Surrounded By "enemy" Nationals On A Baht Bus; Confused As To Proper Etiquette

[sustento]

I think that I would have said "yes I am English" and we used to get on very well with your people when your country was Persia

And to the Russian " You would do well to remember....many brave Allied seamen gave up their lives on the Artic convoys to feed and equip your Nation

Why are you both such paranoid people

While you were at it you could have mentioned the Anglo Persian Oil Company and Mohammed Mossadegh. After that you could tell the Russian that the 25,000,000 Russian deaths during WWII were of minor importance. You'd have been the most popular man on the bus.

[Jingthing]

This is a stupid post. I guess you really have not traveled much. The Iranians are not the slightest interested who you are or your nationality.

They are here for a good time. If they had asked you tell them you are American and I am sure they would be very friendly. I have traveled many times with them in buses. Nice people.

I bet I've traveled more than you, mate.

Did you read the thread? Funny way of not being interested.

[Jingthing]

So why did you get on the bus with so many in the first place?

Be honest, you were chasing tail right?

I get on any bus with a seat open. By the time I had realized I had crashed a Farsi Party, I was already settled.

[OZEMADE]

I think that if you were a Yank, Canuck, Pom or Aussie, would be about as popular as a pork chop in a synagogue.

Riding in that Baht bus.

[DD13]

I think that I would have said "yes I am English" and we used to get on very well with your people when your country was Persia

And to the Russian " You would do well to remember....many brave Allied seamen gave up their lives on the Artic convoys to feed and equip your Nation

Why are you both such paranoid people

While you were at it you could have mentioned the Anglo Persian Oil Company and Mohammed Mossadegh. After that you could tell the Russian that the 25,000,000 Russian deaths during WWII were of minor importance. You'd have been the most popular man on the bus.

I don't remember suggesting that the Russian deaths were unimportant......what's your point?

[MrZM]

So why did you get on the bus with so many in the first place?

Be honest, you were chasing tail right?

I get on any bus with a seat open. By the time I had realized I had crashed a Farsi Party, I was already settled.

Just in case the next bus charges you more....

[skyaslimit]

Pattaya is in Thailand and Thailand has peaceful/friendly relations internationally BUT many of the nationals visiting Pattaya ... don't.

 

So last night I boarded a baht bus and it was chock full with drunken, singing happy IRANIAN young men (30ish) having a grand tourism time.

 

Nothing against these blokes as PEOPLE, but my country's government and their country's government are in my opinion engaged in a long standing SOFT WAR.

 

So I felt awkward.

 

I know some people will say, it's the governments in conflict NOT the people, BUT you can't know their politics,  even though you do know their fundamentalism is under doubt considering the open beer bottles and drunkenness.

 

Yes of course but surely they are still NATIONALIST. That is only natural. Anyway, you can make assumptions and guesses about their politics all day long, but you don't KNOW. 

 

Then there are my issues: I support my government's efforts against the Iranian government. I am NOT apolitical about this at all. 

 

So then a Russian and/or Bulgarian lady boards and she is loving the scene. She thinks I am one of them. She determines the men are from Iran and expresses her friendship towards Iran and they make it clear I am NOT one of them. 

 

The entire bus now is pointing me out, the one who isn't with the group, what nationality am I, how do I fit into all this scene on the baht bus. 

 

I acted dumb and zoned out. I didn't have the energy to play the I'M CANADIAN game though even if I'm not above that in a pinch. Turned on my smart phone and opened Thaivisa. NO WAY was I going to come out as American surrounded by drunken Iranians. I know many people would feel OK to say I'm American to these guys and would call me paranoid. But I wasn't comfortable coming out as American in that situation, and it seemed the smart reaction at that time. 

 

It's not the drunken Iranian's fault. But its the real world and the real world still exists in Pattaya, drunkenness or not. 

 

So I remain CONFUSED about the proper etiquette when surrounded by "enemy" nationals on a baht bus. I'm sure this isn't the last time (not the first either) such situations are going to come up here, being American and all

next time when you travel and gonna board any thing which moves check out for...Chinese, north Koreans, Russians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, afghans, Syrians, Arabs, Burmese, Vietnamese, gays, Jews and Muslims...

oh my god this is the 2/3rd population of the whole world

[MrZM]

Pattaya is in Thailand and Thailand has peaceful/friendly relations internationally BUT many of the nationals visiting Pattaya ... don't.

