Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Thailand news, views and comments
Post Reply
User avatar
GT93
udonmap.com
Posts: 7848
Joined: June 5, 2009, 9:37 am
Location: Auckland

Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by GT93 » May 12, 2019, 9:29 am

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/loneli ... is-survey/

"Nearly half of all Thais – namely teens and working adults – say they suffer from loneliness, according to a new study. Technology was blamed for the estimated 26.75 million people experiencing some degree of loneliness, according to the results of a survey released Wednesday by Mahidol University ... Facebook was identified as the platform that contributed most to a sense of isolation, followed by Line, Instagram and Twitter. Scrolling through social media was identified as the unhealthiest behavior of lonely people, followed by chatting over the phone and posting photos."

The modern world bites the Thais too. Seniors, over 60, reported feeling the least lonely.


Lock 'em up - Eastman, Giuliani, Senator Graham, Meadows and Trump

saint
udonmap.com
Posts: 3516
Joined: February 28, 2008, 5:31 pm
Location: On lookout duty ,spotting for snipers .

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by saint » May 13, 2019, 5:59 am

Big difference between being alone and feeling lonely ! Loneliness is a frame of mind , nothing more .
Said it before , and ill say it again , Social media is a cancer on society as we know it . Feel sorry for the youngsters of today .It will come to the stage where people will forget how to communicate face to face .

anefarious1
udonmap.com
Posts: 465
Joined: October 9, 2014, 4:36 am

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by anefarious1 » May 13, 2019, 11:02 am

@ Saint: Totally agree. It's true from a social standpoint, but also an economic standpoint. Think of all the loss of productivity due to all the wasted hours on Facebook. The internet was supposed to be a tool, not a digital ghetto. Governments around the world should tax the hell out of social media or just ban it altogether.

User avatar
Old Grumpy
udonmap.com
Posts: 383
Joined: April 28, 2018, 10:36 am

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by Old Grumpy » May 13, 2019, 1:29 pm

saint wrote:
May 13, 2019, 5:59 am
Big difference between being alone and feeling lonely ! Loneliness is a frame of mind , nothing more .
Said it before , and ill say it again , Social media is a cancer on society as we know it . Feel sorry for the youngsters of today .It will come to the stage where people will forget how to communicate face to face .
For myself I enjoy the tranquility of being alone, never have any troubled feelings about being on my own. Always been like that throughout my life, even choosing sports such as cycling where its up to you, never dependent on others , not part of a team and the older I get the more the more pronounced this trend becomes .Some might say that's unsociable, maybe it is , maybe not, but that's the way I am , doubt I will change now.
Age is a matter of mind.
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Mark Twain,

User avatar
tamada
udonmap.com
Posts: 17220
Joined: February 21, 2007, 4:03 am
Location: Down two...then left

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by tamada » May 14, 2019, 11:16 am

@saint: The perils of having thousands of online friends and thousands of online followers has come home to roost. But it's not just the youngsters. The rot started way back when FB first went postal on society.

My (only) favorite bar in Pattaya has a group on LINE for the regulars and there's always a bit of banter and photo sharing going on since most of the two-dozen members live and work elsewhere. One of the members is on his annual Thailand visit and I commented on the LINE group that I hadn't seen or heard any contributions from him. He subsequently messaged me on WhatsApp telling me to check out his FB page to see what he's been up to. Serious W T F there, no?

@anefarious1: The 'digital ghetto'. Spot on!

User avatar
Barney
udonmap.com
Posts: 4409
Joined: November 1, 2012, 5:51 am
Location: Outback of Nong Samrong Udon Thani

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by Barney » May 14, 2019, 11:38 am

At the rate the kids are filling in and selling off the family farm to get quick money to move away from the rice paddies around UT it’s no wonder they may be lonely. It’s a different world urban to rural. Some won’t cope and turn to social media to communicate. Same as the rest of us.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

saint
udonmap.com
Posts: 3516
Joined: February 28, 2008, 5:31 pm
Location: On lookout duty ,spotting for snipers .

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by saint » May 14, 2019, 1:34 pm

Old Grumpy wrote:
May 13, 2019, 1:29 pm
saint wrote:
May 13, 2019, 5:59 am
Big difference between being alone and feeling lonely ! Loneliness is a frame of mind , nothing more .
Said it before , and ill say it again , Social media is a cancer on society as we know it . Feel sorry for the youngsters of today .It will come to the stage where people will forget how to communicate face to face .
For myself I enjoy the tranquility of being alone, never have any troubled feelings about being on my own. Always been like that throughout my life, even choosing sports such as cycling where its up to you, never dependent on others , not part of a team and the older I get the more the more pronounced this trend becomes .Some might say that's unsociable, maybe it is , maybe not, but that's the way I am , doubt I will change now.
If your happy being you , and your not hurting others , then thats fine . Keeping yourself to yourself , doesnt make you a bad person .
Before i got remarried i spent loads of time on my own , kinda liked it too .
My one and only friend kept telling me its unhealthy , and i should get out and about and try and meet someone .
Yea right , ill get right on that i thought .Meet some old biffa , divorced loads of times and more emotional baggage than you can shake a stick at . Sounds a great idea , not .
Guess what , that same friend is now in exactly the same position i was then , and hes happy being on his own .
Strange old world ah .

