Best And Worst Experience Of Integrating Thai & Falang

[rattler]

Best meeting my wife, worst............ the list is too long, lets just say Thailand in general, it could be great, but they ruin it totally

[Poo Ying FeFe]

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

[jamhar]

rubbish thru the window? WHIMP! )

Just kidding. I grew up in a mixed household in the 50's and 60's in the states. Army Brat. Kids growing up in the MTV era, have NO idea of opression. In the civi schools that i went to, there were "whites", "blacks" and "japs". if you were chinese, you might be lucky enough to be called "chink", but mostly you were a "jap". if you were asian, but not japanese, or chinese, you were still "japs". If you were from a mixed home, they really didnt know what to call you. So you became "jap" to the blacks, "nigger" to the whites. Execpt among the army families. There people understood, and we got along,,,,,,,,, somewhat.

It was ok. i just kicked everyone's asses in every achedemic test they gave me. That pretty much shut them up.

If you havent figured, the above was the worst, and the last line was the best . Just trying to fit into the topic parameters lol

[Poo Ying FeFe]

rubbish thru the window? WHIMP! )

Just kidding. I grew up in a mixed household in the 50's and 60's in the states. Army Brat. Kids growing up in the MTV era, have NO idea of opression. In the civi schools that i went to, there were "whites", "blacks" and "japs". if you were chinese, you might be lucky enough to be called "chink", but mostly you were a "jap". if you were asian, but not japanese, or chinese, you were still "japs". If you were from a mixed home, they really didnt know what to call you. So you became "jap" to the blacks, "nigger" to the whites. Execpt among the army families. There people understood, and we got along,,,,,,,,, somewhat.

It was ok. i just kicked everyone's asses in every achedemic test they gave me. That pretty much shut them up.

If you havent figured, the above was the worst, and the last line was the best . Just trying to fit into the topic parameters lol

Hey, no worries. I've always imagined the mixed kids growing up in the 50s & 60s & 70s had it a hundred times worse than what I'd ever experienced. It's beautiful that kids these days can wake up in a more culturally diverse and accepting world. It's how it should be and I'm glad. Your story is important. Your Mother & Father where braver and stronger than many of us to integrate their cultures at that time

[muythai2013]

my daughters only 6 months old, she looks more thai but is light skin, she also looks very much like me, but looks far more thai if that makes sense.

[Poo Ying FeFe]

my daughters only 6 months old, she looks more thai but is light skin, she also looks very much like me, but looks far more thai if that makes sense.

Are you Thai? Or do you just mean that she looks like a Thai version of you because of her similar features?

[muythai2013]

my wifes thai but my daughter has my features but looks more thai. weird.

[NeverSure]

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

I think something wonderful often happens when Thai and farang mix. Some of the most beautiful children I have seen are this mix. I am too old, and fixed, and will never marry, and never have (more) children, but I have seen some beautiful children who were that mix. Is it so that if the child is a bit taller and whiter than the mother, that this would be an advantage in LOS? I don't know about that, but from my perspective the children are special.

[Trembly]

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

I've always looked quite obviously half and half, but there are still some people who like to insist that I look more like farang or more like Thai, depending on what they choose to focus on I suppose.

When I lived in England lots of people thought I was South American, particularly Colombian; South Americans would even start speaking to me in Spanish! That makes sense though, as many South Americans are actually 1st degree (or genetically very close to 1st degree) Mongoloid / Caucasian mixes, the same as Thai-Farang loog-krueng.

Edited January 28, 2013 by Trembly

[muythai2013]

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

I've always looked quite obviously half and half, but there are still some people who like to insist that I look more like farang or more like Thai, depending on what they choose to focus on I suppose.

When I lived in England lots of people thought I was South American, particularly Colombian; South Americans would even start speaking to me in Spanish! That makes sense though, as many South Americans are actually 1st degree (or genetically very close to 1st degree) Mongoloid / Caucasian mixes, the same as Thai-Farang loog-krueng.

how do you put pics on here.

