why are you all afraid?

[Mai-Kee]

Of course not all Thais are Muay Thai champions, but they are easily loosing it and then they don't fight, but kill! That's one of the biggest risks and that's what you read in the local newspapers. On top they love to come back with their buddies and beat the shit out of you. It's not this typical pub fighting that we know in the west. Thais are in general pretty easy going people, but first of all - especially in the countryside - they drink like hell (and can't take too much alcohol) and then it easily gets beyond control and knives and guns are all over.
I lived in a village near Udon for about half a year in the mid nineties. Lovely area with lovely Issaan people, but a lot of crazy fighting and stabbing out of the blue....
You really should keep a very low profile in Thailand and stay away from the locals - especially in rural areas.

MK

[kempthorn]

there are two species of kon thai. male and female and
they are very different species. thai women are wonderful. i am not refering to bar girls, but your average day girl. most of the replies appear to be talking about males. i have lived here for 5 years and i
learned very soon to deal with thail men only on a
business or professional level. i have had no problems. .
on the street i simply ignore them. the women are different. if you ever have to ask something; directions etc. always ask a woman, never a man. i have made at
least a dozen good thai women friends. yes they often
try to get you to do something for them that involves money, but that is easy to handle. with a thai man
i would never, ever even talk about money

[Looker]

(kempthorn @ Aug. 01 2006,15:59) ....with a thai man i would never, ever even talk about money

Well..I would say, if strictly necessary, try to stick to chinese-thai men, and I mean 100% chinese, even they can't read nor speak any mandarin or cantonese or tiewchow languange.
At least for business and also in life. You may still find some weird sides in them but in general are better educated, wealthier and many have studied abroad.

[Guest]

gentlemen i never posted this as a statement that i was going to thailand looking for fights are trying to cause problems. i just have seen so many post of people running from LB's and GG's that it made me wonder what was wrong with a lot of you. i understand better now. thanks

as far as making freinds with the locals i really don't understand that. i have very good freinds in malaysia and the phillipines that stay in touch with me for no other purpose then we are freinds. no business dealings what so ever. most of the time i am in their countries i pay for little if anything and it usually becomes a contest to see who can pay the bills first.
i do really enjoy these people company but they are not from the P4P scene. most are not rich just your good local hard working people. and as you can imagine from my description i don't even remotely fit in. when am taken to local restrants or KTV bars am the only westerner that usually has ever walked in to the place.
i try and follow there customs and respect their ways but in heart am still a TEXAS gentleman and behave as such.

also i have been with the locals on a few of their drinking seasons all i can say is stay the hell away from any of the local rice drinks they are pure murder and a hell of a shity way to wake up in the mornings.

charles you are right about not being intimdated by some one larger then me. the ones that always other me are the smaller slightly muscalar ones that are fast aslways hated fighting them. the few fights i have been in outside of the states where caused by people who i was doing business with and where trying to cheat me out of more then a few dollars and i was backed in to a corner. not much choice i felt i must fight or die. i couldn't run i had to go through these people and i felt that since i was going to do this i might as well let them know i had been there.2 other times were an ametur mugging i left the guy on the street corner in traffic in manila. the last time was a phillipino ilegal in kota kinabalu in center point mall that was trying to steal my wallet. he had a broken jaw when the police hauled him off. the police just took my statement and left me alone the said the guy was going to serve jail time then be sent back to the phillipines.

i do usually try and stay away from the richer locals because i find most of them quite snotty, in that they seem to think the are better then local people with less money. i have enough of that crap in my own neighborhood i don't need it on the other side of the world. hell alot of my neighbors thought i was the yard man for my house for the longest time. nut i guess thats what you get for livng in a upper middle class neighborhood. when you have lots of tatto's and earings and do your own landscapoing and yard work while everyone else pays for someone to do their yards.

thanks everyone for your replies
it has been a real good learning
experance
peace

[nemrod]

