In the kind of smile you mention, how sincere can that be? Your heart's been trampled and you're expected to smile? What's the real message being delivered here? It's amazing what can hide behind a well practiced smile. A smile can often be a lie. The biggest problem I have here is with lying. Lying is so deeply imbedded in the culture. I think there are a several reasons for this. I know of a couple. 1. In its genesis, I think that it started out as saving face. Saving face for yourself, and not wanting others to loose face. So, if you ask a mechanic if he can work on your car, he'll say yes, because to say no he would loose face. So you take your car to him and say, "Is tomorrow OK? Again the answer is yes. A week later your car hasn't been touched. Several reasons will be given. The Thai's will keep hitting you with lie after lie, searching for the one that makes you feel best.
2. They will rarely do anything to provoke anger in someone, so, because the truth can hurt, they lie.

It's easy to find people to smile at you. It's a way of life here. But, if, in the final outcome nothing gets done, what good is it?

In heavy tourist areas like Pattaya and Ko Samui, I see less smiles. I feel that the foreigner (Falang) is resented because he comes in with buying power driving up the prices on houses and everything else. Most people are poor here, and I can see the injustice, but I hate to be the target of discrimination.