So last night I boarded a baht bus and it was chock full with drunken, singing happy IRANIAN young men (30ish) having a grand tourism time.

Nothing against these blokes as PEOPLE, but my country's government and their country's government are in my opinion engaged in a long standing SOFT WAR.

So I felt awkward.

I know some people will say, it's the governments in conflict NOT the people, BUT you can't know their politics, even though you do know their fundamentalism is under doubt considering the open beer bottles and drunkenness.

Yes of course but surely they are still NATIONALIST. That is only natural. Anyway, you can make assumptions and guesses about their politics all day long, but you don't KNOW.

Then there are my issues: I support my government's efforts against the Iranian government. I am NOT apolitical about this at all.

So then a Russian and/or Bulgarian lady boards and she is loving the scene. She thinks I am one of them. She determines the men are from Iran and expresses her friendship towards Iran and they make it clear I am NOT one of them.

The entire bus now is pointing me out, the one who isn't with the group, what nationality am I, how do I fit into all this scene on the baht bus.

I acted dumb and zoned out. I didn't have the energy to play the I'M CANADIAN game though even if I'm not above that in a pinch. Turned on my smart phone and opened Thaivisa. NO WAY was I going to come out as American surrounded by drunken Iranians. I know many people would feel OK to say I'm American to these guys and would call me paranoid. But I wasn't comfortable coming out as American in that situation, and it seemed the smart reaction at that time.

It's not the drunken Iranian's fault. But its the real world and the real world still exists in Pattaya, drunkenness or not.

So I remain CONFUSED about the proper etiquette when surrounded by "enemy" nationals on a baht bus. I'm sure this isn't the last time (not the first either) such situations are going to come up here, being American and all

next time when you travel and gonna board any thing which moves check out for...Chinese, north Koreans, Russians, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis, afghans, Syrians, Arabs, Burmese, Vietnamese, gays, Jews and Muslims...

oh my god this is the 2/3rd population of the whole world

It was either the blank by the girls on the baht bus, as they preferred Iranian men it the fact is jingling is a ....

I actually can't believe this is continuing.

As the above says, it virtually impossible for you to travel on a baht bus as all around hate Americans.

Something fishy going on...

[sustento]

I think that I would have said "yes I am English" and we used to get on very well with your people when your country was Persia

And to the Russian " You would do well to remember....many brave Allied seamen gave up their lives on the Artic convoys to feed and equip your Nation

Why are you both such paranoid people

While you were at it you could have mentioned the Anglo Persian Oil Company and Mohammed Mossadegh. After that you could tell the Russian that the 25,000,000 Russian deaths during WWII were of minor importance. You'd have been the most popular man on the bus.

I don't remember suggesting that the Russian deaths were unimportant......what's your point?

My point is that it's a bit crass pointing out the loss of 3,000 Allied sailors to someone whose country suffered 10 million military and 15 million civilian deaths during the same conflict.

[raro]

Someone can be lucky that I cannot issue holidays from my phone app. The post, however, is hidden from public view.

On a personal note, I met a bunch of iranians over the years and all of them were decent people.

Any further racial slurs won't be tolerated whatsoever.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[toenail]

I am an American and have worked/ lived in 5 different countries, one of them was Saudi Arabia. When I was there twelve years ago, I was able to get a tourist visa and visit Iran (of course, with one of their government tour guides to keep and eye on my buddy and me). As most of you educated readers know, Iran (once called Persia) had amazing historical cities such as Shiraz, Esfahan, Masshad along with the tradtional Persian art and architecture. When I went there I was afraid that the people would be more closed and conservative than the Saudis. I was wrong. They were friendly and would even come up to me and start a converstion - including the older woman (this would never happen in Saudi).(Many of then have relatives living in California) My government guide, (who had to record my every move), had been educated in the States in the 1970's before the Shah of Iran was removed -he and his Iranian wife had one child in the USA that held an American passport and was attending an American university at the time. I was amazed of the hospitality of the Iranians and (unlike their neighbors -the new rich oil Arabs across the gulf) the Iranians were well educated from being computer savy to being able to recite poems from famous Persian poets such as Omar Khayyam. Of course the Iranians would value education and history since their civilization dates back to ancient times. So the stereotype one gets from FOX News or from their crazy leader, Mohammed Ahmkadnejad, does not represent the rest of the Iranian population. And another thing I discovered when I was there, the clergymen that took over after the Shah left, are not liked in the country. These "religious" men of power own many monopolies in Iran and have to drive around in bullet proof Mercedes because they are hated so much. So when I see Iranians in Pattaya, I do not hold any ill feelings. I feel happy for them that they can come to Thailand and have a good time. True, there are some rotten apples that come here and get their pics in the paper but so do Americans and other Westerners.

