How did you form your opinion of Thai people

[duanebigsby]

Wow! What a perfect Thai bashers' thread.

Personally,I find most Thai people to be genuine, helpful, and welcoming.

[ggt]

My opinion page was blank when I came to live in Thailand...

The Thais interaction with me...over time...has filled in the blank page...

I will not bore you with the details...but it is not pretty...

[marko kok prong]

To be honest,i have had about enough of them,and the garbage strewn country,will start moving my $ back to Australia this week,my view of the Thai's,yes i agree with the op,one reason they were not colonised was given as they were such utter and shameless liars,that niether the Brits or the french could be bothered with them ,and they provided a nice buffer between the two,i personnally find them ;selfish,money grabbing, self absorbed,liars ,and cowards,and those are the good point's.

[marko kok prong]

Some decent looking bint's though.

[Berkshire]

It is apparent that your personality is in conflict with others most of the time. Or you are constantly bad luck. Go to the temple and get blessed. You have some bad vibs. like magnets attracting each other.

My thoughts as well. How can a guy have so much bad luck in just a few years? And how come I rarely meet these evil Thais that the OP speaks of? Hmmmm.

[dirtycash]

Wow! What a perfect Thai bashers' thread.

Personally,I find most Thai people to be genuine, helpful, and welcoming.

hmmmm really your being genuine ? ok then if so i bet your one of them guys who does the " over the top " wai when greeting them , leaves large tips, rings the bell , pays the family hospital bills, sends the monthly western union, lives in a very remote area of thailand , or possibly a hermit.

how long have you lived in thailand ?

[96tehtarp]

How did I form my opinion of Thai people? I did so through 20+ years of direct experience and almost entirely without exception, regardless of social status or economic background, they are a scrupleless lot.

This doesn't make Thai people worse than any other group, however sometimes I do miss the western christian notion of what is acceptable morally and what is not. This is absent here. They will steal your face right off of your head and then lie about it if you give them a chance.

Edited March 16, 2015 by 96tehtarp

[marko kok prong]

How did I form my opinion of Thai people? I did so through 20+ years of direct experience and almost entirely without exception, regardless of social status or economic background, they are a scrupleless lot.

This doesn't make Thai people worse than any other group, however sometimes I do miss the western christian notion of what is acceptable morally and what is not. This is absent here. They will steal your face right off of your head and then lie about it if you give them a chance.

They do not have honour,as we see it,nor courage,these are alien concept's to them,they can really only act as a group,in the end you have to understand this comes from an animist culture,of fear,Buddists,my ass,they are animist's,with a veneer of buddishm,with all the fears,superstitions,and terror,that bring's,,like the big tree have pee,the big rock's have pee,pee [good one] will help me win the lottery,to even equate most village thai's with westerners is ridicoulos,they are living in another time/reality,where life is day to day ,they have no long term view,no understanding of the world ,their horizon starts and finishes at what they have to eat,and who is doing what in the village,are they a lesser people for this,no,they they have never had the chance to be anything else,and most likely never will,which is the reason after 3 years,i am pulling the plug,i am going back to were i belong,the west{Australia],because i have realised that,i truly am actually an alien here,we have nothing in common ,no shared ideas,nothing,the same as if i went back to Europe,and a village in the 14th century.

[MaeJoMTB]

It's a third world country guys, what did you expect?

No pensions, no social, no decent wages, grab what you can get.

The world is like that outside the nanny states.

[redandyellow]

I form my opinion of Thai people NOT as a blanket policy, not by generalizations, not by what I hear bitter, long-term expats who never bothered learning any language or Thai culture espouse,

But rather, I form my opinion of Thai people based on each individual being unique, starting with a blank slate, as opposed to a self-fulfilled prophesy of who they already must be, based on western paradigms. One needs to look through the Cultural lens of the Thai person in question, by first understanding Thai culture (to a degree) walk a mile in their shoes, and if you don't like what you see by their actions, not by their words, then I vote with my feet, make like a bird, and flock off to greener pastures..

[kurtramsbottom]

How did I form my opinion of Thai people? I did so through 20+ years of direct experience and almost entirely without exception, regardless of social status or economic background, they are a scrupleless lot.

