Thai Xenophobia

[samtam]

I am surprised to read (from farangs I presume) in a number of threads the suggestion that a serious anti foreigner feeling may emerge in Thailand. I suspect this view is based largely on the back of the various contentious pieces of legislation or proposed legislation, (Withholding Tax, Foreign Business Act, Visa Regulations etc), so it may be purely an emotional reaction.

I am not aware of there ever having been such a serious problem of xenophobia in Thailand in recent history, but I am no expert. I do not wear rose-tinted glasses either, so I am of course aware that some Thais quite legitimately resent foreigners whom they equate with having greater wealth that enables them to enjoy a more prosperous lifestyle.

My question is: is xenophobia evident already, or is it likely?

[Scott]

Xenophobia is much more evident now than it has been in the past. I've been here going on 20 years. It has gradually gotten more noticable over about the past 10 or so.

I don't know, however, that it has reached a point where it is a real problem. Part of being 'Thai' is avoiding conflict, so the type of xenophobia that we think of it doesn't rear it's ugly head quite as often as in other places.

[terry57]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

[webfact]

it exist. I am living more than 20 years in LOS and IMHO it started around 1997 - after Doomsday!

[sbk]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

[terry57]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

ok then,

try being indian, african or black in your home country and see how you go.

at least they dont shoot them here.

thats a rediculous come back as that true in every country on this earth.

if your not white your behind the 8 ball.

so by your reconing every country on this earth is xenophobic?

whats makes los different ?

[chuchok]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

ok then,

try being indian, african or black in your home country and see how you go.

at least they dont shoot them here.

thats a rediculous come back as that true in every country on this earth.

if your not white your behind the 8 ball.

so by your reconing every country on this earth is xenophobic?

whats makes los different ?

Terry you are full of it.XENOPHOBIA is alive and well in most Asian countries...(and a few Western).

Not all Thais are affected by this,but a fair few are.Even the good wife admits this.To say it dosn't exist is absolute crap.

[sbk]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

ok then,

try being indian, african or black in your home country and see how you go.

at least they dont shoot them here.

thats a rediculous come back as that true in every country on this earth.

if your not white your behind the 8 ball.

so by your reconing every country on this earth is xenophobic?

whats makes los different ?

Nothing

Its human nature to distrust those different or strange to us. Personally, I think it goes back to the caveman days when a person couldn't trust someone not from their tribe.

Is it worse? Not really, but I think Thaksin with his Thais Rak Thais party and attitude didn't help matters.

[dgoz]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

All due respect Tessa, but how long have you actually lived in LOS?

The first dozen times I came here I didn't notice it either, too busy having too much fun, but when I actually moved here and lived a "normal" life it was very obvious.

They're Xenophobic mate. Sorry to ruin your day.

[chuchok]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

ok then,

try being indian, african or black in your home country and see how you go.

at least they dont shoot them here.

thats a rediculous come back as that true in every country on this earth.

if your not white your behind the 8 ball.

so by your reconing every country on this earth is xenophobic?

whats makes los different ?

Nothing

Its human nature to distrust those different or strange to us. Personally, I think it goes back to the caveman days when a person couldn't trust someone not from their tribe.

Is it worse? Not really, but I think Thaksin with his Thais Rak Thais party and attitude didn't help matters.

There is nothing like a bit of Xenophobia to get the attention of the masses .We want our country back etc.The problem is that the current blokes have carried it on.

many years ago the wife told me that many Thais do not really like farang....mainly due to what SBK has said.

Xenophobia in my home country of NZ is alive and well,but this is starting to wain as the Asian people are intergrating more and more.I will say that most of the problems at home stem from the way many Asians drive.....

[terry57]

i dont live here but busting a leg to get here full time and have been coming to los for the last 20 years 3 times a year.

i have never noticed it.

lets get this narrowed down then,

so is the question aimed at the white farang or is the question in general.

let me know what i need to answer too.

thanks.

[g00dgirl]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

[Momo8]

I'm with Terry on this one.It's not Xenophbia it's pure bloody elitist RACISM.Oh I forgot that there are no prostitutes,there is no racism,no AIDS,no corruption and no coloured peopled in Thailand either.If an African American and a Caucasian were going for the same position who would get it? Of course if you have truckloads of cash nobody cares....TIT.

Edited January 23, 2007 by Momo8

[GuestHouse]

When I first moved to Thailand, almost twenty years ago, I would say that the general reception of foreigners was almost wholly positive. I have to measure that against the fact that I, and the other foreigners I was working with, were given a number of privileges that came with being employees of a multinational. At that time there were extremely few expats living in Thailand outside those working for multinationals.

So rarity of foreigners actually living in Thailand has to be considered.

However, it was not all good news. The company I work for have in place extremely stringent anti discrimination policies, our policies are the same across all our offices. They need to be since we move employees globally.

This brought about my first encounter of Thai Xenophobia. We had an incident of Thais refusing to work with an Indian member of staff who had been assigned to our Thailand office.

The company response was to add 'Anti Discrimination Practices' to our cross cultural training.

It was clear we needed it, when the issue of 'You are required to work with whoever is assigned to your team regardless of race, religion, gender or age' was raised, we had a group of Thais ranting 'This is Thailand we do Thai way'.

Clearly, the cover they took for their bigotry was to hide their beliefs in 'Thainess'.

Well you take the company money you take the company rules. One of these ranters, was dismissed less than six months for distributing racist cartoons in the office.

But it's not just in the office, sitting on a Bht bus one evening I overheard the driver ask the driver of the bus next to him 'how was he doing for passengers?" - 'Two Thai people and one farang animal was his reply' (If you speak Thai, you'll know the classifier he used and it's implications).

Those are cases, of what I would regard as background racism and xenophobia. I would not regard them as noteworthy beyond that they are an indication of how things where.

Things have got worse.

There was a marked shift in Thai attitudes to foreigners during the financial crisis of the mid 90s. Foreign speculators and foreigners in general where made the scapegoats for the collapse of the Thai economy. The ensuing collapse of work and income for Thais created ill feeling, I experienced this and I know of many others that did too. Perhaps we can understand this, I don't say excuse it, but at least accept that it arose out of extraordinary conditions.

What is not excusable is the use Thaksin made of this atmosphere of increasing dislike of foreigners. He and his Thai Rak Thai party used fear of foreigners as a means to gain political control. Thai Rak Thai played on the growing Xenophobia and racism.

The consequences of that were regularly discussed here on TV.

What where those consequences. Well for one there has been a raft of laws that preclude foreigners from gaining any more rights in Thailand and there has been an increase of animosity towards foreigners.

Back when I first came to Thailand I almost never heard of Thais attacking foreigners, or rather it was such a rare occasion that when it did occur it made the BK Post. The same cannot be said now, attacks of foreigners are common place.

I've not suffered such an attack, I know others who have, but as a Thai speaker I am absolutely aware of the change in the way Thais speak about foreigners.

Yes we can argue that the quality of foreigners turning up in Thailand has dropped and yes that would have an impact on Thai attitudes. But I think it is more than that, post after post on TV and else where asks 'where has the Thai smile gone' or some other reference to Thais no longer being as friendly as they once where.

To deny this is to deny repeated reports from many quarters while to suggest that xenophobia does not exist in Thailand is just plain silly (or out of touch with reality).

My firm belief is that there is an increase in Thai racism and xenophobia and that the reasons for the increase is the use the Thai Rak Thai made of nationalism and xenophobia for the political ends of Thaksin and his henchmen.

I might add, to imbibe the Thais with some super human quality of not being possessed of the self same faults as the rest of humanity is nothing more than the flip side of the racism coin – The intellectual failing is the same, to attribute qualities (negative or otherwise) on the basis of race. It’s the kind of feeble thinking that comes from a lack of real knowledge and experience of Thailand, its people and culture.

[terry57]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

[dgoz]

i dont live here but busting a leg to get here full time and have been coming to los for the last 20 years 3 times a year.

i have never noticed it.

lets get this narrowed down then,

so is the question aimed at the white farang or is the question in general.

let me know what i need to answer too.

thanks.

It's in general but far worse if you are coloured.

I can live with it tho. I've never been too precious to take things personally.

It's not really in your face, that's why it's nigh impossible to see it when you're on holidays.

Thais are very nationalistic. We know from history that that's not a good thing. (there was an angry young Austrian/German guy in the 30's who won an election based on nationalism and subsequently talked them into going to war with Europe and exterminating another race. Adolph something-or-other I think his name was.)

But it's still better here than in Oz. So come on over. Enjoy.

[chuchok]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

pattaya is a small place mate.It does not reflect even 5% of the Country.Also, Goodgirl was in Phuket.

[chuchok]

When I first moved to Thailand, almost twenty years ago, I would say that the general reception of foreigners was almost wholly positive. I have to measure that against the fact that I, and the other foreigners I was working with, were given a number of privileges that came with being employees of a multinational. At that time there were extremely few expats living in Thailand outside those working for multinationals.

So rarity of foreigners actually living in Thailand has to be considered.

However, it was not all good news. The company I work for have in place extremely stringent anti discrimination policies, our policies are the same across all our offices. They need to be since we move employees globally.

This brought about my first encounter of Thai Xenophobia. We had an incident of Thais refusing to work with an Indian member of staff who had been assigned to our Thailand office.

The company response was to add 'Anti Discrimination Practices' to our cross cultural training.

It was clear we needed it, when the issue of 'You are required to work with whoever is assigned to your team regardless of race, religion, gender or age' was raised, we had a group of Thais ranting 'This is Thailand we do Thai way'.

Clearly, the cover they took for their bigotry was to hide their beliefs in 'Thainess'.

Well you take the company money you take the company rules. One of these ranters, was dismissed less than six months for distributing racist cartoons in the office.

But it's not just in the office, sitting on a Bht bus one evening I overheard the driver ask the driver of the bus next to him 'how was he doing for passengers?" - 'Two Thai people and one farang animal was his reply' (If you speak Thai, you'll know the classifier he used and it's implications).

Those are cases, of what I would regard as background racism and xenophobia. I would not regard them as noteworthy beyond that they are an indication of how things where.

Things have got worse.

There was a marked shift in Thai attitudes to foreigners during the financial crisis of the mid 90s. Foreign speculators and foreigners in general where made the scapegoats for the collapse of the Thai economy. The ensuing collapse of work and income for Thais created ill feeling, I experienced this and I know of many others that did too. Perhaps we can understand this, I don't say excuse it, but at least accept that it arose out of extraordinary conditions.

What is not excusable is the use Thaksin made of this atmosphere of increasing dislike of foreigners. He and his Thai Rak Thai party used fear of foreigners as a means to gain political control. Thai Rak Thai played on the growing Xenophobia and racism.

The consequences of that were regularly discussed here on TV.

What where those consequences. Well for one there has been a raft of laws that preclude foreigners from gaining any more rights in Thailand and there has been an increase of animosity towards foreigners.

Back when I first came to Thailand I almost never heard of Thais attacking foreigners, or rather it was such a rare occasion that when it did occur it made the BK Post. The same cannot be said now, attacks of foreigners are common place.

I've not suffered such an attack, I know others who have, but as a Thai speaker I am absolutely aware of the change in the way Thais speak about foreigners.

Yes we can argue that the quality of foreigners turning up in Thailand has dropped and yes that would have an impact on Thai attitudes. But I think it is more than that, post after post on TV and else where asks 'where has the Thai smile gone' or some other reference to Thais no longer being as friendly as they once where.

To deny this is to deny repeated reports from many quarters while to suggest that xenophobia does not exist in Thailand is just plain silly (or out of touch with reality).

My firm belief is that there is an increase in Thai racism and xenophobia and that the reasons for the increase is the use the Thai Rak Thai made of nationalism and xenophobia for the political ends of Thaksin and his henchmen.

I might add, to imbibe the Thais with some super human quality of not being possessed of the self same faults as the rest of humanity is nothing more than the flip side of the racism coin – The intellectual failing is the same, to attribute qualities (negative or otherwise) on the basis of race. It’s the kind of feeble thinking that comes from a lack of real knowledge and experience of Thailand, its people and culture.

great post.

[terry57]

thais being xenophobic.?

biggest load of bollicks ive ever heard and it never ceases to amaze me that people keep throwing this one up.

every where i go in los i dont encounter it. i mean where are you guys hanging out to form such an opinion.?

i suppose if you got a bad attitude you might think the thais have got it in for you but the normal well ajusted punter will usually have a fine time in los.

XENOPHOBIA = noun = " intense or irrational dislike or fear of people from other countries."

who in there right mind would say that this is how the average thai thinks?

get a grip people.

Guess you aren't Indian or African then? Try asking someone from there.

lets look at SBK's statement.

to me she has stated the bleeding obvious and come to australia and you will find the same thing.

actually this is the case all over the world and im bloody happy im a white boy so i dont have to deal with this crap.

so what is the point of raising the xenophobic question concerning los?

if your a white boy you wont notice it and ill never know what its like to be black so the question is pointless.

but i must tell you all, i have never encountered it, and i say, its got a lot to do with how you approach the thai people.

if you get around like the thai are against you it will happen.

get over it punters.

[Little Black Duck]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

Terry perhaps the word Xenophobic is a little bit Harsh..Resentment is the word I would have used..

There is this belief that all Farang have a license to print B1,000 notes by the bags full..

I cant find the Baht print button on my computer unfortunately...

I have found in the 13 plus years I've been here, the locals are very nice people to a degree

they never believe that we are not all rich..I think the book Niel wrote in Pattaya "Money No 1"

Sums it up very well, everything here in LOS revolves around MONEY..

Money, Family, and the material possessions, Gold as its tangible, but Wealth..

The Rich locals don't want us friendly good hearted foreign creatures making their subservient

populous aware of basic human rights either, perhaps that's what some con strew as Xenophobic..

[ColPyat]

i dont live here but busting a leg to get here full time and have been coming to los for the last 20 years 3 times a year.

i have never noticed it.

lets get this narrowed down then,

so is the question aimed at the white farang or is the question in general.

let me know what i need to answer too.

thanks.

Sorry, but i hope for you that you will keep not noticing the rising xeonophobia here once you come to live full time in Thailand. Maybe it's a language issue, as mostly xenophobia is not really in your face here, as not much is in Thailand, but expressed in the here typical subtleties that can be extremely insulting nevertheless if you understand the code.

Regularly encountered certain persistent questions and assumptions about your private affairs regarding your Thai wife, what your Thai wife's former profession might have been in their eyes as no Thai women not of that vocation would ever think of living with a foreigner, or the number of wifes you as a foreigner definately must have is a behavior that people here would never dare to insist upon with a fellow Thai who is not a very closed friend, who might do that in a jokingly matter, but only to a certain degree.

Away from toursit areas, and under themselves Thais are extremely formal people to strangers, and asking certain personal questions is a definate cultural tabu, which increasingly though does not hinder many to change their behavioral pattern when encountering foreigners.

These questions about your personal affairs might sound perfectly innocent curiosity, and often are so, but on many occasions they are not. You will understand that by the choice of words, and the general tone that is more aimed at taking the piss and reconfirming the stereotype of farang being a combination of rich, daft and completely oversexed, and simply not intelligent enough to ever understand Thai cultural nuances.

So far, the extremely ugly violent xenophobia is rarely encountered here, but i fear that in the not too distant future Thailand will catch up there as well with the rest of the world.

And paired with clearly disadvantageous legislations, and by this government more so than the last one even, this is slightly concerning.

[terry57]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

Terry perhaps the word Xenophobic is a little bit Harsh..Resentment is the word I would have used..

There is this belief that all Farang have a license to print B1,000 notes by the bags full..

I cant find the Baht print button on my computer unfortunately...

I have found in the 13 plus years I've been here, the locals are very nice people to a degree

they never believe that we are not all rich..I think the book Niel wrote in Pattaya "Money No 1"

Sums it up very well, everything here in LOS revolves around MONEY..

Money, Family, and the material possessions, Gold as its tangible, but Wealth..

The Rich locals don't want us friendly good hearted foreign creatures making their subservient

populous aware of basic human rights either, perhaps that's what some con strew as Xenophobic..

duck,

im hearing what you say and anybody who has been around los for more that 30 seconds knows its all about the money.

its like that here in aussy as well, but to say the thais are xenophobic is a ridiculous comment.

there's 60,000,000 of them so there are definately are few, but the majority are not.

only my opinion thou.

[chuchok]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

Terry perhaps the word Xenophobic is a little bit Harsh..Resentment is the word I would have used..

