Do you like Thai people?

[spidermike007]

Yes, I like Thai people very much. They have alot of qualities I really admire. First and foremost is their lightness of being. Most Thais I encounter are simply not burdened by all the weight we Westerners carry around with us. One can make all kinds of arguments as to why that is, but the reality is, that must be a pleasant way to live. Also, they tend to be more present, and less focused on the past or the future. I love that too. I encounter alot of Thai people that are kind, humorous, positive, and pleasant.

 

And there is a percentage of the Thai youth, that are far more promising, and far more active in politics and engaged, than their counterparts in the West. They are the future of this nation, and I find them encouraging. I do believe that eventually they will end up ousting the useless army, and move this nation forward. 

 

 

[Aforek]

If we stop thinking  like westerners, and accept Thai as they are, we can live together

they accept me , I accept them and I don't ask them something they can't offer,  and life is easy and nice here 

[Nyezhov]

12 minutes ago, CaptainNemo said:

Nope, they came up to me... why don't you read more carefully before spouting off

Spout off? Lol. cranky we are

[Saltire]

So far after a compartively short time living here (2 to 3 years) I do like the Thai paople. Mainly because no Thai person has ever said or done anything to make me 'hate' them. Sure I have had frustrations with administration and customer service/sales issues, bureaucatic hoops to jump through etc. My brother in law who lives with us was a former abbot for a very long time. A quieter, more placid, peace-loving man you'd be hard pushed to meet. However when I am in the passenger seat of our car, I am pretty sure it will be my last trip ever, and usually insist to 'give him a break' with me driving home. I still like him though.

 

I would admit to having no real Thai friends due only to not being very proficient in Thai. I feel I will never really get to know anyone untill that improves, which it will albeit slowly, and anyway, I read with interest a few posters saying fluency in Thai changed their perception for the worse. I am happy here, I have no enemies I know of, but still exercise an element of caution when dealing with some Thai. Even in my small village there are 2 convicted murderers (one double) and one pedophile walking around.

[BritManToo]

27 minutes ago, Saltire said:

My brother in law who lives with us was a former abbot for a very long time. A quieter, more placid, peace-loving man you'd be hard pushed to meet.

I would admit to having no real Thai friends due only to not being very proficient in Thai.

Just wait until you discover he isn't really her brother.

When you learn the language, you will dislike them even more.

 

For both your statements, ignorance is bliss.

Edited September 18, 2019 by BritManToo

[poohy]

It depends

I have 5/6 good Thai male friends in Bangkok who i have worked with for a long time

2 own their own travel companies

one a musician the other an artist , travel guide and another a translator

All worked for me in my travel business all are Thammasat students so all a little bohemian and certainly outward forward thinking Their thoughts on institutions and government would probably not go down to well

So yes beers and a night out in Bangkok with them is great fun

BUT A night out with locals in and around my house would not be fun and certainly would not happen. 

 

In general theres good and bad i am pretty much indifferent we are obviously different cultures and probably will never assimilate and its much easier to deal with like minded people whatever the nationality

[rumak]

  1 hour ago, ThaiWai said:

My soi has no name............

Epic rant. (BM2)

 

I also think it was a hit song many years ago.... (Rumak)

[Saltire]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Just wait until you discover he isn't really her brother.

When you learn the language, you will dislike them even more.

 

For both your statements, ignorance is bliss.

Well they are so alike they could be twins so no doubts there lol.

[ThomasThBKK]

18 minutes ago, poohy said:

It depends

I have 5/6 good Thai male friends in Bangkok who i have worked with for a long time

2 own their own travel companies

one a musician the other an artist , travel guide and another a translator

All worked for me in my travel business all are Thammasat students so all a little bohemian and certainly outward forward thinking Their thoughts on institutions and government would probably not go down to well

So yes beers and a night out in Bangkok with them is great fun

BUT A night out with locals in and around my house would not be fun and certainly would not happen. 

 

In general theres good and bad i am pretty much indifferent we are obviously different cultures and probably will never assimilate and its much easier to deal with like minded people whatever the nationality

Yeah but that's normal, you always surround yourself with like minded people from a similar background and a similar style of life. If you have nothing in common with someone there's nothing much to even talk about. It's similar in rural areas in europe or the US.

[Jingthing]

That included unsourced rant post in the OP was very extreme and in no way represents a significant percentage of foreigners here.

It's rather cynical and unfair of the OP to try to paint foreigners in general with that very dark post. In my view her intentions sound similarly dark as that rant. To stir up some major sheit.

That said there were grains of truth in the rant.

Such as calling the culture here anti intellectual. I think that's true. One example.

