MIA Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Some interesting facts about Thailand • Thailand has been ranked as 84th least corrupted country in the world according to the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International. • Thailand was known as Siam until 1949, and it was later changed to Thailand. • The country was never colonised, and thus the country retains its culture and religion. • According to a 2008 survey, country’s population is around 65 million • Thailand is world’s 49th largest country, which is larger than California state of US • The country spends a good portion of its money on importing fuel. Thailand imported the furl worth US$18.5 billion this year. • The country is getting extremely popular as a medical tourism destination. The country earned 36.4 billion baht (US$1 billion) in the year 2006. • Thailand's Board of Investment (BoI) offers numerous incentives in order to promote foreign investment in the country. • Thai people don’t like anyone touching their head. This is governed by a belief that a person’s soul resides in head. So, you should never touch a Thai on the head. MIA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Thailand has been ranked as 84th least corrupted country in the world according to the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International. While I'm a big fan of the Thai people, I have no clue what "84th least corrupt" is supposed to mean. In reality, Thailand's government, elite, and police are more corrupt than any country I've ever known. Absolutely endemic. miss expat universe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyExpat Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 I'd be curious to where those facts come from as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 • Thailand was known as Siam until 1949, and it was later changed to Thailand. • Not to be picky, but Siam became Thailand in 1939, not 1949. I once asked (more than 40 years ago) a Thai woman why they changed the name because I thought Siam had a nicer sound to it. She explained to me, "Siam doesn't have and meaning, but Thailand means Freedom Land". Then it made sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoker Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 I find it hard to believe there are 83 countries more corrupt than Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaimo Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 I find it hard to believe there are 83 countries more corrupt than Thailand.I find it hard to believe there are any countries more corrupt than Thailand. I'm glad I don't live in any of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 PI and Indonesia are high on the list of corrupt countries in Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Also Bangladesh, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma) and Viet Nam. Most of the poorer countries are corrupt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss expat universe Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 PI and Indonesia are high on the list of corrupt countries in Asia. Yes you are absolutely right you must be careful in indonesia a lot of ppl LOSE THE MONEY IN THE GOVERNMENT BANK CAN YOU ALL BELIEVE IT THEY ALSO ASKED SOME EXTRA TO EVERY SERV ICE, THEY NOT FRANKLY ABOUT THIS BUT YOU MUST KNOW HOW TO PLAY miss expat universe 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleothegreat Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 PI and Indonesia are high on the list of corrupt countries in Asia. I'm from the PI and I take no offense because this is unfortunately true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaimo Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 I'm from the PI and I take no offense because this is unfortunately true.I hate to admit my ignorance, but what is the PI? Is that the Philippines? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Yes, PI is Philippine Islands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyoen Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 OMG, i tought that my mind is so wide but since i've read this, i've just realized that i'm not like that. More curious and excited about Thailand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted September 26, 2009 Report Share Posted September 26, 2009 Some interesting facts about Thailand • Thailand has been ranked as 84th least corrupted country in the world according to the 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International. • Thailand was known as Siam until 1949, and it was later changed to Thailand. • The country was never colonised, and thus the country retains its culture and religion. • According to a 2008 survey, country’s population is around 65 million • Thailand is world’s 49th largest country, which is larger than California state of US • The country spends a good portion of its money on importing fuel. Thailand imported the furl worth US$18.5 billion this year. • The country is getting extremely popular as a medical tourism destination. The country earned 36.4 billion baht (US$1 billion) in the year 2006. • Thailand's Board of Investment (BoI) offers numerous incentives in order to promote foreign investment in the country. • Thai people don’t like anyone touching their head. This is governed by a belief that a person’s soul resides in head. So, you should never touch a Thai on the head. Another interesting fact is the Thai greeting "sawatdee" was invented during the Second World War. Before that, people greeted each other by asking if they had eaten yet or "Kin khao laew ru yang?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaifan Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Though I don't condone corruption and wish it wasn't such a big problem here, sometimes it does have advantages. It actually makes a lot of sense when you get pulled up for a minor traffic offense to just pay the policeman instead of all the hassle about giving details, getting summonsed, deciding whether to go to court or not, paying the fine worrying whether you will lose points and then your licence, etc, etc. However while this seems ok it is a pity that it doesn't stop there and it's no longer OK if you can pay a sufficiently large sum to get away with murder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaifan Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I hate to admit my ignorance, but what is the PI? Is that the Philippines?Thaimo I admire your honesty!! I just guessed that PI was the Phillipines but it is nice to have it confirmed because you were actually brave enough to admit ignorance. Good on you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 The problem with paying fines roadside is that the police can stop you for no reason at all and shake you down for "tea money". You may not have violated any laws, but still have to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 Freedom Land Used to be in the Bronx but now it's Co-Op City. