Making a difference - the fight against predjudice and racism

[simon43]

There are better ways to 'educate' people that the word 'farang' is viewed by many foreigners as a derogatory term, (you might be happy to be called 'farang', but I am not).

If I am addressed as 'farang', I explain politely in Thai that if the person doesn't know my actual name, then a more polite term would be 'kohn dang chat' ==> person from overseas (I wrote that in roman characters for the benefit of those who cannot read Thai).

I don't think the use of the word 'farang' is explicitely rude as such. I liken it to Thais addressing me as 'you, you', because they are doing a direct translation of 'khun'. It sounds too abrupt in English to say 'you you', and 'Sir' or 'Madam' is much more polite.

I explain this in Thai, and no-one has ever taken offence. They appreciate someone explaining the ins and outs of the English language and certainly do not intentionally mean to cause offence by using the word 'farang'.

Now where the word 'pineapple' comes into all this from the OP is beyond me

[Berkshire]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that Thais can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

In all the time I have lived here..I have not once encounter or heard from someone about this..

Nor have I....because it's not true. The Bud dude just made that up. This is so typical of some posters on this whole farang/racism issue. They lie their ass off to make a point. Even when there's no point to be made.

[FritsSikkink]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that a Thai can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

utter BS

[Gecko123]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that a Thai can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

Name one.

One.

[huawei]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that Thais can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

In all the time I have lived here..I have not once encounter or heard from someone about this..

Nor have I....because it's not true. The Bud dude just made that up. This is so typical of some posters on this whole farang/racism issue. They lie their ass off to make a point. Even when there's no point to be made.

There are a lot of "myths" that surround the Thais, it's like for a lot of foreigners that they live in another time zone, or something else..its like folklore passed down from someone they met in a bar!! This being one of the silly examples..I genuinely believe some foreigners believe this stuff..

[MaeJoMTB]

I think the OP is trolling or was drunk when posting.

If by the smallest of chances the story is true, then the OP is fortunate that his aggressive act of screaming in The woman's face and at her child didn't turn out really bad for him, if her husband had been nearby he may have had a real problem worthy of starting a new thread about, If I had witnessed him shouting in my wife and child's face ( Which if true would have been a very traumatic experience for both ), he would have had a serious problem, and I'm a Farang, if I wasn't there and she had told me later, I'd have gone to the school the next day and he'd have had a serious problem, with an enraged Thai man/Family, it could have been the last time he would ever shout at anybody again.

Then again, I don't believe a word of the OP.

"oh look Steve how cute that half-negro child is and there his negro father stands watching him play, go ask that negro if you can play with that half-negro child..."

Yeah, i'm sure you would be alright with that your wife used that kind of talk about other people and their kids... right? And would be just as upset if she got a yelling for talking like that... right? Because hey, you are a man of principle... right?!

If you witnessed a Farang shouting in your wife's face then shouting in your child's face you would have done nothing ?

I'm not a racist so I don't group people by their skin colour (in the way you do).

And my wife knows better than to use racist terms about white people (in front of me).

Unlikely she would have caused a confrontation, and if she did, there is a rather large flick knife in her purse.

She doesn't need me to fight her battles.

Sad that your wife would call you 'farang', does she know your name?

[MartinL]

I'm siding with the OP on this one. Farang and cross breed (maybe half breed)...doesn't sound good to me. All the OP did was give it back to her and she couldn't take it.

I have been called "fat" in Thai, and have gotten pissed off about it. People explained to me that it doesn't mean the same thing in Thai as it does in English, not an insult, and I need to understand that it's just part of Thai culture.

So one day a restaurant owner said to her staff, "Fat one wants American breakfast" in Thai. When I paid my bill, I said to her, "Thank you Fat Lady" loudly in Thai. She didn't laugh and didn't appear to like the comment. And that's the last time she called me fat. Maybe she didn't understand that it's part of Thai culture.

Usually, I don't care if people call me 'farang', unless they've been told my name in the past and subsequently refused to use it or if they could use a better phrase such as " ... your husband ..." instead of " ... the farang ..." when talking about me to my wife. She usually puts the offender straight.

