Who To Middle-Class Thais Despise More? Sexpats, Backpackers, Or Poor Thais?

[Nautilus05]

I'm curious, which group do middle / higher class Thais look down on more? On one hand you have the sexpat who can be seen at 11am at their favorite girlie bar putting down a big bottle of Chang while wearing their wife beater. Then there's the backpacker who believes 400/night for a hotel is quite expensive, and for whatever reason believe proper hygiene is a difficult task to accomplish. Then you have this subset of the Thai population that, not to be rude, but are simply useless. No common respect or decency, selfish, no work ethic, no desire to learn or contribute to society, etc.

I know the majority of Thais hold contempt for all three groups, but I'm just curious, which group do you think wins out? Tough call!

[soi41]

To me it seems like the one with problems with the 3 mentioned groups is the OP.

What about live and let live !

[AnotherOneAmerican]

I don't think the middle/higher class even notice foreigners.

The ones that have feelings towards foreigners are the poor and uneducated.

Some resent, some want to profit.

Most resentment towards foreigners in any country is from the poor and uneducated.

Edited April 16, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[Nautilus05]

To me it seems like the one with problems with the 3 mentioned groups is the OP.

What about live and let live !

Yeah, true enough. I do usually go by that. Just in a xxxxxx mood today, so don't mind me.

Edited April 16, 2013 by metisdead
Profanity

[Ulysses G.]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

[NanLaew]

I doubt that farangs of any height and haircut feature anywhere on the middle-upper class radar.

The Thai middle-upper classes don't like dark skin though, doesn't matter if it happens to be Thai middle-upper dark skin either.

[SteeleJoe]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

Even in general terms, You vastly underestimate the capacity for hypocrisy and overestimate self- awareness and ignore the influence of nationalism; there are LOTS of Thais who would be offended with the idea of foreigners patronizing the sex industry while either forgetting how many Thai men do it or pretending to forget or be ignorant of it. And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

[arthurwait]

Most middle class Thai are descendants of Chinese immigrants who mostly came with nothing and mostly married either Thai or Chinese farmers sons or daughters who moved off the farm started businesses and built this country. Upto third, fourth, fifth generation now. If they do look down on poor Thais then they need to remember who their grandparents, great grandparents were.

The generations that made the money don't look down their noses at anyone, three or four generations later who have done nothing to earn the money, some strut around like they are important and better than others desperately wanting to be hi-so when infact they are usually so far away from it. Just laugh at them or ask them what they did to earn the money.

I find it's usually lo-so manily young thai men that have a problem with foreigners and have to show their mates how 'ard they are by showing up to the farang or drunk older guys who have probably told their mates 'I can get the stupid farang to buy our booze' and then looks stupid when he gets ignored.

But yes Thais look down on someone who is walking around/ married with a hooker, but try it in your own country and it will be the just the same there. You won't see a Thai man with a hooker for a reason. Although this doesn't seem to be the case with Toms.

But hey if you're getting the fun you want why care what other people think?

[thenervoussurgeon]

My wife's familly are what you would call middle class ,i doubt if they give any of these a seconds thought ,although i am sometimes shocked by the way the younger ones treat people who "serve" them, not badly on purpose but without thought. does that make sense?

[Pretorian]

Maybe rich farangs with more money than them?

[Ulysses G.]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. Most of them would not even notice that such people exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[Nautilus05]

My wife's familly are what you would call middle class ,i doubt if they give any of these a seconds thought ,although i am sometimes shocked by the way the younger ones treat people who "serve" them, not badly on purpose but without thought. does that make sense?

Yeah, I've noticed that. There's not many "kaawp kun"'s going out to the servers. Or if you've just finished a big BBQ feast, and are finishing your drinks, there's no nonchalantly tidying up / stacking the plates a bit to help the server out, who's running around like a chicken with their head cut off.

EDIT: To clarify, the server I see running around like crazy -- I have nothing but respect for him / her. When I said "poor Thais" in the OP, I didn't mean it literally. I meant that lazy, incompetent subset with no ambition to do anything other than drink Lao Khao.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Nautilus05

[SteeleJoe]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. They would not even notice that they exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Whether they would know they exist or not - and indeed it is an objective fact that many do - does not address my post, given that I spoke in the conditional sense (they WOULD find that sort of person distasteful - which presupposes that in that case, they would know they exist).

