I'm certain I don't use that hospital; the three I have used are all very respectful.  Almost every visit, the staff and doctors I see greet me with a wai.   But I don't wear flip-flops, swim trunks, or T-shirts; I'm always clean-shaven, wear long trousers and a collared shirt, plus I take a fresh shower.

On 10/9/2025 at 9:35 PM, still kicking said:

Bash Farangs, they are the worst.

Then who will marry the hookers and buy them a house.

 

Seems like Bob is back.

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

Then who will marry the hookers and buy them a house.

 

Seems like Bob is back.

Don't compare me with Bob, I have been married for 22years and my Thai wife has 2 houses to her name

17 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Don't compare me with Bob, I have been married for 22years and my Thai wife has 2 houses to her name

I was referring to the OP not you.

Thai bashing post which sounds totally fabricated by a new member.

 

It is Bob,

On 10/9/2025 at 6:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

I was at the hospital with my girlfriend and was sitting there using my phone.  The old matron started talking in a loud voice ''Why is HE here?''  ''Where does the foreigner come from?''  She then referred to everyone in the queue as ''Khon Thai'' in a loud voice.

 

Second day was the same place.  She was chatting to the young nurses and said ''Ai falang mein kii.  Mein kii!''  The foreigner smells of <deleted>.

 

So today I didn't go in because there was no where to sit.  But I could see her marching up and down and she looked at me one time.

 

It was at a Hospital.

 

Went to the Seven Eleven and woman literally looked up at me and started filing at her nails.  The other beanpole beside her just looked away.  My girlfriend got them working by telling them ''Nong, Mii All Member''  So they started to serve me but only because she was there.

 

Some other Seven Eleven guy slammed the change into my hand.

 

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

When was the last time you took a shower? That could be the reason. If it was not that, I call this story BS.

On 10/9/2025 at 6:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

I was at the hospital with my girlfriend and was sitting there using my phone.  The old matron started talking in a loud voice ''Why is HE here?''  ''Where does the foreigner come from?''  She then referred to everyone in the queue as ''Khon Thai'' in a loud voice.

 

Second day was the same place.  She was chatting to the young nurses and said ''Ai falang mein kii.  Mein kii!''  The foreigner smells of <deleted>.

 

So today I didn't go in because there was no where to sit.  But I could see her marching up and down and she looked at me one time.

 

It was at a Hospital.

 

Went to the Seven Eleven and woman literally looked up at me and started filing at her nails.  The other beanpole beside her just looked away.  My girlfriend got them working by telling them ''Nong, Mii All Member''  So they started to serve me but only because she was there.

 

Some other Seven Eleven guy slammed the change into my hand.

 

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

12 hours ago, NedR69 said:

I'm certain I don't use that hospital; the three I have used are all very respectful.  Almost every visit, the staff and doctors I see greet me with a wai.   But I don't wear flip-flops, swim trunks, or T-shirts; I'm always clean-shaven, wear long trousers and a collared shirt, plus I take a fresh shower.

Not turning up drunk helps as well

On 10/9/2025 at 6:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

No.

I am not in the hospital every day playing with my phone neither do I stink.

17 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

Its a global thing , nothing unique to Thailand,    The decline in manners and politeness is a result of socialism

Today’s award for the dumbest post goes to….

Of course all of the far right bigots are the epitome of “manners and politeness “ eh? Yeah right.

1 hour ago, Red Forever said:

Today’s award for the dumbest post goes to….

Of course all of the far right bigots are the epitome of “manners and politeness “ eh? Yeah right.

       A perfect response , I could not have hoped for better.  You started your comment  in traditionally aggressive  lefty style,  with a sad attempt at insulting me personally , and for no other reason than not agreeing with my views !    which is exactly my point.  Thank you

      One only has to look at the behaviour of the leftists online or during the current spate of protests to appreciate the difference between left and right.

      Lets Take the  murder in the US  Charlie Kirk as an example  without even mentioning  the perpetrators political sympathies

      Ok. just one  examples, admittedly  not exactly proving my point,  but what is much more revealing is   the reaction of the leftists immediately after the event.  Bad mouthing online and gatecrashing vigils in honour of the deceased etc   Countless people including many left leaning  TV  "stars" actually and quite rightly , have  been  sacked for their odious, tasteless and uncalled for outbursts of "virtue" signalling , although  I personally struggle to  see  any evidence of virtue in such behaviour,  maybe your eyes  better than mine

 

     Yes right wing extremists have also killed people  I am not denying it  but I can't think of any recent examples however I'm sure you will help me out. 

     You might find it a bit more difficult to provide many if any examples  of gangs masked up "fascists and Nazis ".Chanting and screaming their approval and attempting to blacken the name  and the memory of the deceased ,

That disgusting behaviour is very rare in western society  and clearly pretty much unique to the left.   yes we  have free speech  but speaking ill of the dead ?  Shameful  and we see it again and again.    

