The perception of foreigners going to other countries

There has been much talk on this board lately about the issue surrounding some Thai people's perception that Westerners are destroying Thai culture. The perception of foreigners going to other countries and changing it to their own culture isn't specific to Thailand. It's a world wide issue that affects many countries.

In the UK, there is a strong perception that Muslim culture is having too much of an influence on our own. France has the same problem regarding Arabs. Many Spanish complain that there are too many British there, which is having a direct influence on it's culture. There aren't many countries in the world which can claim to be free of American influence over it's culture, etc..

Rich people set up home in poorer countries. Poorer people set up home in richer countries. The fact is, that movement of people's around the world has never been more prevalent than it is now, and this is ending up in most major cities around the world being more multicultural than they ever have been. The problem doesn't lie in the fact that this is happening, I personally believe this is a good thing, but the problem lies in the fact that it's possibly happening too fast for some people to keep up with, or feel comfortable with.

I don't see why it would be so difficult to countries to retain their own culture and sense of themselves, whilst at the same time, embracing other cultures as well. It seems to be the only way forward.

But as I said, this isn't an issue specific to Thailand.

The perception of foreigners going to other countries and changing it to their own culture isn't specific to Thailand. It's a world wide issue that affects many countries.

In the UK, there is a strong perception that Muslim culture is having too much of an influence on our own. France has the same problem regarding Arabs. Many Spanish complain that there are too many British there, which is having a direct influence on it's culture. There aren't many countries in the world which can claim to be free of American influence over it's culture, etc..

Rich people set up home in poorer countries. Poorer people set up home in richer countries. The fact is, that movement of people's around the world has never been more prevalent than it is now, and this is ending up in most major cities around the world being more multicultural than they ever have been. The problem doesn't lie in the fact that this is happening, I personally believe this is a good thing, but the problem lies in the fact that it's possibly happening too fast for some people to keep up with, or feel comfortable with.

I don't see why it would be so difficult to countries to retain their own culture and sense of themselves, whilst at the same time, embracing other cultures as well. It seems to be the only way forward.

But as I said, this isn't an issue specific to Thailand.



Hi,

Great post. Not sure it belongs here though.

I feel though, it is not the point about retaining your own culture and embracing others, it has more to do with , in the UK for example, that the Muslim radicals, want to bring their cultures with them and NOT embrace either the British way of life, rule of law,or meet halfway with the custom of the host country.

Worldwide, we have the problems regards the Burk ha problems, arranged marriages, Honour killings and the list goes on.

Look at the problems when a person wishes, for example, in Pakistan to convert from Islam to Christianity, they are having to get them out of the Country in the cover of darkness.

Jailing schoolteachers for allowing a child to name a Teddy bear Mohammed, it all seems to be going a little bit far.

Salman Rushdie given a death sentence for a book or the uproar over a cartoon.

There certainly is a bit of mileage in the term, 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do" with these kinds of attitudes.

Even a tolerant Country such as Thailand, is having similar woes in the Deep South with radicals and extremists, Unfortunately, it all becomes too easy to blame a countries woes on Foreigners.

I do firmly believe, as in the original post, that a lot of problems are brought on by trying to integrate cultures too fast into one another, some are brought on by trying to integrate cultures which cannot under any circumstances

These should be taken into account as factors, before flinging open the doors and saying We are a tolerant society appreciative of all other creeds and cultures and then complaining six months down the line about our Health Service collapsing or the Country unable to support the influx of immigrants.

The West too, has tried too much to interfere around the World in the internal affairs of others, with their version of the famous word "Democracy"

Great post. Not sure it belongs here though..

I wrote it as a reply to the thread "Think about this". Someone has decided to chop it out and start a new thread with it. It looks a bit weird as a topic starter though (much as I'm flattered that someone found it worthy of such an accolade)

I also agree with what you've said. There are some cultures which can't possibly live side by side with other cultures, however, many people move away from those cultures, and into more tolerant ones, trying to integrate into their new culture whilst still retaining a sense of their old one. I guess if we're honest, it's mostly Islamic countries which pretty much outlaws multiculturalism. The rest of us, including the West, Asia, in fact, pretty much any country that's not in the middle east, is trying to deal with it the best they can. It just so happens that certain individuals in those countries can't.