[inthepink]

rubbish thru the window? WHIMP! )

Just kidding. I grew up in a mixed household in the 50's and 60's in the states. Army Brat. Kids growing up in the MTV era, have NO idea of opression. In the civi schools that i went to, there were "whites", "blacks" and "japs". if you were chinese, you might be lucky enough to be called "chink", but mostly you were a "jap". if you were asian, but not japanese, or chinese, you were still "japs". If you were from a mixed home, they really didnt know what to call you. So you became "jap" to the blacks, "nigger" to the whites. Execpt among the army families. There people understood, and we got along,,,,,,,,, somewhat.

It was ok. i just kicked everyone's asses in every achedemic test they gave me. That pretty much shut them up.

If you havent figured, the above was the worst, and the last line was the best . Just trying to fit into the topic parameters lol

Hey, no worries. I've always imagined the mixed kids growing up in the 50s & 60s & 70s had it a hundred times worse than what I'd ever experienced. It's beautiful that kids these days can wake up in a more culturally diverse and accepting world. It's how it should be and I'm glad. Your story is important. Your Mother & Father where braver and stronger than many of us to integrate their cultures at that time

I imagine you would have had a much better experience if you weren't living on a rather rough council estate. I don't say that to be condescending but the kind of behaviour you experienced wasn't and isn't normal in the Home Counties, outside of such places.

I googled your old home and here are just a couple of quotes:

"During the day this pleasant town is enjoyable to walk around even though the shops are becoming more and more to the taste of a chav, Afternoon comes still a safe place the chavs start to wake up. Night comes and they venture out of the notorious Longmead Estate and other areas"

----------------------------------

(Someone answering a question on a forum about what Epsom is like as a place to live)

"Yes there is the Longmead Estate, where people would rob their own gran for a fiver. Yes there are council estates but they are well contained."

Anyway, your experience sounds horrible and I am glad that I never went through anything like that. I know there was and is plenty of racism in the UK but just wanted to point out that the type of place in which you live is relevant (which is why an earlier poster asked exactly where you lived I would imagine).

Edited January 28, 2013 by inthepink

[cdnvic]

Hi. I also wanted to ask the families that have mixed Thai children. Do you see that they look more Thai or more like their foreign side? And do people in your homeland often guess their mixed background?

I look European and took mainly from my Fathers side. My older Brother looks just like my Mother and her side. When I've met my brother for lunch, people have often made the mistake that we are a couple or on a date!! It freaks me out.

I've always looked quite obviously half and half, but there are still some people who like to insist that I look more like farang or more like Thai, depending on what they choose to focus on I suppose.

When I lived in England lots of people thought I was South American, particularly Colombian; South Americans would even start speaking to me in Spanish! That makes sense though, as many South Americans are actually 1st degree (or genetically very close to 1st degree) Mongoloid / Caucasian mixes, the same as Thai-Farang loog-krueng.

how do you put pics on here.

Click on "more reply options" and a "attach files" button will appear.

[muythai2013]

thats my little Angel, her names Arianna, half thai half Aussie.

[Trembly]

thats my little Angel, her names Arianna, half thai half Aussie.

I like the second pic.

I looked pretty farang with auburn hair bluey-green eyes when I was a very little boy but by the time I became an adult my eyes had turned brown and my hair almost black. Darker with time seems to be the general rule but there really is just no telling at such an early age!

[Tywais]

how do you put pics on here.

[maxme]

There is such a thing as integration in Thailand? How's that even possible when there is virtually no way of becoming a citizen other than to bribe officials?

I think the proper word or words would be... culture and/or customs.

Edited January 30, 2013 by maxme

[inthepink]

I think it's supposed to be about your best and worst experiences when Thais and Westerners intermingle rather than a strict interpretation of the word integration.