[Jingthing]

I do not hold any ill feelings towards Persian people either. (Rather, I detest the Iranian REGIME.) But I felt threatened in that situation and I had REASON to. They were all DRUNK. There is no way I could have predicted the POLITICS of that large group of people or how they might have reacted to a person like me, one person. Drunk people especially in large groups are UNPREDICTABLE. If anyone imagines I started this thread to DISS Iranian people in general, well, they clearly haven't even bothered to read the thread.

It was about AN INCIDENT. Also if anyone imagines there isn't sometimes friction or POTENTIAL friction between nationalities here, or even factions WITHIN nationalities (such as during the last American election), they are being very, very naive. In an international tourist resort like Pattaya, this is a fact of life, and personally I thought it was something worth discussing. But it seems clear some people can't accept that or lack the maturity to discuss a sensitive topic without flaming.

Yes, USUALLY, because most people are here for the pleasure it offers, frictions from back home are left back home. But that doesn't mean that there still isn't at least some potential for those frictions to manifest here.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[jombom]

Jing could have got off the baht bus, and picked up the next one. Imagine WW3 saved for the expenditure of 10 baht. The Pentagon would be proud.

And what exactly is an enemy nationalist in this context ---- we don't have another war yet, do we?

[FDog]

My contact with Iranian girls has been very nice.

JT, perhaps they were from the Iranian Restaurant Review Board and had read all your reviews and just wanted to meet the legend.

Or they thought one of your reviews was crap and therefore it was best you kept silent.

[MrZM]

I do not hold any ill feelings towards Persian people either. But I felt threatened in that situation and I had REASON to. They were all DRUNK. There is no way I could have predicted the POLITICS of that large group of people or how they might have reacted to a person like me, one person. If anyone imagines I started this thread to DISS Iranian people in general, well, they clearly haven't even bothered to read the thread. It was about AN INCIDENT. Also if anyone imagines there isn't sometimes friction or POTENTIAL friction between nationalities here, or even factions WITHIN nationalities (such as during the last American election), they are being very, very naive.

What incident?

Think someone has gone a bit Yabadabadoo.

What was with the paranoia on the baht bus?

Why did it really bother you?

Pattaya all day and night is full of drunk tourists, surely one would expect to be in these positions.

So you didn't talk or mutter a word, the hole of your long journey, just in case they heard your accent!

I think, mmm, yes 100% we should write to the Pattaya mayor and request that baht buses are country coded, one for the UK, one for the French etcetcetc.

Save all these big incidents where nothing happened.

[raro]

I am an American and have worked/ lived in 5 different countries, one of them was Saudi Arabia. When I was there twelve years ago, I was able to get a tourist visa and visit Iran (of course, with one of their government tour guides to keep and eye on my buddy and me). As most of you educated readers know, Iran (once called Persia) had amazing historical cities such as Shiraz, Esfahan, Masshad along with the tradtional Persian art and architecture. When I went there I was afraid that the people would be more closed and conservative than the Saudis. I was wrong. They were friendly and would even come up to me and start a converstion - including the older woman (this would never happen in Saudi).(Many of then have relatives living in California) My government guide, (who had to record my every move), had been educated in the States in the 1970's before the Shah of Iran was removed -he and his Iranian wife had one child in the USA that held an American passport and was attending an American university at the time. I was amazed of the hospitality of the Iranians and (unlike their neighbors -the new rich oil Arabs across the gulf) the Iranians were well educated from being computer savy to being able to recite poems from famous Persian poets such as Omar Khayyam. Of course the Iranians would value education and history since their civilization dates back to ancient times. So the stereotype one gets from FOX News or from their crazy leader, Mohammed Ahmkadnejad, does not represent the rest of the Iranian population. And another thing I discovered when I was there, the clergymen that took over after the Shah left, are not liked in the country. These "religious" men of power own many monopolies in Iran and have to drive around in bullet proof Mercedes because they are hated so much. So when I see Iranians in Pattaya, I do not hold any ill feelings. I feel happy for them that they can come to Thailand and have a good time. True, there are some rotten apples that come here and get their pics in the paper but so do Americans and other Westerners.

