Heres the deal, I think people use this term expat too liberally here. There are VERY few true expats (taken by the traditional definition) indeed who remain in Thailand. The expat role itself is in decline as local economies around the globe get caught up educationally and economically in various areas. True expats will, in my experience, generally be quite socially adept, generally older and, Ive found, tend to be culturally adaptable as is often required to be successful in a foreign country. So, having said that, I think what people usually call expats on this group are actually immigrants or, more appropriately, longterm tourists/guests to may be working. So, if you think of immigrants in your country and the struggles they face, now the tables are turned on us Westerners as we are the immigrants and face a whole range of issues that befall immigrants. The other angle is the one others have mentioned. The cultural distance between Thailand and most of our Western home countries is about as far as you might find anywhere in the world, in my casually studied opinion. It can be very tough to fully assimilate to such a different (almost polar opposite) culture. Yes, I wrote assimilate - dont forget, most are more like immigrants than they are like expats on assignment for a short period of 1 or 2 years. Immigrants are required to assimilate to a far more serious degree than a typical, true expat who is extremely well-paid and often relatively sheltered from a true assimilated life style. An expat who might be compensated in several hundreds of thousands of Baht per month will no doubt have the service of people who make his/her life as stress free as possible so that he/she can focus on the job that he/she is here to do. The level of assimilation required for a typical immigrant, on the contrary, makes for some very stressed out Westerners here, I think. Some food for thought. Embrace you fellows whenever possible. They may be having a VERY difficult day/week/month/year. ☺
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 09:32:19 +0000
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