Olympia, I am not making any judgments. I was interested in understanding your comment.
Background: My wife is Thai, I am American. We got married in Thailand. I brought her to the US on a relative visa. I travel to Thailand and Southeast Asia usually once or twice a year. I am not extremely fluent in Thai, but am passable, the result of taking language lessons for 10 years. I can hold a small talk conversation in Thai for more than an hour. I eat the local food, sleep in local accommodations and travel as locals. I usually stay with my wife's family and eat what they eat. I have helped with the rice harvest using a sickle. I can joke in Thai.
I have studied Thai, Lao, Burman and Khmer history and to a lesser extent Chinese and Viet history. I have traveled to all those countries except China. What I have found is that the people in Southeast Asia are very similar to the people of the US in many ways. They have many of the same hopes and dreams. Further, I work with people from many countries, all of whom have become US citizens. I can talk with Filipino friends about food and find similarities between their food and Thai food, often because of similar or the same fruits and vegetables.
I am sure that with more contact between more people of different backgrounds, the similarities between peoples will become highlighted.




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