Thai attitude to foreigners: An all time low?

[Thunderbirds20]

The Government policies are changing as is the attitude by the public IN GENERAL, .. not all but many! I have lived here 11 years and used to feel safe any time, anywhere, but not any more. I am packing up and returning to Canada, because I am tired of the double standard in all things. I have been robbed at gun and knife point, had a necklace snatched from my neck, had things stolen from my room by supposed friends, been over charged and short changed.

 

Russians and Chinese are the preferred people and Westerners are no longer welcome, so I am out of here next month

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

15 minutes ago, Si Thea01 said:

 

 

Khob Khun krup.  Proves my point about people learning a little about Thailand.  Even if he was a little lazy, it stood out a mile what he was saying.  Mi wan thi di. 

 

There's nothing sure about the translation of KKK. I didn't get it until someone said it means: Cop Khun Krap.  See, this is how I learned the English transliteration. Thailand has no official transliteration of its language. Anyway, to carry on with the topic.

 

Others above have said this and I agree. In Thai-Thai service situations, the customer grabs and runs without a single polite salutation. There may be Thai words I don't understand that imply respect, but by and large, I hear politeness more from farangs than from Thais. My last (and final) GF often measured her acquaintances/friends/soup customers by how they spoke and their manner towards her and others. So lack of politeness does not go unnoticed.

[NoshowJones]

28 minutes ago, Si Thea01 said:

 

 

Khob Khun Ka/krup.  Proves my point about people learning a little about Thailand.  Even if he was a little lazy, it stood out a mile what he was saying.  Mi wan thi di. 

I can speak a little Thai though not in conversation, but this is an English speaking forum and there is no need for this KKK nonsense.

[Winniedapu]

17 hours ago, HidyHo said:

 

+1 ... generally speaking, this has been my experience as well (although I'm BKK based when in Thailand).

 

To be honest, I doubt it. Someone else noted that there are more than 20 varieties of fake smile seen in Thailand; many or all of which are a stock-in-trade of the insincere. Some of them are quite hard to spot, and none of them are likely to be evidenced by simple politeness (which is regarded by many, including me, as a sine-qua-non of human interaction) or by speaking (probably bad) Thai to a Thai - what you will see then is either pity, inner feelings of superiority and/or contempt. You cannot set aside human behaviour or cultural upbringing.

 

The genuine smile is a manifestation of pleasure, with or without a measure of surprise. Thais rarely give this to foreigners (whom they distrust and/or dislike generally). If you know about body language and facial expressions/microexpressions, it will be less easy to be fooled, though you will likely learn how to become a cynic if you study human behaviour for too long...

 

Winnie

[Rimmer]

Some off topic posts have been removed.  Please stop this abbreviation  discussion, it only serves to hijack the topic:

 

While we make allowances for members who do not speak English as their first language, we expect everyone to make an effort to post in a manner which allows others to understand their posts. Posts full of intentional misspellings, all caps, no caps, l33tspeak, or similar slang may be deleted in order to preserve a standard of readability. This is a forum, not an SMS or Twitter message.

[Winniedapu]

2 hours ago, Si Thea01 said:

Given some of the responses on here is there any wonder why Thais, in some areas, would look down on the Farang.  Most bring it on themselves.  You can see from many others that they do not experience similar situations. I wonder why, look at their responses, fully explained.  Maybe if these whingers took it upon themselves to learn a little about the country, it's culture and then at least learn to speak and understand a little Thai.

 

You will be amazed how things change and never forget you always receive back what you put into it.  It's called effort. Think about it.   And do not forget that Thais are basically shy or on occasions a little scared of the farang.  Speak to them in their language and watch the change.

 

 

"Given some of the responses on here is there any wonder why Thais, in some areas, would look down on the Farang.  Most bring it on themselves."

 

And when someone can no longer credibly refute that Thais are just as capable of being discourteous to people they instinctively fear or do not like, then along comes the crass stupidity that says it's not their fault, it's your own fault for [being foreign/not speaking Thai/not looking Thai/making me frightened/seeing through my deceit/being different/whatever].

 

Admiration and an instinctive liking or preference for a race is just as racist as not admiring or liking or preferring them. It's just as xenophobic, and as a generalisation, Thais are taught to be very xenophobic. Too much evidence for it to be otherwise.

 

Winnie

[morrobay]

I dont know what the heck happened to these Thais in Pattaya, they just dont get it.

They are here to serve the foreigner population with a grateful   smile in any and all encounters. (joke , kind of ).

Actually I havent seen an increase - they have always disliked foreigners.

