Farang, go home!

[Mapguy]

This news item caught my attention:

University Lecturer Blames ‘Farang’ for Thailand’s Problems – Her Message: Go Home Foreigners

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2765

What do you think?

[Thai at Heart]

Maybe one day we all will.. Every single one of us, the companies, investors and all the rest and the Thais can get back to ripping each other off.

[Mapguy]

"Sabai Sabai" ?! Really?! That seems to contradict your unhappiness! When are you leaving?

Edited December 2, 2013 by Mapguy

[Thai at Heart]

"Sabai Sabai" ?! Really?! That seems to contradict your unhappiness! When are you leaving?

2 and 1/2 months ago after 18 years.

[Lobin]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

Edited December 2, 2013 by Lobin

[Loaded]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

That's not my experience. However, I observe foreigners who inhabit the lower echelons of society by marrying uneducated poor women or even sex workers and their experiences are very different to mine.

I pay my way but nobody asks me for money. I can't think of the last time I knowingly paid a different price for something in Chiang Mai. I visited the zoo a few weeks ago and there is 2-tier pricing for foreign tourists. The girl behind the counter saw my wife and children and without asking charged me the same as a local.

I'm sure there are Thais that don't like me simply because I'm a foreigner. This would be no different to the attitudes of many people in my home country towards foreigners as well. I don't assume the attitudes of a few bigots represent the general feeling of most Thais.

[Thailand]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

That's not my experience. However, I observe foreigners who inhabit the lower echelons of society by marrying uneducated poor women or even sex workers and their experiences are very different to mine.

I pay my way but nobody asks me for money. I can't think of the last time I knowingly paid a different price for something in Chiang Mai. I visited the zoo a few weeks ago and there is 2-tier pricing for foreign tourists. The girl behind the counter saw my wife and children and without asking charged me the same as a local.

I'm sure there are Thais that don't like me simply because I'm a foreigner. This would be no different to the attitudes of many people in my home country towards foreigners as well. I don't assume the attitudes of a few bigots represent the general feeling of most Thais.

+1 And the majority of our friends are Thai.

[Saan]

So he has lived here for seven years and has finally found a Thai who doesn't like foreigners. He could try Thai Visa and in seven seconds would find a foreigner who doesn't like Thais.

[davehowden]

She only feels the same way that I do about all the foreigners that live in the UK.

Maybe she is just being unusually "honest"?

[Bernard Flint]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

That's not my experience. However, I observe foreigners who inhabit the lower echelons of society by marrying uneducated poor women or even sex workers and their experiences are very different to mine.

I pay my way but nobody asks me for money. I can't think of the last time I knowingly paid a different price for something in Chiang Mai. I visited the zoo a few weeks ago and there is 2-tier pricing for foreign tourists. The girl behind the counter saw my wife and children and without asking charged me the same as a local.

I'm sure there are Thais that don't like me simply because I'm a foreigner. This would be no different to the attitudes of many people in my home country towards foreigners as well. I don't assume the attitudes of a few bigots represent the general feeling of most Thais.

Sir

you are correct,i am sure many many thais will not like you

[NancyL]

Perhaps this Maejo professor spends her evenings alone at home drinking red wine and writing inflammatory posts on social media in the wee hours of the morning just to stir up the audience -- I think you've found a soul mate, Mapguy!

[Dante99]

"I don't assume the attitudes of a few bigots represent the general feeling of most Thais." Agreed and thank you Loaded.

It is not an article worthy of discussion and have to wonder why it is posted except as a troll.

[Beetlejuice]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

I agree with you to a point, although Thai prejudice against farangs is not in the epic proportions as you are trying to suggest.

Strange actually because the most blatant in your face prejudice I have experienced in Thailand has come from the more educated prominent Thais, mostly middle aged women in fact, but thankfully these incidents have been very few and far between.

Even some of my neighbors whom I have known for years, still regard me being rich and believe I should pay more in Thailand than the poor so-called downtrodden hard working Thais and I should be entitled to nothing. There is no convincing them otherwise, although I have tried. It`s just a stigma that has stuck and refuses to fade away.

We never know what some people are really thinking about us, even those who appear nice and are always polite with us face to face. If all the ex-pats were one day given their marching orders to leave the country, I doubt that the average Thai Joe public would give a toss.

Obviously the prejudice is there in some of the people, this is the down side to living as a foreigner in a foreign land. It makes us realise how foreigners, especially those of other races and cultures, must feel in our own countries, to be part of the communities, but to never be really excepted into them.

[anonymouse]

I'd say most Thais will tolerate us or are apathetic towards us and don't really care if we are here or not. I get a distinct impression the next door neighbors don't like me they are Chinese/Thai and would probably voice similar feelings though this is more of a gut feeling than any hard evidence.

Then again they are all kicking the bejejus out of each other down in Bangkok so many of them don't seem to like each other.

The missus likes me.....I think

[crusader79]

I was surprised to learn from the biography The Ideal Man just how bitter Jim Thompson had become about Thailand by the time of his disappearance in 1967, having concluded that he was unwelcome. In fact jealous business rivals are among the leading suspects in that disappearance (aka death). This is brushed out of his contemporary image and the happy house tours.

[Minnehaha]

This is my home. And I probably pay more taxes than she does.

[Minnehaha]

This is my home. And I probably pay more taxes than she does.

