Can You Honestly Say Your Friends With A Thai?

[Tarqin]

The OP further regrets that NL's ignorance is shared by other board members.

[oggie911]

yes they are the 2nd best after nigerians for trying to scam you.but some good people there to,as the song goes money cant buy you love,or freinds. ?

[Nongwahyay]

]The word loan when translated in thai is gift, that is how most if not all loans are percieved by most thais.............

This is enlightening information and what I have thought also without knowing about the translation. Thanks Mike.

Could you give the word you mean in thai script??? I find it hard to believe that the word "loan" would necessarily be translated as gift.

[sweetchariot]

]The word loan when translated in thai is gift, that is how most if not all loans are percieved by most thais.............

This is enlightening information and what I have thought also without knowing about the translation. Thanks Mike.

Could you give the word you mean in thai script??? I find it hard to believe that the word "loan" would necessarily be translated as gift.

Gullible: http://www.thai2english.com/search/gullible+

[Who, me ?]

Got very good and close Thai friends....Not one ever asked me for one baht, and I have to insist heavily to pay a restaurant bill sometimes, when we go out .....

I have been asked many times for help from "friends" in homeland, and usually never saw the money back.....small amounts OK, but does it really count ?

[dsfbrit]

These kind of threads p1ss me off.

6 months ago I was waiting to sell a property in the UK, and ran out of cash. My g/f lent me the contents of her bank account (about 200k) and when that ran out her sister lent me another 50k. They had no proof of my dealings in the UK, but gave willingly as they trusted me.

A few months ago after paying them both back (with a little interest), I had a problem with a fellow farang. He is about 6'6" tall, and about 6'6" wide. After picking me up and throwing me in the ocean at Ban Sarae, I had no option but to phone my g/f and ask for a lift home.

A convoy turned up, her sister leading, ready to kick shit out of this farang who had disrespected me. Luckily he had already left, as I am sure I saw her brother with a gun.

Friends?

I think I have alot more friends here than I ever had back home.

Or it sounds like your bond may be with your girlfriend and they would do anything to help her. I hope you never upset your your girlfriend or you may be disappointed.

This happened to me in the UK many many years ago now - the girl I upset had what I thought were 'my friends' make me see the error of my ways. That was over 35 years ago now - but once something like that happens you never see this kind of relationship - whereby they are friends of the girlfriend - in quite the same way.

To answer the OP - its very difficult to know if any of the Thais I am friendly with would ever really be 'there' in an emergency. As I met them all via my Thai wife, in fact most are relatives of hers, I suspect I would have no friends at all if I upset the 'missus'. Another good reason to be nice to her I guess.

[Rionoir]

Yes, cuz I frequently have less money than my thai friends... lol

[NanLaew]

The OP made an error of judgement and has accepted that.

Nice to hear that you can accept your mistakes; a lot don't and come on TV and throw all their toys out of the pram seeking justification. Sorry if I inferred that you were trying to do this.

The OP does not consider that this must be due to the gender or race of the perceived offender. Either NL has trouble understanding English or has not read the OP's post.

But your first paragraph defines the persons gender and nationality so fair to assume that if it's significant enough to be mentioned, it must have some bearing on the the post, no? After all, your OP isn't titled "Can You Honestly Say Your Friends With A HUMAN?"

The OP does not understand NL's reference to car sales unless NL considers all relationships to be in effect business relationships in which case the OP considers NL to be deeply weird.

I think you have hold of the wrong end of the stick here, carry on.

NL refers to a loan and is clearly under the impression that the OP lent someone money. Again the OP considers that either NL has trouble understanding English or has not read the OP's post as no loan is referred to.

Once again the reference to 'in it for the money' in the OP would indicate some business dealing. However, your subsequent inference to 'all relationships' may show that this post probably refers to an affair of the heart. You did spare us the details but.

The OP considers NL to be both patronising and ignorant.

Yes, even my wife would have to agree with you on that, but she reckons I have a nice arse, albeit smart! But honestly, I was only working with what little information you gave. Sorry if I have I hit a nerve here.

The OP regrets that this potentially interesting thread has deteriorated.

To be fair, your OP was a bit spartan on details so forgive me if I padded it out in all the wrong places. Most responses so far indicate that a fair few of us can consider some Thais as our friends. Maybe if you gave some more details, you may get some more in agreement with you. Here's my tuppence worth. Years ago, when my first marriage was going down the toilet, my soon-to-be ex-wife (a real sweetheart) claimed that she could have me done away for 10,000 baht (this was a fair while ago). Quite depressed, I mentioned it to a mutual Thai friend who was shocked at her assertion and said that he would happily take her out for ha-loy. Needless to say, we eventually divorced, she hasn't been seen or heard of since and I sometimes drink at my mates bar.

