Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

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Ginjaninja
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Ginjaninja »

StevePIraq wrote:Are there really that many ex SAS guys here, I know I have sat next to some who say they are but I would doubt they could even run 100m let alone be SAS?
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by GroveHillWanderer »

A fine example of the loaded question fallacy. You might just as well ask, "When did you stop beating your wife?"
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Thistle »

I believe it would also be very appropriate for the orginal poster to inform the forum as to how many occasions he has been in Thailand,and certainly in Hua Hin! He states, "cant believe its change that much"?? From when,give us all an insight.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Bristolian »

It's always interesting when the OP dissapears and does not respond to replies.

For my 10c worth I don't believe that the vast majority of Thais look down on tourists or foreigners for that matter. Like many of the other posters I have many Thai friends and colleagues and find their friendship comes without conditions.
Like anywhere else, it takes time to make real friendships.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by lindosfan1 »

I mean, its only fair right. We do not ask for much. We bring money, rent and most of all, a gleefuul cheery holiday spirit. Still i've heard a lot of ugly stories about how some would spit at your feet or turn their noses away in disgust, just because you've had a beer or two.

Is there some kind of racism going on? What do you think.

Just a little worried is all. You know, what with all the sudden deaths and horror attacks on the tourist population. Can't be good is what i am thinking.

Does it matter? Well yeah of course it matters. At least it matters to me because I have mixed emotions about this.

On the one hand i do love to get my knockers off in the proper. On the other i also try to respect and follow Thai customs and etiquette to the very best of my abilities. Just does not seem like theres enough. From what i've heard, anyways. What remains to be seen is for me to get down there in person. Can't believe it has changed that much. But what with all the news stories, you never know.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by StevePIraq »

This isn't Sid the Sloth posting under another name is it, he seems to have disappeared
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by margaretcarnes »

[quote="StevePIraq"]I do not believe Thais look down on foreigners, it is just that this is a very inward, one may say introvert society, many Thais know nothing about the world outside of Thailand, how to accommodate us, how to talk with us. We including myself also have a problem in that we want Thais to do things our way not theirs and after all this is their country not ours.

:agree: Well said. Although I would say a society with a belief in its' self sufficiency which maybe comes across as introvert.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Name Taken »

oakdale160 wrote:You ask--Is there some kind of racism going on? Of course there is. It is part of Thainess. In all fairness this is not justa Thai thing but an Asian thing--they feel no shame at having and expressing racist/xenophibic attitides-- In Japan, Korea and China it is much the same.
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I agree 110%, Thank You for being so honest and truthful oakdale.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Name Taken »

HHTel wrote:
handdrummer wrote:racism is everywhere although it's really colorism. everyone looks down on someone who is different color.
But the Japanese, Chinese and Koreans hate each other and each one believing they are superior. The differences are very subtle and their skin colour is the same!
The Japanese, Chinese and Koreans really don't hate each other. It's all just friendly competition, superficial and distracting between them. If they had an opportunity to remove all the Whites, Blacks and Hispanics from this planet they would do it without even thinking twice.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by HHTel »

I have friends in both Korea and Japan and believe me it's far from 'friendly'. A couple of years ago a friend and his japanese wife were in the process of buying a house here. On discovering their neighbour had a Korean wife, the deal was off. Maybe an isolated case but I know one other which again was regarding Koreans and Japanese refusing to live close to each other.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by golferstu »

Of course, i am not saying that Thailand does not have it's fair share of social problems.

Like any other place on earth there is going to be friction between populations.

You see it between nations. You see it between peoples. And most of all you probably see it among yourselves. Sister to sister, brother to brother. It does not matter. Quarrel is a part of the human genome, or so i believe.

Thus even though it is not like any other place on the planet, there certainly is some discrepancy between the beaches of, say France, and Thailand taken as a whole. As observed in the larger frame of reference.

But Thailand is Thailand. France is France.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by RCer »

HHTel wrote:I have friends in both Korea and Japan and believe me it's far from 'friendly'. A couple of years ago a friend and his japanese wife were in the process of buying a house here. On discovering their neighbour had a Korean wife, the deal was off. Maybe an isolated case but I know one other which again was regarding Koreans and Japanese refusing to live close to each other.
Issue between Korea and Japan goes back to WWII.

Japanese used Korean women as forced comfort women.

They also stripped the country of many resources.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by migrant »

The first Mrs m was Korean. She had no problem with Japanese (or other ethnicities). Her Mother who was in Korea for WWII also held no grudges but told of the Japanese rewriting history, making Koreans change names, etc. She said many of her generation still hated, but younger generations were not as bigoted
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Bamboo Grove »

During my time in China, in the late 80's, many of the Chinese truly hated the Japanese but maybe that was because they were taught that way. Still, it still happens all over the world, hate is truly the saddest thing in the relations between the different nations.
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Re: Why do so many Thais look down on tourist / foreigners?

Post by Takiap »

Personally, I think racism and/or looking down on others, has its roots in patriotism, a concept that teaches people to believe they are better than those from other countries. In some cases, it has to do with the here and now, while in other cases it has to do with the past.

These days, I don't think skin color is the be all and end all of racism. For me personally, the color of a person's skin makes absolutely no difference at all, and yet, if I am to be 100% honest with myself, then I would say that I am to some extent a bit racist, as are most of the people who post on this forum.


Anyway, back to the OP's question...........

I can't remember ever having been looked down upon by Thais, although I don't doubt that there are many who look down on us. I certainly haven't heard of Thais spitting at your feet or any other such crap. As others have said, most Thais are really nice people who in my opinion are a lot more welcoming than most Farang.


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