Had two events in the last week that have really pi55ed me off, though:-

- A local bloke who does gardening work for us walked into our garden and shouted to my BIL (who knows & uses my name, as I do for him) "Where's the farang?". Unfortunately for him, I was about 10 feet away, hidden behind a car I was working on. He got a mouthful for a number of reasons i) I've known him 6 years and he's been told my name a number of times, ii) I'm the bloke paying him (a good rate,I should add) and I'm absolutely certain he'd be kissing my ar5e if I was a Thai employing him for the same type of work, he certainly wouldn't be insulting said Thai employer. He was told to learn some respect & civility or get out. He stayed but time will tell whether the lesson sunk in or not.

- Living next door is a small girl of 3. I've known her all her life. She was waving & talking to me from a window while I was in the garden. A relative(?) whisked her away from the window saying "Don't talk to the farang". I let that one go because the relative(?) was a visitor to the house and the girl's parents & close family are excellent people that I like a lot.

The OP demonstrates yet again why ordinary Thais are losing all respect for foreigners. Why do we have so many idiot farangs in Thailand?

While I tend to agree with you, it might also explain why many foreigners lose respect for Thais. It works both ways.

That little story above about the gardener has probably reduced my respect for him, specifically. How many such events does it take for a general, wide-ranging loss of respect to set in?

Edited August 3, 2015 by MartinL

[BudRight]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that a Thai can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

Name one.

One.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/703705-half-children-encounters-with-thaisschools/

This is not proof. The schools are not named. But there have been threads about this.

Otherwise I can only find articles about a half-Thai half Korean kid being turned away from a school in South Korea and a thread about mothers misinformed that they have to pick citizenship for their half-Thai children.

Edited August 3, 2015 by BudRight

[Gecko123]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that a Thai can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

Name one.

One.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/703705-half-children-encounters-with-thaisschools/

This is not proof. The schools are not named. But there have been threads about this.

Otherwise I can only find articles about a half-Thai half Korean kid being turned away from a school in South Korea and a thread about mothers misinformed that they have to pick citizenship for their half-Thai children.

You're damned right it's not proof!!!

In fact, it's strong evidence that such a problem does not exist.

I carefully read through all 192 posts on the thread you cited. The OP of this thread (who disappeared untll the very end of the post and many posters suspected was a troll) provided a light-weight anecdotal story about how his mixed race child was supposedly refused admission when he applied to a school. No school was named. Well over 20 posters questioned the OP's veracity or reported that they had never experienced such problems with their luk kreung children. Only one poster (out of 192 posts!) claimed to have experienced some form of racial discrimination, and this was a gray area because concerns about language skills were cited by the school administration. The rest of the posts were from people weighing in on the quality of education in Thailand and whether or not they thought Thais were racist.

In a recent thread, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/844040-cheeky-carpark-attendant/ a poster talked about his daughter attending St. Joseph's Catholic School. There was no mention of racial discrimination from anyone on this thread. My step-daughter attends private Catholic school as well. There are about 10 mixed race children who attend this school. There has never been the slightest hint of discrimination in the admissions process or in how the students are treated at school. If anything, many of them enjoy a quasi celebrity status. It's also noteworthy, that having made your inflammatory post over 5 hours ago, not one person has come on this thread to support your claim that "many schools refuse admission to luk-kreung students." If there was a pattern of discrimination in schools towards mixed race children in Thailand, this issue would no doubt be chronically discussed on TVF.

This is a perfect example of how misinformation is disseminated on TVF, and later regurgitated as fact by those with an agenda.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Gecko123

[Berkshire]

You other posters do realize that many schools refuse half-Thai students? The OP did not invent this issue.

You simply won't ever admit that a Thai can be wrong about anything. It's totally insane that a person can be right or wrong because of their race and where they're standing on a map.

Name one.

One.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/703705-half-children-encounters-with-thaisschools/

This is not proof. The schools are not named. But there have been threads about this.

Otherwise I can only find articles about a half-Thai half Korean kid being turned away from a school in South Korea and a thread about mothers misinformed that they have to pick citizenship for their half-Thai children.

You're damned right it's not proof!!!

In fact, it's strong evidence that such a problem does not exist.

