No Indians, Nepal Or Pakistan People Allowed

[Sunbelt Asia]

A client hired us to do due diligence on a purchase he was doing with taking over a contract to purchase a condo on Sansiri Sukhumvit soi 24. Everything was going smooth such as negotiating the price( able to get the price down from 6.5 million to 6.25 million for a 60 sq.m. one bedroom) , % of foreigners to Thais, etc. He put down a deposit and signed the offer to purchase. However the real estate broker representing the seller of the Sansiri development http://www.sansiri.com/en called to state the client would not be able to move into the building as he is from Nepal. Now this person is a Dr. and has a UK passport.

The reason given was for” sanitary reasons because of food and their body odor,” the corporate policy is not to allow Indians, or people from Nepal or Pakistan to live in Sansiri buildings. They went on to say they were having problems with people renting to people like this and are trying to stop this as well as "the smell is everywhere when they are in the hallways." They now are "banning any Indian look", no matter what your passport states.

We checked with the Thai government to see if this was allowed. We were told if this is the buildings policy, nothing can be done about it.

Anyone else from these countries experience this?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[ovenman]

With apologies in advance to Roger Dodger: Decent folks will ALWAYS be welcome in the Land of Smile!

[think_too_mut]

With apologies in advance to Roger Dodger: Decent folks will ALWAYS be welcome in the Land of Smile!

They against indecent body odour, that happened to be linked to original nationality. Not many, but a few times I sat on the planes next or near Indian-looking people, some that I spoke to were Dr or about that but could do nothing about their body odour.

Also, some girlie bars had or still have "No Arabs allowed to sit and drink here" and I don't remember anyone going to the government to protest and try to right the wrong.

[skippybangkok]

With apologies in advance to Roger Dodger: Decent folks will ALWAYS be welcome in the Land of Smile!

They against indecent body odour, that happened to be linked to original nationality. Not many, but a few times I sat on the planes next or near Indian-looking people, some that I spoke to were Dr or about that but could do nothing about their body odour.

Also, some girlie bars had or still have "No Arabs allowed to sit and drink here" and I don't remember anyone going to the government to protest and try to right the wrong.

Well, I think its mixing up a Dr. with others. I used to take the flight from BKK to KL monthly ( TG friday evening flight ) , and there were hordes of Nepalese ( I think ) workers always boarding ( maybe 30 - 40 at a time ) which flew as well. I can tell you I had the pleasure of sitting next to a few and it did smell like sausage factory. . One was so bad, it really was very serious and the unlucky passenger who got the pleasure of sitting next to him made a big complaint ( it really was extremely bad ). ( Just a "statement of fact " for those who are about the get on the politically correct bandwagon )

I doubt that a good Dr. who ( ) who can aford an expensive place would be an issue, but thats up to Sansri which is over priced anyway ( I had a look at their houses at Srinakrin, and for the same price can get better quality place at Magnolia's. ).

I guess the nepalese worker complained to his buddy that I smelt of milk / cheese

Different strokes for different folks.

[Crushdepth]

Very sad that this kind of thing goes on and so openly. I can't believe they would *tell* you something like that. I have to wonder if there is any anti-discrimination law here at all?

Anyway, a couple of months ago someone in my office circulated a policy paper proposing that we hire 'indigenous Asians only', which also had the cheek to go on and identify individual members of our staff as being 'non Asian'.

It didn't get very far, but I was shocked that it had been raised at all, and that the originator not only got to keep his job but escaped totally unscathed (apart from now walking a bit funny due to having the his paper inserted into the most appropriate orifice with somewhat excessive use of force).

[Barney_the_Dinosaur]

I once shared a room with an Indian called Sanjay. He smelt of curry.

I also ended up in bed once with an Indian girl called Maschenka. When she took off her DMs, my, her feet were very pongy.

So, yes.

