How To Fit-In In The Village

[JurgenG]

Also I do not agree with "The key to commercial survival in a small town or city is repeat business whether hardware supplies or a noodle stall -- They would much rather charge a farang the going-price and have you come back multiple times than gouge you once and know that there are other shops within walking distance that could sell you the same... "

I know that Thai people are very "present tense people" and they dont think about repeat customers etc. I say spread the wealth around a little and give every vendor some of your business. This way everyone will like you, not just the places you spend money.

I don't know if it's because I'm a "repeat customer" but in my small village I receive equal and sometime better treatment than a Thai who is not from there. I'm not a Thai but I'm not a stranger to them.I don't spread any "wealth", I'm just a familiar face.

I think the next big step would be to be able to speak the language

[Dave the Dude]

Thank goodness for the above statement. So does that mean you're my first ever stalker ?

Thats a relief, I haven't been spotted yet then!

[jazzbo]

OK ... This is what I know about Thai people:

They are very "present tense people" when it suits their purpose; and they have a memory like an elephant when it suits their purpose...

Or as I often say -- 'In Thailand they drive on the left side of the road; unless they feel like driving on the right.'

[thailandbluegrass]

OK ... This is what I know about Thai people:

They are very "present tense people" when it suits their purpose; and they have a memory like an elephant when it suits their purpose...

Or as I often say -- 'In Thailand they drive on the left side of the road; unless they feel like driving on the right.'

Yes BUT memory has to do with "PAST TENSE" not "FUTURE TENSE" like I was saying.

Thai's don't think "oh, if I don't rip him off he will return" they just think "wow, I just made an extra 10 baht off this farang".

However I do agree with jurgenG that it's nice to have a few spots you're familiar with like a restraunt or a bar and sure they treat you good but it's not normally due to future thoughts of you spending money there every week, it's more that many Thai's in small villages just simply love the presence of a farang and find us interesting (like an alien) an want to get to know us genuinely because they really like us or many have a chance to practice the English they learned after graduating from University but then returned to "the village" to help with the family business etc.

I speak Thai about 70 % and understand about 50 % so I know when I'm being "ripped off" etc but I must admit that living here in the province, the people are MUCH friendlier and the chances of them ripping you off etc are much lower then the tourist areas.

I think as long as your a decent human being and try to smile and be nice to everyone you meet, you just be yourself and you will "Fit-in" as much as it is posaible just fine.

Of course a few songs on an ole Banjo and a bottle of Lao Khao helps. hahahahah

[jazzbo]

I am sure I would agree with most of what you say but when you condition your statements with "Thai's don't think ..." you are resorting to hopeless over-generalizations ... I think they are much more savvy than you give credit...

I play 4-note chord Luktung Morlam (Aeolian mode) on a 3-octave Melodica which they may like more than a banjo ..

[billd766]

I have been living near my village for 6 years on and off and full time since I retired a year ago.

I am still having a problem learning Thai due to being old and partly deaf which doesn't help.

I go to the usual collection of shops around the village and visit the Saturday markets and I pay about the same as everybody else does.

I also wave and smile to the kids I see when I am on my motorbike, also Thai people that I know from around here and most of them wave and smile back.

I can get through most situations with a combination of mangled Thai and English and the odd phone call to my wife.

I used to live and work in BKK a few years ago but now I only go there if I really have to.

I enjoy village life but that said it is not for everyone.

I am just looking out of my window at 5 or 6 birds happily drinking the dogs water while the dog is just lying there looking at them.

Edited September 12, 2010 by billd766

[warni]

1. Learn the language.

2. Take part in the village social life.

3. Regularly eat at the local noodle shops.

4. Have your own private space.

I agree with you in all points....And do not be arrogant, do never act like you are better than everyone,because you are from a western country.And yes the people will show you a kind of respect even when you try to speak their language.

[sinbin]

I speak Thai about 70 % and understand about 50 % so I know when I'm being "ripped off" etc but I must admit that living here in the province, the people are MUCH friendlier and the chances of them ripping you off etc are much lower then the tourist areas.

