kevozman1

One thing that's very apparent in this thread is the presumption of white male entitlement. LOL (as they say).

and what is also very apparent in TV these days is an increase in judgmental over opinionated types.

A personal favourite of mine was a girl who used to ask me - "give me smell good" when we was getting ready to go out together. That was her way of asking if I could pass her the deodorant. A bit silly, but always brought a smile to my face.

First, I must admit that I have not been in Pattaya for almost a decade.

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What I kn ow of this is what I read on TV and other sites that address the Farang tourist areas of Thailand.

It has come to my attention that for the last couple of years, it seems in that most reports of Farangs being beaten up, robbed and even killed,the victims are Russians.

My question: Is this due to the fact that there are so many Russians in Pattaya, or is it that the Thais find their attitude so offensive that they can not tolerate it?

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When SEA meets Eastern Europe, a culture clash indeed. The results are predictable.

I remember a pretty famous Thai Tennis player some years back dating a hot western woman. Western female/Asian man is not overly common in general but yes I have seen fair amount of these couples in Thailand, mostly on islands where the couple usually consists of super cute Thai man with a plain Jane western woman. I was friends with one Thai guy some time back on Koh Samet who had 3 western girlfriends and was doing pretty dam_n well for himself. He was a very handsome devil, no homo.

You don't seem to realise how many western men hate western women. Google it if you are interested. Many web sites on the subject.

Sadly, I do, as I've listened in bars to many of them bang on with their bitter, generalising BS. But hate's a strong word. Why would anyone of sound mind hate western women for not being what they want them to be. Preference is a better word. And, it all depends on the reason they prefer them over western women. Because an attractive one or young one at home wouldn't look twice at them? Because they only ever managed to have bloody awful relationships with women at home? Because they were cheated on, or found them insufficiently subservient ? Not always but mainly that's as much to do with the men.

But if you mean men who have a preference for asian looking women over western women, find them more feminine etc or favour traditional relationships with old school power differentials, where they are waited on hand and foot while being the bread winner, then fair enough. Naturally,they will prefer Asian women. But read through these threads, which category would you say most of them fall into?

When i first got here a little under 6 years ago, I was stunned by some of the drivel some of these guys would trot out about Western women. I heard all the old chestnuts like "once they hit 30, they get fat", "they don't know how to look after a man", "the bitch just wanted the house" and "she put her career and her friends before me" and they said these things with an air of "tough luck you silly cows; you had your chance but I've got a young Thai bargirl now" I was sure I could hear the collective sigh of 400 million Western women kicking themselves for having let these premium specimens get away.

I remember asking myself where on earth they were meeting these dragons cos I'd never encountered them but then, after a while, I began to see a common streak running between pretty much every whinging wheezer on the subject of Western women. They were all - to a man - wannabe alpha males.

You see, back in the West, having money doesn't necessarily cut it as far as getting a woman to love you is concerned because so many women take perfectly good care of themselves financially. Indeed, even in instances where it is enough to get a look in, there's way too much competition from younger, better-looking guys with more money than your average Thai expat barfly.

So they roll up here where any insecure, socially-awkward, alpha male wannabe can pull an attractive woman several notches above the heifers he's been used to settling for back in Farangland.

All he has to do is produce a wallet because here, in Thailand, it's acknowledged that cash levels the playing field with Thais in general and with certain Thai women in particular. In Thailand, those soft skills; those ephemeral, wishy-washy qualities like empathy and understanding that women the world over set so much store by - can seemingly be successfully supplanted by regular and liberal application of a relatively insignificant amount of money.

Of course, the inability to communicate in anything but Thai-lish means that he can only meet her financial needs.

Next thing you hear, he's slating all Thai women

Yep, the level of western female hate among some expats seems overdone. I mean personally I have always been attracted more to Asian women to the point where I do not date white women or women of other races for that matter. Goes back to my youth watching kung-<deleted> movies, then video gaming, then visiting Asia blew that up 10x.... anyway, I have my personal tastes in women, but I do not hate western women at all. Seems more healthy dating a woman you have more of a natural attraction to rather than dating a woman from another country out of hatred/spite for your homeland's women.

It gets even more fun when German players are on the pitch! Anyway if you want to get really mad about mis-pronunciations then next time watch a football game with Thai commentators.

Many farangs who decide to marry with women from Thailand have certain defects, such as being unattractive or unfashionable and socially inept, misfits, loners, or have done the rounds in their home countries - become stayed in their ways – maybe have grown old and no longer desirable to younger Western women.