[Florin]

Honestly, I find it surprising that a place like Sansiri would do that...an Ethiopian friend of mine had a similar problem (open statement that they don't rent out to black people), but that was in a 4000B/month family-run condo. I think that against Sansiri a lawsuit could be raised, I don't think it's a kind of policy such a high-profile place would want out in the open.

Also, I don't buy the body odor stuff...many African/Indian people I know do not have a "natural" smell, I think it's simply related to each person's own level of hygiene. Face control is one thing, and I would say that it is acceptable to decide not to rent a place to someone that looks like an alcoholic/junkie, etc., i.e. someone who can bring a whole level of problems to the place by his simple presence there.

May I ask, though: does this particular guy smell? Racially stereotyping someone and not renting because of that is definite discrimination, but not renting a place to someone that smells like he hasn't washed for a week imho isn't.

[think_too_mut]

Also, I don't buy the body odor stuff...many African/Indian people I know do not have a "natural" smell, I think it's simply related to each person's own level of hygiene.

No, it's not. They can't do anything about it, not even if they are wearing a parfume at all times.

I can say for sure, if something could be done (even more compex than hygiene) some Indians I know of will have done.

But, they don't really complain. The discrimination they practice and nurture (the caste system) or are used to is far more discriminatory than refusing to sell a 2.5K $ sqm condo to someone.

[Barney_the_Dinosaur]

Even if you shower frequently, you can't do much about your fragrant burps and farts.

This, by the way, is a brilliant topic.

[Vespa]

A client hired us to do due diligence on a purchase he was doing with taking over a contract to purchase a condo on Sansiri Sukhumvit soi 24. Everything was going smooth such as negotiating the price( able to get the price down from 6.5 million to 6.25 million for a 60 sq.m. one bedroom) , % of foreigners to Thais, etc. He put down a deposit and signed the offer to purchase. However the real estate broker representing the seller of the Sansiri development http://www.sansiri.com/en called to state the client would not be able to move into the building as he is from Nepal. Now this person is a Dr. and has a UK passport.

The reason given was for” sanitary reasons because of food and their body odor,” the corporate policy is not to allow Indians, or people from Nepal or Pakistan to live in Sansiri buildings. They went on to say they were having problems with people renting to people like this and are trying to stop this as well as "the smell is everywhere when they are in the hallways." They now are "banning any Indian look", no matter what your passport states.

We checked with the Thai government to see if this was allowed. We were told if this is the buildings policy, nothing can be done about it.

Anyone else from these countries experience this?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

When Can I Move In ??????????

[Heng]

It's a tough call. As long as it's done politely and with perhaps a bit more tact, I'd side with Sansiri on this one. The smell is NOT imagined and certainly not hate related.

[bkkmadness]

I don't think it's a kind of policy such a high-profile place would want out in the open.

I doubt that it would bother them a great deal, it'd probably become another selling point for them.

[Mobi]

I'm almost positive that the body odour given off by ethnic Indians etc who practise a high level of personal hygene is due to diet.

Try eating curries for a week and ask your loved one if she has any problem with your BO. I bet she does. I can recall from way back that Thais always complain about the BO given off by Indians - one of the main reasons they don't like them.

Now as to Sansiri openly stating such a policy of discrimination - it doesn't toatlly surprise me, but I do find it amazing in this day and age that they can get away with such a thing. There must be more discrete and less insensitive ways to filter out 'undesirables'.

I am sure Thailand is signatoiry to various human rights and anti- discrimination conventions - but of course enforcing such laws in LOS is something else again.

But it just demonstrates how rabidly and openly racist this country is.

Getting worse, I think

[surfline]

Hey Barney what do your farts smell of

[backflip]

Discrimination exists in every country. When I was looking for a condo, I had real estate agents (!) ask if I was an Indian/Pakistani. My agent explained that Thais generally do not want to live around Indians and Pakistani, and the agent gave the "body odor and dirty" excuse. In virtually every case, the selling agent wanted to look at me before any terms of a sale were discussed.

