nemrut

Same reason surgeons wear them, to mitigate spread of germs.  And for many women, they often wear them so they dont have to put on makeup.

Some of you may have heard of Logan Paul - an American with a popular Youtube channel who posted a video of a dead body hanging in Japan's suicide forest while making jokes about it.

The resulting backlash led to an apology by him claiming the moral high ground of spreading 'awareness' about suicide.

Well that's not the end of it as Logan Paul has a history of juvenile, disrespectful behavior in Japan which it seems is representative many farang, often Brits/Aussies/Yanks,  in Thailand and much of SE/E Asia.

See more here:

https://twitter.com/wetheunicorns/status/949297972986163200

Every popular tourist destination around the world attracts scammers and opportunists looking to make money off tourists and Thailand is no different.

That being said, the main difference with Thailand vs other popular destinations like Hong Kong or Tokyo is the greater purchasing power for many westerners in the former.   It tends to attract the budget conscious and often those struggling to make ends meet in their home country.  

Suddenly farang come to Thailand and feel they can live much better lives which often leads to sense of entitlement and superiority over the local population.

Even those who come without financial constraints often share this master/servant attitude where anyone who is non-white, brown skinned is less than and deserves to be treated that way.

Obviously the Thais pickup on this despite their Buddhist upbringing, so naturally it stirs up resentment and hostility.

Forums like TV where Thai bashing occurs regularly and unabated dont help Farang/Thai relations either.  Many Thais frequent these forums as well and share the criticism and offensive behavior they often read here with other Thais.

Finally, imo the main source of conflict between Thais and farang along with other Asian cultures is just difference in upbringing and values.  

Most farangs in Thailand come from western countries that value independence and self-centeredness as being most important, whereas in Thai and other Asian countries it's more about the group, family, and other affiliations.  

That's why 'face' is so important in Asian cultures and not simply attributed to ego as many westerners falsely assume.

On 10/29/2016 at 10:07 AM, jacksam said:

...One year multiple perfect for me (I go every 7 weeks) but useless for backpackers. 

 

Because VN is trying to attract those with more disposable income not the cheap charlies  looking to party on a budget and often get into trouble.

12 minutes ago, tonray said:

That is absolutely true. In BKK (I live in an area not popular with foreigners) and many Thai vendors do not like to deal with me...I get the grunt and my change and then the inevitable chit chat about the 'farang' that I hear as I walk away. In Kohn Kaen, another city I have experience with, there is a much softer approach. While Thais in general do NOT want you in their neighborhoods, just try and walk down any small soi and the snarling dogs, the comments from the Thai men drinking on the side, and the stares you get from everyone else are a very unwelcoming sign. The most troubling is when faced with an aggressive dog where Thais are sitting right there, not one will say a word or raise a hand to help you, you are on your own. I can deal with that, we all want to keep what we are comfortable with and they do not want foreigners in their universe. But in many cities ,like Kohn Kaen there is a big difference in how they react to you in the common areas away from their domain, they are friendly and will actually help you. In BKK, there is the pretend patronizing in the farang tourist areas and then there is my experience in areas such as the Wongwian yai market, where you just get stares and glares and underhand comments when you try to shop there. That is why I limit myself to shopping with the few street vendors I know appreciate the business and the supermarkets where they are much more reasonable about dealing with you because it is their duty. 

 

It is an inward looking culture, not unlike many homogeneous neighborhoods in America however, you just have to accept it will never change.

 

Yet you're not subjected to verbal nor physical attacks the way many non-whites are in your home country and other western countries.

You should be grateful that youre even treated as well as you are and allowed to live in Thailand with little if any resistance from the govt unlike most countries.

Too many westerners come to Thailand and show little if any respect and even scorn for Thais and their culture.  This very evident in BKK and other cities w/a lot of expats (ie, western migrants), hence the unwelcoming treatment.

8 hours ago, RawboneFunksta said:

Actually, violent crime has been falling for decades in Europe and the USA. Don't believe the hype.

Violent crime stats in US are only as good as the data the FBI is able to collect.  In fact, police stations in the US are not mandated to report any crime date and only voluntarily provide what they want.

And even with supposedly declining violent crime in western countries, it is still much worse than most Asian ones.  I personnally feel far safer walking alone at night in Bangkok, HCMC, Beijing or Shanghai than any large city in US/UK/AUS.

