How prevalent is racism in Thailand?

[ravip]

Many thais have a superiority complex and poor education. Both go hand in hand with racism. Its a very selfish , blame others culture which is what racists in any country do instead of looking at themselves.

Never saw this trait in another nationality X10 more? (even with a high level of education)

Edit

Is there any place on earth that racism does not exist?

Where is it?

Edited December 9, 2014 by ravip

[sustento]

Racism in thailand?

Asking the opinion of these hypocritical farangs who have no qualm making racist comments on chinese people especially people from china. So what's the deal on that?

Is it ok to stereotype chinese people?

Many farang love to play the victim but honestly farang are well protected even a black in the USA should watch himself from making racist remarks on farang but not chinese.

"on chinese people especially people from china" ...

.

Chinese people also come from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan

[Gecko123]

the racism against burmese, shan, and other immigrants is ubiquitous

Obviously.

The mistake some expats are making is projecting the specific aspects of racism from their home country cultures onto Thailand.

The social construct of racism is quite different in different countries.

In Thailand, it is not a simple story of black and white.

Jingthing:

You make an excellent point regarding the difficulty of evaluating racism in another country through the prism of your home country culture, and I appreciate the academic rigor you have brought to this discussion.

Sorry if this is a sensitive subject for me. Just allow me to clarify that looking through the prism of race relations in my home country (USA), Thailand has always struck me as a very racially tolerant country.

Please understand that, looking through the prism of race relations in my home country, when I hear white people pointing fingers at Thais and labeling them racist, this is a bit like listening to Bernie Madoff complaining that the prison cafeteria short-changed him on his macaroni and cheese serving yesterday.

It's just really, really hard to muster any sympathy for these complaints.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Gecko123

[Cypress Hill]

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Farangs have been declared a national problem along with corruption and the Junta is in charged to solve it.

Ignorant distortion of the truth.

The government has talked about illegal immigration and foreigners who engage in criminal activity in Thailand, and cleaning up Thailand's image on the world stage as a haven for sex tourists and criminals. But the government has repeatedly gone out of its way to assure all foreigners who abide by Thailand's laws are welcome here.

By the way -- once again -- where, oh where, are all the people of color who think Thailand is racist?

(sound of crickets)

You want to know the truth?

If you really think Thailand is racist, shout it from the rooftops to your heart's content if that makes you feel better but -- newsflash -- no one really cares what a tiny bunch of whinny-ass narrow-minded chronic-malcontent neo-colonialist sex-tourists think anyway. The world's changing -- and you guys are in serious danger of getting left behind.

And another thing - - You really want to make the world a better place, and eliminate racism??? Start by taking a long look in the mirror. I've encountered a trillion times more racism on this website and from Westerners in Thailand, than I've ever experienced from Thais themselves.

BOOM!!

Post of the thread

Farangs are happy to take the positive aspects of discrimination - attention from the local women and near-VIP treatment at upscale stores and restaurants - but when something doesn't go their way, they play the race card; something they're forever accusing ethnic minorities in their own countries of doing.

Funny how shit comes full circle, eh?

[Berkshire]

Farangs have been declared a national problem along with corruption and the Junta is in charged to solve it.

Ignorant distortion of the truth.

The government has talked about illegal immigration and foreigners who engage in criminal activity in Thailand, and cleaning up Thailand's image on the world stage as a haven for sex tourists and criminals. But the government has repeatedly gone out of its way to assure all foreigners who abide by Thailand's laws are welcome here.

By the way -- once again -- where, oh where, are all the people of color who think Thailand is racist?

(sound of crickets)

You want to know the truth?

If you really think Thailand is racist, shout it from the rooftops to your heart's content if that makes you feel better but -- newsflash -- no one really cares what a tiny bunch of whinny-ass narrow-minded chronic-malcontent neo-colonialist sex-tourists think anyway. The world's changing -- and you guys are in serious danger of getting left behind.

