Do Other Farangs Acknowledge You In Public?

[KunMatt]

I've been out in the sticks of Isaan for a few weeks, I'm staying about 60km away from Ubon Ratchathani center and I hadn't seen another farang since the day I got here until today.

My gf and I, her brother and his wife go to the city today to do a bit of shopping and for the first time in all of the remote parts of a developed country I have lived in over the last 9 years, every farang I encountered completely blanked me.

The first guy I saw was eating a donut as I entered Big C and sat by himself, I actually felt quite sorry for him, I saw him before he saw me so I prepared my half smile, ready for the eyebrow raise to acknoledge the only other human being of the same race as me in the vicinity, he looks up, sees me half looking at him, my eyebrows are about to do their thing and then he stares straight down again pretending to be entranced by the table. I thought that was a bit odd but maybe he was one of the weirdos hiding out in Thailand, being sat by himself at lunchtime justified that theory in my mind at the time.

So we are shopping in Big C and later at a home depot store and all day every single farang that I walk by complete ignores their fellow countryman's existence, the only guy I actually gave the complete half-smile/eyebrow treatment to actually turned his back and trolly on me as he waited for his girlfriend who was picking stuff out in the aisle in front of me. This happened again and again with every farang I saw. I'm not talking about walking around Bangkok or Pattaya, I saw less than 10 farangs in the space of 6 hours so I don't think is that's they see so many farangs that it doesn't matter.

So for all you living out in the sticks; the blankers and the blankees, what's the deal, what are you thinking? I'm not asking for tea and biscuits with anyone, or even any kind of minimal verbal exchange, but just to be acknowledged as a relatively rare fellow countryman out here in the same place as you would show that you have kept as least a tiny bit of civility that you came here with. My rationale is either that they think they have been here so long that they are basically Thai and don't even share the same roots with me anymore or they hate the fact that there is a normal farang, more than half their age and weight with a full head of hair, invading their little bubble and threatening to steal their thunder!

Whatever it is I hope I never grow to be that way if I end up living here.

And just to pre-empt the obvious reply, I'm sure it's not me!!

[jubby]

Its been discussed on here many times. most people including Thai's get a nod and a smile from me (I can't actually crack a smile so I smile with my eyes). Most people nod back. Some Farangs don't , don't lose any sleep about it ;-)

[GuestHouse]

Preferably not.

[elkangorito]

Its been discussed on here many times.

Yes, it has.

[Geekfreaklover]

Think of it the other way around. An Asian person going to a small town in Europe, America or Australia and expecting every other person of Asian decent to wave and say hello to them because they are also Asian. A bit naive isn't it?

[KunMatt]

Preferably not.

Ahh, so you must be one of "the weirdos hiding out in Thailand" I was thinking of before?

[jimjam23]

It basically comes down to this illusion that they live in where they think they are Thai, either that or they are the only 'special farang' who exists.

When you turn up and smile at them it spoils the illusion so they blank you and prefer you not to exist.

[neverdie]

Preferably not.

Ahh, so you must be one of "the weirdos hiding out in Thailand" I was thinking of before?

Yes guesthouse is probably one of the weirdos hiding out in thailand, but thats up to him.

I could never figure out farangs that walk around los staring at other farangs waiting to say 'hi' and get all cuddly because they see another caucasian.....makes no sense to me, for one I think they are a bit weird.

Not many people want to stop and talk to me, I'm not very pleasant on the eye & only half as nice as that in person, so generally one look at me and you wish you hadnt.

Young ukmatt, different strokes for different folks, you gedit?

[elkangorito]

Preferably not.

Ahh, so you must be one of "the weirdos hiding out in Thailand" I was thinking of before?

Maybe he's tired of an already 'done to death' subject?

The search function is your friend

[473geo]

If you are confident, outgoing, fearless, and approachable you will make eye contact with almost all people you meet

If you lack any of the above, you will probably avoid eye contact

[neverdie]

If you are confident, outgoing, fearless, and approachable you will make eye contact with almost all people you meet

If you lack any of the above, you will probably avoid eye contact

Fair enuf, but I've always found theres plenty more to focus the eyes on (eyecandy) when out in the big smoke, i have no time for little pasty faced farangs looking for recognition sorry, but thats just the facts of life.

[Lammbock]

You all "Outback Farangs" chooses to life there in the Sticks. So deal with it.

You moved out there cause you don't like the crowd life of Bangkok or Pattaya.

You moved out there cause you don't want to be involved with other Farangs.

Now after a long wile you are bored and thinking about your life in the sticks and if that was such an good idea to move there.

(Be honest with your self in this point)

I mean i love Thailand as much as many other Farangs. But i would never ever move out in the Sticks!

Boring life all day. Thai people with IQ less than 70 all day long??? No way!!!!!!!!!!

I enjoy the company of my Thai friends and families but lets be honest. An intelligent discussion is not possible with them.

Not including Thai business people or more open minded Thais, ofcourse. But you can't find these kind of Thais out in the Sticks.