Personally I kind of relate to the French. Hate all people including your own people and you won't be disappointed.



Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[CaptainNemo]

1 hour ago, Nyezhov said:

Spout off? Lol. cranky we are

Well, I could call it a premature ejaculation, but that might be misinterpreted.

 

1 hour ago, Saltire said:

So far after a compartively short time living here (2 to 3 years) I do like the Thai paople. Mainly because no Thai person has ever said or done anything to make me 'hate' them.

...

 

I would admit to having no real Thai friends due only to not being very proficient in Thai. I feel I will never really get to know anyone untill that improves, which it will albeit slowly, and anyway, I read with interest a few posters saying fluency in Thai changed their perception for the worse. I am happy here, I have no enemies I know of, but still exercise an element of caution when dealing with some Thai. Even in my small village there are 2 convicted murderers (one double) and one pedophile walking around.

eh?! nice village.

 

In general I find most Thais are friendly and playful, in stark contrast to most Vietnamese and Chinese I've met. I've had bad experiences with Sino-Thais (and it's a Chinese subculture thing across SEAsia I think), and sometimes you rub up against prickly people in Thailand who deal with foreigners a lot, in transport-related things. Being able to speak Thai/Isan helps a lot though.

Not sure I could really be bothered to talk to many Thai or Lao geezers beyond some transaction, I just don't find many have much interesting to say after the smalltalk, even in their own language.

I've also had bad experiences with Japanese, which isn't helped by speaking their language, and I generally quite like Japan. Koreans I had a lot of exposure to as well, and socialised with them a lot, but in the bigger picture I find them pretty inaccessible. Indonesians I have encountered a lot, and the mostly the men I find to be generally alright, but only the men. To generalise further, I find Cambodians and Burmese I find easygoing and interesting to talk to. British people, I generally can't stand ????

[NCC1701A]

5 hours ago, Yinn said:

I know not all farang the same. Every country have good and bad people. Most people are good.

Good morning Yinn how are you today? thank you for taking the time to write this topic.

 

have you been outside of Thailand? I mean to a western country? Have you experienced what we call "culture shock"?

It would give you some perspective on this issue.

 

can i ask you how did it make you feel to state your anger and disappointment with farang (white people)? better?

i think you will find many farangs (white people) come here to vent their anger and tell their mostly sad stories here on TV. 

Sometimes it is silly like talking about shopping at Home Pro and sometimes it is very serious like having horrible problems with their Thai girlfriend or wife.

 

99% of the time i have no problems with Thais, but I will tell you when i have anger towards the Thai people. On the highways. There almost daily someone tries to kill me on my motorcycle just so they can be in front of me. I am not exaggerating. The aggression Thais show each other constantly by following too closely and the constant and totally unnecessary need to get in front of the person that is in front of them. Constantly speeding and passing in a unsafe way. This behavior is a reflection of your country and how little respect Thais have for each other, themselves, and their families. It makes me sad but at the same time I accept the responsibility of being here and it was a choice I made when I decided to retire here.

 

Want to hear something funny? My number two gripe about Thailand is the lack of a proper third wire electric ground. I have a electronics background and you can't believe how upsetting it is to me how dangerous the electric is here. Farangs like things done properly. And it makes me sad when I see stories about Thai children being electrocuted because of substandard wiring. See? I feel better now "talking" about it. 

 

And in case you are wondering how Farangs (white people) all feel about each other, just ask someone from the UK how they REALLY feel about Germans or the French, or Americans about Russians who have nuclear weapons pointed at the USA, (and the other way around) or people from the UK who call me a "bloody Yank" (I love that one)or class warfare like so called low class people versus people with some money and education. And lets not even get started with the Communist Chinese. It is a bottomless pit.   

Anyway I hope you have a good day.

 

 

 

     

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by NCC1701A

[NCC1701A]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

That included unsourced rant post in the OP was very extreme and in no way represents a significant percentage of foreigners here.

It's rather cynical and unfair of the OP to try to paint foreigners in general with that very dark post. In my view her intentions sound similarly dark as that rant. To stir up some major sheit.

That said there were grains of truth in the rant.

Such as calling the culture here anti intellectual. I think that's true. One example.

Personally I kind of relate to the French. Hate all people including your own people and you won't be disappointed.



Sent from my Lenovo A7020a48 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

 

[Mattd]

The reference to the differences between being a tourist and living here is bang on in my opinion.

I have lived in Thailand for 30 years, worked here for the last 20 of those 30 years, been married to a Thai, had two sons, unfortunately experiencing one of the bad parts of Thailand in that one of them lost his life in a motorbike accident.

