Are You More Thai Than All The Other Farangs?

[GuestHouse]

Hardly a day goes by without some Farang or other proclaiming how Thai he is, often here on Thai Visa, frequently in the press and other forums seem to get their fair share of these claims too.

The most commonly claimed Thainess Credentials seem to be:

• Length of time in Thailand (Though scratch the surface and the numbers are often dependent on number of years been coming here for two week holidays)
  
• Ability to speak, read, write Thai - Though to be honest I've met very very few farangs who have anywhere near fluency in spoken Thai, let alone reading and writing the language - but heck this is the internet, claims need not be true.
  
• Being married to a 'Beautiful, Doting Thai Lady' - Guys married to ugly Thai women who don't dote on their husbands and make no claims to be a lady need not apply.
  
• Living Thai Style - That is penniless Thai style, to live like a rich, or even middle class Thai wouldn't count.
  
• Got a Thai driver's license/credit card or some official document with Thai writing on it.
  
• Chest full of amulets and or Thai tattoos.
  

These and many similar are the marks of not being a Farang anymore, of becoming Thai or at least more Thai than any other Farang.

Once a Farang has ticked two or more of the above, he can claim to put up with any <deleted> treatment dished out on him by any Thai person or Thai organization because..... well it doesn't have any impact on people who are not really Farangs.

[meom]

Good one GH.

I try to be myself despite wearing flipflops (without socks) and drinking sangsom. The ugly wife helps ofcourse

[Spoonman]

HeHeHe, Ive got the DL and CC but im far from thainised, I dont eat the food and it was easier to teach my missus English than me learning Thai.... the language thing kinda pisses of my Thai work colleagues I guess..... MEH.

[rgs2001uk]

Have often observed the level of Thainess (usually involuntary) is directly proportional to income.

[473geo]

Nah Guesthouse.......I'm just more laid back than the average farang....

[sbk]

I've lived half my life in Thailand (this year--gawd). Am I Thai? Certainly not. I have many Thai behaviors and often get Thai people proclaim I am "like a Thai person". Thanks, I know its meant as a compliment but I am most certainly not Thai.

I do qualify via several of GH criteria, no Thai wife tho, do have a Thai husband but thats not on the list so guess it doesn't count . I've been here forever, speak the local dialect, love the local food, am married to a local, live a simple lifestyle and have Thai DL (even got the Tabien ban).

But nope. I am not Thai. I will never be Thai. Experience should teach every foreigner that.

[GuestHouse]

Have often observed the level of Thainess (usually involuntary) is directly proportional to income.

I think that is inversely proportional.

Nah Guesthouse.......I'm just more laid back than the average farang....

Well they say that it hurts less if you relax.

[DP25]

Once a Farang has ticked two or more of the above, he can claim to put up with any <deleted> treatment dished out on him by any Thai person or Thai organization because..... well it doesn't have any impact on people who are not really Farangs.

Not sure how many of the above ticks I qualify for, but I do qualify for the tick of not getting any bad treatment to begin with

[Soutpeel]

Definitely the most interesting thread posted on TV over the last week or so.

.....should be fun, all the Pseudo-Thai's doing battle on who can Wai the most correctly, who can eat the hotest Somtam, who paid the most sinsot, who has the best "corrections" in police, Military goverment....the list is endless...

I am waiting with baited breath

[GuestHouse]

Oh yeh..... how did I forget ..... Connections to Police Officers - No self respecting former Farang could be without his wallet full of Police officer name cards.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Awesome topic!! Should be explosive, I can't wait.

GH didn't go into all of the little things though; the food you eat, the drinks you drink, music, religion, culture in general, moral stance.. the list goes on.

[sbk]

You forgot the clothes GH. What about clothing?

[mca]

I must admit to being more comfortable at home eating on the floor now than sitting at a table even though we've got a fitted kitchen with a breakfast bar and dining table.

I'm never out of shorts and a t-shirt unless going to a "do"

Speaking Thai? I get by. Not a lot catches me out but I'm not likely to be giving a half hour speech to the local Chamber Of Commerce any time soon.

I've got about 100 times more Thai friends and acquaintances than Western.

I enjoy the occasional night out at karaoke.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the Thaiest of them all...

So anyway, I'll kick things off by claiming to be the most Thai. (No doubt I'm not, but up to people-more-Thai-than-me to prove they out-Thai me. )

here we go:

- I am wearing a Farmer's shirt as I type this. On the floor, obviously, where it's coolest.

