How did you form your opinion of Thai people

[ToddinChonburi]

This is why there are so many Laws in America, because people are shit everywhere. I also have met very good Thai's. If the cops did there job it would really help out with this mess.

[ToddinChonburi]

You have to remember that they think Farangs are rich. So if they can get a buck off you they will. Even the food stand vendors can be this way. Very friendly when you buy and sour when you walk by.

[96tehtarp]

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...

1) why don't these things happen to me?

Nothing particularly awful has happened to me here, or in my dealings with Thai people, other than the unpleasant experience of observing unscrupulous behavior on many levels.

I have farang friends who's lives here are mired in lies, infidelity, corruption, and unimaginable scams. They love it here because they are not aware what is being done to them when they are not looking. For them, things like this are happening to them. They just don't know it.

2) why are you guys who are complaining still here?

I'm not sure if I was complaining, however I'm still here because I like it. It's nice here even with the perceived or real Thai character traits. I have a few Thai friends as well who are not associated with my wife or her family. Some of them are police too. The topic of the unscrupulous character of Thai people, corruption, stealing, lying, and infidelity comes up frequently. I keep my mouth shut and listen.

Even the Prime Minister, General, coup leader, and junta boss lectures the Thai people almost every night on Thai TV regarding dishonesty and corruption. Apparently, by his own accord, he's one of the few "good men."

Edited March 17, 2015 by 96tehtarp

[WhamBam]

A varied view for me. some good and some bad. Overall, some really good people but they are far outdone by the ones who have ripped me off, sadly. Yes, that does colour ones view.

M/c accident. M/c hi the car. The g/f spent hours negotiating. finally got cash off the uninsured/unlicenced rider's boss whose m/c it was.

Same g/f smashed the windows of one truck that moved my household goods several hundred kilometers, after they stole some of our belongings. She did this back in her home town when she went to see her parents.

Mm/c rode into the side of my stationary car as I waited at the U-turn. Called my mate Santi. He came from work and sorted everything out after the m/c fled the scene. Even got me a good, cheap repair job done.

Wife of a Thai truck driver who moved my goods to Pattaya gave me back 12,000 Baht after I paid twice! (I forgot I'd paid him at the start of the journey, as I was very tired at the end of the day).

Helpful Thai people who got me off the road after 'that m/c accident' in January. Tended to me best they could, phoned the ambulance too.

The nice Thai lady at one market who always gave me extra battered chicken - with her husbands approval when I became a regular customer.

Another market stall holder who I went to because he charged me Thai price often gave me a discount of about 10%

Thai landlord who gave me notice to quit the house after he did not want to pay for a new water pump. The house is empty 3 years or more on and the pump is still broken. He has lost so much rent it is incredible.

The car repair shop that made me wait 3 months for a new bumper until I threatened to go to the police.

The wonderful g/f who had my True tv disconnected and also my satellite internet because I refused her the amount of sin sot she wanted.

The garage that repaired my driveshaft that broke 2 kilometers down the road and insisted I pay him to tow it back to his garage. I found a new garage.

The usual rip-offs and attempted rip-offs from too many Thai women to mention too, from a 'broken phone' to money stolen from my wallet.

[sartoric]

I think most of us who live here day in and day out understand that our interactions with Thai folks form our opinions and feelings about the Thai. Even simply observing Thai behavior without close interaction can cause some to form strong opinions.

What would really be interesting is to ask this question of TV readers who spend little time here in Thailand. I know that there are a number of readers who visit for a short time each year or who are contemplating a move to Thailand. How has reading TV affected your view of Thailand and its people?

[sartoric]

I think most of us who live here day in and day out understand that our interactions with Thai folks form our opinions and feelings about the Thai. Even simply observing Thai behavior without close interaction can cause some to form strong opinions.