Do I complain about Thais / Thailand, yes, of course I do, but not in a hating way, my complaints are generally based on wanting to improve things and feeling frustration at not being able to etc. etc. By human nature we make comparisons, sometimes without taking in to account cultural differences etc. etc.

There is good and bad in every country, whether it be people or the system, when visiting on a holiday it doesn't bother people that much, when living in a country and it has an effect on your daily life, then you start to complain, I'd complain no more or less in my home country than I would here, it just wouldn't necessarily be about the same things.

So in answer to your question, yes, on the whole I do like Thai people, even if some annoy me sometimes ???? 

 

[Chazar]

This  will be yet another  topic from the OP that  only garners her view of Thailand and anything  else is unwanted partly I imagine due to the education system, where any direct questions go unanswered no  matter " how politely" ( which appears to be her overriding  priority)  they are  put to her.

I asked  about checks  and  balances on another thread and then yesterday fake facebook  posts appeared where some people may already have sent  money to the  cause hence my concern on donating any money to anything, but was asked to believe "he  is good  guy"  was enough to send money.

The next ploy is to switch any questions to "your own country same same" yet Im on a  Thai forum discussing Thailand so  I try to stick to that country.

The op thinks some of  us think our  own country is paradise I know it isnt and nowhere is.

 

The views expressed on TV come from people's  own experiences of life in Thailand and as  such they will  be  varied and complex and as an outsider  always stronger.

 If you got  ripped off anywhere in the world once you would think nothing of it but if  it  happened several times you might start to think differently, and before   anyone goes there, no I haven't been ripped  off.

 

So  Ill give you my view on Thailand, its  always going to be a problem anywhere where  corruption is rampant where its too easy to get away with  avoiding repercussions, where law enforcement comes at whatever you  can afford to pay or  not  pay.

This  all lets a  population  do many things they should  not, given the chance many will take and abuse that, not only do Thais do this to foreigners they are  happy to do it amongst themselves shamelessly and at a  higher rate than if there was enforcement of  rules.

 

Ive  found a lot of people in my  village to be tittle  tattler's ( that  will be a  word for you to understand) endless  gossipers who literally make stuff  up out of thin  air, been accused of  many things over the years, theft of water,   illegal  cutting down of trees, land  theft, (none of which were true) even repairing the roads they complained  about............... yet  they didnt complain when they asked me for a  few  thousand baht to help fix a  water pipe, the 40k baht they wanted for a new  water  pump, the bicycles I gave to the local school to give away for pupils who tried  hard,

 

Had neighbours ask for help and let my lawyer help them for free at my cost ( one neighbour fighting another of land theft) and  my Wifes  half a day spent driving him to govt  offices only to find later when we  were falsely accused of something that the  same neighbour was the first in the  village to complain about this my Wife had to point out this to him at the time.

 

Now they are  losing water in the  village and several  villagers  say "farang"  is  stealing it, 8  people  turned up at my gate  including head  of  village and Orbotor to "interrogate" us, again proved wrong, (have own self sufficient water  supply)  no apology and later I hear they found 5 of  the  villagers  had been found stealing it.

 

Then at the other end of the spectrum  Ive had Thai friends who would  fall  over backwards to help me a  Wife who thinks  a lot of Thailand and the people  are "very bad" and she deals with Thais  all day in her  job, many lazy, inconsiderate, selfish etc.

My opinion of  Thais is therefore  based on my experiences and Id  say the rate of bad to good is a lot higher here than other countries I have visited.

Are they all bad , of  course  not but id  say a higher proportion than in other places Ive been.

The govt, dont even go there, Future Forward should be the party  running the country anyone else  currently are  just a disgrace.

Thai people are  no different to any people they are just

"people"

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=tittle+tattle&pws=0&gl=us&gws_rd=cr

Edited September 18, 2019 by Chazar

[Chazar]

15 minutes ago, Mattd said:

complaints are generally based on wanting to improve things and feeling frustration at not being able to etc. etc

best quote ever.

[Berkshire]

5 minutes ago, Chazar said:

21 minutes ago, Mattd said:

complaints are generally based on wanting to improve things and feeling frustration at not being able to etc. etc

best quote ever.

But seriously, couldn't we all say the same about our home countries?  I know I could about the USA.

[CharlieH]

Just now, Berkshire said:

But seriously, couldn't we all say the same about our home countries?  I know I could about the USA.

Yes, but in our home countries etc, we have a voice, we can lobby etc, we have the vote and so on, here you have no voice, and in some circumstances would even be very dangerous to voice anything.

[Chazar]

1 minute ago, Berkshire said:

But seriously, couldn't we all say the same about our home countries?  I know I could about the USA.

