Smiling at people

[save the frogs]

17 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Not everyone wants a greeting or smile everywhere they go.

that was my point too.

if you go around smiling at everyone, then you will need to shake people off.

it's better to go around looking mean & miserable so people won't bother you. 

 

[biervoormij]

6 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

How does that work if you’re happy being left alone?

 

Not everyone wants a greeting or smile everywhere they go. They want privacy, and not to stand out in any way. Unfortunately, privacy is at a premium and you have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Don't return the smile or the greeting.  No big deal.

 

I just mean east or west people are mostly friendly if you make the effort.

 

Saying "The west isnt a friendly place" is absurd.

[bignok]

10 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

that was my point too.

if you go around smiling at everyone, then you will need to shake people off.

it's better to go around looking mean & miserable so people won't bother you. 

 

What is you smile without people around?

[bignok]

34 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

How does that work if you’re happy being left alone?

 

Not everyone wants a greeting or smile everywhere they go. They want privacy, and not to stand out in any way. Unfortunately, privacy is at a premium and you have to pay an arm and a leg for it.

 

just ask the guy who was looking over at my balcony and smiling. He acts friendly but I can’t stand the guy. I like my balcony completely private without having to grow a forest of trees on it so I don’t see the guy.

 

here’s hoping he will”just go away” with a friendly smile, but I doubt it. He want to get back that response now more then ever. Telling him to fuk off may work but it seems unfriendly.

Say hello sawadee khrup

[JimTripper]

13 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

that was my point too.

if you go around smiling at everyone, then you will need to shake people off.

it's better to go around looking mean & miserable so people won't bother you. 

 

Wrong, it’s being neutral and saying nothing. Believe it or not acting miserable attracts people that want to help you or soothe you.

 

Take the motorbike taxi or watch selling guys. You walk by and say nothing. Being nice is baited as interest, being a dick is seen as a challenge or noticed more next time.

[bignok]

1 minute ago, JimTripper said:

Wrong, it’s being neutral and saying nothing. Believe it or not acting miserable attracts people that want to help you or soothe you.

 

Take the motorbike taxi or watch selling guys. You walk by and say nothing. Being nice is baited as interest, being a dick is seen as a challenge or noticed more next time.

Smile and ask them out to dinner. See what they say.

[novacova]

It’s a good thing to smile and politely greet people that we have any kind of interaction with, venders, police and neighbors. Positive interactions with strangers is paramount for a healthy mind. Typically those who isolate themselves are generally uncomfortable in their own skin. I greet smile and hello to Thai strangers every day and it is always reciprocated. A good 95% of the westerners I say hi to and smile at are stuck-up stone faced nobs that look like they’re unhappy and don’t like people, they look totally out of place considering the north culture and some put off a deliberate antisocial vibe. Not anything like my home in the US where people are generally friendly and always reciprocate a hello. Though the responsive friendly folks I’ve ran into here are like an oasis and I’ve met some great westerners that live here, but they’re very few and far between, at least with my experience here in the north.

[thailandsgreat]

I enjoy the smiles since most people are friendly here. I fear the great leap forward that some want LOS to take will make people grumpy.

 

Political forces will bring in the Middle East people. Farmers, women's libbers. Trying to subdue LOS through splitting up.

 

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/noisy-middle-eastern-bikers-enrage-residents-in-south-pattaya-436268

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by thailandsgreat

[bkk6060]

Interesting, I usually smile but have been doing less so recently due to lack of return.

Seems less females smile back now.  Maybe I just look like an old perv now so they are scared.

[georgegeorgia]

3 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

Interesting, I usually smile but have been doing less so recently due to lack of return.

Seems less females smile back now.  Maybe I just look like an old perv now so they are scared.

No your right , I find the young Thai female doesn't smile back as much now ,I guess it's a different generation so they may think we are old pervs 

[Lacessit]

I smile at people I know, or see daily. I don't see a good reason to do it with random strangers.

