychological warfare".

I've seen angry Thais going mad on some stupid foreigners and they definitely weren't smiling, they were pretty scary actually.

 

[thehighking]

As someone who's actually been to Thailand I have to say the majority of the people there are very friendly and fun and will go out of their way to help you. Definitely one of the friendliest countries I've been to as long as you have some respect for the local culture