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Only anecdotal arguments can be made as far as racism in Thailand goes. Some people, like me, will find it pretty strong, others will find it on an OK level and/or swear that nothing has happened to them.

You see/call yourself as an American. They call you by a different word.

There is nothing violent about Thai racism; if you are white they just call you " farang" ( Haoli) and some treat you scornfully or mock you by croaking or barking the word. Some watch smilingly as their kids jump up and down and taunt you-- a common phenomenon all over the Far East actually. Some try to avoid you and just walk away when they see you. My friends have even reported Thais cross to the other side of the road. I had people who would not want to get into an elevator with me or move away from me like I was dirty.

Does this remind you of how blacks were treated in the USA?

Some clubs are for Thais and other Orientals only and you are not welcome.

If you are American and grew up with US racism, the Thai one will be of lesser variety but if you had spent time in Latin America, E. Europe and the Philippines, this is a step down.Suddenly seeing a face with a mocking smile honking FARAAAAAANG, FARAAAAAAAANg at you just makes you wonder-- is this what I really am? Is this the future?

Once I was going to work and this kid jumped in front of me and did prayer mantis movements scratching the air in front of me and going FARAng FARAng! This was when I left and went to Cebu. Why do I need this shit?

There is no racism in tourist areas or towns. Just more gentle croaking "farang farang farang farang".

There's virtually no racism against other Orientals in Thailand. They are treated like brothers. I wish Euros were treated this way in the USA.

If there was no Philippines, I would possibly tolerate the Thai attitude, but the existence of the former makes the latter a totally unnecessary annoyance. You get people that look the same, girls that look the same. Minus the barking. It was such a joy landing in Cebu after Bangkok. No more people jabbering at me and sticking fingers.

Anyway, this is all anecdotal and I am anticipating someone come here and post

"I have been living in Thailand for 50 years. Lovely people, Never happened to me. If it happens to others it's their fault because they 1) smell 2) don't respect... bla bla bla" anecdotal evidence.

So , go and find out for yourself

xiongmao wrote:Been here for a couple of weeks now and I'll say that Thailand is a pretty good place to come.

I've not actually seen that many Americans here, white Western guys are generally Australian or British.

As Everdred and I have witnessed, the major tourist places are just packed with scammers. They'll tell you that the tourist site is closed, or they know a better way of getting there, or they'll even sell you clothes to make you look more respectable visiting certain monuments!

I'm pretty sure we were being fleeced in ChinaTown as well - the Chinese guys were paying a fraction of what we were paying for tea and a chat to some lovely ladies!!!

Where was the place in Chinatown? There's a place above a grocery that has a couple of massage parlors and all the old Chinese and Thai-Chinese guys hang out there and drink tea and play Majong. There are Chinese women there too but I've never seen any above a 7 and at the time they wanted around $100 for a short-time. I doubt the ones in this place are going with guys just for sex as they've got pimps watching over them in the place but who knows. Last time I had a Chinese chick was in Phnom Penh.

Ladislav - of course I'm going to come back and say something because most of what you post about Thailand is beyond ridiculous. I am not the only one who thinks so either. Numerous people on this board have told you so but you refuse to listen - because of your own anecdotal evidence.

Anecdotal evidence has it's place just like statistical evidence but what you write makes me laugh. Say what you want but you act as if every Thai is screaming Farang, Farang in a negative manner and is out to get them. This is simply not true. Some Thais say it without giving it a second thought and without malice. Very few say it negatively and some even say คนต่างชาติ (khon dtaang chaat). So I don't know what you're getting on about. Seems to me like you've got a hard-on for Thais in general and this is coming from someone who has no problem calling out their flaws. Like I said before, my experiences have differed greatly from yours. While you say they hate you, I have neighbors who bring me excellent food and others who regularly do things for me that they don't have to do.

If I remember correctly, in one or two posts directed at Rock, you told him, "I've lived her for 3 years and speak Thai - you don't, so you wouldn't know." Well I do know and I've forgotten more than you ever learned here.

Just wondering...You were here how long ago?

If we look at the number of tourists (and returning tourists) and expats as statistical evidence, where does that leave your argument? Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations AND EXPAT HAVENS on the planet. It's gotten to where there are too many foreigners here IMO.

