Do you think that it's possible as a foreigner to fully assimilate into Thai culture?

[ChipButty]

2 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

They call me uncle...

 

Actually, in this hot climate I definitely prefer a wai to a clammy handshake... 

My family are familiar with farang customs many have traveled abroad they all like a big hug now especially the Ladyboys 555

[EVENKEEL]

4 hours ago, WineOh said:

I always wear black or red when around the in laws.

 

gets her dad fuming at the dinner table ???? 

Wow, you have a dinner table?  hi-so yeah..

[EVENKEEL]

3 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

I think it depends on what age one comes to or immigrates to a new country.  I came to the USA at the age of 7 and believe I assimilated fairly well.  I know many who came to the US as adults who never assimilated and many never even adapted.  

We came to the USA when my father was 50, he never stopped eating pissa (his pronunciation) with knife and fork. 

[BritManToo]

4 hours ago, WineOh said:

What about Thais going for British citizenship or American?

 

Is it not the same thing?

Plenty foreigners want to get their hands on one of our passports and usually when they live there they eventually get one.

British culture is an example to the world.

Thai culture, not so much.

 

Passport of convenience an entirely different issue.

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, 1FinickyOne said:

They call me uncle...

 

Actually, in this hot climate I definitely prefer a wai to a clammy handshake... 

Agreed, papa is an insult, uncle is entirely normal.

To a Thai any man a generation older is normally called 'lung' (uncle).

[KannikaP]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

British culture is an example to the world

Change the IS to WAS. 

[BritManToo]

Just now, KannikaP said:

Change the IS to WAS. 

Obviously as an old guy, I'm living in the past.

[KannikaP]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Obviously as an old guy, I'm living in the past.

Jethro Tull 1972.   LOL

[ChipButty]

9 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Agreed, papa is an insult, uncle is entirely normal.

To a Thai any man a generation older is normally called 'lung' (uncle).

My family Thai's are very kind and thoughtful they never come empty handed my wife's cousin has just been here she bought me a big orange cake she had made,

I have one favourite Auntie always brings me a couple of bottles of red wine, I think she's coming down in June

[BritManToo]

Just now, KannikaP said:

Jethro Tull 1972.   LOL

I had that album and Aqualung.

Thick as a Brick was my favourite, that nearly wore out my record player.

 

https://archive.org/details/ThickAsABrick_01071972/01+Thick+As+A+Brick+(Side+1).mp3

Listening to it now ..........

Edited April 23, 2021 by BritManToo

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Obviously as an old guy, I'm living in the past.

Thats allowed 

[digibum]

First you have to take into consideration that few Asian cultures are true melting pot cultures.  You're not supposed to assimilate and nobody asks you to. 

 

I have never felt any pressure from anyone in Thailand to do anything beyond be respectful of their culture.  They don't try to convert me to Buddhism.  I'm not asked to wear their flag or celebrate their holidays (well, except maybe Songkran - LOL).  For the most part, you don't even have to learn the language if you don't want to (I do, but others may not). 

 

Do Thais appreciate it if you support them?  Sure.  Are they happy if you go to Buddhist ceremonies or participate in funerals/ordinations/weddings/etc?  Sure.  Are they happy if you take the time to learn their language or appreciate their food?  Sure. 

 

But nobody is forcing you to.  Nobody is calling you out for not assimilating.  You could never step foot in a temple, eat McDonald's three meals a day, and wear a baseball cap with the US flag on it, and they don't care. 

 

Thais, generally, seem to have a "you do you" attitude.  You want to wear your pants on your head?  Up to you. 

 

We have the conformity cultures.  For us, it's important that everyone assimilate and people often become very upset when people don't. 

 

I always crack up when I go on social media and someone says something like, "This person has lived here 10 years and can't speak English."  LOL, I know people that have lived in Thailand for 30 years and can't speak Thai - and will never make an effort to do so. 

 

I've never heard a Thai complain that there is a language selection on the ATM screen or that some signs are only in English.  I've heard plenty of my fellow countrymen go near hysterical that they have to Press #1 to speak to an English operator or that Spanish is even an option. 

 

I'm sort of with @ChipButty, I've reached my maximum assimilation.  My Thai might get better.  I might want to learn some aspects of Thai culture or law to help me navigate my life here better, but I am as Thai as I will ever be (i.e. not much).  My wife is happy with who I am.  Her family is happy with who I am.  My Thai friends are happy with who I am.  I don't feel a need to become any more assimilated than I currently am.  

[RobMuir]

5 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Seen plenty of farangs deliberately going against the grain trying to prove a point all Thai’s around them that their culture is flawed - there are plenty of foreigners to refuse to Wai etc

The best ones are the farangs who refuse to take their shoes off entering someone's house.

[Hugh Cow]

I associate with very few foreigners when I am in Thailand. I feel comfortable there and love the country but I am and always will be a farang. I am happy to be that. I mainly here Farang! when children see me but it does not faze me. I always try to be polite and friendly and have no problem with Thais. I think some foreigners don't help themselves by being stand offish with Thais. Many of them have not progressed past please thank you and good day in Thai and have as little to do with the locals who they leave to their wives despite living there for some years. When I take a motorcycle taxi from my local railway station they all seem to know where I live and tell me my address before I have told them.  I consider that to be one of the perks of having very few foreigners in my particular area of Bangkok. Apart from a few tourists I have only met one or two foreigners who live in Thailand on that train line.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/23/2021 at 6:17 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

Personally I am often enough in fresh markets in Bangkok were I very seldom see any other farang. I feel comfortable there and I don't really notice anymore that I am the only farang around.

