Jeremy Clarkson accused of 'racism' during Top Gear series finale in Thailand

[speedtripler]

Brilliant! Will you admit this PC crap has gone too far? As if you've just boxed me into a corner with your watertight logic.

Ahh, miss the days of gollywogs do you? Who can blame you? It was a simpler time. Tell you what, build a time machine and go back there, and take your unreconstructed antiquated crap with you. You'll be happier, we'll be happier... you can surround yourself with images of racial stereotypes, and forget these troubling confusing modern times, when words magically change their connotations leaving you sad and confused, when it's generally assumed that all people should be treated with a modicum of respect and be granted basic human rights, not just white men.

who exactly does a golliwog offend by being a company mascot that sells strawberry jam ?

whos rights do you imagine infringing on ?

some golliwogs might be offended ?

what about the children in need teddy bear with just one eye ?

my friend lost an eye in an accident as do hundreds of thousands of peoplpe every year ,should they be offended and make children in need change their mascot ?

or wil you just admit this PC crap has gone too far??

If you must have it spelled out for you like a child:

Gollywogs are racist stereotypes which exaggerate elements of the body characteristic to people of African descent. Much like the images of huge-nosed Jewish villains disseminated by the nazi propagandists of the 30s and 40s. They are offensive to anyone with a modicum of moral decency, including those of African descent who are well aware of their meaning, and those of causasian descent who don't spend their days pining for the pre-civil rights movement era.

you said it ,not me lol

i thought a golliwog was just a harmless golliwog .........

Yeah, just to help you out here, since you're obviously not familiar with this whole language thing, you haven't actually made any point there. At all. Not one point. Not even close to one. What was the point you thought you were making? Or were you just staring out of the window and randomly tapping keys with your toes? Or trying to swipe a troublesome mosquito away from your face and bashing the keyboard on the downstroke?

the point is a golliwog can be "just a golliwog" .........youre reading too much into it

seems like youre looking for something to be offended by but dont worry ,i know your type

[Thai at Heart]

Sloap-head, gook, farang ... all are dehumanizing terms for a person of different origin. The dehumanization is for a purpose... It is easier to hate something not quite human. Where Vietnamese, Asian and Westerner relate to human beings, sloap-head gook and farang have no human connotation.

I agree with you in the sense of how some words are used to dehumanize, especially names used during wars such as gooks, slopes, krauts..., but farang is not generally one of these words. Thailand is not a melting pot of foreigners with different looks as you see in much of the west and it is simply a term to distinguish foreigners (usually white). Somebody can even make "white foreigner" sound like a bad terms but generally it is not used this way. Thais in general find farang features (skin, eyes & hair color) very attractive. While you may hear many Thais talk about a very "cute farang baby" in a very loving way, I don't think you will hear too many people talk about a "cute gook baby".

Farang is not much different than whites saying Asian.

Thais are much less offended by pointing out or commenting on the obvious than westerners. A waiter may tell another waiter the farang table needs more water but in the west you are not going to hear a waiter say publicly the Asian table needs more water. In the west we may ask a friend, who looks like they have got fat, if they have been working out? In Thailand it is not uncommon to have a friend blurt out, you got fat.

However any of these words can be used negatively. Asian is certainly not a negative term but it can be used as one such as saying, "the dirty lying piece asian". The bottom line being is farang has not negative connotation by itself just as Asian doesn't unless the person using it is a racist.

Oh please.

When someone talks about as "the farang", when I am standing right there, it is basically very insulting. They wouldn't do it to a Thai, in that they would ask his name, and address him or her by their name. Yes it can be used to differing levels of rudeness and insult, but last time I looked, I have a name, and I am British. Not some huge generic mass of farang. So at best, it is rudeness out of ignorance. Fantastic.

[Gina Monash]

Geeeeess man,

Referring to people that way was hopefully discarded in the last century and to accept the same in general conversation or otherwise, (no matter how endearing you may feel),

is be absurd.

Wake up... <deleted>, Coon, Sand nigger, Nig nog, to name a few are derogatory and racist, the Alf Garnets, Archy Bunkers and Eddie Booths of the world just don't get it... yet.

I Do.

As I remember, it was a warm, clear morning just a few months ago, we had collected my wifes friend from the airport and decided to have lunch up at the Rocks. Parked at

Circular Quay... Opera House, Harbour Bridge...still a couple of hours to kill. The girls wanted to go shopping, at the mention of that word, I almost instantaneously suggested, I

wander up to the Orient Hotel, reserve our table and would be in the bar ready to provide refreshments on your arrival. A smile from the friend and a perplexed pout, followed with

a look to the heavens and a kiss from the wife, "see you in 1 and a half hours", she whispers as the ferry sounds its horn in the distance. From here it gets a little hazy?

