[bingbongsong]

I have lived there for many years; had a business, lived in various areas, North to South, and studied Thai there. Though this is anecdotal I have experience with Thais and Farang there. One thing that is glaringly missing from your remarks is the extreme tolerance of Thai people. Yes it is a military dictatorship and there is massive corruption throughout it's public systems but one hardly feels there effect in day to day life. Face and keeping the staus quo are of upmost importance. If there is trouble and people are arrested it is usually because they have majorly screwed up, upset the wrong person or failed to bribe there way out. Bribes are fines in effect or ways to ease the passage of "problems" You can easily make reference to laws and rules in other countries that have equally bad problems.