By popular demand I will mention an actual incident that was the one that actually influenced me to pay attention and notice if this was a pattern. I found that in my experience it was. I'm not saying it necessarily is for you.

I went to my local copy shop, photo ID place for a bunch of stuff to prepare for an annual visa extension.

There was one Thai employee and the shop was quite busy so it was normal to be aware this guy was under stress.

A customer before me was getting copies and the results were really horrible, very blacked out. I thought maybe the machine was broken which is pretty disastrous for a copy shop.

But first I needed a visa photo.

So we went back. He took a few snaps. Then I asked him to show me so I could review (as is usual and normal) the snaps to pick out one to use. In some cases there are none that are OK because of eyes being shut, etc.

He heard me but acted like he hadn't heard me and refused to show me, so he just picked one himself.

Even though I realized by then this man was being extremely rude, I let it go without further comment as it's just a visa photo, not a passport photo, so no matter how bad the shot, it would probably be OK.

So on the the copying.

As I noticed the problem before, I asked him if the copy machine was working OK, and he just ignored me.

So what the hell, I started giving him instructions on what to copy. and if the first ones are bad, I'd just leave,

They were OK.

There were a number of things to copy and during the process he was extremely gruff and pushy ordering me to HURRY UP with my requests which were objectively quite normal in speed.

I had noticed before an interaction he had with a Thai where he appeared to act normally.

So then I wanted him to copy my condo chanote and I wanted many copies so I'd have them for later applications as I don't like to take my chanote out of my safe very often.

Without asking or telling me he was going to do it, he quickly grabbed a staple removal tool. I had to literally physically stop him from using it. I didn't want that. and I just barely had time to stop him.

Then without asking me or telling me he made DOUBLE SIDED copies and there were a lot of them.

When I saw the results I said I needed single sided copies and didn't ask for double sided.

He said OK and did all the single copies.

As you might expect, he charged for ALL the copies. Being a f-rang that tries hard to avoid confrontation with nutty Thais, I just paid it without complaining. Also to be fair I didn't specify single side at first as I considered that a default.

To be clear I was ready to give this guy some slack because I could see he was very busy, but his behavior overall was remarkably rude and unprofessional.

Yes, one incident. but I really got my attention and I started to notice a pattern emerging that I've posted about here.

Cheers.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

Here's another "fun" one.

In this case it started without the Thai guy even seeing me in person.

I had a delivery scheduled for a two hour window.

As is not unusual here, It was two hours late.

So the driver called me and yelled into the phone COME DOWN NOW!

If this was about me being rude first or a Thai not liking my look or affect, that was impossible.

So I said 5 minutes in English and Thai.

A few minutes later he calls again and yells at me again.

I think there was one more call before I arrived in my condo lobby.

Maybe for some reason, it took me a little more than five minutes.

Normal people understand such things are estimates and remember he was two hours late so in no position to complain to me about punctuality.

So I meet him and he yells at me even harder.

All I could say is to suggest to him in future to call first before arriving so I can be ready when he does come.

Extremely unpleasant. I'm not sure what that guy got out being so rude.

I was going to come down and meet him as quickly as possible whether he was rude or polite.

So maybe some psychological benefit for him?

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

23 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

By popular demand I will mention an actual incident that was the one that actually influenced me to pay attention and notice if this was a pattern. I found that in my experience it was. I'm not saying it necessarily is for you.

I went to my local copy shop, photo ID place for a bunch of stuff to prepare for an annual visa extension.

There was one Thai employee and the shop was quite busy so it was normal to be aware this guy was under stress.

A customer before me was getting copies and the results were really horrible, very blacked out. I thought maybe the machine was broken which is pretty disastrous for a copy shop.

But first I needed a visa photo.

So we went back. He took a few snaps. Then I asked him to show me so I could review (as is usual and normal) the snaps to pick out one to use. In some cases there are none that are OK because of eyes being shut, etc.

He heard me but acted like he hadn't heard me and refused to show me, so he just picked one himself.

Even though I realized by then this man was being extremely rude, I let it go without further comment as it's just a visa photo, not a passport photo, so no matter how bad the shot, it would probably be OK.

So on the the copying.

As I noticed the problem before, I asked him if the copy machine was working OK, and he just ignored me.

So what the hell, I started giving him instructions on what to copy. and if the first ones are bad, I'd just leave,

They were OK.

There were a number of things to copy and during the process he was extremely gruff and pushy ordering me to HURRY UP with my requests which were objectively quite normal in speed.

I had noticed before an interaction he had with a Thai where he appeared to act normally.

