Are People Here Racist?

[muythai2013]

reading through some posts, would I be wrong in saying that quite a few people here are a little rascist towards thai's.

just seems odd as this is thaivisa

[greg71]

Maybe come back in a years time with a post that states why are all thais stupid etc .good luck

[muythai2013]

Maybe come back in a years time with a post that states why are all thais stupid etc .good luck

Maybe come back in a years time with a post that states why are all thais stupid etc .good luck

Maybe come back in a years time with a post that states why are all thais stupid etc .good luck

so do you think they are, assuming you have met every thai that is.

[rene123]

Is telling the truth rascist?

As the many posts on thaivisa have proven, people take offence at the slightest of things and turn differences of opinion into personal attacks. There are only a handful of basic truths, and everything else are personal opinions.

[MAJIC]

Some have a habit of accusing a Poster of Racialism,purely to deny them of another point of view, that's what being PC is all about,.....gagging!

[muythai2013]

Is telling the truth rascist?

As the many posts on thaivisa have proven, people take offence at the slightest of things and turn differences of opinion into personal attacks. There are only a handful of basic truths, and everything else are personal opinions.

you are right, but the truth is not many people can really say they are being honest about themselves and their faults whilst they are pointing the finger at others.

are the majority of expats any more sane then the majority of thais, walk around and take a look, I think it evens out.

[muythai2013]

Some have a habit of accusing a Poster of Racialism,purely to deny them of another point of view, that's what being PC is all about,.....gagging!

no I'm aware of what rascism is, it's not a new term.

There are are same very rascist things said very often here, but relax I never mention your names as being one of the guilty party.

surely you have seen it here.

[rene123]

There can be two meanings even when saying exactly the same thing. It all has to do with intent. Good friends can say outrageous things to each other and both just laugh. But, if a stranger were to say the same thing with a sneer there would be a battle. One black American can jokingly use the "N" word to another of his group, but if a white person were to say the same thing then all hell could break loose. There have been many discussions on thaivisa about the word "farang" and how it is used, and what is meant by when a Thai uses it. There are a few who adamantly think it is a rascist word, and yet others (including myself) just think it is a general term used to cover all of us with white skin and a caucasian background.

[muythai2013]

There can be two meanings even when saying exactly the same thing. It all has to do with intent. Good friends can say outrageous things to each other and both just laugh. But, if a stranger were to say the same thing with a sneer there would be a battle. One black American can jokingly use the "N" word to another of his group, but if a white person were to say the same thing then all hell could break loose. There have been many discussions on thaivisa about the word "farang" and how it is used, and what is meant by when a Thai uses it. There are a few who adamantly think it is a rascist word, and yet others (including myself) just think it is a general term used to cover all of us with white skin and a caucasian background.

i dont feel farang is arascist term at all.

but saying for eg, all thai people are stupid is.

and isaan girls cop it more so here, thats a fact, in any language.

[muythai2013]

if i'm wrong about this, and need not bring it up, and need to get a life according to one, and the percieved rascism is a misunderstanding\ according to others.

not 10 minutes after i posted this, someone made a thread asking if all thai people a vacant, so am i wrong.

If it does not happen, well it just occured during our discussion about it.

[Jingthing]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: simply yes.

Yes there it plenty of overt racist expression here but I would say the majority of communication here is not overtly racist and the average/typical level of racism of foreigners in Thailand regarding Thai people is moderate and not very toxic.

Foreigners aren't necessarily living in Thailand because they are especially fond of Thai people in general. Is that an immigration requirement?

Edited January 11, 2013 by Jingthing

[muythai2013]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: yes.

probably the most honest answer ive heard, we may all be wether we know it or not

[Dancealot]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: yes.

probably the most honest answer ive heard, we may all be wether we know it or not

You said : "just seems odd because it is thaivisa"; this is technically a racist remark.

[muythai2013]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: yes.

probably the most honest answer ive heard, we may all be wether we know it or not

You said : "just seems odd because it is thaivisa"; this is technically a racist remark.

technically its not, rascist towards who, i'm pointing out that people are living or visiting thailand endlessly, have thai woman mostly, and are on a website about thailand, yet they make rascist remarks about the place.

thats odd to me, odd, not rascist.

[nattydread]

nothing wrong with racism....80% of the population of the world would agree with me and the other 20% would be too frightened to admit it in case the PC brigade outed them causing them to lose their job and social standing

[kennedy]

They only feel that they are a member of the master race.

[Beetlejuice]

Is telling the truth rascist?

