Thai Kids / People - Respect And Politeness

[Doza]

So I'm in Central the other day, in the lift going up to Food Loft. There is a young Thai girl maybe 8 - 9 years old with a white middle class Bangkok Thai looking face with what appears to be the 'nanny' holding her school bag and of Isaan appearance and about 30-40 years old.

The kid steps on my thonged toe pretty hard. I let out a yelp (she got the end of my toe). The kid is young so she just looks at me and looks embarrassed - fair enough, don't expect her to speak up.

'Nanny' just looks at me and quickly looks away.

She does not offer an apology (or scold the kid) or anything because:

a) she assumes because I'm farang & can't speak Thai and she doesn't speak English therefore there is no point apologising in Thai - even the gesture would be lost on me

she is too embarrassed to talk to me because I'm farang

c) because I am farang I don't warrant any sort of acknowledgment

d) it's a Thai thing and even if I was Thai nothing would be said / done

e) something else (please specify)

Please just answer with A,B,C,D or specify something else in E.

Ps. just for the record I wasn't bothered but thought it was interesting.

Edited March 30, 2006 by Doza

[Doza]

And why does 'b' come as a smiley face???!!!

[GuestHouse]

Things are improving.

A guy once stepped on Duangchalerm's foot in a BKK Nightclub and wound up getting shot for the indiscretion.

[Losangels]

Things are improving.

A guy once stepped on Duangchalerm's foot in a BKK Nightclub and wound up getting shot for the indiscretion.

Got away with murder due to the fact that his dad is a big-shot (sen-yai)

[OldAsiaHand]

.....Please just answer with A,B,C,D or specify something else in E.

The correct ansser is A, , C, D, and E.

Actually, come to think of it, 'all of the above' is almost always the right answer around here.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Had that situation happened in the UK then you'd have probably been charged by the police and put under observation by social workers...

[English Noodles]

Had that situation happened in the UK then you'd have probably been charged by the police and put under observation by social workers...

What on earth are you talking about? Did you read the post or just glance at it?

A child stood on an adults toe. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me how this would result in criminal actions in the United Kingdom.

[Doza]

Not too many 'letter only' (a,b,c,d,e) answers but anyway...keep 'em coming.

And thanks Noodles- not sure what The Dan Sai Kid is on about.

[sbk]

probably b.

And it comes out as a smiley because if you look at the smiley shortcuts, a "b" and a ")" come out as

[backflip]

You met an impolite child and an impolite nanny. Please, get over it.

[meadish_sweetball]

B, and depending on the person/s involved, D.

[Thaising]

The Nanny : ขอโทษ ขอโทษ ขอโทษ The little child : khaaw thoht khaaw thoht The Farang : Sorry oh Sorry

[steveromagnino]

The Nanny : ขอโทษ ขอโทษ ขอโทษ The little child : khaaw thoht khaaw thoht The Farang : Sorry oh Sorry

Correction:

The farang

ขอตด ขอตด ท้องเสีย

[Scott]

Correct answer "C".

[Thaising]

The Nanny : ขอโทษ ขอโทษ ขอโทษ The little child : khaaw thoht khaaw thoht The Farang : Sorry oh Sorry

Correction:

The farang

ขอตด ขอตด ท้องเสีย

Hahaha... .... .... to much bisolax may works wonder.

[bbigman21]

Thai are very Shy

[Levent]

Thai are very Shy

If that's another way to say they're very rude... yes, I guess so. One thing is to avoid confrontations, another is simply being rude and ignoring you. While I'm sure Thais still have a sense of respect for elderly people and monks, they don't seem to care too much about "equals". Yesterday I had a bad experience which I won't forget soon. I was lied to and ripped off, and the police helped it happen. They didn't dare look in my face while ripping me off. I'm not talking about higher baht bus fares or double pricing for DVD's, I'm talking about a scam which is probably pulled off day in, day out. It seems to me that farangs are walking targets here.

Sorry if I'm going off-topic now, but I'm infuriated. Have a look at my post "Ripped off by Thai couple and police" for the full story.

[terdsak_12]

Ignorance explains most things here.

[siamesekitty]

Hmm, could be a bit of each?

a) she assumes because I'm farang & can't speak Thai and she doesn't speak English therefore there is no point apologising in Thai - even the gesture would be lost on me

b ) she is too embarrassed to talk to me because I'm farang

c) because I am farang I don't warrant any sort of acknowledgment

a, b, c : Moment of awkwardness - "Ohmigod, a farang! What do I do, what do I say? Um, what's the farang word to use? Uh, 'taeng yoo'? ######, why did this have to happen? Aaargh, I know, I'll just pretend I didn't see it, doop-dee-doo.. "

d) it's a Thai thing and even if I was Thai nothing would be said / done

If you were Thai, it's likely that she would have said, "khor thod ka." Or maybe not. Believe it or not, there are people who really don't know how to behave with strangers in public situations. It's possible her parents neglected to teach her social skills (eg. drunkard mother/father or uneducated rural family that didn't get much exposure to other people?) If your parents didn't drill "please" and "thank you" into you at an early age, it wouldn't come automatically in a split-second situation.

