THE WEEK THAT WAS On racism and stereotyping in Thailand

[WinterGael]

9 hours ago, G Rex said:

Great read , and summation of the week.

I especially like the above comment.

 

As a white Australian I never thought too much about 'minor' racist slights or stereotypes ( & yes, I did have a privileged upbringing) - but after living in LOS for a few years, and regularly hearing locals speak about 'farang' - both positively & negatively - I understand the effect it can have on a person. Some days it can really needle me. I think that Thailands education system has held them back from truly accepting multiculturalism. However. I am confident that there will be change. 

 

I feel that the 'woke' movement has gone too far - let's learn from the past, rather than erase it & pretend it never happened.

This is Thailand.  It's not an immigrant nation like US, Canada, Australia, NZ, or even the UK and Europe.  What need has Thailand or any ASEAN nation or African nation for multicultural ideals outside their own internal cultures.  Multiculturalism is a colonial concept.

[fangless]

10 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

Is 'White Christmas' racist?   LOL

It would appear to be going by some of the posts on this thread!

I sometimes wonder who is most offended by "racism" in the "woke" sense;  Is it the person who is supposedly being offended or the third party making a song and dance about it.

 As a famous TV Judge often states

"Don't tell me what they thought/knew. That calls for the operation of their mind.".

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by fangless

[fangless]

21 minutes ago, WinterGael said:

This is Thailand.  It's not an immigrant nation

Someone must have told the Army and the Immigration Department that one as well as you!

How many Immigrant workers, both legal and illegal, do you think (or in your case not realise) are in Thailand>

 

[firemans35]

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He shook his head after his daughter was called “a chocolate drop”.

I've never heard this and I wouldn't have known it was a racist remark. Since it was said about a child it sounds more like it means something good like "a small sweet thing from heaven."

[Neeranam]

10 hours ago, G Rex said:

I feel that the 'woke' movement has gone too far - let's learn from the past, rather than erase it & pretend it never happened.

Absolutely, I like to call a spade a spade, but people even take offence to that saying nowadays.

 

Good post Rooster, you show your Colonial roots;)

 

When farang complain about name calling, I show them the love thy neighbour on YouTube, which I watched as a kid on prime time telly.

[BritManToo]

21 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Absolutely, I like to call a spade a spade, but people even take offence to that saying nowadays.

 

Good post Rooster, you show your Colonial roots;)

 

When farang complain about name calling, I show them the love thy neighbour on YouTube, which I watched as a kid on prime time telly.

I thought you were Rooster?

[Rocking Robert]

Am I considered a racist since I reserve the right to choose who I like or dislike. 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Rocking Robert said:

Am I considered a racist since I reserve the right to choose who I like or dislike. 

A loaded question.

Being a racist and being considered a racist are different things.

We would need to know a lot more detail about your criteria for liking and disliking to give any substantive responses.

[ozimoron]

1 hour ago, Rocking Robert said:

Am I considered a racist since I reserve the right to choose who I like or dislike. 

Are you choosing to dislike individuals based on actions or behaviour? - no.

 

Are you choosing to dislike entire races for any reason? = yes.

 

Are you choosing to like individuals based on actions or behaviour? = no

 

Are you choosing to like entire races for any reason? = no.

Edited December 19, 2021 by ozimoron

[SiSePuede419]

13 hours ago, pedro01 said:

We should not whince when someone claims they are not racist, as if everyone is racist or that racist is the default state of mind.

Why would I wince?  You've just told everyone that you're racist.

 

I believe you. ✅

Edited December 19, 2021 by SiSePuede419

[Fairynuff]

12 hours ago, stephenterry said:

Many older farang think you're talking rubbish. Well I do, anyway.  

And why would that be? Don’t answer... I already know.

[fangless]

1 hour ago, Rocking Robert said:

Am I considered a racist since I reserve the right to choose who I like or dislike. 

I'm sorry I cannot give you a "Black and White" answer to that! 

 

 Black and White. Involving a very clear distinction, without any gradations. For example, He tended to view everything as a black and white issue-it was either right or wrong-whereas his partner always found grey areas . This usage is based on the association of black with evil and white with virtue, which dates back at least 2,000 years.

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/black+and+white

[ericthai]

13 hours ago, The Cipher said:

The number of overtly racist comments on this board is mind blowingly high. "The Russians" "The Indians "The Chinese", it's nuts.

 

But at the same time I don't think it's racism born of malice so much as it is an expression of frustration by older people who have seen people of other cultures advance in the world and feel that said advancement has come at their own expense.

 

Many older farang don't feel as important as they used to, and that loss in status has made them bitter. ????‍♂️

Where is it racist to call someone from Russia, a Russian or from China, Chinese etc. This is their nationality. Maybe before you starting calling people racist you need to look up the definition!