Uphill all the way to the Orient, I had developed a thirst. The concrete footpath was still wet where the remnants of the night before had been washed away. It was still mid

morning Apparently, the hotel was deserted except for the 2 African American Navy Seals at the bar who weren't familiar with the beer on tap requiring the full attention of the only

bartender to give an in depth description of each an every one in the broadest Irish accent. In hindsight, the Irishman must have thought I was with the Navy guys, I must have

thought I was being ignored when... so I'm told, I barked at the Irishman, "Am I a <deleted>#%@ng hologram... this pair of wannabe ni##%rs would be just as happy with a bottle of

<deleted>%@ing moonshine under the bridge, it's like feeding strawberries to pigs".

Just got out of traction, plaster from neck to waist during summer, jaw still wired shut and nothing solid in or out since late December. I never considered wiping my own arse a

luxury.

A lesson for all of us.

[Donnie Brasco]

I just hate these guys and their nonsense.

I find this kind of thing offensive.

Downloaded some of their stoopidity and halfway through the ordeal of watching them screw up some road trip they were on I dumped the whole series and moved on to something else.

It was either that or get on a plane, hunt these two screaming yammering, over caffeinated peckerwood yobs down and pound on their arrogant beaks for ten or fifteen minutes.

They were THAT irritating.

The explanation that "Oh It's British humour that's alli, you just don't understand British humour is one offensive arrogant blurt that you hear less and less from these tw@ts . . . . . . . . . .. but occasionally you do hear it.

The British would do well to make a note of this idiot's comment and learn something from it.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

from what i've read here, an afternoon with any of the three of them would be preferential to spending a half hour with you and your keyboard posturing

Yeah, whatever . . . . . . There is no posturing up in here Nigel (whatever the fork junk meaning you think you are freeloading into with THAT finger dance)

These jerks and their ilk have well and truly installed themselves as the most annoying dewshbags in media.

They obviously have a sizeable following among the cafe set over 'ere and back over 'ome in B'roak A$$-on-D'Ole.

Right up your alley it and it seems you're not alone.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

[mojorison]

Sloap-head, gook, farang ... all are dehumanizing terms for a person of different origin. The dehumanization is for a purpose... It is easier to hate something not quite human. Where Vietnamese, Asian and Westerner relate to human beings, sloap-head gook and farang have no human connotation.

I think there is a misunderstanding about the word Farang. It is not derogatory... any more than "black" is, or "Asian". If you feel discriminated by its use, I would say that there are other issues at play, like, your insecurity, or the fact that the people using it toward you don't respect you. It's etymology is blurred, but it can surely be said that it either derives from the word for France, or the name Frank. As compared to words of vilification such as slope, which defines a person by the angle of their eyes.

[Soutpeel]

Sloap-head, gook, farang ... all are dehumanizing terms for a person of different origin. The dehumanization is for a purpose... It is easier to hate something not quite human. Where Vietnamese, Asian and Westerner relate to human beings, sloap-head gook and farang have no human connotation.

I agree with you in the sense of how some words are used to dehumanize, especially names used during wars such as gooks, slopes, krauts..., but farang is not generally one of these words. Thailand is not a melting pot of foreigners with different looks as you see in much of the west and it is simply a term to distinguish foreigners (usually white). Somebody can even make "white foreigner" sound like a bad terms but generally it is not used this way. Thais in general find farang features (skin, eyes & hair color) very attractive. While you may hear many Thais talk about a very "cute farang baby" in a very loving way, I don't think you will hear too many people talk about a "cute gook baby".

Farang is not much different than whites saying Asian.

Thais are much less offended by pointing out or commenting on the obvious than westerners. A waiter may tell another waiter the farang table needs more water but in the west you are not going to hear a waiter say publicly the Asian table needs more water. In the west we may ask a friend, who looks like they have got fat, if they have been working out? In Thailand it is not uncommon to have a friend blurt out, you got fat.

However any of these words can be used negatively. Asian is certainly not a negative term but it can be used as one such as saying, "the dirty lying piece asian". The bottom line being is farang has not negative connotation by itself just as Asian doesn't unless the person using it is a racist.

Oh please.

When someone talks about as "the farang", when I am standing right there, it is basically very insulting. They wouldn't do it to a Thai, in that they would ask his name, and address him or her by their name. Yes it can be used to differing levels of rudeness and insult, but last time I looked, I have a name, and I am British. Not some huge generic mass of farang. So at best, it is rudeness out of ignorance. Fantastic.

