Western controlling mindset is spreading like cancer
Re: “What to do about growing problem of domestic violence”, Letters, January 12.
An ever-growing number of foreigners want to bring more regulations to Thailand. Meanwhile a growing number of Thais, having never lived under a controlled system, are following the foreigners’ lead. The problem of domestic violence is a problem between the parties involved, not letter-writer Nat Yogachandra or other foreigners who want the Thai government invading the marital bedroom.
This tendency to want more control is a Western syndrome brought on by the control most Westerners have had all their lives. They then come to Thailand, love it, and immediately want to change it.
Thailand has three major problems. One is the scams targeting tourists, such as the jet-ski swindle. A second is the ongoing ravaging of the national treasury by anyone with the necessary contacts to get a job in government.
There are laws covering domestic violence and there are laws covering drunk or careless driving, but the slaughter and the violence go on because those who would commit such acts don’t care about the law. When you push for new laws, you push for more government control. When there is more government control, there is a need for more government employees and thus more taxation. Thailand does not need laws requiring licences for fishing, having a dog, adding a room to your house or having all-night karaoke street parties. Thailand does not need the controls of the West.
There are roughly 60 million people in Thailand. Some of the women are verbally abusive and some of the men are prone to violence, just like anywhere else in the world. There are millions of people driving and at least half of them are morons who will never be good drivers, just like anywhere else in the world. Those are the facts, and more regulations and thus more taxation will not cure the problems.
The third major problem in Thailand is the growing number of Westerners, or Thais influenced by Westerners, who want to tell their neighbours how to live and what to eat, drink or smoke. It is like a cancer that has invaded the country from the West and it is gaining momentum and threatening to turn what use to be a peaceful, fun-loving country into a Western clone with pristine surroundings and military-like regulation and control.
John Arnone