 

Looks like you're taking a racist approach about the elderly. 

 

[The Cipher]

7 hours ago, futsukayoi said:

I suspect many of the comments you object to are from those with longer and deeper experience of the real word.  Probably those brought up in a time when people could think and analyse for themselves rather than those brainwashed into woke groupthink.  They have probably worked out that different cultral and historical backgrounds do mean that different groups around the world do tend to have different behavious, motivations etc (good or bad).

 

I also suspect they probably feel it is pretty hypocritical and extreme agist bigot trying to lecture on everyone is the same.

I'm gonna double down on my comment. I'm not 'woke', just bluntly honest in this case. I hit a bunch of nerves and now some people are triggered.

 

I don't even object to said comments because they're discriminatory. I mean jeez, this entire comment is just me discriminating against the less intelligent/cultured. So I'm the last person you'll find throwing woke stones.

 

If I object at all, it's because it's painful to watch many of the posters on here struggle to form cogent ideas (let alone correct ones) about different groups that they obviously know like zero about, but speak as if they're experts on.

 

The racism thing is just one facet of a wider general tendency for AN members (as a generalization) to blame externalities for the challenges they face in their lives. The government, the Hi-So, the <ethnic> foreigners, the wealthy...

 

And yeah, I'm being a dick by writing this. But there's no lie in my words. If the reader of this comment has spent meaningful time on this board and can't recognize the truth in this statement, I daresay it says more about the reader than the statement ????

[crouchpeter]

14 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

 

are you sure that was because of racism ?

Airlines need to spread the passengers out because of weight issues and the aircraft needing  being balanced when taking off and landing 

Well, in that case, he wouldn't be up the back, but further forward, ideally over the wing.

Been to Vietnam many times, and, in general, they're worse scammers than the Thais. Most S E Asians mistrust and dislike the Vietnamese. The Thais, ditto with the Cambodians, "Lao" is used as a derogatory description here.

Racial stereotypes, usually, are generalisations, and most normal people don't apply them to individuals they meet.

Racial stereotypes are cliches......and we know cliches are cliches because there's some truth to them!

The Thai lawmakers are racist towards us as national policy, and we hate them because of their corruption, lies and basic "dumbness".

Affirmative action, where you're considered for a job based on race, (or gender), is just another form of racism, with so-called privileged whites as the victims.

[bendejo]

11 hours ago, fangless said:

Was it in Black and White or colour?

????

 

PS; is the above comment offensive to anyone?

If you are white then you are a racist and there is nothing you can do about it, an original sin that there is no baptism to remove, so anything you say about race is offensive.  If not, then you are entitled to free speech with impunity.

 

 

[Noah K]

Rooster, I look forward to your long and amusing columns. I don't really want to hide away on my half a rai piece of property in Mae Rim, but I'm afraid some of us are headed in this direction. I would love to see John Gleese, as I missed his performance in Orlando, as I was in Thailand at the time on holiday. But it is a bit worrisome to think about traveling in January. I suppose it could go either way with Omicron lurking about. I had some good times living in bkk, but it seems my country roots have surfaced. I have traded the beer Garten for a vegetable garden. 

[Gandtee]

In the UK in the 1980s I was arguing with one of my fellow workers. He was British of West Indian parents. Without thinking I used one of the sayings of those days, 'Come on Jim, 'play the white man.' His reply was. "Oh come on Ron, I expected better from you." It was an innocent remark, like 'play the game' and made without thinking. But being on the receiving end, it was seen as something different.  He was a friend and I've regretted it ever since. Needless to say he gave me a black look. That's racist joke I suppose.

Edited December 20, 2021 by Gandtee
Additional words.

[ozimoron]

9 minutes ago, RichardL said:

That's not to say non-whites didn't suffer discrimination when they arrived in numbers in the latter half of the 20th century, but the idea of segregation just didn't exist. When the US Army tried to order english pubs to racially segregate during WWII, large numbers chose to accept only black US troops in protest.

The first time I went to the Philippines was in 1994. It was not long after the American military had abandoned the Clark AFB in 1991. I had an Australian friend who was friends with Denis Rodman's father and who had a bar in an area called Lakandula. This was across a park adjacent the main bar area alongside which the main entrance to the base ran. In this area was a number of black owned bars congregated and the area in general was home to many black ex servicemen. There had been many more. I got the impression there had been a distinctly segregated community where back personnel had lived and congregated away from the white community. I know this proves nothing but it's at least equivalent to your weak anecdotal evidence that segregation was rejected.