I carefully read through all 192 posts on the thread you cited. The OP of this thread (who disappeared untll the very end of the post and many posters suspected was a troll) provided a light-weight anecdotal story about how his mixed race child was supposedly refused admission when he applied to a school. No school was named. Well over 20 posters questioned the OP's veracity or reported that they had never experienced such problems with their luk kreung children. Only one poster (out of 192 posts!) claimed to have experienced some form of racial discrimination, and this was a gray area because concerns about language skills were cited by the school administration. The rest of the posts were from people weighing in on the quality of education in Thailand and whether or not they thought Thais were racist.

In a recent thread, http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/844040-cheeky-carpark-attendant/ a poster talked about his daughter attending St. Joseph's Catholic School. There was no mention of racial discrimination from anyone on this thread. My step-daughter attends private Catholic school as well. There are about 10 mixed race children who attend this school. There has never been the slightest hint of discrimination in the admissions process or in how the students are treated at school. If anything, many of them enjoy a quasi celebrity status. It's also noteworthy, that having made your inflammatory post over 5 hours ago, not one person has come on this thread to support your claim that "many schools refuse admission to luk-kreung students." If there was a pattern of discrimination in schools towards mixed race children in Thailand, this issue would no doubt be chronically discussed on TVF.

This is a perfect example of how misinformation is disseminated on TVF, and later regurgitated as fact by those with an agenda.

So true. The magnitude of misinformation on these threads can be rather appalling. You have to wonder about the motives of these people. Speaking factually, I've never met one person whose child was turned away because they were mixed. They may have been rejected for other reasons, but never because of their mixed race. And the OP in that thread that Bud provided is a known serial basher, so it's likely that whole thing was made-up.

[h90]

I'm siding with the OP on this one. Farang and cross breed (maybe half breed)...doesn't sound good to me. All the OP did was give it back to her and she couldn't take it.

I have been called "fat" in Thai, and have gotten pissed off about it. People explained to me that it doesn't mean the same thing in Thai as it does in English, not an insult, and I need to understand that it's just part of Thai culture.

So one day a restaurant owner said to her staff, "Fat one wants American breakfast" in Thai. When I paid my bill, I said to her, "Thank you Fat Lady" loudly in Thai. She didn't laugh and didn't appear to like the comment. And that's the last time she called me fat. Maybe she didn't understand that it's part of Thai culture.

Well are you fat?

If you don't like to be called fat make a diet.....The true is sometimes hard to face....

[h90]

There are better ways to 'educate' people that the word 'farang' is viewed by many foreigners as a derogatory term, (you might be happy to be called 'farang', but I am not).

If I am addressed as 'farang', I explain politely in Thai that if the person doesn't know my actual name, then a more polite term would be 'kohn dang chat' ==> person from overseas (I wrote that in roman characters for the benefit of those who cannot read Thai).

I don't think the use of the word 'farang' is explicitely rude as such. I liken it to Thais addressing me as 'you, you', because they are doing a direct translation of 'khun'. It sounds too abrupt in English to say 'you you', and 'Sir' or 'Madam' is much more polite.

I explain this in Thai, and no-one has ever taken offence. They appreciate someone explaining the ins and outs of the English language and certainly do not intentionally mean to cause offence by using the word 'farang'.

Now where the word 'pineapple' comes into all this from the OP is beyond me

And the next one is insulted if called "Person from Overseas".....And it would be wrong in many cases, all the Europeans are not from "over the sea".

[simon43]

And the next one is insulted if called "Person from Overseas".....And it would be wrong in many cases, all the Europeans are not from "over the sea".

I gave a literal translation of 'khon dang chat' - in practical terms, it can best be translated as 'not a Thai person'. So a person from Lao PDR (note no sea border) is khon dang chat.

Sometimes, it is useful to learn Thai language (speak/read/write), because it gives one the experience to understand how a word or phrase in Thai language is best translated into English.

So 'kin kao laao?' literally means 'have you eaten?', but that is not how it is translated into English.

BTW, please don't moan at my transliteration of Thai words - I've done it to adhere to the forum rules and so that everyone can get the gist of my comments.

Thai - reading and writing can also be a plus point ==> check the other thread about this.

