Question

As a Vietnamese, how do you accept the fact Thailand is richer than Vietnam?

Answer 1

I always believe Thailand is richer than Vietnam. Certainly so.

Here is a picture of Bangkok in 1970:

Bangkok 1970

Here is a picture of Hanoi in 1990. Hanoi in 1990 was still like a village, and Bangkok at that time was very modern with skyway, highway, modern airport, modern commercial center... .

Hanoi 1990

Answer 2

I think it doesn’t matter you are a Vietnamese or not, as long as you are NOT a Chinese, without the mindset educated by the Chinese parents and teachers, which consider wealth as almost the sole means to determine the entirety of anything(perhaps except parents are more important than money). Then this acceptance is simply a matter of knowing something and acknowledge it.

Unlike the Chinese, after their visit to almost anywhere, or just read about anywhere, the first thing first is to make comparison , to describe a country as the 90s and 2000s of China. And usually the result of comparison is not really between those countries and China, but those countries compared to the downtown of Shanghai, kwangchow , shamchun, and other developed cities, again, the downtown of these cities, not the whole of these cities. Otherwise, the result of comparison could be China in general is 10 years backward to its Asian neighbors, which is hard to be accepted by the Chinese.

Answer 3

I respect Thai people. They are smart business people. Many of them are Chinese, too. Chinese are smart business people.

Answer 4

Many countries are richer than Vietnam, including Thailand , and so far, we are not butthurt about it. If you expect Vietnamese to be jealous or bitter about this, you will be disappointed. We do accept that Thailand is richer, no problem, we don’t care.

Answer 5

It seems that the worldview of capitalism is very materialistic. to compare rich or poor is not based on GDP, for example a manual worker, in the United States will have 7.5 usd an hour. then their standard of living is poor for the US economy. their living standards are worse due to income inequality, in Vietnam the same job but the minimum wage is adjusted by the government, the trade surplus helps reduce the price of products, so for an economy of scale, the standard of living both are different. In Vietnam, the salary of an English teacher is $17 an hour, equal to the price paid in Japan and Korea, but the cost of living in Japan and Korea is enough to pay, but in Vietnam, a good standard of living. .work 8 hours a week and then travel, if you live in Korea or Japan, can you have such a standard of living?

Answer 6

Thaland is richer than Vietnam. China is richer than Thailand. Korea is richer than China. Japan is richer than Korea, etc.

Is it too hard to accept?

Answer 7

45 years of war will do that to you.

Answer 8

Based on GDP, Thailand is richer than Vietnam. However, It doesn’t mean Thailand is better than Vietnam in all fields. With 7,08% growth last year, Vietnam’s GDP has chance to surpass Thailand’GDP sooner. In fact, Vietnam has a strategic position in South East Asia, No doubt in the near future, Vietnam is going to be better than many countries in the world. There are three simple truths to answer this question:

Thailand is not Vietnam’s Dream.

Thailand is a friend.

Thailand is not Vietnamese’s competitor in the 21st century.

Answer 9

That is the fact and obviously phenomenon without question. The two have the same climate, same area (South East Asia ) almost equivalent population. One going thru thousand years of wars and Foreign occupations, nation was ravaged and ruined by war after war. Other gets none of that. Is that clear enough or not???