Time by time i am very happy to meet other Farangs including Family, Friends and polite Strangers.

This is my opinion and you are not forced to do it same.

[KunMatt]

Preferably not.

Ahh, so you must be one of "the weirdos hiding out in Thailand" I was thinking of before?

Maybe he's tired of an already 'done to death' subject?

The search function is your friend

I did a search and nothing turned up on the first page so I don't see any harm starting this thread.

By your logic this board has an expiry date as soon as all topics have been discussed and anyone who wasn't around for the previous discussion is not allowed to post their views. You've replied twice in this thread aready with the same grievance, I'm sure it would've taken you less time to give a relevant response to the thread or just not bother at all.

[GM1955]

If you are confident, outgoing, fearless, and approachable you will make eye contact with almost all people you meet

If you lack any of the above, you will probably avoid eye contact

Fair enuf, but I've always found theres plenty more to focus the eyes on (eyecandy) when out in the big smoke, i have no time for little pasty faced farangs looking for recognition sorry, but thats just the facts of life.

I've met a few Farangs in Loei, the only reason we met is because we are Farangs, they are all good guys.

If we had all been in Pattaya, we would have unfortunately never met.

[KunMatt]

Think of it the other way around. An Asian person going to a small town in Europe, America or Australia and expecting every other person of Asian decent to wave and say hello to them because they are also Asian. A bit naive isn't it?

Obviously you have NEVER been anywhere outside Asia with an Asian person because that's EXACTLY how it is!! Asians are famous for their networking skills in foreign countries, have you ever been anywhere with a Fiipino? Any other Filipino within earshot will at least come over and talk, most of the time they will join you for drinks for the rest of the night.

But that's exactly what I said I was not looking for. I just thought it was strange to get a pro-active blank from a farang from the same place I came from when there are not many of us in the same place here.

[elkangorito]

Here you are!! I've done your work for you. It may take a while but I strongly advise that you become intimately aquainted with the TV search engine.

This thread will fit nicely into the following thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Special-Igno...Ceye+contact%5C

[huawei]

in the 80s almost always acknowledged another farang and was acknowledged back. So much has changed since then some good and some not so good.Its hard to believe how many farangs are here now.

It was a place of adventure and exotic and most farangs then were adventures, travellers so maybe there was some commonality...who knows..

I met someone who is now one of my closest friends walking down Sukhumvit Road in the mid 80s looking for Soi Cowboy.

I gave up trying to acknowledge other farangs about 10 years ago..

[KunMatt]

Here you are!! I've done your work for you. It may take a while but I strongly advise that you become intimately aquainted with the TV search engine.

This thread will fit nicely into the following thread:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Special-Igno...Ceye+contact%5C

I'm afraid you didn't do enough work because if you had you would've known that page 2 and 3 are broken links so I couldn't possibly appended to that year old thread.

So sorry for you!!

[tfc]

I'm an Asian not Thai and most farang don't want to nod or acknowledge me either. What's funny is that 99% of Thais will nod and acknowledge me when I do them.

[norwayeagle]

You all "Outback Farangs" chooses to life there in the Sticks. So deal with it.

You moved out there cause you don't like the crowd life of Bangkok or Pattaya.

You moved out there cause you don't want to be involved with other Farangs.

Now after a long wile you are bored and thinking about your life in the sticks and if that was such an good idea to move there.

(Be honest with your self in this point)

I mean i love Thailand as much as many other Farangs. But i would never ever move out in the Sticks!

Boring life all day. Thai people with IQ less than 70 all day long??? No way!!!!!!!!!!

I enjoy the company of my Thai friends and families but lets be honest. An intelligent discussion is not possible with them.

Not including Thai business people or more open minded Thais, ofcourse. But you can't find these kind of Thais out in the Sticks.

Time by time i am very happy to meet other Farangs including Family, Friends and polite Strangers.

This is my opinion and you are not forced to do it same.

You really R Funny.Aand on top of that,you are "dead Serious too

Me? say more? Nooo

[DP25]

they hate the fact that there is a normal farang, more than half their age and weight with a full head of hair, invading their little bubble and threatening to steal their thunder!

I'm sure that's it dude

[GM1955]

Here you are!! I've done your work for you. It may take a while but I strongly advise that you become intimately aquainted with the TV search engine.

Good work.

Only one problem, all the threads have been done over and over again, so if the search was used every time, then no new threads would open.

And if old threads are opened , they get closed cos they're old threads.

Hence all the new threads opening on topics that have already been discussed a thousand times before.

Look at it from the Forum owners point of view, every thread has been discussed before a thousand times, but if there are no new threads, the forum will die a death.

This is why old threads are closed, and new threads on exactly the same topic are opened.

[tigerfish]

just take an interest in their b/g wives, your sure to get some kind of reaction, preferable from the wife.

especially if they are in your age group and the husbands some ugly, fat, balding, beer gutt.

Edited May 22, 2010 by tigerfish

[KunMatt]

You all "Outback Farangs" chooses to life there in the Sticks. So deal with it.

