What is a real expat?

[The Deerhunter]

10 minutes ago, petermik said:

 

Yes I,m another.......but a gentlemen sexpat

I think there are only two  of us.  Definition of a gentleman.  Someone who takes at least half of his weight on his own elbows.

 

38 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.

Immigration says I'm an Alien.  An alien with  a long stay extension because it is almost impossible to Immigrate here.  Long stay means I still have another passport and can go almost anywhere decent in the world on Visa On Arrival.  Try that on a Thai passport, especially while wearing a dress.

[The Deerhunter]

2 minutes ago, Songlaw said:

 

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, cuts all ties and allegiance (which when plausible, as this act can be quite expensive, would include renouncement of citizenship), and, has chosen to go it alone, and forgoing all safety nets, in the interests of avoiding hypocrisy. In essence, an 'expat' becomes a global citizen. 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.

Transplant?  Yes, a good term.  I see there is a new "expat" book out with that in its name , "Thailand Transplant Tales."

[battersea bulldog]

I was once offended  when accused of being a sex tourist. I immediately replied to the accuser that I lived in Pattaya and was therefore a SEXPATRIATE !!!

[HooHaa]

20 minutes ago, Songlaw said:

 

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.

Simply put, you are wrong. 

 

It does not stem from expatriot. It stems from expatriate, which is significantly different. You would know that had you read any of the entries on the link i sent you.

 

Given you inability to discern this basic difference, everything else you write is misguded.

 

Go back, learn the basic terms then come back here and join the discussion.

Edited January 23, 2017 by HooHaa

[louse1953]

1 hour 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.

Actually non immigrant, as defied by visa.

[Deepinthailand]

8 hours ago, GuiseppeD said:

The barstool expats are technically expats, yes, but just don't listen to their supposed expertise on all things Thai.   

Is that the same as the so called tv experts?

[The Deerhunter]

33 minutes ago, HooHaa said:

Simply put, you are wrong. 

 

It does not stem from expatriot. It stems from expatriate, which is significantly different. You would know that had you read any of the entries on the link i sent you.

 

Given you inability to discern this basic difference, everything else you write is misguded.

 

Go back, learn the basic terms then come back here and join the discussion.

Agree:   And Wikipedia.  Search under "expat" and voila (That is French too)     https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriate

 

Edited January 23, 2017 by The Deerhunter

[Deepinthailand]

Does it really matter! Not in my book it doesn't Expat/Alien/Immigrant/foreigner/Falang.  Who cares if any one asks me now where are you from I reply Khon Kaen always gets a smile and a thumbs up.

 

[Songlaw]

3 hours ago, HooHaa said:

Simply put, you are wrong. 

 

It does not stem from expatriot. It stems from expatriate, which is significantly different. You would know that had you read any of the entries on the link i sent you.

 

Given you inability to discern this basic difference, everything else you write is misguded.

 

Go back, learn the basic terms then come back here and join the discussion.

 

Simply put, you are correct, at least by contemporary standards, and I apologize. I was relying a bit too heavily on a faulty storage device which harbors a recollection of the term in a slightly different context during studies of Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald, where I encountered the terms in either their writings, and/or in references made to them (the authors) by others. To add further insult to injury, I may have wrongly inferred their meaning, as well. Just the same, I could swear I've seen a reasonable facsimile of my definition (not the misspelling of expatriate) in Webster's.

 

In fact here's one from an online version of Webster's, though in its verb form, the noun should follow suit:

4. Reflexively, as To expatriate one's self: To withdraw from one's native country; to renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born, and become a citizen of another country.[Websters]

Regardless, I should have been more sensitive to the spirit, rather than the letter, of the thread. Beg pardon.

Edited January 23, 2017 by Songlaw
Addition of "or."

[lonewolf99]

The real answer is that it is a grey area ? Depending on your point of view.

I personally find the word Farang offensive. When I get called Farang I correct them and say "Back Seedah" (my spelling) It is the Isaan word for foreigner.

 

 

[Deepinthailand]

6 minutes ago, lonewolf99 said:

The real answer is that it is a grey area ? Depending on your point of view.

I personally find the word Farang offensive. When I get called Farang I correct them and say "Back Seedah" (my spelling) It is the Isaan word for foreigner.

 

 

But you are a falang which ever way you want it said. A foreigner is a foreigner no matter you want it said. 

[Khon Kaen Dave]

I have to agree.I much prefer the Isaan alternative.

I have been a 'Boch Seeda' khonkaen, (my spelling) for several years now.

[Xobtsiwt]

Ah, Cultural Snobbery - the finest export to the World by the English, started in the eighteenth century and still going strong.

[Deepinthailand]

7 minutes ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

I have to agree.I much prefer the Isaan alternative.

I have been a 'Boch Seeda' khonkaen, (my spelling) for several years now.

Personaly I prefer when I'm called by my given name which in the village I am.

[Khon Kaen Dave]

When i said about being called Boch seedar,i was referring to off the cuff statements that i hear when in the markets and bus station etc.Where i live,which is also in a village,i am referred to as 'Dawid' or or by ladies as 'boch sidarl lore'

[NoshowJones]

9 hours 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".

Yes, that's right Ex Pat means you were patriotic to your home country, that's one thing I was not, so I am not an Ex Pat. I had no respect for anything in the UK, Royalty, governments etc. Respect has got to be earned, and they did nothing to earn mine.

[madusa]

On 2017/1/22 at 11:09 AM, chickenslegs said:

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/expatriate

I thought the word means people who break wind more often than other people. I may be wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[billd766]

5 hours ago, Deepinthailand said:

Personaly I prefer when I'm called by my given name which in the village I am.

