Leaving Thailand for China, here is why

[slipperylobster]

My ex wife (Filipina) worked for a Chinese owned restaurant in Hawaii.

She had to quit, as they were so strict.....sometimes she would not be allowed to go to the bathroom when nature called....

Of the Chinese people I have met....you can have the lot.

[KunMatt]

Having lived in China for 2 years and now Thailand for 5 years I'm quite stunned that the OP is leaving Thailand because they are "rude and dismissive". I agree that Thais are naturally rude and unfriendly towards anyone that cannot do anything for them and they love nothing more than to gossip and talk down to someone, but the Chinese take rudeness and selfishness to a complete other level. They are also the most disgustingly uncouth race on the planet and I've never seen any Thai hock up a greeny and spit it out on the floor of a restaurant while he was shouting on a phone and smoking a cigarette as he ate - something that I saw pretty much every time I ate out in China.

OP go and live out this delusion of yours. Let us know in 3 months if you are still in China or back living in Thailand. My money is on Thailand...

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[impulse]

You think being a farang laowai will get you more respect in China? Dream on.

I thought laowai = old foreigner.

Lao is old and wai is outside. So lao wai is old outsider.

Most Chinese folks I know translate lao wai as "old idiot", but in a rather endearing way, like I'd call someone (myself included) an old fart. If they refer to you as "gorilla", that's a bad thing.

And make no mistake, every Asian nation I've visited (Japan, Korea, China and Thailand) looks down on everyone that's not from their own country. Chinese hate the Japanese and Koreans, Japanese think the Chinese are dogs, and on and on. Can't say any one is more racist than the others, nor is racism considered a bad thing- as it forwards the nationalist agendas of each country.

No experience with the rest of SEA so I can't speak for Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, etc.

Edited April 7, 2014 by impulse

[TeeKay]

Highly educated? By what standard. One of your key "quality" indicators appears to be the availability and attention prostitutes give you. Really?! As for your comment on Thais I have to simply disagree without rebuttal. Good luck to you sir, my you find what you're looking for.

Sent from my iPhone using ThaiVisa app

[MrWorldwide]

Having lived in China for 2 years and now Thailand for 5 years I'm quite stunned that the OP is leaving Thailand because they are "rude and dismissive". I agree that Thais are naturally rude and unfriendly towards anyone that cannot do anything for them and they love nothing more than to gossip and talk down to someone, but the Chinese take rudeness and selfishness to a complete other level. They are also the most disgustingly uncouth race on the planet and I've never seen any Thai hock up a greeny and spit it out on the floor of a restaurant while he was shouting on a phone and smoking a cigarette as he ate - something that I saw pretty much every time I ate out in China.

OP go and live out this delusion of yours. Let us know in 3 months if you are still in China or back living in Thailand. My money is on Thailand...

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

How do you feel about blacks and Jews ?

I've seen some backhanded compliments over the years, but your summary re Thai people is a humdinger. Not too many individuals in your world, apparently.

[marko kok prong]

this post seems to be all about Bangkok,which is very different to the rest of Thailand,living up country is a totally different experience,on another note when i lived in Hong kong i was often called 'gwilo' or white ghost,and is considered an insult much more so then falang.

[larsjohnsson]

this post seems to be all about Bangkok,which is very different to the rest of Thailand,living up country is a totally different experience,on another note when i lived in Hong kong i was often called 'gwilo' or white ghost,and is considered an insult much more so then falang.

But he lives in Bangkok

[MrWorldwide]

I realise that the OP doesn't have to live in one of the biggest cities, but I wonder how many Chinese cities will be faced with the nightmare smog the residents of Beijing and Shanghai are forced to endure. Last night's Q&A here in Oz was broadcast from Shanghai, and the single biggest hot button issue was air pollution. One panellist claimed that the WHO standard for acceptable air quality was 20PM (particulate matter), China's own standard was 30PM and Beijing had 7 consecutive days in March where the reading was over 200PM.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/

Particulate matter Definition and principal sources

PM affects more people than any other pollutant. The major components of PM are sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, black carbon, mineral dust and water. It consists of a complex mixture of solid and liquid particles of organic and inorganic substances suspended in the air. The most health-damaging particles are those with a diameter of 10 microns or less, (≤ PM₁₀), which can penetrate and lodge deep inside the lungs. Chronic exposure to particles contributes to the risk of developing cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, as well as of lung cancer.