This doesn't make Thai people worse than any other group, however sometimes I do miss the western christian notion of what is acceptable morally and what is not. This is absent here. They will steal your face right off of your head and then lie about it if you give them a chance.

They do not have honour,as we see it,nor courage,these are alien concept's to them,they can really only act as a group,in the end you have to understand this comes from an animist culture,of fear,Buddists,my ass,they are animist's,with a veneer of buddishm,with all the fears,superstitions,and terror,that bring's,,like the big tree have pee,the big rock's have pee,pee [good one] will help me win the lottery,to even equate most village thai's with westerners is ridicoulos,they are living in another time/reality,where life is day to day ,they have no long term view,no understanding of the world ,their horizon starts and finishes at what they have to eat,and who is doing what in the village,are they a lesser people for this,no,they they have never had the chance to be anything else,and most likely never will,which is the reason after 3 years,i am pulling the plug,i am going back to were i belong,the west{Australia],because i have realised that,i truly am actually an alien here,we have nothing in common ,no shared ideas,nothing,the same as if i went back to Europe,and a village in the 14th century.

Are you taking the step-daughter back with you?

[ericthai]

Disingenuous police force...... anyone can attempt do anything here.

Really??? Then why are the jails over crowded??

[MaeJoMTB]

Disingenuous police force...... anyone can attempt do anything here.

Really??? Then why are the jails over crowded??

They didn't pay.

[teacher0826]

Well, I have had my own share of Thai BS and all the lies that acccompany it. But over the past 20+ years back and forth and now living here retired. I have come to acept the fact that these people are a product of their own miss guided culture.

So when I get frustrated when things like this happen I just give a big smile and point my thumb up in the air and say "good job my illiterate primate friend" They smile back at me and some even raise their thumbs up. They have no idea that I have just called them a STUPID MONKEY

[nithisa78]

A very wise man once told me, should you go through series of events such as these...............go to the mirrow and take a very close look. That's where the answer will be. It has nothing to do with Thai people or Thailand.

[redandyellow]

A very wise man once told me, should you go through series of events such as these...............go to the mirrow and take a very close look. That's where the answer will be. It has nothing to do with Thai people or Thailand.

Much better stated than my bovine dribble..

Signed,

Attitude = Altitude

[nithisa78]

How did I form my opinion of Thai people? I did so through 20+ years of direct experience and almost entirely without exception, regardless of social status or economic background, they are a scrupleless lot.

This doesn't make Thai people worse than any other group, however sometimes I do miss the western christian notion of what is acceptable morally and what is not. This is absent here. They will steal your face right off of your head and then lie about it if you give them a chance.

They do not have honour,as we see it,nor courage,these are alien concept's to them,they can really only act as a group,in the end you have to understand this comes from an animist culture,of fear,Buddists,my ass,they are animist's,with a veneer of buddishm,with all the fears,superstitions,and terror,that bring's,,like the big tree have pee,the big rock's have pee,pee [good one] will help me win the lottery,to even equate most village thai's with westerners is ridicoulos,they are living in another time/reality,where life is day to day ,they have no long term view,no understanding of the world ,their horizon starts and finishes at what they have to eat,and who is doing what in the village,are they a lesser people for this,no,they they have never had the chance to be anything else,and most likely never will,which is the reason after 3 years,i am pulling the plug,i am going back to were i belong,the west{Australia],because i have realised that,i truly am actually an alien here,we have nothing in common ,no shared ideas,nothing,the same as if i went back to Europe,and a village in the 14th century.

Are you taking the step-daughter back with you?

Can any of you walk straight up?

[benalibina]

A very wise man once told me, should you go through series of events such as these...............go to the mirrow and take a very close look. That's where the answer will be. It has nothing to do with Thai people or Thailand.

Mirror.......introspection......you are correct that many people do not do that. Afraid of confrontation with SELF.

The final conclusion is though not yours. Somewhere in the middle.

But now.....if a thai person, generalizing, i know, would have been in a similar situation.....would he/she do as you stated...close look in the mirror ?

You know the most likely answer, dont you !

[smotherb]

Well, here I sit wondering two major points: 1) why don't these things happen to me?, and 2) why are you guys who are complaining still here?

I have lived in the same rented house in the same neighborhood for over seven years and have never had a complaint or gotten a complaint--and I have a noisy Harley and often come home late, but I stop the motor at the gate, and push the bike inside. Perhaps it's my neighbors. It is an upscale area, the houses across the street would be considered mansions, but on my side of the street they are three story townhouses and smaller, but nice, detached houses. I know all my neigbors by sight and speak to them when we meet on the street, but that is about the extent of my interaction with them. My wife, who is not Thai, is very outgoing, she talks with them, knows their names and the names of their children--even bakes cookies for the kids. I have always maintained distance from neighbors, wherever I have lived; an old custom from my grandpappy. It seems to serve me well.

I do; however, have several Thai friends with whom I socialize. When my Thai buddies and I go out--riding our Harleys, attending the bullfights, or just out drinking and carousing, we always take turns paying; in fact, I often have to insist on paying. I do not feel used or cheated in our relationships. I am often the recipient of good deals because of our friendship--one sells Harleys, he sold me my bike at cost; another owns a resort, I stay there at a discount always; two others own restaurants, I can't pay for a drink at either place and the fruit and desserts are always free.

Don't get me wrong. I have several complaints, but those mostly stem from Thai driving habits, the usual poor service, cultural misunderstandings, or downright ignorance--but, issues like those happen everywhere. As mentioned before on TV, I have absolutley no problem with immigration or the local police, In fact, one of my riding buddies is a local police LTC.

As I see it, your predicament must be a personal problem; like poor choice of living area, lack of cross-cultural interpersonal skills, or giving the impression of simply being an arogant or trashy farang. The best bet; however, may be a form of discrimination against Thai-farang relationships. The Thais may view your wife, or gf, as a bargirl or place some other social stigma on her relationship with a farang. We all know there is discrimination in the West towards any Western man with an Asian woman--seeing the Asian woman as a bargirl and the farang man as a whoremonger is common. That is as much a misconception in Asia as it is in farangland. I have heard it discussed in the Philippines and in Vietnam, where I am quite fluent in the languages, and I have discussed it with my Thai buddies here. And I have exerienced that discrimination when I brought two Asian ladies back to the States; even my family and friends wondered if they were bargirls, until they got to know my wives.

Edited March 16, 2015 by smotherb

[RichieHuaHin]

It is apparent that your personality is in conflict with others most of the time. Or you are constantly bad luck. Go to the temple and get blessed. You have some bad vibs. like magnets attracting each other.

My thoughts as well. How can a guy have so much bad luck in just a few years? And how come I rarely meet these evil Thais that the OP speaks of? Hmmmm.

It's actually very simple.

Crap attracts crap.

[Rhys]

how did I learn about Thai people, I lived in a small village for three years at their level, with a g. o.

[off road pat]

Love No.1 "Cow kicked our car".

Brilliant.

1. Getting rear ended by some dozy bitch, she flees the scene, we give the cops her reg plate, nothing done about it. That cost me 40,000 baht.

2. Rented our property out to some student teachers, they obviously forgot the keys and broke in, they told us someone else had broken in. My Onkyo speakers went missing that day.

3. According to my neighbour, my missus was shagging around because she came home of an evening time after university, when it was dark.

4. Man on motorbike driving in the wrong direction hits my car, blames the wife and asks for money. Missus tells him to do one and takes photos of his bike and plate number, again the cops don't do nothing.

I would say, this is just a normal week ...nothing happened,.....welcome to Thailand.....I witnessed some of those things myself...

[off road pat]

I must be a lucky guy then,....Speaking reasonably Thai, Married to a gem of a well educated Thai wife, no children, never have to give money to my in-laws, as they have good jobs and surly are not lazy...I have a few good Thai friends I can trust, not a lot just a few....

I drive a strong 4X4 never got a scratch that I could distinct from the others....if somebody hits my car with there car they will be sorry ....

