No Obama is NOT a Farang. How difficult is this to understand?

Obama is a luk khreung, half Farang and half Negro. You (and I) may not like or use the term Negro, but Thais do. Often these names are or may be construed as impolite, but it's what Thais call people. For example:

Khon Farang = White Caucasian Westerner

Khon Negro = a Black person

Khon Khaek = an Indian or an Arab - a person of sub-continental or Middle Eastern origin. Not very polite.

Khon Jin = a Chinese. An impolite version is Jek.

Khon Yipun = a Japanese. An impolite version is Yun.

Khon Melayu = a Malay or an Indonesian, sometimes also labelled Khak - the latter is not polite.

Khon Kowree = a Korean

Khon Vietnam = a Vietnamese. An impolite version is Yun

Why can people not learn and understand that Farang does not mean foreigner???

A polite an all-encompassing term for foreigner is "Khon Tang Pratet".

Is that clear enough?

Actually no! On a broad basis it is permissible for casual visitors to believe that the term "farang" means foreigner, those who have studied the Thai language, no matter how briefly, may know better, the native Thai population doesn't get upset about it, you shouldn't either.

Nonsense. Just an excuse for laziness, stupidity and linguistic incompetence. But go right ahead - earn everyone's respect! You epitomize the dumb what.... Farang?

Don't blame people for bad linguistics when your transliteration makes no sense. First of, what about the Khon Kowree?? That makes no sense since it's spelled with a "lor ling" which next to all people who know transliteration would call an L, not an R. That means Gaolee, makes much more sense if you speak in linguistic terms. (Since most linguist agree that "gor gai" is a hard G, not a K, although the old royal transcription still in use to make signs etc will write it K).

Also, what about "kon tang prateet"? You with your superior linguistic knowledge should know that a "dto dtao" will in most instances be transliterated as "dt", secondly I have NEVER heard that term. But the term "kon dtang chaat" is quite usual...

Didn't I read last week that TAT manipulates the figures?

So are these the manipulated or real numbers?

Don't know, but what I do know is that worrying about tourism at this point shows insensitivity.

Might as say "Kids killed but no worries cause business good"

IMHO the PM knows full well that the country is already sliding into the financial 'soft smelly brown stuff'. The Gov't spin is that the Tourism sector generates only 8-9% of Thai revenue. I think this maybe an understatement However, I can understand their BS optimism, which is just the usual cover-up so as not to lose face. It's a fact that the PM has ordered a specific tax collection push from street vendors and other tax reforms are under consideration, following the increases in fuel duties. A budget deficit of 150-200 billion bht is forecast for the current fiscal year, which has resulted mainly from rice subsidies/write-offs and the 1st car subsidies. This will be compounded if rice sales remain sluggish and tourism doesn't recover. The Gov't DESPARATELY needs a swift and transparent conclusion to the horrific Koh Tao murder case, If international confidence in tourist's safety of Thailand isn't regained quickly, the next 'high' season may just be wishful thinking,

First of all, there were not 28 million arrivals last year. It was demonstrated last week, that that figure included visa runs, and all business visas. The level of deceit on the part of the TCT, the TOT, the AOT, and the TAT when it comes to using these additional groups to demonstrate higher tourist numbers is mind boggling. That a state institution would resort to this level of dishonesty is a real shame. No govt. numbers can ever be used as a comparison, due to this level of govt. deceit. How many of these total arrivals are returning from visa runs? How many are business visas? Many millions I am sure.

And secondarily, what is she basing her hypothesis of a recovery on? A theory? What theory? Just because it has happened before? The world is changing and evolving. There are more choices than ever. Thailand is becoming more difficult, and it is wracked with bad PR, and one black eye after another, in the world press. There is such a thing as a tipping point. I think most posters on this forum would not mind seeing tourism here decline. Changes are the natural order of things. An ebb and flow. Things are getting more expensive here, and there is no effort to provide better service, nor better expertise with regard to tourism. So, the possibility of the tourism sector not recovering to the level these silly officials want, is very real.