There is this belief that all Farang have a license to print B1,000 notes by the bags full..

I cant find the Baht print button on my computer unfortunately...

I have found in the 13 plus years I've been here, the locals are very nice people to a degree

they never believe that we are not all rich..I think the book Niel wrote in Pattaya "Money No 1"

Sums it up very well, everything here in LOS revolves around MONEY..

Money, Family, and the material possessions, Gold as its tangible, but Wealth..

The Rich locals don't want us friendly good hearted foreign creatures making their subservient

populous aware of basic human rights either, perhaps that's what some con strew as Xenophobic..

duck,

im hearing what you say and anybody who has been around los for more that 30 seconds knows its all about the money.

its like that here in aussy as well, but to say the thais are xenophobic is a ridiculous comment.

there's 60,000,000 of them so there are definately are few, but the majority are not.

only my opinion thou.

well I suggest that you listen to a few posters that have been here a while.(I do not include myself in this either)

How on earth can you say that the majority are not xenophic,when you have not lived here?

[terry57]

i dont live here but busting a leg to get here full time and have been coming to los for the last 20 years 3 times a year.

i have never noticed it.

lets get this narrowed down then,

so is the question aimed at the white farang or is the question in general.

let me know what i need to answer too.

thanks.

Sorry, but i hope for you that you will keep not noticing the rising xeonophobia here once you come to live full time in Thailand. Maybe it's a language issue, as mostly xenophobia is not really in your face here, as not much is in Thailand, but expressed in the here typical subtleties that can be extremely insulting nevertheless if you understand the code.

Regularly encountered certain persistent questions and assumptions about your private affairs regarding your Thai wife, what your Thai wife's former profession might have been in their eyes as no Thai women not of that vocation would ever think of living with a foreigner, or the number of wifes you as a foreigner definately must have is a behavior that people here would never dare to insist upon with a fellow Thai who is not a very closed friend, who might do that in a jokingly matter, but only to a certain degree.

Away from toursit areas, and under themselves Thais are extremely formal people to strangers, and asking certain personal questions is a definate cultural tabu, which increasingly though does not hinder many to change their behavioral pattern when encountering foreigners.

These questions about your personal affairs might sound perfectly innocent curiosity, and often are so, but on many occasions they are not. You will understand that by the choice of words, and the general tone that is more aimed at taking the piss and reconfirming the stereotype of farang being a combination of rich, daft and completely oversexed, and simply not intelligent enough to ever understand Thai cultural nuances.

So far, the extremely ugly violent xenophobia is rarely encountered here, but i fear that in the not too distant future Thailand will catch up there as well with the rest of the world.

And paired with clearly disadvantageous legislations, and by this government more so than the last one even, this is slightly concerning.

when i first came to thailand, i was involved in business for 7 years. the thais used to ask me many questions and still do.

my answer to them is to ask them questions.

does your reasoning about there motives also apply to myself?

i cant agree with your reasoning how there questions relate to being xenophobic or has some sinister undertones.

its just a thai trait to ask lots of questions.

i think they are smart enough to know who is a good farang and who is just a waist of time.

it doesnt take me long to work out who is a good thai and who is a bad thai.

xenophobia is in the mind of a person and not a country as a whole.

racism is exactly the same as its in the mind of the beholder.

many thai would be horrified to think that us falang painted them with this tag.

[terry57]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

Terry perhaps the word Xenophobic is a little bit Harsh..Resentment is the word I would have used..

There is this belief that all Farang have a license to print B1,000 notes by the bags full..

I cant find the Baht print button on my computer unfortunately...

I have found in the 13 plus years I've been here, the locals are very nice people to a degree

they never believe that we are not all rich..I think the book Niel wrote in Pattaya "Money No 1"

Sums it up very well, everything here in LOS revolves around MONEY..

Money, Family, and the material possessions, Gold as its tangible, but Wealth..