And I speak Thai better than she do Englend.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Minnehaha

[ARISTIDE]

Things like "You eat my rice" or " used my water river" sounded like a pretty nut case.

[elektrified]

you really think that the general Thai populace actually think any different to her? After being here for a long time, it is blatantly obvious that we are not welcome here, we are tolerated because we pay, we are just as unwelcome as foreigners are in our home countries... You will meet individuals that dont fit the mould certainly, but to Thais as a "collective" we are not welcome but our money is, perpetual paying guests, that is all we are and all we will ever be.

The sooner you accept that fact the better.

That's not my experience. However, I observe foreigners who inhabit the lower echelons of society by marrying uneducated poor women or even sex workers and their experiences are very different to mine.

I pay my way but nobody asks me for money. I can't think of the last time I knowingly paid a different price for something in Chiang Mai. I visited the zoo a few weeks ago and there is 2-tier pricing for foreign tourists. The girl behind the counter saw my wife and children and without asking charged me the same as a local.

I'm sure there are Thais that don't like me simply because I'm a foreigner. This would be no different to the attitudes of many people in my home country towards foreigners as well. I don't assume the attitudes of a few bigots represent the general feeling of most Thais.

I agree with everything you say.

I think there may be some resentment/dislike in Bangkok in recent years but have never noticed it here in the North. Also in places like Hat Yai, Pattani, etc. I never noticed it. I did see some absolute hatred for the Russians on my last visits to Koh Chang and Phuket, but the feelings were not directed at all farangs; only Russians.

I have to say that the woman in the article working on her Ph.D. can barely write in English. Mae Jo University has many, many butch lesbians including teachers so maybe the woman disliked the male farang English teacher for some other personal reasons. (Flame away, but true). I would not read too much into a facebook posting anyway.

I don't know why Mapguy bothered posting this at 3:00 (most likely after a few), only to stir up controversy as he always does, I'm sure. I see it as a non-issue.

[draftvader]

There is so much "cooked up" noise in the media at the moment it is hard to see the truth. Even if this is true then it is a fairly benign comment on the whole. Half-baked, unthought, reasoning for "foreigners to go home"? I hear the same rubbish in the UK constantly and, in a VERY similar way, I have to remind them that ALL Brits were foreigners and our great nation was founded on those international relations. Without the Roman empire we would be nothing, as an example.

In a similar vein there is no "true Thai". The people here are a melting pot of Khmer, Chinese, Burmese, Indian and Western people. If she wants all foreigners to go home then the country will be pretty empty. Thailand has had the advantage of being a geographical cross-roads for a long time. It is about time they woke up, realised the strength in foreign interest and moved forward. Change the outside view of Thailand from beaches, cheap sex and the odd temple to the regional powerhouse. Unfortunately for Thailand that doesn't start with the words "We are making Thailand the hub for...."

[steffi]

It's attitudes like her's that trivializes violence towards foreigners. It's starts like this and then it's always the foreigners fault when they become victims of malicious violent acts against them.

[Morakot]

A slightly misleading headline about a nutcase lecturer ranting on Bookface

[mca]

On a day to day basis I would imagine the vast majority of Thais don't even give us a second thought. Some foreigners place too much importance on their 'standing" in the grand scheme of things regarding how they are viewed by Thais. Basically most Thais couldn't give a sh*t about us one way or another. Of course when you get some loon pop out of the woodwork like in the OP and then it's " Thais hate farangs" No, she hates farangs and is living proof that education and intelligence are definitely not connected.

[Jasun]

At a time when the country's own people hate each other so much, what chance has the average farang?

[worgeordie]

She is just another person letting words flow from her mouth,

before thinking it through, about what actually she is saying.

It happens both to Thais and Farangs,think the scientific name

for this illness is Verbal diarrhea.

She may just be upset because a Farang cut in front of her at

the Rimping checkout,it takes very little to upset some people,

but as long as Thais are shooting themselves in the foot with

all this fighting among each other,effecting Tourism,and Investment,

we and our money will be grudgingly accepted,for now !

regards Worgeordie

Edited December 3, 2013 by worgeordie

[steffi]

I would say they do care about foreigners and anywhere you have lines say at the local food stall this is why Thai's believe they should always be served first. There are people who will simply push in front of foreigners in line because they because foreigners are second class citizens and deserve to be treated as such. It's attitudes like this lecturers that reenforce these notions.

All of this eminates from such Party slogans as Thai love "rak" Thai etc etc.

Edited December 3, 2013 by steffi

[steffi]

She only feels the same way that I do about all the foreigners that live in the UK.

Maybe she is just being unusually "honest"?

And you have all that two-tiered pricing in the UK too.

[Andre0720]

A person in office who is smiling,

Is a person in office who has found someone to blame....

[Ulysses G.]

She may just be upset because a Farang cut in front of her at

the Rimping checkout

It is more likely that she tried to cut in front of him, but he would not allow it. All you have to do is tell them that you were there first - in Thai - and they back always down.

Edited December 3, 2013 by Ulysses G.

[kurnell]

Thais don't care either way. As long as they get to eat and watch their soaps they are happy. In 20 years I have never heard a Thai use the 'go home' line. They know which side their read is buttered. Foreigners drop Thailand and it becomes North Korea. Idiots like this alleged University Lecturer obviously haven't thought that far ahead.