[PeaceBlondie]

Do Thais smell the same as Europeans? If you ate garlic all day, would you smell differently? I don't eat Thai food because I absolutely cannot. If I ate all that Thai food all day, how long would it take me to smell like Somchai?

[bkkmadness]

Discrimination exists in every country. When I was looking for a condo, I had real estate agents (!) ask if I was an Indian/Pakistani. My agent explained that Thais generally do not want to live around Indians and Pakistani, and the agent gave the "body odor and dirty" excuse. In virtually every case, the selling agent wanted to look at me before any terms of a sale were discussed.

You can't put too much blame on the agents, it's the building's policies that are the reason. Some buildings allow Indians, some don't, the agent needs to know this so they can find you a place and not have your or their time wasted. From the OP here I don't understand why negotiations went ahead if they were aware he was from Nepal. Will he be getting his deposit back?

[skippybangkok]

Do Thais smell the same as Europeans? If you ate garlic all day, would you smell differently? I don't eat Thai food because I absolutely cannot. If I ate all that Thai food all day, how long would it take me to smell like Somchai?

Some Isarn Taxi Drivers can really make a taxi stink. not sure what they eat, but it smells like Ginger on steroids

[HenryB]

A client hired us to do due diligence on a purchase he was doing with taking over a contract to purchase a condo on Sansiri Sukhumvit soi 24. Everything was going smooth such as negotiating the price( able to get the price down from 6.5 million to 6.25 million for a 60 sq.m. one bedroom) , % of foreigners to Thais, etc. He put down a deposit and signed the offer to purchase. However the real estate broker representing the seller of the Sansiri development http://www.sansiri.com/en called to state the client would not be able to move into the building as he is from Nepal. Now this person is a Dr. and has a UK passport.

The reason given was for” sanitary reasons because of food and their body odor,” the corporate policy is not to allow Indians, or people from Nepal or Pakistan to live in Sansiri buildings. They went on to say they were having problems with people renting to people like this and are trying to stop this as well as "the smell is everywhere when they are in the hallways." They now are "banning any Indian look", no matter what your passport states.

We checked with the Thai government to see if this was allowed. We were told if this is the buildings policy, nothing can be done about it.

Anyone else from these countries experience this?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Does you client smell believe some people smell. And they are not lawyers.

When I lived in England and had a Restaurant sometimes I will ask the Irish to leave because they smelled like Potatoes.

The smell of white people made after 30 years made me leave England

Edited December 13, 2006 by HenryB

[quiksilva]

A client hired us to do due diligence on a purchase he was doing with taking over a contract to purchase a condo on Sansiri Sukhumvit soi 24. Everything was going smooth such as negotiating the price( able to get the price down from 6.5 million to 6.25 million for a 60 sq.m. one bedroom) , % of foreigners to Thais, etc. He put down a deposit and signed the offer to purchase. However the real estate broker representing the seller of the Sansiri development http://www.sansiri.com/en called to state the client would not be able to move into the building as he is from Nepal. Now this person is a Dr. and has a UK passport.

The reason given was for” sanitary reasons because of food and their body odor,” the corporate policy is not to allow Indians, or people from Nepal or Pakistan to live in Sansiri buildings. They went on to say they were having problems with people renting to people like this and are trying to stop this as well as "the smell is everywhere when they are in the hallways." They now are "banning any Indian look", no matter what your passport states.

We checked with the Thai government to see if this was allowed. We were told if this is the buildings policy, nothing can be done about it.

Anyone else from these countries experience this?

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

Yup, its certainly commonplace in upscale residential apartment buildings in Bangkok, especially those owned/operated by locals, but then come to think of it, racism is present in just about every facet of life in the LOS...

[bkkmei]

I think it may be the 'cooking' aspect that could be more of an issue than the BO - my ex-landlady said she wouldn't rent out to an Indian cos she couldn't stand the thought of all those smells ruining her kitchen......

