Do Afro American men get treated with respect as teachers in Thailand ?

[ikke1959]

1 hour ago, thaibook said:

and instill anti-white racism as in much of the USA and the UK?

I will never understand why one color should surpress the others.... People should look at the inside, before judging if white is better than......

Edited December 29, 2021 by ikke1959

[Callmeishmael]

I know about 3 African-Americans teaching here in Thailand and none of them had too much trouble finding a job.  All 3 have University degrees.

1.  A retired diplomat and journalist who taught English at a number of schools until he retired for health reasons.

2. An ex-policeman who taught for a couple of years before getting an non-teaching online job.

3. A young woman who teaches younger learners and is treated well by her employers.

 

One thing that one of them told me, is that when they made if clear that they were American, not African, Thai attitudes toward them became much more positive.  If they think that you are Nigerian, they automatically think that you are a con-man!

[NorthernRyland]

56 minutes ago, EricTh said:

You're spot on. Thai people revere white skin people. That means fair-skinned Thai, Chinese, Japanese and Europeans.

 

Skin color isn't the issue, it's because Thai people are very status oriented. Europe, Korea, Japan etc... are high status for obvious reasons we don't need to go into. Africa, Cambodia etc... ? well, not so much.

 

Here's an example of why Thais may not look highly on Africans.

 

[The Hammer2021]

What does 'tricking off' mean? Last line of the diatribe..

[MRToMRT]

28 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Here's an example of why Thais may not look highly on Africans.

Looks like Mae Sot market

[Kwaibill]

I had occaision to chat with an African American man in my first days here. His opinion/experience was that racism was less overt in Thailand vs the USA. I don't recall many specifics, but it made an impression as I had not long before had a similar chat with a black professional aquaintance in the US, and was horrified at his account of profiling, etc.

[Sheryl]

Just now, Kwaibill said:

I had occaision to chat with an African American man in my first days here. His opinion/experience was that racism was less overt in Thailand vs the USA. I don't recall many specifics, but it made an impression as I had not long before had a similar chat with a black professional aquaintance in the US, and was horrified at his account of profiling, etc.

I am not sure it is so much that it is less overt than that a foreigner not fluent in Thai and the Thai way of doing/expressing things might miss it.

 

In my experience many Thais see nothing at all wrong with open discrimination against people of darker skin and will not deny their bias if asked; in fact they will openly give it as a reason for various actions.  Whereas most people in Western countries have been taught this is unacceptable (whether or not they harbor such sentiments in private or not).  But I can see where a foreigner might miss it - Thais are not going to use English language racial epithets, and they'll smile while being racist.

 

 

 

 

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, The Hammer2021 said:

What does 'tricking off' mean? Last line of the diatribe..

Like being a monger innit.

[The Hammer2021]

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Like being a monger innit.

Is it eubonics?

[Gecko123]

There seem to be a lot of experts on this thread about Thai negative attitudes towards black people. I wonder how many are simply regurgitating TVF "wisdom" or simply projecting their own prejudices onto Thai people? How often does the average foreigner have a chance to explore Thai racial attitudes, really? How many of those professing to be experts about how racist Thais are have actually conversed with a black visitor to Thailand about how they have been treated and received here? The people making blanket generalizations about how racist Thais are never seem to be able to offer any concrete examples, whereas those indicating that this isn't a problem, seem to be able to point to specific examples of blacks they have interacted with. I first came to Thailand in 1986. I would describe 1986 Thailand as almost a racial garden of Eden which enjoyed almost a child-like blindness to racial differences. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that much of the racial prejudice that has crept into Thai thinking over the years has been imported from overseas through the expat community, news media, and social media.

 

From my earliest years of living in Thailand, I noticed a genetic characteristic of many Thai people which I believe goes a long way towards explaining Thai tolerance and acceptance towards a wide range of skin tones. Let's say a light complected Thai woman marries a darker complected Thai man, and they have a bunch of children. Oftentimes, or at least sometimes, the children either favor the skin tone of the mother or the skin tone of the father. It isn't always a 50/50 blend between the two parent's skin tone. So one sibling might have a light complexion and the next might be darker complected. Because siblings from the same parents can have significantly different skin tones, that serves as a major inhibitor against judging people solely on the basis of their skin color. Rather than projecting their own racial prejudices onto Thai people, I think some forum members could stand to learn a great deal from Thais about racial tolerance.

[scorpio1945]

If you see racism everywhere, you are going to find it.

[Jingthing]

35 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Is it eubonics?

No. It's an Americanism.  Probably dated. Also gay slang as usually trick. Actually it just means sleeping around but in the context he used it implied commercial sex.

 

BTW there is nothing wrong with Eubonics per se as its just another dialect. Obviously it shouldn't be and isn't taught in English language courses covering standard usage.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

18 minutes ago, scorpio1945 said:

If you see racism everywhere, you are going to find it.

If you're blind to it you're a Pollyanna or maybe a Karen.

[sqwakvfr]

This type of pondering could go on forever?  What do Thai's think of Americans of Asian Descent?  Canadians who immigrated from the Middle East? Etc, etc.  You really don't know how you will be treated until you actually come to LOS and contact the locals.  Some will treat you very well some will not.  Some Thai's have hard time believing an Asian is an American Citizen.  Some will say "not possible, you  Chinese".  

