Life in Thailand with children: Arrogant farangs, arrogant Thais!

[laolover88]

Need some help here from experienced guys and gals!

We have lived in LOS for 20 years. Children, trilingual.. Thai, English, French (and a few other Issan things!) now becoming teenagers.

Have never liked the monica: Luk kreung..but we have lived with it. Here most people are Luk kreung Vietnamese/Thai..Chinese/Vietnamese..Thai /Lao...It may just be teenage stuff but for the first time we have encountered real 'cultural difference'. Have always had the usual battles about teeth, hair and fingernails etc.But now Mrs C. has gone on the offensive over such things as...If you don't wash your hair every day, I won't brush it, You are not allowed to eat in the bedroom, If you don't wai everybody politely people will not like you....You are now on you own ....P6 and M1 teachers not interested in helping you, particularly Luk kreung..Thais only interested in Luk kreung who are TV stars...up to you. If you want to live in Thailand you have to do everything Thai children do. Children say: Thai boys are scruffy and dirty..so its just girls?

Every time they go to Europe they say: Lets go back to Thailand...after a while oh "Lets go 'Home'"

Their first language is English. We have, I think, bent over backwards to help them be 'bi-cultural'. They think, for the most part, Thailand is a waste of time!!

We have persevered with the bi-cultural thing on the basis that a. they are half european and half Thai and b. that it may well be this is the 'Asian Century............have you been to rural villages in the UK, France etc lately??

My dad used to say: "English people tell me that Brits are God's gift to the world..invented everything including demawcracy...he use do say..I wait to hear someone who is not English tell me so!". Thais much the same...: They tell me Thais are most superior people, culturally, racially, gastronomically etc...oh yeah!!?

Any thoughts/experiences most welcome!!

[David48]

Humm ... I read the complaint ... but did I miss the question?

[Cypress Hill]

It's a bit early to be hammered, don't you think?

[96tehtarp]

From reading your post I come away with the impression that you've got teen-aged children.

Fasten your seat-belt for the next few years until it's passed over.

... and good luck.

[cooked]

It has to be better to be able to see culture and life in general without chauvinism getting in the way. My sons thrive on it although in a European context.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[craigt3365]

Moved to The Farang Pub.

[GuestHouse]

Father with teenage girls, wife battles the daughters who identify with their father.

If it were your sons, then your wife would be writing here about you battling your sons and them identifying with her.

On my bookcase is a book of Roman letters, one of my favourites is from a Roman Lawyer writing to his wife to complain about their son - it includes the line 'Your son doesn't listen to a word I say to him'.

It was ever thus.

Edited July 4, 2014 by GuestHouse

[Sena Dave]

My 2 youngest kids, 13 and 11 , have lived nearly all of their life in Thailand. I made a choice 12 years ago to come to Asia and work , my second wife being Thai wanted to come and live back in Asia also. I am of the opinion that kids being brought up in Asia of western or half western decent have more opportunity than those being brought up in the UK , certainly more so than where I come from anyway. My kids are fluent in Thai and English, got a little bit of a Thai accent but when you look at them they are Farang through and through. They have obviously got the complete repertoire of Thaisims and for all intents and purposes are Thai , they even say that if you ask them.

There are a few things that I regretthat they have no real knowledge of , British History , Cold Christmases , West Ham ect , but overall i think the Thai culture certainly now is better for kids , certainly teaches them respect for elders

[FritsSikkink]

Why is their first language English if they are living in Thailand ?

[bendejo]

My dad used to say: "English people tell me that Brits are God's gift to the world..invented everything

The French invented a machine for removing people's heads.

The Yanks created a bomb that can devastate huge areas of the earth in one blast, and then continue to kill for a long period of time with radioactivity from the blast, allowing the ability to kill nearly all life on the planet.

nyah-nyah!

[pitchag]

My dad used to say: "English people tell me that Brits are God's gift to the world..invented everything

The French invented a machine for removing people's heads.

The Yanks created a bomb that can devastate huge areas of the earth in one blast, and then continue to kill for a long period of time with radioactivity from the blast, allowing the ability to kill nearly all life on the planet.

nyah-nyah!

Winston Churchill was quoted as saying " being born white and British is like winning lifes lottery"

[phuketguyhere74]

Most Asian kids are 1000 times more respectful than their European counterparts. U should be happy.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[farang000999]

I know that was hyperbole, but no, Thai children are not 1000 times more respectful than Western children.

Also, at what point do those respectful children grow up to be home burglars - which might be the reason why nearly every Thai home has a concrete wall with broken bottles coming out of the top?

Oh, what you really mean is that Thai society puts a high value on superficial appearances. It is much more useful that everything appear to be going well than that it actually is going well.

The country is currently under military dictatorship and any criticism of that dictatorship is illegal and students are being arrested for eating sandwichs in public as Thais still struggle for certain rights awarded to some Westerns hundreds of years ago... yet here you are saying how much better off they are in Thailand than back home.

What you really mean is that you like your place on the Thai social hierarchy scale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases