How do you react to Thais who do not respond to greetings?

[BigStar]

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

When I worked at a university, I taught Thai culture to foreign school teachers.

I also taught Thai history and civics for years.

 

If so, then probably wrong and in any case now out of date and wrong. You've been known to simply make up stuff. I remember you well from the pink card discussion. Your nonsensical post above was most unhelpful.

 

3 hours ago, Neeranam said:

You know nothing about Japan's economy.

 

LOL. I probably do, having, unlike yourself, actually worked in that economy, at a Japanese company, as a manager of international business accounts. Enabled me to retire early to the paradise of Pattaya, too. But, typically, your answer, possibly gleaned from Wikipedia anyway, has little relevance to the point under discussion. Its purpose is merely to assert a spurious claim to authority.

 

Edited February 20 by BigStar

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, BigStar said:

If so, then probably wrong and in any case now out of date and wrong. You've been known to simply make up stuff. I remember you well from the pink card discussion. Your nonsensical post above was most unhelpful.

I've no idea who you are.

Are you calling me a liar?

What have I made up?

 

Maybe you know more about Thai culture than I do. I think you are trying to say that. If so, I'd love to hear your take on what I wrote rather than a personal attack.

 

Quite amusing really that a retired Pattaya ''person'' is telling a Thai he doesn't know about Thai culture.

[BenStark]

35 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Quite amusing really that a retired Pattaya ''person'' is telling a Thai he doesn't know about Thai culture.

You are a not a Thai, you have paid for a Thai ID.

 

Why not start another thread crying about REAL Thais not recognizing you, because they continue to call you mister?

Edited February 20 by BenStark

[Keeps]

On 2/19/2024 at 4:30 PM, Neeranam said:

Thais are very perceptive.

No they're not.

[Keeps]

On 2/19/2024 at 4:12 PM, Neeranam said:

Few foreigners understand the Thai hierarchical social structure and how farang don't get onto the first rung of the social ladder. 

 

Do you accept that you are not even on the bottom rung of that ladder and never will be? I'm not having a dig, just asking whether you are accepting of this based upon your own comment.

[NanLaew]

18 hours ago, fredwiggy said:

Up to 65 and more die daily on the roads, mainly because laws on the books aren't enforced, people are paid off, and a wai, and maybe a bribe, gets many out of situations where jail time is mandatory. Locals do not pay child support for the children they make, meaning the men. This absence of fathers, and eventually mothers, who feel the need to go elsewhere to work instead of staying with their children, at least giving the kids one parent who raises them, leaves many kids to fend for themselves, as grandmas, many of whom are illiterate and not capable of taking good responsibility, can't do the job. This lets children to grow up with no guidance, which of course lets them do what their peers do, which is mistreating women, animals, and leaving the kids they make also, repeating the pattern of many decades. Corruption here is huge, and the human trafficking that is sometimes protected by this corruption, lets it flourish. In a democracy, which is the best source of government, the people can elect new leaders. The people here do not have much of a say. Leaders elected are put aside and the rich who are in charge put one of their own in position. This would be okay if they did the job intended, which is to help all people. Yes, in America, sometimes, or actually may times, a leader is voted in place who does more harm than good, but at least the people have a say in who's elected. Expats are treated as outsiders, whereas Thais are accepted in the US as like all others, except by those who are racist or prejudiced., and not allowed to work in most jobs. In the US, you can get most any job a citizen has eventually. Women and girls are considered second class here. This isn't the case in other countries besides some Muslim and other Asian. They are slaves to the men in many cases, a place where boys, many useless, are put in higher regard than the girls, who usually are the ones trying to get ahead. Thousands of food stalls are unlicensed and many get sick from the food they serve in filthy conditions. Animals, especially dogs, are allowed to roam free because no one takes care of them or their offspring, besides the spay and neuter programs who are sometimes frowned upon, and the laws are there to keep this from happening but aren't enforced strictly. Greed is very high here, and scammers are everywhere, which doesn't help with tourism but has been hurting it more and more. Thailand's image of a place to go and have a good time has been tainted by this and crime towards foreigners. Punishment should be dealt out more, especially towards those who are targeting farangs, for the same reason. This is a beautiful country, with many good people, but it's gotten worse for decades now, and is one reason I will take my daughter from here to give her a better life back home. I don't see things improving until the younger crowd gets their say and removes the ones who have been doing the damage for years. This also happens in the US, but as mentioned, there you can get rid of the garbage by voting them out, or punishing them when they commit crimes.

 

Apart from (all) that, it's bloody good here, and...

