Racist Xenophobic Neighbour. What to do?

[dageurreotype]

I have a neighbour I am unable to avoid when walking my dog. At first, I merely put up with his ignorant comments.But now it has got to the point where I'm looking for ways to avoid contact ( slim - he exercises daily by walking an adjacent soi).

In all other respects he's a nice guy. He's a retired Thai university professor, but even I, after many many years here, am loath to use the word 'farang' any more.

[Bernard Flint]

??????? senseless post

[bkkheat]

You pissed off because he uses the word Farang? Or is his comments more than that?

[h90]

What is the problem, is he anti-Farang?

[ExPratt]

It does get on my tits a bit as well, Just call him Chink , same difference

Edited May 14, 2015 by ExPratt

[BFerearnk]

One's and for al... FARANG = the officiel Thai translation of white foreing. Nothing wrong about rthis word OK

Go to thai- language.com-Dictionary

[ExPratt]

One's and for al... FARANG = the officiel Thai translation of white foreing. Nothing wrong about rthis word OK

Go to thai- language.com-Dictionary

Thats like saying the N word is only a way of saying Negro , which it is

[TP1]

He is a nice guy but he is xenophobic because he calls you farang!

OP, have you got any other problems like that?

Would you like me to introduce you to a good doctor?

Always ready to help you if required.

[JLCrab]

No problem -- get rid of the dog and then it will be easy to avoid him.

[Hardback]

I don't mind the word per se, but It gets my back up when a question is phrased "Why do farang ....?" as if we are all the same. Quite a number of cultures, norms and behaviours come under the umbrella of farang.

[Happy Grumpy]

Come on, Farang, tell us the rest of what is going on.

[Beechboy]

Too little information OP.

What sort of stuff does he come out with?

Sticks and stones might break my bones, but word will never hurt me.

[BFerearnk]

I don't mind the word per se, but It gets my back up when a question is phrased "Why do farang ....?" as if we are all the same. Quite a number of cultures, norms and behaviours come under the umbrella of farang.

Asian and Western culture will colide as long as the world will exsist.

Just have a OPEN conversation with your partner our freinds and try to understand there answers ... sometimes "in a quick" it's inpossible and puch a tension ... so, you be the smartest and take it down with a big smile and joke are left for the toilet.

We think to straigt on.

[impulse]

On the flipside, there are some expat acquaintances I can't hang out with, because I'm so sick of hearing how stupid the locals are.

Edited May 14, 2015 by impulse

[dageurreotype]

You pissed off because he uses the word Farang? Or is his comments more than that?

No. I've observed the multitudinous threads here for and against the word farang. I myself have never taken exception to it and have used it myself. 'Khon daeng chaat being far too long winded. It really rather depends on the context and tone in which it is used. 'Farang'. Okay. ' FARANG!'. Not so much. In any case, this topic is not yet another rehash of it's already done to death usage. Albeit, I did point out that if he were in my country and I used the word 'slope' or 'gook', I would be in trouble. Rather alike Jeremy Clarkson. And rightly so.

Let me make this clear, this is not Somchai over the farm fence. He's tutoring Thai youth, and therefore perpetrating his ignorance . It started with the usual denigration of the local Burmese. Moved to the Khmer and then 'farang have destroyed Thai culture'. This all said in an amiable way to me, a 'farang'.

Again, I take none of this personally. I've been here long enough to not care about what the local peasantry as to say. I DO take exception to the daily 'it's the Burmese/Khmer/farang (who by the way?) he'd pointed to another dog walker stating he was 'yerman' (this is a professor, not a bar girl). i told him he was English and that if the Thais educated themselves as to the outside world (which he disdains, saying he did not like 'advanced countries), maybe he would be able to tell the difference. After all, we in the west can differentiate between chinks, slopes and gooks. Only the terminally ignorant cannot tell the difference between an Indian and a paki.

[Aussieroaming]

Farang isn't racist..just a tad impersonal

[willyumiii]

When I am called farang by Thai people, I try some humor.

I tell them that I am not farang ( a guava) but I am a saparot ( a pineapple) , I tell them this in Thai and it usually gets a good laugh and they then either call me by name or call me Mr. Saparot!

If this does not work and you really feel you are being insulted, try telling him,

"Khun Thai dam!"

"you are a black or dark Thai person"

He will be as insulted as you feel and probably stop the nonsense.

[CharlieH]

MOVED to Expat forum

[pluto_manibo]

Maybe move to a better neighbourhood, where you do not have to mingle with such lowly scum.

Edited May 14, 2015 by pluto_manibo

[BFerearnk]

When I am called farang by Thai people, I try some humor.

