Farang cannot know Thai-ness

[paul-33]

Lets turn this around, can a Thai person know how to be a farang, the answer is `no they cannot` because they are thai and do not enjoy the freedom farangs have.

[overhaul38]

Too bad this is the English forum, 98% of all Thais that come to the Bangkok Post will never read this, the other 2% will shrug their shoulders and quietly say "see farrang no understand"

I've seen grown women refuse to stay in a house alone for fear of Ghosts(???)
I've seen grown men refuse helpful advice because they might "lose face" so they continue on their own path, resulting in serious injury
I've seen young men not even hold the door open for their own girlfriends (because men are superior in Thailand) and then look at me with disgust when I do because now I've made them look bad. (WTF?)
I've seen some of the most ridiculous and selfish driving skills (or lack there of) in my entire life.

Yep that's THAI-NESS for you.
1. Superstitious Nonsense
2. The Silly, immature notion of "Face"
3. False superiority complex (more like inferiority complex)
4. Absolute selfishness and ZERO common sense.

How wonderful it must be, like an ostrich in the sand, head first./quote]

Firstly, I wanted to say that this guy is very ignorant. My English is not the best as I have never been studying abroad but I do read Bangkok post. Sure that some of us scare of the ghost but I think every culture have funny believing too, not just Thailand.

Many people who were posted on here have commented on the racist ways. Based on their hatred minds or bad/selfish people that they have met.. Or even think that they're better than others that do not use English. I never judge any nationality as some of you do on here. Nor I based my understanding about one country on 100-200 people that I have met in that country or how their government behave. I believe this kind of thing is individual. You get good people in the worst area or you get absolute idiots in the high society bunch of people.

Losing face is not the things that anyone likes anyhow even in the west. But the way of dealing with the situation might be difference as Asian people do not tend to hide feelings well lol. Funny how many people think that other people are evil/stupid/selfish but forget to look at themselves to start with.

I have met some Farang that I thought they understand Thai ness very well even though they have only been to Thailand a few times and I have met people that have been here for years and still being minded , treating Thai national badly and looking down on every single opinion we give. Is this mean anything? To me, it means that I can only judge who understand Thai ness based on my understanding about Thai ness myself

Anyway, interesting posts. Thank you for sharing your views about how you think about Thailand. Altho i believe that it doesn't mean that Thai people can only be bad and stupid as a whole. There are people like me that want to learn the good things from the west and ignore the bad influence too. Altho it took me almost a year to find this topic but there is so much to read on the internet nowadays. Cheers.

Nothing to do with Thainess but your post reminded me of an example of superstition I recently observed: I saw a woman cut down a blooming jack fruit tree because a monk told her it was unlucky to have it growing in front of her house. I'm sure there are examples from all around the world but I just shook my head at this one.

[Voice]

Firstly I would like to welcome you to BP site Khun Noi, You probably right that there aren’t many Thai ever come to this site. In 2007 there were at least 5 or six of us Thais on this site. By the end of 2009 most of us has left due to too many problem with the way BP Administrator. Apart from politic topic I don’t think many Thai like to get involve with Farang issue. Of course you may see some of us now and again.

Good writing and hope to see more of you here.
Voice

[Ian Wensor]

I'm a farang and the more I experience Thainess- the less I bloody like it and the civilised world thinks likewise.

[applebees]

I am Thai and I myself cannot understand what is Thai-ness. Yes, there are some things I dont understand why they do the things that they do and yes sometimes you must admit it gets you pretty frustrated. In the end, you gotta admit there are somethings you must feel good about living here in Thailand, otherwise why are we here ??

[surinfarm]

THAINESS = NOT FARANGNESS

[johncat1]

I think most Farangs understand Thai-ness
BUT most Thais do not understand Farangs. All most of them see is a walking ATM machine.

But the biggest difference is most farangs treat women as their equal NOT the same as Thailand where a woman is considered inferior.
Also if a Farang wants money he will go and work for it not look for a lazy option.

[coloui]

Hi Thomson

Farang cannot know Thai-ness, is a very true statement

I was born and lived in England for the first twenty years of my life and never worked out Brit-ness

I immigrated to Australia, where I have lived for most of the past forty odd years and am still not sure what Aussie-ness is

I have lived in America and have definitely never understood USA-ness

Then in more resent times I have lived six months for each of the past few years in rural Thailand and will never pretend I understand Thai-ness

Also I have been fortunate enough the travel many countries of the world and lived we local people,

The combination of the above, has given me a-ness I can easily live with, it’s called WORLDLY-NESS.

And so worldly-ness to me, means mutual respect to all Nesses and you’ll have a happy life.

Cheers Coloui

[drake]

I think most Farangs understand Thai-ness

555555

[mystic_un]

According to Thompson, it seems ironic that even some Thais do not know the real "Thai-ness". One of many reasons that people do not know the core of Thai-ness is that most Thais, especially those who live in urban and suburban areas, don't take subjects for granted. They prefer to follow catch and follow with the trends that impress them most until the trends worn out. For example, I have seen Thai undergraduate students following Korean trends when Korean series became popular. They bought Korean products, watch Korean-me-too movies and did almost anything that might resemble to Korean. When the trend worn out, they catch up with new trends that mass medias feed them. This is why no matter how much you try to understand Thai-ness in some Thais people, you never will.