What Gets Your Goat?

[Guest IT Manager]

Wonder if we could set a smart word filter that changes farang (much politer than falang here in the North), into foreign resident.

Test your memories since we are essentially discussing payback, anyone remember where "<deleted>" comes from?

Not talking about Sydney, talking about the Raj. Any takers?

[Axel]

god bless the thais,each and every one of them, but their thought processes are unfathomable to a falang and always will be ,no matter how long we stay here.

Amen to that.

After one year I thought I understand most. A decade later I know, that I know nothing.

[taxexile]

it was better when i first came here and couldnt understand a word, being able to understand some of what is said just makes it all worse.

ignorance is truly bliss.

[francois]

hi'

sorry to quote, but couldn't have said it better than you guys

As someone else said, I hate being called falang by peope who know my name. It's rude no matter what anyone believes. (IMO)

yop ... make me think that they can forget who I am easily and fast, or may be don't give a ##$## about ...

I have to say that the very few Thai friends I have call me by my name or lung francois, which is nice enough ... khun poo later

god bless the thais,each and every one of them, but their thought processes are unfathomable to a falang and always will be ,no matter how long we stay here.

right, and goes very well with this one with wich I do agree 1000%

After one year I thought I understand most. A decade later I know, that I know nothing.

and this is so true too ..

it was better when i first came here and couldnt understand a word, being able to understand some of what is said just makes it all worse.

it would be so nice sometime if we just could not get a single word of what they are talking about, especially when "we" foreigners are in concern ...

needless to say that when it's about me, and refered as "farang" makes me fell ### !!

but, still deal with all this nicely

cheers

francois

[the editor]

What realy pisses me of is trying to talk to a Thai while they are excavating their brain via their nasal passage. 

Reminds me of the first Thai joke I heard, long back:

"How do you break a Thai's fingers?"

A. "Punch him/her in the nose!"

[the editor]

Wonder if we could set a smart word filter that changes farang (much politer than falang here in the North), into foreign resident.

Test your memories since we are essentially discussing payback, anyone remember where "<deleted>" comes from?

Not talking about Sydney, talking about the Raj. Any takers?

Wily Oriental Gentleman, IT

[Insight]

On the "farang" subject, I remember sitting playing cards with a few Thai friends. Some girl who just met me and couldn't remember my name shouted out to me "farang, gin khao mai?" - If I didn't find it funny, I probably would of been insulted.

What really wicks me is trying to get to a legit late night bar in Patpong past 2am - So many touts making it difficult. If a guy was acting the same way to other people in my home town, he'd be quickly knocked to the ground.

The same type of touts annoy the <deleted> off me in Pantip. Walking around with my girlfriend, they still have to come up to me, shove a load of DVD covers in my face and say "seexxxyy moovvieee" - ARGH!

And lastly, waiting for a Thai girl to finish at the ATM - It isn't rocket science, it's a bloody ATM! Pin code, ask for money, get money, take card - sounds simple, doesn't it? So what on earth are they doing standing there for 5mins+ a time??? In a queue behind 5 girls, you're best of finding another ATM, even if the closest one's in Cambodia.

I've ranted far too much. Love it here really

[chao choo]

And lastly, waiting for a Thai girl to finish at the ATM - It isn't rocket science, it's a bloody ATM! Pin code, ask for money, get money, take card - sounds simple, doesn't it? So what on earth are they doing standing there for 5mins+ a time??? In a queue behind 5 girls, you're best of finding another ATM, even if the closest one's in Cambodia.

I've ranted far too much. Love it here really

hahahaahaha very true Insight... I was about to say this!!!

[Axel]

Test your memories since we are essentially discussing payback, anyone remember where "<deleted>" comes from?

Not talking about Sydney, talking about the Raj. Any takers?

Should be the good old "Western Oriental Gentleman", ie west of the orient, represented by ethnic groups of India.

Read somewhere, however, that the East India Company used the word for locals who wanted to be Westerners, hence "Western Oriented Gentlemen".

Why you bring this up? Change farang into E.O.G.?

[Basher]

And lastly, waiting for a Thai girl to finish at the ATM - It isn't rocket science, it's a bloody ATM! Pin code, ask for money, get money, take card - sounds simple, doesn't it? So what on earth are they doing standing there for 5mins+ a time??? In a queue behind 5 girls, you're best of finding another ATM, even if the closest one's in Cambodia.

I've ranted far too much. Love it here really 

hahahaahaha very true Insight... I was about to say this!!!

Same for me, though the ones that piss me off are the ones with 10 cards, collecting wages for their buddies too, soon as I see them starting the ritual with a stck of cards I am off. Always seems to be on a 2 weekly cycle, 14-15 30th-1st

Bash

[Rhys]

Bash..the Thai Thai Thai works for the you you you...

Alas, it is the Ph.D. woman lying about having a MP patron.. and saying I don't have a boyfriend.. then having the MP call your work place and threating the director to fire your BUTT.. then sending out... the threat squad..

