[toreesi]

You come across a bit snobbish there in your comments to my post.
My observations result from many discussions and talks I had with my colleagues at Chulalomgkorn University. Of course, you can never generalize, but many people I know have never been outside of Thailand, and I am the first farang they have met so far.
As to 'no religion': my research often leads me to a small village in the north of Thailand. The schoolteacher there was higly surprised when I told her that - no, not everybody drinks, no, drugs are also illegal in my country and yes, people also go to church and follow the religious principles.
She actually also told me that they do not want people to visit the village, as they fear that it would be a bad influence for their children.
As to your remark about Will Smith: I do not think we need to discuss whether he is handsome or not, the fact was that my teacher argued herself that he is not because he is black - her own words, and as to her command of English - the lady teaches Thai to foreign students - if she means ugly then it is ugly, her vocabulary is more advanced than you think.
Here is another story I found quite interesting: one day I ordered things from the supermarket downstairs, and later realized the girl who brought it up to my room had cheated me outrageously with the bill. My friend was here at the time (he is Thai) and so we went downstairs so we could sort out the matter in Thai. The girl was quite ashamed, but would not admit it, so she said to my friend that when she delivered the goods I was in the room with a black man. Must be the ultimate accusation.
As to Thai peple and racist: as I said before, many pepople have no personal experience with farangs, and do agree that when they see shows like Sex and the City, or Desperate Housewifes, etc., what els3e can they think about us?