when in rome do as romans do. when in thai do as thais do

[opalred]

you came to live here

do you mix with thais or keep in your own groups

remember in your own country you hated the new immigrants

come and not speak english and grouped together in there own area

and not mix with the locals of there new country?

now tables turned do you come and join a expat group

and whinge about you new country and its people

[KittenKong]

I whinge about everyone. I dont care what nationality they are.

[Jingthing]

...

remember in your own country you hated the new immigrants

come and not speak english and grouped together in there own area

and not mix with the locals of there new country?

...

That's an idiotic assumption.

I never did.

In fact I enjoyed living among them.

Also, expats are NOT immigrants.

I've got a NON-immigrant visa as they do the vast majority of foreigners residing long term in Thailand.

Please stop pushing the lie of a FALSE equivalence.

Next ...

Edited June 25, 2016 by Jingthing

[MissAndry]

In answer to your questions

I don't mix with anyone.

I'm not an immigrant, and neither are you.

Thailand isn't my new country, I'm still English.

[opalred]

jinger they have a visa to live usa

you have a visa to live here

as a guest

[Oceanbat]

jinger they have a visa to live usa

you have a visa to live here

as a guest

No. We have an extension of stay that is only valid for 12 months and need to check in every 3 months. No rights whatsoever. False equivalence.

OB

[benalibina]

[opalred]

so we have a visa for 12 mths

so we dont have to mix with locals

we keep in our expat group for 20yrs here

[Jingthing]

so we have a visa for 12 mths

so we dont have to mix with locals

we keep in our expat group for 20yrs here

Don't have to indeed ... and the problem is what exactly?

[opalred]

false equivalance?

did you grow up in slave days in usa

[Generalchaos]

As for the O/P, why on earth would I want to have a frontal lobotomy just because I decide to live here? I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever in denying an education, closing my mind to anything outside my personal sphere just because I moved to a different country, and felt the need to behave like a local - So maybe spend every Baht on Lao Kao, go home beat the wife shag the kid say sorry at the temple and by the afternoon start all over again?

What side of Thai life are you talking about?

Thais are not all the same neither are we.

Your question makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

[opalred]

jing thing everyone knows you like to bomb posts

but if you have a friend

ask them to take you to get help

i like to make posts for people to think and enjoy and better if get a laugh

just another expat member lost sheep baa baa

[Jingthing]

jing thing everyone knows you like to bomb posts

but if you have a friend

ask them to take you to get help

i like to make posts for people to think and enjoy and better if get a laugh

just another expat member lost sheep baa baa

Help to bomb threads?

[opalred]

why do you come here io live

cheap living

or make you feel first time in life

better

as higher level then thais

[Jingthing]

why do you come here io live

cheap living

or make you feel first time in life

better

as higher level then thais

That's a complicated specifically personal question but it's certainly not to feel superior to Thais. Typical insult though. Garbage really.

[daveAustin]

Op, you sound really bored.

[Enoon]

so we have a visa for 12 mths

so we dont have to mix with locals

we keep in our expat group for 20yrs here

We?

[Enoon]

Op, you sound really bored.

Bored, drunk, bitter, lonely and in need of the friend that he thinks JT should contact.

[thehelmsman]

Immigration status aside, in the West the immigrants and illegals generally are given life's essentials at the expense of the host's expense. The taxpayer foots the bill. Whereas in Thailand the foreigner is expected to take care of himself. What a novel thought. We contribute in Thailand, that's the difference.

[Torrens54]

I agree with the point about we Expats not being IMMIGRANTS. As for learning the language, ah well.....

Many years ago while working for a Thai Government Department in my home country, I enrolled in a Thai Language Class.

I took just one lesson and had to visit BKK. On arrival at HQ, I dropped a few words in Thai. Everyone was delighted with my having made the effort BUT, they then suggested we revert to English because THEY wanted to "work on their English skills."

To top that off, when we moved here after I retired, I enrolled TWICE in Thai Language Classes BUT my wife told me they were a waste of money, as I could Learn from BOOKS and from her and our daughter... that was FIVE Years ago and all I can do is get by with a few Polite words of greeting in Thai. I suspect the Wife doesn't want me to understand what she's saying around her old School and Uni Cronies.

[kannot]

I dont mix with anyone it saves so much hassle in life, couldnt care less if Thai or not Thai.

[shirtless]

We are not citizens here or residents , we are aliens , Mixing with locals can be expensive as they view as a source of income only.,

[Patsycat]

If i chose to live in a country,

I would learn the language, its normal.

I speak loads of languages. Yummy yummy. Four languages. Lots. One two three four. Basta.

[Gecko123]

opaired:

Sounds like you hit a nerve.

Many illegal immigrants in the west have done a good job integrating and learning the local language. Most westerners here are here legally, not illegally. Despite the need to renew visas annually and report your address every 90 days, many live here permanently or semi-permanently on a full time basis.

Irregardless of your immigration status, you have chosen to live here.