I wouldn't worry about it. If some of the Lilley whites want to rationalise the term farang as a harmless term of endearment let them do it, if it makes them sleep better at night

[bigbamboo]

I never realised there were so many precious, sensitive souls on TV.

Hallelujah!

[DekDaeng]

Having lived and worked in Asia for 13 years, I now realise I have led a sheltered life.

I have never heard the "slope" expression used before and if some sensationalists hadn't written this drivel, I would still have been happily ignorant of it's meaning.

same, never heard of it and I doubt very much that Clarkson has either, I watched the show and didn't think of anything weird because the bridge they built did have a slope on it and the guy on the bridge looks like one of the crew

Maybe he should have said there is a lean on it.

Who you calling a lean? Get fark!

[Mosha]

Re Stephen Lawrence, the police did not cover themselves in glory in the case.

[Soutpeel]

Sloap-head, gook, farang ... all are dehumanizing terms for a person of different origin. The dehumanization is for a purpose... It is easier to hate something not quite human. Where Vietnamese, Asian and Westerner relate to human beings, sloap-head gook and farang have no human connotation.

I think there is a misunderstanding about the word Farang. It is not derogatory... any more than "black" is, or "Asian". If you feel discriminated by its use, I would say that there are other issues at play, like, your insecurity, or the fact that the people using it toward you don't respect you. It's etymology is blurred, but it can surely be said that it either derives from the word for France, or the name Frank. As compared to words of vilification such as slope, which defines a person by the angle of their eyes.

<deleted> is Frank

And now I know the term is racist.... I am not a froggie surrender monkey, how very dare you

[scotinsiam]

Is this what the world has come to - people commenting on an alleged slur on a car show - <deleted> get a life.

Anyone with a single digit IQ understands that the show is about cars, man toys and is supposed to be FUN anyone offended by his comments should turn over and watch some brain numbing crap about some sad <deleted> auctioning off their family tortoise or whatever pathetic.

[chooka]

Re Stephen Lawrence, the police did not cover themselves in glory in the case.

I had never heard of this guy in Australia but if he was slaughter by whites in the U.S purely because he was black then I hate it and depise it. I am koorie and I believe in equality for all which Australia generally gives. The slaughter of people by whites based purely on skin colour ceased 100's of years ago. Nations are no longer roaming the globe slaughtering people just for the way they look.

I am Chinese/aboriginal and Irish decent and so very proud of my Asian European and BLACK heritage. Stephen Lawrence meant nothing outside of the U.S and hardly a point to be raised on an international forum/Thailand forum. I feel for the guy but only know to a few expats.

[bob6130]

Shame on all who thought that the remarks were made about a person on the bridge.

Well done Clarkson rates are up again, keep up the good work.

[Soutpeel]

Some one needs to send a link of this thread to Top Gear or jeeza, he will p@ss himself laughing

[bigbamboo]

Geeeeess man,

Referring to people that way was hopefully discarded in the last century and to accept the same in general conversation or otherwise, (no matter how endearing you may feel),

is be absurd.

Wake up... <deleted>, Coon, Sand nigger, Nig nog, to name a few are derogatory and racist, the Alf Garnets, Archy Bunkers and Eddie Booths of the world just don't get it... yet.

I Do.

As I remember, it was a warm, clear morning just a few months ago, we had collected my wifes friend from the airport and decided to have lunch up at the Rocks. Parked at

Circular Quay... Opera House, Harbour Bridge...still a couple of hours to kill. The girls wanted to go shopping, at the mention of that word, I almost instantaneously suggested, I

wander up to the Orient Hotel, reserve our table and would be in the bar ready to provide refreshments on your arrival. A smile from the friend and a perplexed pout, followed with

a look to the heavens and a kiss from the wife, "see you in 1 and a half hours", she whispers as the ferry sounds its horn in the distance. From here it gets a little hazy?

Uphill all the way to the Orient, I had developed a thirst. The concrete footpath was still wet where the remnants of the night before had been washed away. It was still mid

morning Apparently, the hotel was deserted except for the 2 African American Navy Seals at the bar who weren't familiar with the beer on tap requiring the full attention of the only

bartender to give an in depth description of each an every one in the broadest Irish accent. In hindsight, the Irishman must have thought I was with the Navy guys, I must have

thought I was being ignored when... so I'm told, I barked at the Irishman, "Am I a <deleted>#%@ng hologram... this pair of wannabe ni##%rs would be just as happy with a bottle of

<deleted>%@ing moonshine under the bridge, it's like feeding strawberries to pigs".