And another thing - - You really want to make the world a better place, and eliminate racism??? Start by taking a long look in the mirror. I've encountered a trillion times more racism on this website and from Westerners in Thailand, than I've ever experienced from Thais themselves.

Gecko, you're on a roll! I agree with pretty much everything you said. It really does seem like the farangs in Thailand who yell racism the loudest are themselves hardened racists back in their home countries. So they finally get the chance to turn the tables and accuse someone else, but deep down, I think they know they're full of it.

[AndersMUC]

Interesting Discussion! But I'd be more interested to get insight into your own experiences, and how you deal with prejudice and rejection in your daily life.

A short remark first: I'm aware that we are all racists. It's hardwired in our brains. (As Kitsune pointed out earlier.) Or, to be more precise, we are xenophobic by nature. Back in the days when we roamed the planet in small herds and tribes, a group of hominids didn't have much contact to other groups, and every contact was potentially hostile and dangerous. For all of us it's family first, then friends, then maybe neighbours. But certainly not strangers.

I think we often pick on racism because it's easy to see - putting off foreign people is so much easier if you can spot them because they look different. That's when we label xenophobia racism.

I'm aware of the history in my area, central Europe. I know how neighbouring nations discriminated each other, even though they were so close, also culturally. It was just opportune for certain groups, it helped fuel hostility and do the many wars that our history books are full of.

I'll go to Thailand for the fifth time next week. I have some contacts there, and I do hope that a few might become friends some day. But I am also aware that when I relocate to Thailand, I will face a lot of prejudice and injustice from people there, especially the administration. I am sure this is the same all over the world. It certainly runs this way here in Germany, where not only foreigners are treated badly by the administration, but also poor people.

So - where do you have difficulties through deprecatory behaviour in your daily life as expats? And, much more importantly, how do you deal with it and overcome it in a charming, friendly way?

[benalibina]

the racism against burmese, shan, and other immigrants is ubiquitous

Obviously.

The mistake some expats are making is projecting the specific aspects of racism from their home country cultures onto Thailand.

The social construct of racism is quite different in different countries.

In Thailand, it is not a simple story of black and white.

Jingthing:

You make an excellent point regarding the difficulty of evaluating racism in another country through the prism of your home country culture, and I appreciate the academic rigor you have brought to this discussion.

Sorry if this is a sensitive subject for me. Just allow me to clarify that looking through the prism of race relations in my home country (USA), Thailand has always struck me as a very racially tolerant country.

Please understand that, looking through the prism of race relations in my home country, when I hear white people pointing fingers at Thais and labeling them racist, this is a bit like listening to Bernie Madoff complaining that the prison cafeteria short-changed him on his macaroni and cheese serving yesterday.

It's just really, really hard to muster any sympathy for these complaints.

So you say....all whites complaining about racism in Thailand are hypocrites !!

Quite a statement.

[Neeranam]

There is a change from the older generation. They hated Chinese, calling them 'jeks" which has become a rude term.

They've always disliked Indian and Arabs(kaek and Kaek Kao) I've seen a big change in the way whiteys are disliked as there are so many of them now. Africans or blacks are more tolerated(maybe because of rap music).

What I find funny is the guy who can't undertand Thai but walks around laughing with them laughing at him and calling him nasty things. I've seen this many times.

The longer you live here the more you see the racist attitude of many Thais.

Today I was following a really sexy woman with a farang and overheard some things being said and saw many looks at them, strangely most were at the woman for degrading herself to be with a fat farang with a vest and tatoos.

[maxme]

i have never heard a thai say : 'dumb farang'

but ive seen farangs say : dumb thai' one million times on this forum

whos the racist?

I cant count the number of times ive seen and heard farangs trying to teach a thai person to do something the way they are use to doing it. Seems like some type of farang sickness.

White people come here after a lifetime of being the majority in theyre home country. Then they experience what its like to be the minority when they get to thailand.

It works both ways, but experiencing being the minority is something new to me.