A Toyota Fortuner rear ended my car in Chiang Mai, as the driver taught I would jump the red light as they so often do....I didn't, ...the driver almost cried seen the extensive damage on his car and nothing on mine....never had to pay anything, on the contrary the driver asked me how much I wanted for not calling my insurance ?....If the police stop's us for some unlawful reason ? my wife has a good polite talk with them as she knows a whole lot more about Thai law as them, she studied law it in University....met a awful lot of nice Thais in my 28 + years around SE Asia.... a whole lot more crooks and sob's to....

If there is something I learned here is that if you want something ? get it yourself, you want something done ? do it yourself, or have somebody do it and stay with the job until it's done.... make good and clear deals, tell them you won't pay if the work is not correctly don, don't speak cockney or any far dialect..as so many Farangs do, don't use difficult words and language they will never understand, use clear and simple words....and be fair, if the job is done pay what was agreed...don't argue about some small details, Nothing is perfect !!... life is not perfect !!..... If the job is not well done ? try to make a deal were the other guy don't loose face.......

I know this doesn't cover everything but it;s a start...and very important, be polite and Chai Yen Yen....Cool heart....

Don't underestimate politeness, it got me invited into the most wonderful places you can not imagine...and out of big troubles....!!

Before I had the incredible luck to meet my wife, I had all the poom tang I could dream of, for ten years,...mostly for free just with my good attitude...

And I don't care if nobody beeves me.....Mai Pen Rai.....!!!

Edited March 16, 2015 by off road pat

[off road pat]

Well, here I sit wondering two major points: 1) why don't these things happen to me?, and 2) why are you guys who are complaining still here?

I have lived in the same rented house in the same neighborhood for over seven years and have never had a complaint or gotten a complaint--and I have a noisy Harley and often come home late, but I stop the motor at the gate, and push the bike inside. Perhaps it's my neighbors. It is an upscale area, the houses across the street would be considered mansions, but on my side of the street they are three story townhouses and smaller, but nice, detached houses. I know all my neigbors by sight and speak to them when we meet on the street, but that is about the extent of my interaction with them. My wife, who is not Thai, is very outgoing, she talks with them, knows their names and the names of their children--even bakes cookies for the kids. I have always maintained distance from neighbors, wherever I have lived; an old custom from my grandpappy. It seems to serve me well.

I do; however, have several Thai friends with whom I socialize. When my Thai buddies and I go out--riding our Harleys, attending the bullfights, or just out drinking and carousing, we always take turns paying; in fact, I often have to insist on paying. I do not feel used or cheated in our relationships. I am often the recipient of good deals because of our friendship--one sells Harleys, he sold me my bike at cost; another owns a resort, I stay there at a discount always; two others own restaurants, I can't pay for a drink at either place and the fruit and desserts are always free.

Don't get me wrong. I have several complaints, but those mostly stem from Thai driving habits, the usual poor service, cultural misunderstandings, or downright ignorance--but, issues like those happen everywhere. As mentioned before on TV, I have absolutley no problem with immigration or the local police, In fact, one of my riding buddies is a local police LTC.

As I see it, your predicament must be a personal problem; like poor choice of living area, lack of cross-cultural interpersonal skills, or giving the impression of simply being an arogant or trashy farang. The best bet; however, may be a form of discrimination against Thai-farang relationships. The Thais may view your wife, or gf, as a bargirl or place some other social stigma on her relationship with a farang. We all know there is discrimination in the West towards any Western man with an Asian woman--seeing the Asian woman as a bargirl and the farang man as a whoremonger is common. That is as much a misconception in Asia as it is in farangland. I have heard it discussed in the Philippines and in Vietnam, where I am quite fluent in the languages, and I have discussed it with my Thai buddies here. And I have exerienced that discrimination when I brought two Asian ladies back to the States; even my family and friends wondered if they were bargirls, until they got to know my wives.

So well said, I could never say it like that myself....Great...

[kannot]

It is apparent that your personality is in conflict with others most of the time. Or you are constantly bad luck. Go to the temple and get blessed. You have some bad vibs. like magnets attracting each other.

Funny..................but sad

[kannot]

I must be a lucky guy then,....Speaking reasonably Thai, Married to a gem of a well educated Thai wife, no children, never have to give money to my in-laws, as they have good jobs and surly are not lazy...I have a few good Thai friends I can trust, not a lot just a few....