 

Out here in rural Khampaeng Phet I am generally known as Lung Bill, Pee Bill, Daddy/Dadda and one or two other odd names.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Depends on your colour, if you're pale and live abroad you're an expat, if not then you're a migrant.

[HooHaa]

8 hours ago, Songlaw said:

 

Simply put, you are correct, at least by contemporary standards, and I apologize. I was relying a bit too heavily on a faulty storage device which harbors a recollection of the term in a slightly different context during studies of Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald, where I encountered the terms in either their writings, and/or in references made to them (the authors) by others. To add further insult to injury, I may have wrongly inferred their meaning, as well. Just the same, I could swear I've seen a reasonable facsimile of my definition (not the misspelling of expatriate) in Webster's.

 

In fact here's one from an online version of Webster's, though in its verb form, the noun should follow suit:

4. Reflexively, as To expatriate one's self: To withdraw from one's native country; to renounce the rights and liabilities of citizenship where one is born, and become a citizen of another country.[Websters]

Regardless, I should have been more sensitive to the spirit, rather than the letter, of the thread. Beg pardon.

 

Im shamed by your thoughtful response.

 

It is rather a strict or perhaps archaic definition. 

 

I dont think expatriation implies such a dramatic severance or permananence these days. I dont think fitzgerald had recourse to budget airlines or the internet. 

 

But if he had he probably wouldnt have written a damn thing.

Edited January 23, 2017 by HooHaa

[Songlaw]

10 hours ago, HooHaa said:

 

Im shamed by your thoughtful response.

 

It is rather a strict or perhaps archaic definition. 

 

I dont think expatriation implies such a dramatic severance or permananence these days. I dont think fitzgerald had recourse to budget airlines or the internet. 

 

But if he had he probably wouldnt have written a damn thing.

Your last line is hysterical. And spot-on. He would undoubtedly have been sidetracked by the constant distractions: FB, Line, Emails, etc. and never gotten a thing done. I know it has played hell with our productivity. No reason he would have been immune. Take care.

[houlicha]

 

I personally find the word Farang offensive

 

Back in the '70s in Udorn, the locals all had a Lao accent, so it was always "falang". It might be occasionally heard that"I may be a stranger here now, but not fa long.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, houlicha said:

 

I personally find the word Farang offensive

 

Back in the '70s in Udorn, the locals all had a Lao accent, so it was always "falang". It might be occasionally heard that"I may be a stranger here now, but not fa long.

 

I  have lived out in rural Khampaeng Phet for years now and in and around Thailand for a few years before that and being called a farang or any other spelling of the word doesn't bother me at all.

 

It is better than being called "Hey, white old man" or "hey you".

[Kinnock]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2017 at 9:18 AM, sfokevin said:

If you can get that rubber band off the takeaway food without resorting to using a knife you are a true expatriate...  

To make this definition more objective and measureable, we could add that to be a real ex-pat, you need at least four 7-11 plastic cups full of red elastic bands in a drawer in your condo/house.  You may also need a carrier bag full of carrier bags and a box containing over 3 million drinking straws.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, Kinnock said:

To make this definition more objective and measureable, we could add that to be a real ex-pat, you need at least four 7-11 plastic cups full of red elastic bands in a drawer in your condo/house.  You may also need a carrier bag full of carrier bags and a box containing over 3 million drinking straws.

 

That's me.

 

Elastic bands in my desk drawer, on a table in my workshop plus a great bagful in the kitchen. I have very few 7/11 bags as I have managed to convince them that I don't really want anymore, but drinking straws in the house, kitchen and on the floor of the pickup truck as well.

[Kinnock]

58 minutes ago, billd766 said:

 

That's me.

 

Elastic bands in my desk drawer, on a table in my workshop plus a great bagful in the kitchen. I have very few 7/11 bags as I have managed to convince them that I don't really want anymore, but drinking straws in the house, kitchen and on the floor of the pickup truck as well.

You pass the 'True ex-pat' test on so many levels.

 

Red elastic bands - Check

Drinking straws - Check

Pick up truck - Check

Relaxed about being called a falang - Check

 

Now to see if you can achieve 'Master Expat' status .....

 

Do you have shop loyalty cards for more than three retail outlets?

Are there random pieces of agricultural equipment inside your home for no apparent reason?

Does your scooter have a bag clip?

Do you use brightly colored Mountain Dew bottles or old CD's as safety reflectors?

Can you sing the chorus to Yinglee's 'My Heart for your number' ..... in Thai?

 

[NanLaew]

8 hours ago, houlicha said:

 

I personally find the word Farang offensive

 

Back in the '70s in Udorn, the locals all had a Lao accent, so it was always "falang". It might be occasionally heard that"I may be a stranger here now, but not fa long.

You should start your own, dedicated thread on this matter as it hasn't ever been done on this forum before.

[chiang mai]

6 hours ago, billd766 said:

 

I  have lived out in rural Khampaeng Phet for years now and in and around Thailand for a few years before that and being called a farang or any other spelling of the word doesn't bother me at all.

 

It is better than being called "Hey, white old man" or "hey you".

Funny but very true. +1

 

[AbeSurd]

What is a real expat?

A real expat is someone who's told the authorities back in his or her homeland that they're now living abroad?

[NanLaew]

Back on topic.

 

Not so much about living, working or otherwise lurking in another country but specifically not living, working or lurking in the country of your birth (or country of claimed nationality for those that found the social stigma of not being born British a bit too much).