racism among expats in thailand

[djayz]

"For every racist you meet, there's probably 100 more people who aren't racist."

That's kind of the problem. Everyone is a racist to varying degrees. It is hard to get rid of and even harder when people don't recognize the subtlety that exists.

"I would not want you teaching my kids my friend, not because of the colour of your skin.

It would be your bad English grammar and terrible grasp on history !"

Yes, because grammar is the most important aspect of all learning. There are wonderful teachers out there that really help students progress even though they themselves are not deep thinkers. Teaching has so many various skills and requirements and content knowledge is only one and not always the most important.

+1

[thaibeachlovers]

Oh God, not again....another "all expats/foreigners in Thailand are useless jackasses who should live the perfect "Thai Style" life like me or be deported" sort of thread....

Sure there are plenty of people who have gripes here but to suggest 'expats' generalise appallingly is nonsense - I'm sure you'll get plenty of posts saying how the Thais generalise about we Westerners conversely. Most people I would say, relate their own experiences and give opinions based on them some of which over time seem to have become stereotypes.

To the OP, I'd suggest to find out a little more of a clue as to why many 'expats' here may have a low opinion of ''blacks'' (especially the Africans) living in Thailand.

You take a wander around Lower Sukhumwit late at night among the African hookers, dealers, pimps and scammers and see for yourself, before venting off here, you may get a few more answers to your observations.

There, my friend, you have the real key to unlocking the secrets of life in a strange land, namely; Going out and about finding out for yourself (even sometimes in cyberspace you can find clues and pointers). You'd be amazed at how many 'expat experts' here rely on their wives/GFs for their information (if not to almost live their lives for them).

We're not all bad here. I'm sure if you're an OK, respectable chap, the colour of your skin won't make a jot of difference

Agreed. I've had a Black room mate- great guy, boarded with a black guy- bit of a dick, been backstabbed by a brown guy, been backstabbed by a white guy, knew a brown guy who was the nicest man I ever met, worked for a Chinese/ Malay manager who was an absolute bitch, worked with loads of Black, brown, yellow, white people- some were good, some bad, some OK, some not. You can't look at the colour of a person's skin and say they are............ based on that.

Edited February 14, 2016 by thaibeachlovers

[farang95]

at the end you are a farang...a foreigner..a stranger...... another strange alien ...... so...adapt yourself......

[farang95]

i SAID LAO IMMIGRATION for the VISA !!!!! the LAO VISA ..not talking about THAI never had any problem with them.

It was the first time i went to lao for the visa so they thought i wasn"t french for around 30 minutes..... stressful time....Then never had any problem.

i must admit.... i had a situation ...the first time i went to lao ...At the border checking .....

there were a man.... you probably saw him ...he look very very very scary.... he got the killer look .... i was very impress ...the eye contact was discreet but i feel like hmm you don't wanna make him angry......

Anyway i give the personal information with the passport...They close the windows and you wait for a minute or two .....

Nothing wrong.... but then he open the windows and ask if i was really french ...... i was like <deleted> you talking about i am .... .then he close the windows again...and talk to his assistant and they talk for at least 10 min...i was a bit confuse ..... then he open the window and ask if am not an african ..... i said am sorry but no am not lol ..am french as you see on passport..... ...they were talking again together...and looking at me like i was an alien from another planet ( am mixte ) anyway .... he said if you are really french pls talk in french with my assistant....i said ofc NO PROBLEM lol the assistant doesnt speak that well french but anyway i did talk to him and he did finally believe me that my passport was real .... (i guess for the time being they probably did an investigation .....so they apologies and give me the visa i needed and then everything went alright .........

Just been thinking of what were my option if they would have refuse the visa ...And i wouldnt have the possibility to return to thailand ? they would have put me to jail for further investigation right ?

Doesnt mean he is racist...cause i know some business been done in BKK .....easy to get everything you want -( passport , visa and etc etc money pay everything...... )

If I understand you correctly (which I admit is not easy), you're saying the Thais thought you didn't look French....correct? Well I've heard/read French people themselves saying someone "didn't look French." This occurred on this very TV forum when a French-Muslim committed a terrorist act and the article said the perpetrator was a Frenchmen. Some French guy insisted that the individual "didn't look French" (read "white"). Happened with Aussies as well. So you can't blame the Thais when your very own people (i.e., French people) seem to have their own narrow idea of what French people are supposed to look like.