What would really be interesting is to ask this question of TV readers who spend little time here in Thailand. I know that there are a number of readers who visit for a short time each year or who are contemplating a move to Thailand. How has reading TV affected your view of Thailand and its people?

[AYJAYDEE]

the same way I form opinions about anyone,by observation

[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.....!!!

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.

Yes, the quality of work ?? Some of my friends had the same problems, most of them did not speak reasonably Thai or did not stay at the job to tell them to do better,...You also have to have a wife or GF that's fights for your interest...and doesn't see you as the walking bank account that will pay all the bills whatever the cost....one of my friends had a great house build in Buriram and I think he's quit happy...and has extensions build to the house and swimming pool...He has a wonderful Thai wife that makes the deals with the builders....another friend had a super Thai house build in Pran Buri, and his Thai wife was present every day to direct the construction... as I said you want something don ? do it yourself or be present when they build...Happiness is a lot of work my friend....what ells can I say...???

[kannot]

A varied view for me. some good and some bad. Overall, some really good people but they are far outdone by the ones who have ripped me off, sadly. Yes, that does colour ones view.

M/c accident. M/c hi the car. The g/f spent hours negotiating. finally got cash off the uninsured/unlicenced rider's boss whose m/c it was.

Same g/f smashed the windows of one truck that moved my household goods several hundred kilometers, after they stole some of our belongings. She did this back in her home town when she went to see her parents.

Mm/c rode into the side of my stationary car as I waited at the U-turn. Called my mate Santi. He came from work and sorted everything out after the m/c fled the scene. Even got me a good, cheap repair job done.

Wife of a Thai truck driver who moved my goods to Pattaya gave me back 12,000 Baht after I paid twice! (I forgot I'd paid him at the start of the journey, as I was very tired at the end of the day).

Helpful Thai people who got me off the road after 'that m/c accident' in January. Tended to me best they could, phoned the ambulance too.

The nice Thai lady at one market who always gave me extra battered chicken - with her husbands approval when I became a regular customer.

Another market stall holder who I went to because he charged me Thai price often gave me a discount of about 10%

Thai landlord who gave me notice to quit the house after he did not want to pay for a new water pump. The house is empty 3 years or more on and the pump is still broken. He has lost so much rent it is incredible.

The car repair shop that made me wait 3 months for a new bumper until I threatened to go to the police.

The wonderful g/f who had my True tv disconnected and also my satellite internet because I refused her the amount of sin sot she wanted.

The garage that repaired my driveshaft that broke 2 kilometers down the road and insisted I pay him to tow it back to his garage. I found a new garage.

The usual rip-offs and attempted rip-offs from too many Thai women to mention too, from a 'broken phone' to money stolen from my wallet.

A good honest post with no BS, about the same as my experiences in general, I have two neighbours ( 3 km away) they will do anything to help us, the locals in the village about 600 metres will only take take take.

The other neighbour is about 1.5 km away again salt of the earth types, I also notice the two local shop owners are pretty reasonable folk, always willing to help or find us someone who can, they too complain about they cant find decent staff, we simply dont ask anyone in the village to help with anything its much easier that way and gives them less to tittle tattle about.

We arent rude to them but we dont encourage them in any way.

I just wished the two good neighbours lived closer.

Edited March 17, 2015 by kannot

[duanebigsby]

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.

Are you suggesting as fact all Thai people are liars and cheats?

I realize some are scammed and ripped off in Thailand, but I never have been in 4 years here and so I stand by my statement.

[longstebe]

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.

Are you suggesting as fact all Thai people are liars and cheats?

I realize some are scammed and ripped off in Thailand, but I never have been in 4 years here and so I stand by my statement.

Read the second line in the OP.

[duanebigsby]

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.

Are you suggesting as fact all Thai people are liars and cheats?

I realize some are scammed and ripped off in Thailand, but I never have been in 4 years here and so I stand by my statement.

Read the second line in the OP.

Line 2 was read.