As the many posts on thaivisa have proven, people take offence at the slightest of things and turn differences of opinion into personal attacks. There are only a handful of basic truths, and everything else are personal opinions.

For those who like to express views about certain ethnic groups, I would suggest learning how to spell racist first.

If some posters describe people of a certain ethnic group as having general characteristics, general intelligence levels, general behaviour patterns and general skills or capability limitations, than yes, they are racist.

There is no other way to describe these attitudes.

There is a world of difference between being down right insulting and articulating a few facts by personal opinion. The problem is that many of those inflicted by low intelligence and the ignorant are unable to differentiate as to what amounts to an opinion and what is being abusive and insulting.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Beetlejuice

[I Like Thai]

Is telling the truth rascist?

As the many posts on thaivisa have proven, people take offence at the slightest of things and turn differences of opinion into personal attacks. There are only a handful of basic truths, and everything else are personal opinions.

you are right, but the truth is not many people can really say they are being honest about themselves and their faults whilst they are pointing the finger at others.

are the majority of expats any more sane then the majority of thais, walk around and take a look, I think it evens out.

Are you not pointing a finger yourself ?

[Jingthing]

nothing wrong with racism....80% of the population of the world would agree with me and the other 20% would be too frightened to admit it in case the PC brigade outed them causing them to lose their job and social standing

I can't agree with that. I think there is everything wrong with racism but one key to confront it is for people to recognize this natural human phenom in themselves and work to neutralize it. People who say they don't have a racist bone in their body are about as honest as men who say they haven't masturbated.

[MrRealDeal]

If you made the same sweeping incorect generalisations you hear here about Black people even the people making them would say it's racist.

Technecially being Thai is not a race but thats a little besides the point , but it's hard to make sweeping generalitys about the inferority of an entire group of people insuating you and your goup of people are superior and not call it racist to some extent I guess. It's a little more Xenophobic but normally that would include an irational fear and not a perfect word either.

I don't believe any of the people that might be accused of this are doing it intentionally and sometimes by virtue of it being a site about Thailand it may come across that way , one might be accused of it if they said that, Thai Taxi drivers are likely to rip you off ..... not withstanding weather or not thats true ........ The person might say well they are no more likely than a NYC cab driver so your being "racist" , but it's not a site that seems to lend itself to a lot of comparasions but rather opinions about Thailand , so while it might seem racist to some I would give those kinds of comments a pass on the racism accusations.

I would certianly agree that their is a large number of comments that incorectly refer to the inferority of Thai people compared to the posters home country people or the "west".

Threads even making far reachng absurd observations and comparisions about how Thai people are so different and feeble minded or inferior such as sleeping in a cold room or with a fan and a blanket as if the rest of the world doesn't do the same thing as a recent example. Huge exagurations as to the frequency and extent of negetive things that happen once in a while and so on ..... I don't think people are Racist I think they have an unrealistic , delutional sence of their own Superiority.

This makes them willing to believe in exagurations and absurditys and repeat them in posts as a way to reenforce their fasle belief of Superiority.

Superiority complex is a psychological defense mechanism in which a person's feelings of superiority counter or conceal his or her feelings of inferiority.

[Jingthing]

I agree Thai people aren't a race. Thai people are an ETHNIC group, the majority ethnic group in the nation of Thailand. But in social reality, racism occurs against ethnic groups and strictly anthropologically speaking race doesn't exist biologically at all.

[mr78]

I don't think it's a racist thing, I think it's about cultural differences. Thais have a more "laid back/we can do it tomorrow" attitude than westeners, this often causes irritation that can look like racism, but it's not (in my opinion).

[MrRealDeal]

I agree Thai people aren't a race. Thai people are an ETHNIC group, the majority ethnic group in the nation of Thailand. But in social reality, racism occurs against ethnic groups and strictly anthropologically speaking race doesn't exist biologically at all.

Thankx for that , I would put more weight on your point as it relates to the discussion if I believed that when people said "Thai people" they were not including pretty much all the cambodia, myanmar , Karen "indians?" , ect ....... I don't think most of the posters can really even tell someone from Myanmar or Cambodia by looking at them and really don't believe they are seperating them out when they say "Thai people" mainly for that reason. When people are discussing Thai prostitutes for example a large number are not even Thai but they are not refering to only prostitutes of Thai nationality but of prostitutes in Thailand ...... hence I am not going along with the ethnic group angle except to the extent that you are factually correct about what would constitute an ethnic group.