 

a nd

[NanLaew]

5 hours ago, BigStar said:

 

If so, then probably wrong and in any case now out of date and wrong. You've been known to simply make up stuff. I remember you well from the pink card discussion. Your nonsensical post above was most unhelpful.

 

 

LOL. I probably do, having, unlike yourself, actually worked in that economy, at a Japanese company, as a manager of international business accounts. Enabled me to retire early to the paradise of Pattaya, too. But, typically, your answer, possibly gleaned from Wikipedia anyway, has little relevance to the point under discussion. Its purpose is merely to assert a spurious claim to authority.

 

 

Wow, there are two mistakes right there.

 

1 ) Retiring early.

2 ) Calling Pattaya paradise.

 

All pre-existing forum credibility shot all to buggery over a pointless Thai cultural cock wave with a fellow member.

[Neeranam]

6 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Wow, there are two mistakes right there.

 

1 ) Retiring early.

2 ) Calling Pattaya paradise.

 

All pre-existing forum credibility shot all to buggery over a pointless Thai cultural cock wave with a fellow member.

But living in Pattaya you can learn a lot about Thai culture

[ozimoron]

Just now, Neeranam said:

But living in Pattaya you can learn a lot about Thai culture

 

Yes, anywhere in Thailand.

 

 

[BigStar]

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

What have I made up?

 

One example is in the pink card discussion. Besides a lot of nonsense, you made up the assertion that pink cards are for migrant workers and not farang. From that false assertion you concluded that Thai Amphurs don't WANT to give pink cards to farang and create unnecessary obstacles out of xenophobia. 🙂 

 

That's merely what an ignorant bigoted farang believes. Your beliefs about Thais are mostly ignorant, bigoted farang beliefs, with readings from tourist guides. Probably comes from living in the UK all those years.

 

Though rogue offices exist (not many, it seems), the purpose of the requirements is merely to verify identity with as much validity as possible. The Pattaya office is one of the toughest, if not THE toughest, in Thailand. Yet everyone in City Hall was quite helpful, and, after I fulfilled the requirements, they granted me a yellow book (even a blue book, which I'd never had), with politeness and grace. We parted with wais and smiles.

 

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Quite amusing really that a retired Pattaya ''person'' is telling a Thai he doesn't know about Thai culture.

 

Very much so IF you were really a Thai rather than basically a farang with a Thai ID card, whinging that Pattaya bar girls don't greet you with a wai. LOL. The point is that you spread irrelevant misinformation, as noted by @Gecko123:

 

On 2/20/2024 at 6:39 AM, Gecko123 said:

 

You seem to take a perverse pleasure in trying to make people think Thai culture is a dark, scary, endlessly intricate minefield which only a few chosen souls like you have ever traversed without losing a limb or two.

 

I recall you professing to have insights about how Thais secretly hold foreigners in disdain and how the word 'farang' is pejorative, neither of which, IMHO, is true either. I'm all the more struck that these comments, which seem aimed at sowing cross-cultural mistrust and resentment are coming from someone who has obtained Thai citizenship. You may be getting personal satisfaction by posturing on this forum as someone who has climbed to the top of Thailand's seven storied cultural mountain, but I think you are doing the Thai people a huge disservice by spreading misinformation about Thai culture. Anyone who has true insights into Thai culture ought to be working as an ambassador for Thailand, fostering understanding and mutual respect, not promulgating misinformation which sows insecurity, confusion, and mistrust. 

 

The question before us has a very simple answer, and it was answered satisfactorily in the first two posts in the thread.

 

On 2/19/2024 at 10:47 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't think this is especially a Thai thing.

In my condominium building are many nationalities from all over the world. Some say hello, some not, some like to chat, some pretend another person doesn't exist. And it seems all this happens with any nationality.

 

I don't think about if anybody wants to say hello or not. Some people like to talk and make new contacts and maybe new friends. Some don't. Ok, I can live with that. 

 

I also noted that Japanese don't greet strangers in, for example, elevators or even crowded trains. It would never occur to me to do so, unless hitting on a girl--which is business.🙂  There's no smiling at strangers. Why should there be? Only Brits like beating up on Russians with that arbitrary standard. Yet they're among the world's politest people.

 

Anyway, I'm not going to get into one of your endless bickering loops. That'll have to do it for your tummy rub. I stand by my BRIEF original statement that you're a poor source of information about Thai culture and doings. I get it that you of course strongly disagree. Feel free. Posters can make up their own minds. 

 

Edited February 21 by BigStar

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

But living in Pattaya you can learn a lot about Thai culture

 

Yes. Only ignorant farang tourists believe that Pattaya isn't a VERY Thai city run by Thais who are just as Thai as elsewhere. 