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, sqwakvfr said:

This type of pondering could go on forever?  What do Thai's think of Americans of Asian Descent?  Canadians who immigrated from the Middle East? Etc, etc.  You really don't know how you will be treated until you actually come to LOS and contact the locals.  Some will treat you very well some will not.  Some Thai's have hard time believing an Asian is an American Citizen.  Some will say "not possible, you  Chinese".  

Obviously Thais are not a monolith any more than black people in America are. But the OP told us his personal experience and I see no reason to doubt him.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Jingthing

[allanos]

The OP's post is clearly rhetorical because in the body of it he doesn't actually pose a question.

 

He feels aggrieved, possibly rightly so, but we have no way of telling how much hyperbole is in his comments in order to draw our own conclusions.

 

This forum has given him the opportunity to vent his spleen, to cry "woe is me" and wallow in self-pity. Like so many people, black or white or rainbow-coloured, he may be carrying a burdensome chip upon his shoulder.

 

As an objective outside observer, his command of the English language is lacking. Possibly it may be excused that his mind was not entirely clear when he wrote the words, or that he applied them in haste. That is one explanation.

 

Another is that he is careless, slip-shod, and doesn't have sufficient pride in what he does. It is eminently possible that he has transferred this lackadaisical approach to his work in the classroom.

 

We shall never know.

[JimmyJ]

I have read posts by other African Americans who feel they are looked down at while in Thailand.

 

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by JimmyJ

[sqwakvfr]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Obviously Thais are not a monolith any more than black people in America are. But the OP told us his personal experience and I see no reason to doubt him.

I do not doubt him because I am considered to be a person of color in LOS.  My experience has been a "mixed bag".  Some good and some bad.  "like a box of chocolates", Forest Gump-1994.

[Fairynuff]

22 hours ago, grain said:

Can't really understand the point of your post. You ask the question "Do Afro American men get treated with respect as teachers in Thailand?" Then tell us how racist the Thai system is and there's no respect for a black man. Well, you already know far better than anyone here, so why ask the question in the first place?

The question was rhetorical and the post sharing his experience. That was obvious. But at least it gave you the opportunity to have a go eh.

[cyril sneer]

23 hours ago, Tim121 said:

to make it worst they always had an <deleted>   farang lead teacher as their watch dog

good you bring this up

 

most bigger schools have them, they're the worst people in society

[Heng]

IMO it'll be similar to your experience in China.   Some will have no issues and will treat you like any other human being, others will have more backward views.    One can probably say the same for most places.

[IAMHERE]

OP been in Thailand ssince 2019 and just now his first post. Not sure how much I should care.

[tubby johnson]

3 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

I first came to Thailand in 1986. I would describe 1986 Thailand as almost a racial garden of Eden which enjoyed almost a child-like blindness to racial differences.

.... which proves how out of touch you were (and still are) about Thai society. Naive and clueless.

[Gecko123]

 

 

48 minutes ago, tubby johnson said:

.... which proves how out of touch you were (and still are) about Thai society. Naive and clueless.

 

"From my earliest years of living in Thailand, I noticed a genetic characteristic of many Thai people which I believe goes a long way towards explaining Thai tolerance and acceptance towards a wide range of skin tones. Let's say a light complected Thai woman marries a darker complected Thai man, and they have a bunch of children. Oftentimes, or at least sometimes, the children either favor the skin tone of the mother or the skin tone of the father. It isn't always a 50/50 blend between the two parent's skin tone. So one sibling might have a light complexion and the next might be darker complected. Because siblings from the same parents can have significantly different skin tones, that serves as a major inhibitor against judging people solely on the basis of their skin color."

 

 

I'll let the astuteness of the above observation be measured against any other observations about Thais you care to try and dig out of the TVF archives, or for that matter, from your own posting history.  

 

I am confident that the renowned anthropologists Jared Diamond and Margaret Mead (if she were alive today) would both applaud the keenness of this observation.

 

Edited December 29, 2021 by Gecko123

[Liverpool Lou]

Never mind the colour of his skin being a perceived problem, I just hope the OP wasn't "teaching" English.

Edited December 29, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

13 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

How do you explain the many Filipino teachers in Thailand? They are not what a native English speaker should look like.

 

They're hardly native English-speakers, either!

Edited December 29, 2021 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

8 hours ago, Surasak said:

With respect, he is not a native English speaker. He is an American by his own admittance. From a personal point of view, reading his post, I get the impression there is a chip on his shoulder. I hope I am wrong, but just how I read it.

'Kin big chip!

[Jingthing]

13 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

How do you explain the many Filipino teachers in Thailand? They are not what a native English speaker should look like.

 

Paid less.

[Liverpool Lou]

Funny how so many illogical ranters never come back to their own threads!

[Longwood50]

On 12/28/2021 at 5:04 PM, Tim121 said:

I viewed Thailand as a tourist spot first, rather than a underdeveloped corruption hub.

I have no idea why Thailand would treat you with such disrespect.  Now as to posting this subject and then responding how you "felt" you were treated, perhaps you can gently step down from your soap box.  People generally "earn respect" It is easy to blame ones treatment on their ethnicity rather than potentially look inward and say you were treated with all the respect they felt you were due and not because of your skin color.  If you were truly treated as you say you were, did it ever occur to you ask another American teacher one that is not African American and see if they received similar treatment.  I am Caucasian.  I have not got into all the colleges I applied to, I did not get all the job that I applied for, I got fired from a job, I even got stopped a couple of times by the police.  Guess what?  In none of those instances was the fact that I was white the cause.  Maybe the same is true of you.