Farang: very strange birds
farang
We find the Thai, at times, but strange. Often there is no rope to tie and all logic for the way of acting by a Thai is missing. The same applies the other way around. Farang (westerners) are just strange birds. Rather rude, ill-mannered and clumsy. But also kind-hearted and a source of entertainment.
Those who regularly visit this blog read a lot about the strange habits of the Thai. The clash of cultures provides nice anecdotes, but sometimes it is a source of annoyance. After all, with a Thai, 'yes' can mean 'no' and anything can be hidden behind the 'mask of the smile'. That's how you quickly think Thai invented lying.
Of course there is also the language barrier. When you walk down the street in Chiang Mai and are approached as a potential customer by a tuk-tuk driver, don't say "I walk" in good English. In the Northern Thai dialect it means “You ugly monkey!”.
A Thai expresses himself differently anyway. Never straight forward. Always with many detours to avoid conflicts. The standards and values of a Thai are often a point of discussion. Not just for us. Even anthropologists and real ones Thailand connoisseurs don't get a hold of it. Especially because a Thai knows rules of conduct, but these say nothing about the real intentions.
Stereotypes
Thai think mainly in stereotypes, they find that easy and creates order out of chaos. All farang are rich, is such a cliché image. They only find it difficult to nuance all those stereotypes. Another image is that farang don't understand the Thai and can't tolerate the real Thai food.
When I was having a picnic at a waterfall in Isaan with a Thai family, a group of Thais were watching (they also have other ideas about privacy). I made a ball from a little sticky rice and with my same hand I took some I'm there (spicy papaya salad) and put it in my mouth. Loud cheers, laughter and applause rose from the crowd of spectators. A farang that khao niao (glutinous rice) and I'm there eat, doesn't match the image they have of us, so they just laugh about it a bit.
Maintain ideal images
Thais feel most at home with farang who do not immerse themselves too much in the culture of the Thai. You can make fun of a Westerner. They love to have the ideal images confirmed that the Thai like to maintain. A look behind the Thai mask is not appreciated. You then see a society that can be extremely violent, full of greed, alcoholism, adultery and gambling addiction. Conjuring ghosts is more important to Thai than peace-loving Buddhism.
How Thais think about farang
Just as we try again and again to 'catch' the Thai by generalizing as much as possible and thinking in cliché images, the Thai do the same in turn. It's always nice to read what the Thai think about a farang. Just a summary of points that Thais find rather strange from us Westerners:
- Lie down in the sun.
- Drink beer without ice.
- Taking videos and photos from a tuk-tuk.
- Getting into a relationship with dark-skinned Thai women, any self-respecting Thai man would never do that.
- Taking pictures of traffic jams.
- Greet everyone with a 'wai',
- Only eat with a fork.
- Ask not to put ice in the drink.
- Leaving the beautiful, own rich country to live in Thailand.
- Walk in shorts, even when we're not on it beach .
- Eating an apple with its peel.
- Be kind to stray dogs.
- Friends kiss and hug.
- Tell racist jokes.
- Being quite loud in public.
Feel free to comment and especially add to this list.
– Reposted message –
One of the typical characteristics of a farang is "to be annoyed". My girlfriend has tried to unlearn this trait. What do I mean by this. If you are somewhere to buy something, for example, or if the service in a restaurant does not go the way you want it to, then a farang expresses itself through verbal or non-verbal annoyance. The Thai girlfriend is ashamed of this behavior. She shows this later. You must always and always remain friendly -sometimes it takes effort- and if you don't agree then you won't get there anymore. Very simple. So I would complete the list with: the farang is often annoyed.
Blowing your nose into a handkerchief, being a man, they also think it's weird?
Many Dutch people blow their noses at the table, often with elephant trumpets. Very rude and rude in all countries east of the Bosphorus!
I myself am under the impression that a Thai finds everything strange that a farang does otherwise. Logically they have no horizon and generally do not know what is going on outside their own country, delving into someone else's skills and way of life is not in their dictionary.
Important is food, drink and money, the Thai calls this freedom. And when it comes to money, we are no strangers.
Mow your own lawn, wash your car, keep up with the pool
Realize that the lottery ticket seller immediately puts 1/3 in his pocket
Seeing fake monks
Not understanding why you hang flowers in the car to let them dry up in a sweltering sense the same day
Wash your dog
Clean the air conditioner
Cleaning the fan
Select laundry by colour
Don't like rotten fish
Don't want to see mangy dogs in the restaurant.
I get sick to death of those tam boons
Don't want to pay 10 times the entrance price of the Thai
Not fully clothed goes swimming as a woman
Always asking why?
Hi Khan Peter
Nice article that certainly needs expansion.
And also in the opposite direction. I mean…
I believe many Thai people don't like black people very much. Have you already seen reactions in that sense when (African) Americans walk by.
And stabbing under water from Thai to Thai I have already experienced a few times.
Thai who discriminate against Thai.
Like the day before yesterday at the market at National Stadium. My girlfriend was negotiating a dress. Suddenly she walked away irritated (yes… Thai also irritated), even angry. 'I don't want to buy!'
After insisting all night it came up. The saleswoman - at least 50 years old - had called her 'Phi saew', 'elder sister', although she is 40. She felt that as an affront. And thought the saleswoman had indirectly alluded to me as her older partner. I feel that way too!
Same in Chiang Mai at the student market towards Doi Suthep. The saleswoman referred to me to my girlfriend as 'lung', 'uncle/uncle'. She didn't like that, and neither did I. Because it feels like: 'You and your old man...'