Not being interested in the local people and culture suggests a lack of mental curiosity, or a possible personality disorder. Not making an effort to learn the language is just plain bad manners.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Gecko123

[Berkshire]

As for the O/P, why on earth would I want to have a frontal lobotomy just because I decide to live here? I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever in denying an education, closing my mind to anything outside my personal sphere just because I moved to a different country, and felt the need to behave like a local - So maybe spend every Baht on Lao Kao, go home beat the wife shag the kid say sorry at the temple and by the afternoon start all over again?

What side of Thai life are you talking about?

Thais are not all the same neither are we.

Your question makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

So in your home country, you have no problem with foreigners coming in with the same attitude and doing the same as you? I think that was the point of the OP. What country are you from?

[GuestHouse]

If Farangs living in Thailand are not happy with being referred to as 'immigrants' perhaps we should use the term 'migrant' instead.

It accurately describes the fact that they have indeed migrated and is void of any reference to the status or legality of their presence in Thailand, capturing as it does both those with a valid visa and those without.

"Migrants not integrating, not learning the language, expecting to live their own culture in someone else's country" .... all of a sudden becomes a little more universal in to whom it refers.

[opalred]

gecko i love it

to hit the nerve of the narrow minded

no big deal what you want to call oneself

immigrant migrant or guest

the point is you live here now

maybe head in another world jingthing

[Jingthing]

As for the O/P, why on earth would I want to have a frontal lobotomy just because I decide to live here? I see absolutely no benefit whatsoever in denying an education, closing my mind to anything outside my personal sphere just because I moved to a different country, and felt the need to behave like a local - So maybe spend every Baht on Lao Kao, go home beat the wife shag the kid say sorry at the temple and by the afternoon start all over again?

What side of Thai life are you talking about?

Thais are not all the same neither are we.

Your question makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

So in your home country, you have no problem with foreigners coming in with the same attitude and doing the same as you? I think that was the point of the OP. What country are you from?

Dude. I already answered that.

Since you annoy me with asking again. Not only did I have no problem with non-assimilating foreigners in the USA (with documentation status that was THEIR concern) I intentionally lived among them.

I love diversity. I love hearing a mix of languages and getting to experience literal tastes of many international cultures wherever I live, whether in the USA, Thailand, or anywhere.

That's a big reason I like living in Pattaya. It is indeed an INTERNATIONAL city. For expats, you can go as "Thai" as you want to be and/or need to be.

For me, I don't need to go "Thai" here at all, not that I don't enjoy the Thai FLAVOR here as well.

For non-assimilating foreigners in the USA, I assumed it was their choice how they conducted their lives. If they saw a benefit to assimilate more and they were capable, they would. Usually, but not always, there would be an economic benefit to becoming more American. But not always ... such as in heavily Latino places like Miami. But dude, personally not only am I NOT working in Thailand, I am not LEGALLY allowed to work. DUH!

But really, dude, the closest actual equivalent to my situation in Thailand are retired foreign tourists who buy condos and live in them for 6 months of the year because the USA doesn't have retirement visas. If they lived there all year, it would be same. Their choice to integrate locally, or not.

What I find hilarious with narratives like in the OP and now from you is the totally IDIOTIC assumption that non-integrated western expats in Thailand are always the same kind of xenophobic right wing MORONS that tend to support movements like Brexit and Trumpism. Don't do that.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

gecko i love it

to hit the nerve of the narrow minded

no big deal what you want to call oneself

immigrant migrant or guest

the point is you live here now

maybe head in another world jingthing

This is your game then, is it?

Just a ploy to attack me personally?

I've seen this game before.

It is so STUPID.

Who is narrow minded here?

Who is denigrating the way OTHER people freely choose to live their lives, here or anywhere?

Have you heard me saying going all out Thai is a bad thing to do for people who make that choice and/or need to that and/or have the capability to do that?

Yes, dude, get a clue.

I already started a thread about this. For me Pattaya is like a poor man's Miami. I'm here for the easy visas (at an earlier AGE) and lower cost of living. I was able to "retire" here much earlier here, so I did.

If I had found the same deal in Latin America, I would have gone for that.

I never had any intention to integrate into Thai society. I am not on a path towards Thai permanent residence. For my legal status here, that is IMPOSSIBLE if I wanted that.

The more I learned about the inside stuff of Thai culture, the LESS it interested me.

Yet for you, you act like you're Thai-ier than thou and can't accept the free will choices of other people. It's not your business.

Before you idiotically accused me of moving here to feel superior to Thai people? That was so idiotic. Not being interested in Thai culture has nothing to with feeling superior.

On the other hand, your agenda of INSULTS towards expats that don't behave as you demand they do to your personal standards, you clearly think that makes you superior.

That's OK with me. Feel whatever you want. No skin off my pretty arse.

This thread is just a RETREAD of the recent thread I started, that was CLOSED, about living in Pattaya without interest in Thai culture.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/921327-is-it-wrong-to-live-in-pattaya-and-not-be-interested-in-thai-culture/

Cheers, and enjoy your Thai-ier than though SUPERIOR dance.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Jingthing

[opalred]

wow

i wonder who has a problem