OP had bad experiences, wants to paint all Thais with the cheat and liar brush, I haven't had any such experiences and am relating how I view Thai people.

Simple statement of MY EXPERIENCE here. I'm not ignorant of the fact that some foreigners have had problems here, but I'm relating my not having any problems and my resulting impression of Thai people.

Some people run into a few bad examples of people and want to say everyone in the country is like that. I don't, I view people as individuals not as a race in general.

[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...

you lose 40k baht a week?

No I don't loose 40 K a week of course not,...Couldn't afford that for to long....!!! please read my further post. I was rear ended in Chianmg Mai....

[marko kok prong]

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 !

Smoke and mirrors,but you would know all about that ben,would you not?

[off road pat]

A varied view for me. some good and some bad. Overall, some really good people but they are far outdone by the ones who have ripped me off, sadly. Yes, that does colour ones view.

M/c accident. M/c hi the car. The g/f spent hours negotiating. finally got cash off the uninsured/unlicenced rider's boss whose m/c it was.

Same g/f smashed the windows of one truck that moved my household goods several hundred kilometers, after they stole some of our belongings. She did this back in her home town when she went to see her parents.

Mm/c rode into the side of my stationary car as I waited at the U-turn. Called my mate Santi. He came from work and sorted everything out after the m/c fled the scene. Even got me a good, cheap repair job done.

Wife of a Thai truck driver who moved my goods to Pattaya gave me back 12,000 Baht after I paid twice! (I forgot I'd paid him at the start of the journey, as I was very tired at the end of the day).

Helpful Thai people who got me off the road after 'that m/c accident' in January. Tended to me best they could, phoned the ambulance too.

The nice Thai lady at one market who always gave me extra battered chicken - with her husbands approval when I became a regular customer.

Another market stall holder who I went to because he charged me Thai price often gave me a discount of about 10%

Thai landlord who gave me notice to quit the house after he did not want to pay for a new water pump. The house is empty 3 years or more on and the pump is still broken. He has lost so much rent it is incredible.

The car repair shop that made me wait 3 months for a new bumper until I threatened to go to the police.

The wonderful g/f who had my True tv disconnected and also my satellite internet because I refused her the amount of sin sot she wanted.

The garage that repaired my driveshaft that broke 2 kilometers down the road and insisted I pay him to tow it back to his garage. I found a new garage.

The usual rip-offs and attempted rip-offs from too many Thai women to mention too, from a 'broken phone' to money stolen from my wallet.

Well. it looks as if you had your fair share of good and bad story's to, ..haven't we all ??? ....The one about the water-pump and the lost rent is so typical Thai....

I wish you all the best in your further life...

best regards....

[marko kok prong]

Absence of pikeys,in general,well off the forum,of course.

[sartoric]

I think most of us who live here day in and day out understand that our interactions with Thai folks form our opinions and feelings about the Thai. Even simply observing Thai behavior without close interaction can cause some to form strong opinions.

What would really be interesting is to ask this question of TV readers who spend little time here in Thailand. I know that there are a number of readers who visit for a short time each year or who are contemplating a move to Thailand. How has reading TV affected your view of Thailand and its people?

I joined TVF to learn more about Thailand, we have been considering an early retirement there (50 something Australian couple, financially able).

We've been to Thailand several times in the past few years, and have friends in different locations. The friends are Thai and expats.

We like the culture, the "easygoing ness" and of course the food.

Then the murders on Koh Tao happened. I realise horrible crimes happen everywhere, but I was appalled at the inept investigation, and the very plausible scenario that the actual perpetrators could buy their way out of further scrutiny. I read about this on TVF and other sources.

That lead to finding out about other crimes where influential people were able to avoid justice. I then read books about Thailands history, which goes someway towards explaining the current state of the nation.

I would like to think that we could "fly under the radar" and we probably could. However, if we don't, and one of the many scams I've read about on TVF happened to us, we now realise there is no recourse to an effective police force. I'm sure there are some good police officers, we might be lucky, or not.

