Just had the COVID inspectors around checking on me.

[KeeTua]

38 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

It's not an anti farang thing and you aren't that special...

My wife had a visit from the village head man this morning, as she had been to visit me in Singapore last week.

Immigration had notified him apparently, so he was just checking that everything was ok with her.

No panic, no stress just a courtesy visit.

Correct, its not an anti Farang thing. Local health workers have been tasked with checking up on locals and foreigners who may have recently returned from outside of Thailand.

 

I'd be curious what kind of attitude the OP showed towards the people just doing there job. Referring to them as Gestapo is telling. Smiles and kidding around go a long way when dealing with Issan people. Don't be so serious.

[CNXexpat]

6 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

An Australian who entered Thailand  just this  early  morning encountered  zero checks at the airport

Same with a Thai who arrived from Spain.

[RJRS1301]

7 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Don't let them in the house.

Make them stand outside the gate in the sun.

 

As far as I know 'they' don't have the 'entitlement' to enter my property without a warrant.

And unless 'they' send someone round who can speak English, nobody here will talk Thai with them.

Chatting with my Thai female 'hired help' about me ain't an option for them.

Perhaps they may have "emergency powers" granted from government. Britain, USA, Australia have emergency powers, and US and AUstralia are using theirs in some circumstances already, including in Australia power to forceably detain and quarantine, under some circumstances.

I would bet that under the military their are those powers in Thailand

Edited March 19, 2020 by RJRS1301

[evadgib]

47 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

So what do you suggest OP does now... Learn fluent Thai in a couple of weeks and call the lady back?

 

Even if he can speak Thai well, that is not the problem here... it is a few raciest Thai officials on mini power trips.  They will not listen to him even if he can communicate 100 percent well with them... as they have closed minds and will look down on him as inferior and not a Thai.  

 

They are not interested in his views or opinions.  They want to do it their way only.  Please note I am only talking about a few raciest jobsworths in positions of 'power'.  I am not bashing Thai people in general.  

 

 

A pers body cam & youtube was my first thought upon reading the OP.

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, RJRS1301 said:

Perhaps they may have "emergency powers" ranted from government. Britain, USA, Australia have emergency powers, and US and AUstralia are using theirs in some circumstances already, including in Australia power to forceably detain and quarantine, under some circumstances.

I would be that under the milatary their are those powers in Thailand

They'll still need a SWAT team to open the gate, and an English speaking person to ask the questions.

Edited March 19, 2020 by BritManToo

[RJRS1301]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

They'll still need a SWAT team to open the gate, and an English speaking person to ask the questions.

Yes dirty Harry ????

 

[KeeTua]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Don't let them in the house.

Make them stand outside the gate in the sun.

 

As far as I know 'they' don't have the 'entitlement' to enter my property without a warrant.

And unless 'they' send someone round who can speak English, nobody here will talk Thai with them.

Chatting with my Thai female 'hired help' about me ain't an option I'll give them.

And so many Farangs were bashing the Thais for doing so little to stop the spread of the virus and when the Thais do try to  get a handle on it they meet with this kind of attitude.

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, KeeTua said:

And so many Farangs were bashing the Thais for doing so little to stop the spread of the virus and when the Thais do try to  get a handle on it they meet with this kind of attitude.

 

Getting a handle on it would have been to ship all the Chinese back home and prevent them entering in January.

 

Using masks that don't work, hand washes that don't kill virus and questioning white folk by chatting with their bargirl hired help farm girl wife that left school at age 12 ain't effective in any way shape or form. It's ignorant racist bullying, and the way to resist bullies is always with as much force that is required.

 

I understand a lot of you feel grovelling is the way to deal with poorly educated bullies, but that only ever ends with a bigger beating IMHO.

Edited March 19, 2020 by BritManToo

[glennb6]

to the OP, and in concurrence with BritManToo's reply, as far as I know, a warrant is required for a govt official to demand entry to your home. Unless the govt worker presented you with a warrant or returned with the police and a warrant, GTFO! "No you cannot come in" and walk away. Mai Ow quee gep khun or however it's said.

 

[4MyEgo]

I really don't understand what all this farang being treated badly thing is, I mean in our own countries we discriminate about certain races all the time, albeit it we do it in a way so as not to offend certain people/groups, call me a racist if that is what I am, just calling a spade a spade, I am a <deleted> myself and grew up in an environment where we <deleted> were paid out on a daily basis.

 

Australia in my opinion where I was born is one of the biggest racists countries in the world, although we tolerate certain people/groups to a degree, if they step out of line and want to take us on, then we sort them, like in Cronulla is you like, but then again some innocent bystanders can be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

I have never had an issue with a single Thai with regard to racism towards me, I think approach is key, manners and respect is even greater, given that this is their homeland, and we are only visitors, albeit it long term, not saying we have to bend over, but respect must be shown regardless of where you are.

