Are You More Thai Than All The Other Farangs?

[vision]

I'm not more Thai than the other Farang's but I'm definitely a lot less American than the other American's, whether here or back home (especially back home).

I really do feel like a man without a culture now. I'll never be accepted as Thai by the Thai's but I am not American anymore, I don't behave or think like one and I can't relate to them anymore.

I hear ya man....same same

I will never think any farang is at all Thai until I see them nearly snap their neck to enthusiastically yell "Farang!....Hey farang, hello you" anytime they see another frarang instead of playing the I'm invisible your invisible game.

[Ulysses G.]

I really do feel like a man without a culture now. I'll never be accepted as Thai by the Thai's but I am not American anymore

[HalfSquat]

I've got a Chang vest but it is the one with Chang written in Thai. Beat that.

[sarahsbloke]

I SMS in Thai ....... beat that!

I also have a Thai driving licence, Thai wife, and throw all my rubbish in the road (when I'm not throwing it over the neighbours fence)

Nearly forgot, I also drink Chang and Ci ceep.

Edited April 17, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[JUDAS]

I don't need to try to be thai as I actually produced a thai person out of my bagina so beat that winniethekwai

Do I win

Maybe a typo but, definitely "word of the day"

[JUDAS]

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.

For anyone with their head screwed on the right way, SBK has summed it up perfectly. 25% of my life here this year

[Boo]

It's my word for when I don't want to make you blokes blush

[mccw]

I really do feel like a man without a culture now. I'll never be accepted as Thai by the Thai's but I am not American anymore

fair enough, who'd want to be american?

[Dave the Dude]

For anyone with their head screwed on the right way, SBK has summed it up perfectly. 25% of my life here this year

So what was it like here in the 50's then, Jack?

[473geo]

It's my word for when I don't want to make you blokes blush

Very Thai Boo!!.....

[PhilHarries]

- eating last night's leftovers for breakfast

You mean people have NEVER had Indian or Chinese takeaway for breakfast?

Jeez, what is the world coming to? Next you'll be claiming nobody ever had beer Sing with their reheated Chinky.

One thing you missed GH, and it certainly counts for browny points here on TV. You absolutely must slag off your home country at every possible opportunity even if the thread is about buying rice seed. To fail to do so is to fail to be a hardened EXPAT and that will not do. How can you live in Thailand if you're not a hardened EXPAT? However you will, of course, keep those world renowned qualifications "Well I earnt them dinnI?".

Anyway I consider myself 1,000,000% Thai (it must be true a lady in a gogo bar told me so) which is a bit of a problem as I'm in Viet Nam.

[mccw]

I really do feel like a man without a culture now. I'll never be accepted as Thai by the Thai's but I am not American anymore

fair enough, who'd want to be american?

"half of mexico" is what my yank mate would say

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Winnie, i'm just back from seven, got some shrimp flavor potato chips and deposited the 3 baht change to my left ear while heading back home with my motocy. How many points i score ?

That's three points. You chose shrimp flavor over something Farangy like cheese & onion, you bothered with 3 baht change, and you did it on a motorbike..

I just came back from Tesco Express and bought eggs, ham and ice. I realized that's not particularly Thai, so I also stopped at the soy milk auntie and got some nice soy milk, one bag including assorted shrapnel. (err, song khrueang) Still, that's only one point.

[sbk]

Deduct a full point for the ham, winnie. Add half a point if the Tescos is only 15 meters down the road and you drove.

[centrico]

I tick two of the boxes but am definitely English. Though some do say I am more Thai than others because I go to the market and supermarket on my own without the need to drag my better half with me to do the shopping, I definitely feel English and not really Thai at all.

[geriatrickid]

I'd like to see you try to pass a 7lb 10oz human being out of your peehole

Umm, I believe passing kidney stones is one of the most painful of ailments. Men end up passed out screaming and crying in agony, and thoses stones are so small. Hence, I dub stones a man's pregnancy.

And now back to the OP;

-Length of time in Thailand - I call it doing time

- Ability to speak, read, write Thai - I am functionally illiterate. It brings me in harmony with other TV members that demonstrate limited reading comprehension and writing skills in non Thai languages.

-Being married to a 'Beautiful, Doting Thai Lady' - Does having a dog or cat count?

-Living Thai Style - It seems that every year around this time, living Thai style is a desirable option, as I still pay taxes in my country of origin. The foreign government is kind enough to allow me sufficient funds to purchase a bowl of Yellow Curry. (80-120 baht depending upon which gourmet dining spot in Patong I choose.)

- Got a Thai driver's license/credit card or some official document with Thai writing on it.- Does a letter of reprimand count?

- Chest full of amulets and or Thai tattoos. - I am not into idol worship, so no amulets. Tatoos are so 2001. Body piercings and tribal scars are all the rage now. GuestHouse, you really need to be more fashionable.

Based upon my observations on Bangla Road, to be a true farang "Thai" one needs the dirty singlet, shorts and cheap flip flops.

