Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants?

[MJP]

I think it's something to do with tax. Perhaps "extax's" would be a better term.

[AZBill]

Nice to see race baiting isn't just an American problem.

[krystian]

I think he forgot to mention "alien" you can see it in your work permits id prefer they use migrants

[choff56]

Defining this statement is that immigrants are "workers" whereas "expats" are not.

You see "expats" in go-go bars, you don't see "immigrants".

A very clear divide.

Where does your theory categorize the Russian women working in Pataya?

Edited March 15, 2015 by choff56

[zierf1]

By immigrant they mean they are trying to take jobs from people in countries they are living in. I don't think many "white" people do that. They aren't even allowed in most cases. And most countries do not allow outside nationalities to become citizens. That IS racist since "white" countries are the only countries giving citizenship to outside nationalities. France allows Algerians to become French citizens but Thailand does not allow a Frenchman to become a Thai citizen.

[noitom]

The Thai press is off the deep end on these expat columns. Engendering animosity with bitter acrimony about western white people.

[englishoak]

Did the OPs daughter have a fling with an expat or something ?

[Andrew65]

In Thailand everybody is "FARANG". Except for Indians and middle eastern people are called "Kaeg", and Africans are called "Afrigan".

AFRICANS are farang dam to thais

farang is white fruit,so obviously white people on holiday or live here, EXPATS are anybody, so no race card please, as nobody i know would think an expat to be white only, ludicrous.

To my mind, an expat is an expat regardless of colour or creed!

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the Thais use the word farang as word for white-caucasians (the Farance thing sounds credible to me, because of the way that many Thais pronounce many western/english words). Other oriental nationals are not falang, as I understand it.

[bendejo]

Maybe it's a matter of the country of origin. Economic/political conditions. I know people in the US who immigrated there, and they can't for the life of them understand why I would want to live SEA, South America, etc. I had a rental agent in Uruguay who was completely baffled as to why I would leave the US to live there.

Once while passing through the US I was doing my wash in a public laundromat and got to talking with a Colombian lady. I told her I was leaving that night to return to South America. She took it that I was originally from there, and that my return was some sort of defeat, she kept telling me how I should keep a positive attitude about it, etc. I tried to tell her that wasn't the case, and she kept telling me things like "good! It's good you feel that way about it." Kind of funny.

Or maybe an immigrant seeks citizenship, whereas expats just want permission to stay there a while.

[ksamuiguy]

And we care what we are called, because!

[jerojero]

To quote Bill Gates addressing a high school graduating class years back, "Life isn't fair, get used to it."

[slipperylobster]

I'm all for wiping out all borders everywhere, all over the world, and people can go where they like, live where they like, without being hassled, without being persecuted, and everyone is just another person. I'm no expat or immigrant--I'm just here. Get over it

Heaven on earth? Hope the fun does not stop.

[Gonsalviz]

Immigrant refers to the country one goes to.

Expat refers to the country one came from.

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Being white, then it is ones birth right, if you happen to be yellow, it's just too bad fellow and to be black, accept it as a matter of fact. The mighty man dictates your dealt hand so when you again stand in line, don't whine - just remember better luck next time.

If you are yellow you are Quality tourist.

[WheresWaldo]

Wah! Wah! Wah! Some people are always whining about something.

[pitchag]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Being white, then it is ones birth right, if you happen to be yellow, it's just too bad fellow and to be black, accept it as a matter of fact. The mighty man dictates your dealt hand so when you again stand in line, don't whine - just remember better luck next time.

AS Wiston Churchill once stated "to be born white and English is akin to winning lifes lottery" I tend to agree with him.

[tropo]

i would accept being an immigrant but my visa says i am a non-immigrant.

Exactly. Most of us are either tourists (long or short-term) or expats. As we cannot be labelled immigrants, "expat" is the only term at our disposal.

[puukao]

I am Farang.

[tropo]

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

I think we are considered more like interlopers

Precisely. They love our money--but they don't love us.

My sister in-law despises me with a passion. For ten years wife and I pumped American dollars over to she and her husband to help build this business. After more than a decade, wife and I could finally come live here and get our dream.

When we arrived and Sister noticed the monthly deposit wasn't in the account, she came and asked what was the matter. We were blown away by her inquiry. Of course, we live here now, we explained, quit our jobs in America, and run the business and now the business will need start paying us.

Sister absolutely flipped out and refused to speak to us for days. What could she possibly have been thinking was beyond me.

Near as I can tell, she thought since she was the eldest, she was clearly in control of the family and made all decisions. Our money was hers and that's final. Of course, I laughed in her face at this ridiculously stupid idea. She flashed a stare at me and in less than a second I went from the sweetest man in the world to "farang."

That was well over a year ago. She still refers to me as "farang," but only behind my back. She hasn't spoken a word to me since that meeting.

I am the interloper, here to destroy the family, according to Sister's mind, and I need be done away with. I taught Wife that she has her own brain and spine and that we will be just fine without being Sister's slave. Wife was afraid to stand up to her at first, and I had no idea how crazy Sister really was until I got here. Yikes. She's done all she can think of to be rid of me, but I just smile and keep on my merry way.

The Interloper. Perfect.

You've discovered that you can't buy love? If you want people to like or respect you, you have to earn that.

We don't know what business you were building, but since your sister-in-law and her husband were building it for you over a 10 year period, why are you so surprised she hates you when you came over and cut them out.

Edited March 16, 2015 by tropo

[Blackfish64]

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

I think we are considered more like interlopers

Precisely. They love our money--but they don't love us.