Are you serious, by the way? Do you actually think middle class Thais wouldn't ever notice them?

[Travel2003]

Back packers!

A lot of Thais think back packers are dirty/unhygienic individuals, as they are Cheap Charlies, and the fact many look a bit scruffy.

The sex industry has been around a long long time before foreigners from the west came along, with Massage, Karaoke, Giks and Mia Nois just different ways of doing it.

Thais know that.

Just in case the Buddhist teachings are true, it is important not to push poor people too much down, in case one comes back in next life as one.

[Nautilus05]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. Most of them would not even notice that such people exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Trust me, pretty near everyone in every small village in Thailand has heard all about Pattaya. To say the contrary would be the same as an American not knowing about Las Vegas, or Compton, or West Hollywood, or whatever.

Edited April 16, 2013 by Nautilus05

[Ulysses G.]

Are you serious, by the way? Do you actually think middle class Thais wouldn't ever notice them?

They might notice that they were badly dressed men in bars. They would not think a lot more about it.

[RefinedGentleman]

Do you sit around thinking about tourists when you're in your home country? I certainly don't, and I doubt the Thais do either.

[SteeleJoe]

Back packers!

A lot of Thais think back packers are dirty/unhygienic individuals, as they are Cheap Charlies, and the fact many look a bit scruffy.

The sex industry has been around a long long time before foreigners from the west came along, with Massage, Karaoke, Giks and Mia Nois just different ways of doing it.

Thais know that.

Just in case the Buddhist teachings are true, it is important not to push poor people too much down, in case one comes back in next life as one.

Dirty grungy backpacker constantly trying to avoid spending anything wherever he goes vs. well dressed, discreet, sexpat freely spending money on sex in venues out of view from all but workers and other customers and elsewhere acting more socially acceptable?

Well groomed polite and resourceful backpacker doing the culturally sensitive stuff vs. sleazy, culturally insensitive sexpat walking around town with his arms around an obvious sex worker or kissing one in broad daylight at an open beer bar?

The winner between "sexpat" and "backpacker" would be different in each one of their scenarios - as they would in all the less extreme examples.

[Ace of Pop]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. Most of them would not even notice that such people exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Trust me, pretty near everyone in every small village in Thailand has heard all about Pattaya.

Yep, they pimp their Daughters there. No Loss of Face for some reason. .

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Trust me, pretty near everyone in every small village in Thailand has heard all about Pattaya. To say the contrary would be the same as an American not knowing about Las Vegas, or Compton, or West Hollywood, or whatever.

I don't see how that connects with the OP.

Every adult Thai knows about brothels and prostitution.

Most male Thais have used their services, nobody thinks about it much, or thinks about foreigners using such services.

[arthurwait]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. They would not even notice that they exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Whether they would know they exist or not - and indeed it is an objective fact that many do - does not address my post, given that I spoke in the conditional sense (they WOULD find that sort of person distasteful - which presupposes that in that case, they would know they exist).

Are you serious, by the way? Do you actually think middle class Thais wouldn't ever notice them?

You mean do middle class Thais notice sex-pats and sex-tourists ? Yes of course because some of these guys go for the real GFE and take them shopping in middle class shopping centres.

[Travel2003]

Back packers!

A lot of Thais think back packers are dirty/unhygienic individuals, as they are Cheap Charlies, and the fact many look a bit scruffy.

The sex industry has been around a long long time before foreigners from the west came along, with Massage, Karaoke, Giks and Mia Nois just different ways of doing it.

Thais know that.

Just in case the Buddhist teachings are true, it is important not to push poor people too much down, in case one comes back in next life as one.

Dirty grungy backpacker constantly trying to avoid spending anything wherever he goes vs. well dressed, discreet, sexpat freely spending money on sex in venues out of view from all but workers and other customers and elsewhere acting more socially acceptable?

Well groomed polite and resourceful backpacker doing the culturally sensitive stuff vs. sleazy, culturally insensitive sexpat walking around town with his arms around an obvious sex worker or kissing one in broad daylight at an open beer bar?

The winner between "sexpat" and "backpacker" would be different in each one of their scenarios - as they would in all the less extreme examples.

Nice spin on it.

Still, sex/money stuff has been around for ages. Nothing really new there for the population.

