It is a very common discussion around the table at bars that are populated with mostly foreigners. After we talk about sports and current events and what we have been up to etc, the topic about characteristics of Thai people inevitably comes up and most of the time these attributes are not desirable and downright mean. I want to tell you about some of the ones that I hear about a LOT and they make me mad.
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Thai women are only after your money
This one is extremely common because the expats, for the most part, tend to date Thai women and this is a big part of the reason why they are here. Most of these women come from very modest upbringings and you could even go as far as to say that some of them are poor.
Now if you see a 70 year old pensioner with a 28 year old wife hanging off his arm it is pretty safe to say that she is likely in this relationship almost exclusively for the cash. However, this is a very small portion of all relationships over here and this situation is not exclusive to Thailand. Think about all the people that Hugh Heffner dated that were in their 20's.... do you really think they were really into his amazing good looks?
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this image gets distributed a lot in Thailand and although I don't know them, these ladies are almost certainly "ladies of the night and their relationship will end in a few hours
It is very unfair to suggest that anyone wouldn't be at least somewhat attracted to money and power as this is a pretty universal thing. Also, most couples have some sort of similarity in ages.
Thai people are addicted to gambling and are terrible at it
I hate it when I hear this being said about the Thai people because you know who else loves the thrill of gambling and is also terrible at it?.... Almost everyone else in the world.
I don't know why people continually bring this up because at the end of the day, gambling is fun and the system is always rigged in favor of the house so yeah, they aren't any more terrible at it than anyone else.
Thais are terrible drivers
This one may at least be partially true but at the end of the day this isn't entirely the Thai people's fault.
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Imagine if you will that in your own country that getting a diving license consisted mostly of you simply desiring to have one. That is essentially the process here in Thailand as very little in the way of skill actually needs to be demonstrated in order to receive a license.
Then, add in the fact that there is almost no sort of law enforcement for moving violations. I don't even know why they bother putting speed limit signs up in this country and have heard of very few people ever receiving tickets for, well, anything other than not having a license.
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A friend of mine (who is not Thai) got a ticket for doing double the speed limit on a highway. He had to pay a fine on the spot for 500 Baht (less than $20) and then was allowed to carry on. He receives no other penalty such as increased insurance rates or even points on his license. The ticket he received also protects him from getting another speeding ticket for the next 3 days. He could literally peel out and do double the speed limit immediately after getting the ticket and the police wouldn't even pursue him.
Twice I have received a ticket for driving without a license (I didn't have it with me, I do in fact have a license) and I just put funny fake names on the tickets... they don't care!
Imagine if this same situation existed in USA / Canada / Australia etc... how safe and "skilled" do you imagine your drivers would be?
Thais are constantly trying to scam foreigners
If you come over here with that attitude you are going to have a bad time. I consider, after more than a decade of living here, the Thai people to be some of the most genuinely kind and honest people on the planet. There are scams, sure; but these same scams exist all over the world.
Do taxi drivers refuse to use the meters at times? Sure, this exists in 90% of the rest of the world. Will the people at the markets start at a higher price in the negotiating process for a foreigner? Sure, but it is kind of on you to be reasonably good at negotiating, it's part of the process.
I have been ripped off a few times here for sure. I have also been ripped of far more times in USA and for much larger sums of money.
There are a few bad apples here but this is the case literally everywhere in the world and when i hear these embittered expats talking like this I want to slap them.
"They speak F**K all English at (insert whatever loacation)"
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This one should be obvious. You are not in England / North America / Australia. The places that speak English do so as a courtesy. It is kind of ironic to me that the people who do the most complaining about this particular attribute tend to be long-term residents (like 5 years or more) that have managed to learn almost no Thai at all.
So, who is the real idiot in this situation? I know this one guy that has lived here for TWENTY YEARS and beyond "hello", "thank you," and asking for another beer (incorrectly, but understood) he knows how to say absolutely nothing else.
Rant over I guess. This was a hot topic at the bar last night and it really got under my tits. Have some frigging respect ya'll.
@tipu curate
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Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 10/15 - need recharge?)
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I'm from a South East Asia country and we also have some of these stereotypes on Thai people. I'm almost always triggered when I hear unfair sweeping statements that are far from the truth 😅
I have a few Thai friends and I fully agree with you that we shouldn't generalize people just by their nationality. Any country will have its fair share of good and bad. I don't see much of a difference between a developed country and a developing one in that sense
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that's an excellent way of thinking. These same people that are doing the complaining are actually stereotypical foreigners that some Thai people assume we are all like. Lecherous people who think Thais are their subjects and are drunk all the time. That doesn't mean all of the expat population is like that though right ? :) I like to think I"m not that way.