[MaeJoMTB]

I gave a literal translation of 'khon dang chat' - in practical terms, it can best be translated as 'not a Thai person'. So a person from Lao PDR (note no sea border) is khon dang chat.

kon = person

dtang = different/other

chat = country/nation

literal translation 'person different country' = foreigner

Not sure what you're going on about, maybe you don't know the meaning of 'literal'?

Where did you get 'overseas' from?

Edited August 3, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[h90]

I think the OP is trolling or was drunk when posting.

If by the smallest of chances the story is true, then the OP is fortunate that his aggressive act of screaming in The woman's face and at her child didn't turn out really bad for him, if her husband had been nearby he may have had a real problem worthy of starting a new thread about, If I had witnessed him shouting in my wife and child's face ( Which if true would have been a very traumatic experience for both ), he would have had a serious problem, and I'm a Farang, if I wasn't there and she had told me later, I'd have gone to the school the next day and he'd have had a serious problem, with an enraged Thai man/Family, it could have been the last time he would ever shout at anybody again.

Then again, I don't believe a word of the OP.

"oh look Steve how cute that half-negro child is and there his negro father stands watching him play, go ask that negro if you can play with that half-negro child..."

Yeah, i'm sure you would be alright with that your wife used that kind of talk about other people and their kids... right? And would be just as upset if she got a yelling for talking like that... right? Because hey, you are a man of principle... right?!

If you witnessed a Farang shouting in your wife's face then shouting in your child's face you would have done nothing ?

I'm not a racist so I don't group people by their skin colour (in the way you do).

And my wife knows better than to use racist terms about white people (in front of me).

Unlikely she would have caused a confrontation, and if she did, there is a rather large flick knife in her purse.

She doesn't need me to fight her battles.

Sad that your wife would call you 'farang', does she know your name?

No it is not racist to say:

the black guy

the pink guy

the fat guy

the guy with the big nose

the tall guy

the guy with the hat

the guy with beard

the guy with the blue trouser

it is just a way to describe which person you speak about, actually most Thais think that half Farang, half Thais are more beautiful. And telling someone has a big nose is usually also nice.

Or how would you say it if there is a cute white kid between many dark one? If you cut out everything that someone might find offensive than there isn't much left of the language. The next one is offended if you say the guy in the small car because he would love to have a big car

[h90]

And the next one is insulted if called "Person from Overseas".....And it would be wrong in many cases, all the Europeans are not from "over the sea".

I gave a literal translation of 'khon dang chat' - in practical terms, it can best be translated as 'not a Thai person'. So a person from Lao PDR (note no sea border) is khon dang chat.

Sometimes, it is useful to learn Thai language (speak/read/write), because it gives one the experience to understand how a word or phrase in Thai language is best translated into English.

So 'kin kao laao?' literally means 'have you eaten?', but that is not how it is translated into English.

BTW, please don't moan at my transliteration of Thai words - I've done it to adhere to the forum rules and so that everyone can get the gist of my comments.

Thai - reading and writing can also be a plus point ==> check the other thread about this.

OK than I am now offended that I am called from "different country" because I am already here since a very long time....

(what I mean: whatever you say someone can find it offensive. The difference between description and racism is the prejudice.

If you say that ugly Farang is drunk than it is a description. If you say Farangs are all ugly drunks than it is racism. I you say that half farang is cute than it is a description. If Thailand would have had lots of white slaves on the ricefields calling them Farang, it might be offensive to be called Farang but usually Farang is used in a positive context.)

[fatfather]

Have anybody thought about that pineapple "zapalot" in Thai sounds like "zapalat" "monster"? Maybe the offence was a wrong pronunciation?

Fatfather

[mesquite]

I'm siding with the OP on this one. Farang and cross breed (maybe half breed)...doesn't sound good to me. All the OP did was give it back to her and she couldn't take it.

I have been called "fat" in Thai, and have gotten pissed off about it. People explained to me that it doesn't mean the same thing in Thai as it does in English, not an insult, and I need to understand that it's just part of Thai culture.

So one day a restaurant owner said to her staff, "Fat one wants American breakfast" in Thai. When I paid my bill, I said to her, "Thank you Fat Lady" loudly in Thai. She didn't laugh and didn't appear to like the comment. And that's the last time she called me fat. Maybe she didn't understand that it's part of Thai culture.

Well are you fat?

If you don't like to be called fat make a diet.....The true is sometimes hard to face....

