SoloFlyer

hey: I dont mind courting contraversy on any topic on this forum. Everyone has an opinion, right or wrong to anyone else.
On this subject, and  with my experience in the city  that  the old fart brigade do like to think it is their city and anyone not in their clique is an outsider.
I like to think I am new generation; but a long long chalk from being politically correct;  but i detest arrogance, a powerful and damning trait in farang; but especially in Thailand I cannot abide anyone who still regards women, subserviants, children, taxi drivers, bar staff  as second class citizens.

If you want to carry on like that, get out or make the effort to integrate with everyone.  you have your "clubs" they are down Loy Kroh.
Hopefully I have at least another 25yrs plus here and by that time attitudes will have mellowed and most of you lot are already pushing up the daisies.

Farangs have the full potential for turning into a despised minority here in Chiang Mai.
Like so many groups in other times and places who have made themselves unwelcome, farangs seem to be doing everything possible to bring the fire down on their own heads.
When the dust and ashes settle they always ask  "why us?"
It's not your religion.  It's not your race.  It's not the color of your skin.
It's the way you act.  That's the short answer.
While there is still time maybe it would be a good idea to examine our own behaviour and the way we relate to the people of Chiang Mai.
We are a high-profile group with spending habits that run the gamut from the obnoxious high-roller to the parsimonious cheap-charlie.
Arrogant behaviour... even the passive arrogance that manifests itself as a total disinterest in Thai history and traditional ways of Northern Thai life tend to isolate farangs from intelligent and cultured Thais.
When instances of blatant arrogance occur it just confirms the latent prejudices against them and could eventually result in a backlash that would have serious consequences for us all.
Oldtimers who remember the military, paramilitary, and grassroots death squads of the 60's and 70's that were used so effectively to snuff local commies will understand how easily those tactics could be used against a contemporary threat to their traditional values.
Those of us who live with Thais and have offspring among them don't need to be told how important mutual respect and civility is to maintain good relations.
Expats who live a life apart and can do a bird on short notice may need to be reminded for the good of us all.
Thais are a complex people,  behind the smiles and sa-nay there is a capacity for revenge that is best left unprovoked.
A hitman culture has always existed here just below the surface.
A kind of rustic Murder Inc.  But unlike in the US it's not just a group of criminal dagos, it's a traditional way of dealing with people they want to get rid of. Be it for politics, business, or a perceived cultural threat.
These hordes of new farangs have come down on Chiang Mai for reasons of their own that have nothing to do with an interest in the heritage of Lanna Thai.
Simply put,  their way of life has changed dramatically in their own countries.
Mass third-world immigration and the resulting economic and social decline has undermined and reduced whatever degree of affluence they were accustomed to.
Now they've arrived here to re-establish a lifestyle they can no longer afford back home.
If the alarming increase in their numbers doesn't level off soon trouble can be expected.
The exact forms it will take remain to be seen but it will come and that's for sure.
The situation has already gone beyond the point where integration and assimilation to one degree or another could make a difference.
That worked fairly well in the past, but the very numbers we're dealing with now make it a moot point.
There are just too many of them.
Posh ghettos in the form of hi-rise condos and gated communities might work for awhile.  Many Thais benefit financially from them in one way or another.
But like the overwhelming presence of American GI's in recent history,  the day finally came when they wore out their welcome and the door hit them very hard in the ass as they left.
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I can't help it, but my mind always insets a "U" in TRD whenever I see it !!

I couldn't see this link anywhere else ...
I thought the comment by the Thai minister about it being the local governors responsibility to control  / stop the burning and that they did
not know it was their job shows the staggering level of incompetence by all concerned.