Just got out of traction, plaster from neck to waist during summer, jaw still wired shut and nothing solid in or out since late December. I never considered wiping my own arse a

luxury.

A lesson for all of us.

And the lesson is don't neglect syntax at school.

[phuketjock]

I just knew it was all going to go wrong when those Malaysians changed their name

for Darkie toothpaste to Darlie but kept the black guy bust with the top hat.

Is this thread for real the BLOODY BRIDGE HAD A SLOPE ON IT, 500 posts about

the orientation of a bridge, jesus get real people.

Give me a break........

Edited March 18, 2014 by phuketjock

[Soutpeel]

Re Stephen Lawrence, the police did not cover themselves in glory in the case.

I had never heard of this guy in Australia but if he was slaughter by whites in the U.S purely because he was black then I hate it and depise it. I am koorie and I believe in equality for all which Australia generally gives. The slaughter of people by whites based purely on skin colour ceased 100's of years ago. Nations are no longer roaming the globe slaughtering people just for the way they look.

I am Chinese/aboriginal and Irish decent and so very proud of my Asian European and BLACK heritage. Stephen Lawrence meant nothing outside of the U.S and hardly a point to be raised on an international forum/Thailand forum. I feel for the guy but only know to a few expats.

Er it was the UK not US

Maybe it shouldn't have been raised but it was none the less, but you still don't have an excuse for you little, idiot, horse shagging, farmer/garbage man diatribe does it ?

Not so long ago you called him a horse shagging idiot, now you hate the people that killed him and feel for him....why is that ?....cos it turned out he was "black" ?

Edited March 18, 2014 by Soutpeel

[Donnie Brasco]

Who cares what they were trying to say.

They and their stoopidity make me sick to my stomach.

Their fans and admirers and their apologists are the same guys who sit in sports bars screaming "at Telly"

Hold the warm beer and they'll be gone in a month.

Good riddance.

Bring back the Yanks.

Please.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

[saakura]

I dont think any asians give a damn. Never heard of this term before reading in here today.

[Soutpeel]

Who cares what they were trying to say.

They and their stoopidity make me sick to my stomach.

Their fans and admirers and their apologists are the same guys who sit in sports bars screaming "at Telly"

Hold the warm beer and they'll be gone in a month.

Good riddance.

Bring back the Yanks.

Please.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

Well don't watch THE telly then

[Alwyn]

Having lived and worked in Asia for 13 years, I now realise I have led a sheltered life.

I have never heard the "slope" expression used before and if some sensationalists hadn't written this drivel, I would still have been happily ignorant of it's meaning.

+1, a shitstorm about buggerall by the PC brigade as usual!

No not really had a black guy been walking over the bridge with a racoon in the shot, he could of said oh there's a coon on the bridge.

That would be racist and would cause a shit storm here in the UK, but if someone from Asia with sloped eyes, as the term originally comes from (mainly speaking of the Chinese) it makes it alright?

Did it occur to you that he might be talking about the slope that is actually the angle of the bridge? Or are you one of these people that enjoy jumping to conclusions and stirring sh*t? I remember the use of the word slope from the Vietnam war but have not heard the expression in decades, why do people like you revel in thinking the worst? Get a life.

[menorah]

Like many others living here in Thailand and for many years, I too hadn't heard 'slope' was in any way a derogatory term to Asians.

However, only a few weeks back there was an article reporting a similar 'offence' to Asian sensibilities, when apparently a billboard advert displayed a female pulling the side of her eye to form an oriental appearance, which apparently offended the Chinese.

Quite honestly, 'Brits' are 'Limeys', Americans are 'Yanks', Italians. 'Wops' etc etc and so on in a never ending.... ever changing list, which in most parts of the civilised world is taken without much consideration or offence.

Living in Thailand foreigners are forever being pointed at, shouted to or spoken about as 'farang' with no regard to how much or how little they speak & understand Thai language. Quite possibly, Thais see nothing wrong in treating all foreigners in a way which 'marks them out' as something different, unusual or alien !

None of this ultimately matters as it really only offends those who are overly sensitive and are constantly looking for a surrogate tit to fill the empty space left where there mothers used to be !

Jeremy C is who he is and doesn't try to fool you otherwise. Love him or loathe him he really is the least of Asia's problems and conversely his show, Top Gear, does a lot to promote foreign travel throughout Asia.

[englishoak]

wow 21 pages on this ?

I watched it, i know the term slope and thought it amusing to see a word like that used for change, It was also a double meaning as the bridge was in fact on sloping, pretty clever quip actually.

Makes a change from hearing the word Farang everywhere and on TV etc without anyone here taking any notice or caring about its derogatory nature....

