Being black in Thailand

[NorthernRyland]

YouTube has a stated "diversity and inclusion policy" (Google it to learn more). The short of it is this summary:

 

At YouTube, we put equity and inclusion at the forefront of our mission. To do this, our teams explore how our practices, policies and norms may create bias and inequity on the platform. This is why we established a dedicated Racial Justice, Equity and Product Inclusion

 

As a result they promote "being black in ..." videos so that the average Farang can peer into "Black America". You may have seen this also which may seem strange because blacks are so are in Thailand. That's Google at work, not organic at all.

 

My first feeling is oh great, race war crap from America is coming to the Thailand, I hope it doesn't reach me. In actuality this is just the bias they're promoting and the numbers are very small but it's still unsettling.

 

As a white American I find this distributing that they have this persistent paranoia they bring around with them. Coming to Thailand or any country and making your race front and center of your identity is surely a bad way to go about life.

 

Of course us Farang have always been treated excellently by the Thais (some will disagree I know) but honestly I'm not sure they're so keen on blacks so maybe their paranoia is justified. In fact my first year in Thailand I was in Pai in 2005. One day me and my brother went to the local hot springs with these two Lisu hill tribe girls we met (cutest girls, we were all in our very early 20s) and this jet black African man appeared a little while later (extremely rare back then and still pretty rare today). The girls were visibility horrified and recoiled in fear clutching on to me and my brother. Not joking it was like they saw a snake. The girls probably never saw a black man before considering how remote they lived.

 

So it makes me think, is the paranoia justified? Do blacks go around life thinking deep down they are feared and reviled? Are they? If you're interested you can listen to them in their own words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NickyLouie]

what they stole ?

[Harrisfan]

12 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

YouTube has a stated "diversity and inclusion policy" (Google it to learn more). The short of it is this summary:

 

At YouTube, we put equity and inclusion at the forefront of our mission. To do this, our teams explore how our practices, policies and norms may create bias and inequity on the platform. This is why we established a dedicated Racial Justice, Equity and Product Inclusion

 

As a result they promote "being black in ..." videos so that the average Farang can peer into "Black America". You may have seen this also which may seem strange because blacks are so are in Thailand. That's Google at work, not organic at all.

 

My first feeling is oh great, race war crap from America is coming to the Thailand, I hope it doesn't reach me. In actuality this is just the bias they're promoting and the numbers are very small but it's still unsettling.

 

As a white American I find this distributing that they have this persistent paranoia they bring around with them. Coming to Thailand or any country and making your race front and center of your identity is surely a bad way to go about life.

 

Of course us Farang have always been treated excellently by the Thais (some will disagree I know) but honestly I'm not sure they're so keen on blacks so maybe their paranoia is justified. In fact my first year in Thailand I was in Pai in 2005. One day me and my brother went to the local hot springs with these two Lisu hill tribe girls we met (cutest girls, we were all in our very early 20s) and this jet black African man appeared a little while later (extremely rare back then and still pretty rare today). The girls were visibility horrified and recoiled in fear clutching on to me and my brother. Not joking it was like they saw a snake. The girls probably never saw a black man before considering how remote they lived.

 

So it makes me think, is the paranoia justified? Do blacks go around life thinking deep down they are feared and reviled? Are they? If you're interested you can listen to them in their own words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isaan people are dark brown. Very few black people.

[Lacessit]

I remember the book " Black like Me" by John Howard Griffin.

 

He was a white American journalist and author who, in 1959, darkened his skin and traveled through the Deep South for six weeks, posing as a Black man. The book is his account of his experiences with racial prejudice and segregation during that time.

 

In Thailand, dark skin means you are in the lowest socio-economic class, working in the rice fields.

 

To me, black skin means a beneficial genetic inheritance. People with it are far less likely to develop skin cancers.

 

It's like the epicanthic fold in Asian eyes, which originally developed to prevent snow blindness.

[Harrisfan]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I remember the book " Black like Me" by John Howard Griffin.

 

He was a white American journalist and author who, in 1959, darkened his skin and traveled through the Deep South for six weeks, posing as a Black man. The book is his account of his experiences with racial prejudice and segregation during that time.

 

In Thailand, dark skin means you are in the lowest socio-economic class, working in the rice fields.