[Sunbelt Asia]

May I ask, though: does this particular guy smell? Racially stereotyping someone and not renting because of that is definite discrimination, but not renting a place to someone that smells like he hasn't washed for a week imho isn't.

No he did not smell. Was a well dressed person. Sansiri in fact never met him, just saw the Indian sounding name as the buyer.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[Richb2004v2]

Also, I don't buy the body odor stuff...many African/Indian people I know do not have a "natural" smell, I think it's simply related to each person's own level of hygiene.

No, it's not. They can't do anything about it, not even if they are wearing a parfume at all times.

I can say for sure, if something could be done (even more compex than hygiene) some Indians I know of will have done.

But, they don't really complain. The discrimination they practice and nurture (the caste system) or are used to is far more discriminatory than refusing to sell a 2.5K $ sqm condo to someone.

That’s exactly right.

Having worked with many Indians I can say that they are extremely descimateory. They discriminate against different castes as well as against other Indians from other areas. Ask your good Dr if he will mind if after he moves in his neighbors are other Indians of a much lower caste. See if he still wants to move in, or if he makes a complaint against the lower caste types. I’m not sure if the Nepalese are similar, but there is a good chance.

I think sometimes there is justification in generalization. It may not be PC, but there is often some truth behind it.

[taxexile]

its xenophobia / racism pure and simple.

all condos have regulations regarding noise , disturbing neighbours etc.etc.

they should have shown him the rule book first , and condo managements generally should be more forceful in keeping their houses in order.

at least it is racism that is out in the open and not concealed behind politically correct legislation so that the nepalese and indians know who is discriminating against them.

and however much indians may discriminate against each other , it is no excuse for others to discriminate against them

[Sunbelt Asia]

You can't put too much blame on the agents, it's the building's policies that are the reason. Some buildings allow Indians, some don't, the agent needs to know this so they can find you a place and not have your or their time wasted. From the OP here I don't understand why negotiations went ahead if they were aware he was from Nepal. Will he be getting his deposit back?

The negotiations were with the speculator who was flipping the condo. The seller was Thai and not from Nepal and why Sansiri had signed the contract at first. This new buyer did get his deposit back.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

[grtaylor]

On one occasion, a few years ago, I was apartment hunting, and went into a place on Sathorn Road. I asked the young lady behind the counter if they had any apartments to let, and was told "solly sir, Japanese only"!

Is that legal here? . . . . . . .

G

[PeaceBlondie]

My Chinese friend who was born in Shanghai has a condo there that's worth about ten million baht. He lives in the US and rents it out.....but not to Chinese! Because of how they cook. He rented it out this time to a Taiwanese-American lady who promised not to cook Chinese style in the condo. This kind of thinking makes sense to Asians.

[chuchok]

May I ask, though: does this particular guy smell? Racially stereotyping someone and not renting because of that is definite discrimination, but not renting a place to someone that smells like he hasn't washed for a week imho isn't.

No he did not smell. Was a well dressed person. Sansiri in fact never met him, just saw the Indian sounding name as the buyer.

www.sunbeltasiagroup.com

A friend of mine is half Indian,was born in NZ and has an Indian surname.He can't speak the lingo,but does alot of business in India.It is the only country that he travels,where he makes the booking direct to hotels,rather than using his travel agent.reason being that he gets huge discounts,because they have "specials for locals"

[roamer]

I had an Issan neighbour in our condo who insisted on leaving her apartment door open when cooking mudfish so as not to stink out her apartment but distribute the smell down the corridor much to the annoyance of Thais and Farangs alike. So one day I cooked a Rogan Josh in retaliation after warning friendly neighbours in advance....like WW111 breaking out, said neighbour went ballistic !

[britmaveric]

Interesting, but not surprised about Indians/Arabs. I have to believe bad business dealings lead to this rather than the smell aspects. Not lot one can do especially if the Govt won't make a stand.