On 10/9/2025 at 7:19 PM, save the frogs said:

 

May not be the same as 20 years ago, but Thais realize most of them would be out of a job if foreigners stopped going to Pattaya.

 

So who cares what they're thinking? I doubt they are openly hostile to foreigners unless the foreigner gives them a reason to because they know where their bread is buttered. 

 

 

It's better than 20 years ago because more English is spoken. I live in an entirely Thai neighbourhood where Farang are quite rare, and all my shopping is pleasant, and all the staff I encounter in 711s (have 7 nearby) and other stores are pleasant. I think the OP has a problem, but not sure what it could be.

 

One battleaxe in a hospital doesn't indicate a general problem. I've found that all the staff at all the hospitals I have visited are pleasant.

Come to think of it, looking for theories other than the OP hasn't showered in a week LOL.

 

His girlfriend could be the problem. How does she present herself? Does she dress and behave like a bargirl? Does she have a superior attitude?

 

There's no way my conservatively dressed girlfriend would let anyone at the hospital or anywhere else treat me like that. LOL, she better not. It's far better for a Thai person to put someone like that in their place than a Farang trying to do it. They have a different way of complaining and scolding than most of us do. They are usually cooler and quieter about it. Unless they are bargirls, they normally don't shout or raise their voices.

I use Thai MILITARY Hospitals - I am not military.

 

I have always been treated very well, ( I registered when I was single and got the hospital ID  ) with or without the wife with me.

 

Many doctors are US or UK trained and speak good English.

On 10/16/2025 at 9:44 AM, Garouda said:

I've been living here since 2003, never had such an issue.

I'd rather say, on the contrary. So it looks suspicious to me, big BS???

Well, I'm almost fluent in Thai and this makes a huge difference.

Sometimes they say: " เป็นคนไทยอยู่แล้ว, pen khon Thai  yoo leeow ", you are already a Thai.

Now, there's always a possibility related to your behaviour and the way you are dressed.

 I don't speak Thai at all, and in the 14 years I've lived in Pattaya, I haven't had a single problem with racism from the locals, quite the opposite.
So the language issue is probably a dead end.

Humility and personal hygiene helps. Otherwise, video her on your phone as she is speaking and show the doctor who treats you and ask, "is this normal in your hospital?"

On 10/9/2025 at 6:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

I was at the hospital with my girlfriend and was sitting there using my phone.  The old matron started talking in a loud voice ''Why is HE here?''  ''Where does the foreigner come from?''  She then referred to everyone in the queue as ''Khon Thai'' in a loud voice.

 

Second day was the same place.  She was chatting to the young nurses and said ''Ai falang mein kii.  Mein kii!''  The foreigner smells of <deleted>.

 

So today I didn't go in because there was no where to sit.  But I could see her marching up and down and she looked at me one time.

 

It was at a Hospital.

 

Went to the Seven Eleven and woman literally looked up at me and started filing at her nails.  The other beanpole beside her just looked away.  My girlfriend got them working by telling them ''Nong, Mii All Member''  So they started to serve me but only because she was there.

 

Some other Seven Eleven guy slammed the change into my hand.

 

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

I had a much worse experience here, a very long time ago.

Impossible to tell without attracting a libel suit of a very big corporation. 

 

What I did at the time, I called their call center, whose number was clearly posted at the place, and complained .  It was 11pm. 

Next morning, the regional director called me and asked, whether that person had apologized already.

No, she hadn't.

5 minutes later,  the person called me and apologized. 

And then the regional director called me again to make sure I had gotten an apology.

 

Lesson: yes, lots of racist axxholes here. But management takes these things very seriously.

 

Please don't complain to management about small stuff, like many foreigners tend to do. Staff is overworked,  tired, dealing with foreigners is not easy. 

People may lose their job because you complain. 

But there  are limits. Even as a foreigner,  you don't have to accept every <deleted>.

YAWN... 

 

A 'fabricated account' in a Muslim sounding name 'Farid Ismail'... 

 

Then implying he smells and combined it with a Thai-bash...   

 

The account has clearly been set up to insult both Muslims and Thai's - and its not even thinly veiled - Op should be banned.

 

 

On 10/9/2025 at 6:31 PM, hotandsticky said:

Nearly 20 years and nothing remotely close to that has happened to me.....I call BS on that story.

 

 

Most people rarely move from the little surface they live on in TH, plenty of places where you can see bad behavior constantly in tourist areas.