- I drive a pick-up truck, IN MY OWN NAME

- I'm married to a Thai woman from the North

- I have a 5-year Thai driver's license

- I have a Thai tax card

- All my medical treatments are paid for for social insurance

- My iPod has more Morlam songs than your average Issan karaoke bar

- I rarely eat Western food

- I just finished a glass of Sang Som & Something.

- I cheat out of UBC fees

- When flying, I grab the Thai language newspaper to show I can read it, and because The Nation is trash.

- I get homesick when out of the country.

- I haven't been in my country of birth in 5 years. Anyone referring to that locale as 'home' will get explained that Thailand is home.

- I am better at ordering Som Tam than my wife.

- Obviously I'm not analphabetic in Thai

- I function well both in hi-so environments, as well as more down-to-Earth ones and enjoy both.

- I've been to (very nearly) every Thai province.

- I can have an intelligent discussion on which lottery numbers are more likely to come up in two weeks time.

- I feel seriously inconvenienced when I find that a toilet doesn't have butt gun installed.

- My entire monthly income goes straight to the Mrs. to take care of it. I have a reasonable allowance though.

- Old Whiney Farang Sexpats who don't fit in hate me.

- Pretty much all Thai people love me, and the feeling is mutual!

..probably loads more.

Go.

Edited April 17, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[chickenslegs]

Quite natural for people to try and 'fit in' when they live somewhere new.

And sometimes funny too...

[stiggy]

I pick my nose in public

Stand on the toilet seat

My Tv has two settings Off or full volume.

My name is soon to be Sombat ...

Beat that farangs...

[mca]

I feel seriously inconvenienced when I find that a toilet doesn't have butt gun installed.

I feel you. I'll nearly shit myself holding on for a toilet with a bum gun rather than the nearest one with tissue. That's the one thing I don't like about the classier hotels-usually paper only.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I feel seriously inconvenienced when I find that a toilet doesn't have butt gun installed.

I feel you. I'll nearly shit myself holding on for a toilet with a bum gun rather than the nearest one with tissue. That's the one thing I don't like about the classier hotels-usually paper only.

The classier ones often have a jazuzzi though. Those can perform the same function if you don't fill up to the level where the nozzles are. Messy, but it works.

[sanook2me]

I feel seriously inconvenienced when I find that a toilet doesn't have butt gun installed.

I feel you. I'll nearly shit myself holding on for a toilet with a bum gun rather than the nearest one with tissue. That's the one thing I don't like about the classier hotels-usually paper only.

I hear ya!! same same here....

[sanook2me]

I pretend i cannot see any other farangs walking down my soi....

I should shout "i love u...good morning" (in the afternoon/evening) to be totally Thai....

[mca]

Quite natural for people to try and 'fit in' when they live somewhere new.

After a while it wasn't a case of fitting in to me. Things just naturally became a part of my life. I've been home once in 15 years for about 10 days. Personally I don't try to outdo other westerners as to how acclimatised I am. It's not even on the agenda. I couldn't care less what they thought. I only interact with 2 westerners anyhow. There's never a mantra of " I'm a westerner living in Thailand" running through my head. If after 15 years of living anywhere if somebody hasn't fitted in to a fair extent then there's something wrong with them IMHO.

[mca]

I feel seriously inconvenienced when I find that a toilet doesn't have butt gun installed.

I feel you. I'll nearly shit myself holding on for a toilet with a bum gun rather than the nearest one with tissue. That's the one thing I don't like about the classier hotels-usually paper only.

The classier ones often have a jazuzzi though. Those can perform the same function if you don't fill up to the level where the nozzles are. Messy, but it works.

You dirty bastard!

[mccw]

i'm an english man living in thailand; a falang is always going to b a falang, but you can interact better or worse depending how well you can adapt, go with the flow, relax, communicate or however you want to put it.

i ticks a few of your points, but would not want to be said like a try to b thai, i'm an individual changed by experience from all over the world, firstly england but many other place too, thailand has played a big part because of my life here; what you do / experience in you own country can be influence alot by other cultures aswell, through music film etcetc this is a global world we're living in. For example my mate at uni went to a school where as a white boy he was in the in the minority. where i was born in hammersmith we've probably got 10-20 or more differrent nationalities.

