I see a lot of western influence over here, also Korean. Many of the younger middle class Thais are just as obsessed with money, fashion, the latest cell phones/gadgets as their western/Korean counterparts. In some cases it's even worse than in the west because people seem to think they are actually little princes/princesses.

It's pretty bad, because you take the Thai traditional idea that the girl is supposed to cook/clean, and be supported by the guy, and then combine it with more liberal western ideas (feminism, independence, consumerism), and for the most part you get the worst combination ever.

That is, you don't get smart girls that can support themselves. You get uber princesses that cheated/paid their way through school with daddy's money, expect all the benefits of independence and feminism, but none of the responsibilities, but still expect the guy to pay for everything, and practically be their servant (e.g. "take me to the mall", "why didn't you buy me a new purse for our 6 month quarter anniversary", etc....).

Sad thing is, the exact same thing can be said for many of the GUYS here...and don't get me started on Korean fashion, someone needs to just nuke all the Korean fashion designers from orbit.

Anyway, I think maybe Laos will follow the same path eventually, kinda sad really.