And so what ? All Thais owe me is what I pay for. Could care less 

[silent]

12 hours ago, Scotwight said:

Thais and Japanese and Koreans are all about the same when it comes to xenophobia.  If anything the Thais are more accepting of Farang men as sex partners.  I would be a good choice to run the Thai tourist department as I could double the gross revenue in 12 months but then again so could most 12 year old Burmese children. 

let's not label any one society more xenophobic then the other and  forget how much better the global marketing strategies in places like North America are. Canada is ranked high in the world of friendlies, yet personally I find far more contempt for stangers and foreigners invading their territory from the descendants of those who colonized/ conquered/ cheated the indiginous people they just simply raped.

Isn't it a good thing really that most Asians don't know the truth about the farange race.

[JHolmesJr]

3 hours ago, thai3 said:

 

If you are talking about being a serial customer of a prostitute what do you think their attitude is as soon as your back it turned?

 

They leave full of gratitude….for the money…..and the GREAT sex.

[thai3]

5 minutes ago, JHolmesJr said:

 

They leave full of gratitude….for the money…..and the GREAT sex.

 

But they still despise you

[Scotwight]

3 hours ago, Bender said:

Im in cambodia now and  they  have no problem thanking you even when you dont buy

 

Absolutely, i got the same experience. I was there in august, and i went to the Timberland and Nike shop( original stuff). And in spite i didnt buy nothing, the staff thanked me when i left. I was happily surprised. You would never see this in thailand!

 

As thai people being rude, you just have to read tripadvisor, more and more tourists complain how rude the thai staffs are in the hotels, restautant, shopping mall. 

 

thailand is certainly the only country in the world where they abuse and humiliate foreign people who fed them....

 

Have you been to France?

[mikiea]

22 hours ago, mesterm said:

Yes, a lot of them really can't be bothered with dealing with foreigners these days. Maybe we're disturbing them by giving work to do during their smartphone use.

kinda acting a little uppity for a visitor , are you  not ?

[Scotwight]

29 minutes ago, thai3 said:

 

But they still despise you

I have lived with a number of prostitutes and my friends have married go go dancers and ladies and men from ##bars.  

I've been around these parts since the 60's.  I think I have a good grasp on how the women feel about customers.  I'd say the average worker at MacDonald's dislikes you far more than a Thai bar girl.  

 

However if you have credentials that you think would give you a better take on the hooker attitudes in Thailand than I feel free to mention it.   

[Global Guy]

In the past 16 years of my experience, I would say that customer service has definitely been going down. This is not based on a handful of incidents, but years of overall trends that I noticed. Because of it, I spend far less money on food, clothes, electronics, business supplies, medicine, sporting gear, etc. in the local economy.

 

I order as much as I can from out of Thailand. I find the prices often comparable, and I refuse to spend my money locally where I smile at people and they treat me like I'm bothering them by wanting to spend money at their business. Or to ask them to look up from their phone? Forget that! Don't even try.

 

My gf sees how Thais act differently towards me than her and often gets embarrassed or angry. I have to send her out without me quite often if we buy something locally otherwise they jack up the price if they see me with her.

 

To cope with this increased negative attitude towards foreigners, I've carved out a far smaller circle that I operate in. Before, I used to roam around where I lived on a weekly basis, spending money through out the day at little food stalls, buy a newspaper or magazine and later some fruit....all from local stalls as well. Not any more. I used to get everything I needed locally, not anymore. Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the US get all my money now. Lazada, ebay, Amazon, Alibaba, and Aliexpress is where I shop.

 

Thais shot themselves in the foot by thinking we will continue to allow them to rip us off and treat us poorly and we will keep coming back. Wrong. Now they are hurting. Good. Consequences for undesirable behavior.

 

Yes, I know they don't care. Neither do I. They are hurting for money, I am not.

 

And no, just because I'm observant of my environment and commented on it doesn't mean I have to leave Thailand. My circle of existence is smaller but it still works for me. I have looked at alternatives in SE Asia and it's still on my radar both for personal and business reasons.

[JHolmesJr]

1 hour ago, thai3 said:

 

But they still despise you

 

It takes an especially needy person to worry about what someone who you are never going to interact with again thinks of you.

 

Just remember one thing….money is all that holds any weight with these folks…..

 

If they sense they can get some from you they will be nice, if not they ignore you.

 

It is a charade I am very comfortable with.

[JHolmesJr]

10 minutes ago, Global Guy said:

I used to get everything I needed locally, not anymore. Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and the US get all my money now. Lazada, ebay, Amazon, Alibaba, and Aliexpress is where I shop.

 

Exactly…online shopping has re-calibrated everyones expectations from shopping…I no longer need a smiling, fawning sales assistant with poor product knowledge. All I need is a good product at a reasonable price, with a sound aftersales or returns policy.

