How to handle Thais butting and cutting in public

[happysanook]

7-11, phone shops, work when I was teaching. Wherever. They cut and butt as if you're not even standing there. I don't just mean in lines, I mean while in the middle of conversation with a shop owner/worker etc.

I find this is nearly a daily occurrence.. Sometimes it happens multiple times within a single trip out.

In 7 years, I still am not used to it. I usually stay quiet and stew over it later, but there have been a few times where that wasn't the case and I'm probably lucky I'm in the countryside or cm as opposed to BKK.

How do you handle it?

Edited September 4, 2013 by happysanook

[sawatter]

take a large step backwards. walk out if practicable.

Edited September 4, 2013 by sawatter

[wayned]

I tap them on the shoulder and point to the back of the line. Normally if the clerk shes me do it she won't service them and tells them to get in line.

[David48]

Wait till you have to deal the Chinese en-mass ... you will find the Thai's quite orderly and polite.

No disrespect meant to the China folk (OCH) but their competitiveness at the counter has to be seen to be believed!

[wamberal]

Swallow your pride, and put up with it. Never, ever make somebody you don't know lose face. 99 times out of 100, maybe 999 out of 1000, you will get away with it.

Once in a while you will irritate somebody who might strike out at you. It is just not worth the risk. Smile, make eye contact with others who are waiting, and enjoy your life without taking any unnecessary risks.

[wprime]

Cut back in front of them and smile at them. They won't lose face.

[hanno]

Wait till you have to deal the Chinese en-mass ... you will find the Thai's quite orderly and polite.

No disrespect meant to the China folk (OCH) but their competitiveness at the counter has to be seen to be believed!

Agreed, the Thais are harmless compared to the Chinese. I worked in Beijing for a couple of years; having played second row sure came in handy at the bank teller or supermarket check-out.

[wayned]

Elevators and trains are a real treat in Japan!

[kurnell]

I had a chap jump in front of me at an ATM with a big smile on his face. I pressed 'cancel' and threw his card away. I take no prisoners at Au Bon Pain either.

[sms747]

Don't let them get away with it, tell them they have no manners DO make them lose face, they will NOT attack you. All that happens is you get that stupid blank look, they think they can do it as nobody normally says anything.

[corkythecat]

      Swallow your pride, and put up with it.  Never, ever make somebody you don't know lose face.  99 times out of 100, maybe 999 out of 1000, you will get away with it.

 

     Once in a while you will irritate somebody who might strike out at you.  It is just not worth the risk.  Smile, make eye contact with others who are waiting, and enjoy your life without taking any unnecessary risks.

pathetic !

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[mascarakatze]

The Russians make Chinese and Thais else look like they have gone to charm school. The Russians push, they shove, they butt in, no excuse me, no i'm sorry

[jackr]

Swallow your pride, and put up with it. Never, ever make somebody you don't know lose face. 99 times out of 100, maybe 999 out of 1000, you will get away with it.

Once in a while you will irritate somebody who might strike out at you. It is just not worth the risk. Smile, make eye contact with others who are waiting, and enjoy your life without taking any unnecessary risks.

Hey, why not go whole-hog and bend over while you're at it?

[wamberal]

Swallow your pride, and put up with it. Never, ever make somebody you don't know lose face. 99 times out of 100, maybe 999 out of 1000, you will get away with it.

Once in a while you will irritate somebody who might strike out at you. It is just not worth the risk. Smile, make eye contact with others who are waiting, and enjoy your life without taking any unnecessary risks.

pathetic !

That's your opinion. A few years ago I was in Hua Hin, had a bit of an argument with an old fella about a parking space, he walked over to his car, opened the glove-box, and pulled out a handgun. Pathetic, eh?

[robblok]

Never had this happen too me, i just make sure they can't get passed me. It also helps to tell them in Thai that the cue starts behind you.

In the post-office everyone gets a number and waits, in the 711's never had them try to get past me. ATM's same story, maybe its me maybe its you but I don't see this happening. I might not get out as much as you.