The Rich locals don't want us friendly good hearted foreign creatures making their subservient

populous aware of basic human rights either, perhaps that's what some con strew as Xenophobic..

duck,

im hearing what you say and anybody who has been around los for more that 30 seconds knows its all about the money.

its like that here in aussy as well, but to say the thais are xenophobic is a ridiculous comment.

there's 60,000,000 of them so there are definately are few, but the majority are not.

only my opinion thou.

well I suggest that you listen to a few posters that have been here a while.(I do not include myself in this either)

How on earth can you say that the majority are not xenophic,when you have not lived here?

fair enough that i dont live here full time but i feel that i spend enogh time there to make an informed opinion.

i associate with thai and farang and its never been an issue.

i maintain my point that to say that the majority of thai are xenophobic is outragous and incorrect.

i will agree that some definatly are, but no more than what you would find in any country, so what are you guys going on about.?

try pommy land, australia or america and i could go on for ever.

[terry57]

Just walked into a small grocery store in South Phuket near to where I live but never went to that shop before. In front were two Thai ladies sitting on a table, I tried to make eye contact while approaching the door to say Sawad dee ka, but they ignored me then one lady just looked at me and didnt reply to me, nobody was inside. I left my shoes outside and did my shopping and when I am done placed my stuff on the counter but nobody came inside to attend. While I was trying to look outside and check a Thai man came in so one of the ladies finally came inside, too. I think if the Thai man hadn't come inside they wouldn't have cared to attend the counter. Very strange and I was the one being polite, smiling and leaving my shoes outside which I doubt most tourists do and what not. They must be sick of tourists or something.

thats got nothing to do with being xenophobic, and all to do with being pissed off with sexpats in pattaya.

imagine being a decent thai in pattaya and watching some off the farang down there.

tell you the truth id be exactly the same.

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

Terry perhaps the word Xenophobic is a little bit Harsh..Resentment is the word I would have used..

There is this belief that all Farang have a license to print B1,000 notes by the bags full..

I cant find the Baht print button on my computer unfortunately...

I have found in the 13 plus years I've been here, the locals are very nice people to a degree

they never believe that we are not all rich..I think the book Niel wrote in Pattaya "Money No 1"

Sums it up very well, everything here in LOS revolves around MONEY..

Money, Family, and the material possessions, Gold as its tangible, but Wealth..

The Rich locals don't want us friendly good hearted foreign creatures making their subservient

populous aware of basic human rights either, perhaps that's what some con strew as Xenophobic..

duck,

im hearing what you say and anybody who has been around los for more that 30 seconds knows its all about the money.

its like that here in aussy as well, but to say the thais are xenophobic is a ridiculous comment.

there's 60,000,000 of them so there are definately are few, but the majority are not.

only my opinion thou.

well I suggest that you listen to a few posters that have been here a while.(I do not include myself in this either)

How on earth can you say that the majority are not xenophic,when you have not lived here?

fair enough that i dont live here full time but i feel that i spend enogh time there to make an informed opinion.

i associate with thai and farang and its never been an issue.

i maintain my point that to say that the majority of thai are xenophobic is outragous and incorrect.

i will agree that some definatly are, but no more than what you would find in any country, so what are you guys going on about.?

try pommy land, australia or america and i could go on for ever.

[thai_narak]

When I first moved to Thailand, almost twenty years ago, I would say that the general reception of foreigners was almost wholly positive. I have to measure that against the fact that I, and the other foreigners I was working with, were given a number of privileges that came with being employees of a multinational. At that time there were extremely few expats living in Thailand outside those working for multinationals.

So rarity of foreigners actually living in Thailand has to be considered.

However, it was not all good news. The company I work for have in place extremely stringent anti discrimination policies, our policies are the same across all our offices. They need to be since we move employees globally.

This brought about my first encounter of Thai Xenophobia. We had an incident of Thais refusing to work with an Indian member of staff who had been assigned to our Thailand office.

The company response was to add 'Anti Discrimination Practices' to our cross cultural training.

It was clear we needed it, when the issue of 'You are required to work with whoever is assigned to your team regardless of race, religion, gender or age' was raised, we had a group of Thais ranting 'This is Thailand we do Thai way'.

Clearly, the cover they took for their bigotry was to hide their beliefs in 'Thainess'.

Well you take the company money you take the company rules. One of these ranters, was dismissed less than six months for distributing racist cartoons in the office.

But it's not just in the office, sitting on a Bht bus one evening I overheard the driver ask the driver of the bus next to him 'how was he doing for passengers?" - 'Two Thai people and one farang animal was his reply' (If you speak Thai, you'll know the classifier he used and it's implications).

