Being Intimidated And Threatened By A Thai - How To React?

[huggybear]

i suggest you don't listen to the scared guys here.

When i lived in bangkok, i had my fair share of motorbike taxi drivers(and normal taxi) trying to make me pay farang price on small rides, or bringing me to the wrong place and asking for more money when we get back at the right place because it took longer..

I always make them stop me no where near a motorbike taxi gang. when they get mad, well i counter react with the same anger and dominant posture close to them...

they usually piss off with the real amount of money and leave you alone.

it's not because thais are too weak to fight 1 on 1 (Even though they claim that their muay thai is a godlike martial art lol) that you should let them get away with it, just outsmart them and make them be 1on1 when they want to fuc_k with you.. they'll get lose face 1on1 and leave.

should'nt happen too often though.. in 6months i have only met 1 mean and angry motorbike taxi driver (although i got lost twice.. the others smiled twice and they never aksed for more) and about 2 retarded real taxi drivers but they were totally drugged

again, dont need to fight.. just need to keep your ground, fight back for those that are too scared to keep their dignity

Great advice !..... That I will certainly NOT follow, as it is a sure shortcut to the hospital or even worse...

Absolutely right.

This advice comes from a knucklehead that is ready to beat on a down and out old person in Phuket because his face reminds him of a scary mask his father used to wear.

[bkkjames]

i suggest you don't listen to the scared guys here.

When i lived in bangkok, i had my fair share of motorbike taxi drivers(and normal taxi) trying to make me pay farang price on small rides, or bringing me to the wrong place and asking for more money when we get back at the right place because it took longer..

I always make them stop me no where near a motorbike taxi gang. when they get mad, well i counter react with the same anger and dominant posture close to them...

they usually piss off with the real amount of money and leave you alone.

it's not because thais are too weak to fight 1 on 1 (Even though they claim that their muay thai is a godlike martial art lol) that you should let them get away with it, just outsmart them and make them be 1on1 when they want to fuc_k with you.. they'll get lose face 1on1 and leave.

should'nt happen too often though.. in 6months i have only met 1 mean and angry motorbike taxi driver (although i got lost twice.. the others smiled twice and they never aksed for more) and about 2 retarded real taxi drivers but they were totally drugged

again, dont need to fight.. just need to keep your ground, fight back for those that are too scared to keep their dignity

I hope you live on a low floor mate, and be sure to ditch the plastic bags around your place.

[fuzedcon]

How should one react when one is being intimidated (he pounding hand on your shirt in breast height) and threatened by a (masked) Thai motorbike taxi driver, with his gang on the opposite street site? Fight back, make police report, forget it...?

How about verbal abuses aimed at you?

If you would be well adjusted here in Thailand, then you would get your mates, come back, and beat the shit out of the guys who threatened you. Or you go to an influental friend, and he would send a couple of cops who force the motorcycle guy to apologize.

But then the situation would hardly arise, because if you would be well adjusted, they all know and respect you - the motorcycle guys and the vendors in front of your apartment, and the ones who don't like you will dislike you quietly.

The best idea here is to move to a different part of town, and try to find out how to earn respect from the locals.

[sonofdon]

How should one react when one is being intimidated (he pounding hand on your shirt in breast height) and threatened by a (masked) Thai motorbike taxi driver, with his gang on the opposite street site? Fight back, make police report, forget it...?

How about verbal abuses aimed at you?

If you would be well adjusted here in Thailand, then you would get your mates, come back, and beat the shit out of the guys who threatened you. Or you go to an influental friend, and he would send a couple of cops who force the motorcycle guy to apologize.

But then the situation would hardly arise, because if you would be well adjusted, they all know and respect you - the motorcycle guys and the vendors in front of your apartment, and the ones who don't like you will dislike you quietly.

The best idea here is to move to a different part of town, and try to find out how to earn respect from the locals.

money always get respect from the locals, so i hear

[Heng]

I know this is crazy but most Thais are ridicolously superstitious. If it ever happened to me Id pretend I was casting a spell, guaranteed they'd 'pet pet' their pants

Their pants would get spicey?