On 10/16/2025 at 6:26 AM, Hellfire said:

I sometimes feel a bit of awkwardness toward me here and there, but almost never any real rejection or hostility behind it.
For example, in 7-Eleven when I pay for something, the change is almost always handed to my girlfriend. Or at a hotel, when I check in, the keys and directions to our room are given in Thai - to her. It’s a bit rude, but it can probably be explained by a certain shyness and laziness when dealing with foreigners (especially in English).
Overall, though, the Thais’ tolerance toward foreigners is truly remarkable, and that’s one of the main reasons I choose to live here.

I should note that I don’t understand Thai - and maybe I’d hear something unpleasant about myself if I did. Yet another reason not to learn the language!

P.S. There is, however, one noticeable trend in Thailand that isn’t directly related to xenophobia. Service staff everywhere  - room cleaners, condominium guards, and so on - no longer behave as modestly and respectfully as they did 13 years ago, when I first came to Thailand. It’s part of a global trend, and it greatly affects the overall feeling one gets when interacting with the local population here. 

 

I think thats a fair and balanced outlook of 'behavior towards foreigners'...

 

I’ve found that the significant majority of my interactions with Thais are overwhelmingly positive.

 

Of course, I too notice the occasional small idiosyncrasies from service staff - the sort of minor missteps that might feel clumsy to a Western eye, such as returning change in an unexpected way or directing conversation towards the wife rather than to us directly. These things are rarely ill-intentioned; they’re usually just cultural habits or patterns of social clumsiness & naivety etc perhaps even poor training...

 

I often see a moment of awkwardness dissolve into relief once I switch to Thai. That, to me, suggests that a portion of this behaviour is rooted in language barriers and a natural reluctance to step outside one’s comfort zone. Many Thais are wary of making linguistic mistakes or causing offence, so sticking to familiar scripts can feel safer.

 

Additionally - and this is especially evident in high-tourist areas - there can sometimes be a faint air of surliness or indifference. I tend to read this not as personal hostility but as a symptom of sheer volume and fatigue. In places where locals deal with a constant stream of visitors - some of whom, frankly, are far from courteous - a sense of being jaded can build up. What might look like resentment is often just emotional economy: a shift from warm hospitality to efficient, transactional interaction as a form of self-preservation.

 

Taken as a whole, Thailand remains one of the friendliest and most gracious cultures I’ve encountered. The few rough edges tend to say far more about circumstance and environment than they do about character or any broad cultural attitude. And this is borne out in the everyday interactions - not effusive, not gushing, just the straightforward, respectful, face-to-face engagement that Thais extend to one another as a matter of course. It’s that quiet, unforced normality that ultimately speaks the loudest.

 

 

 

 

On 10/9/2025 at 9:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

I was at the hospital with my girlfriend and was sitting there using my phone.  The old matron started talking in a loud voice ''Why is HE here?''  ''Where does the foreigner come from?''  She then referred to everyone in the queue as ''Khon Thai'' in a loud voice.

 

Second day was the same place.  She was chatting to the young nurses and said ''Ai falang mein kii.  Mein kii!''  The foreigner smells of <deleted>.

 

So today I didn't go in because there was no where to sit.  But I could see her marching up and down and she looked at me one time.

 

It was at a Hospital.

 

Went to the Seven Eleven and woman literally looked up at me and started filing at her nails.  The other beanpole beside her just looked away.  My girlfriend got them working by telling them ''Nong, Mii All Member''  So they started to serve me but only because she was there.

 

Some other Seven Eleven guy slammed the change into my hand.

 

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

In over 23 years, I have not noticed an increase in racism. It has always been like that in Thailand, and in fact, most Asian countries. The generally accepted definition of racism is when a person or a group of people treat another person or group of people differently based on heritage, language, skin colour etc. Whether or not the racism was deliberate or not is irrelevant. It's the act of treating someone differently, or poorly, based on heritage, language, skin colour etc.. We are merely talking about behavioral facts - not emotions. So, yes, I get treated differently several times a week compared to my Asian-looking wife in retail, by trades-people and under Thai law. My Thai son gets treated differently too just because he doesn't look Thai enough. He looks more Italian. I'm as white as you can get but my son's mother has jet black, curly hair. Hence the Italian look. I admit that I made a mistake in retiring in Thailand. I'd lose a lot of money if I were to pack my bags and relocate back to a western country where I'd be more accepted. But I have to say that South Korea is worse. I lived and worked there some 23 years ago. Some of the comments here will no doubt down play xenophobia and racism and gaslight your experiences as if it's your fault or you're over sensitive. Yes, racism is a human condition that most nations have experienced one time or another...but if unchecked, it threatens all peace-loving and enlightened societies and its people. To just 'go with it', 'accept it', 'ignore it' or 'leave Thailand if you don't like" is a weak response. Enlightened humans should be highlighting all and any racism - not defending or excusing it. But if I may give a few examples of my own: when paying at the supermarket checkout, the operator takes my money but then turns away from me and gives the change to the Asian-looking woman next to me and bows to her, not me. My Thai son is ordered by a dude to go from the Thai entry queue to the foreigner queue based on his looks alone without ascertaining his nationality. The mere fact that the attraction had two separate queues, one which charged foreigners double, is racism. The various gaslight excuses that I am wealthy because I am 'white' is also racist. And yes, I paid Thai taxes last month. The trades people that I let into my house recently walked straight past me looking for an Asian to speak to. When they saw my son-in-law, they started talking to him although I was the one who called the tradespeople. You can slice it and dice it anyway you want but the fact is that if someone treats another person or group of people differently based on heritage, language, skin colour etc. then that is simply racism. The affected person has all the right to be upset about this. There's no comeback or excuse from the racist person. On a final note, in the mid 1970's, a television program discussed apartheid in South Africa. My father made a grand and ignorant comment that "...you can't just abolish apartheid immediately and give 'blacks' equal rights immediately. Equal rights must be earned and introduced slowly, over time". I was around 10 or 11 years old when he made that stupid statement...and I was quite shocked. No one introduced me to equal rights. I always knew that racism was wrong. Imagine abolishing slavery but it only starts in let's say 10 years. Every decade, the slave gets a few more right. How dodgy is that?! In 100 years, your grandchildren could be free. Equality is not something that needs to be earned and it shouldn't depend on your nationality or looks.