 

Fake thai smiles are a bit old passé.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

I'm with Global Guy. There are actually some fairly impressive retail corporations in Thailand such as Big C, CP (including 7-11), Home Pro, Aeon (Japanese sub), Foodland, etc. All the product lineup work, all the logistics, all the store organization cannot do the whole job because it all falls apart on the retail floor with very poor service and product knowledge. Foreigner and Thai alike suffer.

 

I bring nearly everything important I need from home in Canada or order online now. Otherwise, I shop as little as possible and mostly buy imported goods and foods. 

 

More to the point, I do get along fine with store staff but I tend to live in far less touristy areas. My locals do seem to be very nice. But in dealing with the Big Box store staff,  no amount of  politeness, civility or joking around seems to penetrate the store clerk disinterest, who would rather press phone buttons and screen icons, or chat with their fellow workies than do their jobs.

 

I've experienced this so many times: I'm finishing a purchase. Some staffer behind starts chatting/joking with the clerk I'm dealing with. Suddenly I'm Mr Nobody and the whole process gets delayed or confused. Another example is when a clerk blocks you in the aisle or cuts you off, or expects you to get her out of her path while you're searching a shelf. No such thing as customer first. If you want to ask a question, watch them scatter away. 

 

I've also witnessed this thousands of times. A local comes to the counter, spouts something, hands over the cash and turns around without a glance or a word. 

 

So I don't see much politeness on either side of the counter.  Rather than any anti-foreigner sentiment, I think store staff simply don't have clue. However, in overall feel, I'm willing to support the OP's and others feelings that attitudes are getting worse.

 

What really brings this into contrast, is my experience back home twice a year. Courtesy, helpfulness, and just plain ordinary conversation are abundantly common, I'm happy to say.

 

I wrote more but deleted it. TiT, after all.

[mesterm]

5 hours ago, mikiea said:

kinda acting a little uppity for a visitor , are you  not ?

 

Yes, I apologize for wanting basic courtesy or even a look in the face for goods and services that I'm paying for. Sorry for inconveniencing you khab, I just wanted to give your business my money during your working hours 

[simon43]

Quote

 

And your brother voted for UKIP.
 

 

 

I don't think so - he is True Blue Tory.  But he does have a wicked SoH..

[Scotwight]

2 hours ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

I'm with Global Guy. There are actually some fairly impressive retail corporations in Thailand such as Big C, CP (including 7-11), Home Pro, Aeon (Japanese sub), Foodland, etc. All the product lineup work, all the logistics, all the store organization cannot do the whole job because it all falls apart on the retail floor with very poor service and product knowledge. Foreigner and Thai alike suffer.

 

I bring nearly everything important I need from home in Canada or order online now. Otherwise, I shop as little as possible and mostly buy imported goods and foods. 

 

More to the point, I do get along fine with store staff but I tend to live in far less touristy areas. My locals do seem to be very nice. But in dealing with the Big Box store staff,  no amount of  politeness, civility or joking around seems to penetrate the store clerk disinterest, who would rather press phone buttons and screen icons, or chat with their fellow workies than do their jobs.

 

I've experienced this so many times: I'm finishing a purchase. Some staffer behind starts chatting/joking with the clerk I'm dealing with. Suddenly I'm Mr Nobody and the whole process gets delayed or confused. Another example is when a clerk blocks you in the aisle or cuts you off, or expects you to get her out of her path while you're searching a shelf. No such thing as customer first. If you want to ask a question, watch them scatter away. 

 

I've also witnessed this thousands of times. A local comes to the counter, spouts something, hands over the cash and turns around without a glance or a word. 

 

So I don't see much politeness on either side of the counter.  Rather than any anti-foreigner sentiment, I think store staff simply don't have clue. However, in overall feel, I'm willing to support the OP's and others feelings that attitudes are getting worse.

 

What really brings this into contrast, is my experience back home twice a year. Courtesy, helpfulness, and just plain ordinary conversation are abundantly common, I'm happy to say.

 

deleted it. TiT, after all.

 

You wrote, "I bring nearly everything important I need from home in Canada or order online now. Otherwise, I shop as little as possible and mostly buy imported goods and foods. "

 

Then you proceeded to thoroughly bash Thai shopping. 

 

If you bring everything from home or order on line..........how the heck would you know? 

 

I haven't been back to Canada in 20 years but the lack of hospitality and rudeness of Quebec shopkeepers still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.   And getting rolled by a Montreal go go dancer in the middle of winter struck me as the height of bad form for tourism.  Whoever broke into my rental car at the airport and stole all my ski equipment I'll still fracture your skull if I find you. 