[Liverpool Lou]

On 2/19/2024 at 10:22 PM, zhounan said:

You're in an elevator, you say hi and they don't respond. They are sitting next to you, you greet them and they don't respond. 

 

Some people always seem stressed, what's their problem? Is their jaw to heavy?

Perhaps it's you, perhaps they suspect ulterior motives?  Why should complete strangers be expected to respond to your unsolicited "greetings"?

[Liverpool Lou]

On 2/19/2024 at 11:16 PM, ozimoron said:

 

Do you wai to strangers as you begin to speak to them? It's a huge ice breaker.

Does anyone?

[Doctor Tom]

I've lived in the UK, so I don't notice rudeness or miserly, as anything out of the ordinary. 

Edited February 21 by Doctor Tom

[ozimoron]

4 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Does anyone?

 

Almost all Thais in any social situation outside of basic commerce like buying rice. In fact, Thais wai to all their acquaintances on first encounter for the day.

 

Whenever I go to my gym, all ther PT's there wai to me every time. Without fail. So much for beign bottom of the social rung. BS.

Edited February 21 by ozimoron

[Liverpool Lou]

On 2/20/2024 at 5:34 AM, scubascuba3 said:

On 2/20/2024 at 5:25 AM, JimTripper said:

Saying hello signals interest and further discussion. What do they do then if you keep talking after the greeting and they don't want to hear it?

they would ignore you and keep walking 

...around the lift?

Edited February 21 by Liverpool Lou

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Does anyone?

I do, to those I know, and those who greet me with a Wai, same as I do with a handshake, probably shows I am one of those respectful farangy's........

And no, I do not Wai the Tesco checkout girls, my hansum smile is enough there.........😘

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, transam said:

9 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Does anyone?

I do, to those I know, and those who greet me with a Wai

Me too, but the OP is referring to forcibly interacting with strangers!

[transam]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

Me too, but the OP is referring to forcibly interacting with strangers!

I don't really like my post chopped...........🥴

 

I have waii-ed strangers, as but usually offering my hand as my form of greeting, always works as a pleasant gesture...😉

[Doctor Tom]

I always wai my Doctor, hoping by politeness,  to stop the sadistic fxxxer hurting me.,  I have a very low pain threshold.  It never seems to work. 

[Liverpool Lou]

6 minutes ago, transam said:

10 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Me too, but the OP is referring to forcibly interacting with strangers!

I don't really like my post chopped...........🥴

But that's what can happen when someone wants to respond to only one relevant part of a comment!

Edited February 21 by Liverpool Lou

[BigStar]

On 2/20/2024 at 5:25 AM, JimTripper said:

Saying hello signals interest and further discussion. What do they do then if you keep talking after the greeting and they don't want to hear it?

 

Depends on how you say it. Quickly, with a perfunctory businesslike tone, doesn't signal further interest. I usually get the same back or nothing, as it's clear I don't expect any response. I think it helps always to give a pleasant sawadee krub at the beginning of any business transaction, even at supermarket checkout.  

 

The OP may expect further discussion, however, and that might be part of his problem. Ordinarily, there's no reason to imply or expect that.

 

 

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

But that's what can happen when someone wants to respond to only one relevant part of a comment!

Sorry, I still don't like it....

[Liverpool Lou]

Just now, transam said:

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

But that's what can happen when someone wants to respond to only one relevant part of a comment!

Sorry, I still don't like it....

Sorry, that's life!

[transam]

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

Sorry, that's life!

No, it's my post...................🤭

[Liverpool Lou]

11 hours ago, BenStark said:

11 hours ago, Neeranam said:

Quite amusing really that a retired Pattaya ''person'' is telling a Thai he doesn't know about Thai culture.

You are a not a Thai, you have paid for a Thai ID.

For the benefit of the rest of us, could you enlarge on that assertion?

[metisdead]

A post with a trolling meme contravening our Community Standards has been removed.

[Neeranam]

25 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

For the benefit of the rest of us, could you enlarge on that assertion?

I have that guy on ignore, can't remember why but probably sill posts like that.

I paid 5,500 baht to get my Thai ID. 

[Neeranam]

39 minutes ago, Doctor Tom said:

I always wai my Doctor, hoping by politeness,  to stop the sadistic fxxxer hurting me.,  I have a very low pain threshold.  It never seems to work. 

Always wise to wai a doctor. You life could be at risk.

[ozimoron]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Always wise to wai a doctor. You life could be at risk.

 

Thais do it so I do too. No rationalization needed.

 

A doctor wai to me yesterday in my gym. She's drop dead gorgeous.

Edited February 21 by ozimoron