Do Thais really attack foreigners for no reason?

[Jonathan Swift]

21 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Quite a few members on this forum seem to be under the impression that Thais like to beat up foreigners for enjoyment, pleasure or because of some sort of hatred. That happens in some countries obviously but I don’t think Thais are really wired that way. 

 

While others, including others always feel very safe walking around, even late at night around large groups of Thai strangers. As long as you are friendly and polite you have nothing to worry about, unless perhaps you come across someone with mental issues.

 

Of course if you are aggressive or rude to Thais as many foreigners are you will eventually come unstuck and they often end up in the news reports.. Some people mistake kindness for weakness.

 

what do you think?

Are you scared to go out at night amongst Thais or do you feel safe in Thailand?

Personally I feel safer here walking around alone, drunk late at night whether it be in Bangkok or a small village than I do back in London. 

I am naive or are others plain paranoid?

Not naive, I agree, and I've been here 11 years. Never felt unsafe

[Jonathan Swift]

8 hours ago, georgegeorgia said:

And in Melbourne Australia,2 Thai guys stab an Australian man to death for no reason 

Luke Mitchell a good Samaritan 

And you were there? Saw it? One incident doesn't mean anything. I'm sure plenty of Australians stab people, exponentially more than Thai people.

[steven100]

is @Jonathan Swift taking over from Lou    ?  

[Jonathan Swift]

19 hours ago, Neeranam said:

100 times safer than walking around in London. 

Thais are peaceful and tolerant of foreigners. 

Absolutely right. One incident here and there means nothing in the big picture. Most of the commenters here come from violent crime ridden countries, mine the US included. I came here to get away from everything American

[MalcolmB]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

at first glance I thought what a stupid topic to discuss ..... and then I seen the OP and realized why.

Well a bit more interesting than your topic about having zero friends and the other about eating a burger at KFC. 

[BangkokReady]

17 hours ago, Airalee said:

Never had a problem in Thailand at any time of day or night (other than a few soi dog encounters)

 

I think the Thais are indifferent to our presence even though they can overreact to certain situations or cultural faux pas.  It does seem to be that in all the articles of foreigners being “attacked”, just looking at the photos of the foreigners, they seem to give off a negative, aggressive vibe which can put the Thais on edge more so than someone just peacefully/lazily passing by.  Maybe it’s the look in the foreigners eyes, their body language or general demeanor but Thais, from what I have experienced are very good at reading people.

 

Or creating self-fulfilling prophesies...  

[BangkokReady]

11 hours ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

Could  you provide a few examples?

 

Obviously not.  He's trolling, just as he always does.

[BangkokReady]

9 hours ago, J Branche said:

Malcolm in the 1st post summed it up pretty well.  Show respect, don't yell, don't get angry, don't say something mean or call them stupid and you will be fine with 99.99% of the people.

 

Nice idea, but if someone is attacked for failing to show respect, yelling, getting angry, saying something mean, or calling someone stupid, then it is the person who is doing the attacking that is at fault.

 

If you're argument is genuinely, "Don't do anything from this list of fairly normal reactions to a range of incidents, otherwise you might be met with violence from a Thai person", then you're probably kidding yourself as to how peaceful Thai people are.

[BangkokReady]

8 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Sure you do Bob.

 

Tut, tut.  Glass houses SparkTrader, I mean Big Knok, I mean Dolf...  🙄