Poo Yai Bahn

ROTFLMFAO

This should of read " why do so many Thais disrespect the law regarding throwing water at motor cycles driving along the road and driving 4X4 about drinking beer while people in the back throw water" Answer, no respect for the law.

My Thai wife doesn't contribute anymore to the local wat as they have thoroughly pissed her off getting a new speaker system that wakes most of the village at 5am.

You got a good lady, mine just huffs and walks off when I ask why we need to be woken at 5am.

For me it was a privilege to be asked to join a Thai families Songkran and travel around to many homes of old and poor people delivering money and food etc, to also attend family blessings at the local Temple plus the water thingy.

I did two days down at the Thapae gate region and will be my last as it was just too hard and the spirit of Songkran well some people need to look at the history behind this and other Thai events, I will not be attending next year unless I get an invite to a more local community

What people around you care about is how you treat them - everyday - not just at parties.

In our village they announce how much money people have contributed to the wat for various purposes. In the past they ALWAYS referred to our place as baan farang, now they announce our names. I don't approve of the general practice because some people can only donate small amounts and i think it's wrong for the world to know.

In our village they announce how much money people have contributed to the wat for various purposes. In the past they ALWAYS referred to our place as baan farang, now they announce our names. I don't approve of the general practice because some people can only donate small amounts and i think it's wrong for the world to know.

Its not the amount that is important at all it is the offering.

I tend to find the term Farang rude, and you don't often hear it from Thais. Once in 5 years in our village I have been referred to as the Farang to my face and that was in a heated argument.

Why use it in the context of this post?[/quote

What do think the locals call you?

My goal is to be the only farang in all of chiang mai; special. If i ever see another farang, i will verbally attack him and explain how he/she is evil and i am good. i will assume they only do horrible things, while i am a saint. forget listening to them, i am sure they never do all the local things i do. that would be impossible.

i think it's funny farangs don't like to look at each other when walking down a street........maybe embarrased for some bar fun and don't want to be seen.

this is a very typical insecure response by the OP.

anyhow, once i gave clothes to the burn victims and walking home i saw a lady with clothes and she said, 'you know, you really should donate if you are not too busy.' i didn't tell her i just did.....

once i biked doi suthep 3 times....and at the bottom of the last climb i decided to do the beginning section once more and turn around...when i turned around, someone asked, 'are you not going to the top?'

once i saw a guy leave church early......i wonder what this means?

I too show up...look around ...say hello then bolt if I don't like the scene. This particular event turned out great....maybe it was the abundance Leo?????

Well perhaps they also bolted because they didn't 'like the scene'. Bit hypocritical if you ask me, and why be so bothered what other folks don't get up to as if you're some kind of ambassador of the farang community? Me thinks one is really just jealous of the 'mini-mansions'; be truthful now.

Donations is all about that, the farang has to be respectful and help others, while many thais dont help their communities, goverment and rich thais, if some day one of us(farangs) will need something I want to see how they react.

Last year I spent the songkran in Fang and was very fun, went to the wat, the monks gave me a bracelet and after we drank lao lao and ate a lot of food, the good thing is when im drunk my thai is fluently hahaha Im not

I hear the term farang every day in my travels

if you live in a village like anywhere else.you can join in if you wish,if you have high fences then your choice.the world is the same everywhere with neighbours you can join in or not.did you know your neighbours from where you come from orginally.

Perhaps it's a language barrier? They might not have been aware of the celebration in advance, or felt like they wouldn't understand anything if they came. I have no idea; it's just one theory. It is unfortunate. You can be anonymous in Bangkok, but not so much in a small town.

There are many events that take place in our local village each year and if not for my wife informing me, I would never get to hear about them. Because of the language barriers and perhaps shyness on the part of the farang, it is really up to their Thai wife’s to try and assimilate them into the community.

Plus taking into consideration that these so-called land owners, probably not legal, shady and weird, are maybe the reasons why they like to keep themselves hidden discretely behind high walls, fences and gates, will keep a low profile and are probably just as negative, hospitably and socially towards other expats and everyone else.

My family and I have always mixed in well with our Thai neigbors and accepted here. There is one elderly farang a Canadian who lives not a million miles away from us, totally unsociable and none of the Thais have a good word for him.

I am extremely grateful that we have no near farang neighbors for reasons mentioned.

No I don't assume all big houses are farrang and I did say many not all farrangs. I am familiar with this village and there are many farrang living there. I too show up...look around ...say hello then bolt if I don't like the scene. This particular event turned out great....maybe it was the abundance Leo?????

Maybe no Farangs were invited. You yourself must be Thai.

No I don't assume all big houses are farrang and I did say many not all farrangs. I am familiar with this village and there are many farrang living there. I too show up...look around ...say hello then bolt if I don't like the scene. This particular event turned out great....maybe it was the abundance Leo?????

Maybe no Farangs were invited. You yourself must be Thai.

This also true.

Although my family have lived amongst our local community for many years, we are still relatively outsiders, as most of the locals are related and keep their activities to mainly family and close friends.

At most times the locals, including weddings, funerals and other celebrations, will not always send out invitations, the word gets around and whoever wishes to turn up can do so. But I`m not always keen to participate with people that I don`t know, so we usually are only close with our immediate neighbors.

What does it mean when I show up, and no one *else* is there?

