Change of Thai attitude since Anutin Twitter outburst

[Skallywag]

Everyone has their own reaction and panic level.  We are all racist to some extent.  Some Thais may have heard it is more likely to get infected from foreigners, so are acting accordingly.  A lot of misinformation and fear mongering out there.   

 

Social distancing is recommended.  I still go get groceries and eat at restaurants, but am careful to not touch face, wash all items when get home from grocery.  Restaurants I tend to eat outdoors, so stay away from being in an enclosed area in case someone coughs or sneezes.  Carry hand sanitizer with me at all times and wear a mask when amongst people indoors 

Keep hands clean, touch as little as possible, and do not touch your face is best prevention

Stay safe people

Peace

 

[samtam]

As a matter of course, I have avoided going for massage for 2+ months because I fear for my own health and exposure to masseurs who have been exposed to customers about whose health status they know nothing. I have a severe neck and back problem, but I can cope with it. Ditto any visit to the doctor for my annual check up, and my six monthly dental hygienist; I am avoiding these sorts of places until the situation becomes clearer, as they (especially hospitals), are likely to have had Covid-19 carriers. Hospitals and dental practices will survive, but massage establishments, small hospitality businesses etc are likely to fare much less well in the recession that is coming.  

Edited March 15, 2020 by samtam

[sungod]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

Only that most of my Thai friends seem to be posting more comments about him being deranged 

Yes, guys I know are either embarrassed or have no idea who he is!

 

Others put the blame squarely on the Chinese!

 

 

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, petermik said:

If they treated me like this I would never set foot in the place again......

I’ve already made it clear I will never return. 
 

[Dumbastheycome]

7 minutes ago, mngmn said:

Examples?

"White Australia Policy", Howard era, Michael Daley..........

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

Probably only needed for you or wife to say, he lives here and hasnt travelled anywhere, Its a reasonable assumption if not corrected that a "foreigner" may have just arrived for all they know, and are just being cautious.

That’s unlikely as I was in there last week for a massage so they know I hadnt just arrived.  Their change in attitude arrived coincidently with the tweet for Anutin on or around the 14 th. 

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, CNXexpat said:

I wonder why they are so afraid of sick farangs. There are NO corona cases with farangs in Thailand. Most are Thais. So they should cancel all appointments with Thais.

That was my point exactly. If they have fear, why is it only with ferangs? Why don’t they just stop work.......or are they brainwashed  

Edited March 15, 2020 by Kadilo

[Kadilo]

1 hour ago, Puchaiyank said:

I'm sorry your Thai massage story did not have a happy ending...????

It was only a matter of time. ????

[Lacessit]

I'm going about life as normal in Chiang Rai. The Night bazaar has been closed, Songkhran won't happen. I don't have any problem with using sanitiser or having my temperature taken at Big C. I'd rather know if I have a problem than ignore it. I wear a mask because the air here is the pits. The air purifier in my room is on 24/7. My massage lady is grateful for the work.

Many Thais are short of money here, no work. Some restaurants have been empty for weeks, especially the more expensive ones. The strong impression I get from my GF and other Thais is they would like to see Prayut and the rest of his government take a long walk off a short pier, because they are doing nothing to help.

[Susco]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

Today when she called she was informed that from the 14th they were not massaging and ferangs because of the fears of catching Coronavirus. 

I read this as if they have stopped massaging all together, not only foreigners

[SteveK]

Anutin knows that he can say whatever he wants because he is the leader of the Bhumjaithai party, which in essence makes him unsackable no matter what he does. I wouldn't be surprised if what he says is the tip of the iceberg regarding the government's attitude towards westerners, and the more bile he spews about us, the more likely is that the Thais will start to feel justified in being more overtly racist towards farangs.

 

So he isn't going anywhere soon. And I suspect he will say something else about farangs in the weeks to come, especially now that China is actively trying to shift the blame for the coronavirus onto the USA/Europe. On one hand you've got almost daily stories about the woes of the Thai tourism industry (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51796812), and on the other, you've got this seniopr government minister with an obvious chip on his shoulder making these disgustingly racist comments. Either the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, or more likely, there is a severe lack of brainpower here.

[Kadilo]

2 minutes ago, Susco said:

I read this as if they have stopped massaging all together, not only foreigners

No, just ferangs otherwise business as usual. Apologies, typo, should say “any” not “and”

[Boomer6969]

1 hour ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

epicenter of the pundemic

Hope you didn't mean puntemic. No pun intended.