[barky]

From my point of view, most "Thai friends" come from the extended family, irrespective of whether you love, like or hate them. Despite any bickering & fighting within the family, if problems or emergencies arise, a cohesive unit instantly forms.

Most other Thai's I know, outside the family, more often than not fall into the "associates" category & many of them I wouldn't trust at all, however, deal with them through necessity.

Cheers,

Soundman.

I pretty well agree with this summation.

[wolfmanjack]

I have one husband and wife that are good friends. They loan me money when i am in need and they cosigned for the loan on my car. They also know they can call on me in times of need. Since they have much more money than i do it is usually help in other ways.

[genobkk]

Just had a major disappointment. The details are unimportant but I've just been forced to realise that a Thai woman I genuinely believed to be a friend (and who I am not screwing) was just in it for the money.

Which leads me to ask the question, apart from wives and relatives and maybe not even them, can you honestly truly say your friends with a Thai and if you were penniless they would still have anything to do with you?

if you try to buy your friends then I would say no, if you treat them with respected and do not try to buy them then I am sure you would have plenty. If someone I just met ask me for money I say no and never talk to them again. It is how you treat people, if you are one of those white guys who think you can buy any thai girl and think they want you just because you are white and throw cash around then I am sure once your money is gone so would they . It would be the same in the US, Europe or any other place. Treat them as an equal and they will respect you. I have male friends i go out drinking with, yes I may pay more but I never always pay. but most of my friends have degrees and not bar girls or guys. Treat a thai with respect and they are your friend for life. Try to buy them you have a friend tell your money is gone

[dingdongrb]

I've got great Thai freinds, Thai relatives, Thai coworkers, and Thai neighbors....

I go bowling, play pool, play basketball, have drinks, have meals, go shopping, go to movies, BBQ, and just sit around and shoot the chit with them. Before I moved here (LOS) and came on frequent business trips they would go out of their way to ensure my trips were hospitable and all was well. For the most part (as I am sure there are some bad ones) I feel most Thais have 'jai dee'.....

[thaiman]

It is only about the cash, if you let it be about cash. Actually, the decision is yours to give or spend money on people, or not to give money.

Words of wisdom!

[IMA_FARANG]

Just had a major disappointment. The details are unimportant but I've just been forced to realise that a Thai woman I genuinely believed to be a friend (and who I am not screwing) was just in it for the money.

Which leads me to ask the question, apart from wives and relatives and maybe not even them, can you honestly truly say your friends with a Thai and if you were penniless they would still have anything to do with you?

Well, about ten years ago I was out of a job for over a year. I had to borrow about 40,000 baht from a Thai friend to pay my bills and get a ticket to leave Thailand. That person borrowed the money from their family. I repayed the loan after I got a job. That Thai person was a friend before then, a friend during my time of unemployment, and a friend after.

Just for the record, I've also had some Farang friends who when I needed help, were nowhere to be found.

I don't think nationality makes much difference. Frankly, would you lend 40,000 baht to a friend on the promise of a repayment "when I get back on my feet".

Not many people would. I'm not sure I would.

[mynextgig]

About 15 years ago when i lived in the UK, my (now ex) wife's sister and her boyfriend would often come to my house for dinner, drinks etc. I started noticing that neither of them ever brought any food or drink with them.

On one occasion, following a 3 course meal and about 3 bottles of pretty decent red wine i asked my (ex) wifes sister to nip to the shop to buy some cream for the desert we were having. She proceeded to ask me for the money to pay for it. The argument that ensued basically centred around the fact that her and her boyfriend were saving to go travelling to australia for a year and she couldnt afford the 1 pound 50 for the cream. I would have quite like to quit my 12 hour a day job and go travelling to australia myself, but hey, that wasnt going to happen while i had to fund someone elses dreams.

I now live in rural thailand with my girlfriend and enjoy evenings eating freshly caught fish, drenched in chilly and some Leo for good measure. My Thai girlfriends extended family range from those living day by day to those that would be considered very wealthy even in western terms.

Not once i have ever been pressured into loaning/giving money, quite often some of the cousins will come round with a bottle of Leo that they just spent their last 20 Baht on, so that i have some company and can share a drink with them.

It is down to interaction with people and how you present yourself that will dictate how other people interact with you !