So they have read all the reports and media hype that Thai women are loyal, subservient and given a chance to settle down with a home and a little pocket money each week will be content to settle down with any farang, becoming a sweet little housewife and be grateful for it.

Then later the reality hits home that Thai women are no longer the easily available, cute, sweet, young, subservient little princesses as they were made to believe and that in fact the modern day Thai women are not much different from their Western counterparts, have similar outlooks and ambitions. This is a main reason why so many farangs go for the more desperate Thai women of the poorer lower classes, because most middle to upper class Thai women would prefer to marry a Thai rather than a farang. Culturally it is considered going down the social ladder to marry a farang, especially if there is a big age gap between them. Then these farangs become disgruntled having not been able to buy the girl of their dreams and their love and will blame all Thais and the country as a whole for their failures and errors of choice or for diving in head first on a pipe dream for what was actually a fanciful hope or scheme, especially if they get conned or scammed for their stupidity.

Fairly good write up there, accurate for a decent percentage of cases I would imagine. Although, the part about Thai women "going down the social ladder". If a western guy was to pull up in the middle of Bangkok in a Ferrari I would guess for a huge amount of wealthy Thai women that notion of "going down the social ladder" would be soon discarded.

And how many Westerners do you personally know in Thailand who own a Ferrari or any other types of vehicles of equal status? Obviously the higher the status of the Westerner, the higher his chances are of mixing with the right crowds, especially if he is a businessman or someone of prominence. This pertains to anywhere in the world.

Of course there are always going to be exceptions to the rule, but on the whole what i said still stands.

It only stands because of the situation and not the notion, not too many many baller Ferrari owning western guys living permanently in Thailand. If a large influx of those types started to move into Thailand from their pads in Monaco, New York and London do you think that rule would still apply?

My GF would have gotten up and walked out, without a word.

Not to mention, the OP has no idea what the conversation was really about.

Only what his gf told him, and let's face it, she wants the house 100% paid for and in her name.

For all the OP knows they might have been talking about the latest pop songs.

So true. Another reason to learn the language. The GF probably told the bank lady at the outset "convince this dufus to buy the house in my name." She was probably laughing out of embarassment for the OP as he was coming across as a complete moron.

Berk, do you only ever post to bash expats/tourists who are in Thailand? The constant crap you come out along with your pathetic boot licking of everything Thai is actually disgusting. I do hope for your sake that this is only your online clown act.

Translating girlfriends and childlike "senior" banking staff with low English skills discussing purchasing property. Warning signs are there OP about such issues, just be smart and you will be fine.

What i don't get is that quite a lot of the Russians use Pattaya as a kind of family/couples resort. Now, I am no hater of Pattaya, but that it is not the place to bring a foreign girlfriend to, especially not your children. Kind of reminds me of that movie Taxi Driver when Travis Bickle brings his girlfriend to a porno for a first date.

Pattaya / chonburri is changing if you didn't notice... There are a lot more Family orientated Theme Parks popping up ,Water parks, Kart tracks, as well as Suvenier Shops etc. NOT my thing of course, but for them it works ..... Fortunatly a few minutes ride and your surrounded by beautiful plantations, mum and pop shops etc.... No I don't live there ... just an observation ....

Yep, dont think he has been to Pattaya in 5 years or so.....Phuket is now the sex cesspit of Thailand

I have not been to Pattaya in a few years. Last time I was there though the place was still a huge red light district. Unless an army of police and bulldozers were stationed to Pattaya in the last few years then I have trouble seeing how it would have changed too much.

If Patong has more girlie bars and gogos than Pattaya I would be absolutely shocked.

Only time I can understand people getting butthurt by the word farang is when people are "friends" with Thais who still refer to them as the farang after knowing them for some time. That is usually where you are around people who have little respect for you as a person, a good example would be someone who lives in a trash Isaan village where after years you are still the farang to everyone. You are unlikely to change their mentalities as they lack respect or just straight up do not like you. In which case get some better friends and/or surroundings!

If a Thai refers to a stranger as a farang I really see no issue with it personally and would not take offense to it in the slightest.

exactly what the hell is a trash isaan village??

I don't know, a village that is considered to be low quality compared to various other villages in the region? A village that stands out to have a poor location and where the locals are nothing short of rude and ignorant? I think it is fair to say that such places exist, although labeling them trash is a little unfair of me.

there are PEOPLE like that but it is a stretch to say there are villages like that. and if a whole village keeps referring to someone as the farang after years, it may say more about him than the villagers.

