Torneyboy Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 Do you think Thai people are over generous to each other? Two things came to mind today. Over the last three weeks i have been helping in my wifes restaurant..picking up stock and chopping up veggies saturday afternoon..for a few hours. Her youngest sister is in BKK till Wednesday..so i helped out. The staff have dinner about 5.30pm..ok so do many falang restaurant staff. however a couple of guys came in ..""whom are they"" oh they used to work here..so they also had ""staff""dinner. The staff roster is made up of Thai students and or friends that are living in Sydney at any given moment..appears that any Thai person can work in a Thai owned business..without an interview or work experience etc etc. Not just her Restaurant..have many other examples of Thais taking care of Thais. One guy working for her...they met on a badminton court about six weeks ago..now his GF ..(tonight) worked out front..ok great english..has at least one masters degree as does the BF...it goes on and on. Late today we went to get some food/stock...i said i want to pick up Thai_Biz a good thai paper. We go into this small shop....about the size of two falang phone booths...4 girls serving! No Thai biz so i walk out...5 mins no wife..go back in she is handing over $10 for two little books..""why did you want these"" Oh..Thai ladies ask me to buy Something!!...why not just leave as i did?? I know of some Thai restaurants that do have Falang staff as well. What do you guys think...do Thais take care of Thais? Or have i just had a bad day with thais? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lazyphil Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 <<What do you guys think...do Thais take care of Thais?>> How long is a piece of string??--I think some do and like a few years ago in the Hat Yai floods I remember reading Mama noodles went from 5 baht to something like 15 baht a packet as alot of shops had flooded--what a way to pull together!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 8, 2003 Report Share Posted November 8, 2003 It is not unusual at all for small groups of foreigners to form close little communities in their new homelands. They share language, culture, food and become a self support group. They are after all in a foreign land, far from home. While farangs do it less IMO, Thais and many other cultures that are family centered do this very regularly. IMO it is the norm rather than the exception. Even within Thailand small groups from the villages form their own 'village' in the big cities. Too generous, not at all ...... it is the one of the great attributes we can learn from them. Count yourself lucky to be part of it TB ...... no matter where you go you too will be received with...."come, sit, eat ........ tell us about your life and family". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hidy Ho Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 What do you guys think...do Thais take care of Thais? [color:"blue"] I don't this is Thai speicific issue ... more like how specific the minory tends to group (an perhaps tick) together in unfamiliar surroundings ... if there are enough force, they start Chinatown, Litttle Saigon, Thai Town, Korea Town and such [/color] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voodoo31 Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 I think this is a bit more than just fellow countrymen/women sticking together in a foriegn country. From a farang perspective when I vist Thailand I think it is great that many guys who live in Thailand and are on this board meet together and swap information and help eachother out. Most of the time not even from the same country but just all "farang" in Thailand. However I think the assistance is usually kept to a minimum - giving information, advice, referrals etc but other than that people need to make it on their own. This sounds more like helping in a much more concrete, economic way - giving people employment, free meals, buyinh things from someone even if you don't want the item. This is much more that what farangs do. Good or bad, Im not sure. In a way I prefer our farang style independance. It means you have to learn to rely on yourself. Other might help wth information and advice but that's where it ends. I wouldn't like a situation where if I owned a business in a foregin country I had many acquainteences from my home country dropping buy and almost expecting handouts or jobs for the friends etc. Still having witnessed the Thai village culture I can see the roots of this behaviour and think this is probably how human beings were enat to live, and until modern times probably how we did live - in small tribes and villages with everyone interdependant on eachother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted November 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Hi LL Good points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted November 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Hi Yes we have a Thainatown ..lots of Thai video stores/grocery stores etc. My wife spends a lot of time and money in this rather small area...and loves to talk...and talk to everybody in sight :: In this case they shop in Thai stores..as they have the products they want...can get some in Chinatown however. Overall you may be right. I know that a lot of babysitting goes on and often those involved do not know each other a first...intro via friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pescator Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Hi Torneyboy, I do think thai people generally are generous. Not just to their less fortunate fellow country men, but definitely also to farangs travelling in their country. I have lost track of the times where I have been invited to dinner at restaurants where any offer of picking up the tap would be politely but firmly denied. Besides generousity is not just about money and things and I have sure met many truely generous people in Thailand. Also my GF who buys cookies at the local market from a friend although she doesnt like the cookies, but due to Narm Jai! They also do have a great network as you mention in your example concerning looking after each other`s kids. I sure have benefitted from this on many occasion although they sometimes take it too far. I recall coming home from work at 01.00 am and see a to me total stranger sitting in my living room. My wife is nowhere to be found, and the thai girl looking after my kids can only speak thai. And she has no idea what the place is called where she lives as she has only just arrived yesterday Now that is reassuring. BUT my experience in my country is somewhat different. When it comes to money and especially money lending. It is still 10-20 % interest per month between friends. And if you dont cough up it can be pretty nasty. Recently our local thai restaurant had to close down, the proprietor was in debt to the local thai loan shark and could not pay the interest anymore. I knew it was coming as I saw the loan shark coming by for a "visit" regularly after closing time. You may argue that this is a "business" arrangement and therefore it is not a valid example. But have a look at the Korean and mayby the Chinese community as well?, they dont do like this. They have sort of a fond that allows newcomers from their country to sort of kick-start a business or help them get established or whatever. It is not really my impression that the local thais here take care of each other. And I have a pretty good insight in this being in the "community" for 10 years. cheers Hua Nguu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whosyourdaddy Posted November 9, 2003 Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Yes sometimes they are. Like today we were over at the new place putting a lick of paint on it and the neighbours showed up with lunch and bottles of ice water. I was impressed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted November 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2003 Hi have heard or some money lending with one of my wifes sisters ...she lent to a studnet or 2...but held their passports no problems they paid on time anyway. I had a Thai student stay with us he went back 2 months ago. He wanted help to study for his final exams....so 6 students arrive home with him,4 Thais 1Japanese and1 Korean..they stayed all night...he was very generous with food and drinks...from my fridge btw :: We ALL had breakfast next day...have to say was alot of fun watching them all communicate ...as were all here to learn english. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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