Also - there's virtually no racism against Orientals in Thailand? More rubbish...Thais dislike their neighboring Asians and while they tolerate them in their country, they certainly do not treat the Burmese, Cambodians, or Laotians much better than they treat Farang expats. Perhaps the only Asians they truly like are Koreans and some of the more well-mannered Chinese. Japanese, maybe.

I've already found out for myself. I don't have people jabbering at me or sticking fingers. Maybe you should come back, drop your attitude, keep an open mind, and see how you're treated. I would like to see Thais sticking their fingers at you. Better yet, I'd like to see them sticking me with their fingers.

As far as the clubs...so what? There are Japanese only clubs and Thai only clubs. I've never been in the Japanese only clubs but I have been in Thai only places. Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I am friends with the right people, who knows. But does this honestly bother you that much?

All the above is anecdotal and experience/ personal judgment- based.

This happened to me/ this did not happen to me, therefore things are all like this and like that... are all anecdotal arguments. Both on my and your part. Hence, now the ball is in the reader's park.

Whether my point of view is ridiculous is again, a judgement call. And my point again is- if you are a young white guy of average means, don't go and try and settle in Thailand because of lack of respect and too much (non-violent) racial prejudice against you. You'd be better treated in the Philippines so go there instead. If you are an Oriental Western citizen ( just coined a term) then, by all means you should go to Thailand as you will be treated well.

I have describe my reasons multiple times and it's up for the reader to decide.

ladislav wrote: There's virtually no racism against other Orientals in Thailand. They are treated like brothers. I wish Euros were treated this way in the USA.

We've talked about this perceived racism in Thailand before so I won't get into it again since I think you have pretty irrational views when it comes to Thais and Thailand.

However I can't help but address that one comment you made about there being no racism against orientals. You are absolutely 100% wrong on that point. Thais have a massive complex when it comes to how they rank amongst other asian people. They look down on a lot of other SE Asians. Burmese, Cambodians, Laotians, etc.. are lower than dirt in their eyes. They also frequently comment on a lot of people from the developed asian cities in a less than positive light. Ask a Thai what they think about Singapore sometime. In short they live in their own ethnocentric bubble which doesn't mean they are particularly racist against whites or anyone else. They simply have their own frame of reference because of a lack of worldly insight and education.

Thanks for the reality check anamericaninbangkok (AIB). I assure anyone on this board that if you go to Thailand, you are not going to be taunted by kids and people constantly barking farang farang farang. That's utter hogwash.

Once in a long while, I get slurred. When I was about to buy some souvenirs at a stand last trip, the older Thai lady wasn't too happy with my bargaining and said something under her breath to another vendor in Thai which I caught. I shook my head at that, put the items down, and as I walked away, watched over my shoulder as her jaw kinda slacked in disappointed surprise. It's low season you know and they need all the sales they can pull in.

But I've taken traveled many times with one or more Taiwanese in Thailand too. They too get treated badly sometimes. One Taiwan girl I was there with even got bullied by a cab driver to the point of opening the door and running away out of fear. Many nasty Thais are equal opportunity exploiters of tourists - Asians or not.

But I also meet so many Thais who are quite kind to me. I've been working with some of them for many years and they actively do favors for me or save me money even though it does not benefit them in the least. Yes some Thais do not hate or dislike non-Asian foreigners by default. Behavior and looks play a huge role. A bad behaving Japanese is generally going to be a lot more hated than a farang who conducts himself more in-line with Thai norms.

I believe Lad was last in the Kingdom before many of the very young cuties you see in the malls today were even born, lol. There was an AIDS scare blamed on foreigners which didn't help matters. Thailand circa 1990 had around 5 mn annual visitors vs. an expected 24 mn in 2013 (nearly 5 times as many). Foreigners are clearly a much more common sight today than back then. Also, Lad himself has admitted that he has a look which could be pegged as middle eastern. Could this group be even more despised. He suffered in the academic/work environment there. But some of the farang I know today who work with Thais in an office environment have good relations with their co-workers and are well regarded. Anecdotal? Yes. But even anecdotes prove how wrong broad generalizations can be for at least some individuals. Yep, maybe Thailand is not a good place for white expats except for the tens of thousands who choose to live there long term.