So then I wanted him to copy my condo chanote and I wanted many copies so I'd have them for later applications as I don't like to take my chanote out of my safe very often.

Without asking or telling me he was going to do it, he quickly grabbed a staple removal tool. I had to literally physically stop him from using it. I didn't want that. and I just barely had time to stop him.

Then without asking me or telling me he made DOUBLE SIDED copies and there were a lot of them.

When I saw the results I said I needed single sided copies and didn't ask for double sided.

He said OK and did all the single copies.

As you might expect, he charged for ALL the copies. Being a f-rang that tries hard to avoid confrontation with nutty Thais, I just paid it without complaining. Also to be fair I didn't specify single side at first as I considered that a default.

To be clear I was ready to give this guy some slack because I could see he was very busy, but his behavior overall was remarkably rude and unprofessional.

Yes, one incident. but I really got my attention and I started to notice a pattern emerging that I've posted about here.

Cheers.

Next time. Go to a different shop.

Problem solved. You’re welcome.

5 minutes ago, HolmesEquivelant said:

Next time. Go to a different shop.

Problem solved. You’re welcome.

Yeah sure but its the closest for me and I would be very surprised if such a miserable <deleted> is still working there when I need to again!

23 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

By popular demand I will mention an actual incident that was the one that actually influenced me to pay attention and notice if this was a pattern. I found that in my experience it was. I'm not saying it necessarily is for you.

I went to my local copy shop, photo ID place for a bunch of stuff to prepare for an annual visa extension.

There was one Thai employee and the shop was quite busy so it was normal to be aware this guy was under stress.

A customer before me was getting copies and the results were really horrible, very blacked out. I thought maybe the machine was broken which is pretty disastrous for a copy shop.

But first I needed a visa photo.

So we went back. He took a few snaps. Then I asked him to show me so I could review (as is usual and normal) the snaps to pick out one to use. In some cases there are none that are OK because of eyes being shut, etc.

He heard me but acted like he hadn't heard me and refused to show me, so he just picked one himself.

Even though I realized by then this man was being extremely rude, I let it go without further comment as it's just a visa photo, not a passport photo, so no matter how bad the shot, it would probably be OK.

So on the the copying.

As I noticed the problem before, I asked him if the copy machine was working OK, and he just ignored me.

So what the hell, I started giving him instructions on what to copy. and if the first ones are bad, I'd just leave,

They were OK.

There were a number of things to copy and during the process he was extremely gruff and pushy ordering me to HURRY UP with my requests which were objectively quite normal in speed.

I had noticed before an interaction he had with a Thai where he appeared to act normally.

So then I wanted him to copy my condo chanote and I wanted many copies so I'd have them for later applications as I don't like to take my chanote out of my safe very often.

Without asking or telling me he was going to do it, he quickly grabbed a staple removal tool. I had to literally physically stop him from using it. I didn't want that. and I just barely had time to stop him.

Then without asking me or telling me he made DOUBLE SIDED copies and there were a lot of them.

When I saw the results I said I needed single sided copies and didn't ask for double sided.

He said OK and did all the single copies.

As you might expect, he charged for ALL the copies. Being a f-rang that tries hard to avoid confrontation with nutty Thais, I just paid it without complaining. Also to be fair I didn't specify single side at first as I considered that a default.

To be clear I was ready to give this guy some slack because I could see he was very busy, but his behavior overall was remarkably rude and unprofessional.

Yes, one incident. but I really got my attention and I started to notice a pattern emerging that I've posted about here.

Cheers.

That's one incident. Let's read about some others that pushed you to conclude that it's a pattern against foreigners.

Your online persona is absolutely you, just as mine is me. Not all the time, but it's me.

99.99% approx. of my interactions with the locals are positive. The main place for the kind of behaviour you mention, is at the very busy Immigration office, but since I'm not a complete snowflake, I don't take it personally. They possibly see themselves as shepherds trying to control a dopey flock.

So...no. There were always people who will have a predisposition against you or simply don't show deference to foreigners. So? No uptick noticed.

7 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

That's one incident. Let's read about some others that pushed you to conclude that it's a pattern against foreigners.

Your online persona is absolutely you, just as mine is me. Not all the time, but it's me.

99.99% approx. of my interactions with the locals are positive. The main place for the kind of behaviour you mention, is at the very busy Immigration office, but since I'm not a complete snowflake, I don't take it personally. They possibly see themselves as shepherds trying to control a dopey flock.

So...no. There were always people who will have a predisposition against you or simply don't show deference to foreigners. So? No uptick noticed.

