At the fair, I met a lady from Philippines. She works for a hotel in a small city and it was her first time to Singapore.
She commented that Singapore is very beautiful and clean. Then she said "I don't see any beggars or poor people. Are there any poor people or beggars in your country?"
Well, of course there are. Just that the areas she visited and saw were what was portrayed to the world by the government. What she saw was the prosperous, clean, green and beautiful side of Singapore.
Likewise, I used to think that Thailand is less developed and its citizens' standard of living and purchasing power are lower than us.