StreetCowboy Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Personally, I think you did the right thing. I'd have kept quiet myself, for fear of bursting into tears at the memory of Argentina, 1978. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RabC Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 So we have one more reason why it's safer to ride a motorcycle than use the baht buses. Especially if your American or Israeli. Or a total whimp. @RabC, You're the man! Please tell us what YOU Would do. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app I would have got on with my life and not come and start a crying thread on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) So whats the problem???? you said; I support my government's efforts against the Iranian government. I am NOT apolitical about this at all. and then that you do nto wanna lie about being a canadian or so. so if you have such strong convictions you should either admit you a american or get off. thats the way i see it. you decided to stay on th ebus and play "dumb". so technically you are a coward I was GREATLY outnumbered. They were drunk and big. What was the potential benefit from risking an argument with a bunch of drunks? I was LITERALLY surrounded by them. Iranian drunks to my left. Iranian drunks to my right. Iranians drunks on the opposite bench. This macho crap is ridiculous. If you can avoid provoking a crowd of drunk people to beat you up, you avoid it. Some people would have lied about their politics but I just wasn't up to that. I didn't board that bus to get into a sensitive political debate with a gang of drunks. I boarded it to get to where I was going. PERIOD. I am open to PLEASANT socializing on the bus but what was put into my face there was the opposite of pleasant. Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 So we have one more reason why it's safer to ride a motorcycle than use the baht buses. Especially if your American or Israeli. Or a total whimp. @RabC, You're the man! Please tell us what YOU Would do. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app I would have got on with my life and not come and start a crying thread on here. But you read it and posted on it. Strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onionluke Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Nice pic Blackman JT there is no perfect answer to your question apart from perhaps learning a bit of sign language as mentioned!! Im English & may have no doubt picked up a vibe & acted accordingly. Some Iranians dont like the English because of certain elements of history. To be honest i dont like dealing with certain 'types' people from my own Country or others on the baht bus at times but you just have to deal with it. However whats the alternative to your predicament? Get a scooter so you dont have to encounter the general public in such fashion? Id much rather tell Iranians or anybody where i was from than risk riding a scooter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) Nice pic Blackman JT there is no perfect answer to your question apart from perhaps learning a bit of sign language as mentioned!! Im English & may have no doubt picked up a vibe & acted accordingly. Some Iranians dont like the English because of certain elements of history. To be honest i dont like dealing with certain 'types' people from my own Country or others on the baht bus at times but you just have to deal with it. However whats the alternative to your predicament? Get a scooter so you dont have to encounter the general public in such fashion? Id much rather tell Iranians or anybody where i was from than risk riding a scooter! It's not like there is a such a scene most times you ride the bus. Riding the buses is always going to be MUCH SAFER than riding a bike ... The acting deaf isn't bad. But now I'm think it wouldn't be so hard to just put on a mentally challenged, incoherent accent ploy and say something like: Neyp Spokan Ingglitch. Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 t's not like there is a such a scene most times you ride the bus. Riding the buses is always going to be MUCH SAFER than riding a bike ... Nice pic Blackman The acting deaf isn't bad. But now I'm think it wouldn't be so hard to just put on a mentally challenged, incoherent accent ploy and say something like: Neyp Spokan Ingglitch. Exactly & dont forget you always have the option of some kindly driver perhaps letting you sit upfront Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 They'd probably still think I'm American but at least there would be plausible deniability! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 They'd probably still think I'm American but at least there would be plausible deniability! No it would just confirm a widely held opinion that most americans are Mentally Challenged! Sorry couldnt resist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 They'd probably still think I'm American but at least there would be plausible deniability! No it would just confirm a widely held opinion that most americans are Mentally Challenged! Sorry couldnt resist As long as I get to my destination in one piece, I'll take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blink Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) LOL thats the Spirit! Kudos for getting 13 pages out of this btw Im off to bed tis late here. Oh there is an Iranian man that rents out quite a lot of condos to fellow Nationals in VT1. He may be the indirect cause of your problem? Edited June 3, 2013 by blink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ohio Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 We were with two pairs of people on the Zip Lining one pair from Israel the other from Palestine we are a couple from USA & Holland. After we got talking amongst ourselves during Lunch the Palestiian Couple , her wearing very brief vacation type clothing said & the Jewish couple agreed that if they saw each other across the border when home they would probably try to kill each other . That bought it all home to me. We are in Thailand for Vacation leave your politics at home. Even if you live in Pattaya your homegrown Politics should be there. Just an opinion. My Nationality when abroad is my business. I don't advertise that I am a Trainer for LE & Intel Services either. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 I certainly didn't want to bring my politics onto that bus but I didn't want to LIE about my politics either. So I zoned out. Sue me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 As long as I get to my destination in one piece, I'll take it. Seems this thread is about gaining ATTENTION and nothing else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 As long as I get to my destination in one piece, I'll take it. Seems this thread is about gaining ATTENTION and nothing else. Any chance I could monetize that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piston broke Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 jingy, old fella - can i suggest buying either a car or a scooter and you can then its up to you who sits near to you........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) jingy, old fella - can i suggest buying either a car or a scooter and you can then its up to you who sits near to you........ How original. Let me check. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yet again. The OP indicates the bigger issue presented here. Nationalities that may be in conflict mixing here and how that can sometimes, possibly, be a sensitive matter. It is NOT a baht bus topic per se. Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 So, I take it that discussions regarding the establishment of a straight white English speaking western male homeland in Naklua would be met with intolerance and bigotry? Who would notice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onionluke Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 The big bhat bus of life . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post WinnieTheKhwai Posted June 3, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) This macho crap is ridiculous. If you can avoid provoking a crowd of drunk people to beat you up, you avoid it. Some people would have lied about their politics but I just wasn't up to that. I didn't board that bus to get into a sensitive political debate with a gang of drunks. I boarded it to get to where I was going. PERIOD. I am open to PLEASANT socializing on the bus but what was put into my face there was the opposite of pleasant. You think way too much. (And then post about it way too much, too) When cornered in this discussion on personal xenophobia and general ignorance you tell us time and again they were big and drunk, thinking it will all make sense again. What you're doing though is muddying the topic away from the original title/intent: "Enemy" nationals and wondering about etiquette. It's either one or the other: Yes, when surrounded by (potentially) aggressive drunks from any nationality (very much including my/your own) you avoid too much conversation; nothing wrong with that and almost goes without saying. But when on a bus with a couple Iranians who aren't overly drunk, that's the main question isn't it? I've been in that exact situation with a bunch of Iranians and guess what: I made polite conversation. They didn't bring up politics. By the looks of things, politics was not what brought them to Pattaya, and neither was it for me. At that moment we had a lot more in common than set us apart. Another thing, I think the media in the US (I'd say mainstream, but it's pretty much all media) are doing a lousy job of equipping Americans with even the most basic of understanding of countries, cultures and people outside of the US. It's mostly sensationalism and fear mongering. Guess what, Iran is a very large and extremely diverse country. The kind of urban / middle class demographic that can travel to Pattaya is highly unlikely to hold fundamentalist religious/political views. In that sense it's not too dissimilar from the US/European demographic that travels to Thailand. Geopolitics is just about the last thing on their mind. BTW, I'm HAPPY people from all over the world travel to Thailand; I love meeting people from other places, it's one of the things that makes Pattaya unique. I'd actually love to visit Iran too. I think it's safe to say that just about anything Westerners think they know about Iran, is wrong. Edited June 3, 2013 by WinnieTheKhwai 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) ... BTW, I'm HAPPY people from all over the world travel to Thailand; I love meeting people from other places, it's one of the things that makes Pattaya unique. ... Me too. Please do not twist what I've posted to imply that I don't. I have been crystal clear for years that I am a CHAMPION of diversity. Even back in the U.S. most of places I lived were populated with FOREIGN immigrants, illegal and otherwise. Because I do love the FLAVOR. Also don't assume this American is not informed about Iran. One can be informed about Iran and still be against their regime, for sanctions, against their nuclear weapons development program, against their leadership's holocaust denial and irrational demonization of Israel, against their coerced male genital removals of homosexuals, against stoning of adulterous women, against their totally rigged elections, against their extremely dictatorial theocracy, etc. etc. etc. I know there are forces in Iran who would love to topple their theocracy but I understand they don't do it because they don't want to be MURDERED. Being well informed, I also know quite well how many Iranians would rationally feel hostility to the USA, for policies both in the distant past and in the present. Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joepattaya1961 Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Not to be nasty, but what does it say if you have to lie about your nationality? Means you have to lie about it in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and lots of other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) Not to be nasty, but what does it say if you have to lie about your nationality? Means you have to lie about it in Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, and lots of other countries. You're wrong. Cambodia and Vietnam are not in current wars/soft wars with the USA. North Korea, Americans can't travel there anyway, so, so what? I did travel to North Vietnam long ago back when there weren't many American tourists yet. I was the star of the show and was given lots and lots of special attention. The question I got all the time was: why aren't MORE of you Americans visiting? I felt they should be mad, but they weren't. Yes I was fed some propaganda, but that wasn't a problem for me with my background as an anti-Vietnam war protester. They wanted more American tourists and I think since then, they've gotten them. Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiNiro Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 As an American, I've seen allot of attitude from the English and would avoid a group of drunk Englishmen before I would shy away from some Iranians. The Iranians I have encountered have all been civilized. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 (edited) As an American, I've seen allot of attitude from the English and would avoid a group of drunk Englishmen before I would shy away from some Iranians. The Iranians I have encountered have all been civilized. I agree I've seen some very scary crowds of drunken Englishmen. No argument there. But the potential danger there is of a different nature. The USA and England are not in any kind of war. The USA and Iran ... are. (I'll side with the USA on this one against the tyrannical theocratic regime in Iran, thank you very much.) Edited June 3, 2013 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 More than 300 posts, I suppose you must be satisfied, Jingthing, you got what your looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 3, 2013 Author Share Posted June 3, 2013 More than 300 posts, I suppose you must be satisfied, Jingthing, you got what your looking for. Not so much. I was looking for a more serious discussion about the greater topic -- nationals from countries in conflict mixing here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 I like the way you concoct it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
His Masters Voice Posted June 3, 2013 Share Posted June 3, 2013 Personally, I think you did the right thing. I'd have kept quiet myself, for fear of bursting into tears at the memory of Argentina, 1978. 35 years later those memories still haunt me. Care to expand as it is still to difficult for me to discuss? God be with you and give strength to you my son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.png.3b3332cc2256ad0edbc2fe9404feeef0.png)
Recommended Posts