Farang cannot know Thai-ness

[sundayjam]

I will say that very few people have a clue as to what Thai-ness is and the Thais are very often contradictory.
I couldn't help but note that you fell into the common trap of protesting too much. Not being drawn into an "argument" but being drawn in nevertheless. Who was trying to drawn you in? Of course you were unable to refrain from making a few insulting remarks. Granted the Kiwi was pompous and overbearing but how were you able to discern the cranial construction of the American (?) and it might even have been an American or English or Canadian or Mexican.
We are curious as to what you always thought the Kiwis were...kind...thoughtful...helpful...humble...complimentary?

Honestly, I didn't mean to take offense or offend, but rather to point out the irony of the arguments themselves. Kiwi's are usually salt-of-the-earth types. Yes, they are in a bit of a backwater, much like where I come from (Hawaii). Funny, people always think we speak Hawaiian here too.

What is to be said of the positives of Thai-ness? They have a fantastic sense of humor and fun. They love family like no other people.

[Andy781]

I'm English & I moved here with my Thai wife so she could be closer to her family and after 6 months here I want to return to the normality of the U.K. and will do so after my wife gives birth.
Thai_ness I will never understand ?
I don't understand why Thia's in our Village play music so loud they can hear it in China.?
I dont understand why Thai's are so bad & ignorant & dangerous when it comes to driving , if you dont let a thai driver out he will cut you up & endanger your life , i dont understand why they tailgate so much , kids riding motorbikes , parents taking there 3 year old children l on a moped with no crash helmet.?
I dont understand why they always park over my drivway ?
I dont understand why Thais's piss anywhere they like ?
I dont understand why us farangs get charged more than thai's when visiting places here.?
I dont understand why Thai's use fog lights , when there is limted fog in thiland.?
I dont understand why the family behind us are so dirty and the kids play in the dirty garden with the rats and vermine and rubbish.?
I dont understand why the cops dont do there jobs ?
I dont understand why Thai's turn there houses into shops in a nice village and thinks it's OK ?
I dont understand why Thai's like yappy little dogs that bark way to much a big problem in my village. ?? and why the owners let them \\ //// all over the place.


The sooner I get back to England the better

I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND THAI_NESS

3rd world country 3rd world ignorance and no common sence

[MonkeyP]

What did you expect, Andy? High privet hedges and snooty neighbours? Or perhaps you miss rottweilers and Big Brother? The anally retentive English never tailgate, queue-jump or play with anything more rat-like than pigeons. The police of course are incorruptible, only beating up black men in night cells.

[Andy781]

What is to be said of the positives of Thai-ness? They have a fantastic sense of humor and fun. They love family like no other people.[/quote]

So is letting your 7 year old son ride a moped is that careing love , taking a new born baby on a moped and driving through bangkoks busy streets is that love and careing ? Leting your new born baby travel in a car without a baby seat or seat belt on ? or as I have seen on many occasions a farther who has just drank 10 big bottles of leo drive the family home in battred old car with no lights.


Love Thai-ness style

Strong family bonds YES , common sence for loved ones NO


And MonkeyP yes I expected more ?

[asawindam]

why can a farang not know thai-ness?i think this is all nonsense.as an expat having lived in thailand for 36 years i can assure you that i know thai-ness just as well if not better than all the 65 million thais in this country and abroad.

[skyaslimit]

Thai cannot know Farang-ness . It goes both ways.

I feel quite pitty when ever I see the Farang-ness on the post!
This is our adopted home so it doesn't matter how much farang-ness , Khaeg-ness , Khamaen-ness etc. etc. etc.you posses try to fetch some thai-ness within you.

[MonkeyP]

This is a silly and uninteresting thread. Thai-ness and farang-ness, or any other nesses, are as mythical as the original one in Scotland.

[sibley]

There is no such thing as Thai-ness in 3 months time our first child will be born, i will be going back to Spain every thing in this country is stacked against you even if you are marred and have a child and want to do your best for them you are discriminated against, they should re- name Thailand the Land of scams

[mycrofth]

I'm a German ex-pat living and working in Singapore, and a frequent long-term tourist to Thailand. I know a few bar girls in Bangkok whom I respect because I've seen them care for their families. I know the Thai wages for hairdressers, manicurists and other members of the female Thai workforce, and I can't blame a single mother contemplating to "do a farang" now and then to make ends meet. There are others, no doubt. Like the kind you meet on Mohammed Sultan Rd in Singapore or on Davidstrasse in Hamburg . I hear there's even a Red Light District for tourists in Dallas, TX, and Birmingham, UK.
But most people I met in Thailand and hold to be friends have no affiliation with the sex business. In Bangkok that's just a few streets in a town of 7 million people, easily avoided.
Openly speaking, I can't take most of the discussion here serious. Of course Thai people have their peculiarities. So have farangs, and as they come from countries as different as Qatar, New Zealand, Canada, UK, Germany and the US, just to name a few, you end up with quite a lot of peculiarities and idiosyncrasies. See the Yank/Maori controversy - if you can't even tolerate a different Western point of view or prejudice, you'll be lost in Thailand.
Some complain about Thais "keeping face" - don't they see that their openness is looked upon as rude, as "loosing face", and subsequently loss of respect? You live in a country where it's rude to say "no"! Negation is something that has to be worked around politely, which involves careful and complicated discussion strategies... it's very different from Anglo bluntness, and more so when you can't speak the lingo, so go ahead and learn it. I've met a lot of Thai people who could negate a proposal with body language only ( an almost invisible head shake with half closed eyes), while at the same time making polite conversation. Very cultivated, complex communication. Hard to learn. Thai-ness.
Some complain about traffic in Thailand - I can only suggest a short stay on Bali or Sri Lanka, to have a look at real crazy drivers - besides, with very few casualties. You have to concentrate a lot more when everybody thinks that an inch is enough safety gap. If you can't, don't drive.
Some complain about "laziness", "dirt", "kids playing with rats", their neighbors, etc. Work a day in the rice fields along the "lazy peasants", and say that again. Have a look at your water bill, and you may understand that some people can't afford three showers a day. And... some people in Thailand are incredibly poor in a way no Westerner can imagine. We all learned to avoid looking too closely at paupers in our wealthy countries. They're aristocrats compared to Thais in poverty. The disparity is stronger here.
There is no Human Right of rudeness, shouting, intimidation. You can behave like that - but no Thai will respect you. It's not that Thais don't solve their problems, but they do it in a more covert, zig-zag way. Try to act the same way, and you're on your way to Thai-ness.

[sundayjam]

Thais don't say no?

Funny, I always here them say, "Mai ao!!!" "I don't need it." Is that what you meant when you say they are very creative at saying no? A cab driver will often speed away when you ask him to take you somewhere he does not want to....yes, that's a very creative way to say no. If you ask to use the bathroom, they will say, "10 baht please..." I tend to pull the very farang thing of just using the bathroom, and claiming ignorance. Just try and get 10 baht out of me after I pissed in your bathroom...ain't gonna happen.

We need to recognize the good and bad of every society. One shouldn't accept the norm simply because its Thai. If it's wrong, it's just wrong.