The Special I Can See You But Will Ignore You Walk

[sbk]

insulting posts have been deleted, no flaming please

[mahtin]

What do you have in common apart from being non-Thai?

I never have anything to say to others who married a Thai and expect to be instant bosom buddies.

I will feel no discomfort in ignoring you

I have a feeling that I have bumped into you at the local Tesco/Big C.

You were the one being towed into the Gold shop?

[JimsKnight]

Why do farangs do that funny invisible walk, posture, starey things and are more focused on ignoring you than acknowledging you with a nod or hello! when walking towards another farang in an un touristy area?

It has happend countless times too me but i have just had it happen while walking back home and have remembered to ask about it.

I have just passed another farang and we were walking towards each other for over 100 yds and as we got closer it was quite obvious he was doing the i cannot see you walk... ... i looked, nodded and said hello as we passed while he scratched his ear to avoid making contact....

why do people feel the need to do this?

Why do people feel the need to post banal threads about something they ought to just get over and deal with, rather than whine about on TV.

The farangs who live in Thailand are usually wanting to steer away from other farangs, they're in their bubble and don't like intrusion. So that's their groove.

[Billion]

Why do farangs do that funny invisible walk, posture, starey things and are more focused on ignoring you than acknowledging you with a nod or hello! when walking towards another farang in an un touristy area?

It has happend countless times too me but i have just had it happen while walking back home and have remembered to ask about it.

I have just passed another farang and we were walking towards each other for over 100 yds and as we got closer it was quite obvious he was doing the i cannot see you walk... ... i looked, nodded and said hello as we passed while he scratched his ear to avoid making contact....

why do people feel the need to do this?

The answer is the smile; we travel to an Asian country to forget the non smile horrible foreigner’s face.

Why on earth should we avoid other foreigners in the Asian area?

Oh my god, I forgot the answer!

Pathetic foreigner’s behavior I THINK...

[Lancashirelad]

I can only think some of you must lead very sad lonely existances. If you never even acknowledge, let alone make some attempt at conversation with strangers (a stranger being a friend you have not yet met) you will never meet some very nice, interesting people.

Not everyone in LOS is a teacher, sexpat or wanted by Interpol.

Yes, LOS does attract its fair share of odd balls, but you can't tell by looking & the only way to find out if they are a decent person is to get to know them.

If i asked someone where he was from & he just said America, I'd think what a dumb answer. The USA is a huge place, the reason i would be interested in you being more specific is because i might have been to your state or even town, therefor we may have a something in common as a starting point.

I can only think that some expats in LOS feel so bad about their messed up lives they don't wish to get drawn into conversation where it may, in time, come out & they would be very embarrassed.

As for those of you who said you always acknowledge, good on ya, you'll certainly get one back from me.

[Jimjim]

So if a Thai avoids eye contact with you, going to start a thread about that too? How about a Filipino? A Japanese? An Indian? Just face it, not everyone likes to greet others in the street just because you happen to be of the same race. Who cares? Not important.

People in small villages greet each other when passing each other all the time. Really? No <deleted>, of course they do, but most people in the world live in places other than small villages.

Edited May 25, 2009 by Jimjim

[473geo]

So if a Thai avoids eye contact with you, going to start a thread about that too? How about a Filipino? A Japanese? An Indian? Just face it, not everyone likes to greet others in the street just because you happen to be of the same race. Who cares? Not important.

People in small villages greet each other when passing each other all the time. Really? No <deleted>, of course they do, but most people in the world live in places other than small villages.

Really.......and what is a community......never hear the word in your life before?......most people live in a community.......like a small village......in cities everywhere.......never experienced this!!....I guess not because if you are transient and never acknowledge your neighbours......you will never have known this.......sad....really.....

[Jimjim]

You're off the rails, buddy, but it's quite amusing. Didn't say this is how I act, just said it's a fact of life that people walk past each every day in every country in the world without acknowledging each other. Nothing new there. For some it's culture, for others it's personality. Some people just naturally distrust strangers they meet on the street. Others are not outgoing and quickly tire of making eye contact, smiling or greeting every single person they see on the street, so they don't. To not realize this, is how can I say it, ignorant.

