DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post

**crycleascentyv** · 09-21-2012, 08:53 PM

One thing he got very, very wrong: "the days of the coup d'état are probably over for good." Of course, since 1967, there have only been about 10!

On the larger point, from the commanding heights of a foreign service office, the little people may indeed have seemed to hold inexplicable views. I did not see any mention of Buddhism, which suggests to me that those with whom he interacted really did not give him a full exposure to the culture.

It is difficult today to judge this account by our modern standards. The contrast between the industralized West and Thailand must have been enormous 30 years ago, before the "Asian Tigers" modernized their economies (at least to a significant extent) in subsequent decades. I'm not sure many of us would have done better in understanding Thailand and its people at that time.

09-21-2012, 08:53 PM	#6
crycleascentyv Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 577 Senior Member	One thing he got very, very wrong: "the days of the coup d'état are probably over for good." Of course, since 1967, there have only been about 10! On the larger point, from the commanding heights of a foreign service office, the little people may indeed have seemed to hold inexplicable views. I did not see any mention of Buddhism, which suggests to me that those with whom he interacted really did not give him a full exposure to the culture. It is difficult today to judge this account by our modern standards. The contrast between the industralized West and Thailand must have been enormous 30 years ago, before the "Asian Tigers" modernized their economies (at least to a significant extent) in subsequent decades. I'm not sure many of us would have done better in understanding Thailand and its people at that time.
	Quote