You are free to think what you think about me.

That doesn't effect me in any way.

You are some hostile anonymous person on the internets.

You've already formed your opinion of me online and IRL and I could spend 100 hours trying to prove you wrong, but it would be insane to even try.

Have a nice life.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

I agree with Holmes. If I feel that a staff member in any business is being rude to me I will always take my custom elsewhere. Rather than getting irate I'll take pleasure in knowing that if it's a consistently poor service attitude the business will suffer in the long run.

Not making excuses for the delivery driver but I think that has to be one of the worst jobs going, pressure of the roads, on the clock and likely not that well paid. I can understand why he might be having a bad day. I've had both polite and rather gruff delivery drivers.

thais dont like to be around smelly and grumpy ppl, just saying

1 minute ago, kinyara said:

I agree with Holmes. If I feel that a staff member in any business is being rude to me I will always take my custom elsewhere. Rather than getting irate I'll take pleasure in knowing that if it's a consistently poor service attitude the business will suffer in the long run.

Not making excuses for the delivery driver but I think that has to be one of the worst jobs going, pressure of the roads, on the clock and likely not that well paid. I can understand why he might be having a bad day. I've had both polite and rather gruff delivery drivers.

Agree delivery drives have very hard jobs.

I've seen the documentaries.

As far as the visa shop, I was under time pressure too and wasn't going to walk out unless I had to.

I did get what I needed but it was just unpleasant and I was overcharged.

Agree in general with the go elsewhere advice especially in Thailand.

Fits very well with restaurants.

Have a bad experience? There are thousands of other options.

You can't even legally post a bad review about them online.

Cheers.

As with every Jingthing thread, I ask myself, who is trolling who here?

A troll post misrepresenting earlier quoted content has been removed

31 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

Here's another "fun" one.

In this case it started without the Thai guy even seeing me in person.

I had a delivery scheduled for a two hour window.

As is not unusual here, It was two hours late.

So the driver called me and yelled into the phone COME DOWN NOW!

If this was about me being rude first or a Thai not liking my look or affect, that was impossible.

So I said 5 minutes in English and Thai.

A few minutes later he calls again and yells at me again.

I think there was one more call before I arrived in my condo lobby.

Maybe for some reason, it took me a little more than five minutes.

Normal people understand such things are estimates and remember he was two hours late so in no position to complain to me about punctuality.

So I meet him and he yells at me even harder.

All I could say is to suggest to him in future to call first before arriving so I can be ready when he does come.

Extremely unpleasant. I'm not sure what that guy got out being so rude.

I was going to come down and meet him as quickly as possible whether he was rude or polite.

So maybe some psychological benefit for him?

My experience. Courier calls me. I tell him two minutes. When I get there, he's not even there. So I call him and he tells me "twenty minutes". So I go back home and pop down twenty minutes later. Still not there. Called him again, he says ten minutes... Now I've been waiting for a hour, call him again and start shouting at him and asking him where he is RIGHT NOW. Eventually, we met. He didn't have change, so he left me with the parcel and went on to the next delivery, agreeing to meet at a nearby shop. I took the 10 baht that I paid for a bottle of water to get change, out of his tip. Instead of 20 baht, he got just 10 baht, since he lied to me and wasted my time. On hindsight, I thought of giving him the water, as likely he was a little stressed out from his work. Normal life. Nothing extreme. No bad thoughts nor feelings. No hate. No drama.

2 minutes ago, TaaSaparot said:

As with every Jingthing thread, I ask myself, who is trolling who here?

Look in the mirror.

8 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

You are free to think what you think about me.

That doesn't effect me in any way.

You are some hostile anonymous person on the internets.

You've already formed your opinion of me online and IRL and I could spend 100 hours trying to prove you wrong, but it would be insane to even try.

Have a nice life.

It's not just me who has formed a similar opinion. Your reply here confirms what others have written. Thin skinned and overly dramatic.

You've already spent hundreds of hours proving them to be correct. You may have to spend the same to undo that reputation.

Just now, IsmeUno said:

It's not just me who has formed a similar opinion. Your reply here confirms what others have written. Thin skinned and overly dramatic.

You've already spent hundreds of hours proving them to be correct. You may have to spend the same to undo that reputation.

If I was posting under my real name here I might care about my reputation especially among hostile snipers such as yourself.

That's an argument for forums to require that, but this isn't one of them.

Just now, Jingthing said:

If I was posting under my real name here I might care about my reputation especially among hostile snipers such as yourself.

