Survey: Is There a Clash between Thais and Tourists?

[samran]

Thai visa clickbait?!?

[benalibina]

^

You do realise that you could be mistaken for a snob of the worst kind?

No, he is not......he sings the same old song over and over.....its his only solace in life....I guess....

[atyclb]

The fact that the government ordered all Thai national parks to charge foreigners 10! times the entrance-fee says it all to me.

They only need our money. And if you buy something there isn't even a bin to help you get rid of it.

Same with smokers, throw a cigarette on the street and you pay 2000 but don't think they will offer you an ashtray and good place to smoke (like on Changi airport for example).

Or look at the BBC-movie about Suvarnabhumi, it's totally fake! Never ever have i seen an immigration officer smile to me or saying "welcome to Thailand".

Chinese tourists might annoy the Thai because they are very rude and selfish, even more then Thai themselves.

think suwanaboom airport has smoking rooms.

there are also many air conditioned indoor venues that allow smoking despite the gov law prohibiting it. thus it would seem smokers rights trump the rights of employees and non smokers to not be forced to share in the pleasure of smoking.

[wabothai]

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If you go to Burma now you will feel how tourists to Thailand felt 20 years ago. Everybody seemed so friendly and everyone smiled and wanted to help. It was nice to be in such a place, tourists were amazed by what they saw and the locals seemed genuinely happy that tourists were interested in their country.

Fast forward twenty years and nothing is left in Thailand tourist resorts except cynicism, all tourists are seen as cash cows by everyone from the top government to lowliest rice farmer. Tourists feel they are barely tolerated because they have money, and the locals have hardened beyond belief, gone are the open and friendly smiles, and all that is left is greed, greed , greed and more greed.

That said if you leave all the tourist areas and venture out into the countryside that sense of amazement that could be found everywhere 20 years ago is still there.

I would like to add that indeed it is still there in the country side, where I live, but mainly coming from older generations. The bodylanguage of young generations often shows contempt and even hatred, sorry to have to mention that.

[neeray]

I just spent 4 weeks in Thailand with my fiancé. The negative sentiment towards me was ZERO.

In the tourass areas of Hua Hin, Ao Nang Krabi I was neither smiled at nor shunned. All experiences were very pleasant.

In Surat Thani, neither here nor there. Very pleasant.

And out in the country, we received a warm welcome and were invited to return, even though we didn't spend any money to speak of in the countryside.

Overall, my (our) presence was welcomed.

Thanks Thai people. See you again soon.

[Jungle Jim]

Love the logic. since i am paying for everything i should be able to do anything i please no matter who gets hurt. The word that comes to mind is SELFISH PIGS. Sadly Thailand tends to attract a huge amount of them at the cost of destroying its culture, its environment. I think that is called selling your soul to the highest bidder. If i had to guess from my experience here from so many years and having traveled to every corner of Thailand numerous times to many to count. I would say at least fifty percent of the expats and tourists would not be allowed in most civilized countries, by their bad behavior, criminal background, dressing like total disrespectful slobs/pigs and the non stop scowl of their faces. Got to love the stick up your butt look. If you are unable to behave you really do not belong here. Not only speaking for myself but from some good foreigners that live and visit here over the years. The i will do as i damn well please attitudes in most countries does not go over well . Singapore is a good example. I would be willing to pay thousands more for my visas if the Thai government made a real effort to restrict many of the questionable foreigners entering.

You invite 20+ million people to your country

and you are actually trying to invite more

There is no chances all of them will behave

It is their holiday ... they have paid for it

Seem will feel it this right to act as they wish

Then again some who travel are just pigs

Thailand should stop crying about a few bad apples

and be happy that people still want to travel here

Should not the travelers have some conscious?

Should be thankful for the scum that come and behave like pigs?

Then it should apply to all countries, especially to yours first.

[Jungle Jim]

yea because the younger generations have decided to copy us. Rude, crude and many of the younger girls dress like bar girls. I wonder where they got that idea from? US!

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If you go to Burma now you will feel how tourists to Thailand felt 20 years ago. Everybody seemed so friendly and everyone smiled and wanted to help. It was nice to be in such a place, tourists were amazed by what they saw and the locals seemed genuinely happy that tourists were interested in their country.

