Asian Comparisons

[The Gentleman Scamp]

The road to h<ll is paved with good intentions

And fiction.

Surely there's enough true material to play and jape with without having to make stuff up, and there's nothing wrong with remarking on a nice pair of tits whilst strolling down Cowboy with Blake 7 - even if they do belong to a fella.

[Girlfrombar]

Although the comparisons mentioned here between Thai and Chinese are mostly behavioral or physical, I have a comment regarding surnames. I was talking to one of my wife's friends yesterday who is Thai-Chinese. Her father was Chinese and her mother's father was also Chinese.  She said that her last name is five syllabols long which indicates that she is Thai-Chinese. She said that 100% Thais will have last names of 1 or 2 syllabols. Although I could not completely understand her, I believe she said that Chinese are forced to change their last names to be 3 or more syllabols long. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Can anyone tell me if this is true and why this is done?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

not always right..

my friend's surname is SNITWONGSE, she is 100%thai = 3 syllabols.

[chuchok]

Although the comparisons mentioned here between Thai and Chinese are mostly behavioral or physical, I have a comment regarding surnames. I was talking to one of my wife's friends yesterday who is Thai-Chinese. Her father was Chinese and her mother's father was also Chinese.  She said that her last name is five syllabols long which indicates that she is Thai-Chinese. She said that 100% Thais will have last names of 1 or 2 syllabols. Although I could not completely understand her, I believe she said that Chinese are forced to change their last names to be 3 or more syllabols long. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Can anyone tell me if this is true and why this is done?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Similar story was told to me by a very well educated Thai. I can't remember how many years ago it was, but apparantly the king at the time said it was ok for the Chinese immigrants to stay here,but they must change thier name etc to a thai one.

[donx]

I'll have to investigate this further. My wife just returned from Thailand yesterday, so I'll see what she knows about this.

chuckok, how does having more syllabols make a Chinese name into a Thai name? Did you get an explanation for this?

[steveromagnino]

I can answer this (as a 1/2 Thai CHinese!)

Upon being naturalised, the Thai Chinese took surnames; and generally converted their existing last name.

However, since each family had to have a unique last name, quickly the common names of the main Chinese last names got used up.

So, then the name started to to have additional syllables added to it, to thus find a unique combination.

I think they had to submit 5 options; and the first one available got selected.

Ironically, my family discovered something similar upon emmigrating to New Zealand. As well as having to pay the poll tax (only levied on Chinese to avoid the yellow peril taking over the joint) they were also told that too many "chinks" had the last name "wong" so they were summarily changed to "Tong" instead; ironically one of the components of the Thai last name.

Still; didn't matter; my grandmother still can't speak a word of english a mere 50+ years later - well - other than the McDonalds menu. No doubt she is right this moment on some Thai or Chinese web board, complaining about all the things she doesn't like about "those Kiwis" who are all out to "rip her off" and she can write about all the "lessons she will teach them" and the like Silly old trout that she is

[donna]

Someone once told me that the best set of tits he saw was on a bloke...

The road to h<ll is paved with good intentions

And fiction.

Surely there's enough true material to play and jape with without having to make stuff up, and there's nothing wrong with remarking on a nice pair of tits whilst strolling down Cowboy with Blake 7 - even if they do belong to a fella.

[chuchok]

I can answer this (as a 1/2 Thai CHinese!)

Upon being naturalised, the Thai Chinese took surnames; and generally converted their existing last name.

However, since each family had to have a unique last name, quickly the common names of the main Chinese last names got used up.

So, then the name started to to have additional syllables added to it, to thus find a unique combination.

I think they had to submit 5 options; and the first one available got selected.

Ironically, my family discovered something similar upon emmigrating to New Zealand.  As well as having to pay the poll tax (only levied on Chinese to avoid the yellow peril taking over the joint) they were also told that too many "chinks" had the last name "wong" so they were summarily changed to "Tong" instead; ironically one of the components of the Thai last name.

Still; didn't matter; my grandmother still can't speak a word of english a mere 50+ years later - well - other than the McDonalds menu.  No doubt she is right this moment on some Thai or Chinese web board, complaining about all the things she doesn't like about "those Kiwis" who are all out to "rip her off" and she can write about all the "lessons she will teach them" and the like        Silly old trout that she is

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The NZ Prime minister actually appologised to the Chinese community about this "poll tax" a year or so ago.I think it was first introduced around the early 1900's.

[lamphun]

Although the comparisons mentioned here between Thai and Chinese are mostly behavioral or physical, I have a comment regarding surnames. I was talking to one of my wife's friends yesterday who is Thai-Chinese. Her father was Chinese and her mother's father was also Chinese.  She said that her last name is five syllabols long which indicates that she is Thai-Chinese. She said that 100% Thais will have last names of 1 or 2 syllabols. Although I could not completely understand her, I believe she said that Chinese are forced to change their last names to be 3 or more syllabols long. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Can anyone tell me if this is true and why this is done?