 

The above said, my wife advised me last night that a guy (25) who was at the Thai boxing stadium in BKK returned to the village a week ago and the police with hospital staff showed up at his parents house and took a blood sample a few days ago as they were tracking people down from the stadium when they failed to report to authorities, they went to his work and they said he went home to the village.

 

While he was here with his large family, they ate from the same plate as Thai's do here in Isaan and he went out drinking with mates his age, and some of them asked him if he had been checked because they knew he went to BKK and was at the stadium, long of the short, he sprayed his friends with his germs laughing and saying he didn't have it, suffice to say, is this typical of Thai's, I don't think so, but will be interesting to see how things turn out over the next few days/weeks because there is a large older population here in the village.

 

I really fear for a lot of them, as for us, we are and have been in lock down since the school holidays, well stocked, front gate locked and only dad and mum go out to shop if and when required, N95 mask in car, not used yet, hand sanitizers, soap, water and a strong 1.5 metre distance rule, e.g. honey here comes one of those zombies without a mask, turn left into this isle, at check out time, it's leave trolly in the que if anyone is coughing close by and come back to push it along when it's safe to do so. 

 

The only thing I don't really like is when the wife sanitises the trolley handle and doesn't tell me, then says, honey push the trolly.....eeeeewww W-T-F is that, wife smiling, guess that's for me checking out the eye candy, paybacks.....lol ????

 

 

[MeePeeMai]

Meanwhile, the Thai's sit around the table eating sticky rice and other Isaan food with their fingers... in the mouth and back into the same dish that everyone else is eating from (not to mention villagers all drinking from the same cups dipping them into the cooler filled with ice water).

 

Pick up a handful of sticky rice, roll it into a ball with your dirty hands (the same dirty hands they pick their noses with and cough into), dip your dirty ball of sticky rice into a bowl of food and stick it in right your pie hole. Everyone there at the meal doing the same thing everyday.. rinse and repeat several times a day.

 

What good is wearing a mask when they continue to follow such traditions?

 

No they are certainly following the general Corona virus precautions and safe food handling techniques! 5555  

 

 

[Mansell]

They must be telling them a whole lot of rubbish about the virus on Thai television.....my wife wants me to take a shower when I come home. I asked her where she got that from and it was TV. I had to explain about the fave and hands etc. Went to Macro and two women in some kind of uniform taking temperatures and giving hand sanitizer squirts. A lot of the people in Big C wearing those latex gloves and pretty much all wearing masks. Not a lot of people in either place or the Mall. Easy shopping for me.

[WalkingOrders]

Well, crazy story. You must be glad thats over. I am happy to report that, here at last stop on MRT Bangkok, I have noticed zero change in Thai toward me, in Condo, Nearby Mall, about on street, at market, etc. All business as usual.

 

Should anyone knock on our door, I pity them should they wind up on the wrong side of my wife, the Queen of this Castle. She puts up with zero nonsense. I'm tellin ya, when she goes into action, it's like a Thai soap opera. I've seen her take on an entire bank branch!

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

I have never had an issue with a single Thai with regard to racism towards me, I think approach is key, manners and respect is even greater, given that this is their homeland, and we are only visitors, albeit it long term, not saying we have to bend over, but respect must be shown regardless of where you are.

Let me explain, their own cultural rules insist that ......

1. as a person older than them, they must treat me with respect.

2. as a person with a higher level of education than them, they must treat me with respect.

3. as a person with far more money than them, they should  treat me with respect.

 

But oddly enough, hardly any government officials do, normally they're rude, a bit shouty, and they badmouth me in Thai thinking I don't understand.

 

On the other hand, if they want to send a nurse round to give everyone in my house a free covid19 blood test, game on.

Edited March 19, 2020 by BritManToo

[evadgib]

23 minutes ago, MikeN said:

My Thai is only conversational level, it doesn’t extend to medical terminology but even if it did the official was only interested in talking to my wife. When looking at my passport the woman says “os-sat-traya” ....”khrap, maa jaak  pratet Australia” I reply to her, and she didn’t even look at me.

what I didn’t mention in the OP was that the people who reported me to the hospital knew where I lived so they must have seen me living there for the last year. I sometimes think that I am the local tourist attraction when people stop to watch me exercising on my front porch ! I am certainly no Adonis but one old lady watched me doing curls for about five minutes yesterday. So I thought I was known around the village, not some stranger just arrived.

Many years ago I had an unexpected visit from a mob handed plastic mafia type who gave me & my bike the once over before mumbling & sodding off again. I later learned that a foreigner on a bike had been in some sort of accident and had ridden off.

 

As I was a foreigner & had a bike...