I don't think you need to speak, or understand, Thai to know you're getting ripped off. Time in situ, and good common sense will come to the front after a while. I'd say you're more likely to be ripped off in the village than in a "tourist" area. In the "tourist" area you'll get turned over for your small change, whereas in the village it's big money. I tried to help people in the past by lending so they could plant their fields, only to be siht on. Yes I was given their land papers as a guarantee, but it isn't worth a dime. What I lost I could afford to lose, but that ain't the point. I was told by a farang, when I first came to the village, "never lend money to a Thai". Thinking myself clever and wanting to blend in, I did. I should have listened. 5 years down the line I'm still owed money with no chance of recovery. Call me an old fool, I don't care. I'm just letting you know of my mistake so it may help others.

Edited September 12, 2010 by sinbin

[jazzbo]

Kuhn S. -- I certainly agree with the above. Any time I am asked for a 'loan' I say that I'm only giving the money as I consider it a gift because I will never see it again ... and that when I go to the ATM machine the machine doesn't know the difference whether as of today it is a loan or gift.

Edited September 12, 2010 by jazzbo

[thailandbluegrass]

I am sure I would agree with most of what you say but when you condition your statements with "Thai's don't think ..." you are resorting to hopeless over-generalizations ... I think they are much more savvy than you give credit...

I play 4-note chord Luktung Morlam (Aeolian mode) on a 3-octave Melodica which they may like more than a banjo ..

Maybe you did not read the words after Thai's don't think? It continues on to say "in the future tense" and I don't care how much you defend them it's true. Thai's are not taught "tenses in the Future tense so there is no "Fault" to be had except for the Thai educational system. If you think that they do think in the future then you obvioulsy have not spent any time outside.

[jazzbo]

So "Thai's don't think ... in the future tense" ... From the website of the Centara Hotel chain: Centara Hotel & Convention Centre Khon Kaen (Opening 2011)

or as Kuhn Samran has already said to you elsewhere today: Cr@p

[BOlopez]

Give to your local temple and school. Help those in dire need and the elderly.

Chok Dee

this giving concept,,,,,,,,,,can you explain more clearly. whats the definition of dire need?  they a ll seem to be in dire need........do i give baht to all of them? same same for elderly?

[sinbin]

Give to your local temple and school. Help those in dire need and the elderly.

Chok Dee

this giving concept,,,,,,,,,,can you explain more clearly. whats the definition of dire need? they a ll seem to be in dire need........do i give baht to all of them? same same for elderly?

There's no such thing as "dire" in Thailand. "Dire", to me, means starving and nobody goes hungry in Thailand. Temples and schools aren't short of money.

[BOlopez]

actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe , when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive life with the village people.

Edited September 15, 2010 by BOlopez

[billd766]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

Which Thai village do you actually live in?

It isn't the one I live in.

[mca]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

The only way to survive life with the Village People is not to drop the soap in the communal showers while on tour.

[BOlopez]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

Which Thai village do you actually live in?

It isn't the one I live in.

never been near a village . im an intellectual type just pontificating.

cant speak language, have way more money than most,  cant see village people just accepting whites without compensation to do so .

[Thaddeus]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

Which Thai village do you actually live in?

It isn't the one I live in.

never been near a village . im an intellectual type just pontificating.

cant speak language, have way more money than most,  cant see village people just accepting whites without compensation to do so .

Intellectual?

All the evidence so far would suggest otherwise.

[Dave the Dude]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

Which Thai village do you actually live in?

It isn't the one I live in.

never been near a village . im an intellectual type just pontificating.

cant speak language, have way more money than most,  cant see village people just accepting whites without compensation to do so .

Intellectual?

All the evidence so far would suggest otherwise.

You beat me to it,Colin!

[jazzbo]

You Can Call Me Al -- Paul Simon Graceland ... Oh well.. close enough...