[farang95]

Ohh i see...probably explain my situation especially cause it was my first entry to lao.... Thanks for the detail !

i must admit.... i had a situation ...the first time i went to lao ...At the border checking .....

For a while there were a lot Africans hanging around Vientiane, many up to no good, running the usual "give money to get more money" scams. At the time the Thai embassy in Vientiane was the best place in the region to get a multi-entry tourist visa. The main hangout was the Mango Tree Cafe on the river front. If you were a black tourist from a western country and one of the rascals spotted you they would hit you up with a scam and you would have a hard time shaking them off. There was a black US guy at my hotel I'd talk with at breakfast sometimes, he attracted one of these guys ("hey brudda!") who kept coming around. The American guy was the easy-going type and the con man found this encouraging. I told the lady who ran the hotel and she said she would take care of it, and neither me nor the American guy saw him again.

Then on one trip to Vientiane I didn't see any Africans: on the riverfront, at the embassy, no where. My guess is there was some sort of cleanup, I think this was around 2010.

And there is no shortage of African (or any kind of) rascals in Bangkok.

[doggie1955]

Just look at this....http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/844822-vocabulary-chart-teaches-children-that-dark-skin-is-ugly/

or just go to the search bar and type in; vocabulary-chart-teaches-children-that-dark-skin-is-ugly

Then you tell me who is more racist here in Thailand...

[Youbloodybeauty]

Not expats and not sure if you would call racist but had a laugh the other day. A restaurant near a quiet resort area Phuket.

A movie is being made here and its Thai staff came to eat at the restaurant. They were charged Thai price but also shown the way to cheaper eats as "we can't have Thais' filling our seats with tourists waiting to fill them".

Edited March 31, 2016 by Youbloodybeauty

[mogandave]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

[copa8]

As long as expats don't go attacking Thais & other Asians with knives and screwdrivers, it should be ok.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3519185/Auckland-teenager-bars-spate-brutal-attacks-Asian-students.html

[Saastrajaa]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

You are so utterly wrong.

[mogandave]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

You are so utterly wrong.

I know you are but what am I?

[kannot]

It is very hard to generalise. Some Thais are tolerant of all and any foreigners, some are not tolerant of any and some are biased towards one or more ethnic backgrounds. But it is primarily the Western expat who know the words and terms that are generally offensive to "blacks" (a term I don't like but the OP used it) and who, whether through ignorance or malice, will use those words and/or terms.

"Black" whats offensive about that, seems pretty obvious to me and the easiest way to refer to someone if he is black especially if talking and identifying someone in a room if theres only one black person in there..........spose I should be saying anything but the colour of their skin in the conversation, how about "its the one who isnt the same colour as everyone else in the room"......... seriously the world is going nuts, Im "WHITE" I dont mind being called white same as black, inoffensive unless you are some racial fruitcake, now you could add "trash" at the end of either to make it derogatory.

Edited April 2, 2016 by kannot

[kannot]

I have a friend from Ghana who lives in Thailand and has also lived in several other countries. His experience is that Thais are the most racist people he has met.

Here in the provinces he apparently has no problem but down in Bangkok he says people look horrified at his presence and even wipe themselves if he accidentally brushes past them.

Why is it always a white guy saying this? I've yet to meet a black person in Thailand who's had any bad experiences. Even the black members on TV who comment from time to time have not mentioned being the target of racism by Thais. It's as if some white folks in Thailand feel a desperate need to convince everyone that Thais are racist against blacks. But reality is nothing like that.

Id say thats about right from the 2 Black ( offensive word apparently) people I know BUT for Indians they are racist at least in the condo rental business, my Wife often gets told by owners of rooms "No Indians" borne out by a previous bad experience of 24 hour cooking and bringing in more people to live in the room than agreed and then leaving said room like a pig sty.................having said that I find other races are equally as filthy when they leave and you simply cannot judge a book by its cover certainly when letting rooms.

[TommyUK1960]

I live in Thailand to get away from the politically correct rubbish of the West,

As regards Thai's there are good and bad all over.

As regards Western ex0pats its the same you will find some racist and maybe they have reason to be and some not.

Russians and Chinese can be very racist and then I have met some that are not.

People all the world over will have opinions of other people, Some good, some bad.