We've decided we can't live with the level of corruption that currently exists in Thailand (acknowledge that some selective improvements are being made). Of course, there is still that elephant in the room...

Nanny state is not our preference, neither is lawlessness , there's a fine line between enforced legislation and personal freedom. Must be a balance somewhere, so retirement plans are on hold while we research other options.

[wow64]

I formed my opinion on all Thai people when I was drinking at a Gogo bar for a few hours.

This was later backed up the next night when I went to a Soupie Massage.

[kannot]

I formed my opinion on all Thai people when I was drinking at a Gogo bar for a few hours.

This was later backed up the next night when I went to a Soupie Massage.

Tomato or chicken?

[TIMMOC]

Thais are a pretty people, and they know it.

[longstebe]

Thais are a pretty people, and they know it.

You obviously haven't met the wife.

[bapoboy]

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.

WRONG, it's a 2nd world country. thailand become a middle income country in 2009 and indystrylized country, check. worldbank.com

[tsigane]

A varied view for me. some good and some bad. Overall, some really good people but they are far outdone by the ones who have ripped me off, sadly. Yes, that does colour ones view.

M/c accident. M/c hi the car. The g/f spent hours negotiating. finally got cash off the uninsured/unlicenced rider's boss whose m/c it was.

Same g/f smashed the windows of one truck that moved my household goods several hundred kilometers, after they stole some of our belongings. She did this back in her home town when she went to see her parents.

Mm/c rode into the side of my stationary car as I waited at the U-turn. Called my mate Santi. He came from work and sorted everything out after the m/c fled the scene. Even got me a good, cheap repair job done.

Wife of a Thai truck driver who moved my goods to Pattaya gave me back 12,000 Baht after I paid twice! (I forgot I'd paid him at the start of the journey, as I was very tired at the end of the day).

Helpful Thai people who got me off the road after 'that m/c accident' in January. Tended to me best they could, phoned the ambulance too.

The nice Thai lady at one market who always gave me extra battered chicken - with her husbands approval when I became a regular customer.

Another market stall holder who I went to because he charged me Thai price often gave me a discount of about 10%

Thai landlord who gave me notice to quit the house after he did not want to pay for a new water pump. The house is empty 3 years or more on and the pump is still broken. He has lost so much rent it is incredible.

The car repair shop that made me wait 3 months for a new bumper until I threatened to go to the police.

The wonderful g/f who had my True tv disconnected and also my satellite internet because I refused her the amount of sin sot she wanted.

The garage that repaired my driveshaft that broke 2 kilometers down the road and insisted I pay him to tow it back to his garage. I found a new garage.

The usual rip-offs and attempted rip-offs from too many Thai women to mention too, from a 'broken phone' to money stolen from my wallet.

Rarely do we find black or white things in life. How can 60+ mil people be lumped in one basket? I don't think there is anyone who had only

bad or only good experiences in Thailand or anywhere else in the world.

One thing that characterizes Thailand is fairly drastic difference between bad and good people. One Thai friend told me many years ago

"Good Thais are really good and bad Thais are really bad."

At that time I didn't quite understand him (and being blinded by all the smiles, I didn't believe the bad part). Of course, how could have I

known Thais better than a Thai?

Over years, I found his description to be right on the money. There are plenty of incredibly kind and caring

Thais. Unfortunately, the bad apples are really, really poisonous.

[Muzarella]

I had very bad experiences with Thai people during my 3 years single life here, nothing major or very costly happens, but was upsetting and I was ready to form my opinion about Thai people and even to move out the country, until I met my wife and her family.

Like any other country, here we can encounter very bad and very good people, but I agree that it is not a good idea to create confrontations with Thai people. Dialog is not their forte.

Edited March 31, 2015 by Muzarella

[EmptyHead]

I am yet to meet a grown-up in this country.