Now in 2025, what is the general attitude of half-Thais in Thailand? Have you or your kids noticed any discrimination growing up mixed race? I'm especially curious about areas outside of Bangkok, which feels pretty international and easy to blend into. 

 

Just want to know what I'm in for.

Plenty of half-Thais in my kids class at school. Whilst they don't get active discrimination from their Thai schoolfriends or teachers, there are the usual issues with language, different looks and different cultural habits. I wouldnt' say it's massively out of line. In fact Thais are very friendly to foreign kids.

Has a lot to do with the class of the mother and father.

 

International businessman with an educated mother versus a Pattaya Beerguts Monger with his heavily tattooed bargirl bride with bolt-ons.

Thais can be judgmental like that. 

52 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Has a lot to do with the class of the mother and father.

 

International businessman with an educated mother versus a Pattaya Beerguts Monger with his heavily tattooed bargirl bride with bolt-ons.

Thais can be judgmental like that. 

 

 

There's a guy on TikTok constantly posting about sending his child to a private school in Pattaya, with his bolt on Pattaya Bar girl girlfriend with him in the videos. He thinks he's getting respect, but the look is beyond disgust from fellow parents. 

3 hours ago, Cameroni said:

Whilst they don't get active discrimination from their Thai schoolfriends or teachers, there are the usual issues with language, different looks and different cultural habits.

I'm assuming this is a private school, what about around regular Thais? Would you anticipate any bullying? 

5 hours ago, chawbdurian said:

I'm assuming this is a private school, what about around regular Thais? Would you anticipate any bullying? 

My kids go to a public Thai school. I pick them up daily. I get nothing but smiles from parents and grandparents also there to get their kids from school. Albeit, most do not dare to speak English to me, there are 1 or 2 women that have approached me to talk while waiting our children. 

My children have gotten no prejudism with their classmates that I know about. They speak Thai and English. Their teachers treat them the same as Thai as well. So no favoritism either. 

I do think, there is a big difference though in peoples attitude if they see the type of woman you are with. As another poster replied the disgust when Thais are seeing a tattooed bar girl rather than a classy woman. 

The city where i am does not have tourist attractions so there are very few foreigners here and even less with children. 

Hope this answers your question.

9 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

 

 

There's a guy on TikTok constantly posting about sending his child to a private school in Pattaya, with his bolt on Pattaya Bar girl girlfriend with him in the videos. He thinks he's getting respect, but the look is beyond disgust from fellow parents. 

I think I know the one you are talking about.

Fat bald Australian, with the tattooed tart posing in the background doing bj impersonations?

1 hour ago, thesetat said:

most do not dare to speak English to me

Better to speak thai with them.

Not in the slightest (Rayong province).

28 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Better to speak thai with them.

i disagree... is better to make them think you do not know any Thai. That way they speak freely about you within earshot so you can know what they really think and say about you. I never let anyone know i understand Thai. 

1 minute ago, thesetat said:

i disagree... is better to make them think you do not know any Thai. That way they speak freely about you within earshot so you can know what they really think and say about you. I never let anyone know i understand Thai. 

Weirdo paranoid farang.

what are they saying about you?

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

Weirdo paranoid farang.

what are they saying about you?

You twist my words into something bad. Whereas I have caught many Thais saying bad things about foreigners they see. All the while smiling at them happily. If i choose to let someone know I speak and understand Thai, then can it is because I know sure they are a person who is not discriminate or hateful because i am a foreigner. So it is my choice and has nothing to do with paranoid. 

1 minute ago, thesetat said:

You twist my words into something bad. Whereas I have caught many Thais saying bad things about foreigners they see. 

Such as?

Many?

13 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Such as?

Many?

Good ole Malcie, always good for a laff. Brits make great trolls.

Mixed race?  Yeah - it they are white and Thai they end up with a social edge in life.  And want to be a Thai Superstar?  Being white/Thai is your ticket to the big time.  Thais have a white skin problem.  They love white skin while not really liking Farangs at all. 