On 10/16/2025 at 9:48 PM, pomchop said:

 

Which countries is the main motivator for most people NOT money?

 

Sure Thais like money but I find most westerners to be more greedy and money driven that many Thais who somehow seem to often simply be more or less happy with what they have.

 

After 25 or so years in different areas of Thailand I have found nearly all the Thais i deal with to be very pleasant and helpfulf people even when there is no money at all involved. 

 

Many Thais put up with more whinning farang complaints as to why Thais have to behave like it is their country and live by their cultural norms.  Are there a few Thais that hate farangs?  For sure and based on a lot of farang interactions I have observed over the years I can certainly understand why. I suspect that Thais give farangs more respect than many farangs deserve. 

 

Overwhelmingly my experiences have been positive especially if you behave  like a decent person, don't get all irritated and raise your voice over nothing and try and remember that you are in Thailand where surprise surprise most people speak Thai and unless you are fluent there will often be misunderstandings.

 

 

20% of Thailand's GDP comes from tourism. I alone spent 10 million baht here over the past 12 months - and I paid taxes too - as a resident...but I'm not Thai and don't want to be. Although some tourists behave badly, most are well behaved. Most tourists, ex-pats etc are good people. Yet, the racism experienced is real. There's always an excuse for racism. As I treat everyone with respect and decency, I expect the same in return.

On 10/16/2025 at 8:12 PM, Jim501 said:

17 years living in Thailand.  Have lived in 7 different provinces.  Never seen nor heard anything like racism.  

Plenty in the other 70 provinces.

1 hour ago, Keeenok Powell said:

Plenty in the other 70 provinces.

Plenty of racist farangs

On 10/9/2025 at 6:26 PM, FaridIsmail said:

I was at the hospital with my girlfriend and was sitting there using my phone.  The old matron started talking in a loud voice ''Why is HE here?''  ''Where does the foreigner come from?''  She then referred to everyone in the queue as ''Khon Thai'' in a loud voice.

 

Second day was the same place.  She was chatting to the young nurses and said ''Ai falang mein kii.  Mein kii!''  The foreigner smells of <deleted>.

 

So today I didn't go in because there was no where to sit.  But I could see her marching up and down and she looked at me one time.

 

It was at a Hospital.

 

Went to the Seven Eleven and woman literally looked up at me and started filing at her nails.  The other beanpole beside her just looked away.  My girlfriend got them working by telling them ''Nong, Mii All Member''  So they started to serve me but only because she was there.

 

Some other Seven Eleven guy slammed the change into my hand.

 

How about you?  Have you noticed a rise in racism recently?

 

I think its you as an individual that they find offensive, in 20 years I have never come across anything that you describe.

Please define the word "foreigners"?

Just look at how Bangkok and Central Thais treat/view the peoples of Lanna, Issan and Patani; and their neighbors, especially those in Cambodia and Myanmar; and the ethnic groups in the land of pre Siam (such as the Mon, Khmer, etc.) who were here before the ethnic Tais left southern China and moved into Laos, Viet Nam, India and Thailand; and then, of course, your have the regional ethnic/minority groups in Thailand, whose peoples who have been in Thailand for centuries, and even though they, and their parents, and their grandparents, were born in Thailand, they cannot get Thai citizenship and a Thai national ID card.

Of course the Thais are not racist; just look at how the Thai "system" treats non Thais.

6 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Plenty of racist farangs

That’s racist.

1 minute ago, Keeenok Powell said:

That’s racist.

It is a fact.