[Drysnyaty]

Mike, thank you for that comment. couldn't have been more elegantly and scientifically put.

it is also difficult to generalise because there are huge gaps between the lifestyles, chances and priorities of chic Bangkok girls shopping at Paragon, and the poor hilltribe girls coming to Chiang Mai to work as maids, and the working women (teachers, nurses, clerks, shop assistants) in small towns, and the almost illiterate peasant women in Isaan.....

interestingly, I immediately asked myself the question whether I as a European, Eastern European woman have had the chance to make decisions about the kind of life I want. and I would say no, I didn't. absurdly, it has been the excess freedom that has pushed me into second-best choices at best, and it keeps breaking my heart, no matter how much I love Thailand. but I guess none of us humans will ever have complete freedom of choice, and even if we had, we would not know what to do with it. anyway, I've been lucky to have the right language skills and skin colour, which ultimately gave me the chance to be here, make a living, contribute to the community where I live. it's not about choices.