My sister in-law despises me with a passion. For ten years wife and I pumped American dollars over to she and her husband to help build this business. After more than a decade, wife and I could finally come live here and get our dream.

When we arrived and Sister noticed the monthly deposit wasn't in the account, she came and asked what was the matter. We were blown away by her inquiry. Of course, we live here now, we explained, quit our jobs in America, and run the business and now the business will need start paying us.

Sister absolutely flipped out and refused to speak to us for days. What could she possibly have been thinking was beyond me.

Near as I can tell, she thought since she was the eldest, she was clearly in control of the family and made all decisions. Our money was hers and that's final. Of course, I laughed in her face at this ridiculously stupid idea. She flashed a stare at me and in less than a second I went from the sweetest man in the world to "farang."

That was well over a year ago. She still refers to me as "farang," but only behind my back. She hasn't spoken a word to me since that meeting.

I am the interloper, here to destroy the family, according to Sister's mind, and I need be done away with. I taught Wife that she has her own brain and spine and that we will be just fine without being Sister's slave. Wife was afraid to stand up to her at first, and I had no idea how crazy Sister really was until I got here. Yikes. She's done all she can think of to be rid of me, but I just smile and keep on my merry way.

The Interloper. Perfect.

You've discovered that you can't buy love? If you want people to like or respect you, you have to earn that.

We don't know what business you were building, but since your sister-in-law and her husband were building it for you over a 10 year period, why are you so surprised she hates you when you came over and cut them out.

Obviously, we didn't cut them out. And obviously we weren't buying love. We simply arrived on time according to plan, and greedy sister suddenly got cold feet, decided she didn't like the idea after all.

Tough bounce. Here we are and here we shall stay. Everything going extremely well for us, too, by the way. Thanks for asking. We've even made it bigger and better than Sister could ever hope to do. She's tenacious, but not brilliant nor talented.

[ravip]

White as an identity is something very recent, created in the context of the european globalization starting in the 15th century.

Its creation came in the same time as the creation of the black identity. The same people created both identities.

Please educate yourself a bit more about the identity you wish to wear.

The same source has more on this >>> I’m More White Than You, Live with it

http://www.siliconafrica.com/im-more-white-than-you-live-with-it/

Edit

About the author - Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN

Mawuna Koutonin is a world peace activist who relentlessly works to empower people to express their full potential and pursue their dreams, regardless of their background. He is the Editior of SiliconAfrica.com, Founder of Goodbuzz.net, and Social activist for Africa Renaissance. Koutonin’s ultimate dream is to open a world-class human potential development school in Africa in 2017.

Edited March 16, 2015 by ravip

[rakman]

I thought the white people here were just visitors (guests).

Hardly enough to be an immigrant.

no, the term is autonomous ATM

[Docno]

Three related points to make, one that challenges the fundamental claim the author is making (re. racism in the language) and two that provide a more reasonable explanation:

1. Japanese (and probably Koreans) are more often referred to as 'expats' as well, unless they move with their whole family in tow and intend to settle down in their new home indefinitely. That leads us to a non-racial explanation for this labelling...
   
2. I would argue that when a person moves from a less developed country to a more developed country they are more likely to be termed an 'immigrant', and when a person moves from a more developed to less developed country, they are more likely to be termed an 'expatriate'. This is based on the (not always correct) assumption that former more likely wants to stay in his new location--i.e., they have migrated--while the latter has only moved on a temporary basis.
   
3. Most western countries allow immigration to an extent not seen in the rest of the world. This means that when a 'white person' moves from a western country to a non-western country, it's almost impossible for them to be immigrants in the true sense of the world. How possible is it for a Brit, for example, to obtain citizenship in Thailand, Japan, or India? However, non-whites moving to western countries can benefit from those countries' more liberal immigration policies and be granted citizenship, thereby becoming true immigrants. [The irony, of course, is that the author is attributing racism to these very countries/cultures that allow such open immigration].

On a personal note, my Canadian parents moved to Australia before I was born and saw themselves as 'immigrants', not expats. The author needs to drop his own racist filters...

[gerry1011]

Similarly, I never heard Indians or Africans being called "sexpats"... I think that this term is reserved for farangs (the white immigrants). To everyone his own privilege

[ozyjon]

I once knew a girl who had a tattoo on her boob PAT

which i did

[EnglishJohn]

Maybe I should be offended by the racism by the author of the article who is using the term expat as a white person who thinks he is superior but is not.

Oh, but I forgot : it is only racist when white people direct it at non-whites. If we call non-whites racist, we are racist for doing that as well.

I get called farang all the time in Thailand - but I've got more important things to worry about.

[bkkcanuck8]

An expat is someone that will never integrate into the society that he is in, an Immigrant will make more efforts to integrate into his new home.

[monkeycountry]

In most of Europe Africans are called refugees. They even insist on being refugees, so don't blame the white man.

Edited March 16, 2015 by monkeycountry

[arjunadawn]

Perhaps there should be an observation regarding white guilt as well; perhaps that is why, under the cover of oped, the OP has been allowed to post totally racist, intellectually inferior drivel against an entire race, who's status is determined by third parties (in Thailand- the people and the State) in any event.

This is pure racism and its beneath ThaiVisa to give it a voice under the cover of editorial. The mechanics of this deprived mind are evident in the last paragraph. Under the cover of observation, TV has facilitated a racist diatribe. That sucks. If I wrote this article and replaced each relevant turn with muslim, or black, or thai, or asian, it would be locked up immediately.

[slipperylobster]

I wonder what my son is....his mom is filipina and the dad a white westerner. Perhaps an Immipat?

or Farangtastic?

Edited March 16, 2015 by slipperylobster