Meeting Expats In Bangkok

[asya]

Hi!

I'm a young anthropology PhD student in Bangkok for the summer. I'm doing research on expatriates who live in Bangkok, looking for their perspective on life and living abroad.

The only problem is that I need to meet some expats!

Anybody have any suggestions for friendly expat hangouts around town where a farang girl won't be looked at funny? Or any organizations that would be good to contact?

I'd love to hear from you!

-Asya

[britmaveric]

Xchange/Dubliner

[baht&sold]

Might also try these folks:

Bnow a unique way to meet n greet.

Of course, there's our own little get together, one upcoming in fact.

Pls see http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=36852

Pls just don't name names for your anthropology thesis,

even tho you'll meet every type of homo sapiens/erectus there

Actually, it's fairly tame, great ppl, Expat and Thai.

Edited July 15, 2005 by bahtandsold

[WhiteShiva]

Xchange/Dubliner

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or here on TV - plenty of expats here!

[girlx]

i am a farang female expat and i would be willing to meet up.

[hUsh]

Witch's Tavern on Thonglo, Sukhumvit Soi 55-- Wednesday nights (ladies nights) usually packed with expat women...

[The Coder]

First a word of warning, anytime an expat is approached to answer a few innocent questions (especially for a school research project), don't be surprised if you get a frosty reception because this is a very popular way to lure people into time share scams here. The scam by the way is the only answer they care about is your name and where you are staying so they can ring your room up and entice you to level 2. That being said, perhaps you would be interested to know about this online research survey:

http://education.arts.unsw.edu.au/farangsurvey.htm

Good luck on your project, but I also think the information you obtain will be highly influenced by where you go looking for people. Getting a random sample might be hard to come by.

[The_Other_Mac]

Good luck on your project, but I also think the information you obtain will be highly influenced by where you go looking for people. Getting a random sample might be hard to come by.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree (but that's only cos we're both on the same forum ).

Seriously, you'll meet a very wide variety on this forum. I'd suggest it leans towards the small businessman/"expat" and retiree groups. ("Expat" tends to be used to mean westerners who were sent here by overseas employers, as opposed to hired locally. Note that retirees are as young as 50, since that's the lower limit for the retiree visa; and sometimes younger, for those who have enough savings to make investments of a certain level.)

Probably the single largest group is the English teachers, who are under-represented here. You can find them off in their own little world at www.ajarn.com.

Dividing by personal interests rather than career, there's another very large category, sexpats. Mention of their most representative forum is banned, but, er.... it's found very close to "Nana" BTS station. And it's got "plaza" in it. And it ends in .com .

Not a forum, but you might try turning up to the very odd group, Hash House Harriers. http://www.bangkokhhh.com/ . Somehow I always have the impression that when they're not running, they still take tiffin and play croquet.

There are various national Chambers of Commerce (including the not-quite-official St. Patrick's Society), which serve the function of providing regular free booze and snacks to a mostly working crowd, er, similar to here. Your surveys would probably be a welcome lively addition to these evenings :| . Look in the local listings mags.

Oh of course there's the medium-stay backpackers, but we don't count them. They don't have a forum of their own because they are too independent, but if you want to find them, go to Khao San Road and the island of Koh Pha-ngan. Sometimes they hatch out and become English teachers.

Everyone in Bangkok has really cliched and rather negative ideas about what everyone else is doing here. Including me.

[RDN]

...Dividing by personal interests rather than career, there's another very large category, sexpats. Mention of their most representative forum is banned, but, er.... it's found very close to .....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Duly noted.

[billp]

You can check out the Thai-Canadian Chamber of Commerce at http://www.tccc.or.th

[billp]

Here's a list of Chambers of Commerce and their contacts. ItÄ's a way of reaching more serious ex-pats who may not be found in bars.http://www.tillekeandgibbins.com/chamber_list.htm

[asya]

Thank you all for such helpful information!!

For the most part I'm looking for long term, career expats; those who either were brought here by their companies or those who chose to move here and work. (Although I want to get a broader idea of the expat community). My interest in general is in the ability to be mobile and live comfortably outside one's own home culture.

If any of you expats out there are interested and have 20 mins to have a cup of coffee with me, drop me an email! (Or if you just want to know more about my work, I can send you a more detailed description)

Thanks again, this has been really really helpful!

-Asya

[email protected]

[penelope]

Hi!

