'Lao are lazy': The problem with 'Thai superiority'

[Ombra]

3 hours ago, selftaopath said:

When first introduced to "our" village I thought it was some sort of "retirement villa" for working aged individuals. I saw/ see many many able bodied men/women in the village 24x7; not doing much other than pushing a baby in a swing, stroking a rooster, taking a nap, or themselves swinging in a hammock. Seems like they don't want to venture far from their homes. Ahhhhhhhh maybe they all work "the night shift" somewhere.  :-) 

 

I moved to Rangsit six months ago and the Future Park shopping centre seemed to be packed all day every day. Given that it takes 20 - 30 minutes to get in and out, the people can't all be on their meal breaks as the missus assures me they are - or can they?

[teko]

3 hours ago, haroldc said:

The technology-based company I work for has subsidiaries in Thailand and Laos - we're tripling the size of our Lao office and reducing staff in our Thailand office.  Our Lao employees are more productive.

Exactly the same for us......more productive, better English skills, better work ethic, little or no absenteeism and on and on.
After being in Laos for some time now, they are are a very laid back mellow race of people, which unfortunately the vast majority of Thais interpret as stupid.................far from it and in fact it is the other way around. 

[pegman]

5 hours ago, digibum said:

I hope the Thais keep laughing at the Lao . . . and the Cambodians and the Vietnamese and the Burmese.  It will be a grand dose of poetic justice to one day see Thais be the ones with their hands out asking for help.  

 

 

You tell 'em Randy.

[Cats4ever]

Farang is not an insult. It is a word to describe white European type people. It derives from Farangset, the Thai word for France. Just as bastard can be an insult in Oz, it can also be affectionate.

The Thais do have an unfortunate tendency to treat Lao as country bumpkins. These unfortunate tendencies are replicated around the world by many people.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Cats4ever

[Winniej]

42 minutes ago, Cats4ever said:

Farang is not an insult. It is a word to describe white European type people. It derives from Farangset, the Thai word for France. Just as bastard can be an insult in Oz, it can also be affectionate.

The Thais do have an unfortunate tendency to treat Lao as country bumpkins. These unfortunate tendencies are replicated around the world by many people.

Of course it is an insult . You tell me a civilised country that refers  to someone about their race  rather than name . It's because most Thais are completely ignorant about how to act and know nothing about the rest of the world . It is their way  to make themselves feel superior . It's like US and Them . 

Maybe in Geelong bastard is affectionate . Go to work and call someone a bastard and see how long you last .

[GreasyFingers]

A bit off subject talking about us farangs but the women in my girls family always refer to me as farang, but the men will often use my name. On the other hand I do not know the name of the girl's sister after 2 years as it has never been used that I could hear. The same goes for the rest of the family, Yaai....this, Dtaa.... that, Ghan...., papa....  They do not use first names very often.

[DLang]

We Thailan'

 

We Numba Wan.

 

 

[elgordo38]

6 hours ago, HoboKay said:

How long before the censors get to the piece? Downplaying Siam history is frowned upon, no?

Up playing the future does not look promising either. We are kind of stuck in neutral. 

[HoboKay]

1 hour ago, elgordo38 said:

Up playing the future does not look promising either. We are kind of stuck in neutral. 

 

Feels like a permanent suspension of disbelief.

[tbthailand]

The Thai people pretend that their own Lao ethnic group is Thai. Otherwise, "Thai" people would not be a majority in their own country. 

 

It's called "head-in-the-sand syndrome".... 

[SOTIRIOS]

...sadly...the true colors of many Thais.....

 

...psycho but true.......

[SOTIRIOS]

...reminds me of a 200 meter stretch of sidewalk along Vibhavadi....

 

...which has had slabs being laid......for the past 2 years.....

 

...yet.......a real psycho mentality where everyone else is no good.....prevails......

 

...wow.....

[piersbeckett]

I suspect that what the Thais' pride stems from is their successful stand against communism and their courting of both eastern and western major powers resultant in these powers investing in Thailand.

 

A successful future though may depend on governmental/public sector trough snout withdrawal as well as heavy investment in education/training.

[jesimps]

7 hours ago, PremiumLane said:

The irony of Thai bashing TV posters berating Thais for being racists towards Lao people - always a laugh on here

Hey up! The Thai-bashing policemen have arrived. Quick, everybody out the back way.

Surprised they took so long actually, they're usually hovering like kitehawks.

 

 

Edited October 5, 2016 by jesimps

[Think2Mutt]

12 hours ago, jaltsc said:

Lao and Laoer?

[Think2Mutt]

10 hours ago, seahorse said:

Aah, yes, culture and refinement. The two words that spring to mind first when thinking of Thais.

No,that'll be the UK!

[Think2Mutt]

Often I find that a superiority complex is just a cover for an inferiority complex,I believe this to be the case with most Thais!

[Gainsbourg]

“The Vietnamese grow the rice, the Cambodians watch it grow and the Lao listen to it grow.”

 

According to the French colonialists... ?