No other country in the world makes it as easy to enter and stay to live as Thailand.  

In fact, farang are treated far better in Thailand than any Thai or non-white person would be in western countries.  

How many western countries would let people enter and live so easily?

19 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

 

VF's point is honking your horn to avoid an accident is perfectly ok. 

 

Honking is considered offensive and an act of aggression in Thailand.  Whenever i hear someone honk and look to see who it is, almost always it's a farang.  Honking i is what starts many road rage incidents in places like the US.

Now in Vietnam, honk as much as you like and no one will take offense.

5 hours ago, amykat said:

 

Well that doesn't actually account for a "tiny" portion of the population.  Palo Alto is California's most educated city with 80% of over 25s having at least a bachelor's degree, for example. 

 

And you seem to be contradicting yourself ...so California is the richest state in the country with a per capita GDP of $63K so it is "easy to be magnanimous" you say ...yet you claim people are not.  Yet in Thailand where people are so poor, they are?

 

Then your description of people  ..."entitled, arrogant, self absorbed who only care about themselves" ... have you met many very rich people in BKK who don't fit this description?

 

And traffic and road rage ....you find this situation BETTER in Thailand?  How many machetes have you seen in the road in CA?  I've only had one person truly try to kill me in a road rage incident here because I honked the horn when they almost killed me, and then they really TRIED to kill me, repeatedly ...that never happened  in my many more years in CA and many more miles of driving.  That one is so ridiculous ... unless you just arrived here last week??

3

 

CA is a huge state, and by itself, is the 5-6th largest economy in the world.  Yes, it has more millionaires than any other state, but the wealthy are still tiny part of the total CA population.  

If youre from CA you would know $60k doesnt go very far especially in much of the Bay Area where rental/housing prices have skyrocketed.

Communities like Palo Alto, Atherton, Portola, Belvedere, etc are enclaves for the wealthy.   Palo Alto appears to be normal middleclass neighborhood but in reality houses start at $2-5m for 1-2bdrm run down fixer uppers.

In terms of rich in US vs Thailand, one has roots in Christian values vs Buddhist values..take your pick.

As for road rage, it is much more prevalent in the US along with UK/AUS/RUS than anywhere else in the world.  You only have read the news, google, youtube to see the evidence.  There are more shootings due to road rage in US by far than any in Thailand.
 

11 hours ago, amykat said:

" People are generally very friendly, kind, relaxed, well-off, well-traveled, educated, etc. "

 

You're kidding right?  That accounts for tiny percentage of the population.  

It's easy to be magnanimous when one is well fed, has a roof over their head and are able to easily satisfy other material needs.

As for Californians, specifically northern ones in SF Bay area, there are far too many entitled, arrogant and self absorbed people there who care only about themselves and have little regard for others.  Traffic is a mess and road rage occurs quite often from the city to the eastbay, down both I-80 and I-5 corridors.

Farangs, especially those from US/UK/AUS  seem to come from cultures that place an emphasis on dominance, ego and self-interest above all else.  

That is why so many can't grasp the importance of 'face' in Asian cultures because they often have little regard for others and live only for themselves.

Even the dining habits of farang using fork/knife speaks to being guarded and threatening to others as if protecting themselves and their food.

Many Asians often wonder why farang get offended and create drama so easily.  As evidenced by the OP, it seems a lot has to do with their own inflated sense of self-importance.

In case it hasnt been mentioned already...

The biggest drawbacks of living in Thailand are what make it such a relatively low-cost and appealing place for many farang on a budget -- namely the poor infrastructure and lack of regulations or enforcement of existing ones.

The first one enables a developing country like Thailand to operate on a shoe-string budget with minimal demands on its citizens resulting in lower cost of living.

The second one provides people a lot of freedom to do what they want and skirt the laws as long as it's not harming others.

Downsides to both are that corners are often cut and blind eyes turned resulting in poor water quality, high pollution, garbage dumped every where, and other environmental issues which materially impact one's health.

"Other than their innate cruelty, thirst for world domination, and disgraceful personal hygiene in public"

Are you sure you're not talking about Europeans, colonialism and US hegemony?

Kind of a silly poll considering China has the longest continuous history (over 5000yrs) of any country in the world. So of course they have been an influence in the region long before farang had ships to sail the world.

Just curious what would happen if someone did the same as you in India?

"I am bored with the recent changes in Thailand..."