I'm a young anthropology PhD student in Bangkok for the summer. I'm doing research on expatriates who live in Bangkok, looking for their perspective on life and living abroad.

The only problem is that I need to meet some expats!

Anybody have any suggestions for friendly expat hangouts around town where a farang girl won't be looked at funny? Or any organizations that would be good to contact?

I'd love to hear from you!

-Asya

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Alpine Country Club , Rajapuek Country Club. Many companies with expat corporate transferees have corporate memberships at these golf clubs.

[nick2k]

I remember meeting this young guy. he was hanging out in this bar full of expats. the way he was interacting with everybody, you could see he was not at ease.

so, he comes over to my table, introduces himself. tells me he is a journalist working for the UN, and that he was looking for a story. right off the bat, I really didn't want to talk to him. but the guy I was hanging out with didn't seem to think much about it.

so, this young guy starts asking him questions. why do you like coming to bangkok?

the guy I was hanging out with surprised me by telling the guy, he came to screw as many girls as his money could afford.

the journalist got really agitated when he heard this. I was pretty surprised too at this guys insensitivity.

at that moment, I wanted to hide in a corner because I knew that I would be deemed "guilty by association".

after the initial shock gave way, I just kept quiet listening to these two guys talk. about 5 minutes later, the UN journalist finally left. before he left, he asked us if he could take a picture of us together.

I replied, "no way".

I'm sure asya is pretty up and up. but you never know....

not too long ago, I remember some guys got crucified on some television broadcast that started out as an "interview".

[Khutan]

<snip>If any of you expats out there are interested and have 20 mins to have a cup of coffee with me<snip>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A polite but firm

NO COMMENT

[asya]

I'm sure asya is pretty up and up.  but you never know....

not too long ago, I remember some guys got crucified on some television broadcast that started out as an "interview".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Nick,

I understand your hesitation. At the same time I find it sort of sad that people can't trust and be up front about their work. My interest is in what it means to be "cosmopolitan" and to be able to live in a culture other then the one in which you were raised. I'm trying to fit expats into an emerging theory of translocal identity politics and flexible citizenship commensurate with a global economy. I'm not after anything racy or sensational (if you are interested in more info email me I'll send you my research proposal) All of my work is completely anonomous, of course, and only for academia, NOT the media. Actually at this stage in my fieldwork (which is preliminary) I'm not even allowed to publish anything; that won't come until a few years down the road, and wouldn't happen without the permission of all of those I talk to.

I hope that helps to mitigate any qualms you might have! It is actually quite interesting stuff.

Still hoping to hear from any or all who might be interested!

-Asya

[email protected]

[~G~]

At the same time I find it sort of sad that people can't trust and be up front about their work.

Well, in some professions (some journalists included) not being honest is quite a neccessary part of their job.

I'm trying to fit expats into an emerging theory of translocal identity politics and flexible citizenship commensurate with a global economy.

You got me with that one. Read it 3 times and still clueless.

All of my work is completely anonomous, of course, and only for academia, NOT the media. Actually at this stage in my fieldwork (which is preliminary) I'm not even allowed to publish anything; that won't come until a few years down the road, and wouldn't happen without the permission of all of those I talk to.

Years down the road? A very good chance you'll have difficulty to locate anyone. Will you sign a clear statement, with a copy to the person interviewed, that you shall not publish anything without his/her written permission? Or are we talking here about a verbal promise?

I hope that helps to mitigate any qualms you might have!

Not quite. Evidently some members doubt your credibility. It will really help if you'd mention:

- Name and location of your University.

- Name of your supervising professor.

Edited July 18, 2005 by ~G~

[penelope]

I'm trying to fit expats into an emerging theory of translocal identity politics and flexible citizenship commensurate with a global economy.

Do you get out much ???

[~G~]

I'm trying to fit expats into an emerging theory of translocal identity politics and flexible citizenship commensurate with a global economy.

Want a bigger challange? Try to fit the average expat into Thai-size trousers.

[penelope]

I'm trying to fit expats into an emerging theory of translocal identity politics and flexible citizenship commensurate with a global economy.

Want a bigger challange? Try to fit the average expat into Thai-size trousers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Or try to find shoes you like THEN try to find those shoes in size 12.

[asya]

Not quite. Evidently some members doubt your credibility. It will really help if you'd mention:

- Name and location of your University.

