Bangkok Sunset
- Thread starter Ray in Bangkok
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I grew up in Malaysia and have visited Thailand. It's an amazing country. The Thais are a very tolerant people; very gentle and friendly. They are also physically graceful; it's lovely to watch the crowds there. The food is fantastic, albeit blazing hot. A bit too many Americans around though. And Eurotrash. ?
I also know poverty--my grandmother lived in a shack with dirt floods--and I've been to some really poor places. People in the shanty towns in Kingston, Jamaica, literally lived in cardboard boxes. Guyana, the poorest country in the hemisphere (then). Ironically, though, the two most bombed out, poverty stricken places I've seen were in your neck of the woods. One was East St. Louis where everything looked run down for miles and miles. The other was Mason City, IA, back in the early 2000s. I flew in at dusk and driving down the road from the airport straight east to the hotel were entire neighborhoods of unlit empty houses. (No, they weren't shut up holiday homes of rich Chicagoans like in Traverse City, MI). Except every half mile or so was a bar with its neon sign turned on. It was the most depressing sight I've seen.
As for the value of life, take a look at comparative international figures for violent crimes. It's not that great here in the States. The popular desire here for firearms for personal safety should tell you something.
You should get out more. From the things you've said, I think you'll be surprised by what you'll find. Being a American from the mid-west, I'd simply suggest you bring a couple of rolls of toilet paper with you. Your American dollar will go a long way and, as is true here and else where, money insulates you from a lot of societal problems.
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