...you're making a lot of assumptions about "Westernernes".
He is not making a lot of assumptions about Westerners. He is saying the truth. Just to hark back to the blocking of my provider by wikipedia a few months ago. Suggestions were made to me by some very well regarded wikipedians that clearly showed that they had no idea whatsoever as to what it is like to life in a country which is not their own. Yes in England etc. those suggestions would have made sense. But in Thailand or most other countries they do not. Most people on this list and in wikipedia clearly think from a western background and show that they do not understand that the reality/situations in most countries on this planet differ from the realities they grew up with/in. And I am saying this as a Westerner. Milos is hitting the nail on the head.
Every day here in Thailand I see Westerners, even those whom lived here for more than 25 years, making total asses of themselves. Offcourse the tourists can be forgiven ... partly. But many people should know better. and when you tell them they should respect some things. Even highly educated westerners would answer that they see the Thai way as inferior and that they feel they should change to become more Western (read the send in letters sections in the nation newspaper on the internet these statements appear in there regularly bitching about everything in Thailand: www.nationmultimedia.com) . To all Brits forgive me for saying this ... but they are especially irritating ... most Brits that I know here from very highly educated ones with very responsible jobs down to your beer belly tourist feel that everyone who doesn't speak English has some mental defficiency and is second rate. This is not just a mentally problem over here, but also in the west. As I told my friend once: "with a pension, social security, healthcare and never having suffered from disease, hunger or anything it is very easy to criticize other countries and other cultures ..... isn't it?" (this is an ironic statement which might not come through as it was translated from Dutch and I am not a native English speaker).
Mark it is you who doesn't know what he is speaking about. You might have a lot of knowledge gained form reading books etc. But it is all theoretical knowledge. You do not have any practical knowledge. You are looking at your own field in absolutes through rose colored glasses, not thinking about or having feelings for the somewhat different realities in real life. Your mails sound good in theory at a number of occassions. But your theories are often impossible realities.
Walter/Waerth