Perhaps your Thai partners never translate such remarks for you out of pride…
Let me know…
A beautiful story and it is completely true.
Most Thai look down on their poor fellow Thai and on the dark Thai
I sometimes get annoyed by that
When you read on the internet (facebook and other chat boxes), most Thai people are not happy about the farang. I'm talking about the "rich", when you don't order lavish food in a restaurant you hear the stories about the stingy farang and sometimes you are no longer served so smoothly.
Maybe that is different in Isaan, but in the west my wife regularly hears these stories in the restaurant. But I am also not allowed to say anything about it because she fears that they can become violent. And then she does not mean at the supreme moment but later when they can get away with this with impunity.
computing
compuding, another urban legend, nothing true. Me and my wife are often invited to dinner by Thai acquaintances, who then pay everything and don't want to hear anything about paying. If you spend your life in bars and nightlife, yes then it is different. I have never heard a derogatory comment from a Thai about me as a foreigner. Always friendly and helpful the Thai.
My in-laws always called me “Bang”, please note that this is a dialect from the south and my own phonetic rendering, I was the eldest male husband of all my father-in-law's daughters, my wife told me that means “older brother”, my father-in-law was called "lung" by everyone, even by non-relatives, he belonged to 1 of the 1st families who settled on Koh Lanta and was a man "of great prestige" who received respect from everyone, at the time of his death I had the title “lung” but I had to share it with his eldest son.
Yours faithfully,
Lex K.
Things I haven't come across above, but have noticed in some foreigners are:
Bad manners e.g.:
- Raise your voice
– Bad hygiene; body odor, breath, grooming
– Not taking class distinctions into account, especially compared to. those who consider themselves to be of the better class. (Here, the "higher" the person considers themselves to be, the more indirectly you can express yourself better.)
Doing things that go against Thai rules / laws e.g.:
– Men walking around bare-chested outside the pool or beach
– Walking down the street, drinking beer
– Smoking where it is not allowed, or smoking near children
And finally I think no.1 error:
Speaking too much and too directly and too quickly:
If you already tell everything about yourself and give your opinion without wondering whether you are understood or without giving your Thai interlocutor (s) the time to show interest in you or to say something yourself.
When acquainting, but also in general, modesty adorns man.
Drying your feet with the same towel that you use for the rest of your body still gets a disapproving look, there is a second towel there.
Hello and making a joke in Dutch or English to someone you want to be friendly to makes them always difficult, "they don't understand you, makes people shy".
That list of “oddities” of Westerners is quite correct. However, it mainly applies to people of lower classes with little education and training. Thais do indeed think in stereotypes, they think a farang is a farang and do not see the differences that exist in the origin and education of Westerners. A hooligan from the slums of Liverpool, equipped with tattoos and piercings, and an unintelligible English babbling hooligan from the slums of Liverpool or a neat, highly educated and cultured gentleman from Heemstede, come down to exactly the same thing for the average Thai. Very annoying but it's no different.
Dear Khun Peter, if you say (I walk) to a Tuk Tuk driver in good English, it can be understood as (You are lying) in Northern Thailand. Normally in phassaa nüa it is pronounced as, (Aai woh) and has nothing to do with the translation (You ugly monkey). Ugly monkey could be translated into the dialect with (Ling mangiaam)
They think it's strange when I come riding a bicycle. I also get a lot of comments about all the walking I do while I'm on vacation and I'm so rich. All too far, too much, too hot, chance of rain, dangerous to cross, you also walked in that direction yesterday, so you don't have to go there today, do you? etc is what I get. Why don't you rent a motorbike?? Neighbor has Tuktuk that can drive you around. I drink my coffee way too expensive!! They also think it's strange that I eat a sandwich with raw vegetables. There is also something positive about my appearance in Thailand. I seem to have the most beautiful white feet in the country. That has often been unanimously decided in many massage shops by expert juries at a foot massage.
An addition to what Thais (possibly) find strange about Westerners;
– Having no honor for our King or President.
– Agree in advance with family or friends… After all, you can also suddenly stand in front of that person
– Time is time. Has a time been agreed Westerners try to keep to this so as not to confuse his / her day schedule and the person with whom the appointment has been made. A Thai handyman can easily make 9am to 3pm.
– Giving an opinion / thinking along with the boss. Thai employees do not dare to give their opinion due to the hierarchy.
– Friends over relatives.
– Sexual openness.
- A day without rice 😉
Kind regards, Hendrik S.
The Thai find that kissing and hugging strange:
That is his generality is true.
But years ago there was a little boy about seven years old.
He lived with his grandpa and grandma, whom I knew.
When I walked by he came running, to be picked up and then I got a kiss on my cheek.
Now he's 18, or maybe 19 already, time flies faster than I can keep up with.
And when I walk by, he comes up to me and we talk about nothing for a while.
And when I walk on again, I still get a kiss on my cheek.
If his friends, or his girlfriend are there, he doesn't care, I'm stuck with that kiss.
He just needs to shave more regularly.
And I don't pick him up anymore.
My wife washes the dogs 3 times a week, we have had the area cordoned off to keep an eye on them and to the hilarity of the Thais they both sleep on a blanket in the house, perhaps a remnant of the time we have in the Netherlands. brought, we then explain: dogs are pets, oh and if they think I'm strange, well then they think so, but it doesn't make the sleep any worse.