Fast forward twenty years and nothing is left in Thailand tourist resorts except cynicism, all tourists are seen as cash cows by everyone from the top government to lowliest rice farmer. Tourists feel they are barely tolerated because they have money, and the locals have hardened beyond belief, gone are the open and friendly smiles, and all that is left is greed, greed , greed and more greed.

That said if you leave all the tourist areas and venture out into the countryside that sense of amazement that could be found everywhere 20 years ago is still there.

I would like to add that indeed it is still there in the country side, where I live, but mainly coming from older generations. The bodylanguage of young generations often shows contempt and even hatred, sorry to have to mention that.

[KarenBravo]

So......you are saying that 50% of countries would not let you in due to apparel worn and a facial expression?

Foreigners "destroying" Thai culture? Sorry, only Thais can do that and they are doing a very good job. Witness Songkrahn.

You should learn that hyperbole debases the point you are trying to make.

[phanangpete]

It is a fact that if you are involved in an accident in Thailand ie: motorbike, pickup etc and it was obviously the Thai's fault, the Police will, in the majority of cases, say it was the farangs fault and that we have to pay up.

More and more of us are using the dash cameras now , so we can produce the evidence, but even with this you will need a Thai witness who is willing to confirm what happened.

[elgordo38]

In general I think Thais hate all foreigners. However, they love their expertise and money. They wish you would drop your wallet at the airport and get the hell out of here...

Lovely if we could do that in London, I would be so happy ! Maybe I'll petition my MP

Forget your MP the only time he wants to hear from you is at election time otherwise get lost.

[elgordo38]

Drop yur wallet at the airport? Mexico is far worse. They want you to drop yur wallet and leave so they can get enough money to cross the border into the USA. Mexicans have a long memory and do not forget when the Americans seized about 1/3 of their country. Yes the same Americans that want to be the world's peacekeeper and installer of Democratic values. I find Thai's much more friendly and tolerable than Mexicans. Here there are many Thai ladies available in Mexico its "Keep your hands off of our women" There is much more machoism there than here.

[Jungle Jim]

i guess you did not read the entire thing. i learned from my experiences with thousands of foreigners over the years. I guess you really hate the Thais and Thailand . I would suggest one thing.

So......you are saying that 50% of countries would not let you in due to apparel worn and a facial expression?

Foreigners "destroying" Thai culture? Sorry, only Thais can do that and they are doing a very good job. Witness Songkrahn.

You should learn that hyperbole debases the point you are trying to make.

[Shadychris]

Hmmn right now 375 members have supposedly cast votes - yet the total sum of all 4 categories equals only 299......

[KarenBravo]

i guess you did not read the entire thing. i learned from my experiences with thousands of foreigners over the years. I guess you really hate the Thais and Thailand . I would suggest one thing.

So......you are saying that 50% of countries would not let you in due to apparel worn and a facial expression?

Foreigners "destroying" Thai culture? Sorry, only Thais can do that and they are doing a very good job. Witness Songkrahn.

You should learn that hyperbole debases the point you are trying to make.

Yes, of course you would suggest one thing as that is the only response people like you have.

As I've lived here for more than three decades, I'll let you figure out whether I "hate Thais and Thailand", or not.

I think another poster described you to a tee. Same post over and over and over again.

[Smurkster]

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You invite 20+ million people to your country

and you are actually trying to invite more

There is no chances all of them will behave

It is their holiday ... they have paid for it

Seem will feel it this right to act as they wish

Then again some who travel are just pigs

Thailand should stop crying about a few bad apples

and be happy that people still want to travel here

yep, Thailand should be surprised ANYONE still wants to come here, with all the options of places to travel, the fact that anyone still wants to come to this place is beyond me

[Kaalle]

honestly and I don't mean this any insulting way - but it is time Thai people realised they are not what they think they are - if they want to play on the big stage then they need to do "big stage things" and I'm not talking about anything political - the first step to improvement is understanding where you are

They talk about hub this and hub that - in reality they are hub nothing - all the lip service means nothing on the big stage

It comes down to education which I posted earlier - in the evolution of society for the last 30 odd years they should have done better, unfortunately they have been raped by corruption and greed and exploitation from the like of Thaksin who is now using his riches that he got from the Thai people to avenge and disrupt