I don't know if you can access Q&A from outside Australia - there was some mention of the fact that Chinese people wouldn't be able to see the episode in question - but google 'ABC iView Q&A' to (hopefully) watch the episode in it's entirety. A lot of it was a bit dry for my liking - China's attitude to territorial disputes with Japan etc - but it gave us a break from Australian politicians and lefty ratbags sniping at one another on the panel. The panel was much more upbeat on the economic challenges facing China than many in the West - interesting times ahead.

[atpeace]

Enjoyed the post even with the Thai bashing. Your perception of Thai people is completely irrational but the your thoughts on how foreigners are viewed and the how the tourist/x-pat scene is evolving are well thought out.

[Loles]

To China ?

They are the largest swindlers of our globe.

And quality there? You may buy there a fake BMW X5 or a Mercedes S classe.

And good prices for life? Man some-one made you eat many B ST.

Your OP is over explained, this means you are not sure in this China project. You tried to convince yourself, but for us OK if you leave. Just do it.

China

Edited April 8, 2014 by Loles

[Grindting]

Any update on this? How are you liking China?

Me and the mrs just spent a month in guangzcho, xi'an, shanghai, beijing and a tour of Tibet. I was there in 2010 and I couldn't remember why I didn't like it, until we got off the train in nanning (from Vietnam) and came into contact with the locals.

Your reasons for going? Are they working out? Are you flooded with girls 10x over?

Now I can understand that if you are absolutely fluent in Mandarin (takes 5-10 years of living in china to achieve??) then you might be able to snap yourself up a Beijing beauty who is still in uni, who has done some travel herself and is a little more open minded, if you could put up with living there for that long and getting that proficient in Chinese. On the whole I think it would be next to impossible to get with any of the really beautiful and well educated Pleasant Chinese girls (of whom come from averagely wealthy backgrounds), I think you'd still have more chance with a nice hiso thai than a pure Chinese. Her parents probably wouldn't let you near her. And who's to say even if you could pull off news-reader level Chinese that they would be interested in you? We got chatting to quite a few of these lovely (looking) girls as they were admiring my mrs style. I'd say a westerner would have a big fight on his hands to get anywhere near them. And the Chinese lads wouldn't be shy in giving you some grief either of you taking 'one of their own'.

The balance of girls are either ugly, disgusting (bad habits) or are in it to do you over worse than any issan bar girl could do. They don't bother shaving their legs and arm pits either..

We are very happy to be out of china, and found it on our tour of asia to be the most disgusting place we've ever been, and it's 100% down to the people. The rudest and filthiest people in general we've ever encountered. Now don't get me wrong, as always there are exceptions to the rule as we have met some lovely Chinese people along the way, hospitable, generous, polite, civilised and humble etc, some really wonderful characters. But in General most people are absolutely <deleted> foul. Spitting, clearing their throats, farting everywhere, pushing, rude and seem to not mind stinking places and not showering, and these are the city dwellers. I understand the Tibetan farmer smelling a bit like yak shit and not have the best of her majesties manners hat's fine. But for the rest of the population I just can't see any excuse they could give that would be good enough to justify their behaviour. The cultural (destruction) revolution was 40 years ago, parts of china are better looking and functioning than Singapore, the people just need to catch up and it doesn't look like it's happening, as the kids from age x to 21 are still behaving like animals, pissing and shitting everywhere, chucking their cans and wrappers on the street and not showering.

How could you possibly choose to live in a place like this? I understand the expat on the $15 to $20,000 USD per month package isn't going to refuse, and shelter himself from the filthy people as much as possible. But for the digital nomad.. <deleted> hell mate you're nuts!!!

And if anyone thinks I'm racist, you need to Go to china and spend some time on the public transport, in the local restaurants or even in the shopping malls and come back and tell me everything I've said isn't true.

Just realised, if the OP is in china he won't be able to read this as it's blocked (TV). What a shithole and what a disgusting repressive government

Edited August 29, 2014 by Grindting

[hotsoup]

Bad luck! Grindting!

It can be very grim!

Interestingly, for me, most of my long term Mandarin speaking friends are, after 10 years or so, leaving!

[Grindting]

Love those bullet trains though, they served us well. But I feel very sorry for the people, as disgusting some of them appear to be on account of their putrid habits. They really have no <deleted> clue what's going on around them. Actually it brought my wife to tears (literally) as she read about the cultural revo and the tienamen democracy riots (nationwide massacre), learning that the average Chinese has no knowledge of these events, and those that do will be jailed for mentioning it.

