Looking For Buddies In Chang Mai

[WaiWai]

How do you eat a swede? Don't their wives object?

We'll let you know once you explain how to Root a Bago.

[Ulysses G.]

People here on Thai Visa are friendly enough but I'm guessing you have been out since you have been here and I don't know what your experience has been but face to face I have found foreigners to be hostile and extremely unfriendly. I haven't figured it out yet but it's like I'm peeing in their yard when I go to the supermarket. Thais on the other hand are friendly enough and talk to me more or smile and say hello. So, I have lived here for some years and I have one friend from France (funny thing is I'm American) yep we laugh about that a lot but all my other friends are Thai and Chinese. Good luck in your search and I promise if you see me in the street I'll be friendly.

I've never found it difficult making friends with fellow Farangs in Chiang Mai, but, as far as getting close to people, I tend to stick with the guys who were newbies when I was. We have been hanging out together for many years - since before Chiang Mai had a decent farang restaurant of any type - and we have a lot in common.

I like a lot of the newer guys, but they tend to get excited about things that we got bored of or came to peace with long ago.

[Blinky Bill]

Though I agree with most farangs here being how they are decribed by you, in my experience with them, they all have been smiling and friendly... It's after I get hooked into being friendly with them that I learn how undesireable they are as friends to me. There is only one farang here I would call a friend. My other friends are all locals.

Oh well...

That seems a bit harsh Ajarn. I recall when you were rather ill last year the concern and good wishes from so many of the TV contributors indicated that so many of them were friends of yours. Is this a one-way street?

[Ulysses G.]

Maybe Ajarn feels this way because his medical problems make being friends with him something that takes some effort, rather than being a spontaneous thing.

In the old days, we used to get together in the teachers room and talk all the time when we worked together at Chiang Mai University and I remember when a bunch of us would decide to go stop in and see Khun Lek at the disgusting den of iniquity that he used to manage in his spare time. Also, he seemed quite active in the Golden Triangle Riders Motorcycle Gang, but he can't do any of that stuff anymore.

Being disabled means that he is probably home most of the time and he lives in an area that is not easy to get to without transportation.

My guess is that a lot of us consider Ajarn to be a friend, but we just don’t run into him like we used to and we sort of take it for granted that he is doing OK. Maybe he isn't?

[Austhaied]

People here on Thai Visa are friendly enough but I'm guessing you have been out since you have been here and I don't know what your experience has been but face to face I have found foreigners to be hostile and extremely unfriendly. I haven't figured it out yet but it's like I'm peeing in their yard when I go to the supermarket. Thais on the other hand are friendly enough and talk to me more or smile and say hello. So, I have lived here for some years and I have one friend from France (funny thing is I'm American) yep we laugh about that a lot but all my other friends are Thai and Chinese. Good luck in your search and I promise if you see me in the street I'll be friendly.

Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.

Cry, and you cry alone.

I used to encounter similar behavior and aloof reactions for a while in Thailand.. I think that some expats honestly think they are "pioneers" here (the place where no white man has been before). However if you make a little effort and realize you are one of thousands then maybe (just maybe) the farangs will smile back at you..

Unlike Ajarn i have many farang friends here who i consider solid, some are even family-ish. I guess a lot of farangs come here to escape their own countries and are put off when they see a familiar-ish face.. The only advice i could give these types is "get off your high horse" and get real.. We are all on the same journey together, lets be civil about it..

Some vippassana meditation could be the trick. It helps people see "what is what"..

Cheers.. http://www.dhammathai.org/e/meditation/page28.php

[mcgriffith]

As for McG. I always thought a rabbit was only lucky if you cut it's foot off and carried it with you. Any truth in that rumour?

Just call me Stumpy for short (no pun intended).....

[Rasseru]

Luck always sticks its head in, and sometimes makes naught of industry, innovation and hard work, and much of their opposites. But don't take my word for it.

Rass, where you been hiding out, you lucky bast..rd? We missed you last night at the MotoGP @ Down Under...

Oh, and on thread....LUCK is huge. I have been very lucky in this life. I was born in the Year of the Rabbit; very lucky, you know

In a manifestation of the luck that I, like you, am blessed with in my life -- now at least and most of the time -- I am now hanging out in Vancouver, Canada, enjoying the flowers, lush greenery, walks in the rain forest, clean air, beautiful sunsets that last from 7:30 to 9:30, mostly good weather and other good stuff I cannot mention on line. Here until late July, then Ontario and Quebec until September, then back to join you in the land of smiles.

It's not all luck, though -- sure wish I could have been there with you for the MotoGP!

Cheers to all, and apologies for the appearance of a slight thread hijack, which I will now correct by saying that, yes, it is important to have buddies, and not that hard to do with all the good folks living in Chiangmai. After all, even I have managed to make a handful of them.

[p1p]

Friends in Chiang Mai. I have several Farangs, (including Ajarn,) that I like to consider my friends. I only wish I had more time to get together with them. I apologise deeply to all my friends that my life has been somewhat complicated for a couple of years and I have really been heavily tied up.

Anyway, I always try to present a friendly smiling visage to the world at large too.

I do, however, become upset when I smile at and say hello to a fellow Farang, only to be met with a sort of "Harrumph" and a scowl as he/she turns away or pushes past me. It seems some unfortunates were born or dragged up without the benefit of being taught decent manners.

It is a totally different matter when you smile at the pretty girl in the supermarket or on the street. Sometimes the beam of refreshment you receive in return can almost turn knees and backbone to jelly. This is truly one of the major joys of living in these parts.

[DrFisher]

Crow Boy I see in no way what so ever my post was directed at you or anyone you know I was speaking in general of my personal experience and my experience is exactly what I said. I meant no disrespect nor was I pointing out anyone I don't even know you. I have also lived here for quite some time with my Thai family who lived in my country before and they agree Americans in America are friendly but when we go out here foreigners look you up and down like your taking a leak on their front stoop. I mentioned this topic to my friend from France and he agrees with me 100% as do quite a few other people I have spoken to over the years here. Again this was general statement about my experiance and was in no way directed toward anyone.

[Ajarn]

Though I agree with most farangs here being how they are decribed by you, in my experience with them, they all have been smiling and friendly... It's after I get hooked into being friendly with them that I learn how undesireable they are as friends to me. There is only one farang here I would call a friend. My other friends are all locals.

Oh well...

That seems a bit harsh Ajarn. I recall when you were rather ill last year the concern and good wishes from so many of the TV contributors indicated that so many of them were friends of yours. Is this a one-way street?

Of course not. I have, and will continue to wish folks a 'good luck' here, when appropriate. But, since I don't know any of them, at best, it makes them an aquaintence, surely not a friend...

[Crow Boy]

Crow Boy I see in no way what so ever my post was directed at you or anyone you know I was speaking in general of my personal experience and my experience is exactly what I said. I meant no disrespect nor was I pointing out anyone I don't even know you. I have also lived here for quite some time with my Thai family who lived in my country before and they agree Americans in America are friendly but when we go out here foreigners look you up and down like your taking a leak on their front stoop. I mentioned this topic to my friend from France and he agrees with me 100% as do quite a few other people I have spoken to over the years here. Again this was general statement about my experiance and was in no way directed toward anyone.

My error - I thought incorrecty that you were chiding me for my remarks to McGriffith.

I reread your Post but still disagree with your comments. I am friends with most of the CM posters and happy to see them in the street. I know other farungs from outside this forum. For most of my week I live in farung isolation surrounded by Thais, so maybe I am not seeing what you are talking about.

CB