Let’s be honest with one another. I recently went to Indonesia and I was surprised to see how few farangs there are in the capital city. I guess this is different to Bali where I am told there are many. But Jakarta can be compared to Bangkok and frankly there are very few farangs to be seen. Obviously I couldn’t cover all the city during my short stay but my Indonesian colleagues confirmed that in Bangkok the number of farangs is so much higher than in their home city.
I began making other comparisons between the two cities. Economic ones. Maybe the farangs stay in Bangkok more because it is cheaper than Jakarta? Wrong. The average plate of rice in a nice restaurant in Jakarta seems to be about 1/4 the price of the equivalent back in Bangkok. This goes for everything- costs for going out, costs for eating, costs for shopping. Everything is cheaper in Jakarta than in Bangkok! Well, most things.
So how about work comparisons. Maybe it’s so much easier for Farangs to work and setup business and make money in Bangkok than in Jakarta? Wrong. The visas available for farangs to work, setup business and make investment etc in Indonesia are so much easier than we make it for them back home in Thailand! The average piss-head farang can get a 6 month visa here for next to nothing, just provide some sort of nonsense letter from a friend and “Selamat Datang Mr. Farang!”. Plus I looked at the cost of the tourist visa- 1/3 the price for a farang to get a tourist visa to Indonesia than for a farang to get one for Thailand.
Hrm! So what the bloody hell makes all these farangs stay in Thailand? Maybe it’s the geography. Wrong. Bali and other parts of Indonesia are almost as beautiful as Thailand and the islands in our south. I say almost because I haven’t seen them all myself. But it’s easily equal between the two countries.
Maybe its the political situation which makes farangs want to stay more in Thailand than Indonesia? Wrong. The political situation in Jakarta is way more stable. No coups recently!
So… what on earth could it be?! And Im talking a huge difference in farang population numbers here. I saw 3 farangs the whole time I walked around two or three malls in Jakarta. I can’t get on the bus in the morning without seeing about 5 in Bangkok, and that’s before 8am! Clearly the only reason any farangs stay in Thailand is because of how easy it is for them to get sexual gratification. This is not so readily available in Jakarta. It exists, but no where near on the scale that it does in Bangkok and other areas. Sure, they say it’s for their wife, or the beaches, or the friendly people, but none of that would be enough to make them leave their rich western countries and fly all the way over here if it were not for the fact that the lack of feminism, lack of education among women and general lack of enforcement of the law allows them to get away with patterns of behaviour that would simply be unacceptable in their home countries.
April 30th, 2008 at 8:27 am
You left out the most significant reason. The War in Vietnam. You left out the second most significant reason — the huge support given by the Thai government for the Tourist Authority. These two reasons are more than sufficient explanation. The only reason you can give, sex, does not hold up; sex is easier and cheaper in Philippines, Ghana, Nigeria and easier (but not cheaper) in Japan.
Why are there so many farang who become monks here, and so few in Sri Lanka (where the abbots all speak English) or Cambodia? Can you come up with any reasons? Sex is obviously not in the equation.
So let me ask you. What did you dislike the most about your time in Farangland? It must have left some deep scars, because your lack of forgiveness or empathy is so stark, at least on these pages.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:16 am
You have no idea what the hell your talking about. If you think farangs come to Thailand just for sex then your wrong,…
I feel its just a waste of time even dealing with a person like you, Maybe you have deep emotional scars from being rejected by farangs in the past? but then you have to look at the sort of person you are and then you may be able to see why.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:16 am
I would like to say that there is some truth in the sex angle. I came here only for sex and I still get it regularly 10 years on. Yes, I can get sex back home but it is much more expensive and is less enjoyable than in Thailand. A higher salary in farangland will offset the difference but I always felt like a dirty old man back home, head held low hoping nobody recognises me, but here, I hold my head up and chat in a jolly manner with the older and wealthier Thai men. I can also enjoy a cool beer as I oggle through the looking glass trying to decide which Thai woman will serve my needs. But I might try Japan next. Thanks for the tip Clifford.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I glad you ADMIT to yourself and all others that read this that Thailand is one of the biggest Whore Houses on plant earth. A reputation to be proud of for a Buddhist county don’t you think.
How do you cope knowing how the rest of the world views Thailand?
April 30th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Let me quote you.
I can’t get on the bus in the morning without seeing about 5 in Bangkok, and that’s before 8am! Clearly the only reason any farangs stay in Thailand is because of how easy it is for them to get sexual gratification.
Now, who gets on a bus before 8am? Someone seeking easy sex?
April 30th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Someone forced into a low paying early rising teaching job thanks to being a sex addict!
May 1st, 2008 at 7:37 am
You can’t seriously think this applies to all teachers, can you?
In full disclosure, let me say that I have been coming to Thailand since 1989, and due to a medical catastrophe have not had sex since 1994. In fact, I have never even had an orgasm in Thailand, let alone sex.
I know a lot of farang with a wide range of motivations for being here. Sex accounts for the primary motivation in a very small percentage. It is one of many motivations in about half of the people. There are many who are Christian missionaries, Buddhist seekers of truth, teachers who like the easier working conditions (compared to Japan, Korea, the Gulf States, etc), artists studying with Thai masters, massage therapists studying at Wat Po, folklorists studying variations of the Ramayana, etc.
If you REALLY interviewed the teachers on the bus, you would find VERY FEW who fit your bill.
Have mercy on those of us who really do forsake the big bucks elsewhere to teach here. Our reasons CAN be respectable.
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 am
I’m going to Bangkok in a few months for the first time. I have read all the entries and post on this blog. Fon, is this type of animosity I will receive in the land of smiles? When I arrive, may I invite you to dinner and prove not all of us farangs are so bad?
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:04 am
If you are a decent person you will be shocked and ashamed by the behaviour of your countrymen if you are go out in Sukhumvit, Pattaya, Phuket etc after dark.
May 2nd, 2008 at 6:09 am
I like to think I am a decent person….I won this trip, but will you have dinner with me? I wish for good conversation. I know you have my e-mail. Yes or no?
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:08 am
Farangs aren’t the only ones paying for sex in Thailand. Who are the biggest consumers? THAIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If this site is written by a Thai woman I’ll eat my hat.
HOOOOOOAX……..
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Sonsay is absolutely correct.
I have read many studies by a range of NGOs. The consensus is that 80% of all the money that changes hands involves Thai customers. Add to that the Malaysians who regularly cross the border and you can see that the farang market seems bigger because farangs inflate their own importance.
If Lupisque ever gets that dinner deal, he should also video-record Sonsay eating his hat!
May 8th, 2008 at 12:28 am
“Fon” for the love of everything that is holy and relates to intercourse (i hope) update this site more often. I know it is difficult to work in construction and do a website at the same time, but please mate, update!
Oh and add some banners for us to click on, operating a crane must be low wage…
May 9th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Fon, I’m still waiting for an answer. I will be in Bangkok in the middle of November. Please let me know by then.
May 26th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Lupisque, don’t hold thy breath.
Some top network sleuths at Koratfarang.com have concluded that “Fon” is actually a British man who posts on Thaivisa under the name Oxford Will. He does it just to raise a ruckus. I’ll say, Will got ME going there too.
May 26th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I don’t know what thaivisa or Oxford Will is but my webmaster is called William and he is the only decent farang in the whole of Thailand, except he always forgets to take his shoes off in my office. He doesn’t mind about my site topic.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:24 am
Face it,Will. You’ve been “outed.” Stop the pretense.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Ok. Yeah. I can see Will winding up people with something like this. He certainly has a lot of ammunition from TV, that’s for sure.