[JHolmesJr]

1 hour ago, samsensam said:

he then indicated i had to use gel on my hands, which i was happy to do, however he was not requiring thais to use the gel... ho hum...

 

Because they might end up stealing the entire bottle ....ho hum...

[Peterbilt]

1 hour ago, ThaiBunny said:

Most people have an attention span of 24 hours at best

Unfortunately this is correct.
I remember when in Germany virtually nobody was traveling to Turkey or Egypt.
But a few months later and massive luring with dumping prices the lemmings were back ....

Edited March 15, 2020 by Peterbilt

[4MyEgo]

2 hours ago, Kadilo said:

In isolation although quite insulting, this is not gonna change my world and is no bigee but what next?

In isolation are we, i.e. the whole family, in Isaan, we are staying away from Thai's, only going out to buy groceries, suffice to say, we know it's the Thai's that contracted the virus from Chinese or returning from South Korea, Japan, Italy etc etc, and for this dipstick wanna be so called minister spreading xenophobia about, well, there are always two sides of the coins.

 

Just yesterday my sister-in-laws were at a temple, dancing, drinking and getting drunk, kids with them, big enough crowd, and they wonder why my Mrs has locked the front gate.

 

To answer your questions in short, I still get looks when doing grocery shopping, I am assuming it's from my good looks and not because I am not wearing a mask ????

 

Edited March 15, 2020 by 4MyEgo

[BeltAndRoad]

1 hour ago, mngmn said:

Although if you live in Thailand, I expect you have no idea what a ballot box is as they are rather unusual there.

 

Your funny, your referring to a balot box as some beacon of democracy right?  Even the Congo roll out a balot box now and then.  Can you tell me if you are able to vote for the people at the Australian Reserve Bank that control monetary policy at these balot box's?  Because if you cant then that would suggest that the Australian Reserve Bank and Australia's money supply has been privatized.  Privatize the money supply, not sure where i've heard that before. Oh yeah Karl Marx's communist manifesto.

[holy cow cm]

I would expect a lot of foreigner racial profiling due to this idiot as the Health Minister spouting hatred out. So the government will screen us more and there is nothing anyone can do about it as it starts at the top and systematically weaves its way down into place like hospitals to malls and then common Thai people on the street as they are generally uneducated for most thing.. 

[SteveK]

13 minutes ago, holy cow cm said:

I would expect a lot of foreigner racial profiling due to this idiot as the Health Minister spouting hatred out. So the government will screen us more and there is nothing anyone can do about it as it starts at the top and systematically weaves its way down into place like hospitals to malls and then common Thai people on the street as they are generally uneducated for most thing.. 

Over the last few years, from my experiences they have been making it harder and harder for farangs to stay in Thailand. Subtle but deliberate obstruction techniques against farangs at various places, which I have experienced in banks, at immigration, at a Honda dealership, and even at Mr DIY! Now you've got overt and unopposed anti-farang racism coming from the government, my only fear is what comes next. Is it worth putting up with all the grief to stay here? I would say that it is not for 95% of people. To say that we are living in the year 2020 and we have a senior government minister saying quite publicly that a certain race doesn't shower and are dirty is so ridiculous it sounds like some kind of joke. Thailand is obviously not going to advance as a nation anytime soon, and certainly not in my lifetime.

 

As I have said before, if I wasn't married, I would be far away from this mess by now. When I walk around Bangkok now the rose-tinted glasses are well and truly off, and I see it for what it is. A dirty, congested, polluted, expensive and unfriendly city populated with people obsessed with money and doing whatever they can to get more of it. Now I come to mention it, it sounds just like London, which I fought tooth and nail to get away from. Out of the frying pan.....

Edited March 15, 2020 by SteveK

[mngmn]

1 hour ago, Dumbastheycome said:

"White Australia Policy", Howard era, Michael Daley..........

Are you serious?  The White Australia Policy ended in 1970s and you are using it to justify a racist outburst fifty years later in 2020?  In any case Thai Ministers are welcome in Australia now with the welcome even being extended to correctional facilities for some.

 

Have already commented on the Howard era in another post.

 

Daley said "Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs," and "So there's a transformation happening in Sydney now where our kids are moving out and foreigners are moving in and taking their jobs".  I see it more as a suggestion that young Australians think more carefully about their futures in an increasingly competitive world.  BTW this is almost a constant theme in many posts on TV.  In a few years time the Asians with PhDs will be Australian citizens who are able to work, own property, vote and will pay the same price for everything as I do.  No amount of PhDs will ever achieve that for a "white n*gger" in Thailand.