Edited April 17, 2010 by geriatrickid

[IanForbes]

Hmmm. Somehow I have a suspicion that I'm not going to be mistaken for a Thai...

Guess which one is the farang and which one is the Thai

[473geo]

the farang is the big wet fish?

[Spee]

Add one more ...

- you go to the local street market or sidewalk food stands and you know the exact name, pronounciation, smell and taste of everything being sold .... herbs & spices, meat & fish, veg & fruit .... as well as all the precooked stuff.

That's my last memory of my most recent visit ... walking down to the sidewalk vendors to get some gai yang, som tum, saparot and cataloupe. Jeez, I can still taste it in my mind. I could eat it every day.

BTW .... I'm truly envious of so many of you with all of your multitudes of more experiences than me. I hope to enjoy them one day :-)

[canuckamuck]

It's my word for when I don't want to make you blokes blush

If you were really Thai boo you would have said wagina

[Chonburiram]

Thainess?

How about this?

Older Thais asking themselves or bystanders:" Why does this guy ( me, Farang ) look like a Farang???"

[Ijustwannateach]

GH, I've got a few of the boxes checked, but rarely make any claim to 'Thainess'- quite suspicious of the concept itself and the Thais who claim it.

[Dont Panic]

When moving back to the uk after 6 years in Thailand, I thought I would never give up my Thai traits because they felt so right. But I guess it's a case of when in Rome, because now a couple have disapeard. Those being; taking my shoes off when indoors, using tissue to clean my rear end. But I still eat Thai jasmine rice every day (with a fork and spoon) with some type of spicy curry (on the floor). And I think about the old place every single day.......don't think I'm Thai but the country made a lasting impresion.

[MrJohnson]

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

If this is the most interesting thread posted here over the last week it says a whole lot more about the other threads than anyting else. Who gives a sh#$%#^t?

In the general interests of disclosure - meant in irony, with toungue firmly in cheek but truthfuly.

I have a Thai drivers license

Married to a Thai

Lived here on a permanent basis since 1997

Eat Thai food

Speak passable Thai (literate as well)

Work here (with a work permit - not a teacher)

Have a little yellow book.

blah blah blah

Am I Thai? Yeah, about as Thai as George Bush. Never was, never will be. doesn't mean I ain't enjoying life here, things piss me off from time to time but hey, I've just spent three weeks back in the home country - somewhere in the western world - and life isn't perfect there. Are the Thais weird, wonderful and hard to fathom at times? Yes. Case closed. Good night. New thread please before this one descends into a flaming session. Merry Christmas All!

Glod Bless (whoever she is ).

Yes I think we have a winner........there is nothing more Thai than pretending not to give a dam_n......"up to you" attitude..........then......then.....then......proceed to complain about the thing that was "up to you"!!!!

Wow Sunshine, you are one hel_l of an insightful Cultural Commando. I'm so glad we have chaps like you to keep us in check. Have a good one.

[Richb2004v2]

To be truly Thai you would surely have to be partially lobotomised.

[ppmacready]

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

Half a mind would help more!

[elkangorito]

My comments in blue.

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)

3.5 years uninterrupted, 4.5 years total.

* 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.

Can't speak much Thai at all, although I can speak enough Thai to get through most daily happenings. I can't read a word of Thai.

* 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.

I'm not married & don't have plans to be so.

* Living Thai Style - That is penniless Thai style, to live like a rich, or even middle class Thai wouldn't count.

I earn slightly more than my Thai counterparts. Then again, I pay more sometimes ('dual pricing').

* Got a Thai driver's license/credit card or some official document with Thai writing on it.

I don't have a credit card or any type of Thai license. I do have a government health insurance card.

* Chest full of amulets and or Thai tattoos.

I detest amulets & tattoos.

Obviously, I'm nowhere near being Thai or having any kind of Thainess...thank dog!

Edited April 17, 2010 by elkangorito

[Changian]

Also worth considering . . .

"Does any TV gameshow have a mesmerising, almost hypnotic effect on you? " If so, add + 1 to your Thainess Index.

BUT, if you still watch TV news and show an interest in the world outside your village, deduct 5 points. Ignorance is bliss. Knowledge leads to headaches which in turn leads to brain cancer and certain death by the age of 30.

Also add a point for the number of time you exclaim "Oh, ho" , in a deep manly voice ( or a high pitched "Oiiii" if you are female) whenever you come across anything new, surprising, wierd, novel or vaguely interesting.

Bonus points for drinking JW Black with a 10:1 soda to whisky mix, as you insist that it tastes better that way. Or adding ice to a glass of red wine.

You know you have gone 'Full Thai' when you hire a hitman to knock off someone who you argued with 3 years ago over something petty.

Edited April 18, 2010 by Changian

[Naam]

I don't need to try to be thai as I actually produced a thai person out of my bagina so beat that winniethekwai

Do I win

Hm, I produced one out of someone elses bagina, that obviously takes more skill.

[Naam]

I'd like to see you try to pass a 7lb 10oz human being out of your peehole