syd barrett Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 It started as a quiet joke some months ago, when local Thai neighbours labelled me with the nickname 'Mr Bean'. Now the whole neighbourhood have labelled me as 'Mr Bean'. Should I feel offended? Surely, Mr. Bean is a socially inept misfit with obvious physical features and mannerisms that are gauche, clearly someone who is not a role-model, and just a figure of fun. How can I 'Nip this in the Bud' and return to being an anonymous 'Mr Barrett'? Kind advice and responses appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Hi Mr Bean... ....(hehe sorry I just couldn't resist!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGW Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 (edited) annihilate the entire neighbourhood? better to be a mass murderer than be tagged with the nickname 'Mr Bean" wheres your pride man? Edited May 4, 2009 by CGW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I have also been called Mr. Bean. Maybe we all look alike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Since I moved here I have acquired the nickname 'Barbie'.. Wherever I go I am called Barbie... Its actually quite funny as my boyfriends nickname is Ken... So we're Barbie & Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agent69 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I guess you might have to play along with them. Don't be offended by them. What you can do is talk to them in jest like you would be better looking or smarter than Mr Bean. Just come up with a famous name that starts with a B, like Brad Pitt. If they like you they might change your nickname. If they wanted to offend you or didnt like you, they would have called you something really nasty or gossiping behind your back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westerner Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Do you resemble Mr.Bean at all? If so, then I think this is the only reason they call you Mr.Bean. However, if you don't look like him I think they are being offensive. I see on an earlier thread that you are married - why don't you ask your wife to find out for you. W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thais like Mr. Bean. They don't think that he is stupid. They just think that he is funny. Wear his name like a badge of honor old Bean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patklang Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Have you got a mini car and dont speak much????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaneggspurt Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Photo please ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemel Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) is it because you look like this? Edited May 5, 2009 by lemel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimate Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 my Thai neighbours are all polite and call me by my first name ,on my birthday i got 3 birthday cakes,am i the odd man out ,i asked this on another discussion ,why are me and my familly treated so well? could it be we live in an upper class Thai residential area or maybe we are just friendly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
syd barrett Posted May 5, 2009 Author Share Posted May 5, 2009 Why are me and my familly treated so well? could it be we live in an upper class Thai residential area I would be interested to know more about 'upper class Thai residential areas'; Is this where aristocrats and diplomats live? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siam2007 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Thai people in general LIKE and CREATE nicknames for everyone and everything. so, as ULYSSES mentioned, carry your newly earned name-tag with pride Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotime Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Learn how to say "no, you are" in Thai, or say, "How you know my name?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LennyW Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 They should call you "Syd the Sausage" !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattaya_girl Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 They should call you "Syd the Sausage" !!! Ha ha ha nice one !!! Seriously though, my brother came to visit me from the UK, my Thai Partner said he looked like Mr Bean. Could it be that all Farang men look like Mr Bean in Thai peoples eyes, or do they just say Mr Bean coz they dont know anyone else !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I also get called Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne by quite a few Thai people.. Maybe because they don't know any other foreign females to compare me to? ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdf Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I agree with the suggestion to accept your nickname, unless it really seems to be used negatively or you just can't take it in stride. While most objections you may make to the use of this nickname will only insure its common and widespread use, here is one more idea. If in your group there is a Thai that you are on friendly terms with and who also has some standing in the group, take them aside and attempt to express your dislike of this nickname and ask if they might help. Of course this could lead to the point made above of cementing your nickname in stone. I am the kind of guy that would never be nicknamed Mr. Bean. I have seldom been offered any nickname here in LOS and have missed that. Now I look something like a NFL lineman who long ago gave up the gym for the pastry cart and joined an unsavory biker group. That may limit at least the nick names I hear. I once, addled by copious applications of JD, begged the folks I was with at the time, both Thai and foreigner, to grant me one. What I got was not completely satisfying either, but I did find a use for it. I use its acronym for my user name. So maybe just make the best of your nickname. Now how Meg_2003 got the nickname of Barbie is a true mystery to me. kdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Conners Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I also get called Britney Spears or Avril Lavigne by quite a few Thai people.. Maybe because they don't know any other foreign females to compare me to? ... I can't see where they'd get Barbie or Britney from but there is some likeness with young Avril I am the kind of guy that would never be nicknamed Mr. Bean. I have seldom been offered any nickname here in LOS and have missed that. Now I look something like a NFL lineman who long ago gave up the gym for the pastry cart and joined an unsavory biker group. That may limit at least the nick names I hear. I once, addled by copious applications of JD, begged the folks I was with at the time, both Thai and foreigner, to grant me one. What I got was not completely satisfying either, but I did find a use for it. I use its acronym for my user name. So maybe just make the best of your nickname. kdf