Well,folks,I agree in some things but disagree in others(in these are the most).Generally speaking thai people are nice people(if you forget the bastards who are ruling the country,managing the banks and massage parlors and taking control of the police and the army)and very patient,it's also true that they drink more they could take in their bodies but this did not mean that they get violent when they are drunk.My father in law is from Isaan,they are very simple people,farmers.They work very hard and sometimes they need to make a break and have a drink,well,they become drunk very quick but this did not make them dangerous.I am happy to have an insight in ordinary thai people's life.They can teach you a lot.Learning the language is part of the job but for me it was an enjoyable job,it makes my mind brighter because every time you slip in a new culture your own spirit grew richer and more plenty of life.It's very sad that some of you ,guys,think that it's nonsense to mingle with people of LOS.I think exactly the oppositenly if you meet them and their culture and try to learn something new you will really enjoy it

[Guest]

i look at new culture the same way nemrod. it helps you grow as a person and gives a different view on life. specialy from some one like my self who was lucky to be born in a wealthy country and be able to bring myself into a high monetary lifestlye from where my family started from. it makes you appercaite the simple things in life. the enjoyment of new freinds and having a drink with them. while just bs aout the same thing all people bs about. taxes,goverments, sports, women and all the other simple things that everyday people complain about.

[kempthorn]

thanks nemrod. what you wrote is very true. in my post i was talking about inner bangkok, pataya etc. because that is where the members spend their time .
i live full time in thailand and have a good size highway
motorcycle so i can travel all the jang wats and small
mu baans that visitors on the bus lines do not see.
i have been to very small villages where some of the people have never seen a farange. it is not just the
difference between a big city and small town. some of
the small towns in the u.s. are more dangerous than my home town, detroit. there is a cultural difference. the
people in general are quite nice and you do not get the
the obvious hostility that is behind the smile that you
find with thai men in bangkok. also there are l.b.s in
even small villages. could tell a couple of great stories
, but this is the wrong post for them.

[coxy277]

i lived in phuket for 2yrs im married to a thai gg i never back down to anybody at home in uk
but with my wifes advice about thai guys is that if there looking for a fight with a farang its to atleast put him in hospital there way if you beet one there like flys theres always many more and you wont win
just smile say sorry walk away but not with your back to them as they dont like that they will respect you for it as theyi could prob beet 1 or 2 of them but thats it

[donnnnnny]

Again most of the stuff  spoken about here is  based on wester standards or  views.
Forget it  Thais and asians dont think like us, and i dont think they have  the mental capasity to see it(as we  try to do)  from a  forigners perspective.Thas  one of the huge differences, and that is why we need to run for it when a problem arises.
learning the laguage is imperetive to you if you are living in thailand.And i dont mean learning a few frazes and words. Buy a book called the fundamentals of thai language by stuart  cambell and chuan Shaweevongs.You can learn to read and write  thai easier than you think. When i do  come back to thailand to live in about 5 years, i am going to go back to school and learn my thai writing and reading again.i still rember some of what i learned  , but am very rusty.
As for interacting with locals< if you  dont  your life might be very lonely, yes you can hang out in bars with  xpats, but hey that is just as bad as hanging with a  bunch of ladyboy lovers)
Thai violence is  rare,  by using your brain you can avoid most of it.
How many times has better judgment stopped you  from taking a certain girl back to your room???and thus avoiding a confrontation.
If you do live in thailand and wish to become in a relationship, my advise is to keep well  away from any bar sceen  and chase a strait girl or  lb. Use the  bar sceen for what it is  meant  for  . use it to get rid of sexual tention. somewhere to sling your  rubbish on a saturday  night.
Most blokes come to thailand with 2-3 weeks up there sleve so dont have the time to persue a  strait relationship, The men  who live there full time should  make an  effort if a relatiopnship is what you want.
having said all this, i dont  wish to be  burned by the accademic  crowd, i am mearly  adding my   thoughts.   i will learn thai and  and i wont  be in a relationship. i will rent an apartment i wont own a car, i will eat thai food(love it) i will  look after the local cop.I will have thai friends, as i already have them. group captain w$%^&**(((()))  and his lovely  wife and kids. Juo and juay  from sydney  restaurant owners.
cheers donnnnnny
ps drugs are the main cause of sudden outbusts of violence in any country. . why do people need this evil stuff??