I've heard that sometimes when Thais smile, they don't actually mean it. I've had Thais try to scam me and they were smiling in a way that was obviously not friendly. In my experience, Thais are in the middle, more easygoing than Japanese and much more polite than the Chinese, but not as polite as Taiwanese or friendly as Vietnamese.
I didn't mean to imply all Thais dislike tourists but that it seems a lot do. I've met a few very polite and friendly Thais too.
 

How were they trying to scam you?

4 hours ago, koimiloi said:

Those guys outside my hotel were staff of the other hotels on the street, not tourists. As the street I stayed on was practically deserted at night, they were hanging outside doing nothing. 

 

I've heard that sometimes when Thais smile, they don't actually mean it. I've had Thais try to scam me and they were smiling in a way that was obviously not friendly. In my experience, Thais are in the middle, more easygoing than Japanese and much more polite than the Chinese, but not as polite as Taiwanese or friendly as Vietnamese.
I didn't mean to imply all Thais dislike tourists but that it seems a lot do. I've met a few very polite and friendly Thais too.

 

Not as friendly as Vietnamese? Vietnamese are rude as heck, and while there are friendly people there too, rarely does a Vietnamese person smile at a stranger like Thais (and Cambodians and Burmese) do.

8 hours ago, mogandave said:

 

How were they trying to scam you?

 

I've had tuktuk drivers trying to get me to go on a cheap tour or offering me fares that I later found out would be massively inflated. I've had bar staff give me bills with an extra 100 or 200. To be fair, when I pointed out the mistake and kept on insisting it was wrong, they would back down but they would never say sorry. 

 

5 hours ago, jimster said:

Not as friendly as Vietnamese? Vietnamese are rude as heck, and while there are friendly people there too, rarely does a Vietnamese person smile at a stranger like Thais (and Cambodians and Burmese) do.

A lot of Vietnamese can seem surly but unlike the Thais who I described in my post at the beginning of this thread, they never glare. The ones who I met such as hotel staff, tour guides, and student volunteers were really talkative and friendly. Their English were good for non-natives and we actually had conversations. I found the women to be interested in how I found Hanoi/Saigon, etc and the men would often be very humorous.
For instance, often, when I returned to my hotels in Hanoi and Saigon, the receptionist might ask how was my day and did I enjoy the places (and in good English). Contrast that with Thailand where not only do most people who worked in the hotels I stayed at not speak good English or speak to you, but even when I asked questions, they would reply with curt answers. Referring to my original post, I stayed at a hotel in southern Thailand for several days and  I would often ask the staff about the night market or hiring a motorbike. They would answer my questions but they would never ask about my day or how I found the attractions I went to. I sensed a kind of disdainful and mocking attitude from them like 'would this stupid tourist stop asking us things.' Mind you, I was 1 of only 2 or 3 persons staying there during that entire time so it couldn't have been they were too busy.

Cambodians seemed nicer than Thais and Burmese more polite. Typing out all that sure did bring back some good memories of Vietnam. I like Thailand but I find Vietnam to be the most fascinating SE Asian country I've been to.

On 8/4/2018 at 4:57 PM, mogandave said:

 

And all the money the government spends it takes from the citizenry one way or another.

Assuming the bottom did not drop out completely, a steady decline in tourism would not be a huge problem.

 

I would like to see how Thailand reacts to a steady decline of tourists. Part of my post was to ask why they don't curb their reliance on tourism. As it is, they are planning to build more airports for tourists and trying to reassure the Chinese so they don't stop coming.