As it relates to the comments on this site my opinion is "Thai people" is not en ethnic group but a term used to describe all ethnic groups inside the borders especially as it relates to women.

Edited January 11, 2013 by MrRealDeal

[Tchooptip]

Some could be.. and some probably are "a little racist toward Thai"...but some members not at all they even accused of wearing pink glasses

For the posts, bashing, criticising too much/endlessly Thai people, it may be assume they are written by grouchy-grumpy people

irritated by almost every single things on earth

Since they are in Thailand it is turned to their environment, hence Thai people

Should those people lived elsewhere...for instance in the circumpolar region...

..they would criticise Eskimos polar bears and pingouins with the same tireless energy ...however

1)Every one can grant himself the right to talk drivel

2)The mods toil around the clock in three-shift so they'll be banned sooner than later

3) It's easy and restful to ignore the literature of some known posters

[krisb]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: yes.

probably the most honest answer ive heard, we may all be wether we know it or not

You said : "just seems odd because it is thaivisa"; this is technically a racist remark.

technically its not, rascist towards who, i'm pointing out that people are living or visiting thailand endlessly, have thai woman mostly, and are on a website about thailand, yet they make rascist remarks about the place.

thats odd to me, odd, not rascist.

How can you have racist remarks about a place? Racisms about people not places. I think your topics way of the mark with no evidence to back yourself up. Its absurd to say the least.

Case closed.

[Berkshire]

For those who like to express views about certain ethnic groups, I would suggest learning how to spell racist first.

If some posters describe people of a certain ethnic group as having general characteristics, general intelligence levels, general behaviour patterns and general skills or capability limitations, than yes, they are racist.

There is no other way to describe these attitudes.

There is a world of difference between being down right insulting and articulating a few facts by personal opinion. The problem is that many of those inflicted by low intelligence and the ignorant are unable to differentiate as to what amounts to an opinion and what is being abusive and insulting.

You make some very valid points. And to answer the OP, YES, there are a whole lot of racist attitudes permeating in these threads. People are constantly judging the entire Thai populace based upon the one or two Thais that they've met. Heck, there was a thread recently titled "Thais and their whistles." How many Thais do you know who even have whistles, other than parking attendants? And then there's the TV Thai News threads. Tons of racist monkeys hanging out on that forum.

But I understand the source of these racist attitudes. In the US, white racists tend to be the less educated and disenfranchised, those who feel a need to blame someone for their crappy lot in life. The truly racist folks on TV tend to be from this demographic.

[David006]

My view is that all humans are racist. Everywhere. It's a matter of degree and severity and harm done, if any. I think we are hard wired for racism as a species. So the answer: simply yes.

Yes there it plenty of overt racist expression here but I would say the majority of communication here is not overtly racist and the average/typical level of racism of foreigners in Thailand regarding Thai people is moderate and not very toxic.

Foreigners aren't necessarily living in Thailand because they are especially fond of Thai people in general. Is that an immigration requirement?

right on mate...think this crap about criticism of others who happen to be of a different nationality being termed racism is just a part of the new world order....utter rubbish..propagated by a hypocritical world.

Don't hear of racism being chanted when we take the piss, or use derogatory/discriminating terms toward Scots,Welsh, Irish,POMEs, Aussies,Kiwis... yadda yadda .

..... some of my best friends are #%^ Gay, Jewish, POME, Asian ,<deleted> and even German!.... Naaaah not really.......

[canuckamuck]

People may mistake the unusual decision making observed in Thailand as hereditary. When in fact it is usually a result of cultural millstones. This is particularly true for the non-establishment citizens.

If people have a criticism about Thais, the root is nearly always cultural and not racial.

[kennedy]

Maybe prejudice would be a better term to use.

Edited January 12, 2013 by metisdead
: Bold font removed again.

[homeownership]

Short answer : No people on Thai Visa are not racist by any definition of the word.

Long Answer: If England are playing Italy in the World Cup Final, you would expect all the English to align themselves with their National team and all the Italians to do the same. Now lets say the World Cup Final was held in Bangkok and the stadium was not to the usual standard and the fans had problems getting to and from the stadium and made compaints on a publically accesible forum. No one would accuse the fans of any nationality of racism, this in short is what can be confused as racism in Thai Visa. It is an over self promotion of one nationality while picking flaws in their new host country way of doing things.

Thai food tastes really good compared to fish and chips.

This statement is not racism, it a personal view but some people could take offence to it, it is not the place of every human being on the planet to be agents of the offended.