10 years of Thailand blog: Readers speak – Theo

As you know, Thailandblog exists 10 years. We paid attention to this by, among other things, letting the bloggers have their say. Now it's the readers' turn. Today Theo from Baarn.

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Questionnaire for readers of Thailandblog

What is your name/nickname on Thailandblog?

According to

What is your age?

61 years

What is your birthplace and country?

Groningen, Netherlands

In which place have you lived the longest?

Baarn

What is/was your profession?

Do something with computers

Do you live in Thailand or in Belgium/the Netherlands (where approximately)?

Netherlands, Barn

What is your bond with Thailand?

Married to a beautiful Thai for a long time (Yes, still in love and crazy about her after 32 years)

Do you have a Thai partner?

See previous question

What are your hobbies?

Photographing, Southeast Asia, Ancient Egypt

Do you have other hobbies since living in Thailand?

Not applicable, because I live in the Netherlands

Why is Thailand special to you, why the fascination for the country?

Seems logical to me if you are married to a Thai

How did you ever end up on Thailandblog and when?

I have no idea how I ever ended up here, not even how long (well, for a very long time, I think more than 10 years)

Do you also write comments?

Very occasionally (think less than 5 together)

Why are you responding (or why are you not responding)?

Usually too lazy and often people have already responded. 10 times the same reaction therefore makes no sense and I find it difficult to find the censorship that is sometimes applied.

Have you ever written a story for Thailandblog (reader submission)?

No

Why/why not?

No need of.

What do you like/special about Thailandblog?

A survey has been conducted asking readers to respond. I responded to that with a number of conditions. I'll be honest, I didn't expect to write anything. I promised, among other things, not to name names. So I won't do that.
There are entries that I read with great pleasure, that I really enjoy and that I look forward to. There are also sometimes very instructive pieces and useful tips

What do you like less/special about Thailandblog?

That censorship takes place on pieces that sometimes apparently do not appeal to the owner of this blog. My personal opinion is: that censorship should only be applied if there is abuse or if people are insulted. Perhaps very occasionally to protect people, but first discuss this with those people. Please respect their opinion, in case they want to post it anyway.
To be clear, people never have the right to lose respect for each other.

Having to read forever who has applied for a visa and where.

Questions that you know with one phone call to the relevant authority. Here, on the blog, there are a lot of people who know it all. However, sometimes not quite. Or one tells it slightly differently than the other. The official authorities will usually help you best in that regard (yes, I know, they are also sometimes wrong).

People who find it necessary to improve the language of others who have submitted an article. Has nothing to do with the piece anymore, but apparently they want to show how good they are. Appreciate someone writing and if it's not 100% in good Dutch, so what. She or he will! If things get out of hand, the editor can always contact the owner of the piece before posting. The same goes for how you write something in Thai. Especially with translations. Not all scholars agree on this, either. Let it go and don't try to play the schoolmaster all the time. Because I don't think it adds anything here either.

Only post posts that pertain to or are about Thailand. I regularly see messages that have nothing to do with this. For me money: rather less messages than this kind of messages. Just to be clear. I just skip posts that don't interest me. The simplest solution.

What kind of posts/stories on Thailandblog do you find most interesting?

A lot. I save the pieces that I find really interesting in my own database. There are now many of them.

Do you have contact with other readers or writers on Thailandblog (with whom and why)?

No

What do you think of the many comments on Thailandblog? Do you read them all?

Sometimes yes and sometimes no, depending on the subject

What function do you think Thailandblog has?

I read it every day, I think that says enough

Do you think Thailandblog will make it to the next anniversary (15 years)?

No idea, most writers are a bit older. How long they last and how large the new growth is, I think will be decisive.

Let me close with that I have a lot of admiration for those who do this every day. I couldn't do that myself.
This also applies to people who regularly submit documents. I hope to enjoy it for a very long time.

Finally, a personal note! The opinions I have written here are my personal opinions. You may agree or not, but these remain my opinions, which I do not want to discuss endlessly with others. I thought it was a good opportunity to write it all down and hopefully neatly.