You moved out there cause you don't like the crowd life of Bangkok or Pattaya.

You moved out there cause you don't want to be involved with other Farangs.

Now after a long wile you are bored and thinking about your life in the sticks and if that was such an good idea to move there.

(Be honest with your self in this point)

I mean i love Thailand as much as many other Farangs. But i would never ever move out in the Sticks!

Boring life all day. Thai people with IQ less than 70 all day long??? No way!!!!!!!!!!

I enjoy the company of my Thai friends and families but lets be honest. An intelligent discussion is not possible with them.

Not including Thai business people or more open minded Thais, ofcourse. But you can't find these kind of Thais out in the Sticks.

Time by time i am very happy to meet other Farangs including Family, Friends and polite Strangers.

This is my opinion and you are not forced to do it same.

Yeah right, cuz Pattaya is world reknowned for attracting the smartest, most interesting farangs. Only the best of us live in Pattaya, right?!!

I'm glad you live there, as much as I like Pattaya for a short break, it's not Thailand in the slightest, it's just another bubble which fits into every point that you critised living out in the countryside for and I can honestly say that I never wanted to be acknowledged or associated with any of the Pattaya farangs the few times me and my gf have stayed there.

How does that taste? Is it goooooood??

[davee58]

Can be very dangerous to smile back, there are a lot of weirdos out there.

You make eye contact and the next moment you have some <deleted> telling you his complete life history.

His wife has run away and taken the house and his 8 kids.

He was a fighter pilot till 8 years ago, but has not worked since.

He only has 500 dollars left to his name.

and then he starts talking politics..

Go Away !!!

Most people are not like that, but it has happened to me twice in the past month!

(edit: both times in Pattaya)

Edited May 22, 2010 by davee58

[elkangorito]

Good work.

Only one problem, all the threads have been done over and over again, so if the search was used every time, then no new threads would open.

And if old threads are opened , they get closed cos they're old threads.

Hence all the new threads opening on topics that have already been discussed a thousand times before.

Look at it from the Forum owners point of view, every thread has been discussed before a thousand times, but if there are no new threads, the forum will die a death.

This is why old threads are closed, and new threads on exactly the same topic are opened.

You have taken my point to the extreme, which isn't the case in reality.

A 'New thread' is exactly that...new!!!

It is therefore apparent & real when an old thread is being re-hashed etc.

Also, 'new threads' do not necessarily mean that a forum will thrive. Look at all the 'closed' new threads (repetition)!

There is no reason whatsoever why an old thread can't be revived & therefore 'promote' the existence of the forum. If this happens, a continuity is preserved & resources are saved (bandwidth, server space etc).

Anyway, this is an 'off topic' debate. I suggest that the OP link his discussion to the 'old' thread. It will not be ignored if what he/she has to say is 'new' & relevant.

Here is the last posting in the thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Special-Igno...t%5C&st=150

by TAWP:

As said earlier in the topic, I never nod or greet stranger farangs, what on the earth is the point? That he carries the same skin-tone as me should give us a bond?

I do however greet van-drivers, maids or other workers that I meet outside of their usual areas, even if they are 'below' (rolleyes.gif) me on social scale, since I am not a tosser.

But to greet strangers is just plain odd.

Edited May 22, 2010 by elkangorito

[DragonQuest]

To be honest I gave up trying, some do respond some dont, Just tired of doing it whats the point, I rather smile at a university girl with a mini skirt lol, but if i see them do it first I always smile back^^

[taninthai]

Can be very dangerous to smile back, there are a lot of weirdos out there.

You make eye contact and the next moment you have some <deleted> telling you his complete life history.

His wife has run away and taken the house and his 8 kids.

He was a fighter pilot till 8 years ago, but has not worked since.

He only has 500 dollars left to his name.

and then he starts talking politics..

Go Away !!!

Most people are not like that, but it has happened to me twice in the past month!

(edit: both times in Pattaya)

[KunMatt]

Anyway, this is an 'off topic' debate. I suggest that the OP link his discussion to the 'old' thread. It will not be ignored if what he/she has to say is 'new' & relevant.

Here is the last posting in the thread http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Special-Igno...t%5C&st=150

by TAWP:

4 replies from you so far, keep it up and you'll get my thread included in the weekly newsletter that's emailed out to everyone!

And 99% of people are not going to read through 7 pages of 150 posts from 1 year ago and add a decent reply that anybody can reference now, so let it go. If a mod thinks there is any point appended this to that old thread and killing this discussion it's their call.

Despite your delusion of authority, you're not a mod are you??

[473geo]

If you are confident, outgoing, fearless, and approachable you will make eye contact with almost all people you meet

If you lack any of the above, you will probably avoid eye contact

Fair enuf, but I've always found theres plenty more to focus the eyes on (eyecandy) when out in the big smoke, i have no time for little pasty faced farangs looking for recognition sorry, but thats just the facts of life.

Not smart when out shopping with the wife.......better to be seen to be acknowledging a fellow farang or two...........

While actualy absorbing the (eyecandy) behind them...........practiced art.......