Where You Froooooooom?

[Boo]

Where are you from & where you live are 2 different answers IMO. I am from the UK & I live in London. If you have spent most of your life in one particular country & speak witht hat countries langauge & accent then thats where you are from. And if you moved to thailand in your 20's or later then you aren't from thailand, sorry to say

[jdinasia]

Where are you from & where you live are 2 different answers IMO. I am from the UK & I live in London. If you have spent most of your life in one particular country & speak witht hat countries langauge & accent then thats where you are from. And if you moved to thailand in your 20's or later then you aren't from thailand, sorry to say

Boo ... if so then why

From: Khon Kaen/London

??

[Boo]

jdinasia, now your just being pedantic. KK is where my husband is from & where we spend most of our time in country. In the context of this forum it is useful to know where people are located & I don't view that as claiming to be from thailand, just where we are located when in country jsut as London is where we are in the UK. If it makes you feel better I will happily change it.

n.b actually when I addded that info I was living full time in KK

[jdinasia]

I see it the other way around Boo ..... where I am from is where I live! When I lived in Denver I was from Denver. If I were here on contract I might think differently! I am not though! I am from Kamala now. My nationality is still US. Different thing ... (note others have said this too! I am sure others like you see it differently .. but then again how you see yourself is how you define yourself.)

[Boo]

not an argument jd (unless you want to make one) I expressed an opinion. You are the one defending it but I think telling people your from phuket sounds ridiculous unless your thai. Just an opinion.

[pnustedt]

I usually say "just came in off the street"

[Thaddeus]

I'm from me Mum ...... there..... that's that sorted

[Little Black Duck]

I don't know about anyone else but I have a problem when someone asks me "where you from?"... I've not lived in any one place for more than a few years since I was a teenager - I'm not really sure where I'm from, anymore!

Especially these days, since I have lived on Phuket for 4 years, and somewhere else a few yrs before that.... and then several other locales a few yrs each, etc.

So, these days - I just say I am from PHUKET! Is there anything wrong with that? The Thai locals laugh and accept it - no worries! Some farangs have a problem with it ... but - up to them!

It's ok to be FROM where you are in the moment... Right???

Correct me if I'm wrong but I was always of the belief when ask "where are you from"? someone was trying to determine your country of birth..

[jdinasia]

not an argument jd (unless you want to make one) I expressed an opinion. You are the one defending it but I think telling people your from phuket sounds ridiculous unless your thai. Just an opinion.

Could be why I choose to use the phrase "I live in Phuket" while here .... When you ask a Thai where they are from in Phuket they reply with either Phuket (or the name of a town in the province) if they live here; or from wherever in Thailand if they are a tourist here. Yes I have met people that by your definition are from Bangkok that answer Phuket because they live here. <Yes I can tell the difference, different speech patterns etc>.

So ... "I live in Phuket" works for me

[Boo]

I live in Phuket"

So not "from" but "live in", therefore we are in agreement. You live in Phuket but your not from there

[jdinasia]

I live in Phuket"

So not "from" but "live in", therefore we are in agreement. You live in Phuket but your not from there

Only if you feel the need to win I am with Khall on this one

Edited October 24, 2006 by jdinasia

[jdinasia]

Never stated I was Thai .... though maybe when I get PR ... I'll start the next step If I get Nationality THEN I'll state that!

[bkkmadness]

Specifically .......... knew that point would be lost on you ....(as well as overseas) blah blah blah ...

when asked where I am from ... I say "I live in Phuket." If they want to know more they can ask. Depending upon my mood they may get more details ....

pathetic comeback.

you're not thai mate - that's the point Im making and you are crying about.

Pardon me? the question is not "What is your nationality?" ... again specifically where am I from? Texas ? Maine? Colorado? Ga? overseas options??? ... no ... "I LIVE in Phuket"

Obviously when they ask you where are you from it means where was your born so USA. If they ask where you live, its Phuket. How difficult can it be?

[jdinasia]

That is one train of thought ... not everyone's. But scroll back and tell me where I am from

[bkkmadness]

USA, Phuket, your house, your mother's womb, a big explosion of energy and matter a long time ago, all are correct answers but if you meet someone and they ask you where are you from then I would guess they are asking which country. So I'd go with the USA.

Don't you find when people ask you where you are from and you answer 'Phuket' they just have to ask you again?

[jdinasia]

Nope ... they ask where you are from ... I say "I live in Phuket" ...

If I say USA ... then most times I have to explain "I have not even stepped foot in the USA for 3 years etc! I live in Thailand full-time now! I lived in BKK until recently and before that HuaHin" Rarely do people care where you are from if they know you actually live here! <If they ARE interested in me being from the USA then it leads to the same lengthy discussions "where in the USA? ... then "Well I moved here from Colorado but only lived there 2.5 years the last time .........."

[Ijustwannateach]

I've removed a number of offensive posts from this thread and given a holiday. Namecalling is not acceptable behavior, folks.

[PeaceBlondie]

Up to a point, I'm with jdinasia that the question is ambiguous.