religion wise information is out there and my generation of english i think question everything and look for thier own answers not just place faith in something because there told to; travel and life have helped the thought formations for sure which is why i think travel and varied experience is good for peoples brains; if your beleifs, opinions and personality is exactly the same as when you left school or were living in the same place all your life then you cant of been doing much thinking.

i've met lots of people here who have lived here for years and years but still hold the most ignorant points of view, normaly those who have spent all thier time in bar girl social and tourist ghetto, but not exclusively. old people seem to have trouble letting go of their conditioning naturaly. like my grans generation with their irrational racism, rest her soul, just closed brains but doesnt nessarcarily mean bad people.

none of your points on their own realy help; an open mind is probably most useful

[473geo]

Ok I'm not more Thai - simply because I neither read or write Thai and my language skills are average

Here's a slightly different list - to WTK

can cook on a charcoal thai burner

know which insects to catch to eat in the rice paddies

catch shell and cook black beetles

can reap by hand

can tie sheafs

shower with a bucket of water

feed move and water the cows

ride a motorsi eratically

smile at everybody

choose winning number from cutting bark off tree (once 90 baht)

do believe in spirits

go to the temple

only give 300 baht at weddings

can say no if someone asks for drink or money

buy good quality products at the local market

travel on the 10 baht bus into town

mumble a word or 2 of Khmer to confound the locals

get white and wet on Songlan

eat out at those places where you cook your own strips of meat on your table

speak perfect pigeon English

travel 4 up on motorsi - wife rarely goes above 15kph.... .

Edited April 17, 2010 by 473geo

[GuestHouse]

The points I have listed are examples of statements by Farangs why they are more Thai than other Farangs.

Nothing to do with being open minded or fitting in. Simply the kind of reasoning used by some Farangs to claim more Thainess.

[mccw]

Quite natural for people to try and 'fit in' when they live somewhere new.

After a while it wasn't a case of fitting in to me. Things just naturally became a part of my life. I've been home once in 15 years for about 10 days. Personally I don't try to outdo other westerners as to how acclimatised I am. It's not even on the agenda. I couldn't care less what they thought. I only interact with 2 westerners anyhow. There's never a mantra of " I'm a westerner living in Thailand" running through my head. If after 15 years of living anywhere if somebody hasn't fitted in to a fair extent then there's something wrong with them IMHO.

exactly, just by nature; but i am still aware that i am not thai for sure, but dont really think about it, just a given

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Some more:

- I honk and/or wai at shrines when driving past. Or both, though waiing and honking at the same time is a skill.

- I do actually wear an amulet (well, travel Buddha) when traveling.

- I compose my own merit-buckets when making merit at the temple.

- Not only do I exclusively eat Thai food, I enjoy making it too. I just made my own khao man kai; it was awsome, the secret is in the bay leaves,

and in using the best rice money can buy. (you can NEVER spend too much money on rice.)

- I check on Feng Shui stuff when it comes to matters relating to the house and the garden.

- I stopped holding doors open for other people.

- I'm much more likely to sniff-kiss than unhygienic-kiss.

- I mostly speak Thai with my daughter. I may have to pull her out of international school because that's just un-Thai, plus she keeps coming back

speaking the Queen's English, making us as a family stand out as being un-Thai. I just cringe when she goes all "Dahddy, dahddy..!" at Tescos in front of other people.

- I have acquired GREAT Thai accent when I sapeak Englit.

- I may on occasion pretend not to speak English at all. Want to talk to me; do it in Thai.

- When I meet another Farang-Thai couple I ask questions about him in Thai to his lady while he sits there like a zombie, instead of just asking him. Drives 'em nuts.

Edited April 17, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[mccw]

The points I have listed are examples of statements by Farangs why they are more Thai than other Farangs.

Nothing to do with being open minded or fitting in. Simply the kind of reasoning used by some Farangs to claim more Thainess.

sorry, the way i read your opening post was like you were inferring it ridiculas that farrangs claim to be like a thai, i was just trying to show how its natural to adapt and change

[mca]

I compose my own merit-buckets when making merit at the temple.

In my complete immaturity I've renamed those " monkets "

Cracks my daughter up every time.

Though she is only 6 years old. She thought me sitting at a family dinner with a bogey hanging from my nose was the height of hilarity.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Though she is only 6 years old. She thought me sitting at a family dinner with a bogey hanging from my nose was the height of hilarity.

And it *IS* ! Who can progress to other forms of humor & delight if you don't cover your bodily-functions-bases first.