Why are TV members so anti Hi-So Thais?

[Bcgardener]

It always amazes me through the various TV topics that most members appear to be critical of Hi-So Thais. I don't understand this? This is their Country and most of them or the ancestors have contributed some way into making Thailand the strong Asian economy that it is.

I realise that a great deal of these Hi-So Thais have Chinese heritage and judging by my business dealings with suppliers, control the majority of businesses here in Thailand. However without this contribution I doubt that Thailand would be in its current position and probably still an agricultural based economy. I agree that foreign investment has been a major contributing factor but without the Hi-So Thai "component" it would not have happened. The low unemployment and growing middle class, also would not have happened.

The culture here is too flaunt your wealth which can be a little "annoying" to a lot of westerners but this is not a Western Country and even the poorest Thais look at this exhibition of wealth and aspire to achieve the same thing isn't this a good thing for a country?

Happy to take comments and rebuttals on this but thought I would just express an opinion.

[somtampet]

Maybe some dont like the racism against skin colour,that some hi-so thais have.A few wannabe hi-so farangs on here too,which doesnt help,calling Issan folks as lower class,brainless,etc etc

[BookMan]

Maybe some Lo-So orientated members are jealous of the Hi-So?

[theblether]

I'm not......I had a cracking night out with loads of Hi-So Thais last night and was extended every courtesy, as I always am when I'm in their company.

Mercedes Girl said yesterday that just about everyone in Thailand has Chinese blood, it's only a question of how far back you need to go to find the ancestor.

Is she right?

[Soutpeel]

Ones suspects its jealously to a degree and the fact certain farangs in Thailand consider themselves "old colonials" and how dare the native be better off than they are, the natives should be our picking rice in the fields and eating leaves from the side of the road and be glad of their lot.....not wearing the latest fashions, living in multi-million dollar mansions and driving Bentley's....

[Scottythai]

I like em. Who else can a guy take money from on the golf course?

[theblether]

Absolutely Soutpeel

[greg71]

Thai like titles ,hi so - lo so ,but we as foreigners are nothing but NO SO .which is fine by me

[trainman34014]

Jealousy mainly. In my home country the 'lower classes', for want of an expression, are always bitching about people who have got anything that they don't have.

I brought my family up to believe that with hard work anything is possible no matter your family history of perhaps working class roots. I think it is true to say that there are many more Thai's than my fellow countrymen who have inherited wealth previously gathered through nepotistic means or corruption. However; that's the way it works in Asia generally and i just can't see the point in jealousy at all. What good has it ever done anyone? Happiness is not about what you want; it is about wanting what you have.

[Soutpeel]

Thai like titles ,hi so - lo so ,but we as foreigners are nothing but NO SO .which is fine by me

the current system of "classes" is no different from the "class" system which was so prelevant in the UK, and to a degree still exists today..

ie the Ruling class, upper class, middle class and the plebs...

[Soutpeel]

who have inherited wealth previously gathered through nepotistic means or corruption. However; that's the way it works in Asia.

Which was for hundreds of years in europe the norm as well....how do you think the ruling classes in the UK got to be the ruling classes ?....granted things have changed in the UK...but do you think in the 1960, the ruling classes would have granted a knighthood to some scouse commoner who could play the guitar ?....not on your life...

This class thing, although it does have something to do with the amount of money, there are other factors...family history, connections in the right places etc etc...

Do you really think the ruling classes in the UK see someone like Donald Trump as their equal ?....no way...he is colonial pleb who got lucky in their eyes, yes he has lots of money but still a lower class pleb...Harvard or not..

[pigeonjake]

im an english pleb, married a thai pleb,,

but my god are we happy in our pleb life,,,lol

there will allways be jealousy, not just in thailand,

i dont think there is as much of it in the village as there is in the big citys, could be wrong,

just my thoughts jake

[pigeonjake]

its not what you know,

its who you know, and in what circles you move in,

what do they say about lottery winners, its new money or something like that,

they might have millions, but they will never be welcome in the true money circles

[trainman34014]

who have inherited wealth previously gathered through nepotistic means or corruption. However; that's the way it works in Asia.