I'm not arguing or discussing the wrongness or rightness of this or discussing the meaning of community. Just discussing facts. It's also true that every day people in every country of the world walk past each other and talk to each other and greet each other. No <deleted>.

Yes, I know about villages within cities. I live in one. However, I may find myself downtown sometimes. Am I going to greet everyone I walk past? Nope, impossible to do. Never experienced this?

if have not walked in big city and seen thousands of people in one second and realized you cannot greet them all...sad...really....never heard of this in your life before??????.....c'mon....we are all people in this world.....we should get along......we should talk to each other........

So, quit creating an argument, there is none here. Have a nice day.

[473geo]

c'mon....we are all people in this world.....we should get along......we should talk to each other........

There you go......now you've got it....

You have a nice day too.

[Birdman]

Strange that many do not speak to other farangs, if they meet them in person, but post extensively in the net.

Not strange at all. On the net you remain more or less anonymous and protected from other peoples BS. And of course, whenever you have had enough it is just a case of logging out.

If one lives long enough our world will be perfect. All the cyborgs and androids and the 3D projections just waiting for commands.

[Zappadappa]

I dont like people I prefer animals, trees, water, birds, clouds, flowers, rocks, reptiles, books, coffee, sleeping, fish, alone time, sand, food, ignoring

555

Actually i'll be civil to anyone who is civil to me but that dont mean I like you!

[thaihome]

Personally I find these sorts of threads amusing. So many people living here have this “us against them” mentality about Thais. Combined with living in a big city for the first time, much less a developing country mega city, and if they see another white face they just assume that person is just as uncomfortable as they are and therefore have something in common that requires some sort of acknowledgment.

I lived in SF for a number of years, if you walked down Market Street during the day, nodding and saying hello to every white face you saw, within two blocks the police would probably be watching you, assuming you were having a few mental issues.

I did see two farangs at the wet market near my MIL house a few months ago. Can count on one hand how many I have seen in the 10 years we have been visiting. Never had a chance to say anything, but if we had passed close, I would have at least smiled and nodded. That is much different then walking on the street in Bangkok.

TH

[Birdman]

No talk about greeting others in a metropolis.

What some seem to say is, that they would ignore another farang if they were the only 2 in the middle of a desert.

[sanook2me]

Personally I find these sorts of threads amusing. So many people living here have this “us against them” mentality about Thais. Combined with living in a big city for the first time, much less a developing country mega city, and if they see another white face they just assume that person is just as uncomfortable as they are and therefore have something in common that requires some sort of acknowledgment.

I lived in SF for a number of years, if you walked down Market Street during the day, nodding and saying hello to every white face you saw, within two blocks the police would probably be watching you, assuming you were having a few mental issues.

I did see two farangs at the wet market near my MIL house a few months ago. Can count on one hand how many I have seen in the 10 years we have been visiting. Never had a chance to say anything, but if we had passed close, I would have at least smiled and nodded. That is much different then walking on the street in Bangkok.

TH

<removed> me george - i'm talking about saying hello to some random stranger on a quiet soi who is obviously not native while off the tourist track so you may just want to doff your cap and give a "top of the morning squire" out of sheer politeness.

Not a nudge, nudge, wink, wink we are all in this together, you know.

It appears at the something to declare channel some posters left the manners they were born with along with common sense, decency, good manners, civility and politeness.

Have a nice day

[Birdman]

Why do farangs do that funny invisible walk, posture, starey things and are more focused on ignoring you than acknowledging you with a nod or hello! when walking towards another farang in an un touristy area?

It has happend countless times too me but i have just had it happen while walking back home and have remembered to ask about it.

I have just passed another farang and we were walking towards each other for over 100 yds and as we got closer it was quite obvious he was doing the i cannot see you walk... ... i looked, nodded and said hello as we passed while he scratched his ear to avoid making contact....

why do people feel the need to do this?

