Farang V Farang Why are we ignoring each other?

[aechzen]

i say hello to every sweet farang girl !

[beautifulthailand99]

the lack of comment on this post says it all about most farang living here . i admit that when shopping i dont always aknowledge other farang which is how it is in my home country unless i actually know the person . so i am acting normaly which i imagine every one else is .

Yes, but if you live in a small town or village up country, and you see a Farang you do not know, it would be nice to acknowledge him, then see what reaction you get, if it is positve, I would start up a conversation with him.

I live in a small town, up country. If I go into town, I may see 1 or 2 other farang a week. If I go to Lotus, I see at least 1 farang every visit. On one visit to Lotus I counted 19 farang.

I always try to make eye contact and if they do the same, then I will at least say "Hi". But, I must say that very few ever make eye contact. They seem to deliberately look the other way. It can be annoying sometimes, but my Thai wife and I usually end up laughing about it.

They have probably clocked you covertly counting them ! Farang counting - now there's a new hobby for those with too much time on their hands. We need an app so we can monitor the number of farangs moving around in real-time and then analyse the trends for what I know what not.

[NoshowJones]

the lack of comment on this post says it all about most farang living here . i admit that when shopping i dont always aknowledge other farang which is how it is in my home country unless i actually know the person . so i am acting normaly which i imagine every one else is .

Yes, but if you live in a small town or village up country, and you see a Farang you do not know, it would be nice to acknowledge him, then see what reaction you get, if it is positve, I would start up a conversation with him.

I live in a small town, up country. If I go into town, I may see 1 or 2 other farang a week. If I go to Lotus, I see at least 1 farang every visit. On one visit to Lotus I counted 19 farang.

I always try to make eye contact and if they do the same, then I will at least say "Hi". But, I must say that very few ever make eye contact. They seem to deliberately look the other way. It can be annoying sometimes, but my Thai wife and I usually end up laughing about it.

[NoshowJones]

the lack of comment on this post says it all about most farang living here . i admit that when shopping i dont always aknowledge other farang which is how it is in my home country unless i actually know the person . so i am acting normaly which i imagine every one else is .

Yes, but if you live in a small town or village up country, and you see a Farang you do not know, it would be nice to acknowledge him, then see what reaction you get, if it is positve, I would start up a conversation with him.

I live in a small town, up country. If I go into town, I may see 1 or 2 other farang a week. If I go to Lotus, I see at least 1 farang every visit. On one visit to Lotus I counted 19 farang.

I always try to make eye contact and if they do the same, then I will at least say "Hi". But, I must say that very few ever make eye contact. They seem to deliberately look the other way. It can be annoying sometimes, but my Thai wife and I usually end up laughing about it.

Yes, I agree.

[tingtongfarang]

maybe its time to have a national farang on farang hello week

[cpofc]

hey arent we all in this together?

In what together? Against whom?

I am in nothing, with noone.

Actually, I met a farang in my Soi last night. Not something that happens on a regular basis where I am. W had a bit of a yak and exchanged numbers with the intention of having a coldie together in the near future. But that's not because we have to be' all in it together'. He was a genuinely interesting, polite, decent bloke.

I have seen this same, us against them theory, exist in another Ex Pat Community in Australia, with those from the UK. Isolating themselves, then the unscrupulous using it and ultimately cashing in on it. Very ugly.

[stickylies]

65% are white trash or totally uninteresting, dominant, know-it-all, loud, frustrated males.

20% are misanthropists (like myself) not interested in social contact with other farang (unless there is similar interests -> NOT footbal, nor beer, nor cars, nor women).

10% of farang are mongoloid (as in: utterly stupid, not bad people)

5% are nice/interesting folks.

^^ this goes +/- for all countries i have lived in sofar, except that the white trash index seems higher in Thailand.

[Dap]

Although I have heard this before, I have never (20 yrs) experienced it. I say hi, they say hi, done deal no problems.

[Oishii]

the lack of comment on this post says it all about most farang living here . i admit that when shopping i dont always aknowledge other farang which is how it is in my home country unless i actually know the person . so i am acting normaly which i imagine every one else is .

Yes, but if you live in a small town or village up country, and you see a Farang you do not know, it would be nice to acknowledge him, then see what reaction you get, if it is positve, I would start up a conversation with him.

I live in a small town, up country. If I go into town, I may see 1 or 2 other farang a week. If I go to Lotus, I see at least 1 farang every visit. On one visit to Lotus I counted 19 farang.

I always try to make eye contact and if they do the same, then I will at least say "Hi". But, I must say that very few ever make eye contact. They seem to deliberately look the other way. It can be annoying sometimes, but my Thai wife and I usually end up laughing about it.

They have probably clocked you covertly counting them ! Farang counting - now there's a new hobby for those with too much time on their hands. We need an app so we can monitor the number of farangs moving around in real-time and then analyse the trends for what I know what not.

There's an app for that! What a great idea. I'll look into that.

