mastervix commented : Thankyou all for your input on this matter, all points are well taken and i will adjust accordingly. I see a dogged correlation between lack of government investment in Thai education and a lack of government concern/culpability at play. Here in the U.S. we bend over backwards to gain foriegn investments, but basics needs such as simple quality mail service is a no-brainer. Reminds me of the line from the movie Lawrence of Arabia, as long as little minds rule, then shall always result in a little people. I read somewhere else on here about the government investing in it's people thru education to eventually bring Thailand up to par with countries such as S.Korea & Taiwan, i would encourage & embrace this idea.

ipsut commented : jae_jae, Of course you are correct that not all Americans support war. I for example have been in the streets back home protesting them for a long time. You seem to be against sterotyping of others, yet seem to do so yourself when you refer to baby boomers being appologists for the ills of America. I feel that all of us, young or old back home ( I'm in Taiwan ) that remain silent as our govenment invades another country are resposible for the sterotyping of us by others. You said that our current wars were not instigated by "your" generation. True, but then they never are. They are started by old men ( fact,), which are then supported by the silence of most of those young that fight them. I sure do not loath my country, but do understand when others are not appreciative of our "help" such as when our govenment had an official meet with a red shirt leader a few days ago. I do not think the meeting had the approval of the Thai govenment.

Krumm commented : [quote="MrReciprocal":1gpigr5k]Nothing better than Mr Anuwat's comments highlight the need for all foreign countries, Western, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, etc. to bring in RECIPROCAL laws. I.e. laws which ban nationals of one country which ban nationals of another country from the same buying rights, to themselves be banned. I.e. Thais would be banned from buying in Western countries, Japan, South Korea, China, etc. - because our nationals are banned from buying in Thailand. Switzerland has laws virtually doing this. We should copy Switzerland. Mr Anuwat should be banned from buying in Western countries, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, etc.[/quote:1gpigr5k] That would be great but would never happen countries like the US and UK which regard it as a fundamental freedom for anyone to own land and actually want foreigners to invest in their countries, wherever they come from. Would also love to see Thais not being allowed to own their businesses abroad and being charged 10 times the going rate to enter museums and national parks too. No doubt they would scream blue murder. Anyway it seems that The Bangkok Post did get Anuwat to eventually publish a clarification and he apparently meant to say that it is illegal for Thais married to foreigners to buy land, if the funds are not their own and the couple doesn't sign the Letter of Confirmation. So he was indeed just shooting his mouth off trying to sound tough and score brownies points for foreigner bashing. What a useless old windbag and time waster! Can't they find some one a bit brighter to head up the Land Dept. Oh....I forgot. It's a political appointment.

Asianexpat commented : [quote="philhal2":2bop54r1]Very little knowledge displayed here . Simple internet search shows requirements for Thai citizenship , 5 years continuous residency , able to speak Thai and have sufficient funds or suitable employment .100 people from each nation are able to apply annually .I guess unless you can have dual citizenship most " FARANGS "would not forgo the benefits of their own homeland , pensions ,embassies etc !!!!! [quote="overhaul38":2bop54r1][quote="Ian":2bop54r1]I've never been completely sure about why exactly this "special" treatment exists. I''ve never found it in Indonesia - for example - where I used to travel a lot. Nor in Malaysia. Nor Singapore. Nor in Cambodia, Laos. I can only compare it to Japanese racism - but Thais have always seemed far less rampantly racist that what one finds in Japan.[/quote:2bop54r1] It is only a matter of a minor degree. The prime similarities are: 1. Denial of citizenship. To my knowledge no farang has ever been granted Thai citizenship. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong. 2. Denial of land ownership. 3. Special pricing at some facilities/markets. 4. Personal reporting requirement every 90 days. I don't know Japan's.[/quote:2bop54r1][/quote:2bop54r1] In Taiwan one can not get a local passport without giving up their own local passport and I believe that is the same in Thailand. Odd how the US allows them to keep their own passport while giving them a US passport while the Thais and Taiwanese will not give them a local passport unless they give up their own. Biased or Hypocrisy?