I'm from the UK where a lot of immigrants, indian, eastern european etc.. are generally looked down on or plain hated by certain sections of society, and it's not unusual for a lot of the (mainly working class) people there to make some racist comments or worse. It's a sad state of affairs but not uncommon as many will tell you. Personally I've always been anti-racist and often had a word with mates or people who would make off-hand comments or just be racist dicks in general, people are people, but maybe thats why I find it a little difficult to adjust to life here.

Here I've heard plenty of farang this or farang that comments, got plenty of horrible looks, my Mrs is Thai and occasionally says something bad in Thai to someone and when I ask what it was all about she'll tell me she overheard them saying horrible stuff about 'the farang'. I'm not a Chang vest, beer in hand idiot either, just going about my business quietly.

To say there's no racism here is pure naivety. But as said, it's everywhere, not just here.

Ridercnx makes a good point. I too have run into many more racist farangs in Thailand than racist Thais. Perhaps it is you who's being naive...or in denial.

@Berkshire, it's all about where you live. When I lived down in the south I met more unpleasant foreigners than locals, in Bangkok it seems to be the opposite but then again it also have to do with where in the city you live.

What is certain is that there are both nasty westerners as there are locals.

[David48]

Racism in thailand?

Asking the opinion of these hypocritical farangs who have no qualm making racist comments on chinese people especially people from china. So what's the deal on that?

Is it ok to stereotype chinese people?

Many farang love to play the victim but honestly farang are well protected even a black in the USA should watch himself from making racist remarks on farang but not chinese.

"on chinese people especially people from china" ... .

Chinese people also come from Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan

Humm ... about HongKong ... that's difficult because the Island's sovereignty has been transferred from the UK.

Wouldn't people from Singapore be Singaporeans?

Those from Taiwan be Taiwanese?

If a Chinese person is living in one of those places and hasn't adopted their Nationality ... then they are still Chinese.

China doesn't recognise Dual Nationality.

.

[northernjohn]

Here is my take for what it is worth. Racism is rampant through all the institutions. It is not as obvious as other countries because it is veneered with the Thai smile and obligatory courtesy that is the Thai protection measure. Beneath the smile the mechanics are fastidiously working against you as a foreigner.

The average Thai bod is not immune to the brainwashing that emanates from the institutions, especially school. The average person is however somewhat detached from doing anything to help or hurt a foreigner beyond price gouging. Then there are the criminal elements who see an opportunity to steal and scam from foreigners in the knowledge that the authorities will be so biased towards them that even the most feeble excuses will succeed against a foreigners solid evidence.

If you challenge and end up in the Justice system then lawyers take over the abuse whilst extracting as much money as possible on the pretense of helping you.

Racism is a curse on this country and the deceitful courteous treatment you get belies the truth of what will be done to hurt you. Of course sometimes the facade will break and then people die. No one gives a hoot!

Have you considered changing the people you hang around with? There is plenty of Racism on Thai Visa against Thais.

[Been there done that]

Here is my take for what it is worth. Racism is rampant through all the institutions. It is not as obvious as other countries because it is veneered with the Thai smile and obligatory courtesy that is the Thai protection measure. Beneath the smile the mechanics are fastidiously working against you as a foreigner.

The average Thai bod is not immune to the brainwashing that emanates from the institutions, especially school. The average person is however somewhat detached from doing anything to help or hurt a foreigner beyond price gouging. Then there are the criminal elements who see an opportunity to steal and scam from foreigners in the knowledge that the authorities will be so biased towards them that even the most feeble excuses will succeed against a foreigners solid evidence.

If you challenge and end up in the Justice system then lawyers take over the abuse whilst extracting as much money as possible on the pretense of helping you.

Racism is a curse on this country and the deceitful courteous treatment you get belies the truth of what will be done to hurt you. Of course sometimes the facade will break and then people die. No one gives a hoot!

Have you considered changing the people you hang around with? There is plenty of Racism on Thai Visa against Thais.

And now read his/her post again. Plus the other one he/she made on this topic. Just activate a couple of braincells.

[mitsubishi]

Casual / natural racism is commonplace. Only a delusional fool would think otherwise.