When I first arrived in town, I didn't see a farang for about the first 2 weeks, so was beginning to think that I was the only farang in the village. That's why I started counting how many I saw. The day I saw 19 in Lotus, I was shocked to see so many.

Sex: The most fun you can have without laughing. Woody Allen.

Sent from my iPad with Retina display, using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Dap]

They seem to get upset with me when I say you have a very lovely daughter.

You sound like an old guy with hormones still doing stuff................... alt=laugh.png>

You got it all wrong the daughter is not really the daughter

Oh I get it, It's the son right?

[MILT]

I try to avoid all human contact! That's right! "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

From a Hobbit. One that would know!

[loofa]

I don't ignore people back home and I don't ignore people here. Where I'm from in the U.S. people are friendly, and kind for the most part, and I find the same here with locals and tourists. Expats well, there are exceptions, but they are often folks who didn't like where they were before, spend a lot of time critiquing where they are now, and just don't tend to shine the positive, so I wouldn't judge all farang by that bunch, it's a unique demographic.

Look for people who are here because they fell in love with a place and WENT there, as opposed to folks who disliked a place and LEFT. There is a big difference, and I think that with the former, you'll find eye contact and smiles.

[somtampet]

I would suggest that most of us speak to other farangs a lot more than thais.I dont go shopping and say hi to every farang,the same as i dont do it to thais,silly post realy

[Oishii]

I don't ignore people back home and I don't ignore people here. Where I'm from in the U.S. people are friendly, and kind for the most part, and I find the same here with locals and tourists. Expats well, there are exceptions, but they are often folks who didn't like where they were before, spend a lot of time critiquing where they are now, and just don't tend to shine the positive, so I wouldn't judge all farang by that bunch, it's a unique demographic.

Look for people who are here because they fell in love with a place and WENT there, as opposed to folks who disliked a place and LEFT. There is a big difference, and I think that with the former, you'll find eye contact and smiles.

I must say that many of the other farang I see around town do see a bit down. I am told by others and feel it myself, that I always look happy. Perhaps the other farang aren't happy here and dislike me because I am.

Sex: The most fun you can have without laughing. Woody Allen.

Sent from my iPad with Retina display, using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mayday49]

Sounds like Someone needs to Man Up ... If any poor Bloke needs too be stroked like the empathy seeking Person , (super Troll) , that started this ..... then ramble on ...

[dao16]

In the past 10 years of living here I've had some strange encounters with foreigners.

The most extraordinary being at 2:00am in Sukhumvit a Londoner asked "Where you from in London" I told him and he replied "Who do you support" I replied that I didn't really like football "Why don't you support Millwall?" and punched me in the face. I had nose bleed. Wrong time, wrong place but can you imagine this from any other race?

There was a famous quote somewhere I read about leaving 2 Englishmen together and within 5 minutes they find reasons to not to like each other.

My Thai wife has spotted lost foreigners looking at maps and encouraged me to help them. Once I ask "can we help you at all?" the young man gave me a stern look and replied "No...can I help you?" I looked at my wife and said "Please don't ask me to do that again" My take on this was that they want an authentic experience and the idea of another foreigner helping them ruins it for them.

in the case of farangs in general being rude to each other, It might be that all the attention from woman makes foreigners start to take themselves a little too seriously.

I had a very similar experience some years ago in another large Asian city with a (sometimes) crazily confusing subway system. Got out at my regular stop and was headed to my exit when I saw a foreign couple looking at a map, trying to figure out what exit to take. As there are/were around 15 exits and the roads are something like 12 lanes, it really does matter that you use the right exit, depending on where you want to go.

I offered to help them (I knew my work exit and the 3-4 major tourist attractions around, plus embassies) and the guy gave me the look of death and said nothing. The girlfriend/wife apologized profusely and I just sarcastically wished them good luck....nice way to waste 15-20 minutes. I know, I had done it myself before, but he was THE NAVIGATOR!!!!!!!!!!

[indyuk]

Except for the early years I have deliberately stayed away from farang.

When I did socialise with farangs, mostly European, I found that the farang that I met were mostly full of problems. Drugs, Booze, Drunkenness, abusive behaviour, and criminality. I don't do drugs, I abide by the law and detest abusive people, especially the Pedo variety which were uncomfortably numerous in Phuket back then (20 years ago).

I moved to the Eastern Seaboard 10 years ago.Now I'm elderly and would like to have European friends. However alcoholism among farang in my village is a real problem even in my own peer group. Blissfully european Pedos are fewer on the Eastern Seaboard than they were in Phuket, I glad of that.

Oh I forgot I'm sick of the 'farang panhandlers' that used to pounce on me in public for the last 1000 Baht they say they need to buy a plane ticket home that they will never actually buy. Capiche?

[Stokakrishna]

The same thing has happened to me many times, I have lived in a small town for past 6 years.

many times when seen farangs living or passing by my town (Banpong , Ratchaburi) i tried to nod, smile or just say hi.

In 98% situation i met with coldness.