In some cases yes, if you take a more apologist point of view. Not everyone is lucky (or possibly smart) enough to move into a nice village where their partner is from, where the locals are welcoming or at least civil and willing to treat everyone on their own merits.

Only time I can understand people getting butthurt by the word farang is when people are "friends" with Thais who still refer to them as the farang after knowing them for some time. That is usually where you are around people who have little respect for you as a person, a good example would be someone who lives in a trash Isaan village where after years you are still the farang to everyone. You are unlikely to change their mentalities as they lack respect or just straight up do not like you. In which case get some better friends and/or surroundings!

If a Thai refers to a stranger as a farang I really see no issue with it personally and would not take offense to it in the slightest.

exactly what the hell is a trash isaan village??

I don't know, a village that is considered to be low quality compared to various other villages in the region? A village that stands out to have a poor location and where the locals are nothing short of rude and ignorant? I think it is fair to say that such places exist, although labeling them trash is a little unfair of me.

What i don't get is that quite a lot of the Russians use Pattaya as a kind of family/couples resort. Now, I am no hater of Pattaya, but that it is not the place to bring a foreign girlfriend to, especially not your children. Kind of reminds me of that movie Taxi Driver when Travis Bickle brings his girlfriend to a porno for a first date.

Only time I can understand people getting butthurt by the word farang is when people are "friends" with Thais who still refer to them as the farang after knowing them for some time. That is usually where you are around people who have little respect for you as a person, a good example would be someone who lives in a trash Isaan village where after years you are still the farang to everyone. You are unlikely to change their mentalities as they lack respect or just straight up do not like you. In which case get some better friends and/or surroundings!

If a Thai refers to a stranger as a farang I really see no issue with it personally and would not take offense to it in the slightest.

See, this is what happens when a deluded poster uses a few whining expats on TV to represent western people in Thailand. I should imagine there was some Chinese grumbling about what was happening when they first moved to Thailand as well.

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

For example, I went to a bar in bangkok and the Thai girls there prefer to serve me rather than other farangs.

yes, bar girls are good at telling people what they think they want to hear.

Farang , simply means foriegner, that is no racist term in itself, but the manner and tone in which it is used can be offensive, in my opinion. To use and old phrase, its not what you say its the way you say it.

"Farang , simply means foriegner"...........No it does not and nor is it used in that manner in every day usage. Really wish Expats would stop letting these Thais off the hook so easily by saying "it means foreigner" . If it only meant foreigner then why do they not call people from Loas, Cambodia, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan (need i go on) foreigners ?!! They dont call them foreigners, in fact I think you have to go quite far geographically before they start using the generic term farang instead of individual terms...

When I told Thai people I'm from Singapore, they don't call me farang. Perhaps farang only refers to foreigners from western countries?

No, it's a racial thing, there are plenty of people born in western counties of various races. Farang is a term they use to describe Caucasians.

Tell you what, next time a white man is arrested in Thailand for child sex offences - I'm sure it won't be long - I'm gonna come on here and have a freakin' field day.

Well that's the way to show people who hold bigoted and offensive views, by replicating the exact same behaviour.

Since tapeworm is generally acquired from incompletely cooked meat/fish, it would help to know something of the eating habits of the farang in question.

Yes, the only time I had a case of some nasty intestinal worms was when I was in Isaan having a drink and was offered some raw meat that others were all munching on. Being slightly drunk and a bit of an idiot I went for it. Never again.

Seems a lot in Thailand have a more superstitious use of Buddhism rather than following it with a strict code or in a way of life that abides every thing that the religion preaches. I quite like the Thai's relationship with Buddhism although I would not say I have much knowledge of it. The only studying I have done on Buddhism (apart from some first hand experience in SEA) is read two books written by the Dalai Lama. Really enjoyed them, some really interesting philosophy to take from the religion.

because the position of the jaw is the same for both. but for L the tongue is slightly more forward in the mouth. westerners learn this while young. if an asian is born and educated in the west by caucasians, they will say R and L just as well as anyone else. but adults cannot easily relearn how to position their mouths to make sounds. after 25 years , I still cannot make the NG sound properly.

I think this sums it up pretty well. I am sure most foreigners who try to learn Thai are somewhat perplexed by the ng sound, much to the amusement of any Thai who happens to be trying to help you pronounce it correctly.

No offense, but I do not think any of the destinations mentioned are exactly top priority when it comes to global stars booking venues for gigs. Maybe Singapore being the exception there. Are big international pop groups/bands really doing more concerts in Indonesia and Philippines than Thailand though? That would be a little bit of a surprise.