yartims
udonmap.com
Posts: 923
Joined: July 23, 2018, 11:14 pm

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by yartims » May 14, 2019, 7:59 pm

the only good Tory is a lavatory

User avatar
tamada
udonmap.com
Posts: 17220
Joined: February 21, 2007, 4:03 am
Location: Down two...then left

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by tamada » May 15, 2019, 10:58 am


yartims
udonmap.com
Posts: 923
Joined: July 23, 2018, 11:14 pm

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by yartims » May 25, 2019, 11:16 pm

well after having spend a common life of all the family sleeping in the parlour on bedrolls they suddenly find themselves living alone in town somewhere so not surprising theyre lonely ..many young ladies in BKK say theyre lonely
the only good Tory is a lavatory

User avatar
Giggle
udonmap.com
Posts: 1895
Joined: October 18, 2016, 4:24 pm
Location: In your head

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by Giggle » May 25, 2019, 11:57 pm

I've listened for 30 years about others banging on about the tightness of Asian families, and how families come first, and how nothing will ever come between an Asian family.

It's BS.

Thais, and Japanese, and Chinese and most Asian cultures I've witnessed will ditch their family as quickly as any westerner.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

User avatar
Laan Yaa Mo
udonmap.com
Posts: 9185
Joined: February 7, 2007, 9:12 am
Location: ขอนแก่น

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by Laan Yaa Mo » May 26, 2019, 12:32 am

It seems loneliness is a world wide problem with Japan, Britain, Mexico and other countries joining Thailand in having this dilemma among urban dwellers. In Japan, of course, they lie down on futons rather than the Thai, Lao, Khmer or Burmese traditional bed roll. Perhaps these countries should adopt the British Government in instituting a Minister for Loneliness.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/ ... Ol664gzbIU
You only pass through this life once, you don't come back for an encore.

User avatar
Giggle
udonmap.com
Posts: 1895
Joined: October 18, 2016, 4:24 pm
Location: In your head

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by Giggle » May 26, 2019, 1:27 am

Brittles are lonely because they insist on living in the mid 1900s. They can't let it go.
Ashli Babbitt -- SAY HER NAME!

User avatar
tamada
udonmap.com
Posts: 17220
Joined: February 21, 2007, 4:03 am
Location: Down two...then left

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by tamada » May 26, 2019, 8:38 am

Giggle wrote:
May 25, 2019, 11:57 pm
I've listened for 30 years about others banging on about the tightness of Asian families, and how families come first, and how nothing will ever come between an Asian family.

It's BS.

Thais, and Japanese, and Chinese and most Asian cultures I've witnessed will ditch their family as quickly as any westerner.
That both of them, eh?

User avatar
semperfiguy
udonmap.com
Posts: 2447
Joined: July 16, 2010, 12:49 pm
Location: Udon Thani, Thailand

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by semperfiguy » May 26, 2019, 11:08 am

It doesn't surprise me that most Thais are lonely people. We hear these stories on the news about the people of Thailand being the happiest people on earth, but in my 9 years of living in Thailand I have to say that Thais are the most miserable people that I have ever encountered, and I have traveled most of the known world. When I first moved here I learned about the three circles of relationships wherein the first two consists of immediate and extended family members and school mates and colleagues at work, then all other people are simply invisible and thrown into that third circle. This is all fine and dandy as long as people are still confined to their home villages, but when more and more people are leaving their provincial villages and moving into the large urban areas to find work, that means they have to start all over building new relationships in an environment where most everyone they meets fits into that invisible third circle.

The Bible says that if you want to make a friend then you have to show yourself friendly. I have walked around my village in Udon for the past 9 years every evening, and I pass dozens of Thais and none of them will smile or make eye contact. I approach them all with a big smile on my face and am prepared to say "good evening", but they are simply not interested in speaking. I am truly invisible to most of them, and it is such a disheartening and lonely feeling. As long as they continue to hold onto these kinds of cultural norms, they will continue to feel lonely and isolated. If people have come to Thailand expecting to feel accepted and affirmed, they have come to the wrong place!
Colossians 2:8-10...See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ. For in HIM dwells all the fullness of the GODHEAD bodily; and you are complete in HIM, who is the head of all principality and power.

DuiDui49
udonmap.com
Posts: 1898
Joined: March 15, 2006, 3:10 pm
Location: Koh Samui

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by DuiDui49 » May 26, 2019, 11:36 am

I just read above post and have to disagree a bit ;-)Living here for 17 years and speak nit noi Thai,and i think it helps ALOT.To be able to interact with fellow Thais (phuen ban)it nice to be able to do that in there own language.And a joke is something i find Thais like alot,and i always try to give any Thai that beeing lady/man young or old..just try to meet and greet them in their own language.
We as retired farrangs have all the time in the world to try and learn some Thai,right?

And then we have another thing,what does the smile of a Thai REALLY means,only themself know me think.

So atleast tryto learn a few word phrases and i bet you will get the Thais to smile at you.

My two bath worth..Have a great Sunday and God bless...:-)

User avatar
GT93
udonmap.com
Posts: 7848
Joined: June 5, 2009, 9:37 am
Location: Auckland

Re: Survey: many Thais feel lonely

Post by GT93 » May 26, 2019, 1:17 pm

I find the Thais far from miserable. They enjoy a good laugh and are friendly enough to me.

I don't expect every stunner to greet me as if I'm the most handsome man in Udon. ;)
Lock 'em up - Eastman, Giuliani, Senator Graham, Meadows and Trump

Post Reply

Return to “Thailand News”