I don't know bro. Most taxi drivers take you where you want to go for a pittance. Maids clean rooms and never steal. Your food lady will still sell you at 30 baht. 7-11 workers running after you because you forgot the change. I've always found the vast majority of Thais to be honest to a fault and hardworking, though they do like to sleep and gossip, but who wouldn't with their low salaries.
The taxi fares are set by the government so I don't know why you would think that a guy doing his job is cutting you a break.
And it's not him that I'm talking about. It's the dickwad who parks out in front of your hotel and offers to take you to the airport or Grand Palace for a negotiated fare that's 500% above the meter rate.
Maids don't steal because it's pretty obvious who stole. Actually many do steal, just like anywhere else in the world but that's beside the point.
And the food lady charges what she thinks she can get away with. If the customers are primarily Thai, even hi-so Thai, they charge less than if they're in a neighborhood full of farangs.
But what about . . . .
The asshats out in front of the Grand Palace telling visitors that it's closed and you should go to another temple they recommend?
The jetski scammers in Pattaya and Phuket?
The gem scam?
What about the bill padding? (And don't tell me it's only in tourist areas. Go have a meal with any Thai and watch them pour over the bill like they're doing forensic accounting because bill padding is rampant in Thailand).
The tuk-tuk driver who offers you some ridiculously low price for a ride and then forces you to go into a suit shop so he can get gas coupons?
What about the girls who drug their customers and clean out their hotel room?
What about the woman who got fed up of waiting for her farang husband to die and had her brothers kill him and then cook his body?
Or just open the local newspaper. Other than the Sports section, it's just one long tale of greed and corruption.
I mean, this is a country where they have a corruption index. They poll large corporations about how much they have to pad their government contracts to cover all of the kickbacks. This is published in the newspaper like the fricking weather!
Or ask any Thai female if she's ever had trouble with a taxi driver. I would estimate that 30% - 40% of the girls I've spoken with has had a near-rape experience with those kindly taxi drivers.
Or the fact that an international corruption panel labeled the Thai police force as one of the world's largest organized crime organizations?
I could keep going for pages.
The point is that you seem to be in the "Thai people are lovely, caring people state." People go through phases with Thailand. I did. Everyone I know has.
But sooner or later, once the charm wears off, it starts to get to you. I tell my wife that it's not the being ripped off that I mind so much, it's the fact that it's like Chinese water torture. It's the constant nickel and diming.
That's not to say all Thai people are bad. There are tons of really honest folks. But the fact of the matter is that Thailand is a poor country. And poverty generally breeds dishonesty.
You also have a culture where corruption and dishonesty are really just part of day to day life. Newspapers publicly report what the going rate for buying your vote is based on what provence you live in. Every six months or so they do a poll and every poll comes back that more than 50% of Thais say they have no problem with corruption as long as they derive some benefit from it.
They simply have a totally different frame of reference when it comes to honesty.
You should see my wife living in the US. She can't believe cops actually try to do their job. They can't be bribed. What a concept!!
She's wowed with not just the honesty of merchants, government officials, etc but with our blind trust in those people.
In general, sometimes when I read blogs/forums about Thailand I feel like I've lived in a different country since I don't meet all these horrible people that supposedly are there everywhere.
Like I said, it's a phase. I went through it. Everyone I know has been through it.
I had been going to Thailand on and off for probably around 6 or so years before I moved there. Most of my trips ranged between 2 and 3 weeks but a few extended to 3+ months.
When I moved to Thailand, I was a lot like you. I couldn't believe the venom that some expats had for Thais.
But the longer I lived there, the more I could see what they were talking about. The more I understood and could read and write in Thai the more I got it. The more I picked up on cultural subtleties the more I realized what was really going on.
I was one of those guys who used to mock the expats who would complain about being ripped off for .30 here and there. But after you live there and it's happening day in and day out, it becomes annoying. You feel like you constantly have to be on your guard.
It really gnawed at me for a long time. I didn't want to feel that way.
When we move back in a few years, both my wife and I have agreed that we're not moving back to BKK or any major city in Thailand. In fact, my wife is the one suggesting maybe finding a different country. She's fed up with the greed and corruption in Thailand as well.
Thailand and Vietnam are cheap. It would be great to earn money somewhere in the USA but spend them there ...