But we  arent in our  own countries, and of course yes, but for me the difference is in the quantity

[tomazbodner]

It's not about what nationality someone is... or what gender, skin colour, hair colour, blood group or whatever else people use to differentiate on. There are nice and not so nice people in every country on the Planet. Generally people mingle with those that are similar in personality and interests to themselves. So those who hate people around them should take a good look at themselves.

That said, anonymous forums (everywhere, not just this one) are where people vent their anger, frustrations, and misery of their own lives. People are far less "phak maa" when they can't hide behind the anonymous curtain. You can be certain that the same person quoted in OP's opener would not dare to say that in face, and probably not in a video call either.

 

It's sad that often people treat their frustrations by bashing others on forums. But that doesn't mean everyone is like that. And likely, many people are completely different in real life than what they appear in their online personality.

[Berkshire]

1 minute ago, CharlieH said:

Yes, but in our home countries etc, we have a voice, we can lobby etc, we have the vote and so on, here you have no voice, and in some circumstances would even be very dangerous to voice anything.

Sorry Charlie, but that's largely an illusion.  There are many, MANY things about the USA that I'm unhappy with.  And there is absolutely nothing that I can do about it.  I mean nothing that will result in any real change. 

[metempsychotic]

5 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:

They REALLY want Thailand to fail, they happy when Thai people die in the flood, on motorcycle, murder.

 

Total BS...however, the comment about thinking more of your dog than a farang is apparent in the way many Thais treat farangs...

 

Your rant revealed more about you than disgruntled farangs...IMHO   ????

funny how one word can really change and twist an entire sentence to fit your own agenda and bias.

 

6 hours ago, Yinn said:

We not talk about how we hate farang. We think/ care about what our family, friends, neighbor do. We think more about our pet. 

I have highlighted and underlined what the OP actually said, as opposed to what you imagine caused you offense.

As for the rest,  they are actual quotes, and many of them ring familiar as common thai visa tropes.

the op has a very valid question i would say.

 

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, CaptainNemo said:

 

Nope, they came up to me... why don't you read more carefully before spouting off?

 

From my experience, I've met as many farang who lie more often than not, in farang countries themselves.

I can't really say with any certainty that lying is more prevalent in SEAsia. Perhaps "face saving" is more ingrained here, but forms of it exist in the west... "being cool", and smearing/self-aggrandising at work.

 

 

It's part of Asian culture to tell someone what the subject thinks they want to hear. Might hark back to the days when messengers were killed for bearing bad news.

I've found if I add on several hours, days or weeks on to what I am given as an estimate of time, I am sometimes pleasantly surprised.

[Chazar]

2 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Generally people mingle with those that are similar in personality and interests to themselves

But when you get into a  taxi you cant choose  the driver and if  you get ripped off several times it doesnt bode well for how a  country appears to you, many interactions  cannot be chosen.

[CharlieH]

An inflammatory personal remark and subsequent response have been removed.

[Airalee]

Just now, Chazar said:

A product of the educational system, although she probably thinks I hate her I do  not in any way, hating her views and hating her are two different matters same with many posters.

I didn’t say I hated her.  Just don’t like her very much.  She doesn’t come across as a very likable person in most threads.

[Curt1591]

5 hours ago, Yinn said:

Show me where Thai people write this thing about foreigner.

Show me one example. I never see it. I read a lot.

"They eat potatoes; we eat rice." PM Gen. Prayut

I don't read Thai forums. My statement is based on the Thais I know and our discussions on the subject.
But, Thais are not likely to "write" such things. They are much more likely to talk this <deleted> behind peoples' backs (This I have witnessed many times).
Ironically, my wife, Thai, is the one who dislikes and doesn't trust many Thais! She has much more experience than me.

[Lacessit]

12 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Yes, but in our home countries etc, we have a voice, we can lobby etc, we have the vote and so on, here you have no voice, and in some circumstances would even be very dangerous to voice anything.

Are you serious? Most politicians in Western countries are bought and paid for by various lobby groups. Ones with far more cash than you or I. Voice until the cows come home, it won't change anything. You really think your individual vote will bring about a shift in policy?

[gunderhill]

2 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Are you serious? Most politicians in Western countries are bought and paid for by various lobby groups. Ones with far more cash than you or I. Voice until the cows come home, it won't change anything. You really think your individual vote will bring about a shift in policy?

But at least you can choose  who you buy in your  home country.

[Yinn]

5 hours ago, nikmar said:

there's good and bad wherever you go, nationality is of no importance.

The guy I quote. Is importance with him. Sure