Maybe if you used ground chili powder as your magic mojo dust.

[Heng]

I'd say fight. The odds are like 80% that you won't be dealing with an adversary that either a) has nothing to lose and happens to be armed and/or b ) 99.5% that he/she isn't a connected type figure that doesn't have to worry about mundane things like laws and courts.

Better odds than Vegas, dude.

(um, that's a devil's advocate type post; you do have marginally higher chances of ending up in the police morgue across from Central World than in many other places in the world... I'd say safer than your typical ghetto, but not as safe as say your typical college campus)

Edited August 21, 2008 by Heng

[mikethevigoman]

Well ive been coming here ,and lived here on and off for 20 years, i have never had a scene with a thai, farang yes, and reading between the lines with the op i can see why he possibly does,.

[Maizefarmer]

How should one react when one is being intimidated (he pounding hand on your shirt in breast height) and threatened by a (masked) Thai motorbike taxi driver, with his gang on the opposite street site? Fight back, make police report, forget it...?

How about verbal abuses aimed at you?

Walk away - bite your lip, put it down to one of lifes experiances and walk away.

"Cross culturale conflict" and thats just what will happen - individual pride will fast escalate the situation into something you'll both later regret - immaterial who comes off better. Just walk away.

[MKAsok]

If that didn't work, I think you better move, or you might get murdered.

The eternal optimist. However, probably entirely correct.

[lifeisrandom]

can you please tell us how you learned that the food vendors outside your building hate you despite you never buying food from them?

[jackyseymour]

How should one react when one is being intimidated (he pounding hand on your shirt in breast height) and threatened by a (masked) Thai motorbike taxi driver, with his gang on the opposite street site? Fight back, make police report, forget it...?

How about verbal abuses aimed at you?

If you would be well adjusted here in Thailand, then you would get your mates, come back, and beat the shit out of the guys who threatened you. Or you go to an influental friend, and he would send a couple of cops who force the motorcycle guy to apologize.

But then the situation would hardly arise, because if you would be well adjusted, they all know and respect you - the motorcycle guys and the vendors in front of your apartment, and the ones who don't like you will dislike you quietly.

The best idea here is to move to a different part of town, and try to find out how to earn respect from the locals.

Why on earth would anyone care, really, about being 'respected' by taxi drivers and fast food vendors. Would you care in your home country? The answer, surely, is to treat people here as you would at home. Why anyone would take umbrage at a poor taxi driver or food vendor, merely because they may have attempted to overcharge because you're white, says much more about you than it says about them. Tell me, do you get so indignant at national park keepers? Do get a grip.

[Tod Daniels]

I have seen my share of foreign/thai altercations, and unfortunately I cannot recall a single instance where it worked out in favor of a foreigner once an altercation escalated into violence.

I would suggest you disregard ANY advice from the ever popular poster "petitechevre" aka; little goat. He may tell you to bluster through it with bravado and/or violence. However if push comes to shove realize; you may beat the thai who is confronting you, but you most certainly cannot beat the other 63+ million inhabitants here who will come and beat you to a bloody pulp on the street.

I also find it strange that EVERY food vendor on your Soi 'hates' you. I've passed the same vendors for going on 4 years and they're friendly to a fault, although I rarely buy from them. It's the same with the moto-taxi guys on my Soi; friendly, always saying hello to me, etc.

I don't understand how, in such a short time, you've alienated so many people. Most thais are non-confrontational to a fault, (they're hard wired that way from infancy). They can be pushed pretty far by western standards before exploding. Although that being said, and you obviously being a foreigner, unfortunately you never know exactly where the line is, until you've pushed them over it.

Good luck, enjoy your time in the glorious "Land 'O Thais", turn the light out when you leave.

[12DrinkMore]

The best idea here is to move to a different part of town, and try to find out how to earn respect from the locals.

Maybe a different planet might be better, seems to have a major problem settling in here.

In a decade in Thailand I have only felt threatened by the dam_n ladyboys, an Indian tailor tout, who I told to f!@# off after I had just told his previous 20 colleagues that I wasn't interested in buying a suit or a watch or dvds and FARANG drunken street marauders.

