I have been coming to Patong since late 1984, I lived here 85, 86 and some of 87. I have been coming back, usually in 3 month spells twice a year.

The worst problem I currently see is the Indians who have taken over most of the small shops on the beach road, Bangla and the night market behind the Holiday Inn. These people are so rude, so deceptive and spoil any attempt at a peaceful walk at night with their constant hounding to buy a suit or some other overpriced piece of crap they are trying to flog.

Just tonight I saw what looked like a brawl starting between a farang and a group of Indians, before that I passed a Thai screaming F... Indians over and over. I went to buy season 3 of Deadwood on DVD and could not find a Thai vendor so reluctantly asked an Indian who said he had what I wanted, but when I went out to the back room he said I must buy all 3 seasons as he could not sell them apart from in a set. I told him to piss off and left, this is just a normal daily event when trying to buy something from these parasites.

No wonder the Carrefour is full of farangs. At least you can buy something in peace at the correct price. I hear from just bout every farang I talk to about these Indians. Where do they come from? Most of them cannot speak Thai and their number seems to be increasing all the time. I am at the stage where I just cannot be bothered walking anywhere in Patong anymore so just go to Carrefour or to Central in town.

All this ballyhoo of attracting high rolling tourists is a joke, the place I stay in is a cheap, well run, long time established set of Bungalows but it is totally empty at present. They keep building and building ugly large apartment blocks. Where will the people come from to fill them? Maybe December, January and February will be ok but I think basically the place is stuffed. Thai's have lost the plot here and even the tsunami couldn't set things right or put some perspective into peoples heads.

Don't even start me on the real estate and the fortune hunters involved in that business. I mean 26- 30 million Baht for a villa in Surin beach!! Give me a break. I wonder how much longer it will take for the Thai authorities to realise how much damage these Indians are doing to the tourist trade. Someone must be on a huge earn for turning a blind eye.

Like many others, I am seriously looking for another place to go. I have been spending more and more time in Nakhon Sri Thammarart. Wonderful town full of decent and kind people. Very few farangs but the best food in Thailand. Unfortunately I like the beach and all the beaches on the gulf side hardy impress me.

I could hazard a guess that all these Indians come from England, 'cause it's crap there too?

I'm not exactly Mr. PC, but sorry, that was a racist rant. I have never been to India but over the years in both the US and in Thailand I have had mostly very agreeable business dealings with Indian people. I have worked with many very talented Indian people in Silicon Valley, side by side, love their world class cuisine which is one of my top favorites, and heard about their proud culture and religions. The only thing I do wonder about is how many of the Indians in Thailand who are not Thai-Indian are having visa issues. We don't hear much from them here on thaivisa.

Yeah, tailor touts bug me too, I just ignore them and get on with my day. Nationality isn't really the issue, its annoying behaviour, wouldn't matter if the guy was Indian or Finnish.

Edited May 29, 200719 yr by Jingthing

I'm not exactly Mr. PC, but sorry, that was a racist rant. I have never been to India but over the years in both the US and in Thailand I have had mostly very agreeable business dealings with Indian people. I have worked with many very talented Indian people in Silicon Valley, side by side, love their world class cuisine which is one of my top favorites, and heard about their proud culture and religions. The only thing I do wonder about is how many of the Indians in Thailand who are not Thai-Indian are having visa issues. We don't hear much from them here on thaivisa.

Yeah, tailor touts bug me too, I just ignore them and get on with my day. Nationality isn't really the issue, its annoying behaviour, wouldn't matter if the guy was Indian or Finnish.

I have never had a single problem with South Asians here other than suit touts ..... and they are just obnoxious not really an issue

(and I happily buy my suits in BKK from a Sihk guy ... ... but apparently some people don't know that just because of appearance it doesn't mean he's not a Thai national! .. I honestly like the guy!)

Jing .. you are starting to worry me ... I find myself agreeing with you

Edited May 29, 200719 yr by jdinasia

wouldn't matter if the guy was Indian or Finnish.

Maybe if there was hordes of Finns behaving how many Indians do then someone on here might have a rant about them aswell. Only difference is I doubt anyone would be claiming that is racist.

wouldn't matter if the guy was Indian or Finnish.

Maybe if there was hordes of Finns behaving how many Indians do then someone on here might have a rant about them aswell. Only difference is I doubt anyone would be claiming that is racist.

the original post WAS a racist rant and I would bet when the OP wakes up in the morning he'll regret having typed that after a night out on the piss!

just go to the uk and you will see the future

Not indian, they are all Nepalese or burmese, but look like indian people. I know their boss are actual indian, so they can kick and get ride of them anytime they want, you can't do that with thai employee

What the OP in his myopia doesn't know is that a very large share of Patong real estate is owned by Indians. As a rule they made better landlords than their philandering Thai counterparts.