[jinks]

I'm the someone :)

As Kevin said great post it deserved it's own thread.
Now where it should be Global.

Very good post.

I don't think that a country's older people or government have much control of what will become of their culture or any other culture around the world. Young people own the future. After teaching school in America's immigrant communities for over 30 years there is only one thing that I can tell you for sure, and that is that young people are sponges that soak up everything in their environments and that is what the culture becomes. Young people pick and choose what they carry forward as a part of their life and that will be the culture of the future.

I can think of several examples that really up set most old folks like us...Hip-Hop Music being the most obvious. Everywhere in the world it has taken over..with all of the obscene words it it becoming the normal words of the future. The radicalization of young people in the Islamic world will be a huge cultural problem of not only today but the future.

On a much more positive note young people in most cultures are moving the world it the director of a post racial culture where young people judge people by their person not their race.

But then again on a negative note we have KFC, Pizza Huts, Starbucks, McDonald's and 7-Eleven's that are pouring fat and cholesterol into the arteries of the young around the world causing a generation of fat kids that will in all likely hood live shorter lives than their parents.

What ever culture emerges is in the hands of the young, not old guys like us.

The US and Australia would not exist if it were not for immigrants... I think the world becomes a richer place for it.

I wonder what the indigenous people of North and South America, who were there for more than 20,000 years before the Europeans "discovered" these places would have to say about this?

Not to mention the indigenous inhabitants of Australia who were there for at least 40,000 years before Europeans invaded their homeland.

What the European immigrants brought with them was wholesale slaughter, disease and death. For the most part we are blind to the results of our actions. Our history does not speak well of us and I have only brought up two of the most glaring examples here. There are thousands more!

The last chapter has not yet been written concerning what is happening in the world today, and on almost every front it looks pretty grim to me and I would be very reluctant to call what I see "progress".

Yes, fattman, DNA research now says we are all descended from about 2000 people in a village in Africa who survived some kind of mass extinction that took place about 70,000 years ago.

But the direction mankind has gone in over the last 200 years leads me to believe that the whole experiment will soon be over. Or, at the very least, another mass extinction but this time through our own efforts which most call "progress", a real laugh, at least to me.

Instead of studying how indigenous people of Africa, Australia, and the Americas managed to survive for so long without destroying themselves, Europeans looked upon them as savages who needed to be tamed. I always ask myself who the real "savages" have turned out to be?

Looking at some of the atrocities committed by mankind maybe it won't be such a big loss.

Exactly!

maroonedmind

I guess if we're honest, it's mostly Islamic countries which pretty much outlaws multiculturalism. The rest of us, including the West, Asia, in fact, pretty much any country that's not in the middle east, is trying to deal with it the best they can.

Hardly fair - some countries, such as Bhutan (very respected by Thais) are simply trying to protect their own culture while adapting to the new millenium, preferably without going the same way as their neighbours, such as Sikkim. Also, of course, there are countries such as Fiji ....

It is not quite as simple (Islamic) as some would have us think.

[dave_tf-old]

When oil becomes a precious and costly commodity, we'll see the end of many of the ill effects of tourism. Those who haven't died in the fight for it, or from the lack of it, will carry on the best they can with whatever culture remains anywhere.

Unless, of course, some new technology will provide world-wide mass mobility without causing starvation. Then the debate can continue.

From a tourist's POV, it's really about perspective. In the 20 or so years I've been visiting Thailand, the good-old-days of visiting a truly foreign culture are mostly behind me. For others, I am a newcomer and interloper and part of the problem. For some, these are the good old days. Wherever you are, it's about walking softly.

What the European immigrants brought with them was wholesale slaughter, disease and death. For the most part we are blind to the results of our actions. Our history does not speak well of us and I have only brought up two of the most glaring examples here. There are thousands more!This is known as the "black armband" view of history