 

Now if the french had colonised thailand they would have added: "... and the thai think they invented rice". 555

[Gainsbourg]

7 hours ago, mike324 said:

The average Burmese workers that I hire are more efficient and smarter than the average Thai worker in my company doing the same jobs. I think Burmese basic education is even better than that of Thais. It will take at least another 15-20 years for neighboring countries to catch up with Thailand, but that also depends on the government - right now its the government holding back the development of many neighboring countries.

I lived in burma many years. The burmese have common sense and creativity because their country was dysfunctional for decades. Many didnt get any education as the system failed etc BUT they listened to bbc and voa. They were living in a very isolated country BUT the people stayed in contact with outerworld. The thai are the opposite. Ultra noncreative, ultra rigid, ultra uninterested in non-thai matters. Uniformity is the norm here. All thai from loso to hiso share the same primordial IGNORANCE based on generalisations  (farang this, lao this, bpama this, khmen this, etc,)... try to make a thai enthusiastic about something non- thai. You will fail. You will get two answers: 1. No understand 2. Not sanook. 

[PremiumLane]

1 hour ago, jesimps said:

Hey up! The Thai-bashing policemen have arrived. Quick, everybody out the back way.

Surprised they took so long actually, they're usually hovering like kitehawks.

 

 

 

you really don't get irony do you  

[Gainsbourg]

10 hours ago, AGareth2 said:

the arrogance of the ignorant

My best experiences in thailand were in ranong where virtually all girls in shops or restaurants are burmese. I speak as good burmese as i speak thai, that is: enough to have a simple but dialogical conversation about daily life topics. We switch language occasionally when we didnt know correct words. So here we have a farang and a burmese speaking a mix of thai, english and burmese in thailand. And behind the cashier desk sits this thai "boss" whose non-thai vocabulary is: "hey you" and "bye bye'... superiority my azzzzz......

[LawrenceChee]

I firmly believed even with an extended Thai family that Indochina has untapped potential and Thailand is at a rut because they won't change

I have lived inmost Indochina countries and their spoken English is better , their work ethics in general better , their honesty index better ...the thing that Thailand has going for it is its infrastructure is relatively ahead for now

The keyword is now only ...if Vietnam and Laos and Cambodia get it all going , their internal resources are far more valuable than rice :)


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[Think2Mutt]

I always find in Thailand I much prefer the Isaan Thais to the normal Thais,they are more genuine and more humble but obviously that is just my opinion.

[chilli42]

13 hours ago, digibum said:

I hope the Thais keep laughing at the Lao . . . and the Cambodians and the Vietnamese and the Burmese.  It will be a grand dose of poetic justice to one day see Thais be the ones with their hands out asking for help.  

 

 

 

Count on it!

[Gainsbourg]

1 hour ago, Think2Mutt said:

I always find in Thailand I much prefer the Isaan Thais to the normal Thais,they are more genuine and more humble but obviously that is just my opinion.

... and more lazy too 555 ?

[Gainsbourg]

36 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

 

Count on it!

Ver true. Its called boomerang from hell principle. In their faces sooner or later!

[jackspratt498]

It will be interesting to see how this Thai superiority complex plays out as Myanmar re-enters the fold over the next decade or so.

 

Myanmar is a resource rich country that could also develop a booming tourism industry. They have basically the same beaches as any others on the Andaman and historic sites like Bagan to draw the tourists in.

 

Like the article said many people are already opting for Laos as a low key alternative to Thailand. If things stabilize slowly in Myanmar I think you'll see the same thing occur there.

 

Economically, aside from tourism, Thailand's economy is growing at a much slower rate than its supposed "inferior" neighbors and, while this has to do a lot with the neighbors economies being less developed and more in a "lift-off" mode than Thailand's, there is quite clearly a large game of regional catch up that is being played out in SE Asia.

 

The challenges to the Thai superiority complex will become more and more numerous as a result from all countries in SE Asia and from Myanmar in particular.

[Think2Mutt]

2 minutes ago, Gainsbourg said:

... and more lazy too 555 ?

Bor Penyang!

[BuckBee]

1 hour ago, Gainsbourg said:

My best experiences in thailand were in ranong where virtually all girls in shops or restaurants are burmese. I speak as good burmese as i speak thai, that is: enough to have a simple but dialogical conversation about daily life topics. We switch language occasionally when we didnt know correct words. So here we have a farang and a burmese speaking a mix of thai, english and burmese in thailand. And behind the cashier desk sits this thai "boss" whose non-thai vocabulary is: "hey you" and "bye bye'... superiority my azzzzz......

Burmese have good language skills, 2 good friends I have spek 4 languages fluently & read /Write well too, there thai reading & writing way better than mine, good honest people and got gumption and enthusiasm too ...

[Gainsbourg]

Burmese are motivated and ambitious. Thai are spoiled and prefer status quo. For decades burma laos and Cambodia comparison was the norm here hence the illusion all things thai were better, smarter, superior. In the land of the blind one-eyed... if burmese people had had only 1% of thai LUCK the thai would now be doing the dishes there now.