thanks for that one. Iranians are not Arabs. They have an entirely different cultural background. They speak a indogermanic language that is close to old Latin and Greece and has nothing to do with Arab languages . This not as a valuating but distinguishing statement.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[jbrain]

Someone can be lucky that I cannot issue holidays from my phone app. The post, however, is hidden from public view.

On a personal note, I met a bunch of iranians over the years and all of them were decent people.

Any further racial slurs won't be tolerated whatsoever.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

You want to issue holidays from your phone ?

Here is a link to the 50 ultimate travel apps

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/shop/50-ultimate-travel-apps-so-far-353352

No need for thanks, you're welcome

Edited May 31, 2013 by jbrain

[raro]

Someone can be lucky that I cannot issue holidays from my phone app. The post, however, is hidden from public view.

On a personal note, I met a bunch of iranians over the years and all of them were decent people.

Any further racial slurs won't be tolerated whatsoever.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

 

You want to issue holidays from your phone ?

 

Here is a link to the 50 ultimate travel apps

 

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/shop/50-ultimate-travel-apps-so-far-353352

 

No need for thanks, you're welcome

well, the moderation functions on tapas alk tapatalk are rather limited... But they are getting better, so watch out folks

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Jingthing]

Personally I think this thread has now gone off the rails and the suggestions I solicited about etiquette have already been offered, such as they are.

I knew people would call me paranoid so that's no surprise. Other than that, if the same thing happens tomorrow, I'll probably do the same thing and zone out. It worked once, so why not again?

I didn't find any of the other suggestions any better but thanks for the responses that were of the more rational kind.

Edited May 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[MrZM]

Personally I think this thread has now gone off the rails and the suggestions I solicited about etiquette have already been offered, such as they are.

I knew people would call me paranoid so that's no surprise. Other than that, if the same thing happens tomorrow, I'll probably do the same thing and zone out. It worked once, so why not again?

(Hint hint.)

Hopefully a mod will shut it down.

[anon8]

Iranians are 'Arab Light'

and thats a fact

[sustento]

Iranians are 'Arab Light'

and thats a fact

Go on then. Explain why Iranians are 'Arab Light'

[MrZM]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22723722

The relationship seems to be getting better.

[Jingthing]

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22723722

The relationship seems to be getting better.

That's funny. It's done to help topple their regime. Good move. Hope it helps.

[jbrain]

When we gone have a Baht bus sub forum ?

[Jingthing]

When we gone have a Baht bus sub forum ?

When pigs take baht buses?

This isn't a BB topic per se.

It's about "enemy" nationals being crammed together into small spaces in Pattaya. Could have just as easily been a stuck elevator!

Edited May 31, 2013 by Jingthing

[anon8]

Iranians are 'Arab Light'

and thats a fact

Go on then. Explain why Iranians are 'Arab Light'

Im not gonna go on explaining basic Sunni/Shia stuff , my knowledgeable friend.

I realize you felt the need to sound knowledgeable about Mid east Allah Akhbar freakery, but you failed to realize I wasnt being all that serious.

[sustento]

They are Muslims now (they used to be Zoroastrians) but they are not and never have been Arabs. They're Persian. Persian/Iranian is a nationality not a religion.

[jbrain]

When we gone have a Baht bus sub forum ?

When pigs take baht buses?

This isn't a BB topic per se.

It's about "enemy" nationals being crammed together into small spaces in Pattaya. Could have just as easily been a stuck elevator!

Well in that case I suggest next time you take a baht bus ride you leave your usual uniform at home.

[anon8]

regardless. They are cute as buttons and should be lured into a quickly every time opportunity arises.