Phils is nice for the girls and many of the people but not much else. And no, they don't look the same! Thai girls are way better on average - taller by 2-4 inches, better skin, tend to have more feminine shapes, etc.

People should also keep in mind that Thais exploit each other callously and with total disregard for consequences. Thai girls i've talked to have always said that they are afraid of to get into taxis alone at night because rape and extortion is not uncommon. Thais rip each other off all the time in business. Many higher class Thais actively hurt their own countrymen without ever facing real consequences etc..

Thais also do things like shortchange each other etc.. they are just an opportunistic bunch of people who will pick low hanging fruit when it's there. Clueless foreigners are the easiest targets for stuff and this isn't just in Thailand. It happens in any country where morals tend to be really loose when it comes to cheating or scamming people.

ladislav wrote:All the above is anecdotal and experience/ personal judgment- based.

This happened to me/ this did not happen to me, therefore things are all like this and like that... are all anecdotal arguments. Both on my and your part. Hence, now the ball is in the reader's park.

Whether my point of view is ridiculous is again, a judgement call. And my point again is- if you are a young white guy of average means, don't go and try and settle in Thailand because of lack of respect and too much (non-violent) racial prejudice against you. You'd be better treated in the Philippines so go there instead. If you are an Oriental Western citizen ( just coined a term) then, by all means you should go to Thailand as you will be treated well.

I have describe my reasons multiple times and it's up for the reader to decide.

You've repeated the same lame argument over and over again. When millions of experiences parallel one another, there is much greater value than a lone few. Also, I think if you look at the recurring theme among the readers on this forum (and others), you'll see that they've already decided.

Rock wrote: Phils is nice for the girls and many of the people but not much else. And no, they don't look the same! Thai girls are way better on average - taller by 2-4 inches, better skin, tend to have more feminine shapes, etc.

Good info, thanks. I like it when guys get to the point.

One of the major and classic scams is in the beach towns and specially in the more touristy parts like in Pattaya and Phuket regarding jet skys. Never ever rent a jet sky there or you will be forced with the assistance of the police and the local thugs, to pay exhorbitant amounts for damages that you didn't make. Keep that in mind at all time in LOS and you should be fine. Also, google scam city bangkok for an overview of the most common scams there.

Other than that, i'd say BKK is a pretty fun and sweet place to live. I'm considering it as a very serious contender for a base.

Not been ripped off in Bangkok yet. Didn't get ripped off in China either.

Foreigners are so common in my part of Bangkok that the locals are used to seeing them. There are hundreds of young Western guys in my neighborhood - I think most of them are bloggers lol.

I used to get people saying "hello" to me a lot in China. Yeah, that got annoying after the second time it happened.

As to Thai ladies, they're a lot different looking to how I imagined them to be. I guess I've only ever seen Issan girls married to British guys.

The girl I dated last night looked much more like a middle class Indian girl.

Anyway, this is a good base, not least because the internet is much, much faster here than in China!

Plus the one year ED visa is much cheaper than it was in China - £1300 a year cheaper!

xiongmao wrote:Not been ripped off in Bangkok yet. Didn't get ripped off in China either.

Foreigners are so common in my part of Bangkok that the locals are used to seeing them. There are hundreds of young Western guys in my neighborhood - I think most of them are bloggers lol.

I used to get people saying "hello" to me a lot in China. Yeah, that got annoying after the second time it happened.

As to Thai ladies, they're a lot different looking to how I imagined them to be. I guess I've only ever seen Issan girls married to British guys.

The girl I dated last night looked much more like a middle class Indian girl.

Anyway, this is a good base, not least because the internet is much, much faster here than in China!

Plus the one year ED visa is much cheaper than it was in China - £1300 a year cheaper!

I would suggest going to the south of Thailand, not to a tourist trap like Phuket or Samui. The people are very different as is the look of the women. You might also want to check out Mae Sot or any of the surrounding cities. Cool places to see and nothing like the Sukhumvit area.

Yes I'll get out and explore when I get back.

God I miss Bangkok. How cheap is the airport train!!! It was almost cheaper to go to the airport on the airport train than it was to get the BTS to the airport train terminal. Such a shame that only 0.1% of tourists know about it!

Oh, and I did get ripped off in Bkk today - in the airport departure lounge. How expensive is it to eat there!!!