What were you expecting, rioting and chaos in the streets to make life exciting for you?

You seem to want to be spoon fed basic information easily found via google. Good place to start would be Wikipedia to learn something about the country history and culture.

Vietnam expelled the Chinese after being under their yoke for 1000yrs, beat the Mongols(3x) who gave up to invade eastern Europe, kicked out their French colonizers and beat US military despite carpet bombing their country for years.

This should tell you something about the character of the people. They can be genuinely nice but dont take shit, least of all from Farang. By and large the Vietnamese are very driven, hard working and family oriented.

Don't go there expecting to be fawned upon or treated like a rock star.

This type of thing happens all to often with Brits/Yanks/Aussies who drink too much and believe theyre entitled to do whatever they want.

Good example of why white westerners are labeled farang in a derisive manner by many Thais.

WOW!!!! This today, and just yesterday's news about the Thai husband who went berserk in a Samut Prakan mall and knifed his wife to death after she had told him to wanted to leave him.

And the news a week or so back about the teenage school girl who died after being beaten/abused by her jealous classmates.

A troubling picture of domestic life here in Thailand (not that LOS has any exclusive on these kinds of tragedies).

No worse than US with regulare mass shootings, road rage and gangs of motorcycle thugs terrorizing families.

China's actions and policies created the problem; it only has itself to blame.

Kind of the like the current mass exodus of Syrian refugees as result of US/EU attempts at toppling govts and destabilizing the region..no?

I really enjoyed CM the year I lived there; however

I missed the ocean. I visited Hua Hin, spent a month

There and finally opted for Jomtien Beach. Great

Medical, lots of English spoken, movies mostly in

English, and you are close to BKK.1 1/2 hours. I

Love the ocean, Jomtien Beach and Hua Hin beaches

I found dirty. I go to Koh Larn once a week, beach is

Clean and the water as clean as Maui. I have been

Here 5 years and hope to stay at least another 5.

Have you considered Jomtien?

How's the ferry ride? Miss the pristine water/coastline of Maui but there's only so much surfing, golf, tennis, sitting on beach one can do before they go out of their mind :-)

Sad thing is he will likely come out of prison an even worse person than when he entered. Doubt Thai prisons have much if any rehabilitation programs for good behavior.

...never been but Pattaya sounds almost like the 'Walmart of Thailand.'

PS...OK bright boy, Why do parents give underage kids keys to their m/cycle...ONE QUESTION.......ANSWER IT.........?

Because the kids are sober!

Next...

..that would never happen in the west as parents there rarely get drunk.

It'a too bad that this populous needs to save face at all costs. They all could have easily walked away.

I read this on TV a few years back and thought it was well written, so I saved it.

My guess is that the Buddha taught nothing of face. If he did, it was probably an encouragement to lose face as often as possible, so as to shatter the ego. Face is nothing but ego. It is nothing but a lack of manhood being expressed. It is nothing but extreme cowardice, and in my opinion is the opposite of everything Buddhism stands for. If you really think about it, face is really nothing more that the inability to look within, to introspect, to reflect, and to improve as an individual. It corrodes the soul. It prevents spiritual growth. It retards forward development. It holds a person back, from any sort of advancement. Only when we are able to look within, admit fault with ourselves, take responsibility, and show remorse for poor actions on our own parts, are we able to advance as a people, or as an individual. Face prevents all of that, and serves as a weak excuse for not looking within, and taking blame for anything. It is blight on the face of Asia. Face is abhorrent behavior. So is lying. And if lying is used to save face, it may be the ultimate form of offensive behavior, and a huge spiritual transgression. And from a spiritual point of view, lying might be the ultimate form of laziness. On many levels, it is the opposite of spiritual development and growth.

I know I will hear about all the reasons for face. About all the social implications, etc. I do not give a hoot about the culture behind face. I am simply talking about face as a form of extreme personal weakness. I am talking about the negativity of the trait, and how it holds people back, in regard to the spiritual life, and the precepts of Buddhism, or any other faith for that matter. Face is the very opposite of spirituality, and therefore Buddhism. All those opinions expressed are my own of course. And they are just opinions. But, I think they may have some validity. What do you think?

Sadly, you and others have little understanding of face and what it means in communal-based societies. You're bluntly looking at it through the lense of western individualism which often ignores nuance and sees everything in an ego-centric manner.