If you don't like East Indians...well it's tough tit because they aren't going anywhere.

i agree with bkkdude....most of these people are nepalese. it IS easy to ignore them and walk on by. i have selective hearing (being a woman) so i manage it quite well.

i do agree with the OP to a degree. i was with a work colleague the other day and she wanted to buy some dvd's. we approached a couple of people asking them if they had whatever series it was that my friend wanted. 'yes' was the response. so we followed the (very smelly in both cases i regret to advise) dvd staff into the small dog box room only to find that they had no idea what we were talking about.

as jingthing says, its not the nationality that is the problem. its the annoying behaviour of a group of people, no matter what nationality.

just ignore them. its easy to do.

what you all seem to be forgetting is that if there were not hordes of "farang" buying the crap that that they try and sell you they wouldn't be here anyway

and you can't say its the indians that are ruining Phuket.

Personally I have less bother with them than the drunk, load mouthed idiots that come here for beer and bangla road. Even in a Pizza Restaurant last night there were four very loud drunk Farangs that were pretty much ruining everyones meal as they were literally shouting at each other and then the waiting staff when they thought that the food had not arrived quick enough.

The worst problem I currently see is the Indians who have taken over most of the small shops on the beach road

I think you need to rephrase.

"The worst problem I currently see is the South Asians who have taken over most of the small shops on the beach road and bother farrangs who walk there"

1) most ppl asume pakistani, nepalese, bangladeshi, nepalese and burmese people to be indians.

2) To farang tourists, its only the harassing types which are visible (for obvious reasons)

3) I dont know of any Indian who has taken over a shop. most of the owners are Thai nationals owning significiant portion of the town.

4) I feel that the "taxi people" inside suwarnabhumi airport are more annoying

... and here I was thinking the origianl post was just a troll

Jing .. you are starting to worry me ... I find myself agreeing with you

Worrying will not help.

Welcome to the dark side.

Edited May 30, 200719 yr by Jingthing

They are sneakey. They were referred to as Problem Customers in my old UK office. Always trying to cheat you in a deal or pull a fast one.

One family bought a huge high end Sony TV and then returned a few days later saying the remote had broken. He handed it to me and it was several months old. So I asked him which brother had the same TV and he tried to bluff it. I sent him packing.

The old adage about an Englishman's handshake sealing a deal is lost on them.

They are sneakey. They were referred to as Problem Customers in my old UK office. Always trying to cheat you in a deal or pull a fast one.

One family bought a huge high end Sony TV and then returned a few days later saying the remote had broken. He handed it to me and it was several months old. So I asked him which brother had the same TV and he tried to bluff it. I sent him packing.

The old adage about an Englishman's handshake sealing a deal is lost on them.

Oh my, I guess that Indian tried to Jew you.

And maybe he thought you gypped him.

So all of the Indian customers were problems? All of them? Don't you think it is unfair to the reasonable Indian customer who walks into a store where people think badly of him just because of his ethnicity?

Where does it end? Why not just treat people as people, not stereotypes.

racism

1. animosity toward other races: prejudice or animosity against people who belong to other races

Edited May 30, 200719 yr by Jingthing

Nope! I would always expect something from them and was on my guard.

Thanks for the dictionary quote. That seems about right.

Thanks for the "jew you" comment I'll remember that one. Lets hope the more touchy members get your irony. Thats enogh to get JD up in arms.

They are sneakey. They were referred to as Problem Customers in my old UK office. Always trying to cheat you in a deal or pull a fast one.

What absolute racist crap spewed from the ignorant mouth of a dumbass. Note that I don't refer to all English as dumbasses, for I know that to be wrong. I prefer to single you out individually as it's more accurate.

Accurate maybe. Wrong certainly. This PC notion that only the ignorant and stupid don't love everybody is tosh and poppycock.

If anyone judges one sixth of the global population over the sale and return of a television then I would assume they were too thick to explain anything to so I suppose I shouldn't waste bandwidth. Some people are just ignorant and I guess the rest of use have to learn to accept it.

They are as annoying as the ones in Pattaya and the thais' who try and sell you sex movies in silom area or panthip.

Just annoying people. Doesn't matter if they are indian, thai,queer or straight, black or white.

Thanks!

Back to the OP. Indian touts really wind me up. The way they extend a hand and say "hello my friend" makes me mad.