[SteeleJoe]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

And if you mean "sexpat" as described in the OP, most Thais would find that sort of person - one whose sole purpose to he here is open and unashamed mongering at all hours - quite distasteful.

Au contraire. They would not even notice that they exist unless they read about them on websites oriented towards foreigners like Thai Visa.

Whether they would know they exist or not - and indeed it is an objective fact that many do - does not address my post, given that I spoke in the conditional sense (they WOULD find that sort of person distasteful - which presupposes that in that case, they would know they exist).

Are you serious, by the way? Do you actually think middle class Thais wouldn't ever notice them?

You mean do middle class Thais notice sex-pats and sex-tourists ? Yes of course because some of these guys go for the real GFE and take them shopping in middle class shopping centres.

Note my question indicates that, unlike the poster it was addressed to, I know that they notice them (for the reason you cite and others).

[Ulysses G.]

Trust me, pretty near everyone in every small village in Thailand has heard all about Pattaya. To say the contrary would be the same as an American not knowing about Las Vegas, or Compton, or West Hollywood, or whatever.

I don't see how that connects with the OP.

Every adult Thai knows about brothels and prostitution.

Most male Thais have used their services, nobody thinks about it much, or thinks about foreigners using such services.

Of course most Thais have heard of Pattaya, but they do not think that every man who goes there is a "sexpat". They think that they are just normal (farang) men who want to drink and screw around.

[Loptr]

The average Thai gives as much thought about expats or back packers as they would about a fly that is sitting on a cow's arse, which is standing by the side of the road as they drive by at 120kph.

[SteeleJoe]

Dirty grungy backpacker constantly trying to avoid spending anything wherever he goes vs. well dressed, discreet, sexpat freely spending money on sex in venues out of view from all but workers and other customers and elsewhere acting more socially acceptable?

Well groomed polite and resourceful backpacker doing the culturally sensitive stuff vs. sleazy, culturally insensitive sexpat walking around town with his arms around an obvious sex worker or kissing one in broad daylight at an open beer bar?

The winner between "sexpat" and "backpacker" would be different in each one of their scenarios - as they would in all the less extreme examples.

Nice spin on it.

Still, sex/money stuff has been around for ages. Nothing really new there for the population.

Not a spin. Both types of each category exist - to varying degrees- in abundance and both would be perceived differently.

I've been studying the "sex/money stuff" for decades, so I'm aware that it's been around. I've also, for all that time, been speaking about it with Thais and reading of their attitudes: it simply isn't the case that they 1) view what foreigners do the same as what they do and 2) that Thais have the same approach to commercial sex as "sexpats" do 3) consciously or subconsciously acknowledge the prevalence of the industry let alone how it is almost entirely for and of Thais.

It's not "new". It is offensive to some.

[FunFon]

Even among the middle class, most Thais are much more tolerant and forgiving of differences than farang, especially many here.

[geriatrickid]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

Really? My Thai friends hold them in contempt. Not one has visited Pattaya and those that have visited Phuket, especially Patong say they will never return. The collective opinion of foreigners and Thais that live and work in these cities is very negative. No one gives a hoot about young backpackers save to be polite and welcoming. How can anyone dislike the typical young kid backpacking or even a middle aged couple visiting the national parks or biking around on a holiday? Poor hygiene? Wow, the OP hasn't interacted with some of those 20 year old backpackers as they are often obsessed with grooming and cosmetic products as any Thai in their age group. As for poor Thais, there is often compassion and basic Thai politeness. The poor Thais are often the ones doing the menial unpleasant jobs. Thais unlike many foreigners appreciate that without these people, our lives would be more difficult.

[Zodiac]

Good question OP. Difficult to answer with precision. Though I will say that of the 3 groups you mention the ones I find more deserving to be despised are the backpackers. They tend to look down and avoid Pattaya as they disapprove of the sexpats. But in the minds of these unwashed budget back pack travellers they congregate in the likes of Chiang Mai to enable them to get "cheap weed".

Edited April 16, 2013 by Zodiac

[Ulysses G.]

Thais think that "sexpats" are just normal men with normal desires that are willing to pay for them.

Really? My Thai friends hold them in contempt.

But they just love backpackers and poor Thais. Yeah! That's the ticket!

Edited April 16, 2013 by Ulysses G.