tazly Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Loads of foreigners sitting around the bars of Pattaya call themselves expats, but are they really not just tourists, visitors, pensioners, holidaymakers, etc.? Many think that real expats have a job, company car, other perqs. which was the traditional definition. Good article here to get this discussion started, http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20170119-who-should-be-called-an-expat What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorro1 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 That's a nice first post. I remember mine was about asking for info on bar fines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenslegs Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expatriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 There are different kinds of expats. Bangkok has more working expats. Pattaya has more retired expats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexRich Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 If you are living long-term in another country, you are an expat. They come in all shapes, sizes, colours, creeds, genders ... with the common denominator being that they are 'real' people. If you are living long-term in your home country, you are not an expat. You're still 'real' though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuiseppeD Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 The barstool expats are technically expats, yes, but just don't listen to their supposed expertise on all things Thai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody1 Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 Brilliant topic!!! If this doesn't get a few cracking responses I don't know what will!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiang mai Posted January 22, 2017 Share Posted January 22, 2017 I once met a chap in Don Muang airport whilst waiting for a flight back to the UK, he told me he was an expat who lived in Thailand and had done so for twenty years or more. As the conversation progressed he turned out to be a baggage handler who worked for BA at Heathrow and he used his free travel concession to visit Pattaya several times a year. Whilst he had been visiting Thailand for many years, he couldn't speak any Thai and had not been anywhere else in Thailand apart from Don Muang and Pattaya. The above is what an expat isn't. And I don't think somebody who rents out their UK property for a year and comes to Thailand for an extended holiday is an expat either, I think that person is a vacationer. I think to truly be an expat in both the definition and in the spirit of the word, an expat needs to be somebody who has moved here with the initial thought of permanency, or, somebody who has accepted a work assignment here for a year or more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suradit69 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 5 hours ago, chickenslegs said: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expatriate Sad to see that the Cambridge Dictionary has succumbed to casual pronoun usage. I guess it's a sign of the slippery slope of populist times. I suppose it won't be long before we see "Someone are an expat." "Someone who does not live in his or her own country." "Someone" is a singular indefinite pronoun. Quote The pronouns ending with -body or -one such as anybody, somebody, no one, or anyone are singular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dotpoom Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Never understood the term Ex Pat myself. I assume it is short for Ex Patriot? Why would I consider myself a "past patriot"? I'm not an Ex anything...I am simply "myself". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) Expatriate from Merriam-Webster Dictionary: To withdraw (oneself) from residence in or allegiance to one's native country. One can also refer to oneself as an emigrant: To withdraw (oneself) from one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere. However, Thailand will never except me as an immigrant so I prefer to use the term expat. I left the US 9 years ago and I have no plans to return. I am an emigrant who has expatriated himself from his country of birth. Therefore I am an expatriate (expat). Edited January 23, 2017 by connda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaintLouisBlues Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, dotpoom said: Never understood the term Ex Pat myself. I assume it is short for Ex Patriot? Why would I consider myself a "past patriot"? You should get out more often - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooHaa Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 5 minutes ago, dotpoom said: Never understood the term Ex Pat myself. I assume it is short for Ex Patriot? Why would I consider myself a "past patriot"? I'm not an Ex anything...I am simply "myself". No it has nothing to do with patriot as the spelling should indicate. Is latin derived and it means to leave ones native (or father) country. https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=expatriate+etymology&oq=ex+patriate+etymology&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0.9584j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) I'll supply a new definition:Farang (expat) tourist: A person of European decent who spends significant amounts of their time sitting in Thai bars and who doesn't understand the definition of expatriate (expat) although uses the term to describe themselves to bar girls and other tourists. Has developed a working knowledge of Thai vernacular (short-time hotel, happy-ending, special massage) and basic phrases (say-what-dee, cap coon crap, you likey drinky with me?) while maintaining their homeland accent, and have yet to understand the basics of Thai culture (high wais bar girls, bartenders, shopkeeper, taxi drivers, and children). Plans to 'go home' for an 8 month 'visit' next week and will come back for another 'expat' visit during the high season. <Lol - grin - just poking fun> Edited January 23, 2017 by connda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfokevin Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 If you can get that rubber band off the takeaway food without resorting to using a knife you are a true expatriate... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smotherb Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 6 hours ago, chickenslegs said: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expatriate Yes, I do not think being an expat has to be related to working in another country; simply living in another country is being an expatriate. In that respect, maids and migrant workers are in deed expats; because they too live outside their home countries. I worked in white collar jobs and lived on bonus expenses in Asia most of my adult life; and was called an expat. Now, I am retired and pay my own way, but I still live outside my home country. Does the fact I no longer work make me something other than an expat? I always worked for American firms or had my own company and we used to refer to any workers who were not part of either the foreign contractor country or the local client country a TCN--Third-Country National. When I worked in Saudi and in Iran, my companies had some British contractors. They didn't like it when we referred to them as TCNs, but TCNs they were. Why is it a point of contention when a word or term is plainly defined? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songlaw Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 One who has cut all ties and has no intention of turning back, ever. Surprisingly few people seem to get this. If necessary, reference Hemingway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khon Kaen Dave Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I'm only an ex Pat because i changed my name from Pat to Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houlicha Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 If you're in a foreign country and plan to go home, you're a tourist. If you're there with a job, you're an ex-pat. If you plan to live there and not go home, you're an immigrant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve73 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 3 minutes ago, houlicha said: If you're in a foreign country and plan to go home, you're a tourist. If you're there with a job, you're an ex-pat. If you plan to live there and not go home, you're an immigrant. I'm a non-immigrant.... my visa says so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Deerhunter Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 11 hours ago, zorro1 said: That's a nice first post. I remember mine was about asking for info on bar fines Souds like one of us sexpats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve73 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Generally, if you're from a wealthy/western country you tend to get referred to (or refer to yourself) as an expat. If you're from a poorer country you're defined as an immigrant. I realize this is not technically precise, but the above terms are somewhat class evident. So a professional banker on assignment or a retired labourer from a western country would both be expat. Whereas someone from Africa or Cambodia, irrespective of profession would be an immigrant (although perhaps not if he was a diplomat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khon Kaen Dave Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 If i stopped liking tractors,would i be an extractor fan???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgenon Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 If a person lives 3 months in their country then 3 months in Thailand etc, are they ex-pats or just confused? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petermik Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 7 hours ago, The Deerhunter said: Souds like one of us sexpats. Yes I,m another.......but a gentlemen sexpat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunpa Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) I consider myself to be an expat/refugee. Working and living here to escape both the bad weather, high taxes and boring life in my home country :-) Edited January 23, 2017 by khunpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wake Up Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 I am a temporary visitor living on the planet earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandgroper2 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 6 hours ago, Woody1 said: Brilliant topic!!! If this doesn't get a few cracking responses I don't know what will!!! I have my iphone prmantly tuned to TV so i dont miss a single post. 24/7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronaldo0 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Don`t care what it is but i know its a word i just hate for some reason !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Songlaw Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, HooHaa said: No it has nothing to do with patriot as the spelling should indicate. Is latin derived and it means to leave ones native (or father) country. https://www.google.com.ph/search?q=expatriate+etymology&oq=ex+patriate+etymology&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0.9584j0j4&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 It actually has everything to do with 'patriot.' The US, for example, has legions of 'patriots.' This implies someone with an allegiance to a system or government, no matter how absurd. An expatriot, from which 'expat' stems, is someone who, as an act of both protest, and putting their money where there mouth is, has all ties and allegiances (which when plausible, as this act can be quite expensive, would include renouncement of citizenship), choosing to go it alone. This includes forgoing all safety nets, in the interests of avoiding hypocrisy. In essence, an 'expat' becomes a global citizen whose life becomes a sort of statement. Soft-soap and self aggrandize to your hearts content, but, if you have not met the criteria, you ought not be marginalizing the term. I would suggest that "transplant" would be far more fitting, in most cases. Edited January 23, 2017 by Songlaw Elimination of the world's longest sentence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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