- Name of your supervising professor.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I go to the University of California at Irvine. I just finished my first year in a 7 year PhD program, so my reseach is really preliminary at this point. My advisors are Bill Maurer and Tom Boellstorff.

http://www.anthro.uci.edu/html/People/Faculty.html

If anyone who speaks to me asks I am absolutely willing to sign something saying that I won't ever publish my work in the popular media. (I'm not a fan of popular media in general.)

This summer is meant as really preliminary research; it is meant to be informal, as I haven't submitted my work to an institutional review board (IRB) which handles any research involving human subjects. Any work conducted before an IRB proposal cannot be published; no academic journal would accept it. Once I'm sure I will use Bangkok as a field sight, I will submit an IRB and, if I specifically use any of the information gathered this summer (which honestly is unlikely), I must contact and receive permission from whoever gave me that information. If I can't get in contact with that person, I can't use the information he/she gave me. If I do contact and receive permission to use it, names and identifying details are changed to protect anonymity. For example, say you are a english guy who works in accounting, if neither your specific nationality or your occupation is relevant to the information you give me, i would probably say you were an australian guy who works in finance, just so no one could trace a quote back to you.

Academia is really strict about this stuff and I take it seriously.

But again, I stress that this work is really preliminary. I just need to get enough information to convince myself and whoever will fund me that I am on to something theoretically valuable. I'm not recording interviews, or taking exact quotes. I just want to get a general picture of expat life. And i'd like to meet some cool people along the way!

BTW, I do like to get out quite a lot; that is half the reason i'm in Bangkok! I just also happen to be a phd student. I know it is dorky, but it is my job.

-Asya

[~G~]

Thanks for the info - I think this will be enough to convince most skeptics.

Good luck!

[bendix]

I dont see why people would be suspicious. I'd be happy to be interviewed. I've relocated here with my company, so I probably fit the bill.

happy to talk anytime.

[The_Other_Mac]

For what it's worth, I met Asya yesterday afternoon for a coffee. Actually it was a few coffees, but then I did go on a bit. I changed location in mid-interview and sat outside, to foil her pre-installed hidden cameras and microphones.

While I'm still waiting for the CIA to get back to me with the results of the face-recognition, fingerprints on the cup and DNA samples, my general impression was that she's not really a serious threat to farang-thai society. She didn't even ask how many BGs I've had.

Oh go on, everyone likes to explain things to a newcomer.

[autonomous_unit]

...

While I'm still waiting for the CIA to get back to me with the results of the face-recognition, fingerprints on the cup and DNA samples, my general impression was that she's not really a serious threat to farang-thai society. ...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh, sure, you're probably in on it!

[Kringle]

...Dividing by personal interests rather than career, there's another very large category, sexpats. Mention of their most representative forum is banned, but, er.... it's found very close to .....

Duly noted.

rdn, Has someone blown up your skirt or what is your problem. A friend of mine had an avitar that you pulled and then threatened to ban the guy because he asked WHY. From what I know of the situation you did not give any kind of DECENT or semi respectful notice to him AT ALL. Then when he responds, you threaten him with banning. What is your problem with dealing with people on at least a somewhat respectful way. When you pulled my friends avitar and gave him your sh1t about that it had been pulled before, he didn't know this and you come off as if he some kind of sleeze.

I'm glad that the rest of the MODS have a BETTER way of dealing with people than you do. JUSTGAG

Edited July 20, 2005 by Kringle

[~G~]

For what it's worth, I met Asya yesterday afternoon for a coffee. Actually it was a few coffees, but then I did go on a bit. I changed location in mid-interview and sat outside, to foil her pre-installed hidden cameras and microphones.

So... I assume you didn't notice the camera in her purse and the microphone in her ring?

While I'm still waiting for the CIA to get back to me with the results of the face-recognition, fingerprints on the cup and DNA samples, my general impression was that she's not really a serious threat to farang-thai society.  She didn't even ask how many BGs I've had.

The Thai branch of the CIA is evidently working a bit slow lately. Must be all these pissup parties.

[The Dude]

<snip>If any of you expats out there are interested and have 20 mins to have a cup of coffee with me<snip>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A polite but firm

NO COMMENT

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks but I'll pass

[markuk]

Xchange/Dubliner

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did they say expats or tourists?

[Camelot]

You'll also find the genuine article at the British Club, Polo Club or Royal Bangkok Sports Club. Also editing news, sports and feature copy at the Bangkok Post and the Nation.

You're unlikely to find them where the tourists go. They have their own clubs and social circuit.