If I am right, my most pleasant experience (In terms of human kindness not the actual experience itself) was when I was stuck at Aranyaprathet overnight for reasons I won't go into here, with no ATM cards on me and less than 100 baht in my pocket. A motorcycle taxi guy lent me his sunbed (that's what it looked like anyway) for the night and even went as far as to light mosquito coils and place them near me so I didn't get bitten to death. No possibility of monetary reward as he knew my situation,. I thought it was really nice of him.

The group of Thai people, one of whom let me use their mobile phone at a petrol station halfway in between Nakhon Sawan and Bangkok after I had lost my wallet and own phone will also remain in my memory. They insisted on giving me money to buy myself a drink and something to eat while I waited for help to arrive.

The old guy who was shouting "you, you" when I was waiting for a boat across the Chao Praya and I was studiously ignoring him because I unreasonably thought him rude (until I realised he was trying to attract my attention to the fact that I was about to miss my boat) illustrated how easy it is to assume the worst when people are just trying to be helpful.

My worst experiences.....hard to say really. People jumping ahead of me in the queue at 7/11 and people who drive like absolute idiots (although not all of them are Thai I have to say - I have seen westerners on silly little motorbikes overtake me in my car when I am indicating to turn right and I am sorely tempted to pretend I haven't seen them sometimes)

------------

If I am wrong and this is not what this thread is supposed to be about then I have just wasted 10 minutes of my own time writing this and a couple of minutes of yours if you read it!

Edited January 30, 2013 by inthepink

[NewlyMintedThai]

There is such a thing as integration in Thailand? How's that even possible when there is virtually no way of becoming a citizen other than to bribe officials?

Wrong.

There is a very well-defined path to becoming a Thai citizen. I have successfully taken it, as have others here.

[maxme]

There is such a thing as integration in Thailand? How's that even possible when there is virtually no way of becoming a citizen other than to bribe officials?

Wrong.

There is a very well-defined path to becoming a Thai citizen. I have successfully taken it, as have others here.

And exactly how many foreigners become citizens each year?

[NewlyMintedThai]

There is much information on this topic in other threads.

[maxme]

There is much information on this topic in other threads.

As I suspected. Can you point me in the direction of a thread that has evident proof of that it´s as easy as you say it is?

[cdnvic]

http://www.thaivisa.com/acquiring-thai-nationality.html

Please don't derail this thread with an argument.

[maxme]

Since there are not that many that become Thai citizens one cannot use the word "integrate". That was the point.

However when it comes to good and bad experiences regarding Thai culture... I would say it´s a mixed bag.

I've had plenty of good experiences here but I´ve also had plenty of bad experiences here. The fact is, despite its international reputation, Thailand isn´t really an international community expect for cities like Phuket, Bangkok, Chiang Mai etc. etc.

Yet even these cities are struggling with the concept of being an international community, so it´s not very surprising that cultures will clash from time to time.

[inthepink]

I would agree that most of Thailand's cities are not truly international, but isn't that one of the attractions of the place? If you want to live in a nice cosmopolitan city where people become homogenous and all behave in the same way, there are plenty of other places that one can choose to live. I have no interest in obtaining PR or Thai citizenship but even without these it is possible to integrate at a certain level, i.e. learning the language, socialising with Thai people, enjoying some of the traditions and complaining about others.

[Thailand1977]

Best experience was having my daughter.

Worst is having to deal with her mother, and seeing what Thais are like when things go wrong.

[maxme]

I would agree that most of Thailand's cities are not truly international, but isn't that one of the attractions of the place? If you want to live in a nice cosmopolitan city where people become homogenous and all behave in the same way, there are plenty of other places that one can choose to live. I have no interest in obtaining PR or Thai citizenship but even without these it is possible to integrate at a certain level, i.e. learning the language, socialising with Thai people, enjoying some of the traditions and complaining about others.