Yes it is, for people who don't have a weight problem and like to preach. http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2015/03/diets_do_not_work_the_thin_evidence_that_losing_weight_makes_you_healthier.html

[Gecko123]

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

Edited August 3, 2015 by Gecko123

[benalibina]

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

[Gecko123]

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

[metisdead]

A post containing Thai language has been removed. English is the only acceptable language anywhere on ThaiVisa including Classifieds, except within the Thai language forum, where of course using Thai is allowed.

[Berkshire]

And the next one is insulted if called "Person from Overseas".....And it would be wrong in many cases, all the Europeans are not from "over the sea".

I gave a literal translation of 'khon dang chat' - in practical terms, it can best be translated as 'not a Thai person'. So a person from Lao PDR (note no sea border) is khon dang chat.

Sometimes, it is useful to learn Thai language (speak/read/write), because it gives one the experience to understand how a word or phrase in Thai language is best translated into English.

So 'kin kao laao?' literally means 'have you eaten?', but that is not how it is translated into English.

BTW, please don't moan at my transliteration of Thai words - I've done it to adhere to the forum rules and so that everyone can get the gist of my comments.

Thai - reading and writing can also be a plus point ==> check the other thread about this.

OK than I am now offended that I am called from "different country" because I am already here since a very long time....

(what I mean: whatever you say someone can find it offensive. The difference between description and racism is the prejudice.

If you say that ugly Farang is drunk than it is a description. If you say Farangs are all ugly drunks than it is racism. I you say that half farang is cute than it is a description. If Thailand would have had lots of white slaves on the ricefields calling them Farang, it might be offensive to be called Farang but usually Farang is used in a positive context.)

Well done. This guy gets it.

[kannot]

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

yeah suppression from within, same same

[benalibina]

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

yeah suppression from within, same same

[PaullyW]

Right. Except for by the Indians and Khmers and Malays in the south and Laos in the Northeast and Burmese and finally Chinese (teochiu and others if you haven't noticed) and a nation which has contributed scant little to the world and which has become a player largely through foreign immigration (read: Chinese) and western investment.

I agree that at the root of much of what we call Thai culture is fear. It has been true of many cultures. People band together to provide protection from outsiders. The thing is that many cultures (in the past 500 years at least) have moved beyond that fundamental point and have built in other components to their cultures - such as shared values of decency and living, art, writing, music, government. Thailand has nearly nothing other than food, which I admit is fantastic, and some pseduo-Buddhism which is fundamentally misinterpreted and largely misexecuted (like most religions or similar philosophies in many countries, to be fair).

There just isn't much there other than "us, we Thai. them, they not Thai. us vs them." It's extremely basic.

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

[PaullyW]

Right. Except for by the Indians and Khmers and Malays in the south and Laos in the Northeast and Burmese and finally Chinese (teochiu and others if you haven't noticed) and a nation which has contributed scant little to the world and which has become a player largely through foreign immigration (read: Chinese) and western investment.

I agree that at the root of much of what we call Thai culture is fear. It has been true of many cultures. People band together to provide protection from outsiders. The thing is that many cultures (in the past 500 years at least) have moved beyond that fundamental point and have built in other components to their cultures - such as shared values of decency and living, art, writing, music, government. Thailand has nearly nothing other than food, which I admit is fantastic, and some pseduo-Buddhism which is fundamentally misinterpreted and largely misexecuted (like most religions or similar philosophies in many countries, to be fair).

There just isn't much there other than "us, we Thai. them, they not Thai. us vs them." It's extremely basic.

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

maybe if you could free yourself from the seat in your local girly bar sometime and meet some other Thais you could get a better picture of the country

I haven't had a drink or been in a bar in years. Doctor's orders to give my liver a fighting chance.

As for my social circles and diversity of experiencesin Thailand, I am the managing director of a multinational here in Bangkok where ive been for many, many years. Have places in Bangkok, Samui and CM. Just got back from a long weekend CSR event where we built a few schools for kids up northeast. I speak, read and write (a bit) of Thai.

Maybe from that you can get an ideas as to my experience.