Which was for hundreds of years in europe the norm as well....how do you think the ruling classes in the UK got to be the ruling classes ?....granted things have changed in the UK...but do you think in the 1960, the ruling classes would have granted a knighthood to some scouse commoner who could play the guitar ?....not on your life...

This class thing, although it does have something to do with the amount of money, there are other factors...family history, connections in the right places etc etc...

Do you really think the ruling classes in the UK see someone like Donald Trump as their equal ?....no way...he is colonial pleb who got lucky in their eyes, yes he has lots of money but still a lower class pleb...Harvard or not..

Like many other folks i have spent money in Donald Trumps Casino's in Atlantic City where he is revered as a clever bloke. Was i thinking of him as a Colonial Pleb as i played the slots? Or, did i care if he was a Multi-Billionaire who had a lot more money than me? Was i thinking about how he is seen in the minds of the British rich and powerful? Hardly; i was there doing what i wanted to be doing and not giving a stuff about any of it !

[mancub]

Could it have something to do with being continually subjected to their stereotyped portrayal in those mindless soap operas ? Not helped by the corrupt antics of supposedly hi-so government and other officials.

[theblether]

@trainman

Quite right.......however on topic I do think Soutpeel is correct about people coming here with a superior attitude and getting a shock when they find they are no marks on the feeding chain.

It must drive them mad.

Edited June 29, 2013 by theblether

[lemoncake]

The real rich people, do not have the need to show off or rub it into anyone's face.

I only have a problem with wanna be high-so, those who like to state how much money they have in the bank, because i believe 99% of the time, they do not even have the 10th of what they claim to have.

[willyumiii]

Maybe the USA has a better plan? Just eliminate the middle class and only have rich and poor?

I think Thai So, Hi So and Lo So is just fine for Thais.

Farangs who come here without knowing the system first, didn't do there homework.

They need to go home. They can not change it and shouldn't try.

Try not complaining instead!

[rct99q]

The real rich people, do not have the need to show off or rub it into anyone's face.

I only have a problem with wanna be high-so, those who like to state how much money they have in the bank, because i believe 99% of the time, they do not even have the 10th of what they claim to have.

I disagree slightly with your statement that the real rich people (here in thailand) do not have the need to show off or rub it into anyone's face. Some relish doing this. It reaffirms their status in Thai society. They may not "need" to do it because everybody in those circles know who they are), but they ENJOY doing it, part of the power thing.

Just my opinion though, no hard facts.

[rct99q]

Also many farang are looked down on by the Hi-So and most (99%) would never stand a chance of getting a Hi-So wife or girlfriend, without having oodles of money. And at that if you are that rich why in the world would you bother with a Hi-So Thai woman. There are much better Hi-So women in the world thaat will be better spouses than here.

And before you post "I was with some Hi-So last night....or am married to one..." unless I see her name in the Thai Republican or So Me Thai magazine you are not married to a Hi-So.

[theblether]

Mercedes Girl was saying yesterday that you can tell the difference at weddings, an Isaan wedding is an excuse to get wrecked for three days, a Hi-So wedding she went to recently had 2,000 guests and it was all over in one day.

She made a telling point, at the Hi-So wedding the only drinks available were expensive brandies and the like. She said there were plenty of people moaning because they only wanted a Chang and when they asked for one, they were told the Bridal party hadn't made any provision for beer.

She said the day was perfect in every other regard, but the social media was buzzing with people chortling that the wedding was too posh for beer.

Ah, the minor details.

[villagefarang]

As a young man in my twenties and thirties I found the better-off Thais I met were exceedingly welcoming, kind, polite and generous, with regards to me. They were well educated and traveled, making conversation easier and more interesting.

Their stories and personal knowledge of prominent players in Thai history were fascinating for a young man learning about Thailand. No doubt my longevity in Thailand is due in part to having known these people.