[imaneggspurt]

I have seen my share of foreign/thai altercations, and unfortunately I cannot recall a single instance where it worked out in favor of a foreigner once an altercation escalated into violence.

I would suggest you disregard ANY advice from the ever popular poster "petitechevre" aka; little goat. He may tell you to bluster through it with bravado and/or violence. However if push comes to shove realize; you may beat the thai who is confronting you, but you most certainly cannot beat the other 63+ million inhabitants here who will come and beat you to a bloody pulp on the street.

I also find it strange that EVERY food vendor on your Soi 'hates' you. I've passed the same vendors for going on 4 years and they're friendly to a fault, although I rarely buy from them. It's the same with the moto-taxi guys on my Soi; friendly, always saying hello to me, etc.

I don't understand how, in such a short time, you've alienated so many people. Most thais are non-confrontational to a fault, (they're hard wired that way from infancy). They can be pushed pretty far by western standards before exploding. Although that being said, and you obviously being a foreigner, unfortunately you never know exactly where the line is, until you've pushed them over it.

Good luck, enjoy your time in the glorious "Land 'O Thais", turn the light out when you leave.

Im inclined to agree and i see it like this , ( and i include myself in this a bit ) a lot of farang are uptight and miserable but if you try you can make( some of ) them smile, thais on the other hand are usually happy go lucky but if you try hard you can piss them off,.. Edited August 21, 2008 by imaneggspurt

[Carib]

The problem will sort it self.

No food-- no transportation-->>> leave country

Easy Hmm?

[Pierrot]

I've just an answer : your mother is probably missing you, so go back home and don't worry, we'll get over it.

Edited August 21, 2008 by Pierrot

[AmeriThai]

I know this is crazy but most Thais are ridicolously superstitious. If it ever happened to me Id pretend I was casting a spell, guaranteed they'd 'pet pet' their pants

Their pants would get spicey?

Maybe if you used ground chili powder as your magic mojo dust.

Maybe he should've said 'grope grope'. I recently read that some years back there was a superstitious scare among some Thai males (mostly in the North I think) who were afraid their 'manhood' had either shrunk or had completely vanished believing it was caused by a magic spell. The only instances where that's actually happened was due to an angry wife, a sharp knife, and some hungry ducks.

[Misplaced]

how did you react ?

First idea - get policeman from police box, but thought of it as waste of time. "Walked" away, called him a mother$#&*er. Calling people names seems to be acceptible in Thailand. The food sellers outside my apartment building didn't like me from day one and let me know - that's fine with me; all of them, with the exception of one still haven't sold a baht's worth food to me..

you gonna make your life a bit tough, if you want my opinion ....

If it were me, and I did something wrong to get this reaction,,, in addition to saying sorry I would stop into my nearest 7/11 and pick up a few big beers for the guys to make ammends.

Not sure what you did to solicit this reaction from them, but keep in mind that they have it in their heads that farangs pay more than Thais for the same motorbike ride. You can pay the same as a local, but it will only serve to aggrivate the nerve that you have already touched.

For me, paying 20 Baht instead of 10 or 15 is worth the less headaches IMO. Defuse the situation as soon as you can or move.

sure pay 20 Baht today will be 40 tomorrow and 60 the day after. It will never stop.

It's either you move or you just have to stick up for yourself. It's not like everyone in Thailand will try to kill you if don't do as they ask. They do that because you allowed them to do that. Basically, how you handled bullies in school is the same way you handle bullies in Thailand..same same...

And if you going to handle yourself, go get some Thai boxing lesson. It's fun really.

Edited August 21, 2008 by Misplaced

[fuzedcon]

Why on earth would anyone care, really, about being 'respected' by taxi drivers and fast food vendors. Would you care in your home country? The answer, surely, is to treat people here as you would at home. Why anyone would take umbrage at a poor taxi driver or food vendor, merely because they may have attempted to overcharge because you're white, says much more about you than it says about them. Tell me, do you get so indignant at national park keepers? Do get a grip.

Obvious - if people don't respect you, they treat you like it happened to that fella who started this topic. They take the piss, they overcharge you. And when you complain - they'll threaten you. And nobody will help you.