The same reason i put on my headphones or open a book once i sit down in my seat on a plane! I think maybe one of the reasons this reaction to other foreigners develops because of the knowledge that a 'simple' greeting or nod can be perceived as being a friendly person and an invitation by 'some' people to launch into small talk. I find small talk with strangers a mindless and annoying activity so I avoid being appearing overly friendly to the odd stranger passing in the street. This isn't everyone of course, but the knowledge that some fellow foreigners are chatterboxes puts me off greeting people i don't know. Some people are just more private than others and think it is rude when others ask prying questions or share personal details with someone you've just met in passing.

As another poster said, It could also be that the said 'farang' has given you the split second once over and decided they'd rather not know you for whatever reason or give you the chance to get to know them. I know it is selfish and probably unfair to make such quick judgments but we are the product of social environments.

Before some simple minded people used a calculator as a mobile phone to boost up their ego by getting some narrow minded attention during traffic jams.

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

[TAWP]

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

Fact of the matter is that I AM better than the most of you, and posts in this forum seems to indicate it on a repeating pattern. Now would I want to be greeting you in the street?

There is a saying amongst my friends, that 90% of the world population are idiots. So we stick to our group of people we have already confirmed isn't. Easy.

Cherio´.

[Texpat]

The farang tourist and resident percentages are all I require to know that most wandering around this place are not the kind of people I want to meet.

Edited May 26, 2009 by Texpat

[medegen]

Happens from time to time with me also. The guys always look like they are up to no good and/or they are usually with their "bought" wife/girlfriend. Maybe some feel shamed for some reason if they approach a fellow foreigner?

[bravingbangkok]

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

Fact of the matter is that I AM better than the most of you, and posts in this forum seems to indicate it on a repeating pattern. Now would I want to be greeting you in the street?

There is a saying amongst my friends, that 90% of the world population are idiots. So we stick to our group of people we have already confirmed isn't. Easy.

Cherio´.

Like wise, there are only so many friends one can have.

[473geo]

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

Fact of the matter is that I AM better than the most of you, and posts in this forum seems to indicate it on a repeating pattern. Now would I want to be greeting you in the street?

There is a saying amongst my friends, that 90% of the world population are idiots. So we stick to our group of people we have already confirmed isn't. Easy.

Cherio´.

Like wise, there are only so many friends one can have.

You both miss the point in your clamour to claim superiority......not talking about making friends.....a simple greeting is the discussion point.....

[timinchina]

I'm not sure I ever acknowledged a "farang" in the United States when they walked past me and I lived in Chinatown, Philadelphia. I tend to also not to acknowledged Thais, Chinese, Japanese, or people of African decent who pass by me. I consider my self "color blind" I don't care what color your skin is, actually I tend not to notice.

No offense intended, but I find this highly unlikely (that you don't notice, not that you don't care). It is human nature to notice the differences between one's self and others. That doesn't necessarily mean that it leads to animosity, but the noticing part is pretty much automatic. For someone who chose the name Jungian, I am surprised at this claim.

I went the the US Consulate the other day to renew my passport and I spoke to quite a few of my fellow Americans waiting in line, we didn't exchange any vital information about who we are, why we are in Thailand or even where we are from in the USA, we weren't being hostile, just minding our own business (yes, Americans are capable of minding our own business, it's our government that isn't). I also do not assume just because someone is Caucasian they speak English, I have on many occasions had people come up to me and speak German it's kind of funny (I am of German decent though). Anyway if you see me on the street and strike up a conversation in a language I speak I'll be happy to talk to you, give you directions if I can or whatever.

I doubt you are the kind of person that the OP is describing. Actual indifference is quite a bit different from active avoidance. You sound like an affable, if somewhat aloof person (from the tone of your post), but not arrogant.