That's an argument for forums to require that, but this isn't one of them.

Q.E.D.

Just now, IsmeUno said:

Q.E.D.

I prefer LSD.

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

I prefer LSD.

Perhaps that has distorted your perception of reality...

11 minutes ago, IsmeUno said:

Perhaps that has distorted your perception of reality...

There is no perhaps about it.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

On 8/26/2026 at 1:05 PM, Jingthing said:

it

On 8/26/2026 at 1:05 PM, Jingthing said:

I don't know if this is anecdotal or not but what I've noticed to me is clear and unmistakable.

Not talking about a change in behavior with Thai people that I know, but with random new to me Thais generally in business situations. Not all of them but a good percentage and a noticeable increase.

I'm not talking about normal big city indifference and brusqueness that as an urban American doesn't phase me in the slightest.

I'm talking about very aggressive explicit rudeness. speaking loudly, barking orders at me, etc. In some cases, it feels as if they're trying to actively provoke a fight.

I've found this really shocking.

I know trolls will say it's all about me and my attitude, maybe I don't smile enough

If that's the case I would have had to have changed my own behavior radically in recent months.

That is very doubtful.

This a new thing. Where does it come from? Increased xenophobia? Economic stress? Government and media criticism of foreigners, including so called crackdowns? Viral social media stuff like the infamous Italian kids on a train? Some kind of toxic combination.

I don't know but I really don't like it and I don't believe any amount of SMILING is gonna stop it.

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Agree 100%. The change in attitude from Thais to westerners has been swift and unanticipated by me. I never expected to be treated as someone special, but I did expect to be treated with a normal day to day respect. The same respect that I give to everyone. The open hostility that I'm now getting from the locals that I deal with is shocking and unsettling. Even when I go to Pattaya's 'best' hospital which is kind of frequently, I feel like I should apologize for being there.

I used to go into Pattaya almost daily to have a coffee, visit a restaurant, do some shopping, see a movie, visit some friends. Now I mostly stay home with my family and chill. Occasionally I go into town.

The 'smelly farrang go home' attitude has filtered down, and sadly is the new normal.

3 minutes ago, calmichael said:

Agree 100%. The change in attitude from Thais to westerners has been swift and unanticipated by me. I never expected to be treated as someone special, but I did expect to be treated with a normal day to day respect. The same respect that I give to everyone. The open hostility that I'm now getting from the locals that I deal with is shocking and unsettling. Even when I go to Pattaya's 'best' hospital which is kind of frequently, I feel like I should apologize for being there.

I used to go into Pattaya almost daily to have a coffee, visit a restaurant, do some shopping, see a movie, visit some friends. Now I mostly stay home with my family and chill. Occasionally I go into town.

The 'smelly farrang go home' attitude has filtered down, and sadly is the new normal.

Well I certainly never expected everyone or even most f-rangs to notice what I've noticed, but I do appreciate hearing that at least some have. (Though I did expect some trolls and snipers.)

I don't think this is something that can easily be measured in a scientific way.

For example in looking at youtube videos about Iloilo City in the Philippines, some foreigners say they are the most friendly they've encountered on the islands, and others say they're the most aloof.

You gotta have boots on the ground.

I obviously do have that here and I just posted what my personal impressions are. The "truth" of such matters are elusive.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Jingthing

2 hours ago, calmichael said:

The 'smelly farrang go home' attitude has filtered down, and sadly is the new normal.

That problem is easily fixed though - take a a shower before you go into town.

2 hours ago, Jingthing said:

There is no perhaps about it.

Perhaps go back to reading Leaves of Grass…

"A man reaps what he sows."

58 minutes ago, novacova said:

Perhaps go back to reading Leaves of Grass…

My hero.

Can't speak to the mood down in Pattaya, but, in general, 2026 has not been a good year for me in terms of relations with Thais out here in rural Thailand.

In general, when the economy weakens, Thais become more morose and less affable than normal, and some of this is inevitably directed towards foreigners. This is occurring out in the countryside more than ever this year because much of the inflation in farm input prices like diesel and fertilizer can be blamed on foreigners. Also, I am sensing that because the rainy season in Central Thailand has seen below normal rainfall, there's a lot of apprehension about whether second growing season crops can be planted or will be successful which is stressing people out.

Label it what you will, but there seems to be more friction and less friendliness towards me since Anutin came into office. Anutin's war on nominee arrangements and the news media's constant broadcasting of all stories involving foreigner misbehavior has turned suspicion about the legality of any foreigner's access to land or even whether they're in the country legally into a topic of speculation. The murder of 'Cake' and the BTS incident involving Italian youths seems to have also scarred the otherwise generally welcoming Thai disposition.