Those are cases, of what I would regard as background racism and xenophobia. I would not regard them as noteworthy beyond that they are an indication of how things where.

Things have got worse.

There was a marked shift in Thai attitudes to foreigners during the financial crisis of the mid 90s. Foreign speculators and foreigners in general where made the scapegoats for the collapse of the Thai economy. The ensuing collapse of work and income for Thais created ill feeling, I experienced this and I know of many others that did too. Perhaps we can understand this, I don't say excuse it, but at least accept that it arose out of extraordinary conditions.

What is not excusable is the use Thaksin made of this atmosphere of increasing dislike of foreigners. He and his Thai Rak Thai party used fear of foreigners as a means to gain political control. Thai Rak Thai played on the growing Xenophobia and racism.

The consequences of that were regularly discussed here on TV.

What where those consequences. Well for one there has been a raft of laws that preclude foreigners from gaining any more rights in Thailand and there has been an increase of animosity towards foreigners.

Back when I first came to Thailand I almost never heard of Thais attacking foreigners, or rather it was such a rare occasion that when it did occur it made the BK Post. The same cannot be said now, attacks of foreigners are common place.

I've not suffered such an attack, I know others who have, but as a Thai speaker I am absolutely aware of the change in the way Thais speak about foreigners.

Yes we can argue that the quality of foreigners turning up in Thailand has dropped and yes that would have an impact on Thai attitudes. But I think it is more than that, post after post on TV and else where asks 'where has the Thai smile gone' or some other reference to Thais no longer being as friendly as they once where.

To deny this is to deny repeated reports from many quarters while to suggest that xenophobia does not exist in Thailand is just plain silly (or out of touch with reality).

My firm belief is that there is an increase in Thai racism and xenophobia and that the reasons for the increase is the use the Thai Rak Thai made of nationalism and xenophobia for the political ends of Thaksin and his henchmen.

I might add, to imbibe the Thais with some super human quality of not being possessed of the self same faults as the rest of humanity is nothing more than the flip side of the racism coin – The intellectual failing is the same, to attribute qualities (negative or otherwise) on the basis of race. It’s the kind of feeble thinking that comes from a lack of real knowledge and experience of Thailand, its people and culture.

great post.

this so called thai rak thai party (leader) has just sold the thais to singapore because they love the thais so much...

[robint]

Guesthouse

great summary with which I fully concur

I too am a golden resident of 20+ years and have certainly seen a significant decline in courtesy and respect for the legitimate foreigner (funny how that word has such a perjorative use even in the BKK post and Nation - you might expect them to know better?? but thats my point)

Mr T has certainly demonstrate an extreme xenophobic role model. This trait is very noticeable among young bangkok people. Their manners and selfish materialistic behaviour are generally appalling (but before someone pipes up about any other big city, London, New York blah blah) We are talking about a serious decline in attitudes towards we westerners - this coupled with rank stupidity of the education system and the total ignorance of young people about the outside world. Its a nasty brew that portends badly for their future economy ie contrast that with Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong S Korea, Taiwan. People there are far too busy making money and prospering.

Its very obvious that Vietnam and Southern China will soon overtake Thailand yet the Thais are too blinkered to realise that true partnerships with the secretely hated flangs is their only way forward (unless they would like to partner with the aforesaid entities - I have to laugh at that prospect - though I darresay Mr T wouldnt foregive my impertinent insight - if you are having a little trouble with your date rape, get your friends to help 555)

Xenophobia is here to stay and flourishing secretly and poisonously

My personal view is to maintain a protective distance from the locals certainly in bkk, and a more discrete reserve when i go upcountry to wife's village - even my wife agrees with my sentiment and she doesnt like thais much either.

good luck guesthouse

[psychedelix47]

but i must say that NOT all the thai are like this in pattaya and one must expect it when they are a bit dark.

That's an obstuse remark.

"a bit dark" ? What are you on about, dude?

[Jet Gorgon]

Oh, Dear. You men do blather on. Can't you be short and snappy with your rants? My local hornets drone faster than you.

My take: People get scared when strange people enter their territory. Strange people help the local economy, are kind and trusting, all's ok. Mess up, and the boot comes out.

Now, let's go clean the beach together.