I tell them that I am not farang ( a guava) but I am a saparot ( a pineapple) , I tell them this in Thai and it usually gets a good laugh and they then either call me by name or call me Mr. Saparot!

If this does not work and you really feel you are being insulted, try telling him,

"Khun Thai dam!"

"you are a black or dark Thai person"

He will be as insulted as you feel and probably stop the nonsense.

Please reread my post NR 14 and understand YA All foreingers are GAST here (VISA ok) so act like one.

How you call African people in your country ???

[Jdietz]

I can see how hatred grows because of misunderstanding. Heck I can't make any sense of most posts here.

[HeijoshinCool]

One's and for al... FARANG = the officiel Thai translation of white foreing. Nothing wrong about rthis word OK

Go to thai- language.com-Dictionary

.

Couldn't agree with you more.

In order to be taken seriously, one should always consult a dictionary before posting.

[nev]

Why not stop him and discus xenophobia, maybe you will find a friend and go back his place for coffee and discus things more.

[Enoon]

What he's really saying is that he's a miserable old git whose time has passed. They exist all over the world. I don't both trying to explain or reason with them anymore.

Agree with him. Tell him that the world is becoming increasingly hybridised and homogenised and that his world has gone and it's never coming back.

Tell him that he's just passing time and distracting himself until he dies and that he can die with a smile on his face or a scowl, it's "up to him".

I find that usually shuts them up.

[wow64]

Hey Farang I am pretty that other Soi has a slope on it

Edited May 14, 2015 by wow64

[Thaddeus]

What he's really saying is that he's a miserable old git whose time has passed. They exist all over the world. I don't both trying to explain or reason with them anymore.

Agree with him. Tell him that the world is becoming increasingly hybridised and homogenised and that his world has gone and it's never coming back.

Tell him that he's just passing time and distracting himself until he dies and that he can die with a smile on his face or a scowl, it's "up to him".

I find that usually shuts them up.

Personally, I'd just tell him that I agree with him, and then walk away.

There are conversations that don't benefit anyone by being prolonged.

[boomerangutang]

Why not stop him and discus xenophobia, maybe you will find a friend and go back his place for coffee and discus things more.

That's probably more than I would do. I've been in similar dynamics. See quote below - which dovetails better with my views of annoying Thai neighbors. . . . .

What he's really saying is that he's a miserable old git whose time has passed. They exist all over the world. I don't both trying to explain or reason with them anymore.

Agree with him. Tell him that the world is becoming increasingly hybridised and homogenised and that his world has gone and it's never coming back.

Tell him that he's just passing time and distracting himself until he dies and that he can die with a smile on his face or a scowl, it's "up to him". I find that usually shuts them up.

Ignore is usually the best policy. People are usually going to attribute to strangers better qualities (if it's a young girl seeing a handsome young man) or worse qualities (if it's a Thai neighbor seeing a complaining farang move in the neighborhood).

I fit in the 2nd (complaining) category. One disadvantage I've had, in my 16 yrs residing in rural Thailand, is not having a Thai wife who can act exceedingly polite, and make excuses for me (in flowery language) - to my neighbors. Initially, my Thai neighbors were ok. Then when I complained about dogs barking and radios blaring, they quickly came to dislike my presence. One, while drunk, said (in front of me and some Thai revelers) that he 'smelled something bad from my property.' I naively assumed it was true, and asked what it was, because if there was a bad smell (sewer breach or whatever) I'd want to fix it a.s.a.p. The next day, another Thai neighbor told me kindly that the first guy was drunk and a racist, and advised me not to worry about it. 14 years went by. Now the rude neighbor is trying to be chummy with me, but I just smile, wave, and say 'sabai dee?'.

[BKKBobby]

Farang is not like the N word as far as I know. Not that big of a deal.

[Cypress Hill]

I could understand if the word was being used against a backdrop of poor treatment like

1. Vicious beat downs of white people in the street by hooded Thai gangs,

2. Segregated toilets, railway carriages and buses

3. Substandard schooling for luk kreung kids

4. Substandard medical care

While the OP's situation is more valid than the typical whine we hear on TVF, the racial "discrimination" farangs are subjected to is overwhelmingly positive.

If it was as negative as some make out, seriously, why aren't they shipping out?.

Why do they stay??

Is sex REALLY that hard to get back home?

[nikmar]

if you speak a little thai tell him your luek krung. i get the same where i live. i have to pass the local restaurant / ya dong place every night walking home but i also get offers of beer and food at the same time. no biggie.

got to say though, i wish my biggest problem in life was getting called a name by the local oldie!