Also, she might not have been aware that although it wasn't her who stepped on your foot, she was responsible for the apology, as the child was in her care. (Nobody ever taught her that)

e) something else (please specify)

Simply flustered, feeling awkward, embarassed. Didn't know what to do, so decided to just ignore it (stick head in sand and hope the whole thing would go away)

[jdinasia]

It's a bit of a BKK thing ... the more crowded this city gets the more people retreat a bit ...

Same situation in Petchaburi and the child would have wai'd and the nanny grinned

Sorry ... left out the obvious question ... how were you dressed that you were wearing shoes like that? and why were you crowding them on the escalator?

Edited March 31, 2006 by jdinasia

[Neeranam]

Ignorance explains most things here.

A bit harsh - I'd say cultural difference.

Maybe the nanny was having a bad day - Thai people can have bad days too.

Maybe she thought ha ha <deleted> the farang, they're all *<deleted> - who knows.

It used to drive me crazy, Thais not holding the door open etc for me , the almighty, until I realised that I can't change them and either had to accept that they do things differently to Scottish people.

Acceptance is the key to enjoying living in Thailand.

[jdinasia]

at least Thai men look better in skirts than scotsmen

[Doza]

Sorry ... left out the obvious question ... how were you dressed that you were wearing shoes like that? and why were you crowding them on the escalator?

How was I dressed? In jeans, t-shirt and trendy thongs. As if it makes any difference and what's it to you?

You met an impolite child and an impolite nanny. Please, get over it.

Read the last line of my post. Then get over yourself. Edited March 31, 2006 by Doza

[steveromagnino]

Thai are very Shy

If that's another way to say they're very rude... yes, I guess so. One thing is to avoid confrontations, another is simply being rude and ignoring you. While I'm sure Thais still have a sense of respect for elderly people and monks, they don't seem to care too much about "equals". Yesterday I had a bad experience which I won't forget soon. I was lied to and ripped off, and the police helped it happen. They didn't dare look in my face while ripping me off. I'm not talking about higher baht bus fares or double pricing for DVD's, I'm talking about a scam which is probably pulled off day in, day out. It seems to me that farangs are walking targets here.

Sorry if I'm going off-topic now, but I'm infuriated. Have a look at my post "Ripped off by Thai couple and police" for the full story.

Nice generalisations ; I am very sorry for your problem but please don't tar all of us with the same brush of some loser in Pattaya who ripped you off.

I think you were very unlucky, and had I seen the thing, I would have been very willing to help you. Many others might feel the same way; but Pattaya is kind of a magnet for losers, crooks and rogues, both Thai and foreign.....

[PeaceBlondie]

In three years in Thailand, except for a couple of times when entire classes of matayom students got unruly, I have only had one extremely ill-mannered Thai child, and I dealt with him openly, with confrontations, and the parents were too lazy to A: discipline their child; or B: confront the elderly, well-dressed farang ajarn who was in the right.

In contrast, I have been respectfully waiied by literally thousands of students, countless times. I have been given preferential treatment more often than I even realized it. I am still pleasantly amazed to watch a Thai child just sit at a table or on the seashore, amusing himself without vandalizing, without shouting, without squirming. They're far better behaved than some of my spoiled, rude grandchildren in Texas are.

The original post is much ado about nothing, as acknowledged by the original poster. As for wearing sandals: I was coming across a very crowded, narrow international bridge once, on my motorcycle. The policeman ordered me to wedge my way between the two lanes inching their way to Texas. I made the mistake of putting my left sandal more than a centimeter from my bike, and a tire tread rolled over my toenail. It could have been far, far worse. I just propped my left foot atop his hood (front bonnet to you Brits) to show him what he'd done, and proceeded to the USA.

The longer I live in Thailand, the mai bpen rai-er I get.

[The Dan Sai Kid]

Had that situation happened in the UK then you'd have probably been charged by the police and put under observation by social workers...

What on earth are you talking about? Did you read the post or just glance at it?

A child stood on an adults toe. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE tell me how this would result in criminal actions in the United Kingdom.

Yes, I did read it thank you. It was merely a sarcastic comment regarding the current culture of kids underage running wild and doing what they like with seemingly no sort of come-back.

Man, it was just a joke - no need to blow up about it

[greenwanderer108]

POSSIBLE ANSWERS : A, B, C, D

LIKELY ANSWER : E

Prior to this incident, Nanny and little girl were walking behind you in the large central crowd...You hadn't noticed them because you were engrossed in the curves of two University girls just ahead of you. ////EDIT///

5 minutes later, the foot stepping incident happens...Nanny and little girl don't know how to react and think to themselves ไอ้ฝรังโรกจิต !!!

The toilet humour goes in the Bedlam forum, when you earn enough posts. Thank you. (moderator, PeaceBlondie)

[Stephen Cleary]

Things are improving.

A guy once stepped on Duangchalerm's foot in a BKK Nightclub and wound up getting shot for the indiscretion.

Got away with murder due to the fact that his dad is a big-shot (sen-yai)

Duangchalerm was cleared innocent in a court of justice

It is illegal in Thailand to dispute the decision of a judge.

This comment (as below) is breaking the Thai law:

Got away with murder due to the fact that his dad is a big-shot (sen-yai)

Edited March 31, 2006 by stevesuphan

[Donz]

who knows, everyone is different, maybe they didnt care, doesnt mean they will all step on toes and say nothing.

There is <deleted> in all races.