[Puyai]

It's always happening to me in queues. A simple "where are you going? I have been waiting longer than you, krap". Spoken politely in Thai does the trick.

[Johnniey]

First, try to understand Thai thinking and the social hierarchy. If a 50 y/o walks into 7/11 that is full of 7 y/o s, he will most likely swick the queue.

If there is a typical farang English teacher wearing a 200 baht nylon shirt and sneakers on his feet, the same reasoning happens. Accept your place on the social ladder or dress accordingly to your occupation. As most farang haven't even a slight understanding of the 'system', Thais generalize.

Can you speak Thai?

If after 7 years you can't, well....

If you can, tell them your grievances but in a light, humorous way.

[David48]

First, try to understand Thai thinking and the social hierarchy. If a 50 y/o walks into 7/11 that is full of 7 y/o s, he will most likely swick the queue.

"he will most likely swick the queue" ... is that a typo or a new phrase?

[i claudius]

Only once have i had anyone push in front ,it was a russian at tuk com ,when i was talking to an assistant about buying something ,the Woman a Russian just pushed in front and started talking ,i pushed her out of the way and and told her to get behind me ,she walked out in a huff . ,i was at the floating market another time and went to the loo,when i came out my wife was talking to the attendant ,it seems the woman told my wife that the Chinese were the most rude and tight people in the world ,they even try to get a discount on the toilet price ,or try to sneak in around the side.

[rideswings]

It is a daily occurrence for me, and I find it amusing when they do it, but I dont let them get in front of me. I will just take a step in front of them, gently persuade them to get behind me by showing them my back, and give the cashier my money as quickly as possible. Some of them are really good at it if they get the cashiers attention and pay before you have a chance to, then the cashier is at their mercy.

If, on a rare occasion, one does sneak in front of me, I have been known to nudge them forward, very gracefully and inconspicuously. If they look back at me and wonder if it was I who nudged them, I just look up at the ceiling and whistle as if saying, "who me? No i didnt do it. I dont know what youre talking about" They know what they did, and there is a price for their impertinence! (joking)

OMG this is soooo funny. I thought I was the only sicko in Thailand who worries about this trivial stuff!

Another one is when I am at a traffic light and all the motorbikes cue up, and theres always that one guy who will pull in front of me, even if I am the first bike in the cue. Im lucky I have a quick bike, I usually cut them off and let them smell my exhaust.

My ex GF was the line cutting pro. She didnt care if there was a 100 year old woman in line, she went straight to the front, and shoved her money at the cashier. I got tired of telling her how rude that was, and just stood my distance whenever she did it. Funny thing was nobody in all the time I knew here ever said anything about it. Could have been because of her nasty scowl that she wore.

[Bluetongue]

As far as the interrupting goes, that happens a lot, so I just do so too. If you walk into a small shop you just say what you want no matter who is talking, and they will serve you in turn. In the 7/11 it doesn't happen to me, those cashiers are pretty good at sorting out who's first in the queue. But other places, yes. Just yesterday I had 4 or 5 items at the local small supermarket half way through scanning, and a guy came to the counter and asked for a bandaid, the cashier has them right there, and gave him one and took his one baht. There was really no time to speak of to interfere. When this happened it annoyed me but not as much as drivers overtaking against oncoming traffic and forcing their way into the queue just ahead of you, so as I have to let that slide, I let this slide too. Never happened at an ATM where its much more likely that people stand aside as many are very slow using ATM up country and know it, so to be polite they let you go first.

[brewsterbudgen]

Where does this happen? In 8 years of living in Bangkok it's genuinely not something I've noticed. Maybe it's a rural/suburban problem? Now, dawdling Thais who have a complete lack of spatial awareness, that still gets to me.

[Danny Dyer]

Swallow your pride, and put up with it. Never, ever make somebody you don't know lose face. 99 times out of 100, maybe 999 out of 1000, you will get away with it.

