It truly amazes me

[daeng bireley]

>> I have seen the discrimination you talk about, but it almost always comes from the spoiled child of some Nouveau-riche Thai. The old saying that you can't buy class, you're born with it, holds true.<<

 

 

 

Good point. Most of the time the so called "middle class" talked about on this board would be the thai "Nouveau Riche" If you go back one generation you will probably find a peasant family. These people display all the pompous, arrogant attitutudes so well associated with the Nouveau Riche or Petit Bourgeois .

 

 

 

The true thai middle classes where there are generations of education are probably more tolerant.

[check_bin_krap]

Not all people from Isaan are poor farmers. Education is available there, several universities are in that area. With some effort and hard work its also possible for people from "lower class" to get a good education.

 

 

 

When it comes to social mixing between people from different social layers, the rules are not that cemented. My ex-wife's background is poor Isaan. But because she she could behave and speak as both "proper" Bangkok and Isaan she is as comfortable in both groups. She mingles as easily with both embassy people and ex-BG's in my country.

 

 

 

But who you mix with might have more to do with interests and background instead of strict class definitions. This is true in western countries also.

[Guest]

>Not all people from Isaan are poor farmers. Education is available there, several universities are in that area. With some effort and hard work its also possible for people from "lower class" to get a good education. <

 

 

 

 

 

yes, not all are poor farmers. farmers with a hundred rai and more can live rather comfortably. but for the landless or the small scale farmers being able to go to university is rarely possible.

 

try to tell that to my missus, she could go to school only once or twice a week, and that only for 4 years. when she was 12 she already worked on the roadconstruction side. she is the only person of her immediate family who has a profession. she learned being a cook, had to work more than seven years 12 to 16 hours a day, 2 days off a year.

 

 

 

>When it comes to social mixing between people from different social layers, the rules are not that cemented.<

 

 

 

i have the impression that we live in two different countries here. often the class restrictions do not seem so obvious, but that has a lot more to do with the subtleties of the thai language and unspoken communication.

 

 

 

you might have the impression that your wife is from "poor isaarn" background, but please excuse my question here, but who much land does her family have? what was her fathers profession?

 

 

 

i have met many people who claimed on some cocktail parties that they were "poor", but after a bit of asking the right questions it very often turned out that those people might have come from farming families, but the rich village families with lots of land, puyaibans and kamnans in their family.

 

there are worlds in between the poor upcountry folks and the more educated, comparatively richer ones.

 

 

 

 

 

>This is true in western countries also.<

 

 

 

but here you are not in a western country. spend some extended time upcountry and you will find out very fast how different it is here.

 

 

 

 

[check_bin_krap]

Yep Fly, you are right to assume that I do not know enough homeless from Isaan to speak of their situation. I speak of my experiences of people who have a roof above their head. Ex-wife had education comparable to your wifes. But that was a long time ago. My experience in her village is that education has improved a lot since then. Please correct me if todays situation is that poor kids from Isaan goes to school only once or twice a week.

 

 

 

Ex-wife had shit poor parents, lots of bro and sis's and struggle to get enough food to get by. Rats and such was often what they had to eat.

 

 

 

The Thai people I referred to who she mixes with is here in my country. Of course it is different in Thailand. But I think it goes to show that the barriers between the social classes are not that uncrossable. They are in many other poor countries.

[Brink15]

Bill please,

 

 

 

I'm a little confused, but as you addressed this to me I'll try to suss it out.

 

 

 

Were you assuming my wife is from Isaan?

 

 

 

If so, she is not. There are farms outside of Isaan. One of which is directly East of BKK.

 

 

 

Did I make any statement to the effect that everyone from Isaan was poor?

 

 

 

Uhhm, I re-read my post and didn't see this, please enlighten me if you did read something that made this assertion.

 

 

 

I thought the jist of my post was that status-conscious Thais very often make assumptions (which I hate no matter who makes them) based on skin color, college name, etc.

 

 

 

The mixing question is most interesting to me as one of my points was that one of my wife's closest friends can look back at Chula as her Great-grandfather.

 

 

 

And your point was what exactly?

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

not only isaarn. the north is is as bad off as isaarn.

 

the school situation has improved a bit in some ways. more children go to school regularly now, and even though the rate of drop outs is still very high, a lot more finish the compulsory 9 years. but after that it looks still grim. still most of the landless and small scale farmers simply cannot afford to send their children to further education. the increasing drugproblem upcountry makes it also a lot more difficult.

 

next problem is the unemployment rate. the demands for good jobs have risen tremendously in the last years. for example as a cook in a five star hotel you need a collegedegree! main chefs of some 5 star hotels tried to give my missus a job as they saw her abilities, her workcertificates from very well known places in thailand, but just could not get past the general managers (more often than not a farang). and the ordeal of going through the personal office was ridiculous. sometimes she came home in tears after trying to apply for a job. at first i did not believe her. but after i accompanied her a few times i understood completely. in a some places they treated her like shit insulted her straight away, as they were under the impression that i don't speak thai. in one place in particular i freaked out after some really bad insult against my missus. that was the only funny part, they just did not expect me to understand that. lots of lost faces when they had to apologise to someone as lowly as my missus.

 

tough luck, when you are born poor.

 

 

 

for people like my missus it is a two way street with the social barriers. after getting shit all her life she herself does not want to mix with the upper classes anymore. very rarely that we meet people from those classes she can feel comfortable with.

 

 

 

you seem to be lucky with thai people in your country. when we were in my hometown the arrogance of some of the more upper class thais there was even more unbearable than here.

[pattaya127]

in a some places they treated her like shit insulted her straight away

 

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I have taken note that your missus has been in awkward sitiuations where her pride was insulted. I remember though you told us that she was not afraid to tell off a farang woman who did not insult her directly, just babbling off about thai women being too serviceable to men. I wonder if your missus has ever told some of these "higher than you" thais to go fuck themselves off?

[Guest]

on occasions. she has a bit of a temper...

[check_bin_krap]

Thanks for interesting insight Fly. You certainly know more of this stuff than me. Guess we are both lucky to not be born poor in Isaan.

 

 

 

I got out my step sons at an early age, and i guess thats the good thing which came out of my failed marriage.

 

 

 

Good luck to you and you missus.

[Guest]