BUT the fun part.. the MP using the director...as a mouth piece.. Did you sleep with her?

That's a fun Lock and load

for many of the Thai women, even the ones with the alphabets at the end of their name.. honesty is like a complex sentence they just never seem to understand or get right.

[Boon Mee]

Bash..the Thai Thai Thai works for the you you you...

Alas, it is the Ph.D. woman lying about having a MP patron.. and saying I don't have a boyfriend.. then having the MP call your work place and threating the director to fire your BUTT.. then sending out... the threat squad..

BUT the fun part.. the MP using the director...as a mouth piece.. Did you sleep with her?

That's a fun Lock and load

for many of the Thai women, even the ones with the alphabets at the end of their name.. honesty is like a complex sentence they just never seem to understand or get right.

As it's often been said, in Thailand, the Truth is a slippery substance. Why do you hear and use the expression: "Ching, ching, mai go hok" so frequently?

[meemiathai]

going into a cafe and asking for an iced tea and being told "no have"

asking if they have tea,answer is "have"

asking if they have ice, answer is "have"

asking again for iced tea,answer is "no have"

then asking for tea with ice and recieving my iced tea.

god bless the thais,each and every one of them, but their thought processes are unfathomable to a falang and always will be ,no matter how long we stay here.

Does that happen quite often?

Have you tried to ask your wife why they are like that?

There must be something inside that we didn't understand. I don't think that the Thais are that stupid!

[D80]

going into a cafe and asking for an iced tea and being told "no have"

asking if they have tea,answer is "have"

asking if they have ice, answer is "have"

asking again for iced tea,answer is "no have"

then asking for tea with ice and recieving my iced tea.

god bless the thais,each and every one of them, but their thought processes are unfathomable to a falang and always will be ,no matter how long we stay here. 

Does that happen quite often?

Have you tried to ask your wife why they are like that?

There must be something inside that we didn't understand. I don't think that the Thais are that stupid!

I don't know if this might be the case but 'iced tea' translating into Thai is 'Cha Yen', right?

Now, the word 'Cha Yen' can mean 2 things :

1)cold tea (tea with iced) or

2)sweet milky cold tea that is not just normal tea with ice (this is orange in colour, you might have seen it around drink stall)

If you want cold tea then it's probably best to say 'tea with ice' to avoid confusion. 'Cha Yen' is tea with ice too but quite often it is used to refer to sweet milky cold tea that I explained above.

[Basher]

Yep

cha yen is 'ice tea' with lots of nice condensed milk

and

Cha dam yen is iced black tea, both are great and I love them!

Bash

[meemiathai]

See?

Conflicts are mostly caused by misunderstandings. Well, mostly.

How long have you been livin' in Thailand?

[taxexile]

actually what i ask for is chaa manao yen, (iced lemon tea), but often have to go through the whole thing as described before i get it.

i think its because iced lemon tea is not actually written on the menu but lemon tea is.

a similar thing happened once when i wanted a plain omelette and they only had those thai vegetable omelettes on the menu.

[meemiathai]

Taxexile,

When it comes to farang food, some Thais do not really know what they are.

So they might sound stupid no matter how simple it is for you. And also, some Thai waitresses would get very nervous when they serve farangs and would not know what themselves are talking about.

Try to talk to them in a very polite manner and make them feel easy, I am sure they would get you something you want easily. Especially if you can speak Thai!

Have a nice day!

[meemiathai]

BTW, I know what you are talking about. "kau jai kup phom"

[taxexile]

Try to talk to them in a very polite manner and make them feel easy

maybe thats where i am going wrong.

Have a nice day!

i am trying to.

[D80]

for many of the Thai women, even the ones with the alphabets at the end of their name.. honesty is like a complex sentence they just never seem to understand or get right. 

As it's often been said, in Thailand, the Truth is a slippery substance. Why do you hear and use the expression: "Ching, ching, mai go hok" so frequently?

Here we go again.....

[gisele]

going into a cafe and asking for an iced tea and being told "no have"

asking if they have tea,answer is "have"

asking if they have ice, answer is "have"

asking again for iced tea,answer is "no have"

then asking for tea with ice and recieving my iced tea.

god bless the thais,each and every one of them, but their thought processes are unfathomable to a falang and always will be ,no matter how long we stay here.

Does that happen quite often?

Have you tried to ask your wife why they are like that?

There must be something inside that we didn't understand. I don't think that the Thais are that stupid!

Actually, I have had the same thing happen to me in China.

Here, if it's not writen that way on the menu, it's difficult to have it a different way, not that it can't be done.

The menu indicates they have penne with pesto or fettucini with chicken and tomatoes but you can't have penne with chicken and tomatoes.

Same thing with Chinese taking forever at the ATM, I sometimes think they must be playing some video game that I am unaware of.

[chonabot]

polo is right, but what about the classic sob stories of the bar girls.