Once in a while you will irritate somebody who might strike out at you. It is just not worth the risk. Smile, make eye contact with others who are waiting, and enjoy your life without taking any unnecessary risks.

Get a grip ya melt.

[sms747]

Where does this happen? In 8 years of living in Bangkok it's genuinely not something I've noticed. Maybe it's a rural/suburban problem? Now, dawdling Thais who have a complete lack of spatial awareness, that still gets to me.

You never use the buses much in bkk then? a free for all, women are by far the worst pushers in

[brewsterbudgen]

Where does this happen? In 8 years of living in Bangkok it's genuinely not something I've noticed. Maybe it's a rural/suburban problem? Now, dawdling Thais who have a complete lack of spatial awareness, that still gets to me.

You never use the buses much in bkk then? a free for all, women are by far the worst pushers in

No, I never use the buses in Bangkok. I use the BTS daily and sometimes wish people would be more forceful in butting themselves into crowded carriages that have plenty of space in the middle!

[Banzai99]

I had a chap jump in front of me at an ATM with a big smile on his face. I pressed 'cancel' and threw his card away. I take no prisoners at Au Bon Pain either

Yeah right, of course you did, ...

[uptheos]

I had a chap jump in front of me at an ATM with a big smile on his face. I pressed 'cancel' and threw his card away. I take no prisoners at Au Bon Pain either

Yeah right, of course you did, ...

Probably showed his Khao San Special Forces tattoo as well.

[jackr]

Where does this happen? In 8 years of living in Bangkok it's genuinely not something I've noticed. Maybe it's a rural/suburban problem?

Did you find your way out of your condo yet?

[Litlos]

The Thai's are bad, but they are not alone. The other week in Tel Aviv airport going to put my bag on the scanner and had people trying to cut in from both sides, having been in Asia a few years and used to this so I just kept on going and got my bag on there first. The attendant who was there ensure all went smoothly and looked liked he was not a local gave me a smile, the old hag and the other guy trying to push in were not so impressed with my ability to block their cut in. After this we all went and waited in another line, so the net gain by cutting in would have been first to join the next queue. No problem for me as I had a government security letter and went to a different queue anyway.

I have also experienced the line cutters in Bangkok, mostly from Indians and Arabs, though one particular young pommy recently tried it and was a bit offended when I told him to piss off.

Having worked in China for a while yes the queues (?) at MacDonald's etc were a free for all, but I had a bit of height on them and a few kilos to back it up with and learnt to just keep going and ignore the sour looks. Funniest thing I ever saw in China was in Walmart Shekou. Apparently they had a special on large live frogs and had installed a kids swimming pool about 5m dia and 60cm deep with said frogs in it in the food section. To aid the customers selecting their frog there were 3 very harassed looking girls wearing white wellington boots in the pool with the frogs and a net on a short pole. The pool was surrounded by a crowd about three deep all screaming out "That one" or something similar, and pointing at a particular frog, which then proceeded to hop to the other side of the pool. I tried to take a photo, but the security guard said no camera's.

Cheers

[Fookhaht]

Never had this happen too me, i just make sure they can't get passed me. It also helps to tell them in Thai that the cue starts behind you.

In the post-office everyone gets a number and waits, in the 711's never had them try to get past me. ATM's same story, maybe its me maybe its you but I don't see this happening. I might not get out as much as you.

At our local immigration office, you take a number, but the immigration staff pays no attention to it. They will serve whoever jumps up and goes to the desk after another foreigner finishes. It is there, you will see how ugly we foreigners can get when it comes to line-jumping (in this case, number jumping). Saw one foreigner (who knew the "system" or "lack-of-system"), walk in, talk in the view of 15 others waiting in the chairs, and then proceeded to walk directly to a just-then-empty chair at a service desk. To make it worse, he was served by the totally inattentive staff. People with bad manners are everywhere, and this particular "bloke" had an accent which indicated that he came from a country with a high QRQ (queue-respect-quotient).