Edited March 15, 2020 by mngmn

[mngmn]

34 minutes ago, BeltAndRoad said:

 

Your funny, your referring to a balot box as some beacon of democracy right?  Even the Congo roll out a balot box now and then.  Can you tell me if you are able to vote for the people at the Australian Reserve Bank that control monetary policy at these balot box's?  Because if you cant then that would suggest that the Australian Reserve Bank and Australia's money supply has been privatized.  Privatize the money supply, not sure where i've heard that before. Oh yeah Karl Marx's communist manifesto.

Been vaccinated against conspiracy theories... 

 

BTW its 'ballot' and 'Reserve Bank of Australia' which dates back to 1911 long before 'privatised' was in the English vocabulary.  The RBA is entirely owned by the Australian Government and serves as useful mechanism to prevent Governments pursuing unwise populist policies when seeking re-election.  Might be worth noting the sh*t fight going on between Trump and the Federal Reserve in the USA which serves roughly the same purpose as the RBA.

Edited March 15, 2020 by mngmn

[Grumpy John]

I live in a village of no consequence, no fame,  no glory....just a farming village like thousands of  others out in the smoke haze of the North...lower North actually.  The only concern for me is those returning home from Sth Korea or Bangkok.  One had been back from Sth Korea 2 weeks so we are thinking all will be OK with that one.  A few more are likely to return but we aren't sure when....which could be a worry down the track.  But down the track a lot of things can change, so I am concerned but not worried. Be concerned, stock up with supplies and stay home more.

[BeltAndRoad]

10 minutes ago, mngmn said:

Been vaccinated against conspiracy theories...  BTW its 'ballot'.

And a spelling mistake will be the height of your response, your well out of my league rookie.

[mngmn]

1 minute ago, BeltAndRoad said:

And a spelling mistake will be the height of your response, your well out of my league rookie.

Did you read the rest of my post?  I thought it was rather good!

[transam]

26 minutes ago, SteveK said:

Over the last few years, from my experiences they have been making it harder and harder for farangs to stay in Thailand. Subtle but deliberate obstruction techniques against farangs at various places, which I have experienced in banks, at immigration, at a Honda dealership, and even at Mr DIY! Now you've got overt and unopposed anti-farang racism coming from the government, my only fear is what comes next. Is it worth putting up with all the grief to stay here? I would say that it is not for 95% of people. To say that we are living in the year 2020 and we have a senior government minister saying quite publicly that a certain race doesn't shower and are dirty is so ridiculous it sounds like some kind of joke. Thailand is obviously not going to advance as a nation anytime soon, and certainly not in my lifetime.

 

As I have said before, if I wasn't married, I would be far away from this mess by now. When I walk around Bangkok now the rose-tinted glasses are well and truly off, and I see it for what it is. A dirty, congested, polluted, expensive and unfriendly city populated with people obsessed with money and doing whatever they can to get more of it. Now I come to mention it, it sounds just like London, which I fought tooth and nail to get away from. Out of the frying pan.....

Weeeeell, for me, what offical rank-ers spout here is water off a ducks back as the whole shooting match is a collection of folk who do not have a clue about anything..Sadly...????

[BeltAndRoad]

3 minutes ago, mngmn said:

Did you read the rest of my post?  I thought it was rather good!

 

18 minutes ago, mngmn said:

The RBA is entirely owned by the Australian Government

haha nice edit, can you point me to your source for the above statement.  Then show me where it says the RBA is entirely owned by the "Commonwealth of Australia"

[transam]

3 minutes ago, BeltAndRoad said:

 

haha nice edit, can you point me to your source for the above statement.  Then show me where it says the RBA is entirely owned by the "Commonwealth of Australia"

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/reserve-bank-of-australia.asp#:~:text=The (RBA) Reserve Bank of,and manages the Australian dollar.&text=The bank%2C entirely owned by,succeeded Glenn Stevens in 2016.

[mngmn]

10 minutes ago, BeltAndRoad said:

 

haha nice edit, can you point me to your source for the above statement.  Then show me where it says the RBA is entirely owned by the "Commonwealth of Australia"

I post this with some trepidation as information usually fans the flames of conspiracy...

 

https://www.rba.gov.au/qa/  "The Bank is a body corporate wholly owned by the Commonwealth of Australia".

[BeltAndRoad]

haha at least you included it. Though i'm guessing you still cant see that foreigners control Australia's money supply 

[mngmn]

6 minutes ago, BeltAndRoad said:

haha at least you included it. Though i'm guessing you still cant see that foreigners control Australia's money supply 

I rest your case...