The way I heard it was that when you registered your new Thai name it had to be unique. All the short names had been used up by the Thais so the Chinese immigrants had to settle for longer more complex names.

[Narachon]

Yeah, so the Chinese-Thai have long-ass, unpronouncable surnames..... I guess the more money one Chinese - Thai has, the more syllables you can buy for your last name...

But going back on topic.....

As I see more of Asia I notice a difference in skin colour and even more so, skin health.

Thai skin generally is very healthy looking and the Thai's look wonderful in it, even if they don't think so themselves and constantly devise new ways to bleach it, but would they really want to look like the Chinese, who despite having a much bigger variety of face and body shapes generally appear to be less healthy than the Thai's?

I don't know why this is and I have not known China long enough to study the difference in diet.

I have not seen as many obese Chinese as I expected but the Chinese I have seen on a daily basis look unnaturally pale but more due to lack of good health than cosmetic influence from a desire to be pale - which I was told is something that, like many Thai's, they do strive for which I find difficult to believe.

Acne seems far more rife here than it does in LOS and since being here my own skin condition is not as healthy as it is usually, on the whole body as well as the face - yet the polloution in Beijing is surely not at a higher level than Bangkok.

That said, the climate is different and the mugginess and humidity is not the same as it is in Bangkok.

There's just something about the Chinese that doesn't quite look right, maybe it's because I am used to Thai's being my image of the Asian being and the reputation of Thai beauty certainly rings true once you are out of Thailand and in Korea, Malaysia or in my case, Beijing.

From what I have heard Chinese women are very hairy and as I said above, I find it difficult to believe what I was told which is that one of the reasons for this was that they believe hair keeps out the sun which is a rediculous statement and would not explain the mass of hair in places which are not on public display.

I find that Real native Thais look like a fine mix of Indian and Chinese phenotypes ( hence Indochinese ), which to me in the case of the Thai ladies, is the best of both worlds....

Anyway, I like China, really I do but there is something a little odd about the whole atmosphere here, and although I'm in no desperate rush to leave, I am looking forward to returning to Thailand later in the year, because unlike everything here which makes me curious and perplexed, there is no feeling of love like the smell of the inside of a Don Muang taxi

Oh Scampy, of all the smells in Thailand.......

.......as it cruises past those huge roadside billboards to the sound of Carabao on a Bangkok car radio followed by an interview in Thai I only half understand and complimented only by the 'beep beep' of the meter every couple of minutes and the driver asking me if I support Liverpool or Manchester.

To me, that takes some beating. 

Strange.....Taxi drivers in Bangkok never ask me that question .....Often it's "You want to go to sexy girls??"

[chuchok]

I can answer this (as a 1/2 Thai CHinese!)

Upon being naturalised, the Thai Chinese took surnames; and generally converted their existing last name.

However, since each family had to have a unique last name, quickly the common names of the main Chinese last names got used up.

So, then the name started to to have additional syllables added to it, to thus find a unique combination.

I think they had to submit 5 options; and the first one available got selected.

Ironically, my family discovered something similar upon emmigrating to New Zealand.  As well as having to pay the poll tax (only levied on Chinese to avoid the yellow peril taking over the joint) they were also told that too many "chinks" had the last name "wong" so they were summarily changed to "Tong" instead; ironically one of the components of the Thai last name.

Still; didn't matter; my grandmother still can't speak a word of english a mere 50+ years later - well - other than the McDonalds menu.  No doubt she is right this moment on some Thai or Chinese web board, complaining about all the things she doesn't like about "those Kiwis" who are all out to "rip her off" and she can write about all the "lessons she will teach them" and the like        Silly old trout that she is

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Above sounds like the most credible answer.

[SiamOne]

Although the comparisons mentioned here between Thai and Chinese are mostly behavioral or physical, I have a comment regarding surnames. I was talking to one of my wife's friends yesterday who is Thai-Chinese. Her father was Chinese and her mother's father was also Chinese.  She said that her last name is five syllabols long which indicates that she is Thai-Chinese. She said that 100% Thais will have last names of 1 or 2 syllabols. Although I could not completely understand her, I believe she said that Chinese are forced to change their last names to be 3 or more syllabols long. Has anyone else heard of such a thing? Can anyone tell me if this is true and why this is done?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

not always right..

my friend's surname is SNITWONGSE, she is 100%thai = 3 syllabols.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

no, that is nonsense. my name is 4 syllables, and I dont have much discernible chinese in me!!

and other friends too