Grow a thicker skin with all the racism in Asia they really have nothing to whine about.

[kimbathewhitelion]

Sloap-head, gook, farang ... all are dehumanizing terms for a person of different origin. The dehumanization is for a purpose... It is easier to hate something not quite human. Where Vietnamese, Asian and Westerner relate to human beings, sloap-head gook and farang have no human connotation.

I think there is a misunderstanding about the word Farang. It is not derogatory... any more than "black" is, or "Asian". If you feel discriminated by its use, I would say that there are other issues at play, like, your insecurity, or the fact that the people using it toward you don't respect you. It's etymology is blurred, but it can surely be said that it either derives from the word for France, or the name Frank. As compared to words of vilification such as slope, which defines a person by the angle of their eyes.

So being described by the color of your skin and the size of your nose, isn't derogatory?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[rhythmworx]

Having lived and worked in Asia for 13 years, I now realise I have led a sheltered life.

I have never heard the "slope" expression used before and if some sensationalists hadn't written this drivel, I would still have been happily ignorant of it's meaning.

+1, a shitstorm about buggerall by the PC brigade as usual!

No not really had a black guy been walking over the bridge with a racoon in the shot, he could of said oh there's a coon on the bridge.

That would be racist and would cause a shit storm here in the UK, but if someone from Asia with sloped eyes, as the term originally comes from (mainly speaking of the Chinese) it makes it alright?

Did it occur to you that he might be talking about the slope that is actually the angle of the bridge? Or are you one of these people that enjoy jumping to conclusions and stirring sh*t? I remember the use of the word slope from the Vietnam war but have not heard the expression in decades, why do people like you revel in thinking the worst? Get a life.

Yeah whatever, stroll on.

[Alwyn]

Who cares what they were trying to say.

They and their stoopidity make me sick to my stomach.

Their fans and admirers and their apologists are the same guys who sit in sports bars screaming "at Telly"

Hold the warm beer and they'll be gone in a month.

Good riddance.

Bring back the Yanks.

Please.

"Sometimes, 'fuggedabowdit' just means fuggedabowdit."

and by the same token, who cares what you think? Please don't bring back the yanks, they invented the term 'slope' and as you seem to enjoy generalizations, we don't want that type of people back here do we?

[bigbamboo]

If you think JC isn't very PC then you should check out the Duke of Edinburgh.

He makes Clarkson look like Mary Poppins!

[NomadJoe]

According to Top Gear, the program was filmed in Burma, not Thailand. At least that's what their promos for the show are saying.

The last part was filmed in Thailand.

[steverino]

Hahahaha...... great joke.

Keep it up Clarky....

BTW 'slope' is not derogatory... It comes from the Vietnam war and was used by US troops to refer to Vietnamese Communist troops.

Gooks, slopes, Cong, VC, Charlies ..... etc.

Not for defaming reasons, but more a casual military designation.

When the Brits liberated the Falkland Islands. The British Squadies referred to the island locals as 'Bennies'.... If you are a Brit you should know what I mean. For those who don't... Benny was the name of a popular 70s soap opera character, who happened to be mildly retarded.

The military put out a communique to all squaddies and contractors not to refer to the locals as 'Bennies'... So after that everyone referred to them as 'stills'.

They're 'still' Bennies........ lol.

I think you should know better, all those names above are offensive and racist, not to everyone, but to some, those of us with Asian wives and children perhaps? These terms are derogatory and you should, if you're as well educated as you make out to be, know that. Just because you may live in South East Asia doesn't make you exempt from the rules of common decency and accepted moral behaviour. Just because soldiers started them first doesn't make them harmless! If I used those terms here in Scotland at college or in the workplace or in the media I would be severely reprimanded and maybe prosecuted in court. The internet is, after all, worldwide, not just for your area, so remember, your readers are far reaching.

We Brits are quick to label and name folk and it is buried deep in our humour, but it it is also part arrogance and ignorance and shows a distinct lack of respect for others, as is shown by your description of the Malvinas story and the British troops there. Is it normal to call a community 'slightly retarded'?

As for Clarkson, he's a journalist who epitomises everything bad about our British condescending attitude, and has talked himself into disrepute yet again.

I'm surprised the moderator of this area has left this post up here!.....Oh, and lol.

[bigbamboo]

According to Top Gear, the program was filmed in Burma, not Thailand. At least that's what their promos for the show are saying.

The last part was filmed in Thailand.

According to TAT ninety eight per cent of the programme was filmed in Thailand and this is predicted to rise by ten per cent next year..... providing there are no more disruptions from the anti government protesters.