Thai Tempers Getting Shorter?

[maccaroni man]

I have to agree with sbk 110%. the fool moon party going crowds often start the party way before they reach the island and we can all agree that drunks can be real ass holes. If the guy worked in bkk I doubt he would put up with half the stuff he does now. I remember many yrs ago a taffic cop lost in bkk and started shooting motorbike riders. everyone has bad days and i wont even start talking about the us postal service.

[LivinLOS]

Living in Pattaya, sadly I encounter this kind of despicable behavior from Thai people quite frequently. The mentality I feel from them is -- you are not really a human, you are here to give me money for my overpriced service/crappy product. That is your role. If you play your role, I may smile, maybe. If not, you are scum and I hate you, leave Thailand and bring more suckers. Sorry that's the way it is. Why try to sugarcoat it and make excuses for horrible behavior? To blame foreigners for this is just wrong. BTW, don't even bother to suggest if I feel that way, I should go home. I love living here; I have simply adopted sophisticated strategies to avoid encounters with those types of Thais as much as possible. Otherwise, I zone them out, but of course remember unless you are Rambo it is best not to do anything to make them even angrier.

Sadly I recognize that description all to much..

Theres some great Thai people out there, I love my life here, the climate, the ocean, the pace of things.. But the tourist areas seem to be getting to the point where the good Thais are being overtaken by the get rich quick brigade, where anything that makes money is acceptable behaviour. In part the visitors are to blame for the perceptions they put out, but I see the above post as a truth to how far too many interactions are, which in turn leads to walling yourself off in your high end villa lifestyle and not integrating.

[sanook2me]

Thai tempers dealing with tourists are always shorter in my experience.

6 years ago I was with a bunch of friends and one of them was a little highly strung and always thought everyone was trying to fleece him...we walking out of Khao Sarn Rd at Gullivers end and got approached as normal by a tuk tuk driver..."where u go" and my mate barked .."just f....off" totally unwarranted and embarrassing..

However the tuk tuk driver said back "no, you <removed> off this is my country"

i and the others apolgised for his behaviour and got in a taxi quickly to get out of the place...I wonder if the same words were spoken today if it would end peacefully..probably not..

I do think Thais who have to deal with farangs everyday as tourists get jaded and burnt out from the same same everyday...

I was walking through Khao Sarn on Saturday lunch time and there were two drunken farangs (not sure which country maybe Russian(white skinned and the lilt of English spoken) and they were shouting at a street hawker selling cigarette lighters..."can you bark?" "woof woof" totally inane and inappropriate at someone (anybody actually) but even more so at someone who is surviving hand to mouth everyday and has no escape but to take it and walk past again and again.

I thought no wonder some bad stuff goes down on tourists/farangs (no excuses for it and not warranted sometimes) just the truth from my experiences.

[tonywebster]

I think it has everything to do with the influence of the West on the eastern culture. The local cultures are becoming diluted due to outside pressures and values are changing...

yes the east has always had good fair cultures, just look at how well the POWs were treated by the Japanese, look at the Kmer Rouge etc. all good honest upstanding fellas that do or did no wrong I guess it must be the West's fault

[carmine]

Thai tempers dealing with tourists are always shorter in my experience.

6 years ago I was with a bunch of friends and one of them was a little highly strung and always thought everyone was trying to fleece him...we walking out of Khao Sarn Rd at Gullivers end and got approached as normal by a tuk tuk driver..."where u go" and my mate barked .."just f....off" totally unwarranted and embarrassing..

However the tuk tuk driver said back "no, you <removed> off this is my country"

i and the others apolgised for his behaviour and got in a taxi quickly to get out of the place...I wonder if the same words were spoken today if it would end peacefully..probably not..

I do think Thais who have to deal with farangs everyday as tourists get jaded and burnt out from the same same everyday...

I was walking through Khao Sarn on Saturday lunch time and there were two drunken farangs (not sure which country maybe Russian(white skinned and the lilt of English spoken) and they were shouting at a street hawker selling cigarette lighters..."can you bark?" "woof woof" totally inane and inappropriate at someone (anybody actually) but even more so at someone who is surviving hand to mouth everyday and has no escape but to take it and walk past again and again.

I thought no wonder some bad stuff goes down on tourists/farangs (no excuses for it and not warranted sometimes) just the truth from my experiences.

You thought no wonder some bad stuff goes dowwn on tourists, based on one isolated incident! So. if a tourist gets mugged, does it make Bangkok a dangerous city to visit?

No one, with any modicom of intelligence would take a dim view of tourists based on the behaviour of a couple of drunks.

[sanook2me]

You thought no wonder some bad stuff goes dowwn on tourists, based on one isolated incident! So. if a tourist gets mugged, does it make Bangkok a dangerous city to visit?

No one, with any modicom of intelligence would take a dim view of tourists based on the behaviour of a couple of drunks.

Fried eggs are yummy....

[thai3]

The guy deals with tourists every day, probably gets a load of crap and let loose on you. Anyone who deals with tourists every day will have bad days, weeks or months. Many tourists are very badly behaved, very rude and very pushy and after awhile (speaking from personal experience here) some days you just feel like telling em to eff off. Suspect you just were on the receiving end of a whole load of ire that had bottled up. If its any consolation, he totally lost face for shouting at a young woman and I am sure most Thai people on the bus were compleley appalled.

The true face of many Thai's when they cannot get their own way, or feel you are meddling with their affairs = tantrum. The mai pen rai bullshit soon vanishes if they think your actions or comments might affect them overcharging others, <deleted>'him, you should have told him so, don't go along with the no confrontation BS when they start to mouth off.

[imjustagirl]

"As i was just returning from an amazing trip to Burma where the people were so friendly and unstressed, i wonder if the farang exposure is totally destroying the pleasant disposition of the people of 'the land of smiles'"

What rubbish! The Burmese are the most stressed people in the world! Their smiles just cover their misery and fear. All Asia hands know a smile in Asia means nothing..certainly not happiness.

Of course Thais get stressed out and 'vent' just as we do. You just met a very honest Thai that day. He should be applauded for showing his true feelings. I suggest you go back to Burma where the natives are too frightened not to smile.

HAHAHA you sound like the gentleman on the bus, and have just exactly backed up my point entirely...as a farang i cannot be allowed to have a choice or opinion, it the Thai way or the highway.

I did find the Burmese people both friendly and genuinely interested in my presence as well as other visitors presence...probably as we could talk to them about things they do not normally have access to such as some world news and events. I am sorry that you have gotten so upset and angry over my enjoyment of my holiday. Is it because i spent my money somewhere other than Thailand???

Jai Yen brownlegs

[imjustagirl]

imjustagirl: you say you've been in Thailand for 5 years. So I assume you can speak basic Thai quite well.

I live in Phuket and walk around town daily. I am constantly approached by touts and taxis for rides, tours, etc.

My approach is to say to them (in Thai) "thanks but I've got my own car/bike/accomodation" depending on the sales pitch.

Invariably, they immediately stop talking to me and let me go on my way.

I realize your situation was a bit different -- and perhaps you were speaking Thai to him.

But in my experience the formula for dealing with this behavior is as follows:

(1) let them know you speak Thai;

(2) keep your reply as short as possible;

(3) repeat the same reply if they question you a 2nd time; and

(4) if they persist, do not make eye contact, pull out a book to read or something.

Final comment: people in the tourist business may be getting stressed because this wasn't the high season they were hoping for and they are running out of cash, or are being squeezed by their boss to deliver more clients than they can manage.

Happy trails

I did reply in English then in Thai...twice...it just irritated him more.... He definitely was having a very bad day...but thanks for the advice