I'm very indifferent to people, aloof, perhaps somewhat but it is not intentional. I was a Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist monk for 10 years in the cold and isolated mountains of China. I tend to stay in my own head thinking about how much I don't know about life, the universe and everything as Douglas Adams so eloquently put it. I generally stand back and let the universe do as it will without comparing or judging, I am non-dualistic and don't have to see black to understand white nor do I have to say they are opposite or different to understand them, they just are. What I do see is people, plain and simple just people same species as me. A frog does not ask "are you from the north or the south of the pond or did you come from the pond on the other side of the forest?"

As far as the name "Jungian" goes, as Freud said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", don't look to deeply into it. I enjoy Carl Jung's work and writing, then again I enjoy Shakespeare and Star Trek but I suppose "Spock" would have been just as an agreeable name as "Jungian" or "Othello" a name is just that something to distinguish one thing from another, to put everything neatly in a box so we feel that the universe has order and we have labeled it all and categorized it.

Keep taking the tablets...

[timinchina]

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

Fact of the matter is that I AM better than the most of you, and posts in this forum seems to indicate it on a repeating pattern. Now would I want to be greeting you in the street?

There is a saying amongst my friends, that 90% of the world population are idiots. So we stick to our group of people we have already confirmed isn't. Easy.

Cherio´.

Would that be 90% of your friends?

[timinchina]

Because 99% of other farang are not worth meeting. Total tossers.

You must be Thai then?Or do you always denigrate yourself in the 3rd person?

[timinchina]

I'm very indifferent to people, aloof, perhaps somewhat but it is not intentional. I was a Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist monk for 10 years in the cold and isolated mountains of China. I tend to stay in my own head thinking about how much I don't know about life, the universe and everything as Douglas Adams so eloquently put it. I generally stand back and let the universe do as it will without comparing or judging, I am non-dualistic and don't have to see black to understand white nor do I have to say they are opposite or different to understand them, they just are. What I do see is people, plain and simple just people same species as me. A frog does not ask "are you from the north or the south of the pond or did you come from the pond on the other side of the forest?"

As far as the name "Jungian" goes, as Freud said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar", don't look to deeply into it. I enjoy Carl Jung's work and writing, then again I enjoy Shakespeare and Star Trek but I suppose "Spock" would have been just as an agreeable name as "Jungian" or "Othello" a name is just that something to distinguish one thing from another, to put everything neatly in a box so we feel that the universe has order and we have labeled it all and categorized it.

Deep man, deep.

I bow before you, recognizing an experienced old soul when I see one *snigger*

I seriously think, both of you guys need a doctor

I am a doctor

And I'm a Dutchman's uncle...

[TAWP]

Now others use headphones for not getting attention to boost their ego by not getting involved with others. Actually a sad sign how helpless some are. Western education teaches to be better than the other. This behaviour is just one side effect.

Fact of the matter is that I AM better than the most of you, and posts in this forum seems to indicate it on a repeating pattern. Now would I want to be greeting you in the street?

There is a saying amongst my friends, that 90% of the world population are idiots. So we stick to our group of people we have already confirmed isn't. Easy.

Cherio´.

Would that be 90% of your friends?

If you would be a smart person you would read the full section before replying.

As the next sentence clearly points out that, according to ourselves, they are not.

[Old Croc]

These days if someone talks to me in the street I think they are trying to sell me something.

I usually give a quick "no thanks" and keep walking.

Probably confuses some friendly souls who only want to say hello.

[bravingbangkok]

Okay then why should I, just because he is white makes no difference to me. Most of my friends in London are not white.

[polecat]

Can't we all just get along?

[Lancashirelad]

Reading this thread again & having already commented once, it strikes me there are a lot of stuck up people around who misguidedly believe they are better than others.

[longstebe]

Reading this thread again & having already commented once, it strikes me there are a lot of stuck up people around who misguidedly believe they are better than others.

Agreed.

BTW the OP surely didn't mean walking around the likes of BKK or Pattaya saying "hi' to everyone.I think it was more directed at the smaller places.There is still some guys going on about race and Thais and other non related BULL. Nothing to do with this at all.Just a simple 'hi','hello','hows it goin'.