[Gecko123]

After the OP sums up the Thai ex-pat community as a bunch of "alcoholics, sexual degenerates, criminals and perverts," his parting line is he won't be back "except for a quick prostitution spree"??????"

Talk about the kettle calling the pot black!!!!

[topt]

Just realised, if the OP is in china he won't be able to read this as it's blocked (TV). What a shithole and what a disgusting repressive government

Has that happened recently as up to Xmas last year I had never had any problems reading for the preceding 4 or 5 years in Guangzhou and I was not using a vpn?

Most of the rest I agree with in general but not to the extreme level you pictured - and I am glad to be out of there

[Grindting]

You can open the email but if you click on a link it goes dead, just like youtube etc. In march / April this year there was a further crackdown on websites, you can look it up.

Guangzcho was actually one of the better places. More of a Singapore / HK vibe. But still the people are literally vomitous

[theguyfromanotherforum]

You are leaving because of hoz?

Be careful not to get Asthma.

Otherwise, good luck.

[Aussieroaming]

Well that was quite an honest post.

Having lived and work in other Asian country's i do agree that Thais seem to be aloof and non understanding of many Farang. I believe this is because the only measure Thais use to profile farangs is to look at the behaviour of tourists and visitors to their country.

My wife (thai) has travelled to 5 country's or so and is still wildly naive in regards to the wider world and different ideals. She has got a degree, she's hooked into the Internet, reads and speaks English very well but rarely leaves the safety of Thai news and information systems, has no interest in international affairs and really is disinterested in the bigger world view.

She is also strongly patriotic and defends everything Thai even if an issue occurs where Thais are wrong. She always tries to explain things off rather than accept that a Thai could be wrong.

I live here because my wife prefers it here but I am trying to wean her off of Thailand. I like it here, I accept it but I know there are other places that are equal or better and more farang friendly.

[beautifulthailand99]

Good luck my nephew is going great guns in Shenzen loves the country,has great business opportunities and has experienced no xenophobia - in fact quite the opposite. Yup the party is over for Thailand - it was great whilst it lasted.

[zierf1]

I found it to not be so special. You will pay more than Thailand for rent and eating out. It's not cheap there and the visas(for Americans anyways) are expensive. Good bye.

[AYJAYDEE]

and youre surprised they treat you with contempt??

[Aldebaran1981]

good points stated about thailand.

Some of which, I agree to a certain extent after only residing here for only 4 months.

I somewhat feel that Thailand has become slightly xenophobic;

On the surface they appear to be all smiles, but god knows what lies behind that smile.

I have been conned once by a used motorcycle dealer in Bangkok. Tampering with the odometer as well as selling me a 2013 motorcycle as a 2014 model.

My then-gf was with me and yet, she just kept quiet. I was like, &lt;deleted&gt;*infinity.

Now I rarely trust Thais especially when it comes to purchasing of any products. They don't seem to be a trustworthy lot of people.

I seldom go partying but I realised something interesting about Thai people;

They seem to be conservative on one hand, yet they are so open-minded on the other hand. It's a bit contradictory I feel.

I will still stay on here as life is more laid back and less stressful. No plans to quit Bangkok as yet..

[Thongkorn]

and youre surprised they treat you with contempt??

Most of the negative comments are now, Sorry to say, the norm now on Thai Visa. I think forum comes to mind, so other people can learn, agree or disagree, not insult people, People do think differently, Unfortunately A lot of Intelligent people don't Post on here now, they just leave, as pointed out, Nobody cares.

Edited August 30, 2014 by Thongkorn

[ultimate weapon]

Damn why choose china?

I don't know why but it seems like all farang have that sort of superiority complex when they go to asia and it seems when they go to places like china they have to write as if the locals were all fawning over them and the girls were all Wh0res etc that type of thing.

I think what the OP means about thais treating him or all farang with disdain is that they don't automatically bow down to him unlike the past where maybe thailand was much more improverished. That doesn't mean they actually hate all farangs. You just need to prove that you aren't the farang trash that's it.

It applies to everyone. Chinese tourists have a bad rep and this affects all people from china and also indirectly all chinese people the world over. I don't think chinese people actually worry about that they try to prove that they are not like those inconsiderate china tourists.

Think about the middle eastern vistors or residents in western countries like the USA suspected of being terrorists and having to go through a longer immigration survillance.