True you can integrate at a certain level but not in the terms we would use back home. There is no us or we even if you are a Thai citizen and because of that you cannot really talk about integration, more like getting accustomed to living with Thais. You can get along with people anywhere if you just have half a brain but in no way is that same as being integrated into a society.

If the Thais wanted us here it wouldn´t be the mess it is today. Everything has become lost in translation.

[inthepink]

I would agree that most of Thailand's cities are not truly international, but isn't that one of the attractions of the place? If you want to live in a nice cosmopolitan city where people become homogenous and all behave in the same way, there are plenty of other places that one can choose to live. I have no interest in obtaining PR or Thai citizenship but even without these it is possible to integrate at a certain level, i.e. learning the language, socialising with Thai people, enjoying some of the traditions and complaining about others.

True you can integrate at a certain level but not in the terms we would use back home. There is no us or we even if you are a Thai citizen and because of that you cannot really talk about integration, more like getting accustomed to living with Thais. You can get along with people anywhere if you just have half a brain but in no way is that same as being integrated into a society.

If the Thais wanted us here it wouldn´t be the mess it is today. Everything has become lost in translation.

I have to disagree with you. An Indian holding a British passport who refuses to speak English and lives in an ethnic enclave is not integrated in the least. Not all of them are like that by any means but paperwork in itself is not a good indication of integration.

I wouldn't expect an ethnic Thai to ever consider me as one of them, even if I applied for and was granted, Thai citizenship. I don't exactly look like them.

I don't see that the country is in any more of a mess than The USA, UK or many countries in Europe; in fact, in many ways it's in much better shape, so I don't really see your point in that regard....unless by mess, you are referring to the immigration laws themselves and not the country in general?

Edited January 30, 2013 by inthepink

[Trembly]

Why this obsession with integration? Most Thais couldn't care less whether farang integrate or not.

They'd much rather have farang who are farang but are sensitive and knowledgeable enough to keep things smooth (being able to speak Thai is probably a prerequisite to that in most cases).

[maxme]

I would agree that most of Thailand's cities are not truly international, but isn't that one of the attractions of the place? If you want to live in a nice cosmopolitan city where people become homogenous and all behave in the same way, there are plenty of other places that one can choose to live. I have no interest in obtaining PR or Thai citizenship but even without these it is possible to integrate at a certain level, i.e. learning the language, socialising with Thai people, enjoying some of the traditions and complaining about others.

True you can integrate at a certain level but not in the terms we would use back home. There is no us or we even if you are a Thai citizen and because of that you cannot really talk about integration, more like getting accustomed to living with Thais. You can get along with people anywhere if you just have half a brain but in no way is that same as being integrated into a society.

If the Thais wanted us here it wouldn´t be the mess it is today. Everything has become lost in translation.

I have to disagree with you. An Indian holding a British passport who refuses to speak English and lives in an ethnic enclave is not integrated in the least. Not all of them are like that by any means but paperwork in itself is not a good indication of integration.

I wouldn't expect an ethnic Thai to ever consider me as one of them, even if I applied for and was granted, Thai citizenship. I don't exactly look like them.

I don't see that the country is in any more of a mess than The USA, UK or many countries in Europe; in fact, in many ways it's in much better shape, so I don't really see your point in that regard....unless by mess, you are referring to the immigration laws themselves and not the country in general?

That´s a whole other issue... An immigrant that was granted citizenship and chose not to integrate which not the same as being denied citizenship therefore do not have the possibility of integrating.

That you find it better in better shape... well to each his own I guess, though totally irrelevant. If we are talking about getting accustomed to Thailand and the Thais to us, well then... yes then it's more than probable.

[Trembly]

Why this obsession with integration? Most Thais couldn't care less whether farang integrate or not.

They'd much rather have farang who are farang but are sensitive and knowledgeable enough to keep things smooth (being able to speak Thai is probably a prerequisite to that in most cases).

Hm, yes I see why you would say that...

Play the ball . . .