Being Black in Thailand: We’re treated better than Africans, and boy do we hate it

[timmyp]

I have always seen racism as a two way street, Blacks can be just as racist as whites

Everyone can. It's just a sad part of human nature.

[Gecko123]

I don't really consider this type of article to be true journalism.

The entire article about black experience in Thailand was based on two anecdotes. The first was a woman playing with her kids on a public swing set who assumed that the reason the security guard backed off was because he realized she was African-American rather than African. The second incident was based on a woman who wasn't allowed access to a guest room area in a hotel, who assumed that the receptionist thought she was a middle aged prostitute.

It's like, talk to a couple of people, get their impressions or thoughts about a subject, write an article. Where's the digging for the truth, researching, getting both sides of the story, parsing opinion from truth, and the objectivity and balance which I thought journalism was supposed to be all about?

Edited May 26, 2015 by Gecko123

[Jingthing]

It's just filler.

[JOC]

I was treated better than a fellow white brother from Russia at my last visit to immigration.

And I feel so bad about it!!

What a load of <deleted>.

[wabothai]

Ms Diana your article is plain hogwash and made up. go do something else.

[halloween]

I highly doubt that a Thai cop can tell the difference, regardless of how many movies he has seen. Can you tell the difference between a Thai person from Isan and someone from Bangkok speaking standard Thai?

The difference in accents to you and me is perfectly clear, but not to someone who isn't at a very high level of English. Europeans with excellent English ask me all the time if I am from the U.K. because, they tell me, of my accent. I am American with a strong Chicago accent, but most Europeans I meet can't tell the difference, even though they've most certainly had extensive experience with all those talkies you mention.

I was once in a strange bar, and was joined by 5 or 6 friendly ladies who talked amongst themselves once I made it clear I wasn't in the market. I found the girl next to me was easier to understand, so I asked her if she was from Sukhothai (same same ex-wife). After "How you know that?" they all spoke in whispers, completely unnecessarily as i only get about one word in 5.

[Brian Robson]

It's profiling, innit!

African from Africa = Hooker, fraudster, con man.

African from US = Tourist or Marine on shore leave.

Anecdote on the subject of liguistics, two Scots came into a bar on 2nd Road with an African lady. Her English was good but not American. I said a word on two in Swahili, and nobody got a word in edgeways after that. She was Tanzanian and I was raised in Kenya!

[Pete Beale]

She's talking out of her black ass

[rijb]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

Speaking of an over-inflated sense of personal rights...

When did you appoint yourself as a representative for 'much of the world'?

[halloween]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

Speaking of an over-inflated sense of personal rights...

When did you appoint yourself as a representative for 'much of the world'?

Have never claimed to be. OTOH I've yet to get a non-US response of "Not where I come from."

should I have added "thin-skinned"?

[Monkeyrobot]

What a load of BS and a made up story. Thais cannot pick an accent even the well spoken ones and a police officer would not even approach them, little own pick an American accent. Story written by a Nigerian scammer by the sounds of it or some politically correct trying to save the world.

[devaram]

The truth is that Africans havve a notorious reputation for committing crimes in Thailand and African Americans who travel to Thailand are simply cool. Can you blame the Thai police for racial profiling?

[The Deerhunter]

But when the officer issued his request to Jane—a black woman he might have assumed was Ghanaian or Nigerian, living and working in Thailand—and she responded with her black American accent, he immediately switched gears and insisted that it wasn’t a problem.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the Thai officer said. “You can stay.”

What a load of crap!!

A Thai patrol police officer able to recognize an American accent??

I think our American friend just wants a little attention!!

My thoughts exactly. Since when did they become linguists?

Perhaps he was more clever than many Thai police at accents........... A cunning linguist if you wish. 555

[Jingthing]

In a weird way, the article complains that Thais are not racist ENOUGH.

It is less racist to realize that not all black people are the same.

Of course not all Africans in Thailand are crims and some African Americans are ... but police everywhere profile whether they admit it or not.

[slipperylobster]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

That is clearly the most absurd generalization about Americans that I have ever heard. utter nonsense. It reflects your low self esteem and your lack of pride in your own country. you need not feel so badly about us. Many Americans had ancestors that fled from lousy places like you come from. Edited May 26, 2015 by slipperylobster

[lostinisaan]

But when the officer issued his request to Jane—a black woman he might have assumed was Ghanaian or Nigerian, living and working in Thailand—and she responded with her black American accent, he immediately switched gears and insisted that it wasn’t a problem.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” the Thai officer said. “You can stay.”

What a load of crap!!

A Thai patrol police officer able to recognize an American accent??

I think our American friend just wants a little attention!!

I'm very certain that the patrol police officer replied: "Evryding Airee Maa'm."-

In a country, where Thai head teachers of schools, who also hire foreign English teachers can't even differentiate between "Queen's English and "Pennsylvania Dutch", a very suspect story.

Didn't hear too many Thai cops apologizing for a BBA on a swing for kids in my 13 years here. Sounds a little bit like Snowblite to me.

Edited May 26, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Soutpeel]

It's profiling, innit!

African from Africa = Hooker, fraudster, con man.

African from US = Tourist or Marine on shore leave.

Anecdote on the subject of liguistics, two Scots came into a bar on 2nd Road with an African lady. Her English was good but not American. I said a word on two in Swahili, and nobody got a word in edgeways after that. She was Tanzanian and I was raised in Kenya!

"African"from the US if they were born and raised in the US is as close to being an African as I am to being a Viking.

[halloween]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

That is clearly the most absurd generalization about Americans that I have ever heard. utter nonsense. It reflects your low self esteem and your lack of pride in your own country. you need not feel so badly about us. Many Americans had ancestors that fled from lousy places like you come from.