Learn the frigging lingo, make friends, know how to stand up for yourself, and you won't get into this situation in the first place. And if you do still get into a situation - people will help you.

Should be common sense.

[CarlBkk]

I have to partly agree with the above poster (apart from the last sentence implying a few Thai boxing lessons will make you rock hard to deal with a motorbike taxi mob).

Despite what too many scaremongers on TV love to pound out, a confrontation very very very seldom results in death to a farang. I would put in more "verys" but you get the picture. How many Thai on Thai confrontations/arguments are there per day in this country? I've seen many, I'm not talking physical fights. I don't think that the weaker party gets followed home and popped off somehow.

As in many countries, this is how it goes: two people argue, the one who has the more education/class is more embarrassed about getting hot with a "lower" class throughout. They shout. Friends may calm them down, they may not. They storm off in their different ways looking angry and embarrassed in silence. Police may turn up if it goes on for long enough. If they fight, people around will break it up. More often than not a farang will either be alone when they get into a fight or their friends will stand by, whereas a Thai's friends will more often react in some way.

If a taxi driver, tout, motorbike driver, security guard or whoever says something very offensive to you or your wife or pushes you over running past without apologising, what are you (the visitor) meant to do about it? Do and say nothing and offer them a beer because you're shit scared of posters saying men will run out of the sidestreets and kick you in the head because you stand up to a native? Boll****. You don't have to try and knock the guy out, but you can certainly stand up to him in his face, with people watching, and tell him what you think. The chances are he'll be most embarrassed, give you a bad look, make a threat, and go away. And that's it. If the guy works outside your condo it is possible there'll be repurcussions, yes, but it's person-dependant.

I'm not referring to the OP here, I'm referring to foreigners who have innocently gone about their business and been offended beyond acceptance. For a moto driver to beat on someone's chest, there will be a reason for it, but let's not assume that it's the farang's fault because he didn't just walk away and smile from being abused.

[gymshark]

I have to partly agree with the above poster (apart from the last sentence implying a few Thai boxing lessons will make you rock hard to deal with a motorbike taxi mob).

Despite what too many scaremongers on TV love to pound out, a confrontation very very very seldom results in death to a farang. I would put in more "verys" but you get the picture. How many Thai on Thai confrontations/arguments are there per day in this country? I've seen many, I'm not talking physical fights. I don't think that the weaker party gets followed home and popped off somehow.

As in many countries, this is how it goes: two people argue, the one who has the more education/class is more embarrassed about getting hot with a "lower" class throughout. They shout. Friends may calm them down, they may not. They storm off in their different ways looking angry and embarrassed in silence. Police may turn up if it goes on for long enough. If they fight, people around will break it up. More often than not a farang will either be alone when they get into a fight or their friends will stand by, whereas a Thai's friends will more often react in some way.

If a taxi driver, tout, motorbike driver, security guard or whoever says something very offensive to you or your wife or pushes you over running past without apologising, what are you (the visitor) meant to do about it? Do and say nothing and offer them a beer because you're shit scared of posters saying men will run out of the sidestreets and kick you in the head because you stand up to a native? Boll****. You don't have to try and knock the guy out, but you can certainly stand up to him in his face, with people watching, and tell him what you think. The chances are he'll be most embarrassed, give you a bad look, make a threat, and go away. And that's it. If the guy works outside your condo it is possible there'll be repurcussions, yes, but it's person-dependant.

I'm not referring to the OP here, I'm referring to foreigners who have innocently gone about their business and been offended beyond acceptance. For a moto driver to beat on someone's chest, there will be a reason for it, but let's not assume that it's the farang's fault because he didn't just walk away and smile from being abused.

Good post, far too much scaremongering about the legendary Thai temper on here, both my confrontations ended with the offender backing down, both times after muttering something and then realising I speak their language much to their distress.

Stand up for yourself, you might be surprised. Anyway, they are the ones ferrying people up and down a soi all day for 10 Bt, count your blessings and ignore the scrotes until they force you not to.

[Misplaced]

I have to partly agree with the above poster (apart from the last sentence implying a few Thai boxing lessons will make you rock hard to deal with a motorbike taxi mob).