[ultimate weapon]

As for over priced Hong Kong, what are you going to get travelling so far in a weekend that you couldn't get for less in PKG? I'd prefer Geylang, SG.

Would PGK = Pangkor Island?

And surely Geylang is also overpriced compared to Thailand?

you can get girls from everywhere in the geylang area which is the low end of singapore whores ,thats the one benefit it has over thailand

culturally a much wider range of girls from china ,malaysia ,indonesia ,india,phillinines , thailand etc

prices can be haggled easily especially on less busier nights when there are way more girls than customers , normally $40-100 dependeding on how hot the girl rates herself or how badly she needs a customer and how much money she thinks you have

ive seen girls you wouldnt shag for free asking for $20 etc but some cracking good looking ones will go for 40 or 50

but thats just an hour at her room so i supppose they make it up in volume with numbers .......shel be back on the side of the road 15 minutes after shes got dressed trying to get another guy ,theres no barfines or even bars you have to go into which is a bonus if you need a break from drinking but not a break from sex .........

Those are called street hookers aka curly in thai.

It's illegal and sometimes the places get raided. CID personnel are involved the johns are sometimes arrested along with the girls but they want to catch the girls and the pimps not really the johns.

There are an abundance of street whores the world over. I suppose in singapore's case the whores are possibly safer than the ones in western countries and mind you the whores on singapore streets are mostly foreigners not locals. They don't look drug addicted. You won't risk getting robbed or beaten unlike the street whores you might meet in other countries due to the fact that their version of seeider side of town means lots of random violence.

You are correct on their looks. They might be at the lowest rank compared to girls in more upmarket joints but they aren't totally busted. Try finding a street whore in a western country that doesn't look like she is on drugs or looks totally roughed out.

I don't know why but in movies featuring western street hookers not the ones in joints like nevada or amsterdam but the ones working the streets like monster they really lead very rough lives and seems like they risk getting beaten or killed by the johns.

FYI there are also street whores located bkk obviously. I seen them once before a taxi driver pointed them out to me. Normal looking thai girls they didn't look busted or anything but the clients were mostly all thais. Same thing no bar fine maybe a higher charged compared to a local thai (it's also the same in geylang when they see a farang) Just wham bang thank you mdm. Probably need to speak decent thai as i don't think they know how to speak english.

Edited August 30, 2014 by ultimate weapon

[ultimate weapon]

I went to work in Shanghai (from Bangkok) in 2009, thinking it could be a long term move. I was back in Thailand inside 2 months. Admittedly it was in the middle of a freezing winter and I hardly knew anyone, but it still didn't impress me as a place I could spend a lot of time in. As for the issues/ reasons you're leaving Thailand, they're all valid, but don't expect that China will be that much better. And they'll be wanting more than their pound of flesh from you. The attitude is mercenary. The only friends I know who have stuck it out in Mainland China are Singaporeans who have paved their way and earned respect with the benefit of speaking Mandarin. HK and Taiwan are better options. Good luck wherever you end up.

Might i add chinese singaporeans.

Being from the same ethnic group helps obviously. It's really no different anywhere else in the world. A farang from say UK, USA might do much better say in russia/eastern europe compared to a black person, an asian or an indian.

[watcharacters]

Look at Myanmar as well. Now that its opened up their is a huge boom for skilled workers. The rest is the rest. Good luck in China

.

That would be my recommendation as well.

[ultimate weapon]

You think being a farang laowai will get you more respect in China? Dream on.

I think many farang see in their home countries on how asians try to act like them or read news about some asians changing their appearance to look more like farang and misconstrue that as asians trying to kiss up to them.

He somehow expects locals to actually worship the ground that he walks on. I think that was what he was complaining about in the OP. The fact that the thais didn't fall over themselves to literally kiss his a@@ bothered him so he thought that he needs to go to another asian country where he hopes they will do that.

It's laughable he should try a SEA country maybe indonesia or the philippines.

In any case respect should be earned. He should be doing something that endears him to the local people rather than them seeing him as a farang/foreigner and automatically defer to him which is just plain silly.

In most cases where they do that it's because they see that as a way out of poverty like the issan girls trying to hook up with a farang.

[AlexRRR]

I think hes pissed casue he didnt get a few jobs he went for...

Your the type in 10 years time you will be bagging the Chinese from a prison cell, if you think doing business in Thailand is rough wait when you become a success in China.