As for me, I just don't like religious people especially Muslims

[Shot]

I live in Thailand to get away from the politically correct rubbish of the West,

As regards Thai's there are good and bad all over.

As regards Western ex0pats its the same you will find some racist and maybe they have reason to be and some not.

Russians and Chinese can be very racist and then I have met some that are not.

People all the world over will have opinions of other people, Some good, some bad.

As for me, I just don't like religious people especially Muslims

God bless you.

[Bobotie]

I live in Thailand to get away from the politically correct rubbish of the West,

As regards Thai's there are good and bad all over.

As regards Western ex0pats its the same you will find some racist and maybe they have reason to be and some not.

Russians and Chinese can be very racist and then I have met some that are not.

People all the world over will have opinions of other people, Some good, some bad.

As for me, I just don't like religious people especially Muslims

God bless you.

Funny how the topic is about farang racism and Islam and Christianity have got mixed up in this...news flash neither are "races"

Maybe we we should just change the title to are "Thailands expats bigots ?"

As-salamu alaykum

[fey]

i grew up in black ghettos in the states and i can tell you they call themselves african americans but the blacks in thailand are the african variety sometimes referred to as niger or nigerian and these come from very poor environments not the same in character at all to american blacks and these so called african blacks have pronounced foreheads and widely spaced eyes that differ remarkably from typical american african americans

[YeahSiam]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

Are you really that stupid?

[mogandave]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

Are you really that stupid?

Wow, what a clever response.

How about this one: "I'm rubber, you're glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

[mogandave]

i grew up in black ghettos in the states and i can tell you they call themselves african americans but the blacks in thailand are the african variety sometimes referred to as niger or nigerian and these come from very poor environments not the same in character at all to american blacks and these so called african blacks have pronounced foreheads and widely spaced eyes that differ remarkably from typical american african americans

RACIST!!!!!!

[YeahSiam]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

Are you really that stupid?

Wow, what a clever response.

How about this one: "I'm rubber, you're glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

Got that from the same

place you got your

original brainfart - the

playground.

Answers my question

though.

Thanks

[kannot]

I live in Thailand to get away from the politically correct rubbish of the West,

As regards Thai's there are good and bad all over.

As regards Western ex0pats its the same you will find some racist and maybe they have reason to be and some not.

Russians and Chinese can be very racist and then I have met some that are not.

People all the world over will have opinions of other people, Some good, some bad.

As for me, I just don't like religious people especially Muslims

God bless you.

Surely if youre gonna pick a fantasy wind up "Allah Bless you" would be better

[JLCrab]

My favorite African-American --

[mogandave]

It's same in the US, minorities are generally more racist than the majority

Are you really that stupid?

Wow, what a clever response.

How about this one: "I'm rubber, you're glue, what you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

Got that from the same

place you got your

original brainfart - the

playground.

Answers my question

though.

Thanks

That's what I thought, weak.

My pleasure.

[JLCrab]

Don't go and get the guy upset -- he probably hasn't fully recovered from their pulling the plug on his tag-team partner the Hill guy.

[YeahSiam]

Don't go and get the guy upset -- he probably hasn't fully recovered from their pulling the plug on his tag-team partner the Hill guy.

Oh look! It's Lester Nygaard

[JHolmesJr]

I would like an african american to explain something to me...

....if the n-word is so offensive and taboo, why do the african americans use it so gratuitously themselves?

Serious question.

[SoiBiker]

I would like an african american to explain something to me...

....if the n-word is so offensive and taboo, why do the african americans use it so gratuitously themselves?

Serious question.

I could explain it to you, but I'm not an african-american.

Seeing as you're demanding that they explain themselves, I guess we'll just have to wait until one comes along.

[1BADDAT]

@zeichen At least I can tell apart Brit and American accent. And it seems other Thais see the same way. This is one of the complain.

http://m.pantip.com/topic/31143519?

well apparently you are the only Thai that can distinguish English speaking accents. I'm American and if they guess where I'm from, America is at least 3rd or 4th Down on the list. England, Russia, and Australia are the top 3!

[JLCrab]

Don't go and get the guy upset -- he probably hasn't fully recovered from their pulling the plug on his tag-team partner the Hill guy.

Oh look! It's Lester Nygaard

Look where? but someone will maybe be along soon to agree with & like everything you say just like in the good ol' times.

Edited April 2, 2016 by JLCrab