How do Thais view non-Thai Asians?

[Hanaguma]

Hello Everyone!

First time poster here, I've been to Thailand several times, the latest with my wife for a one month stay in Bangkok with my wife. We are thinking about Thailand as a retirement option and wanted to check it out.

Anyway, here is the situation. I am Canadian, and my wife is Japanese. We are (I thought) a typical middle aged couple aged 50 and 45, nothing special, etc. But, wherever we went, people assumed my wife was Thai and spoke past me to her

in Thai. When (of course) she couldn't understand what was said, the locals were quite confused. Also, it seemed that some people we encountered were less than thrilled to see us together as a couple. Perhaps they thought that we were

just another stereotype Farang\Thai couple?

So my questions are: can Thais tell the difference between themselves and other Asians? How can we get people to recognize that we are tourists and not local?

Any experiences/advice/tips would be greatly appreciated.

[colinneil]

How do Thais view non Thai Asians, the same as they view farangs.

[CharlieH]

As you mention Japanese, you may find this previous thread of use/interest.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/737687-how-do-the-thais-view-japanesekoreans/

[Sheryl]

Actually East Asians - i.e. Korean/Japanese - are viewed rather favorably. But that wasn't really his question, it was more how to get people to know she isn't Thai and there is no way to do that until they hear her speak. People do naturally tend to assume that Asian-appearing people here are fellow Thais.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Why are you concerning yourself with this non issue?

[willyumiii]

I was very surprised to learn from my Thai wife that Thai people do not think they look "Asian".

"we do not have eyes like Chinese, Japanese or other Asians,,we are different."

[Morakot]

how to get people to know she isn't Thai and there is no way to do that until they hear her speak.

This is completely generalizing and a rather distorted view.

It's true that physiologically the appearance between East Asian and South East Asian people is rather similar. However, it is relatively easy --and one doesn't need to be an anthropologist-- to tell Thai and Japanese people apart; their sense of dress, their hair cuts, their make-up, their composure, their body language, their overall presentation, is strikingly different. One doesn't need to hear a single word and it is often already clear who is Thai and who isn't.

To the OP, I'd be interested to hear in which part of Thailand you perceived Thai people were stereotyping you as 'just another stereotype Farang\Thai couple'? An urban, rural, touristic, etc. place?

Edited March 17, 2016 by Morakot

[Saastrajaa]

It depends what "Asians" you are talking about. Here's a helpful guide (from the average Thai's perspective):

Lao: love your food, pity you otherwise as a lower creature...though at least we can mostly understand your language

Vietnamese: love your food (once we've altered it so it's more or less really Thai)

Japanese: love your money...oh, and your anime/manga

Korean: love your soap operas, pop singers and fashion

Singaporean: love your money and authoritarian society

Cambodian: love your ancient temples, classical dance, kick-boxing, royal language, etc. (all of which we pretend we didn't steal from you)...but hate you, you're lower than dirt. oh yeah, and we're scared to death of your supposed "black magic"

Chinese: love your business sense and light skin tone WHEN it's been filtered through a few generations of mixing with Thai genes...hate you when you're a rude tourist

Indian: we'll tolerate you if you were born and raised in Thailand and speak fluent Thai, otherwise, you're dark and dirty and Cheap Charlies

Burmese: see Cambodian, minus the culture stealing and black magic

Filipino: we like to hire you as workers in our businesses, but we hate when we fall prey to your scams in Starbucks/on Skytrain platforms

Indonesian and Malaysian: we basically think you're related to Indians, don't really know much about you

Tibetan, Mongolian, Bhutanese, Nepalese, etc.: we don't have enough of a knowledge of history or geography to have any idea whatsoever who you are or where you come from

Pakistani: see Indian

Edited March 17, 2016 by Saastrajaa

[Rhys]

Thus in the end it always ends in a pecking order...

[Lannig]

@Saastrajaa: a bit cynical, but so true. An excellent summary of the way other asians are regarded by the Thais I know...

[Thongkorn]

Maybe do some research yourself . Prolly come up with they are undereducated. Not there fault bad Education system. Bias towards there own Race. Racist .No other Nationality can learn Thai. Bet this post does not last long it will prolly be classed as Thai bashing . Truth does not go down well in Thailand.

[cyberfarang]

They assume your wife is Thai because in Thailand it`s less common to see other S.E Asians married or in relationships with Farlangs.

Over time I have learned to see the differences between Thais and other Asians but if I see an Asian lady with a Farlang man I too may assume she is Thai. But it does have it`s advantages. At least your wife will be charged the Thai prices without getting ripped off as foreigners do for most of her stay here.

[hookedondhamma]

For the ops last question I'm not quite sure anymore.

The other day a thai was flipping channels and there were a group of ladies dancing. I immediately recognized them as korean. He said they were thai. Turns out it was k-pop show showcasing the latest k-pop groups.

Another time he said a muay thai boxer was thai when he turned out to be Lao.