2 hours ago, thesetat said:

Hope this answers your question.

It does, thanks for the thorough response 

 

4 minutes ago, connda said:

They love white skin while not really liking Farangs at all. 

Asians look better white.

Farangs look better with a tan.

 

You are kidding yourself if you think they want to look like us.

They want to look like white asian, not like a farang.

 

Post removed. Not English language.

 

@MalcolmB

 

See Forum Rule #16

 

 

 

17 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Brits make great trolls.

And great men.

And great lovers.

And great sportsmen.

And great inventors.

And great colonizers.

1 minute ago, MalcolmB said:

You are kidding yourself if you think they want to look like us.

They want to look like white asian, not like a farang.

 

 

Not entirely true. On top of a preference for white skin there is:

 

- chin surgeries to remove the broad Asian jawline.

- nose jobs to increase the nasal bridge, reduce nostril size (many Thai have very small bridge and large almost African like nostrils).

- dyeing hair to be brown or blonde.

 

It's white supremacy from top to bottom.

11 hours ago, chawbdurian said:

Just want to know what I'm in for.

Instead of anticipating a reactionary response, why not let it be a non issue. Kids that are taught to not get hung up on appearances and avoid negative social clicks and focus on their education and hang out with other kids that have the same focus and discipline will certainly excel further than those who don’t. Teaching a kid to navigate prejudices instead of ignoring them with positive energy and focus will only hinder them with fear.

8 hours ago, chawbdurian said:

I'm assuming this is a private school, what about around regular Thais? Would you anticipate any bullying? 

 

Yes, a private school. No with regular Thais I'd expect less bullying actually. Most of the issues are with the rich kids in school.

1 hour ago, connda said:

Mixed race?  Yeah - it they are white and Thai they end up with a social edge in life.  And want to be a Thai Superstar?  Being white/Thai is your ticket to the big time.  Thais have a white skin problem.  They love white skin while not really liking Farangs at all.

I do wonder if there is unequal treatment with White/Thai versus Black/Thai. 

 

 

This guy, Rusameekae Fagerlund, has done quite well for himself.

 

1 hour ago, ColeBOzbourne said:

I do wonder if there is unequal treatment with White/Thai versus Black/Thai. 

 

My thoughts exactly.  For instance in Japan and in S. Korea there has been a growing number of children with fathers from the African continent(this includes African Americans)  and in the past they have not been treated well. Of course things are much differnt for Naomi Osaka.  Recently there has been reluctant acceptance of Japanese and Korean people with fathers from Africa or even African American. It was not so great in the past. 

 

My sister-in-law (Thai) has lived in London for ten years. Married, one kid, worked everyday since she was allowed to.

 

She was over here visiting for a family wedding.

 

She was in tears as she left yesterday and privately confessed to me it was due to the 'endless' racism she is suddenly facing and she doesn't want to go back.

 

I asked when did it start, what's happened, what's changed?

 

Purely anecdotal of course.......but she said it started with Farage hitting the headlines, the 'boat people' and constant headlines related to asylum seekers in hotels.

 

She is obviously Thai, but she says the racists don't distinguish.....she's just another foreigner.

 

 

14 hours ago, MalcolmB said:

Has a lot to do with the class of the mother and father.

 

International businessman with an educated mother versus a Pattaya Beerguts Monger with his heavily tattooed bargirl bride with bolt-ons.

Thais can be judgmental like that. 

Funnily enough, so can some posters here!

 

4 hours ago, thesetat said:

i disagree... is better to make them think you do not know any Thai. That way they speak freely about you within earshot so you can know what they really think and say about you. I never let anyone know i understand Thai. 

I disagree, it is way better to have conversations with them. Will get a lot more respect that way.

16 hours ago, chawbdurian said:

Now in 2025, what is the general attitude of half-Thais in Thailand? Have you or your kids noticed any discrimination growing up mixed race? I'm especially curious about areas outside of Bangkok, which feels pretty international and easy to blend into. 