So how is this on topic - well it is, because they look at us from other parts of the world were we have overcome most of the issues that currently exist in Thailand - they see us as superior and a threat and treat us with contempt and yet if they only realised - they could have had it all, the weird thing is that apart from farming they are basically a cheap labour camp making stuff for other countries.......time to get out of the inferior cycle - progress and start doing things for themselves

Get into the world stage Thailand - allow the purchase of land and property - allow foreigners to work here and see how a competitive environment gives people incentive to compete rather than stagnate hiding behind stupid rules and going nowhere for 5 decades

The ripping off and trying to suck dry has run it's course - yes we have grown wise to it and the Indians will too - and the reason I say that is because of the amount of taxis and women that sit around hotels where Indian people stay - they are naïve and green and are the easiest to rip off - how many baht taxis have you seen almost do a handbrake turn to pick up 5x Indians on pattaya 2nd road because they don't realise that it is a 10baht fare each to where they are going - it's like flies round s%%%%......................again on topic because we westerners have sussed it out and generally know the score either through experience or being told from someone with experience - so again there is an incline for Thais to avoid us because we are not easily scammed

anyway rant over - Thais need to move forward and realise that the nice false smiles are not working anymore and the undertone of anger greed and extortion showing through will eventually destroy tourism and they will be left with nothing

Education

Your right but its a huge thing your asking for. You have the absolute majority of Thais who are indoctrinated and groomed into people devoid of critical thinking, analysis, reflection and anything resembling true sense of self or individualism. And then you have the white skinned, arrogant elite that has a self evident sense of entitlement and ZERO empathy or kinship with the broad masses, their countrymen. They will do all they can to maintain the status quo which I guess is lying and deceiving to remain in power and keeping the cash flowing. The limitations on land and work and so on for foreigners is an expression of stupid and narrow-minded nationalism and xenophobia which in turn is another convenient way to keep the Thai masses in line.

The problem anyway is that lying to cover up the problems, be it corruption or safety or whatever, obviously doesn't work as well on westerners and western media as it does on the local population. The people in power fail to realize this it seems and keep doing the same mistakes over and over again: Instead of engaging in serious problem solving they try to bullsh#t their way out of it and as a result the number of tourists drop, withdrawal of foreign investment etc. Then panic ensues of course since certain people are loosing money and more bullsh#t comes out to try and save face and rectify the situation and on it goes. I'm not really bothered by all this though, if you have some money Thailand is a great place.

[schvonsky1]

If you go to Burma now you will feel how tourists to Thailand felt 20 years ago. Everybody seemed so friendly and everyone smiled and wanted to help. It was nice to be in such a place, tourists were amazed by what they saw and the locals seemed genuinely happy that tourists were interested in their country.

Fast forward twenty years and nothing is left in Thailand tourist resorts except cynicism, all tourists are seen as cash cows by everyone from the top government to lowliest rice farmer. Tourists feel they are barely tolerated because they have money, and the locals have hardened beyond belief, gone are the open and friendly smiles, and all that is left is greed, greed , greed and more greed.

That said if you leave all the tourist areas and venture out into the countryside that sense of amazement that could be found everywhere 20 years ago is still there.

. Very true all tourists areas just wanna suck ur wallet dry pattaya is a awful place these days 20 yrs ago it was amazin now terrible

[teebe]

Assuming the questions are mostly for hosts-at-home foreigners in Thailand,

#1 - Thai should have their own reasons (not sure which). Answer is acceptable as is now shared, mutual everywhere, the fraternity age is passed and no one knows if will return

#2 - Worrisome "misbehaviour", but as you can entitle a foreigner these things is not entirely a foreign problem. Probably the Thais are split in two, one side would like an opportunity and the other tuned to the tradition. No sign in the daily news, but the question raises concerns.

#3 - Thought goes to crypto-paranoid statement, like some creeping racists saying " I'm not racist, them are first of all <put_your_scare_here> ", culture is a too huge topic so the question perhaps refers to a disappointed revanchist sentiment ignited by tourists.

#4 - Probably the only likely statement, until a bigger event changes the OP assumption. Innocent, polite statement with a minimum persistence, like gossip, means that in the long or very long term nothing prevails. Relax, nothing will change (now)

Vote #4, looks distensive but I fear is not true.