This PC notion that only the ignorant and stupid don't love everybody is tosh and poppycock.

I am sure you are right about that. But sometimes its really much better to just keep your personal garbage to yourself. The world is messed up enough without flaming the fires.

Edited May 30, 200719 yr by Jingthing

Thanks!

Back to the OP. Indian touts really wind me up. The way they extend a hand and say "hello my friend" makes me mad.

People say ignore them.

Shoving their hand into your face or a picture of chad tacky indian suits.

Hello man, hello my friend, I am not selling anything, just have a look.

Pricks, as if you are walking around on holiday with the wife, in your beachwear and some dick molests you outside his shop and all of a sudden you realise, by jove, of course, I knew I wanted to buy something today and it slipped my mind, of course i will buy one of your crappy suits.

Utter nonsense.

They invade your private space.

Where I come from, if a man and wife are walking along in conversation it is considered rude to butt in and try and sell something.

Ill mannered hawkers.

I think you hit the point there ... this isn't where you come from

most people don't like the suit touts ... but they stay in Business because it is a numbers game. Make contact with enough people and eventually you get a sale!

I hated getting random direct marketing back in the US ... but percentages tell ... enough people buy from it <I think about 3%> to make it worth sending out so many offers!

Dam it! Your right.

When they offer you their hand offer them your left one - the ene they think you wipe your arse with.

Sniff your fingers first and make a face.

The touts in Pattaya are a nightmare for this - the ones in Bangkok do not try the faux cockney accent and the hand offer. At least they are half poite about it.

Maybe the guys in Patong are indentured and have to make a certain amount a day - that is what is said about the Pattaya guys who many say are Bangladeshi not Indian.

Poor Indians get the blame no matter where in south Asia the offenders come from.

The worst slagging I have seen recently was from one Singapore based Indian telling another Indian who was relocating to Singapore for work not to bring any of his habits from home with him as it gave other indians a bad name?????

When they offer you their hand offer them your left one - the ene they think you wipe your arse with.

Sniff your fingers first and make a face.

The touts in Pattaya are a nightmare for this - the ones in Bangkok do not try the faux cockney accent and the hand offer. At least they are half poite about it.

Maybe the guys in Patong are indentured and have to make a certain amount a day - that is what is said about the Pattaya guys who many say are Bangladeshi not Indian.

Poor Indians get the blame no matter where in south Asia the offenders come from.

The worst slagging I have seen recently was from one Singapore based Indian telling another Indian who was relocating to Singapore for work not to bring any of his habits from home with him as it gave other indians a bad name?????

Aside from the racism issue, if you decide to take Prakanong's advice, just beware that occasionally where more than one tout is working (as in some of the sois around Patong), some of these suit touts are quite happy to have a serious go - I have seen it happen on several occasions. They can also get a bit nasty when (presumably) business is particularly slow. Of course, they still don't hold a candle to the TTM in that department... And at least the massage parlour touts seem to keep it friendly enough (so many 'hansum man' about these days)...

When they offer you their hand offer them your left one - the ene they think you wipe your arse with.

Sniff your fingers first and make a face.

The touts in Pattaya are a nightmare for this - the ones in Bangkok do not try the faux cockney accent and the hand offer. At least they are half poite about it.

Maybe the guys in Patong are indentured and have to make a certain amount a day - that is what is said about the Pattaya guys who many say are Bangladeshi not Indian.

Poor Indians get the blame no matter where in south Asia the offenders come from.

The worst slagging I have seen recently was from one Singapore based Indian telling another Indian who was relocating to Singapore for work not to bring any of his habits from home with him as it gave other indians a bad name?????

Aside from the racism issue, if you decide to take Prakanong's advice, just beware that occasionally where more than one tout is working (as in some of the sois around Patong), some of these suit touts are quite happy to have a serious go - I have seen it happen on several occasions. They can also get a bit nasty when (presumably) business is particularly slow. Of course, they still don't hold a candle to the TTM in that department... And at least the massage parlour touts seem to keep it friendly enough (so many 'hansum man' about these days)...

I knew a guy in Pattaya who would tell them to F%%% off as he walked to Shamrock Bar each day and they tried on the fake cockney accent- they used to go mad and sometimes even shout it back as he laughed but would never dare do anything - it was said they were illegal and he was a big guy.

I have always just ignored them - I do the same with annoying touts in Boat Quay in singapore too - just stare straight through them. I do find the ones funny who walk 10 yard alongside me talking while I am listening to my iPod - are these people stupid?

Ignore them, walk around them... unfortunately we just have to put up with them. I can understand why some people fire-up, though...