watgate Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 I might be totally off-base, and my apologies if I am, but I am starting to question the Thai peoples like, or lack thereof, of the Chinese. I was expecting a much bigger celebration of the Chinese New Year and was surprised to see a somewhat subdued celebration, mainly in the Warorot area. I realize the Thai powers to be are trying to lure more Chinese tourists here as evidenced by the recent popular movie shown in China. I might be wrong to compare the amazing festiviites in Chiang Mai for the calendar New Years on Dec 31,2012 and I thought the Chinese New Years festivities would have been more in evidence then just the low-key celebrations held in the Warorot area. I am interested to hear what other folks take are on this subject since their are many folks who have lived here a long time and have a pulse for what makes this place tick. I am by no means trying to denigrate or paint the Thai people or the Chinese, for that matter in a bad light. I am just interested to get some perspectives on the celebrations in Chiang Mai pertaining to the Chinese New Year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Perspectives? Well, this is Chiang Mai (Thailand) not China. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oscar2 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Perspectives? Well, this is Chiang Mai (Thailand) not China. I agree. go to China if you want to celebrate Chinese new year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasseru Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Perspectives? Well, this is Chiang Mai (Thailand) not China. I agree. go to China if you want to celebrate Chinese new year. Precisely. Just as those who want to celebrate the American tradition of 'Thanksgiving' should go to the United States to do it, and those who want to celebrate 'Christmas' should go there or Europe or one of the other European conquered and controlled countries of the world to do it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muchogra Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Quote:Thai Folks Vis A Vis Chinese Do they look the same to you?...May be it is... I reckon! Perhaps, it's this "Thainess" that has been over-shadowing the heritage over the years? Denigrting other people who celebrate what are important to them doesn't seem quite right to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lsk Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) As you can see from the prior responses, you will have to deal with some nonsense. Personally I think the Chinese are well covered for now but give it a few more years and they will become the main driving force of not only Chiang Mai but Thai tourism. What's "Handsome man " in Mandarin? Edited February 10, 2013 by lsk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johpa Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 The gold shops may be Chinese and the fabric shops may be South Asian (khaek), but most of the vendors in Warorot market are still speaking Kham Muang. Although many small business owners are Sino-Thai, the Chinese are nowhere close to being a dominant majority in Chiang Mai as they are in Bangkok. I think this is one of the reasons that the tourists from the PRC like Chiang Mai in that it is not just another Chinese city although there is just enough of a Chinese presence to make it comfortable. And this is important because one of the biggest changes in Chinese tourism is the slow shift from the large organized group tours to more western style independent do-it-yourself tourism. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyDrinker Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Read Skinner's The Chinese in Thailand; Letters from Thailand by Botan and a bit of Vajiravudh... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tywais Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 Perspectives? Well, this is Chiang Mai (Thailand) not China. I agree. go to China if you want to celebrate Chinese new year. It's a matter of percentages. Chiang Mai does not have a high % of Chinese (Thai/Chinese) and it reflects in the activities. I've been to Penang on a few Chinese New years and it was intense and yet that is Malaysia but the percentages of Chinese are very high at around 50%. Go to the more Southern areas such as Chon Buri and the activities are also high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnkurmlkshk Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) A few girls have told me they are extremely rude to them in various work settings (hotel receptionists mostly). These girls were outwardly racist against Chinese people - one of them even would even make fun of how they talk a lot. I've seen similar feelings from them against Indian people. One of the girls even said something that was so ridiculous I started laughing. "Why should these Chinese people visit my country if they can't even speak English." Edited February 10, 2013 by drnkurmlkshk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Semper Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 As you can see from the prior responses, you will have to deal with some nonsense. What's "Handsome man " in Mandarin? Speaking about nonsense...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
market trader Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 A few girls have told me they are extremely rude to them in various work settings (hotel receptionists mostly). These girls were outwardly racist against Chinese people - one of them even would even make fun of how they talk a lot. I've seen similar feelings from them against Indian people. One of the girls even said something that was so ridiculous I started laughing. "Why should these Chinese people visit my country if they can't even speak English." I must say I had a good laugh from your last sentence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Quote:Thai Folks Vis A Vis Chinese Do they look the same to you?...May be it is... I reckon! Perhaps, it's this "Thainess" that has been over-shadowing the heritage over the years? Denigrting other people who celebrate what are important to them doesn't seem quite right to me! Just the way some of the TV posters look at life. If it isn't like there back yard denigrate it. Just a sign of a sad life for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Went to the Warorot Market last night was disappointed with it. Felt more like an out door food court with out the tickets. I see they had a stage set up but I have no idea what they did with it. didn't see a schedule any place for it. Like it has been said here if I want to enjoy it I would best go to a city with a larger Chinese population. Makes sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masuk Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Singapore also 'does' a nice, well-lit Chinese New Year. As one writer suggested, this is Thailand, not China. Personally, I enjoyed my first ever Thai New Year festival (Songkran) in April, and as they were hot days, a few buckets of ice water were welcome. As for comparisons to Chinese and Thai, I found the Chinese in Shanghai, rude, pushy and even worse on the roads than here. At least in Chiang Mai, I've never been forced off a traffic light-controlled zebra crossing by a horde of motor cyclists! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 A few girls have told me they are extremely rude to them in various work settings (hotel receptionists mostly). These girls were outwardly racist against Chinese people - one of them even would even make fun of how they talk a lot. I've seen similar feelings from them against Indian people. One of the girls even said something that was so ridiculous I started laughing. "Why should these Chinese people visit my country if they can't even speak English." Whats really funny is that China has the largest population of people that can speak English of any country in the world. There are times when some Thais prove in spades that ignorance is bliss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARISTIDE Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Expect more Chinese New Year activities in BKK some of them Thai can speak Chinese also , but Chiang mai too small too quiet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigantojapan Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 All the chinese vilages up north of cm had celebrations where many Thais participated and got merry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wigantojapan Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 A few girls have told me they are extremely rude to them in various work settings (hotel receptionists mostly). These girls were outwardly racist against Chinese people - one of them even would even make fun of how they talk a lot. I've seen similar feelings from them against Indian people. One of the girls even said something that was so ridiculous I started laughing. "Why should these Chinese people visit my country if they can't even speak English." Whats really funny is that China has the largest population of people that can speak English of any country in the world. There are times when some Thais prove in spades that ignorance is bliss. dont know where you get your information from,,but i would bet India has a far bigger English speaking population than China,,,,,and many of the chinese visiting Thailand CANNOT speak English and why should they Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johpa Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Read Skinner's The Chinese in Thailand; Letters from Thailand by Botan and a bit of Vajiravudh... Skinner got it backwards. It was not the Chinese who assimilated as much as the Central Thais assimilated towards the cultural direction of the Chinese who represented the economic elite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamborobert Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 (edited) Wifey and all of her close freinds/family in Chiang Mai and Lamphun speak Chinese (Mandarin) when they have a get together, and you can see that it upsets some of the Thais who get left out of the conversation. Wifey is Thai (from Wawee way) and most there speak Chinese and there are more than a few that have very little Thai. Socially they default to their Chinese names as soon as they meet up. Likewise with quite a few Burmese at Chiang Dao where she has friends (cultural/language link). If you think of Chinese New Year as a festival where you will want to celebrate with freinds and family (say like Christmas) rather than an entertainment spectacle you might have a different view as to how you would celebrate. Wifey and others have been planning events and buying presents/banners/clothes etc for a few weeks, all with the view of going home to celebrate with family .....so those that have all left (some coming back from Taiwan) return to Wawee to celebrate. They all left in 4wd's en masse on Friday night...and I am just enjoying the quiet...... Edited February 12, 2013 by mamborobert 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LemanRus Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 There was a time, five or six decades ago, when you could be arrested and imprisoned for possession of material printed in Mandarin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman34014 Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 A few girls have told me they are extremely rude to them in various work settings (hotel receptionists mostly). These girls were outwardly racist against Chinese people - one of them even would even make fun of how they talk a lot. I've seen similar feelings from them against Indian people. One of the girls even said something that was so ridiculous I started laughing. "Why should these Chinese people visit my country if they can't even speak English." Whats really funny is that China has the largest population of people that can speak English of any country in the world. There are times when some Thais prove in spades that ignorance is bliss. dont know where you get your information from,,but i would bet India has a far bigger English speaking population than China,,,,,and many of the chinese visiting Thailand CANNOT speak English and why should they India does have a lot of English speakers but so does China these days as the kids are being taught it at school from 5 years old upwards. Whenever I visit China many people approach me to speak English and a lot of kids in particular are keen to converse to show their parents how clever they are. Learning English has never been taken seriously enough in Thailand in schools or by the population at large mainly because they are too busy believing that Thailand is the greatest nation on earth and needs nobody ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L&J Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I found the comments about going to China if you want to celebrate Chinese New Years, Thanksgiving go to USA and Christmas go to Europe as quite funny. Why do the Thais make such a big deal out of December 31st, isn't Thai New Years in April? We've got Valentine's Day coming up and that seems to be another holiday that a great many Thais seem to have incorporated into their "culture". It appears to me that like it or not that Thai culture, like cultures all over the world, is incorporating attractive aspects of what they see from all over the world. If you are interested in a "pure culture" your best chance is somewhere in Borneo or the backwaters of the Amazon, you aren't going to find it here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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