thailandfever.com

I got two copies of the book ( the sales lady looked for 30 minutes to find it ) in Pattaya. Contrary to many who goes to this spot I went there because my pen pal was a tourist guide there with good English speaking ability. She has never been to a Western country and besides Russians most of her clients are from English speaking Asian countries and many from India. Because I put my foot in my mouth the previous 8 months worth of letter writing relationship lasted only four days and sank like the Titanic. Lucky for me she introduced me to her best friend who never had any Western relationships and the next day one look and one second later I fell in love. Then next day I purchased the book and read it in two days, each day with a more and more sinking feeling. I think the book is also a good primer for any Western-Asian relationships regardless of country. Thailand being the most traditional and culturally most separated from us but I think the book hold true for any Asian country. The layer of Western culture is paper thin in Thailand but the Asian value system probably same in Vietnam or Japan or Korea just below a much thicker Western culture that gives a lot of room to move around before hitting that Asian stone-wall in Rice Farmer country where the most motivated and prettier ladies are. Many portions of Thailand Fever are burned into my brain forever and I repeat them for Thai ladies more than once a day. Pattaya is New York City I was stuck there for 4 weeks the only good thing about it is the Air Quality and nothing else. Even Thais are not aware how much in the past years Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai changed for better merchandise selection even for Massage Oil, herbs and spices, food selection and medical care. And back to the book, for the ladies I tell that:
" The Better English you Speak the Better Farang you will find."

Nice to hear from you, i have visited Thailand twice but yet not purchased any book. The next time i visit am surely gonna have one.

kd6mzm wrote:Then next day I purchased the book and read it in two days, each day with a more and more sinking feeling. I think the book is also a good primer for any Western-Asian relationships regardless of country. Thailand being the most traditional and culturally most separated from us but I think the book hold true for any Asian country.

I have read the book several times and believe it is very useful although it is always difficult to generalize and I believe in doing so the presentations of the two different cultures tends to be a bit extreme. Certainly many of the characterizations of western men do not apply to me and the same in terms of the characterizations of Thai ladies; many are not applicable to my Thai girlfriend. However the book does provides a good sense of the background and culture that you are dealing with.

I do not think the book is a good primer for any Western-Asian relationships. I have spent a significant amount of my lifetime in Japan, Korea and the Philippines and also with ladies from these countries. The cultures and the ladies are all very different from the Thai culture and ladies. For one thing, Thailand is very much a Buddhist country whereas the Philippines is dominated by Christianity and even Korea has many Christian devotees. And I believe there is just a really big difference between Asian countries that are hot and tropical versus the more northern Asian countries such as China, Korea and Japan.

It is good you are trying to educate yourself on the culture of your girlfriend. And I wish you the best of luck in your romantic endeavors!

Good to hear that you enjoy learning your girlfriend's culture. It's really admirable to see guys like that! Best of luck to you and your future wife. Taufanzüge