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Eye-contact In The Street

simon43

By simon43
in General Topics

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simon43 Star Member

simon43

Posted
Posted

Whilst I am in BKK on a short sojourn from my wife, I have noticed something rather alarming!

5 years ago when I first arrived in BKK, a stroll down busy Silom Road would result in all manner of pretty (and not so pretty) women making eye contact with me and smiling. Of course, this was just a demonstration of the Thai friendliness towards a handsome man :o

Now, when I walk down the same street, all the pretty (and not so pretty) women steadfastly refuse to make eye contact or smile at me.

What is the reason for this? I guess it must be one of the following:

- I have grown even more handsome, and they are all too shy to look at me (possible..... maybe)

- I have grown old, fat and ugly, and all the women are scared of this grinning weirdo (cannot possibly be...)

- Thai people have grown accustomed to seeing 'farang' everywhere, and don't have to smile all the time

- Thai people are getting p*ssed off with all these farang, and the welcome is wearing rather thin

I would go for the first option, but I fear it is not true!

Unfortunately, I fear it is option 4 :D

Has anyone else noticed this alarming situation?

Simon

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h90 Star Member

h90

Posted
Posted
Whilst I am in BKK on a short sojourn from my wife, I have noticed something rather alarming!

5 years ago when I first arrived in BKK, a stroll down busy Silom Road would result in all manner of pretty (and not so pretty) women making eye contact with me and smiling. Of course, this was just a demonstration of the Thai friendliness towards a handsome man :D

Now, when I walk down the same street, all the pretty (and not so pretty) women steadfastly refuse to make eye contact or smile at me.

What is the reason for this? I guess it must be one of the following:

- I have grown even more handsome, and they are all too shy to look at me (possible..... maybe)

- I have grown old, fat and ugly, and all the women are scared of this grinning weirdo (cannot possibly be...)

- Thai people have grown accustomed to seeing 'farang' everywhere, and don't have to smile all the time

- Thai people are getting p*ssed off with all these farang, and the welcome is wearing rather thin

I would go for the first option, but I fear it is not true!

Unfortunately, I fear it is option 4 :D

Has anyone else noticed this alarming situation?

Simon

If you can post a pic of yourself?

I don't want to tell too much, but you know....5 years..... you know.... a long time.....you know.....we all don't get younger :o:D :D

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h90 Star Member

h90

Posted
Posted

Well if you are interested, give me your emailadress and I set the server spam protection on forward to your adress...

In my experience there is a lot of promotion for different enlargement and hardening products :o you would get a good choose of maybe 3000 offers per day....

Good idea?

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canuckamuck Diamond Member

canuckamuck

Posted
Posted

BKK's a big busy city, farangs are a dime a dozen these days.

If your looking for grinning country bumpkins, there's plenty in them thar hills out yonder.

Personally I avoid Bangkok at all costs, life's too short to spend in traffic.

Where's your wife doing her sojourn?

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kratindaeng Silver Member

kratindaeng

Posted
Posted
I still remember that feeling when they said the first time "Papa" to me,

may be it's ur turn now

[\quote]Ooohh the misery!! How the truth hurts!! Where's my Botox??

you and me both, the truth hurts, we aint gettin' any younger for sure. It used to be 'Hello Handsome mannnnnnnnn where you go'? Now all i get is 'Hey you, get ya face fixed farang!!' (ok that was a lie, but you catch my drift!

KD :o

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h90 Star Member

h90

Posted
Posted
I had some excellent advice for Simon, but my post was deleted. :o

Yes I wounder since when the mods delete posts without telling something. Like keep the post but delete the text.

Just deleting it is like changing the past in 1984...

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bkkmadness Platinum Member

bkkmadness

Posted
Posted
none of the above ,

reality is there's not a lot to smile about at the moment ................................

Probably this is it...

No it isn't, the Thais are happy and buzzing about doing their things as usual.

I read these posts a lot "I was here 2 years ago, the Thais were happier they all smiled at me then", "I was here 5 years ago the Thais were happier they all smiled at me then" etc .

In reality the Thais haven't changed, you have, rose tinted glasses become clearer, you become more sensitive to the Thai people's action around you and so on.

If 1 girl out a 100 smiled at you when you first come here you would think, 'Great what happy smiling people'. Now you get the same 1 in 100 people smile at you and you complain that before it used to be 2 in 100. :o

A badly made point but I'm sure you get the drift, nostalgia of the those first months in Thailand clouds your judgement.