 

To me, black skin means a beneficial genetic inheritance. People with it are far less likely to develop skin cancers.

 

It's like the epicanthic fold in Asian eyes, which originally developed to prevent snow blindness.

Buakaw is dark. National hero.

[NorthernRyland]

20 minutes ago, NickyLouie said:

what they stole ?

das raciss yo

[Mike_Hunt]

If it weren't for colonization, every African nation could have become a first-world country.

[NorthernRyland]

9 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

In Thailand, dark skin means you are in the lowest socio-economic class, working in the rice fields.

this does not bode well for the black man in Thailand. Just on the surface level I would avoid Asia if I was black for this reasons alone.

 

I recall some racial insensitive commercials in Thailand. Imagine if you saw this right after the evening news filled with mixed white-Thai people and women smothered with whitening creams.

 

 

This one from China but it could have been Thailand all the same:

 

 

Or there's this one from our favorite block head. "if those flat nose darkies can make money, well so can you!"

 

 

[NorthernRyland]

7 minutes ago, Mike_Hunt said:

If it weren't for colonization, every African nation could have become a first-world country.

 

I think there problems go deeper than just not having enough diamonds.

[Mike_Hunt]

1 minute ago, NorthernRyland said:

 

I think there problems go deeper than just not having enough diamonds.

The problems in Africa are rooted in European imperialism.

[NorthernRyland]

18 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

He was a white American journalist and author who, in 1959, darkened his skin and traveled through the Deep South for six weeks, posing as a Black man. The book is his account of his experiences with racial prejudice and segregation during that time.

 

Unpopular opinion, I think America is the best place to be black in the world. Massively higher standard of living than their family who were not captured as slaves and affirmative action favoring them (called DEI today and widely practiced, including YouTube). It's going to court now on a federal level with Trump but they are the preferred race for hiring and universities.

 

Thailand could be  a step backwards for them in many regards.

[NorthernRyland]

1 minute ago, Mike_Hunt said:

The problems in Africa are rooted in European imperialism.

Agree to disagree. Mods will probably shut this down if it  turns into a "why is Africa failing and whose fault is it" thread. Good luck to them, they need it.

[freedomnow]

Each person is kind of a condensed glyph of their racial type and it just fires off associations of that race to other races.

 

I think also you find in the world what you believe..to a degree.

 

Before I felt backpackers in Pai kind of frowned on me dating a Thai but other posters said they never felt that as interracial couples visiting Pai....

[Lacessit]

4 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

this does not bode well for the black man in Thailand. Just on the surface level I would avoid Asia if I was black for this reasons alone.

 

I recall some racial insensitive commercials in Thailand. Imagine if you saw this right after the evening news filled with mixed white-Thai people and women smothered with whitening creams.

 

 

This one from China but it could have been Thailand all the same:

 

 

Or there's this one from our favorite block head. "if those flat nose darkies can make money, well so can you!"

 

 

I can remember an Indian guy in my Chiang Mai condo who complained the Thai women treated him like dirt, even though he was quite wealthy.

 

Thais are quite obsessed with white skin.  It's a status thing.

 

To me. racism is all about lack of education.

 

[NorthernRyland]

31 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Isaan people are dark brown. Very few black people.

And Isaan people are looked down on from what I understand . It's certainly the backwater of Thailand which doesn't help.

[Harrisfan]

Just now, Lacessit said:

I can remember an Indian guy in my Chiang Mai condo who complained the Thai women treated him like dirt, even though he was quite wealthy.

 

Thais are quite obsessed with white skin.  It's a status thing.

 

To me. racism is all about lack of education.

 

Indians are known to be rude. Thais don't like Chinese either. Not skin color. 

[Harrisfan]

1 minute ago, NorthernRyland said:

And Isaan people are looked down on from what I understand . It's certainly the backwater of Thailand which doesn't help.

By snobs in Bangkok. Bangkokians are up themselves.

[NorthernRyland]

2 minutes ago, freedomnow said:

Before I felt backpackers in Pai kind of frowned on me dating a Thai but other posters said they never felt that as interracial couples visiting Pai....

