Anti-foreigner sentiment runs high

[pattaya127]

Have you been to the South??

 

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I am confused, as you speak about Corsica next in your posts. Are we talking about Thailand, still? because i am. I have been in the south (OF THAILAND), yes, no problems.

[pattaya127]

about the driver continiously badmouthing me and farangs in general

 

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Too bad you did not ask her what he was complaining about. I wonder if his rant meant he does not want to see foreigners anymore, or against the world bank loans, or merely finding farangs cheap and smelly. I would have asked, but i just get lucky, when my GF and I hop in a taxi, she soon finds out he's from Issan, often a nearby village from hers (I swear), and I join in the conversation (as much as i can). If i am alone, I ask the guy where he is from, and usually has some input about his place of birth, and the ride is rather done congenially after that. I think a lot of tourists, farangs, whatever, should stop acting like a "hair in the soup", and start really enjoying themselves , not only in bed, that will do wonders in the way this or that thai responds to them. It did for me, 15 years on.

[Guest]

I don?t think it would be fair or accurate to make a blanket statement that all Thais are anti foreign, but it is true that there is a strong undercurrent of nationalism that often manifests itself in anti foreign sentiment. If you don?t speak Thai or if you don?t actually live here, you will be oblivious to it unless you read the local English language papers, in which case, over time, you will probably notice some rather disturbing trends. Some of the manifestations of the anti foreign sentiment are downright bizarre. Three examples:

 

 

 

About two years ago, I attended a function where an American who has been living in Thailand for about as many years I am old, gave a speech entirely in Thai on Thailand?s macroeconomy. There were about a thousand people in the audience. I was seated at a table with several fairly prominent Thai-Chinese businessmen. They were aghast. Not realizing that I could understand virtually everything they said, they launched into a rather lengthy tirade amongst themselves, in Thai of course, that ?this farang? ? the speaker ? had been allowed to spend too much time in Thailand and knew too much.

 

 

 

As a result of Enron and general concerns about transparency, I had to attend a work shop on transparency issues (a nice way of discussing the ?c? word, corruption.) When asked to identify the most corrupt organizations in Thailand, the Board of Investment (BOI) was frequently mentioned. I thought this strange because the corruption surveys rarely identify the BOI as a corrupt organization; indeed, it is generally considered one of the more transparent Thai government agencies. In discussing why they thought the BOI was corrupt, I heard a group explain - again in Thai presumably on the presumption that the Farangs present would not be able to follow the discussion ? that the BOI was corrupt because it allowed foreign investors ?to take advantage? (my rough translation) of Thais. They were also peeved that once BOI privileges were granted to an investor, they could not be revoked unless that investor violated one of BOI?s conditions. In other words, they thought the BOI should ? like certain other agencies here ? change the rules after the investment is made, the factory or whatever is built, and the money is in Thailand. They seemed to genuinely feel that this significant ?failure? on BOI?s part to protect Thai interests was a sign of corruption.

 

 

 

Even in the bank where I work (no identifying name will be given), I will hear anti foreign comments in the branches; the gist of it seems to be that farangs ask too many questions. I know some lending officers who feel that a loan to a farang or foreign owned business is the equivalent of giving Thai money away (but maybe this says more about how they view loans, which also explains how a foreign bank came to acquire this bank.) And we are supposed to be one of the modern and foreign friendly bank.

 

 

 

To be fair, not all everyone feels this way. And I suspect much of the anti foreign was stoked up recently for political reasons, although I do recall encounter a bit of this back in 1994 when Thailand was still one of the fastest growing economies in the world and could do no wrong. My, how times have changed.

 

 

[pattaya127]

So, are we talking about a certain strata of politicians and businessmen, rather than general anti-foreign sentiment. I kind badmouth easily about thais this or thais that, but am i anti-thai really, do i despise thais in general? i am happy not. These chinese were first looking to their own interests, wishing disinvestment from others who could take a piece of the pie. They therefore had an interest in being anti-foreign, actually anti-foreign businessmen, more than really despising all foreigners. I am quite sure many thais are, if not distrustful, weary of the way thai-chinese are running businesses, and cutting the competition at thai levels.