I drive a strong 4X4 never got a scratch that I could distinct from the others....if somebody hits my car with there car they will be sorry ....

A Toyota Fortuner rear ended my car in Chiang Mai, as the driver taught I would jump the red light as they so often do....I didn't, ...the driver almost cried seen the extensive damage on his car and nothing on mine....never had to pay anything, on the contrary the driver asked me how much I wanted for not calling my insurance ?....If the police stop's us for some unlawful reason ? my wife has a good polite talk with them as she knows a whole lot more about Thai law as them, she studied law it in University....met a awful lot of nice Thais in my 28 + years around SE Asia.... a whole lot more crooks and sob's to....

If there is something I learned here is that if you want something ? get it yourself, you want something done ? do it yourself, or have somebody do it and stay with the job until it's done.... make good and clear deals, tell them you won't pay if the work is not correctly don, don't speak cockney or any far dialect..as so many Farangs do, don't use difficult words and language they will never understand, use clear and simple words....and be fair, if the job is done pay what was agreed...don't argue about some small details, Nothing is perfect !!... life is not perfect !!..... If the job is not well done ? try to make a deal were the other guy don't loose face.......

I know this doesn't cover everything but it;s a start...and very important, be polite and Chai Yen Yen....Cool heart....

Don't underestimate politeness, it got me invited into the most wonderful places you can not imagine...and out of big troubles....!!

Before I had the incredible luck to meet my wife, I had all the poom tang I could dream of, for ten years,...mostly for free just with my good attitude...

And I don't care if nobody beeves me.....Mai Pen Rai.....!!!

Ive always been polite, and as for doing it yourself, Ive always done that and when I say done it myself i mean EVERYTHING, built two houses alone mixed cement, did the roofs, laid the tiles all plumbing, I dont let Thais do any of this as from experience their work is very sloppy and to be honest they dont really know the correct way to build, concrete like water with stones thrown in even from BIG companies like cpac.

[kannot]

Love No.1 "Cow kicked our car".

Brilliant.

1. Getting rear ended by some dozy bitch, she flees the scene, we give the cops her reg plate, nothing done about it. That cost me 40,000 baht.

2. Rented our property out to some student teachers, they obviously forgot the keys and broke in, they told us someone else had broken in. My Onkyo speakers went missing that day.

3. According to my neighbour, my missus was shagging around because she came home of an evening time after university, when it was dark.

4. Man on motorbike driving in the wrong direction hits my car, blames the wife and asks for money. Missus tells him to do one and takes photos of his bike and plate number, again the cops don't do nothing.

I would say, this is just a normal week ...nothing happened,.....welcome to Thailand.....I witnessed some of those things myself...

you lose 40k baht a week?

[kannot]

personally, if this kind of thing were happening to me time and time again i would stop and take a good look at myself. It really cant always be everybody else's fault.

aren't you the same lot with failed marriages in the west rabbiting on about their evil ex-wives?

dont even get me started in asking why anyone in their right mind would retire to a rural backwater without language skills or local knowledge.

never been married before if that helps your perception, my Thai Wife was my first and unless she gets hit by a bus my last.

Oh we took 2 years to look for land and this area, so it cant be everybodys fault except mine land is stolen, cows kick my car must be my fault even though car was parked to wait for cows to pass, motosy faults insurance agreed .

[kannot]

Wow! What a perfect Thai bashers' thread.

Personally,I find most Thai people to be genuine, helpful, and welcoming.

You find facts hard to swallow then.

[96tehtarp]

It's a third world country guys, what did you expect?

No pensions, no social, no decent wages, grab what you can get.

The world is like that outside the nanny states.

This could be true. I balance off this third world angle with experiences I've had with expat Thais living abroad. They're Hi-So, and have pensions, and very high salaries and they too grab all they can get. I'm not really sure there is any difference with any other group, however the OP was specific to Thai people.

What ever happened to dictums like, "Crime doesn't pay," or "The best policy is honesty." In the west my post secondary education was heavy on ethics from quite early on. I suspect this is missing here, although I do know some Thai government officials here who will not accept tea money, or gifts.