Heck, lots of Thais who ask me where I'm from, can't speak English. In Spanish, the preposition de means both 'of' and 'from.'

To the stranger who can barely say, "whe' you fom?" I will say "America" if I'm in a generous mood, without out-pedanticizing the point that America is an entire hemisphere with two continents and many island countries. If the other person is an expatriate, I may just say "Texas."

A Mayan would name his community of origin, which is probably where he lived all his life, and he can never separate himself from that origin.

It depends on the context: who asked it, where you were at the time, etc. Besides, if you answer clearly, "I live in xxx," they should be able to understand what you mean.

Also, I learned that in Thailand, you don't have to answer any question, especially directly.

[bkkmadness]

Nope ... they ask where you are from ... I say "I live in Phuket" ...

If I say USA ... then most times I have to explain "I have not even stepped foot in the USA for 3 years etc! I live in Thailand full-time now! I lived in BKK until recently and before that HuaHin" Rarely do people care where you are from if they know you actually live here! <If they ARE interested in me being from the USA then it leads to the same lengthy discussions "where in the USA? ... then "Well I moved here from Colorado but only lived there 2.5 years the last time .........."

How about "Originally from the US, but I've lived in Thailand a few years."

If I meet a foreigner here and I ask where they are from and they tell me 'Thailand', I usually just think they're trying just a little too hard to show that they live in Thailand.

It's not the question I asked, they can tell me all about how many years they have lived in Thailand later if they really feel it's so very important, but for the time being I just wondered what country did they originate from.

Edited October 24, 2006 by bkkmadness

[jdinasia]

Nope ... they ask where you are from ... I say "I live in Phuket" ...

If I say USA ... then most times I have to explain "I have not even stepped foot in the USA for 3 years etc! I live in Thailand full-time now! I lived in BKK until recently and before that HuaHin" Rarely do people care where you are from if they know you actually live here! <If they ARE interested in me being from the USA then it leads to the same lengthy discussions "where in the USA? ... then "Well I moved here from Colorado but only lived there 2.5 years the last time .........."

How about "Originally from the US, but I've lived in Thailand a few years."

That would work .... but generally people are more interested in Phuket than the USA (and "originally" would imply I am now from somewhere else ..... and the pedants in here think you can only be "from" where you are raised !)

[PeaceBlondie]

bkkmadness, that was my point about context. If it's an expatriate who speaks fluent English and asks me clearly, I'll give him a complex sentence like "Originally....and now..." I'll guess that the Scots and the Welsh don't usually just say "United Kingdom" or "British Commonwealth of Nations."

[TRIPxCORE]

where are you from has always meant where do you live.

not in my book.

Not in my book either. When someone asks me where I am from, I take that to mean where I was born or what my nationality is. When in Thailand if someone asks, I simply say "America."

[jdinasia]

where are you from has always meant where do you live.

not in my book.

Not in my book either. When someone asks me where I am from, I take that to mean where I was born or what my nationality is. When in Thailand if someone asks, I simply say "America."

But you ARE from the USA ... that is where you live!

[raybkk]

Foodland.

Does the trick.

[TRIPxCORE]

where are you from has always meant where do you live.

not in my book.

Not in my book either. When someone asks me where I am from, I take that to mean where I was born or what my nationality is. When in Thailand if someone asks, I simply say "America."

But you ARE from the USA ... that is where you live!

Even if I lived in the North Pole, I would still be from America.

[PeaceBlondie]

Even if I lived in the North Pole, I would still be from America.

Brrrr......I always taught my students, "Now, at the North Pole, it is very cold, NOW."

[sai grok]

Even if I lived in the North Pole, I would still be from America.

I agree with this.. where you are from is where you are born/raised. If someone asked where you live then thats when to say where you live at the present time.

[Neeranam]

Up to a point, I'm with jdinasia that the question is ambiguous.

Heck, lots of Thais who ask me where I'm from, can't speak English. In Spanish, the preposition de means both 'of' and 'from.'

The question is bloody simple - I'm from Scotland.

If someone from Scotland asks, I'll say Aberdeen, where I lived the longest.

Even if I live here for 50 years, it doesn't change where I come from.

Jdinasia - you'll always be a yank and never a Thai, accept it.

What's Spanish got to do with anything?

Edited October 25, 2006 by Neeranam

[jdinasia]

Up to a point, I'm with jdinasia that the question is ambiguous.

Heck, lots of Thais who ask me where I'm from, can't speak English. In Spanish, the preposition de means both 'of' and 'from.'

The question is bloody simple - I'm from Scotland.

If someone from Scotland asks, I'll say Aberdeen, where I lived the longest.

Even if I live here for 50 years, it doesn't change where I come from.

Jdinasia - you'll always be a yank and never a Thai, accept it.

What's Spanish got to do with anything?

Again you confuse Nationality .......... But you'll get it sometime

[Boatabike]

As far as i am concerned it aint where you come from thats important. It's where your going that life is all about. Chew on that ha now you can all fight over where your going instead of where you come from!