T

The first and last Songkran festival I attended about 8 years ago came to an abrupt end when a drunken lout snuck up on my Thai wife and me and drenched us with a bucket of muddy water. Our clothes were obviously ruined to say nothing of the expensive camera I was holding.

I have since learned, if you don't want to get wet, don't participate in Songkran; if you don't want to lose your hearing, don't go to Thai parties; the list goes on. Different cultures, different ideas of fun. Have you ever seen a Thai attend a farang Christmas party and bring wrapped gifts for the children?

Disrespect is a pretty strong term for politely refusing an invitation. I usually don't go for all the reasons listed above, but the other issue is conversation. I can speak Thai and English and it's the same reason I don't usually chat with farangs in tourist areas. I get tired of saying the same thing again and again. "I am from ______. I have been here x years, I like this thai food, I work as a ________" It gets boring no matter what language its in.

My Thai wife doesn't contribute anymore to the local wat as they have thoroughly pissed her off getting a new speaker system that wakes most of the village at 5am.

There is no excuse for that sort of behaviour, Who in their right mind wants to listen to that dreadful noise at 5 am? The people responsible are just plain selfish, monks or not. I know TIT.

I tend to find the term Farang rude, and you don't often hear it from Thais. Once in 5 years in our village I have been referred to as the Farang to my face and that was in a heated argument.

Why use it in the context of this post?

I know what you mean. Let's use the term "white man" in future. It has a lot more dignity.

I do want to be part of the community. And I take full responsibility for the lack of my involvement. Although we don't own a mini mansion (we rent...we aren't high tone), we do live in a village. I know the number one problem. I'm having a devil of a time learning Thai and I'm so busy I don't often have time to practice. I love our village. And the people here are nice and we do what we can, when we can. From the beginning we have tried to be involved, but often we don't know what to do...our guides here are locals who are used to dealing with foreigners and generally tell us, "don't worry about it." but that seems like giving up too easily. We have occasionally been made to feel unwelcome (it's a small, small town) but by and large, we have friends at the markets, friends around town and people who always seem genuinely happy to see us. Your posting brings to mind what I want to do next year which is interact more with my neighbors. I have seen Wats and local attractions, now I want to see our Wat, our local customs and see the neighbors. They are very nice, we just don't understand each other.....yet. I'll fix that.

I tend to find the term Farang rude, and you don't often hear it from Thais. Once in 5 years in our village I have been referred to as the Farang to my face and that was in a heated argument.

Why use it in the context of this post?

Do you perhaps only visit your village once in 5 years?

We are Farang, and they are Thai! Get used to it!

I have using Amazon for years here! Their are somethings they can not ship, but the are great. Refund, or fix any problems!

In our village they announce how much money people have contributed to the wat for various purposes. In the past they ALWAYS referred to our place as baan farang, now they announce our names. I don't approve of the general practice because some people can only donate small amounts and i think it's wrong for the world to know.

Its not the amount that is important at all it is the offering.

In some American churches, they list the donors! (I think it's kind of rude, too, but whatever for whichever, it's not my custom to judge....)

I tend to find the term Farang rude, and you don't often hear it from Thais. Once in 5 years in our village I have been referred to as the Farang to my face and that was in a heated argument.

Why use it in the context of this post?

If you take exception to being called a farang, you should not be here.

Do you mean to say you don't call someone a Greek or Italian or a foreigner in your country??

Don't be so thin skinned. I frequently use it about myself in conversation!

I get called "farang" all the time...they think because I don't speak the language, I don't know what they're saying....

i usualy tend to go to the village parties , make my little donation on par with what the local do if that is expected .

politely refuse drinks offered as i personaly think drinking everyday even if only one drink is a bad habit . made a fool of myself once at the local wat during songkran after a heavy drinking session with the local thai guys my age , fell in the rice paddy and had to be carried home by 2 thai navy boys who picked up my phone and wallet , needless to say that everybody in the village knew how drunk i was the next day ... helped in a way to get me accepted i guess ,

i think we are expected to participate in the village social life from time to time but of course excluded from the political scene , decision making ( unless you own half of the village land . which i dont )

P.S., the word for Farang (ferengi) comes from all of South Asia and South East Asia when it was used to refer to the "Franks" as those from the other side of the world. It is also the source of the word for "foreigner". It doesn't have to be an insult unless you take it on as one. Don't act like a "bird shit farang" and you don't need to be one! I take it as a badge of honor. I'm 6'7" and pasty white, you kinda can't hide me in the middle of a crowd here. My "difference" is obvious. I go to the store and all the little kids just stare, mouths open wide, sometimes their parents are embarassed, but I just smile and laugh it off. People are just people. Don't take life personally. It ain't personal anyway.

Your question assumes that you are right and they are wrong. It's not a fair way to approach this.

This brand of positivism is like turning down our brains below even a low simmer. When did developing an opinion become inherently unfair? What if he has a reasonable point? There was no rush to condemn anyone; actually, he seems quite fair-minded! That's not to say that the people he refers to don't have their reasons for how they live. Of course we haven't heard their side of the story. But we already know that! That doesn't make it unfair to describe what he sees! It's amazing how often people venture reasonable opinions, clearly in the spirit of free dialogue, and then receive that tired old admonishment not to judge a book by its cover! That reaction always strikes me as quite pointless. We have to start somewhere. The book does have a cover, so what is "unfair" about saying what it looks like? Unfair would be stating an opinion, then attempting to shut down the discussion. In this case, the opposite seems to have happened. I would say his comments are eminently fair! o_O