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bkkmadness Platinum Member

bkkmadness

Posted
Posted
No it isn't, the Thais are happy and buzzing about doing their things as usual.

who's got the rose coloured glasses ................................. :o

This is not the first time Thais have been through coups and political upheaval and it's probably will not be the last.

Do you really think the average office worker in Silom is walking down the road unable to manage a smile because of the political situation?

I don't think so, and I've always found the Thais manage to smile even in times of worry.

The Thais I know certainly know how to smile enough anyway. :D

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bkkmadness Platinum Member

bkkmadness

Posted
Posted (edited)
Thai consumer confidence plunges to five-year low

Thu, March 8, 2007

Agence France-Presse

no need to take my word ....................

Mid, I don't think girls are not smiling at Simon43 anymore because of political unrest in the south and other political turmoil.

Rather than just reading a report on it I also like to take into account my own experiences and I would say from the Thais I know the smiles still seem to be there. I haven't noticed any major depression yet and though I agree there are some worries now it doesn't seem to stop them smiling.

Honestly, have your Thai friends stopped smiling?

Edited by bkkmadness
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bkkmadness Platinum Member

bkkmadness

Posted
Posted
Honestly, have your Thai friends stopped smiling?

stopped no , noticeable decrease yes ...................

We might have to agree to disagree on this point because we are having different experiences.

I'd still say though that Simon43 is not getting smiled at for other reasons though, perhaps he's just got that married man smell to him now. :o

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Mid Ruby Member

Mid

Posted
Posted
I'd still say though that Simon43 is not getting smiled at for other reasons though, perhaps he's just got that married man smell to him now.

that's common ground to leave it on .........................................

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undercover Silver Member

undercover

Posted
Posted (edited)

I remember how we used to smile at the first pakistanis that came to the uk.

A few years later we took up paki bashing, a game we invented to beat the shit out of them !

I can sympathize with that comment about now being called pappa, happens to me all the time now, I think its because up untill a couple of years ago we were the young men, now with the flod of young guys here the girls now know there is farang younger than 50.

Edited by undercover
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Austhaied Platinum Member

Austhaied

Posted
Posted
none of the above ,

reality is there's not a lot to smile about at the moment ................................

Probably this is it...

No it isn't, the Thais are happy and buzzing about doing their things as usual.

I read these posts a lot "I was here 2 years ago, the Thais were happier they all smiled at me then", "I was here 5 years ago the Thais were happier they all smiled at me then" etc .

In reality the Thais haven't changed, you have, rose tinted glasses become clearer, you become more sensitive to the Thai people's action around you and so on.

If 1 girl out a 100 smiled at you when you first come here you would think, 'Great what happy smiling people'. Now you get the same 1 in 100 people smile at you and you complain that before it used to be 2 in 100. :o

A badly made point but I'm sure you get the drift, nostalgia of the those first months in Thailand clouds your judgement.

You are the one in fantasy land mate. I know at least 100 friends and work mates here at the moment and 100 % of them agree the Thais are keeping a very low profile at the moment...The OP is accurate in his/her observation of the current situation. I do think in time it will turn around for the better again..I hope. :D

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Casanundra Silver Member

Casanundra

Posted
Posted (edited)

Smile and the world smiles back.

They may think you are mad but they are still smiling none the less.

The reason why so many appear not to be smiling is because the farang coming the other way is more often than not being a right old misery guts with a face like thunder. So ask yourself, would you smile if someone was coming the other way looking like that? Me thinks not.

The people in my soi are always smiling, the people at work are always smiling, my wife is always smiling, I am always smiling (it's the wind) and I ain't got any rose tinted glasses either, just dark ones. Anyone seen my stick?

BY the way, people in our soi like prunes so maybe that's the secret.

Edited by Casanundra
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bkkmadness Platinum Member

bkkmadness

Posted
Posted
You are the one in fantasy land mate. I know at least 100 friends and work mates here at the moment and 100 % of them agree the Thais are keeping a very low profile at the moment.

I'm not saying that things are a little different at the moment, but I still don't think this is the reason why Simon is not getting smiled at by girls in the Silom. Any chance it could be a different reason?

As I said I know plenty of Thais myself, yes there are worries, no they haven't stopped smiling.

And I don't really get the 'low profile' bit, how do Thais keep a low profile in Bangkok? Does keeping a low profile mean stop smiling?

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