Edited December 20, 2021 by ozimoron

[Kanada]

22 hours ago, The Cipher said:

The number of overtly racist comments on this board is mind blowingly high. "The Russians" "The Indians "The Chinese", it's nuts.

 

But at the same time I don't think it's racism born of malice so much as it is an expression of frustration by older people who have seen people of other cultures advance in the world and feel that said advancement has come at their own expense.

 

Many older farang don't feel as important as they used to, and that loss in status has made them bitter. ????‍♂️

***“Many older farang don't feel as important as they used to, and that loss in status has made them bitter”***

 

I don’t think there’s any doubt this is the case…I know I feel it myself! It’s like I’m slowly becoming invisible!

My sons have taken the education and common sense we gave them and are building lives for themselves and I’m living in a new country where I don’t have history and haven’t proven myself to anyone!

 

The odd time I sign in to this forum I see the same people over and over again arguing, throwing temper tantrum’s and trying to be relevant by bullying others and hitting the button that’s sends a little confused or laughing icon on any subject they read…showing they have an “opinion “ on anything and everything but without the ability to listen or discuss it intelligently!

Bullying and racism are close cousins!!

 

 

 

 

22 hours ago, The Cipher said:

The number of overtly racist comments on this board is mind blowingly high. "The Russians" "The Indians "The Chinese", it's nuts.

 

But at the same time I don't think it's racism born of malice so much as it is an expression of frustration by older people who have seen people of other cultures advance in the world and feel that said advancement has come at their own expense.

 

Many older farang don't feel as important as they used to, and that loss in status has made them bitter. ????‍♂️

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Kanada

[The Cipher]

Just now, car720 said:

If someone wants to be my equal then all they have to do is step up.

I think the issue here is the numerous AseanNow regulars want to feel superior, but without the difficult work of actually self-actualizing in any meaningful way.

[EVENKEEL]

21 hours ago, dundas said:

I'm a white Australian and had never knowingly experienced racism as the recipient of it until I was checking in for a Qantas flight to Australia. This was in SGN and the Vietnamese woman behind the counter obviously had It in for white men: she spent a long time going  through every seat she could find until she managed to find a middle seat down the back. It didn't matter to her that I had a pre-assigned aisle seat at the front of the economy cabin. So I went from the best seat in economy to one of the worst. Once on the plane I realised what she'd done, then found 'my' pre-assigned seat at the front of economy hadn't been re-allocated to anyone else, and so I claimed it back.  Truly small beer, and nothing compared to what people of different races experience every day.

Did it cross your mind that your mannerism was dickish, but you automatically pick the race card.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies about World War II, the United States Army established several new segregated units and the replies have been removed as this topic is about:

 

On racism and stereotyping in Thailand

 

A post with off topic videos has been removed. 

[ozimoron]

3 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Maybe they were friends and all bought bars near each other . 

Then they must not have had white friends. If you stretch this tenuous line of reasoning any further it's going to snap.

[jacko45k]

19 hours ago, Chris.B said:

Do you find Mexicans funny?

Yes, especially the Mexican Fireman, whose wife had twins, and he called them Jose and Hose B. 

[BritManToo]

14 hours ago, WinterGael said:

This is Thailand.  It's not an immigrant nation like US, Canada, Australia, NZ, or even the UK and Europe.  What need has Thailand or any ASEAN nation or African nation for multicultural ideals outside their own internal cultures.  Multiculturalism is a colonial concept.

Nah, it's a woke liberal concept.

Woke liberals are never wrong, when their ideas don't work it's because they haven't pursued their agenda aggressively enough. They need to 'double down' a bit more until it works.

 

Problem: Racism in white countries

Answer: It's because they didn't bring in enough non-whites, import more.

Problem: COVID still spreading,

Answer: vaccinate everyone more frequently.

Edited December 20, 2021 by BritManToo

[metisdead]

Some troll posts have been removed. 

[Kanada]

55 minutes ago, car720 said:

MeToo#  

 

I am a racist.

My first wife was Sicilian, my second Fijian, my third Chinese, my fourth Thai and this one now is Chinese.  My kids are black and I DO call them my little chocolate drops.

If someone wants to be my equal then all they have to do is step up.

You’ve been married 5 times…why do these women keep divorcing you….are they racist??

ps: I could be wrong but I don’t think racism is about being someone’s equal

[Kanada]

 

[Andre0720]

22 hours ago, ozimoron said:

Nothing in her work supports your contention that all people are inherently racist. All she did was incite tribalism (nationalism) in a group of children. It's obvious that humans have visibly different physical traits but her propaganda did not establish that racism was inherent in the human condition.

Well then, try reading or listening to Sam Harris, neuroscientist, who explains that everyone will show signs of racism during a psycho-evaluation test.