[StayinThailand2much]

12 hours ago, bignok said:

If you smile at people in Thailand they think you are friendly. 

A smile in Thailand is more about social interaction and status, not necessarily about 'friendliness'. 

[StayinThailand2much]

27 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

No your right , I find the young Thai female doesn't smile back as much now ,I guess it's a different generation so they may think we are old pervs 

Yes, smiles from Thai people were much more common 20 years ago, but have steadily decreased since then. Not just younger people smile much less, but older ones too.

Edited August 2, 2023 by StayinThailand2much

[Neeranam]

12 hours ago, bignok said:

If you smile at people in Thailand they think you are friendly. In the west they think you are creepy if at woman and gay if at man. The west isnt a friendly place anymore.

 

It's a different world.

Why do you care what other people think of you?

How do you know what other people think of you?

 

[bignok]

35 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Yes, smiles from Thai people were much more common 20 years ago, but have steadily decreased since then. Not just younger people smile much less, but older ones too.

Society is less supportive more combative?

[Neeranam]

Remember there are 13 smiles in Thailand, and each has a name.

[Liverpool Lou]

13 hours ago, bignok said:

If you smile at people in Thailand they think you are friendly. In the west they think you are creepy if at woman and gay if at man. The west isnt a friendly place anymore.

 

It's a different world.

Maybe it's just you!

Edited August 2, 2023 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

12 hours ago, ignis said:

As everyone still wears masks how can anyone know if you smile at them ??

 

Eyes.

[bignok]

https://www.popsci.com/how-to-smile/

 

Try a medium smile

[StayinThailand2much]

17 minutes ago, bignok said:

Society is less supportive more combative?

Well, political insecurity, limited freedom, unliked jobs, chronically and above-head indebtedness (just to name a few)... - Funnily enough, a couple weeks ago, I went swimming, and a Thai bloke said to me: "I like how you're smiling." Took me aback at first, but then I thought, well, I'm doing okay, so being contented, I was smiling just because I felt good, and it had nothing to do with other people.

Edited August 2, 2023 by StayinThailand2much

[bignok]

https://giphy.com/gifs/creepy-bug-eyes-yhRnl31SmMec

[Yellowtail]

13 hours ago, save the frogs said:

the downside of smiling is you need to guess if the smile is authentic or fake.

 

so there is an upside to a society where no one smiles. 

 

 

That makes no sense. What is the upside? 

[scorecard]

13 hours ago, save the frogs said:

the downside of smiling is you need to guess if the smile is authentic or fake.

 

so there is an upside to a society where no one smiles. 

 

 

Be generous, assume it's authentic, genuine and sincere...

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, biervoormij said:

Don't return the smile or the greeting.  No big deal.

 

I just mean east or west people are mostly friendly if you make the effort.

 

Saying "The west isnt a friendly place" is absurd.

Australia/Australians are friendly, they smile, hay hello to everybody, I love that.

[Yellowtail]

Just now, scorecard said:

Be generous, assume it's authentic, genuine and sincere...

And it's nice when you phony smile back, and both smiles go from phony, to genuine. 

[save the frogs]

12 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

That makes no sense. What is the upside? 

no fake smiles. 

[scorecard]

9 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

And it's nice when you phony smile back, and both smiles go from phony, to genuine. 

Well yes, sometimes/somepeople are surprised by receiving a smile, and then genuinely return the smile.

[Yellowtail]

1 minute ago, save the frogs said:

no fake smiles. 

And no real smiles, how is it better? 

 

It's like every person you see gives you a dollar. Half of them are fake, and half are real. Would it be better to get none? 

 

 

[scorecard]

15 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

And no real smiles, how is it better? 

 

It's like every person you see gives you a dollar. Half of them are fake, and half are real. Would it be better to get none? 

 

 

I'm tired, I need to sleep on this... bye.

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Interesting, I usually smile but have been doing less so recently due to lack of return.

Seems less females smile back now.  Maybe I just look like an old perv now so they are scared.

Do you have an automagic counter to automagically record smile / no smiles?