 

Just want to know what I'm in for.

My daughter is mixed race, looks western, speaks Thai and of course is a Thai national. She is now at University here (second year), having gone through school here (private school yes, but far from an "elite" establishment - they employed me as a teacher after all!). Here is Chiang Rai, about as far from Bangkok as you can get.

 

She didn't suffer any racism or name calling from her friends. She had a strong circle of Thai friends, with whom she remains close, nice youngsters, but not plaster saints; I taught them and she, and they, could be the bane of my life, albeit in a nice way! Where there were problems they tended to be from the teachers - older ones, the younger ones were much more open. One in particular (I never really worked  out what subject she taught, she seemed to concentrate on making sure that every child could wai correctly in a variety of circumstances) was a real pain, she told Lucy she had to change her name to a Thai name, and made her dye her (auburn) hair black so she would be "more Thai". I was furious about that, spoke to the Director, and the school ended up paying for a proper (expensive) ladies hairdresser to do a restoration job. When she was 16 she decided she wanted to join the School Cadet force, but was refused because she was mixed race. Can't say I was too upset about that!

 

There is the occasional problem with "authority": problems renewing her ID card and getting a driving license - low level beaurocracy sometimes can't cope with an English name and a white face! Not serious, just niggling. Lucy sometimes gets a little exasperated by it. No problems at University at all, but then they have numbers of  foreign students and staff.

 

I would advise you to try and make sure that your child has as wide a circle of Thai friends as possible. Thais seem to make strong friendships, and Lucy's seem to have been pretty robust, siding with and laughing with rather than at her as they navigate and experience the occasional problem.

 

In summary, younger generation fine, any problems tend to be from the older generation, bit like everywhere I suppose!

I would say that, in general, bi-raciality confers neither an inherent advantage or disadvantage to the child in rural Thailand. Certainly, in a 1-6th grade setting, the child's bi-raciality could easily go unnoticed or at least unremarked upon by his or her classmates. Things might be different in a 7th-12th grade environment where some bi-racial kids might experience teasing, or possibly bullying, due to his or her bi-raciality. All of this however would pale in comparison to the stigmatizing a bi-racial child might experience in the West.

 

It should be pointed out that in rural Thailand many - if not the majority - of Thai female/Western male couples fit the stereotype of having met in an urban setting before settling in the female's home town. So you will encounter, oftentimes very subtle, attitudes about 'we all know how you met your wife' no matter how much effort you put into making it appear you met your wife at a yoga or Mormon spiritual retreat. It should also be mentioned that as many of the foreign men in rural Thailand are older, and they met their wives near the upper end of their child bearing years, there aren't that many bi-racial children in many rural areas of Thailand.

 

As others have mentioned, the likelihood that a child will be stigmatized in a rural village will depend heavily on the social status and likability of the Thai mother, and the degree to which the Thai/foreigner marriage is perceived as solid. It is delusional to think that because a bi-racial child has half-Caucasian parentage he or she is going to be fawned over or receive life-long celebrity status because of this.

 

Yes, a foreign husband might have the financial resources to offer the child educational and leisure opportunities and nutritional support they might otherwise not have access to, but the foreign husband, especially if they can't speak Thai, can also be a liability for the child in terms of social integration into the rural community or providing educational or life guidance to the child (if there is a language barrier).

 

Also, anyone who has lived in rural Thailand for an extended period of time will tell you that these marriages do dissolve at probably a higher rate of incidence than Thai-Thai marriages, with the child almost always remaining in the village with the mother and the father departing. Most Thai villagers will have some degree of awareness of this. My point is that while a foreign husband is often seen as a major opportunity for a Thai female to upgrade her lifestyle (which, by the way, can trigger jealousy and envy), there are drawbacks to inter-racial and cross-cultural relationships and there seems to be a growing awareness that these relationships involve trade-offs rather than being seen as hitting the jack-pot financially, or if you delusionally insist, genetically. All of which affects how the bi-racial child will be perceived in a rural setting.