I have more pity for the girls than i will ever have for some farang that lives off the generosity of other farangs.......You seen the state of most of the Farangs that come to Pattaya........i think every bar girl has a right to feel sorry, i think they deserve every baht they get, but as you know

Sometimes the reason for the skint farangs is because of their gullibility when listening to the BG's sick Buffalo story, when they still had 2 salung to rub together

Cause and effect ... more fool them

[Axel]

Everything they do wrong is my mistake. That's the only thing that drives me crazy. But then I refuse to be driven crazy and accept the situtation. Big part is language barrier (even if you speak the lingo, your face is different so you cannot be speaking). Company - rules are a big handicap as well as Thai (and Asian) way

of saying yes, when meaning no.

Example, talk over the phone to the travel agent.

"On 15th I want to go from SIN to SGN".

"Answer, cannot, fully booked".

Suggestion: "Try via BKK and call me when it is ok".

5 minuters later: "BKK-SGN OK". I feel great, but waht about "SIN-BKK?"

"Fully booked".

Final question to me: "Why you want to got from SIN-BKK? Can you make up your mind where you want to go?"

So, my mistake! Afte more discussion found out Vietnam airliens fully booked. My question: What about SQ? Answer: "You tell me which airline you want to fly"

No "I just have to go from SIN-SGN".

Finally, all problems solved, "We must issue ticket by deadline 12th". Me says, "Fine, issue now".

No, cannot, deadline is 12th (That's the comapny rule, actually means not later than 12th

Well, I guess I could write a book, as probably many of us.

In many places in BKK, I sign a chit and pay at the end of the month.

Sometimes, when planning a longer trip, I ask for the total bill up to today (let's say around 20th of the month)

No problem, get the bill and pay.

Next month, big complain, "you long time no come here and bill still open!"

Me" "Cannot, befor I left I paid everything on 20th. "No. You only pay month before".

"Well, but I asked for the total, before I left"

Cannot, you only pay end of the month.

Or a nice one, which was really my mistake

In one pub, I have my beer or five before going home. I always drink small one.

(The larger get stale too fast)

"Khun Axel, another beer?"

"Yes please, a last one" Bingo, I get a 'large' one. "You order large!"

Me: "Hey, ok misunderstanding, but for 10 years you never bring me large one."

Your mistake, you order large.

Could go on, but these small things I refuse to let go to my nerves.

[Goat Roper]

Thai style marathon meetings where the only thing that is decided is when the next meeting will be.

[Boon Mee]

Which reminds me of the Thai Rummy games that turn into marathon deals that last a couple days. At least they will get up and cook between hands!

[joebuzzard]

Too much congestion in shopping malls and public place. No room for walking. Everyone walking too slow with no comprehension that someone moving faster wants to get by them. People who don't move out of the way when I'm walking down the escalator, or up the escalator to try and catch the Skytrain. I hate the stores with the long travelators for the carts. Even when there are no carts, people just stop and go for a ride. I just want to get out. Can't stand Big C, Lotus, Carrefour. That is easy. I avoid them. Look for mom and pop shops without escalators.

[tutsiwarrior]

goat roper, re: interminable business meetings, excellent observation. A meeting starting at 0900 hrs cannot adjourn until lunch is served and eaten at about 1300hrs...same all over Asia.

Best to append to the agenda 'lunch will not be served to freeloading scumbags with nothing to contribute to the discussion'...

[Goat Roper]

goat roper, re: interminable business meetings, excellent observation. A meeting starting at 0900 hrs cannot adjourn until lunch is served and eaten at about 1300hrs...same all over Asia.

Best to append to the agenda 'lunch will not be served to freeloading scumbags with nothing to contribute to the discussion'...

###### tutsiwarrior, that works for me and you are correct about this lunch deal. I have been in meetings that began at 10:00 am and adjourned at 20:00 hours, not once but several times over the years and the BIG boss is the one that held these, he liked to hear himself talk and enjoyed seeing his underlings listening(my self included). ######!!!, I am glad I'm gone.

[Gallowspole]

Not major gripes just pet peeves:

- Going to the video rental shop, choosing 3 films, taking them to the counter only to be told 'no have' - repeating this 4 or 5 times until you eventually settle for Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis films that you have been avoiding for years.

- Waiters, who know I can understand a little Thai/Lao, asking my wife for my glass in order to fill it up. After refilling it they then hand it to her on the opposite side of the table. Same when ordering ice-cream. We have been frequenting this restaurant at least once a week for the last 3 years and my wife has NEVER eaten ice cream there - I always do yet they never hand me the dish. My wife says that they are scared of me!!

- In falang run restaurants, ordering a lemon tea with a set breakfast and getting 2 slices of lemon cut as thin as a sheet of paper, and then getting billed 5 baht for them. I don't use the milk so why charge for the lemon? You cheap charlies!!! Or am I the cheap charlie? Mmm......chicken and egg scenario.