opalred Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 i have traveled past 20 years in china and all Asia country's many times each year now lived los 14yrs you were greeted with smiles and respect years ago now china and most Asian country's treat you with a sour look and i am not from usa why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watcharacters Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 MAYBE THEY THINK you are from the USA..! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faraday Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Perhaps you have changed. Do you shower everyday? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmaxdan Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 I'm confused, what difference would it make if you were from the USA?Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovelomsak Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Maybe they now have middle class stress and have no reason to smile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saakura Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) Development, better education, relative affluence as compared to the past, low cost air travel, and most of all, internet & social media have all contributed. The natives are no longer in great awe of the rich white skinned farang. Due to the influx of economic migrants from the west, they have realised that there are poor and low educated farangs also. Edited January 25, 2018 by saakura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahseer Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Try Burma especially the smaller towns. I am in Dawei at present and local folk are brilliant. Simple smile and a 'mingalapar' and you get the same in return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEVUP Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Well I will give a few comments I can remember * Teenage girl all done up getting photo's taken by boyfriend against fence on the street next door (of course I'm looking ) girl worried - Boyfriend > Don't worry he's only a Farang * Getting electric gate put in - Trade Assistant > He thinks we're shit Trady > Mai Pen Rai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick220675 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 You need to earn respect now, with the massive influx of westerners over the last 20 years Asians have been exposed to some pretty bad behaving westerners. The smile thing is still all around in rural areas. My wife calls the Thai smile the bullshit smile, it never meant anything. In the area I live I have not noticed any reduction in friendliness over the last 15 years, but there are a lot more westerners and plenty get very drunk in public. Maybe Thais used to think we were more respectable, now they know we are not much different to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berkshire Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 Perhaps the OP is looking at it from a "white privilege" point of view. It used to be that Asian folks kissed-up to westerners. But not anymore. They just treat everyone as an equal. Some folks can't handle that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lite Beer Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 15 minutes ago, Berkshire said: Perhaps the OP is looking at it from a "white privilege" point of view. It used to be that Asian folks kissed-up to westerners. They did? When was this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 You know what they say 'Familiarity breeds contempt" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gracas Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 I would suspect that many Asians have seen western "Reality" TV programs, giving them the impression that we are all as dumb as a box of rocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StreetCowboy Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 42 minutes ago, Berkshire said: Perhaps the OP is looking at it from a "white privilege" point of view. It used to be that Asian folks kissed-up to westerners. But not anymore. They just treat everyone as an equal. Some folks can't handle that. I'm not sure I've ever been to an Asian country where everyone was treated as equals. I'm not sure if it was my race or my job or my role as a customer that determined my position in the hierarchy, but in my experience no-one is equal to anyone else, except in some cafeterias. SC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick1968 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 there is good and bad in life , you want get a smile all the time, but you are right things changed for past years . enjoy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reenatinnakor Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 They don't need a foreign passport anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex8912 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 To answer the question that you asked. Its because you were not born there or are a legal resident there. Thats why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven100 Posted January 25, 2018 Share Posted January 25, 2018 10 hours ago, opalred said: and i am not from usa why? because you were born elsewhere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeJoMTB Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 11 hours ago, opalred said: now china and most Asian country's treat you with a sour look Was in China last year, everyone was extremely polite and helpful. I'm often in the Philippines, can't believe how polite they are, "Enjoy your stay Boss" from the men, "Thank you Sir", from the women. Thailand and Laos, not so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotpoom Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 (edited) MOBILE PHONES.......I blame everything on the mobile phone,.555 PS.....an Ad. for mobile phones just appeared as I wrote the words ....modern technolegy....proves my point really! Edited January 26, 2018 by dotpoom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emster23 Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I'd guess it may be a number of factors, not limited to following items: air travel is cheaper (not saying all with lower wages are louts, BTW), far more Russians can travel now (met some lovely ones, but parts of their general culture probably grates more harshly against Asian values), and just sheer numbers. Not so sure if only farang tourists getting chillier welcome, may just lump us all in category "tourists" be they Euro-ish, African, Chinese, Indian, etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smutcakes Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 If many of the farangs attitudes or here, reflect their attitudes in everyday life towards the locals, i am not surprised they treat farangs with a sour look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newatthis Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 10 hours ago, patrick1968 said: there is good and bad in life , you want get a smile all the time, but you are right things changed for past years . enjoy it Exactly right. Enjoy your own life with your friends and family. Be polite and courteous but don't worry about what others think or do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisinth Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I don't know, call me old fashioned if you want but to me love and respect has always been earned through trust. When you have been accepted. I have always preferred being treated with indifference rather than facing a false smile, at least you know where you stand. But yes OP, over the last 30 years of living and visiting here attitude has changed towards us through a number of reasons. More exposure through greater numbers, different patterns of tourist type and perhaps the greatest changer of all the internet. Here they can see us for what we really are before actually having to meet us.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilotman Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Are you surprised? Cheap air travel has flooded Asia with people who just dont know how to act in another culture. it may be slightly racist to say it nowadays, but sets of peoples , more used to a more totalitarian/religious based systems of government, are the worst of all in projecting bad manners and a total disregard for cultural sensitivities. The Thais don't seem to make any distinction between farangs from different countries, so we westerners all get tared by the same brush. They are equally dismissive of other regional visitors who don't know how to conduct themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 12 hours ago, mick220675 said: You need to earn respect now, with the massive influx of westerners over the last 20 years Asians have been exposed to some pretty bad behaving westerners. The smile thing is still all around in rural areas. My wife calls the Thai smile the bullshit smile, it never meant anything. In the area I live I have not noticed any reduction in friendliness over the last 15 years, but there are a lot more westerners and plenty get very drunk in public. Maybe Thais used to think we were more respectable, now they know we are not much different to them. Agree very much... 20 - 30 years ago someone coming to asia was generally well off, international travel to SE asia was more restricted. There was of course the hippy backpackers, but even then probably more in tune with locals and islands. Fast forward to now and the volume of penny pinching budget travellers, bogan / chav pissheads and mongers, and penny pinching pensioners who under estimated cost of living long term.. And you have a serious change in the class and hence perception of the visitor. I am sure there was also badly behaved visitors back then but your average Thai didnt see it on youtube all day, there was still a mystery and cache to us / them. People where I am up north are still superficially friendly and pleasant, thats enough for me.. As said a Thai smile isnt really what we think it may be, but when handled right theres still good easy interactions to be had. I struggle with high volume tourist areas these days, the smile and friendlyness is very worn out and all thats left is money extraction, sure the beaches are nice, and it still takes good images and photos but the pleasantness of the interaction is so much harder to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farang99 Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Why should Asians "show love and respect" for farang? All of Asia bar Thailand were controlled or colonised by Western nations, and some of the colonial regimes were cruel. It is for farang to try to show that they are worthy of decent treatment, not to expect it as a right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1FinickyOne Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 I find that you get back what you give out... if I remember correctly, you complained and were angry when people said their version of "Hello" to you... "pie nai" which you interpreted literally... and got annoyed. If you can be angered so easily, in a society where calm and gentleness and non-confrontation are highly valued; well, it is no wonder you do not find it so friendly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 Has the OP never looked at the examples of farangs in Thailand recently? I don't have "love and respect" for many farangs I see, so I don't expect Thais to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecyclist Posted January 26, 2018 Share Posted January 26, 2018 If you think there ever was love for farangs, you live in la-la land. Thais are among the most xenophobic people in the world, but they love money, so when they were poor they 'loved' the rich farang. Now, that they are not so poor anymore, 'love' is on the wane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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