 

Given a choice of Quebec or Thailand - Thailand wins hands down. 

 

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

3 minutes ago, Scotwight said:

 

You wrote, "I bring nearly everything important I need from home in Canada or order online now. Otherwise, I shop as little as possible and mostly buy imported goods and foods. "

 

Then you proceeded to thoroughly bash Thai shopping. 

 

If you bring everything from home or order on line..........how the heck would you know? 

 

I haven't been back to Canada in 20 years but the lack of hospitality and rudeness of Quebec shopkeepers still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.   And getting rolled by a Montreal go go dancer in the middle of winter struck me as the height of bad form for tourism.  Whoever broke into my rental car at the airport and stole all my ski equipment I'll still fracture your skull if I find you. 

 

Given a choice of Quebec or Thailand - Thailand wins hands down. 

 

 

You jumped over the "now", which may be too subtle. In a 12-year period, I went from buying everything here and eating on the street to bringing most things with me and never eating street food. Miserable service and product quality in Thailand has turned me into an importer and I make most of my meals at home. 

 

Maybe you ought to go back. Can't speak for Quebec, but service, helpfulness and courtesy has improved immensely in Toronto. 

[balo]

I don't see much of a difference now and 5 years ago . But the 7 eleven staff in Pattaya are getting lazier that's for sure. I spent some time in  Chiang Mai recently and it seems to be a bit more friendly , mostly smiles all around.  

 

 

 

[sirineou]

Quote

Thai attitude to foreigners: An all time low?

perhaps the read this forum and how some of us talk about them,

[Gary A]

I think many TV members are paranoid. I have found, no matter where I am at that I am treated as I have always been. A sour arrogant farang will no doubt be treated the same as his attitude. A polite greeting and a smile  will be returned. Being a farang, I treat sour arrogant farang A-holes the same way as they treat me. I don't have to wait on them, I just ignore them.

[yogi100]

On 02/09/2016 at 6:46 AM, beachproperty said:

So you went to a few shops where they didn't say thank-you....And  one laundry shop where the women was busy and didn't kiss your ass.

For a tourist in touristy areas to make generalization about all the Thai's....Well that's just stupid

 

Have lived here for over 10 Years and NO I haven't seen Thai attitudes gradually eroding......But maybe that's because I don't live in a touristy area.

 

He did not say 'all the Thais'.

 

Many long term visitors and expats in Pattaya say the attitude has been going downhill for years now. And we hear similar remarks about Samui and Phuket.

[Rimmer]

Some off topic posts and replies have been removed

[MissAndry]

2 hours ago, Scotwight said:

 

I haven't been back to Canada in 20 years but the lack of hospitality and rudeness of Quebec shopkeepers still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.  

 

 

But you can't really judge by 20 years past, politeness in the west appears to be increasing as far as I can tell. London shops very polite and helpful, people on public transport very polite and helpful and it wasn't like that 20 years back.

 

In the last 3 months I've been staying in Central London, Cornwall, Chiang Mai, Suvannahkhet Laos, Olongapo Philippines. Least polite by a long way Chiang Mai, closely followed by Laos .... most polite London and Olongapo, almost a dead heat, they actually say "have a good day Madam" as you leave the shop, and "how was your meal" in the restaurants.

 

Now I did have preconceptions before coming to SE Asia, and those were Thailand polite and courteous, Philippines dodgy and dangerous. I couldn't have been more wrong!

 

Now some posters have been suggesting it's all about my attitude. Well, I'm the same grumpy and solitary person no matter which of those countries I was in.

[berybert]

I don't understand why anyone thinks staff in a 7-11 are being polite because they say hello as you walk in.

I have stood in many 7-11's and watched the soi dogs move which in turn opens the door, which is then greeted by a chorus of Sawadeekas

Not a person needs to entre.

[Si Thea01]

1 hour ago, berybert said:

I don't understand why anyone thinks staff in a 7-11 are being polite because they say hello as you walk in.

I have stood in many 7-11's and watched the soi dogs move which in turn opens the door, which is then greeted by a chorus of Sawadeekas

Not a person needs to entre.

 

I have no doubt that you are being serious but one does get a laugh when imaging this scenario.  Maybe they've been trained to react to the ding dong, just like a dog to a clicker. 

[berybert]

58 minutes ago, Si Thea01 said:

 

I have no doubt that you are being serious but one does get a laugh when imaging this scenario.  Maybe they've been trained to react to the ding dong, just like a dog to a clicker. 

Indeed it does bring on a smile. Not least because the people behind the counter don't even bother to look up and realize they have said hello to a soi dogs restlessness.