[WalkingOrders]

4 minutes ago, MeePeeMai said:

Meanwhile, the Thai's sit around the table eating sticky rice and other Isaan food with their fingers... in the mouth and back into the same dish that everyone else is eating from (not to mention villagers all drinking from the same cups dipping them into the cooler filled with ice water).

 

Pick up a handful of sticky rice, roll it into a ball with your dirty hands (the same dirty hands they pick their noses with and cough into), dip your dirty ball of sticky rice into a bowl of food and stick it in right your pie hole. Everyone there at the meal doing the same thing everyday.. rinse and repeat several times a day.

 

What good is wearing a mask when they continue to follow such traditions?

 

No they are certainly following the general Corona virus precautions and safe food handling techniques! 5555  

 

 

I got a case of the mumps likely from improperly washed silverware in the far North of Scotland. Not fun as an adult. 

[watso63]

It's all about me, me, me!!!

 

Meanwhile in my rural village in Isaan things are as normal as ever. Not spied any curtain twitching yet and if Nursey wants to check my temperature and know where I've been for the past few weeks I'd be more than happy to let him/her (any other gender pronoun he/her/it would like to be known by) know. It's nice to know they care lol.

[cornishcarlos]

30 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Same with a Thai who arrived from Spain.

 

Wonder if that Thai is self isolating, for the good of family, friends and neighbors ??

[WalkingOrders]

40 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

went to local market where I have been going for over 7 years to hear the falang falang warning and at BigC mothers were pulling their kids away lest they get infected from dirty foreigner, the government outbursts from idiot ministers have to bear some responsibility for this xenophobia.

How strange, my wife and I were at MAKRO today, and same employees as usual laughing and joking with us, no strange looks, or avoidance from anyone.

[cornishcarlos]

10 minutes ago, WalkingOrders said:

likely from improperly washed silverware

 

Just can't get the staff these days ????

[Orton Rd]

1 minute ago, WalkingOrders said:

How strange, my wife and I were at MAKRO today, and same employees as usual laughing and joking with us, no strange looks, or avoidance from anyone.

I never go in those establishments, but my comment was not about staff who seem just the same

Edited March 19, 2020 by Orton Rd

[ICELANDMAN]

 A friend of mine yesterday wanted to go for a check but the doctor he said if it is not serious he must return in a month.

Is there anyone who has had to go to the hospital these days?

[WalkingOrders]

10 minutes ago, cornishcarlos said:

 

Just can't get the staff these days ????

....back in 1982 ????

[Silencer]

So the hospital was following up from a "concerned citizen." Seems all she needed to ask, after she learned (maybe knew already) that you lived in the village was had you left the country recently (although from other posts seems immigration is tracking this separately) and once she knew you hadn't, a wai and thank you and be gone. I would have been ok with that. If it became some lengthly interrogation, for no reason, I probably would have excused myself and gone and gotten a beer and sat down in another room to enjoy it.

Edited March 19, 2020 by Silencer

[WalkingOrders]

14 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

I never go in those establishments, but my comment was not about staff who seem just the same

Never been to MAKRO? awe man, you don't know what yer missing, but anyway, have not noticed any changes in attitude of Thai toward me. I got nothin' but love for these people.

Edited March 19, 2020 by WalkingOrders
punctuation

[Chazar]

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

I went to the market town near me in Isan for the first time in a week, WO! how things have changed, I went to Tesco's and about 30% of the public were wearing masks including farangs, neither I nor my family wore them but we weren't treated any differently. In my village nobody wears them yet.

I went out today and I rarely  go out and wow how things hadnt changed, some  Thais said  hello and  immigration at  Hua  Hin were as  good  as  ever.

[EricTh]

Racism of any kind is always wrong. It will always feel bad when you are at the receiving end. 

 

There are instances of Chinese-looking people in western countries getting the same treatment that they are virus-carriers even though they aren't Chinese citizens.

 

So don't target any particular racial group. Everyone has an equal chance of being infected regardless of your race. 

 

Previously, it was the Chinese-looking who are targeted , now it is the European-looking turn. 

 

Both types of stigmatization on the basis of race are wrong.

Edited March 19, 2020 by EricTh

[EricTh]

1 hour ago, jak2002003 said:

So what do you suggest OP does now... Learn fluent Thai in a couple of weeks and call the lady back?

 

 

 

 

You can't learn Thai in a couple of weeks.

 

I have known many people who can't speak Thai fluently even after 10 years in Thailand save for some basic sentences.

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, EricTh said:

You can't learn Thai in a couple of weeks.

I have known many people who can't speak Thai fluently even after 10 years in Thailand save for some basic sentences.

Why would I learn Thai?

Nobody around me speaks central Thai ..... and that's the only language being taught.

[Chazar]

21 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Both types of stigmatization on the basis of race are wrong.

That  wont stop many Thais,  guaranteed