What? Everyone was dating a Thai. As long as I've been in Thailand there has been interracial dating with Farangs and this was the norm. Much of the topics about Thailand are regarding these relationships and they dominate the experience of living in Thailand.

 

This is Thai-Farang though. How it works with Africans is another question and still uncharted territory for the most part.

 

Actually though, my wife has a cousin that married a black mail man from Las Vegas and they've lived together for years in America. She made a point of telling me he was black even as it was unusual. Otherwise I've perhaps never seen a Thai-black couple in real life although I know they exist.

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Unpopular opinion, I think America is the best place to be black in the world. Massively higher standard of living than their family who were not captured as slaves and affirmative action favoring them (called DEI today and widely practiced, including YouTube). It's going to court now on a federal level with Trump but they are the preferred race for hiring and universities.

 

Thailand could be  a step backwards for them in many regards.

It must have changed from when I was there in the 90's. I saw some pretty raw racism then.

 

Black people were less guarded with me, because I had an Australian accent.

 

 

 

[NorthernRyland]

2 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Indians are known to be rude. Thais don't like Chinese either. Not skin color. 

 

India is generally seen as a revolting country. Africa is scary for a Thai but India is more revolting to them. I work with Indians and it's not "all of them" but the average Indian will be rejected in Thailand (or Asia in general) I'm quite sure.

[NorthernRyland]

1 minute ago, Lacessit said:

It must have changed from when I was there in the 90's. I saw some pretty raw racism then.

 

They play the "black national anthem" at the super bowl! Football almost looks like it's become a part of black culture entire. It's a radical shift from 30 years ago.

[Harrisfan]

Farang is racist enough. Kind of annoying too being grouped with dumb people from France and the UK.

[Lacessit]

5 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Indians are known to be rude. Thais don't like Chinese either. Not skin color. 

I have worked with both races, plus Japanese. As individuals, not the same deal.

 

Your generalisation is more applicable to groups.

 

Thais don't like Chinese because they haggle over price to the point of exhaustion. Shopkeepers detest them.

[NorthernRyland]

8 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

To me. racism is all about lack of education.

You can't educate a person to like the culture of other races. Sorry Black culture in America is garbage, I've seen enough. Thai culture on the other hand is manifestly lovely and peoples lives are altered after visiting the country even once (and learn it's not so great later...😂).

 

If you need education to accept a culture we're now talking about brainwashing.

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Farang is racist enough. Kind of annoying too being grouped with dumb people from France and the UK.

It's pretty mild compared to gweiloh ( Chinese ) or gaijin ( Japanese ). Then there's the Russians, with chorny.

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

You can't educate a person to like the culture of other races. Sorry Black culture in America is garbage, I've seen enough. Thai culture on the other hand is manifestly lovely and peoples lives are altered after visiting the country even once (and learn it's not so great later...😂).

 

If you need education to accept a culture we're now talking about brainwashing.

I am quite well aware if someone is black, brown, brindle or white. I judge a person on how they interact with me. Treat me with respect, I return it.

 

I have worked with a range of nationalities. The only ethnic group I have an antipathy towards is Arabs, based on my personal experiences with them.

[NorthernRyland]

10 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Farang is racist enough

I'm in the "don't mind the term Farang camp". I understand there's thousands of years of history between us and we're very different people. We can meet on our common ground but I have no illusions of being accepted or even accepting them like I do my fellow Farangs. Race is not skin deep either I would argue.

 

It is what is it, they don't mean harm they just see us a single group, which in many ways we are.

[NorthernRyland]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I have worked with a range of nationalities. The only ethnic group I have an antipathy towards is Arabs, based on my personal experiences with them.

 

Arabs unnerve me greatly too but I don't know them well, just bad vides. These guys however are very charming. I think they're from rural Pakistan. 

 

 

[proton]

20 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

They play the "black national anthem" at the super bowl! Football almost looks like it's become a part of black culture entire. It's a radical shift from 30 years ago.

 

That nonsense will be stopping, there are only Americans and one national anthem

[Mike_Hunt]

28 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

Actually though, my wife has a cousin that married a black mail man from Las Vegas and they've lived together for years in America. She made a point of telling me he was black even as it was unusual. Otherwise I've perhaps never seen a Thai-black couple in real life although I know they exist.

 

I know a Thai woman who only dates black men.