I actually loved that I lived where no other farangs were around. Not that the Thais thought I was special, but that that I felt adventurous living outside my comfort zone where few spoke English and the Thais didn't make any allowances for farangs. It was more "real" than in Pattaya or Chiang Mai.

[BritManToo]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

I actually loved that I lived where no other farangs were around. Not that the Thais thought I was special, but that that I felt adventurous living outside my comfort zone where few spoke English and the Thais didn't make any allowances for farangs. It was more "real" than in Pattaya or Chiang Mai.

I'm in Chiang Mai, only 1 other white foreigner in my village, but he only speaks Italian.

The Thais seem to think we should be friends, but I speak more Thai than Italian.

[The Hammer2021]

Maybe if they are Asian

[mancub]

Any real integration is dependent on a change in Thai perception of foreigners. In the West nobody feels the inclination to say "asian" on every occasion they encounter one, in the way Thai (especially children ) feel compelled to utter "falang". 

[OneMoreFarang]

40 minutes ago, mancub said:

Any real integration is dependent on a change in Thai perception of foreigners. In the West nobody feels the inclination to say "asian" on every occasion they encounter one, in the way Thai (especially children ) feel compelled to utter "falang". 

I wonder what rednecks say if someone not white gets near them. Or maybe they don't say anything and just shoot the invader.

 

[ozimoron]

On 4/23/2021 at 1:06 PM, Pilotman said:

No, further more, I'm not at all sure why anyone would want to fully integrate/assimilate and in effect, reject their own heritage. They are not, or should not be, mutually exclusive. That is why I cannot understand those who go for Thai citizenship. 

 

Yet lack of integration is the chief excuse used by xenophobes against migrants in our own countries.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, ozimoron said:

 

Yet lack of integration is the chief excuse used by xenophobes against migrants in our own countries.

Not so much lack of integration IMO, but that they sometimes create areas where only they live, which allows them to live as if they were "back home". Farangs in Thailand don't do that and live among the locals. Certainly no "no go" areas where only farangs live in Thailand.

[elliss]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:26 AM, ezzra said:

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet."

 

Rudyard Kipling...

 

     Money is Money .

      West have , East not have .

      That said , enter Love  , aka Lust ...

[fvw53]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:06 AM, Pilotman said:

No, further more, I'm not at all sure why anyone would want to fully integrate/assimilate and in effect, reject their own heritage. They are not, or should not be, mutually exclusive. That is why I cannot understand those who go for Thai citizenship. 

People do not apply for a citizenship to change their culture but only because it is convenient ....I do not think a former Thai PM got Montenegro passport because he wanted to change his culture

[Hanuman2547]

I don't think it is really possible for a farang to fully assimilate into Thai culture.  The Thais will always see you as farang regardless of how well you can read, write, and speak Thai.  I've known a few farang that have lived, and worked, in Thailand for 50 years or more.  Despite gaining Thai citizenship they are still regarded as farangs.  They have certainly adapted to Thailand and basically won't be going anywhere else.  

[BritManToo]

Just now, Hanuman2547 said:

Despite gaining Thai citizenship they are still regarded as farangs.  They have certainly adapted to Thailand and basically won't be going anywhere else.  

That's because 'farang' means Caucasian and not foreigner.

Nationality is irrelevant.

[Excel]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

That's because 'farang' means Caucasian and not foreigner.

Nationality is irrelevant.

And also means Guava fruit in Thai

[Neeranam]

On 4/23/2021 at 10:06 AM, Pilotman said:

No, further more, I'm not at all sure why anyone would want to fully integrate/assimilate and in effect, reject their own heritage. They are not, or should not be, mutually exclusive. That is why I cannot understand those who go for Thai citizenship. 

I have integrated into Thai society and haven't rejected my Scottish heritage in the slightest. 

[EVENKEEL]

For Thailand is a place to hang my hats while I raise my daughter here. I can't have an owner operated business, I can't buy land, I have to report every 90 days like a felon. Why would I ever feel the need to assimilate here.

 

I enjoy it here, like swimming in water that's warm although the trash on eastern seaboard is out of control. I enjoy drinking on the beach, something that would get me ticketed or arrested in the US. Kind of a neat vibe living near the beach, something I couldn't afford in the US. I call my house home, but not Thailand.

[rwill]

I think it is possible but not very likely.

 

I wouldn't want to fully assimilate anyway.

[Neeranam]

Recently, I went to one of my banks to change my nationality, which I thought would be easy. I had to wait for 2 hours and when I got to the counter, I told the clerk that I wanted to change my nationality on my account. She was confused and asked her colleague in the adjoining booth. Then the customer there, an old Thai/Chinese woman, piped up that I could never become Thai. Her clerk agreed and then the customer in the booth 2 away shouted that farang can't change their nationality. The old woman started berating farang so I told her that I know many "Jek" who have become Thai, to which she replied that 'kon Jeen' can but they are still Chinese, farang can't and will always be farang, and she used to work in the ministry of interior! Even the doorman came along and wanted to see my ID card! The matter was fixed by calling Bangkok, but I was sat there for another hour. The manager also came along near the end and wanted my life story!

Having Thai citizenship changes little regarding locals attitude but who cares what they think?