No reaction at all from their side was the kindest of replies.

usually i got a stinky look or been treated as an air.

Since then i stopped being nice...

My answer to this "problem" is that when farangs come to Thailand they do not want to associate with other farangs. they can do it at home. here they want to explore thailand and Thai people. And we expats are kind of on their way.

later on when some of them decide to stay for longer they might change their view.

to be honest when i first arrived in thailand i also wanted to stay as far as possible from other farangs

[TheSpade]

I don't feel the need to talk to farang just because they are farang.

Lots of drunks, socially awkward types, sexpats / sex tourists etc.

Not my cup of tea.

Every now and then meet some good guys but it's rare.

[Nooky2]

I believe the the foreigners here are the worst of the worst from our own countries. I would say 90%. The remaining 10% fall into different categories.

For my experience, initially, I think everyone comes to Thailand with a certain level of excitement and like myself say hi to foreigners when you see them. It doesn't take long to change your attitude from work experiences and just general exposure to foreigners in public. Add to that the poor treatment from Thais and you just stop talking to foreigners. Maybe that's why there are so many poster in TV because that's the only conversation we have with foreigners.

I won't go into nationalities, that will create a firestorm.

[lahgon29]

As a rule I dont talk to people I dont know if I can avoid it - too many undesirables in Bangkok.

Dont get me wrong, I dont think my s*** smells of roses, but a casual 'hello' in reply to one from a passer-by has turned into a conversation I'd far rather not be having way too many times here.

My s*** smells of roses...You can say "Hello" to me anytime! :-)

[Dumu Ali]

Farang are less friendly here because they feel more shy due to they have alterior agenda and all have different sezxual tastes and may not agree on eachothers flavor of R&R

[Cbr150r]

In certain instances it takes an effort to not acknowledge someone and it is these cases, over many years, that have changed my attitude from being someone who used to instigate a nod or hello to almost never instigate it. Normally I acknowledge someone if they nod or say hello first unless I'm skeptical about their intentions (which isn't often).

What I find sad here in Thailand is the general lack of manners like holding a door open for the person behind you or someone saying thank you if you perform a simple courtesy for someone.

These comments are directed at farang in Bangkok.

[Joe Mamma]

When they find out i am a retired cop they get a urgent page or call.

[super22k]

I get on great with Farangs. I bite them,chew them and swallow them.They are a little Thai apple-like fruit. Oh! sorry,I would not like to bite,chew and swallow some of the shop soiled types you get in bars.

Seriously,When I see an ex-pat I say,"Hows it going?"and they generally reply,"OK". Whats the problem? As that guy in central England,Stratford-on-Avon,was it Bill or William Shakespeare said ,"Much ado about nothing".

[timewilltell]

Maybe it is the fear they might be German! Or maybe that the foreigner is from Someakstan and can't speak a word of English, misunderstands completely and shoots you dead on the spot for disturbing his day.

Edited August 28, 2013 by timewilltell

[dighambara]

HMMM...??? I have not seen this to be widespread. However, Americans seem to recognize countrymen, as do Germans. IMHO, Russians and Germans ignore everyone else, but Brits, Americans, Aussies & some Europeans get along quite well, greeting each other on the street.

[GeorgeO]

I think the question is, why should a Westerner acknowledge another Westerner simply because they are both 'farangs' in a foreign land? If you don't know the person, and you wouldn't acknowledge them back home, then why would you do so here?

I run golf events for expats (Westerners) here, so I have met and become friends with 100s of them; but it was the events that brought us together; I didn't go chasing them down in the street.

If there is any common ground between such foreigners in a foreign land, then they will come together; if there is no common ground, then there is no real reason why they should.

[bangon04]

Millions of people you'd routinely ignore back in the West

So

If they ride a 747 they become long lost friends

.

It seems to be different for americans.. they are often so pleased to have a chance to explain their long journey outside the states and demonstrate their knowledge of local customs and geographical knowledge. Oh you come from London Europe?

Brits would often not even talk to their neighbours for the first 20 years in the city, and in a small village you are still the "Newcomers" for at least 20 years.

[jack1964]

Whilst my Thai wife was in Australia, we frequented area where Thai's lived and worked, and my wife didn't acknowledge any of them. Campbell Street Sydney, dedicated to Thai's and not a single hello from either wife nor Thai's who frequented the streets. And I certainly don't acknowledge falangs in my home country, we just walk on by. I suppose it is much the fact that most falangs would already accept that you have a group you hang with, and they don't need to enter that group. Unfortunately this is 2013, and people are in a rush, be it on holiday, retirement, or their desire to get to the next life....It's all hurry, hurry, hurry. The good old days aint ever coming back. If your in trouble or if you fall down, someone will pick you up, but other than that, not much need for concern, as people are just living life. Oh well, so much for that I suppose. It's normal. Happy chappies meeting and greeting and smiling and engaging every falang in the street would be put in a straight jacket, and we don't need that do we now. We all have enough to worry about.