[Guest]

My examples are based on upper and middle class Thais rather than taxi drivers, construction workers and BGs. Since I work for a bank, I am more likely to encounter the former during working hours. And you are right that there is more than a small amount of self-interest in these examples of anti foreign sentiment.

 

 

 

But even if this sentiment is limited to the upper strata of businessmen and politicians, it does not give me much comfort. It is precisely this group that is in the strongest position to influence public opinion and public policy. This is what I fear...

 

 

 

 

[racha]

''But even if this sentiment is limited to the upper strata of businessmen and politicians, it does not give me much comfort. It is precisely this group that is in the strongest position to influence public opinion and public policy. This is what I fear...''

 

 

 

I agree with you, that statement of yours above hits the nail on the head !!

[jp1]

In other words, they thought the BOI should ? like certain other agencies here ? change the rules after the investment is made, the factory or whatever is built, and the money is in Thailand. They seemed to genuinely feel that this significant ?failure? on BOI?s part to protect Thai interests was a sign of corruption.

 

 

 

Could it be that they are so much linked to corruption, which for them seems to be the normal way of life, that they consider non-corrupt behavior as corruption.

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

>It is precisely this group that is in the strongest position to influence public opinion and public policy. This is what I fear...<

 

 

 

 

 

fortunately the general public so far still distrusts and hates the kind of people you are talking about. thais aren't that stupid, they know very well how those people rip them off blindly. no, i don't see them being influenced very much by them.

 

in the general population of simple villagers, taxidrivers, construction workers, bargirls, etc. i haven't seen any unusual rise of xenophobia in the recent years. the middle classes here i have always experienced as rather succeptible to anti foreigner sentiments, nothing new.

 

i, as a westerner can still hang around places which would be extremely dangerous to thais, like slums, at any time of the night without having to be scared.

 

so far, violence is mainly thai on thai violence, nothing like in some western countries, where angy mobs set asylum homes aflame, riot against minorities.

 

 

 

 

 

on one of my nightly excursions there was a thai guy constantly trying to put me down with anti foreigner comments. my thai friends wanted to beat the shit out of him and i had difficulties to hold them back. as long as i can get friends like that here i am not overly worried.

 

 

 

let the politicians talk their talk, it only becomes worrysome when people start listening to them, and i do not see that happening.

 

 

 

 

[pattaya127]

It is precisely this group that is in the strongest position to influence public opinion and public policy

 

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there may be a negative input that resonates thru the middle-class, but i doubt that such a class, the most westernized of all, would exteriorize it, and frankly, I still think it would be focussing to certain side of farang activity in LOS, more than the farangs itself. The fact is, there has always been a defiance towards farangs or even sometimes just one (Jim Thompson being an example for the 50s), in many asian societies, it goes up and down, but in thailand, i don't think it has or will take disproportionate, hum... proportions. Thais at the helm , business or political, know they need the west, both as a trade partner and as a purveyor of gray matter in situ, and of course as tourists. I just think in 5 or 10 years, we will still talk about anti-foreign sentiment rising in thailand, and it will only be about some politician or taxi-driver ranting, some coffee break gossiping in offices, and not much else. Compare with current heavy-handed spoliation in Zimbabwe and right wing anti-immigration in Europe, others i can't think of now, and over-hearing a bad comment in a thai public or private place seems pretty benign. I think i told about this monk who was teaching thai in Berkeley, being spitted at on his way to the temple. That is racism and xenophobia on a despicable scale, not so in Thailand. guess we'll agree to disagree. Cordially

[pattaya127]

let the politicians talk their talk, it only becomes worrysome when people start listening to them, and i do not see that happening.

 

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Exactly. The farther you go away from BKK, the less they listen. They will vote in the provinces for the politician they know the best, or more precisely, the one that carry the most weight thru dispensing his baht at election times, and is recognized as the Godfather figure of the district. Not much rhetoric dispensing in there.