I might also point out that recent publicity about foreigners having their visa revoked for behavior "incompatible with Thai culture or disrespectful of Thais" is a very subjective criteria, potentially involving a lot of he said/she said situations and cultural misunderstandings. I'm not second guessing for a moment any of the decisions in recent high profile cases, but this criteria may be making some Thais feel they have the potential power to get you kicked out of the country if they so choose, making them more assertive and confrontational in some situations.

Without dismissing any of the voices on this thread arguing that things are all hunky dory in the land of smiles, I can't help but wonder about the depth of relationships some people have with Thais. Is the interaction all on a superficial transactional level? Are the interactions being conducted only in English or limited Thai? Is the spouse constantly playing an intermediary role between you and other Thais? That can make a big difference in your perceptions, and how attuned you are to shifting attitudes.

Just my thoughts.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by Gecko123

10 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

Are the interactions being conducted only in English or limited Thai? Is the spouse constantly playing an intermediary role between you and other Thais?

Your life here must be very different than mine.

How many interactions are you having with Thais?

And how many Thais are in your circle of pseudo-friends?

How many of these interactions do you need to have?

And how many are superfluous?

I don't have too many interactions at all.

Because I'm not working here. I don't need to get into people's business at all.

I'm not so deluded that I think I can go around trusting any and every Thai person (or farang) and think they will become friends and never stab me in the back.

I have mostly superficial interactions because I don't need to have anything but superficial interactions with most people. I go to a restaurant, I smile and I get out. The person really has to give off positive vibes for me to talk to them more than that. If they don't, I get the hell out of there.

You need to give people a reason to hate you.

The more aquaintances you have and the more unnecessary interactions you have, directionless endless yapping, the more others will expect from you and the more potential for conflict and misunderstandings.

Edited August 27Aug 27 by save the frogs

7 hours ago, Jingthing said:

By popular demand I will mention an actual incident that was the one that actually influenced me to pay attention and notice if this was a pattern. I found that in my experience it was. I'm not saying it necessarily is for you.

I went to my local copy shop, photo ID place for a bunch of stuff to prepare for an annual visa extension.

There was one Thai employee and the shop was quite busy so it was normal to be aware this guy was under stress.

A customer before me was getting copies and the results were really horrible, very blacked out. I thought maybe the machine was broken which is pretty disastrous for a copy shop.

But first I needed a visa photo.

So we went back. He took a few snaps. Then I asked him to show me so I could review (as is usual and normal) the snaps to pick out one to use. In some cases there are none that are OK because of eyes being shut, etc.

He heard me but acted like he hadn't heard me and refused to show me, so he just picked one himself.

Even though I realized by then this man was being extremely rude, I let it go without further comment as it's just a visa photo, not a passport photo, so no matter how bad the shot, it would probably be OK.

So on the the copying.

As I noticed the problem before, I asked him if the copy machine was working OK, and he just ignored me.

So what the hell, I started giving him instructions on what to copy. and if the first ones are bad, I'd just leave,

They were OK.

There were a number of things to copy and during the process he was extremely gruff and pushy ordering me to HURRY UP with my requests which were objectively quite normal in speed.

I had noticed before an interaction he had with a Thai where he appeared to act normally.

So then I wanted him to copy my condo chanote and I wanted many copies so I'd have them for later applications as I don't like to take my chanote out of my safe very often.

Without asking or telling me he was going to do it, he quickly grabbed a staple removal tool. I had to literally physically stop him from using it. I didn't want that. and I just barely had time to stop him.

Then without asking me or telling me he made DOUBLE SIDED copies and there were a lot of them.

When I saw the results I said I needed single sided copies and didn't ask for double sided.

He said OK and did all the single copies.

As you might expect, he charged for ALL the copies. Being a f-rang that tries hard to avoid confrontation with nutty Thais, I just paid it without complaining. Also to be fair I didn't specify single side at first as I considered that a default.

To be clear I was ready to give this guy some slack because I could see he was very busy, but his behavior overall was remarkably rude and unprofessional.

Yes, one incident. but I really got my attention and I started to notice a pattern emerging that I've posted about here.

Cheers.

That's really quite underwhelming.

Just now, NanLaew said:

That's really quite underwhelming.

Maybe you had to be there.

5 hours ago, calmichael said:

The open hostility that I'm now getting from the locals that I deal with is shocking and unsettling.

Your post desperately needs a for instance. Otherwise you're just whining.