Last night I had nothing to do so I watched the Trump Putin press conference on the BBC website. It reinforced a number of things for me with the overall sense that I’m glad I’m in Thailand and don’t have to deal with politics.
This isn’t a Trump / Brexit bashing thing as to be honest I just don’t give a shit about any of it really. I’ve never voted in any kind of election and doubt I ever will. I can never feel any type of connection to any politician. Sure I do have some political thoughts but they don’t perfectly fit the major parties – something which I guess a lot of people feel. The point is I can live my life happily without caring about politics regardless of who is control and that is only enhanced by living here in Thailand.
I actually feel sorry for people who are obsessed by politics. I saw someone say that political allegiances have become the new religion and its true in that people become fanatical about them. A quick look on Twitter or news sites and you can just sense the anger in what people say related to politics. Whilst living here in Thailand I can avoid most of this nonsense and actually live my life and be obsessed with things that actually matter like football and trying to watch every series I possibly can on Netflix 😉
I’ll have the odd political chat with friends here but its usually after a few beers and normally centres around how ridiculous I think both political parties can be (talking about the US and UK). I used to work with some Americans in my old job and I actually found it hilarious when Trump won, not because I particularly like him, but just to see their reaction. They’d spent the months before talking non-stop politics and bad mouthing Donald and it had really annoyed and bored me. I went to Oklahoma for a wedding a few years back and met loads of wonderful people who are now described in the worst terms by many people just because they voted and chose someone other people don’t like. In the end we have elections and people can vote if they want, there are results and you can either get on with your life or spend the whole time bitching and moaning, I choose to get on with my life.
So back to Thailand we don’t really have to worry about international politics and I guess a large part of that is not having TV and print media forced down our throats everyday. I went back to the UK for Christmas in 2017 and it was depressing listening to the news and seeing how things were. It was like the Dementors from Harry Potter were out and making everyone and everywhere feel really negative. Listening to this type of news everyday it can only make things worse. There are so many messed up things that happen due to politics and whilst I may be accused of putting my head in the sand by being in Thailand and ignoring them I honestly don’t care.
I guess some of these stories do make it into Thai newspapers and TV shows but as I cant speak that much Thai I am not aware of them. The same when it comes to politics here in Thailand. There are political stories but again I don’t get myself involved and in the end they aren’t going to affect me that much.
In the end most foreigners here in Thailand don’t talk to me about politics. I guess they are in the same boat as me and don’t really care or are not serious enough about it to rant and rave politics everyday. I saw a lot of people saying they were going to move abroad after political changes which is great for them, just don’t chat to me about it when you’re here!
Maybe you disagree with what I’ve said and fair enough that’s your view. In the end there are more important things in life than politics in my opinion. I believe I can live my life happily regardless of who is in power and don’t need to waste my time arguing about it. You only live once, there are better things to do than worry about politics so I’m glad to be here in Thailand to avoid it!
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