A man walks down the street,

It's a street in a strange world.

Maybe it's the Third World.

Maybe it's his first time around.

He doesn't speak the language,

He holds no currency.

He is a foreign man,

He is surrounded by the sound, sound ....

Cattle in the marketplace.

Scatterlings and orphanages.

He looks around, around .....

He sees angels in the architecture,

Spinning in infinity,

He says, Amen! and Hallelujah!

If you'll be my bodyguard,

I can be your long lost pal! ...

You can call me Al!

Edited September 16, 2010 by jazzbo

[billd766]

 actually i think many dudes need to justify why they give so they spout reasons that are downright hard to believe  ,  when deep down inside they know its the only way to survive  life with the village people. 

Which Thai village do you actually live in?

It isn't the one I live in.

never been near a village . im an intellectual type just pontificating.

cant speak language, have way more money than most,  cant see village people just accepting whites without compensation to do so .

Ah, now I understand.

You have no experience of what you are talking about, you can't speak the language, you don't live in or most probably have never been to a Thai village but you have a lot of money.

Wow.

I am (almost) impressed with you.

I have lived and worked in 38 countries in my 50 years of working life and I have been fairly rich and fairly poor and now I have come to rest in a small village in Thailand where people actually smile and try to talk to me and the really amazing thing is that they are not after my money.

They actually like me and I don't go out of my way to impress them with money or anything else.

They know that I have more than some and less than others but I get treated much the same as anybody else does around here be they Thai, English, Danish, Australian, Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, German or Swiss.

[downtown]

1. Learn the language. There have been endless posts over the years by people complaining that they never fit in, and then mentioning that they don't speak Thai. How do you think a, say, Polish immigrant who refused to learn English would fit into a small town in the UK/US/Australia/NZ? For a small village you really need to also make the effort to learn the local dialect too, be it Khmer, Isaan Lao, Suay or whatever.

RE:Poles in UK - not the best example

plenty of poles in my street who dont speak English, rely on the member of their family who does for their handouts

[jazzbo]

I get treated much the same as anybody else does around here be they Thai, English, Danish, Australian, Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, German or Swiss...

So why did all the Americans leave?

[Thaddeus]

I get treated much the same as anybody else does around here be they Thai, English, Danish, Australian, Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, German or Swiss...

So why did all the Americans leave?

Nobody spoke 'merican'

(I think there was a given etc on the end of that)

[Thaddeus]

I get treated much the same as anybody else does around here be they Thai, English, Danish, Australian, Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, German or Swiss...

So why did all the Americans leave?

Nobody spoke 'merican'

(I think there was a given etc on the end of that)

[jazzbo]

I thought maybe all the Americans left the village because they had trouble thinking in the proper Thai-village tenses.

[billd766]

I get treated much the same as anybody else does around here be they Thai, English, Danish, Australian, Dutch, Belgian, Austrian, German or Swiss...

So why did all the Americans leave?

The only one I knew about lived in the amphur village and I haven't seen him in 2 or 3 years.

[jazzbo]

I guess the Americans prefer to live in villages near Udon Thani ... In case another war breaks out they'll be closer to the action (as they were 40+ years ago).

[yeesipha]

1. Learn the language. There have been endless posts over the years by people complaining that they never fit in, and then mentioning that they don't speak Thai. How do you think a, say, Polish immigrant who refused to learn English would fit into a small town in the UK/US/Australia/NZ? For a small village you really need to also make the effort to learn the local dialect too, be it Khmer, Isaan Lao, Suay or whatever.

RE:Poles in UK - not the best example

plenty of poles in my street who dont speak English, rely on the member of their family who does for their handouts

Ahhhhhhh them handouts that they are LEGALLY allowed to claim as long as they qualify for them. .

Edited September 18, 2010 by yeesipha

[downtown]

where did i speak of legal/illegal? the point is, even though ive only actually spent a year living in Thailand + couple of visits, i can read and write in Thai to a reasonable level. cant say the same about the poles in my soi