[Music] hey YouTube Alex here and I'm walking in Bangkok thought occurred to me because I'm winding my time down here in Thailand headed to Vietnam in a few days why does Thailand appeal to so many unhappy specifically Western
men but I think there are also some Western women here too and I've got some reasons as to why I think that is the case let's go ahead and dive into it number one is that Thai people are
cheerful now this often gets conflated with Thai people are always happy I don't think that's the case Tai people experience a full range of emotions like people of any other nationality or background I think that Tai people tend
toward being cheerful they tend toward being kind of smiling and pleasant and living in the moment this is very different than in the western democracies where people are always oh oh sweaty Cy different than in the western democracies
where we are always thinking about the future how am I going to make enough money to pay my bills how am I going to make rent this month I don't think that that's all good or all bad but
I think it's a strong difference in terms of Happiness now some would say if you don't plan for the future you'll find yourself to be quite unhappy part of the reason that taii people can have that Live and
Let Live that my penry that spy saai mentality is that they do have their families to fall back on I know plenty of people in the western democracies that cannot trust their families cannot rely on their families myself
included and so they have to operate on the premise I am the only person that I can rely on or trust very different than in Thailand which is a generally higher trust Society but it's certainly much higher trust
than the Western democracy that I am coming from the United States so that was reason number one why does so many unhappy Western people feel happier in Thailand I think it's just being in a culture where people are
enjoying the present and they're not regretting the past they're not worried about the future number two this is one we've harped on this so much I'm going to try to be light of course the cost of living you
go from a country where the average one-bedroom apartment is 1,500 2,000 a month you come to a country like Thailand where you can find fine Apartments throughout the country for a few hundred per month and all of a
sudden you have much more disposable income for what it's worth I don't find other things to be that much cheaper than the West when it's the largest expense rent and that comes down a lot people do feel happier
like man you know when I'm paying 1,500 2,000 a month for rent that $10 meal seems a lot more expensive than when I'm paying paying $3 or $400 a month for rent couple that with the high cost of
emergencies in the western democracies if you have an emergency you're talking about hundreds of dollars maybe $1,000 plus and it makes for a really edgy Society it's much less often the case that I'm going to run into an
extremely expensive emergency do they happen sure I would say most of those issues are going to be one of two situations one it's going to involve motorbike accident two it could involve an older X path that's running into
some kind of unexpected health issue but you're not going to have this oh my car has X Y and Z problem I don't own a car here in Thailand so there's not going to be any special car emergency
I have to pay for number three is the weather I think this especially affects minorities in the west because a lot of us ethnic minorities are coming from places with a lot of sun we're coming from places with
typically a lot sunnier weather we're we're used to Genetically speaking having lots of sun I think we've evolved to have lots of sun and for most of the western democracies let's set aside Australia then then half the year
is cold rainy overcast generally unpleasant and and people are feeling the effects of Seasonal effective disorder and you see this where people's mental health definitely seems to be negatively impacted not just the ethnic minorities but people in general
with that awful long cold rainy winter I know some people will glamorize it if it's so awesome then why does so many people from the Western democracies become snowbirds when they can afford to do so where they go
down to in the case of Americans Arizona or Texas or Florida for the case of Europeans they're going to places like Spain Portugal Greece rather than just sticking it out if they have the money Point number four is
the aggressive morality component in the western democracies and the West it's not sufficient for you to believe a certain way you have to also push that belief on others you have to go around telling people hey this is
how I believe I can't have a conversation in a western democracy without the person pretty quickly on telling me Oh this is the group that I identify with and I'm going to make sure to Virtue signal to check
out do do you feel the same way do you believe the same way if you don't the conversation's going to degrade into at best disinterest or uh they're not one of my people at worst you see it degrade
into confrontations sometimes involving the law I don't see that here in Thailand people are not so married to their opinions that they have to go around pushing them on other people does that mean that High people are pushovers
not at all that hasn't been my experience they are cheerful they are non-confrontational but there's not this aggressive morality where they need to go around shoving their opinions at you and you can't have a conversation without them turning
it into something political with some people in the west I've just given up talking about certain topics because they can't have a civilized discussion about them they have to weaponize it into a preaching moment and I think some
of this comes from Christianity no offense to Christians out there but some people interpret Christianity in that they have to push their views on the world even if they're not Christian even if you ask these people are you
Christian whether the ancestors were or not they still have that genetic component I've got to Crusade I've got to shove my beliefs down the throats of other people a lot of Western people are shocked when they come here
they've gotten away from those people and the people here generally mind their own business and act with respect and courtesy to others [Music] Fifth and final point is that you don't feel like here in Thailand that you're constantly
having to do things a new way something that shocked me coming back after several years is that the BTS system runs the same the MRT system runs the same all the systems run the same the city hasn't changed
dramatically and compare this to the US where I hardly recognize my hometown anymore many of the cities that I've spent a lot of time in in the US are so Dynamic that that every 5 or 10 years they
feel like totally different cities the cultures changed in many cases the artists or the creative class has been priced out crime has gone back up and it's really refreshing for Western people to come to a place like Thailand
where things don't change as much I've gone back to various businesses since I last came here the same people are often working there they're selling the same products their rent hasn't gone up astronomically forcing them out of business
they're often remembering me and it's just such a shock because I can go back to plenty of neighborhoods in my hometown and not recognize anybody when you're so used to things changing so much and changing so rapidly and
you come to a place that doesn't change as quickly doesn't change as dramatically and I think a lot of Western people as they get older they're going to seek out places like Thailand that manage to retain their ESS
unlike the Western democracies so this has been five big basic reasons as to why unhappy westerners would be happier in a place like Thailand you can interchange Thailand with other developing countries I'm personally a fan of Peru I'm
also a fan of the Philippines a lot of these places seem to trade security for freedom and a lot of us grew up being taught that we live in the freest countries in the world with the most prosperity
and many of us are starting to feel that that's not as much the case these days so let me know what you think down in the comments below do you feel feel happier outside of your Western Home Country
what are the reasons for that I think we could have an interesting discussion interesting dialogue please give us a thumbs up if this content resonated with you finally subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see
more content like this and I will see you soon [Music]
