How Thai people have changed! Someone recently said to me its as much our fault the tourists and customers as it is the normal progression into the dog eat dog type of world we live in!
Whilst on a posting in Air base Butterworth Malaysia in 1982 we made a few trips to Thailand I was in my 20s and i fell in love with Asia especially Pattaya and Rayong it was a far different place then and so were the Thai people! so polite and well mannered in my opinion they are a little more 2020 now.

If Thai people are indeed less friendly than before (probably untrue, imo), it's more the fault of a ruthlessly capitalist and consumerist global order than any particular group of people.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Jul 05, 2020 1:46 pm Yea there some assholes and they can usually be found where Farangs go to get drunk..

Sure, they get an awful lot of trashy visitors who don't deserve much respect.

Personally i find the thai people as friendly now as when i first visited in 75 and moved here in 84. In tourist areas they might appear a bit jaded, but go anywhere where there are no tourists and you can still experience the true thai smile..

I would like to agree to disagree as I think The Thais have changed tremendously you may notice if you go away for a long time and come back you tend to notice the differences, if you stay we quite often miss the subtle changes going on around us every day! weather the changes are for the better or the worse thats an individuals opinion! Visited in 75 thats so long ago, I do remember working with some really fantastic Thai people and thorough gentlemen around that time at R.M.C. Duntroon.
I think the people in my country have changed tremendously also, Or maybe I am just a cynical old fart. Austman

Sure, they get an awful lot of trashy visitors who don't deserve much respect. i agree but, thats being really polite

I and a couple of friends followed Thai football around the country the last few years, probably the most involved Thai thing I've done in my time here. Without exception every trip we went on we were met with friendliness and positivity of a level in all corners of the country that leads me to conclude Thai sanook is still alive and well in my one on one personal experiences.

If I see a negative my own take based in Pattaya is that I'm living in a place that for obvious reasons attracts an element that could be regarded as the dregs of their respective countries, and equwithin Thailand it attracts an equally unsavoury local element, not a great combination. Tourists are concentrated in these areas on their visits and may experience the odd bit of negativity which is not representative of the country at large.

Could it also be the increasing political restrictions and widening wealth gap between the have's and have not's made more visible to all through the power of social media has had a more negative effect on peoples happiness like never before. I certainly think that's a possibility and I wouldn't blame them for it. That's the biggest negative change I've noticed over my time here, a more socially and politically divided country.

Soriya wrote: ↑Mon Jul 06, 2020 12:36 am Smiling asassins. They where.in the late 80s on my first visit, 2018 they where in my last visit. I might add that most of my trips included udon, loei, khon kean and rachasima, pattaya and phuket where just the icing on the cake, i never visited phuket befote 91, pattaya until 99. I love the country, just not many of the occupants.

An ex-colleague of mine has been visiting Pattaya for donkey’s years. He is the archetypal fat, Singha beer singlet wearing dick-head. I didn’t know this until I once joined him for a week for a golf trip. It was my one and only visit to Pattaya. I hated it. He ruined the week. I hated his behaviour, and it doesn’t surprise me that some Thais might have a particularly poor opinion of some foreigners.

They have changed a lot. I lived there from 1989-2000 and for many years after I would avoid spending any tim ethere at all. Now they just care about money its terrible to see how the country has been ruined. Combination of trashy whitey and rampant capitalism greed and an erosion of their ancient culture. Still once you get off the tourist trail its nice . Ubon is a great place still.