Edited August 4, 2015 by PaullyW

[FritsSikkink]

Right. Except for by the Indians and Khmers and Malays in the south and Laos in the Northeast and Burmese and finally Chinese (teochiu and others if you haven't noticed) and a nation which has contributed scant little to the world and which has become a player largely through foreign immigration (read: Chinese) and western investment.

I agree that at the root of much of what we call Thai culture is fear. It has been true of many cultures. People band together to provide protection from outsiders. The thing is that many cultures (in the past 500 years at least) have moved beyond that fundamental point and have built in other components to their cultures - such as shared values of decency and living, art, writing, music, government. Thailand has nearly nothing other than food, which I admit is fantastic, and some pseduo-Buddhism which is fundamentally misinterpreted and largely misexecuted (like most religions or similar philosophies in many countries, to be fair).

There just isn't much there other than "us, we Thai. them, they not Thai. us vs them." It's extremely basic.

Thais have a deep sense of being Thai.

A common bond which they share based on physical characteristics, common language, religion, and culture.

It provides cultural resilience, empowerment, and a protective layer against cultural intrusion.

If you can't celebrate it, at least respect it.

A nation built on fear.

No.

A nation which has never been colonized.

maybe if you could free yourself from the seat in your local girly bar sometime and meet some other Thais you could get a better picture of the country

I haven't had a drink or been in a bar in years. Doctor's orders to give my liver a fighting chance.

As for my social circles and diversity of experiencesin Thailand, I am the managing director of a multinational here in Bangkok where ive been for many, many years. Have places in Bangkok, Samui and CM. Just got back from a long weekend CSR event where we built a few schools for kids up northeast. I speak, read and write (a bit) of Thai.

Maybe from that you can get an ideas as to my experience.

you posted a lot of nonsense, hope your bussines strategy makes more sense

[streboris]

Calling someone a foreigner is a pretty board generalisation about anyone not thai. It's hardly the same as attacking someone for being of a specific race.

As with the majority of the worlds population. Thai people have no real concept of racism so she would not get your point when you try to give here a taste of her own medicine... she would just see a stereotypicaly mentally unstable falang which is kinda reinforcing her view

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Gecko123]

Right. Except for by the Indians and Khmers and Malays in the south and Laos in the Northeast and Burmese and finally Chinese (teochiu and others if you haven't noticed) and a nation which has contributed scant little to the world and which has become a player largely through foreign immigration (read: Chinese) and western investment.

I agree that at the root of much of what we call Thai culture is fear. It has been true of many cultures. People band together to provide protection from outsiders. The thing is that many cultures (in the past 500 years at least) have moved beyond that fundamental point and have built in other components to their cultures - such as shared values of decency and living, art, writing, music, government. Thailand has nearly nothing other than food, which I admit is fantastic, and some pseduo-Buddhism which is fundamentally misinterpreted and largely misexecuted (like most religions or similar philosophies in many countries, to be fair).

There just isn't much there other than "us, we Thai. them, they not Thai. us vs them." It's extremely basic.

Quote:

I haven't had a drink or been in a bar in years. Doctor's orders to give my liver a fighting chance.

As for my social circles and diversity of experiencesin Thailand, I am the managing director of a multinational here in Bangkok where ive been for many, many years. Have places in Bangkok, Samui and CM. Just got back from a long weekend CSR event where we built a few schools for kids up northeast. I speak, read and write (a bit) of Thai.

Maybe from that you can get an ideas as to my experience.

Paulie:

I just find it hard to believe that a Canadian said "there isn't much there" about another culture. It's hard for me to think of a country with a more anemic cultural identity than Canada. Take away the wholesale import of American culture, and the little bit of culture acquired through osmosis by being a member of the Commonwealth, what's Canadian culture's claim to fame? Gordon Lightfoot?

I also can't believe someone who claims to be a "managing director for a multinational" here can harbor such condescending attitudes towards the people who must comprise the majority of his co-workers, bosses, customers, vendors, business associates, etc. Frankly, I'm skeptical that anyone with such attitudes would last long. Judging from the venomousness of your comments people must pick up on your mentality immediately. What do you do at the end of the day? Take a long hot shower?

And just for the record, I don't know what revisionist history books you've been reading, but I doubt any historians would agree with you about Thailand having been colonized by all its neighbors.

Edited August 4, 2015 by Gecko123