Rather, as I am in quadrant close but not overlapping Japan there is an interesting new on the media:

"Ayako Sono, 83, who is also a bestselling conservative author as well as an education adviser to the government, wrote that it was necessary for Japan to accept immigrants, especially in order to care for the growing elderly population, but that they should live separately from the Japanese."

The underlining idea is the triumph of racial progress, relegating people in limited realities. Not too different from religious extremism, where it says the enemy is outside of us. How far is Japan from Thailand?

[smedly]

honestly and I don't mean this any insulting way - but it is time Thai people realised they are not what they think they are - if they want to play on the big stage then they need to do "big stage things" and I'm not talking about anything political - the first step to improvement is understanding where you are

They talk about hub this and hub that - in reality they are hub nothing - all the lip service means nothing on the big stage

It comes down to education which I posted earlier - in the evolution of society for the last 30 odd years they should have done better, unfortunately they have been raped by corruption and greed and exploitation from the like of Thaksin who is now using his riches that he got from the Thai people to avenge and disrupt

So how is this on topic - well it is, because they look at us from other parts of the world were we have overcome most of the issues that currently exist in Thailand - they see us as superior and a threat and treat us with contempt and yet if they only realised - they could have had it all, the weird thing is that apart from farming they are basically a cheap labour camp making stuff for other countries.......time to get out of the inferior cycle - progress and start doing things for themselves

Get into the world stage Thailand - allow the purchase of land and property - allow foreigners to work here and see how a competitive environment gives people incentive to compete rather than stagnate hiding behind stupid rules and going nowhere for 5 decades

The ripping off and trying to suck dry has run it's course - yes we have grown wise to it and the Indians will too - and the reason I say that is because of the amount of taxis and women that sit around hotels where Indian people stay - they are naïve and green and are the easiest to rip off - how many baht taxis have you seen almost do a handbrake turn to pick up 5x Indians on pattaya 2nd road because they don't realise that it is a 10baht fare each to where they are going - it's like flies round s%%%%......................again on topic because we westerners have sussed it out and generally know the score either through experience or being told from someone with experience - so again there is an incline for Thais to avoid us because we are not easily scammed

anyway rant over - Thais need to move forward and realise that the nice false smiles are not working anymore and the undertone of anger greed and extortion showing through will eventually destroy tourism and they will be left with nothing

Education

Your right but its a huge thing your asking for. You have the absolute majority of Thais who are indoctrinated and groomed into people devoid of critical thinking, analysis, reflection and anything resembling true sense of self or individualism. And then you have the white skinned, arrogant elite that has a self evident sense of entitlement and ZERO empathy or kinship with the broad masses, their countrymen. They will do all they can to maintain the status quo which I guess is lying and deceiving to remain in power and keeping the cash flowing. The limitations on land and work and so on for foreigners is an expression of stupid and narrow-minded nationalism and xenophobia which in turn is another convenient way to keep the Thai masses in line.

The problem anyway is that lying to cover up the problems, be it corruption or safety or whatever, obviously doesn't work as well on westerners and western media as it does on the local population. The people in power fail to realize this it seems and keep doing the same mistakes over and over again: Instead of engaging in serious problem solving they try to bullsh#t their way out of it and as a result the number of tourists drop, withdrawal of foreign investment etc. Then panic ensues of course since certain people are loosing money and more bullsh#t comes out to try and save face and rectify the situation and on it goes. I'm not really bothered by all this though, if you have some money Thailand is a great place.

I agree and well said, the problem I see is that Thailand has not matured the way it should have over the last 30 years which I blame on education and corruption - China was in a similar situation until a few years ago when suddenly they have emerged from 3rd world to 1st world status and realised their potential - it was leadership that accomplished this change

[Thai at Heart]

The tourism business has outstripped thailands ability to provide a Thai smile for everyone.

The water stinks, the roads are terrible, the resorts are gaudy and worst of all, there isn't any way to cater easily for 20mn visitors.

[jonesthebaker]

East meets west. Lots of noise with the underclasses moving upward.

Violence and unwanted behavior is on the rise. Hooligans' behavior is a good example (lately the Rotterdam's team ugly behavior in Rome).

what!!!!!!!!!!!