[trainman34014]

@trainman

Quite right.......however on topic I do think Soutpeel is correct about people coming here with a superior attitude and getting a shock when they find they are no marks on the feeding chain.

It must drive them mad.

Yes; it does drive them nuts. Superior attitude= Snobbery. I have a Brit' pal who lives not far from me and he is a terrible snob in almost every moment of his life. He completely dominates his Thai wife and the poor girl has almost no mind of her own left but, she follows the money and remains 'under the boot' for the sake of the family that he fully supports. I could write a book about his 'superior attitude' antics but suffice to say that i just ignore the majority of it and get on with being just another Human Being without any axes to grind.

[Soutpeel]

@trainman

Quite right.......however on topic I do think Soutpeel is correct about people coming here with a superior attitude and getting a shock when they find they are no marks on the feeding chain.

It must drive them mad.

Yes; it does drive them nuts. Superior attitude= Snobbery. I have a Brit' pal who lives not far from me and he is a terrible snob in almost every moment of his life. He completely dominates his Thai wife and the poor girl has almost no mind of her own left but, she follows the money and remains 'under the boot' for the sake of the family that he fully supports. I could write a book about his 'superior attitude' antics but suffice to say that i just ignore the majority of it and get on with being just another Human Being without any axes to grind.

What your describing is not snobbery but being a control freak, one suspects he see his wife as his "property"...something very very different from snobbery or even having a superior attitude..

[theblether]

It's all born of the same insecurity Soutpeel.

I get amazed at the amount of people I meet, not only here in Thailand, who are social cripples.

Unable to conduct themselves in any setting, they hide behind conceit, arrogance and snobbery to disguise their inadequacies.

I bet if that Thai lady described by trainman called that guy out he would burst into tears.

I'd put money on it.

[meom]

Jealousy mainly. In my home country the 'lower classes', for want of an expression, are always bitching about people who have got anything that they don't have.

I think it’s more to do with the fact that in Thailand wealth and connections are being used to trump the rule of law.

Happens in the West as well but not as blatantly as in Thailand.

[Bcgardener]

As a young man in my twenties and thirties I found the better-off Thais I met were exceedingly welcoming, kind, polite and generous, with regards to me. They were well educated and traveled, making conversation easier and more interesting.

Their stories and personal knowledge of prominent players in Thai history were fascinating for a young man learning about Thailand. No doubt my longevity in Thailand is due in part to having known these people.

I totally agree with you on that. I have done business in Thailand since 1996 and moved my factory here in 2006. Without the help of the wealthier Thai business people I had be-friended over the 10 years prior to moving, it would have been much harder to establish things here, and I am not talking about corruption. Mainly they helped with simply giving me the names of reliable suppliers and just general advice on "doing business" here. When based in Australia I had a number of them come on holidays or business and always gave them a bit of a tour and helped where I could . I think they just reciprocated the favour.

I agree with your first paragraph, I also found that the more travelled and by default wealthier Thais had a better understanding of the World and were more interesting. It's a shame that the education system here is so backward that people need to get out of the country to get a "real" education. Obviously this disadvantages the bulk of the population... but getting off topic here. I have some great conversations on politics and many other subjects with my next door neighbour who is a Thai neurosurgeon, and well travelled.

[impulse]

Same reason there's so many American bashers here on TV.

[aTomsLife]

In many instances the term "hi-so" is throw about too casually. In Chiang Mai particularly, where there seems to be a sizable middle class, I've heard it used numerous times to describe women / families who are living a lifestyle typically attributed to westerners. I've often heard it used to describe the college and young professional sets partying in clubs on Nimmanhaemen.

In some cases it seems guys regard any Thai woman who doesn't fawn over farangs as thinking themselves "hi-so". Because of course if they don't date farangs they must be rich already, or some such nonsense like that.

[Banzai99]

Also many farang are looked down on by the Hi-So and most (99%) would never stand a chance of getting a Hi-So wife or girlfriend, without having oodles of money.

Or ThaiVisa membership.