I think as far as looks go there's nothing 100% as thais are mixed with other ethnic groups.

I agree with Morakots post.

Edited March 18, 2016 by hookedondhamma

[hookedondhamma]

I was very surprised to learn from my Thai wife that Thai people do not think they look "Asian".

"we do not have eyes like Chinese, Japanese or other Asians,,we are different."

That's probably because Thais look 'Thai' to her. Paiboon was a clever man.

[Bender]

@ OP, if your wife is japanese, she will found this place very awfull to live/retire. Here its too much hot, too much wet, too much noisy, too much rude,

too much unsafe, third world, too many scam, too much pollution.... You should seek an other country !

[Tomtomtom69]

Actually East Asians - i.e. Korean/Japanese - are viewed rather favorably. But that wasn't really his question, it was more how to get people to know she isn't Thai and there is no way to do that until they hear her speak. People do naturally tend to assume that Asian-appearing people here are fellow Thais.

Yes Koreans and Japanese are viewed favourably, but not any more so than westerners (and why should they be, unless it were for racial reasons which would make those holding more favourable views of them racist). Both groups tend to be polite, clean and not too noisy, except when they get together in large groups. However, most westerners tend to travel alone and many (most?) of the ones you see in Thailand tend to have local partners.

Burmese, Cambodians and Laotians are seen as mere lower class labourers and are generally given the stinkeye or looked down upon by many Thais, except those that have a close relationship with the Thais they work with and who speak good Thai.

Vietnamese and Filipinos aren't seen in the best light.

Lots of issues with the Chinese, especially Chinese tourists.

South Asians (Bangladeshis, Nepalis, Indians, Sri Lankans, Pakistanis) are mostly dismissed as smelling bad and are avoided and looked down upon.

I agree that most Thais assume other Asians are Thai unless they appear visibly non-Thai, such as when they are together with at least one other person of their own nationality. For some reason, despite all the many Asian tourists (and even expats) in Thailand, many Thais still hold this outdated notion that all Asians they see around them are Thai and all the foreigners are "farang". This outdated attitude is confirmed whenever tourism is mentioned and the word "farang" is brought into the foray by some Thai official or businessman, as if the only tourists visiting Thailand are "farang". Maybe 30 years ago, but nowadays probably only 10-15% are.

[Tomtomtom69]

They assume your wife is Thai because in Thailand it`s less common to see other S.E Asians married or in relationships with Farlangs.

Over time I have learned to see the differences between Thais and other Asians but if I see an Asian lady with a Farlang man I too may assume she is Thai. But it does have it`s advantages. At least your wife will be charged the Thai prices without getting ripped off as foreigners do for most of her stay here.

I agree. However, it must get mind-boggingly confusing when the Asian partner is not only not Thai, but a citizen of a western country, born and raised say in the USA, Canada or Australia and hates it when people "don't get it" when she says she's Aussie or American. Thais would be scratching their heads thinking, how can you be Aussie or American etc. if you're Asian? They'd probably be asking, so, what kind of an Asian are you? The answer might be Vietnamese-American, Korean-Aussie or a Chinese-Canadian.

[fusion58]

^

LOL.

That reminds me of something I read the other day.

I was interested in a condo, so I was searching the web for info about the building.

I came upon a page which gave a breakdown of the building's residents based on nationality:

"70% Japanese, 20% foreigner and 10% Thai."

[fey]

if they knew they would not be talking to you in thai (oh nevermind)

tell them to shut up and get out of the way

[theguyfromanotherforum]

^

LOL.

That reminds me of something I read the other day.

I was interested in a condo, so I was searching the web for info about the building.

I came upon a page which gave a breakdown of the building's residents based on nationality:

"70% Japanese, 20% foreigner and 10% Thai."

I thought this was not allowed

[chrisinth]

@ OP, if your wife is japanese, she will found this place very awfull to live/retire. Here its too much hot, too much wet, too much noisy, too much rude,

too much unsafe, third world, too many scam, too much pollution.... You should seek an other country !

I wonder how she found what living in Canada was like?

Assuming that she was that is.

[Bender]

@ OP, if your wife is japanese, she will found this place very awfull to live/retire. Here its too much hot, too much wet, too much noisy, too much rude,

too much unsafe, third world, too many scam, too much pollution.... You should seek an other country !

I wonder how she found what living in Canada was like?

Assuming that she was that is.

in several years i spent in thailand, i did meet very few expat women. In fact its a true rarity.

I meet a 25 yo isreali girl,she worked as a teacher. She fleed her country because of the daily bombing.

I meet a 40 yo hippie, she was there because of her 20 yo rasta thai bf.

I meet a 65 american woman, she was working for a christian NGO in north thailand with refugees. She worked few months and was completely horrified about what she experienced....

i dont think a japanese woman will love Bkk, she will get bored very quickly.

[Somebodee]

I have the opposite experience. My wife is thai but I've lost count of how many times she has been mistaken for a non thai.