I don't think i said that but If that's how you would interpreted that, it's funny

I do agree with everything you said though.

[AmeriThai]

Are there Thais who think they're hot shots? Yes. But in that regard you can find such people in any country. In general though, if you keep cool you can usually avoid conflicts.

I remember years ago coming across a group of tuk tuk drivers waiting for farangs. They asked if I wanted to go on a tour or find some hot girls. I said no because I was happily married. One guy made a wise crack to show off to his pals. I laughed and gave him a humorous comeback. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, including the wise guy. I think a lot of conflicts can usually be avoided with a bit of common sense and tact, especially if you see these people on a regular basis.

I'd still like to know what the problem for the OP was about regarding the vendors.

[RakJungTorlae]

Are there Thais who think they're hot shots? Yes. But in that regard you can find such people in any country. In general though, if you keep cool you can usually avoid conflicts.

I remember years ago coming across a group of tuk tuk drivers waiting for farangs. They asked if I wanted to go on a tour or find some hot girls. I said no because I was happily married. One guy made a wise crack to show off to his pals. I laughed and gave him a humorous comeback. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, including the wise guy. I think a lot of conflicts can usually be avoided with a bit of common sense and tact, especially if you see these people on a regular basis.

I'd still like to know what the problem for the OP was about regarding the vendors.

I’m sure its over 50 baht.

[AmeriThai]

Are there Thais who think they're hot shots? Yes. But in that regard you can find such people in any country. In general though, if you keep cool you can usually avoid conflicts.

I remember years ago coming across a group of tuk tuk drivers waiting for farangs. They asked if I wanted to go on a tour or find some hot girls. I said no because I was happily married. One guy made a wise crack to show off to his pals. I laughed and gave him a humorous comeback. Everyone got a good laugh out of it, including the wise guy. I think a lot of conflicts can usually be avoided with a bit of common sense and tact, especially if you see these people on a regular basis.

I'd still like to know what the problem for the OP was about regarding the vendors.

I’m sure its over 50 baht.

LOL!! That, or criticizing the food. He hasn't exactly been very forthcoming with any details.

[Huey]

Without more info its pretty safe to say that walking away would be your safest bet. Though I usually draw the line at someone putting their hands on me. However if your alone and incredibly out numbered your better of walking away. Who knows maybe you can catch one of em alone at a later date. But fighting a bunch there would not be good for ya at all. Though that being said its not always easy. There was a time many years ago when I slapped around a guy for doing that, he had 4 other guys with them but they were all young (19-24 or so) and they ran. Had they not ran I would have been hurt or worse. The smart thing to to is not to think with your testosterone....smart, but not always easy.

[Tinkelbell]

Better avoid confrontation with any Thai, especially the lower uneducated ones like food venders or soi motorcyclists. Here, they view life is cheap...not much a meaning to them, thus, they can harm you without thinking about the consequences.

I wouldn't feel safe to live where the unfriendly venders and tough thugs hang around next to your building.

Get out now!

[geriatrickid]

I haven't had any of these confrontations yet. Perhaps, my smiling and cupping my ear with my hand and saying khaw tot krap and then responding khap khun krap along with yiam maak and smiling again, convinces them I am both deaf and daft.

I wonder if a Bugs Bunny response would work? Bugs would just pucker up and kiss the perp and say what's up doc? Or would it make matters worse if I said, oh thanks, but I no want man for boom boom and look shocked.

[kmart]

Spinning back kick to the sternum, followed by leg sweep and take down. Reverse punch to the face several times, and stamp into the groin area. Repeat.

Walk calmly away from prostrate beggar.

(j/k)

Edited August 22, 2008 by kmart

[geriatrickid]

I don't know if this heavy kicking and punching as sugegsted above is realistic. Some of the folks in TV cannot manage more movement than the 7-11 shuffle or the beer bottle lift. What's your advice for them then? Fling a soiled Depends? Uncork the incontinence bag? Toss the rent a date into the way of danger and hope that satisfies the thugs lust for demon blood? Perhaps projectile vomiting?