So sue me.

[Jenny Adara]

'The police officer may have labelled her an african working girl hanging around (possibly high on yabba playing on childrens swing or looking for clients) When he fathomed she wasnt he let her be. Discrimination? i dont think so - Just a narrow mind and stereotyping.

[connda]

Get over it. The nice thing about Thailand? They're pretty uniformly xenophobic. Maybe it's not about you or your skin color. Maybe the race card simply doesn't work here like it did back in the home country.

Welcome to the outside world. Where cultural values aren't viewed through the lens of Western political correctness. Now's your opportunity to fully integrate into the foreign expat community, not as a person of color, but just as a foreigner; just as a person from a non-Thai culture. What a thought!

Welcome aboard my fellow expat.

Edited May 26, 2015 by connda

[IAMHERE]

I thought color was important to Thai's. Why wouldn't they treat different blacks differently, they treat each other differently according to their color.

Oh, I have seen some blacks from Africa down on lower Suk in Bangkok and can understand why Thai's would treat them differently.

Edited May 26, 2015 by IAMHERE

[lovelomsak]

'The police officer may have labelled her an african working girl hanging around (possibly high on yabba playing on childrens swing or looking for clients) When he fathomed she wasnt he let her be. Discrimination? i dont think so - Just a narrow mind and stereotyping.

Or he saw an adult sitting on a childs swing and informed her that she wasnot to do that. When she spoke english to him he may have become afraid thinking she was black american and not knowing if she would start a riot and looting because he ask her to get off the swing. Fear may have been his motivator to leave her alone.

[JOC]

Get over it. The nice thing about Thailand? They're pretty uniformly xenophobic. Maybe it's not about you or your skin color. Maybe the race card simply doesn't work here like it did back in the home country.

Welcome to the outside world. Where cultural values aren't viewed through the lens of Western political correctness. Now's your opportunity to fully integrate into the foreign expat community, not as a person of color, but just as a foreigner; just as a person from a non-Thai culture. What a thought!

Welcome aboard my fellow expat.

Excellent post!!

Almost like she is frustrated and disappointed over not being racially abused..............

In the US she is a "sister" and here she is nobody!!

[willyumiii]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

As an American, I agree that Americans have been treated "a little better" than most foreigners in Thailand.

I feel it is due to the fact that the U.S. has given Thailand a lot of economic and military assistance for a very long time and the Thai government is very aware of it.

With the recent cooling of this warm relationship since Thailand has decided to put democracy on hold,

It will not surprise me if the preferential treatment is put on hold too...or even vanishes!

When will those elections be held???

[KIWIBATCH]

who bloody cares what type of "black" person she was...the fact is this.....get your backside off the kids swing...the swing is designed for kids only....and perhaps just perhaps there was a young kid across the playground wanting to use the swing the "black" was on

what a load of crap the OP spoke of.....

[willyumiii]

> he might have assumed was Ghanaian or Nigerian, living and working in Thailand—and she

>responded with her black American accent, he immediately switched gears and insisted that it wasn’t a problem.

It's hard for me to believe that the cop could understand the difference in accents.

I get the point of the article, and overall it's an interesting difference in treatment to hear about. That said, it seems very silly to me that they are contrasting "black" vs. "African" to mean black = African-American, African = black African. That would be as silly as saying "white" vs. "European", where white = European-American, European = white European

When I lived in Japan, people from west Africa would often claim to be from the U.S. because it got them better treatment from Japanese people. Many folks in Japan (like many people in the world) think black American = rap, sports, total coolness. It was bizarre to me that Japanese people couldn't tell the difference in accent whatsoever when these folks from west Africa would claim to be born and raised in New York. If the Japanese folks couldn't hear the difference in accent, I can't imagine your average Thai cop patrolling the park can tell the difference in accents either. If they can't tell the difference in physical features, clothes, and mannerism between west Africans and African-Americans, I'd say the cops have about zero chance of getting the difference in accents.

It is easy to tell the difference.

Nigerians talk like Britts.

Black Americans do not.

[geriatrickid]

Well US citizens do seem to have an over-inflated sense of personal rights, coupled with a propensity to sue.

BTW not intended as Yank-bashing, just how much of the world sees you.

Who would she sue in Thailand? Even if someone was willing to take a suit, what grounds would she have for a lawsuit? When's the last time litigation against the RTP went anywhere except the trashcan?

[willyumiii]

"A Thai patrol police officer able to recognize an American accent??"

Yes.

You see, the Thai people are able to watch American movies from Hollywood now.

They're called "talkies"....

I highly doubt that a Thai cop can tell the difference, regardless of how many movies he has seen. Can you tell the difference between a Thai person from Isan and someone from Bangkok speaking standard Thai?

The difference in accents to you and me is perfectly clear, but not to someone who isn't at a very high level of English. Europeans with excellent English ask me all the time if I am from the U.K. because, they tell me, of my accent. I am American with a strong Chicago accent, but most Europeans I meet can't tell the difference, even though they've most certainly had extensive experience with all those talkies you mention.

People from African countries that were "colonized" oppressed and exploited, speak English like their oppressors taught them.

With a British accent.

Educated American blacks do not.

It is easy to hear the difference.

[willyumiii]

Ms Diana your article is plain hogwash and made up. go do something else.

I feel we owe a big thank you to TV for the great job they do of selecting what "news" they want to feed us!

This one is almost good enough to be one of "Stickboy's" pieces!

[soalbundy]

better than being shot in your own country, here you can be considered an honoury white but don't let it get to your head you may have to go back some day