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As far as I know, not all Thais generalize expats or foreigners as what you described. As mentioned, there are all kinds of people within any nationality 😉
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Nice article! Positive rant!
Have a nice and festive holiday!
Just let go of the nasty feeling! Karmic law is in action!
Cheers.
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You just can't group people like that.People like to have what they might think is right in their head, but is normally so far from the truth.
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I really appreciate this write up from you. I absolute agree with those points.
If I read things like that it makes me once more feel very lucky that in the city where I live (Chonburi), are almost no expats (I don't even know any expat in Chonburi). The only people I hang around are my friends from the boxing gym and a few people from the company I work for.
Also, in the almost 3 years of living here - I've never had a single bad experience with any Thai person. All I've got was a lot of respect and a lot of laughs together.
Only reading that people actually complain about the English skills of some Thai people makes me upset somehow. "I mean, go back to your country if it bothers you, right?"
Anyway, Happy new year! :))
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nice to meet another expat in Thailand here on Steemit. I think the "bad vibes" and negativity towards Thais is more extreme up here in Chiang Mai because of the fact that there is a large retired community here. I'm not saying all retirees are set in their ways but I think it is fairly safe to say that there is a greater chance of exactly that happening.
I wouldn't have guessed that Chonburi would have such a low level of expats being so close to Pattaya and all.
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How dare it is to not respect the people of the country we live in.. Something I will never understand.
Yeah I live directly in Chonburi City. There are other parts of Chonburi with more expats such as "Sri Racha" for example. And Pattaya obv.. But that's a place where I don't go.
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i've only been to Pattaya once and it was years ago for one night. It was an "experience"... that's for sure.
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Ha! Yeah that's what I would call it too :D
@gooddream - I just came back to Thailand from my Christmas vacation, went to lotus and they seriously banned plastic bags! I was so happy when they told me "Mai mi Thung" - Sorry for OT , but I remember we talked about it a few weeks ago :D
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yep, and Tesco and Big C are doing the right thing by selling canvas or fabric bags and selling them for something like 3 baht and this says to me that they are doing a good job at least pretending to care because there is no way they are making a profit off of those sales.
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Right. It makes me really happy seeing improvements in that kind of direction. Let's see what happens next! :))
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but i still feel like 7-11 is full of S**T on this since they are still selling massive stacks of Styrofoam coolers. You can't proclaim to be environmentally concerned by eliminating plastic bags while still selling this stuff. But I suppose it is a step in the right direction.
It always annoyed me when people would hold up the line by buying 100 things in 7-11 anyway so maybe this will discourage them from doing so... haha
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Damn all those aspects you mentioned defending Thai's are real good, I have seen people complaining about where they reside all day long, The point of Thai's traffic police and traffic management is true, their system is poor at this.
Happy New Year to you and your family.
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It is unfortunate how stereotypes develope into a reputation. I have to say anytime I see a 70 year old man with a 28 year old wife, I think good for him. He hopefully knows what he is getting into. It is really on us to take some responsibility for getting scammed. That being said I have not been to Thailand but there are scammers, bad gamblers everywhere. I feel like we have plenty of bad drivers right here in Colorado. Lol. It is unfare to stereotype people. Bad and good people everywhere.
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yeah, good point about the old fella. It's none of our business and it's probably a mutually beneficial situation. :)
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Very interesting. I think that you are going to run into stereotypes like that everywhere you go. That doesn't make them any less frustrating for sure. Your last point actually brings up a question I was going to ask you but forgot on one of your recent posts. I know that you are decently fluent in Thai, but what about Vietnamese? If you don't know the language do you think it will be hard to learn it after you move?
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This is such a nice post. I think people's thinking will never change unless they will visit the place. I met a thai girl in pattaya and she was married to a russian guy and the guy told her to shift to London with him, but she refused. She is having a happy life, she told me that she wanted to stay in thailand and make thailand proud, why to make other countries proud.She was an interior designer and she was really great girl. The mentality of people will never change I guess. And I myself faced the fine for the license. I love reading your posts @gooddream. They are so meaningful and amazing.
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Howdy gooddream! This is a great article about the culture of the Thai people and how stupid expats can be. They expect everyone who moves to the U.S. to learn English but they won't learn any Thai?
From reading sir @hangin's posts about Thailand I have a wonderful impression of the people there, much kinder and generous and tolerant than most Americans I bet. But anyway that was a fine rant and this is a great post!
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