Really, Mr. Mick Fleetwood ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgs2001uk Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Next time one you know well calls you it reply with the following, mai chai pom cheu Jack Daw Saan. If you pronounce it correctly and they understand you your problems will be over. Ask your wife to explain, she will verify if true or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryTibbs Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It started as a quiet joke some months ago, when local Thai neighbours labelled me with the nickname 'Mr Bean'. Now the whole neighbourhood have labelled me as 'Mr Bean'. Should I feel offended?Surely, Mr. Bean is a socially inept misfit with obvious physical features and mannerisms that are gauche, clearly someone who is not a role-model, and just a figure of fun. How can I 'Nip this in the Bud' and return to being an anonymous 'Mr Barrett'? Kind advice and responses appreciated. LOL that is so funny thanks for that, I think its stuck now fella your not going to remove that label so easily. Since I moved here I have acquired the nickname 'Barbie'.. Wherever I go I am called Barbie...Its actually quite funny as my boyfriends nickname is Ken... So we're Barbie & Ken Give me strength Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Really, Mr. Mick Fleetwood ? ..... but I thought he was more Kris Kristofferson, imagine how much time you could spend trying to get the average Thai to pronounce that name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtag Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Funny, I had an ex girlfriend who always called me Mr Bean. Kind of as a affectionate thing. Then walking down the street a year or so later in Indonesia (can't remember which city) three kids ran out of a house calling me Mr Bean. Gave me a bit of flashback. I don't think I look like him really. Seems to be a common thing to call foreigners in asia. As a far as being called farang, if you want to live here you just have to let it go. Been here three years, realized after only a few months that for most Thais you will always be thought of first as a farang, with all that entails in thier minds. You could live here for decades, learn to speak Thai fluently, convert to Buddhism, have only Thai friends, marry a Thai woman and have Thai children and you will still be a farang- just one who knows things some other farangs don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eek Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It started as a quiet joke some months ago, when local Thai neighbours labelled me with the nickname 'Mr Bean'. Now the whole neighbourhood have labelled me as 'Mr Bean'. Should I feel offended?Surely, Mr. Bean is a socially inept misfit with obvious physical features and mannerisms that are gauche, clearly someone who is not a role-model, and just a figure of fun. How can I 'Nip this in the Bud' and return to being an anonymous 'Mr Barrett'? Kind advice and responses appreciated. LOL that is so funny thanks for that, I think its stuck now fella your not going to remove that label so easily. Since I moved here I have acquired the nickname 'Barbie'.. Wherever I go I am called Barbie...Its actually quite funny as my boyfriends nickname is Ken... So we're Barbie & Ken Give me strength ActuaIIy, i think megs story is cute. Thanks for sharing that Meg. --- As for being caIIed Mr Bean, i can see why that may be a bit offensive to us, as we see Mr Bean as a bit ridiculous. However, as others have pointed out, Thai dont see him in quite the same way. I think they are quite affectionate towards him and see him as funny and IovabIe. If you reaIIy dont want to be caIIed that, then ...im not quite sure..hmm..change the way you Iook (if you have any simiIarity)??. Grow a beard for a whiIe? If you dont mind the name, just worried about the association, then dont worry too much, im sure they dont mean it in a bad way at aII. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stiggy Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 (edited) Count yourself lucky My name in Thai translates to a slang version of Slut. My nickname is is useally fat bloke. Edited May 5, 2009 by stiggy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaimate Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Why are me and my familly treated so well? could it be we live in an upper class Thai residential area I would be interested to know more about 'upper class Thai residential areas'; Is this where aristocrats and diplomats live? it was meant tongue in cheek,but the thais around us all own houses in the 5/10 mill region and seem to work at the ports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotime Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 I don't even turn around anymore when I hear "It's Brad Pitt's Father." I have to agree with T. Tibbs. Give us all strength. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Since I moved here I have acquired the nickname 'Barbie'.. Wherever I go I am called Barbie...Its actually quite funny as my boyfriends nickname is Ken... So we're Barbie & Ken Give me strength Yawn.. ....Welcome to Thai Visa by the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meg_2003 Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 It started as a quiet joke some months ago, when local Thai neighbours labelled me with the nickname 'Mr Bean'. Now the whole neighbourhood have labelled me as 'Mr Bean'. Should I feel offended?Surely, Mr. Bean is a socially inept misfit with obvious physical features and mannerisms that are gauche, clearly someone who is not a role-model, and just a figure of fun. How can I 'Nip this in the Bud' and return to being an anonymous 'Mr Barrett'? Kind advice and responses appreciated. LOL that is so funny thanks for that, I think its stuck now fella your not going to remove that label so easily. Since I moved here I have acquired the nickname 'Barbie'.. Wherever I go I am called Barbie...Its actually quite funny as my boyfriends nickname is Ken... So we're Barbie & Ken Give me strength ActuaIIy, i think megs story is cute. Thanks for sharing that Meg. --- As for being caIIed Mr Bean, i can see why that may be a bit offensive to us, as we see Mr Bean as a bit ridiculous. However, as others have pointed out, Thai dont see him in quite the same way. I think they are quite affectionate towards him and see him as funny and IovabIe. If you reaIIy dont want to be caIIed that, then ...im not quite sure..hmm..change the way you Iook (if you have any simiIarity)??. Grow a beard for a whiIe? If you dont mind the name, just worried about the association, then dont worry too much, im sure they dont mean it in a bad way at aII. Thanks Eek I also wouldn't take it the wrong way being called Mr Bean... The Thai people I know all love Mr Bean.. Do you know the reason as to why they call you Mr Bean? Do you look like him, or maybe you like to joke around and make people laugh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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