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 BC, I don't understand your posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 In the 60's there was an amusement parkm in the northeast Bronx called FreedomLand. The tore it down and built Co-Op city, low end coops for the middle class. FWIW Palisades amusement park was much better than FreedomLand. They bulldozed Palisades to build Winston Towers, a somewhat more higher end housing project. Palisades had the world's largest saltwater pool, lots of rides and arcades and also rock n rill shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 I don't see what this has to do with Siam's name being changed to Thailand (Freedom Land). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted September 27, 2009 Report Share Posted September 27, 2009 It doesn't, just reminded me of childhood memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvdkeyes Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 OK< I just got confused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eleothegreat Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 Speaking of Corruption. Here's a wake up call for all countries. The other day, my country - the Philippines was devastated by Bagyong (Typhoon) Ondoy. And for a country where the government can spend thousands of dollars (millions of pesos) on Presidential dinners abroad, where politicians can spend millions of pesos in political campaigns, mansions, jets, cars and even zoo animals, where the government can spend billions to pay for foreign trips, where each local government can spend millions and millions of pesos for other projects - they were only able to produce two life boats to help rescue almost thousands of residents that were trapped in a flooded village. Now, we have to deal with the aftermath - and that includes waiting for the floodwaters to go down, cleaning up of debri, drying out of stuff, giving and recieving of relief goods - and identifying those who have been casualties of this horrendous event. Some of these things we could have easily prevented. The last one, most especially. Death could have been prevented if the government had proper rescue plans and equipment. But no, there weren't any. Last Sunday, I watched the news as they played an amateur video of a family riding on the roof of their house as it was being washed away by the raging river. As they passed under the bridge, the roof they were on and the house was totaled - causing them to be swept away by the strong currents. People on the bridge were throwing ropes to those who were in the water - and you could see those men swimming for their lives trying to reach the ropes that were held out to them. At first glance, it looked hilarious because they looked like they were surfing on the river. Not only did the event sink in eventually the next day when they showed a footage of the same bridge. The water had already subsided, and on the river bank right under the bridge - there lay two bodies, that of a six to eight year old girl and a young teenage boy. The next day, on a nation-wide noontime show called Wowowee, a survivor of the said ordeal came to the show. They interviewed him. He was one of those who were on the roof, riding and holding on for dear life. He says his wife, his six year old daughter and his three year old son (who's birthday is today), are still missing. They were all on that roof with him as they were carried away by the raging waters. They lived near the river, and on the day of the flood, they stayed on top of their house because they could no longer get to safety. The man's six cousins came with ropes in order to help them. The ropes, however, were too short. The waters came in and carried away his house. The man's family are not the only casualties - there are scores more. 73 have died and more than 300,000 have lost their homes or have been displaced - and the number is still growing. Suppose rescue teams came early? Suppose local villages were provided with equipments so that they can easily and quickly rescue neighbors and villagers. Suppose local governments provided mass education and mass evacuation drills to everyone in order to teach them what to do in times of calamities. It may all seem idealistic. All these efforts cannot ultimately stop a typhoon or any other natural disaster from happening - but these can at least help prevent further loss of lives. If we don't do anything - there's only one thing for certain, chaos and death. I believe this is high time for the government to take action. And In the next few days, we get to see how the government deals with this. I hope that they take this as a lesson for the future - and I hope the world does, too. People from around the world can also help victims of Bagyong Ondoy by visiting this site: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/09/27/09/tropical-storm-ondoy-how-you-can-help You can also donate through paypal: http://technology.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20090927-227196/Help-Ondoy-victims-via-Paypal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer Chang Posted September 28, 2009 Report Share Posted September 28, 2009 If we don't do anything - there's only one thing for certain, chaos and death. I believe this is high time for the government to take action. And In the next few days, we get to see how the government deals with this. y.inquirer.net/infotech/infotech/view/20090927-227196/Help-Ondoy-victims-via-Paypal The government probably can't do worse than the Katrina response. Heckuva job Brownie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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