Thailand-A Good Country for Old White Men
https://www.henrymakow.com/2018/03/Thailand-A-Good-Country.html
March 9, 2018
Eye Candy lifts the spirits
Bangkok - If you remember what life in America was like, 30-40 years ago, there is at least one country where it is possible to live today in similar safety and comfort. The country is Thailand. I've been living in Thailand nearly 15 years. I'm a retired business owner from Midwest USA. Over age 70 now.
Stay or Flee from the "Homeland"?
With problems in the "homeland" getting worse, I decided to escape while escape was still possible. That decision has vastly increased liberty and comfort and safety in my daily life. Plus provided a level of respect that has disappeared for white men in the USA today.
To escape from what?
• From government intrusion into every corner of life in the name of "security".
• From government laws and regulations that choke off every avenue of individual initiative, from running a small business to growing vegetables in one's own yard.
• From "empowered" attitudes of various "minority" groups (which I don't need to name).
With comfort:
Here in Thailand, I live in a middle-class style similar to the USA 30-40 years ago, with all modern conveniences: high-speed Internet and shopping malls, air-conditioning and Uber cars. Plus familiar foods like rib-eye steak, fish tacos, apple pie, and Haagen Dazs ice cream.
Along with a wide range of services like restaurant delivery and maid service, Uber has not only eliminated my need to own a car, but Uber delivers meals, too. The best hamburgers I've ever eaten, are delivered from a local restaurant by Uber in Bangkok. As for my maid, she washes and irons clothes, cleans the bathroom, dusts furniture, sweeps and mops the floors, washes any dishes I've left in the sink and, yes, she does windows.
Capable doctors and dentists are available quickly. When I needed a kidney stone removed, I called one of the major hospitals in Bangkok for an appointment. "You can come in right after lunch," said the receptionist. "The urologist is available anytime after 1:00 o'clock this afternoon." When I arrived about 12:45, the urologist was sitting in his office waiting for me. He removed the kidney stone (by ultrasound) and I was back home a few hours later. Can you expect that kind of medical care where you are now?
Government here:
In daily life, I encounter virtually no interference from government at all. Rarely do I even see a policeman, and then just one, directing traffic in front of the neighborhood school on weekday afternoons.
Here's just one example of "security" here: The inter-city bus station has luggage inspection machines that look - at first glance -- like airport inspection machines, but they don't inspect anything! The "machines" are merely large plywood boxes, painted white, with a conveyor belt inside. On the front, an array of colored lights. That's all. No X-ray scanner, no display screen, and no inspectors!
When a bus departure is announced, an employee presses a button that starts the conveyor and turns on the colored lights. Some passengers put their luggage on the belt, then walk 15 feet to the other end and pick up their luggage. No shoes off. No keys and coins out of pockets. No wands beeping over belt buckles. None of that. Other passengers simply walk right on past, taking their luggage out to the bus. No one stops them. And other people walk out with departing family and friends, and then walk back in again, after saying goodbye next to the bus. Nobody demands to see ID. Very relaxed in all directions. In Thailand, response to government mandates is not always just a "show" like that, but it often is.
What about government-enforced political correctness; fear of saying the wrong word about the wrong minority group, or immigrant group, or sexual pervert group? There is a bit of political correctness here, but very little. Bosses still flirt with office girls, and some office girls flirt with the bosses. I sometimes flirt with waitresses, and some flirt back with me. (Not all.) That kind of light-hearted banter disappeared in the USA many years ago, but here it is still considered just light-hearted fun.
Voltaire wrote, "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." That applies here, too, but only on one very specific and limited topic. It is not a problem, unless someone decides to make a problem.
What I do see here is a high level of politeness and respect in most public and social interaction. Not everywhere, and not all the time, but most of the time. As an older, white man, I appreciate that.
On the other hand:
Of course, this is not paradise. There are nasty people everywhere, including here. For example, little bombs are quite popular in the Muslim regions. Sometimes the news reports a rape. There are some burglary and a bit of pickpocketing, but armed robbery is very rare. here is no "knock out game". There are no gangs on the rampage in shopping malls.
Depending on the mood of the government, there will be some "riots", but the rioters are hired and paid by opposing politicians, and riots are scheduled and announced in advance and confined to certain areas. Easy to avoid those areas.
Of course, some foreigners here think "fun" is going to the red-light areas late at night, getting drunk, and stumbling around the dark streets. There's no antidote for that kind of thinking.
On the other hand, how about a picnic in the park? Not a lot of parks, but some; enough. Picnic any day of the week in comfort and safety. How about public spaces like malls? The worst annoyance may be a few middle age women talking loudly on their mobile phones. What about the subway or sky train in the big city of Bangkok? Well, you might be crowded by a group of university girls, with their characteristic short skirts and tight blouses. But no danger, because they're only interested in their mobile phones, not old men.
Overall, for someone who fondly remembers a life in America in days gone by, a life that was safe, comfortable, and (mostly) free from interference by The State, living in Thailand today is a very good option.
