CurtisD Posted October 24, 2023 Posted October 24, 2023 Bangkok Guy and I took an apartment together this year and it has worked very well, until now. It came about as he planned to move to a larger apartment close to transport and I am now in Bangkok much more frequently so that an apartment makes financial sense versus hotels. So we combined plans and looked for an apartment that suited us both - higher-end for me and location for him. Looking at options in his preferred area we selected an apartment in a new building with fantastic amenities (required by me not by him, but enjoyed by him all the same) that was over twice as much as he had planned to pay but still a good deal for me compared to a hotel. All has been well until about a month ago when I asked on a web call how the apartment was and got some awkward body language. All was not well in paradise. The new Chinese neighbor was too noisy. A friend of his who speaks Chinese asked the neighbor if he could be quieter and the basic response was no, for various reasons. He would really like to change apartments. At first I thought he meant within the building, away from the noisy neighbor. But it turns out he wants to go to another building altogether, with Thai and Falang people not Chinese "This building so many Chinese". He has not gone into detail on what is wrong with 'so many Chinese' apart from a general comment that they talk loudly. The lack of a detailed complaint does not surprise me as I have never known him to go into detail if he does not like something, simply indicating dislike with a general reason is enough. He seems to feel that getting too explicitly negative is bad form. I am surprised as he has friends of different nationalities and his last building had Chinese tenants, maybe just not 'so many'. Since we have not yet been there a year we will loose the deposit, and given how frugal Bangkok Guy is even with my money he must really want out if he is prepared to do that. I have agreed that he can hunt for another apartment and I will look at what he has found when I am next in Bangkok. Hence my question - does anyone have any insight into how Thais view the Chinese? Bangkok Guy is generally very friendly, likes people and gets on well with them. He is sensitive to how polite people are - he was very impressed with how polite the Japanese were when we were in Japan - so all I can come up with is that he finds the Chinese en masse too rude to be in the middle of. Boy69, TMax and khaolakguy 3 Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 24, 2023 Members Posted October 24, 2023 One thing for sure, Thais like the lighter skin color of Chinese. Quote
reader Posted October 24, 2023 Posted October 24, 2023 1 hour ago, scott456 said: One thing for sure, Thais like the lighter skin color of Chinese. Give me a brown toned Isan guy any day. WelshGuyUK, floridarob and TMax 3 Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 24, 2023 Members Posted October 24, 2023 20 minutes ago, reader said: Give me a brown toned Isan guy any day. I am sure Isan guys like your white skin too. It's a perfect match. floridarob 1 Quote
Popular Post vinapu Posted October 24, 2023 Popular Post Posted October 24, 2023 4 hours ago, CurtisD said: The new Chinese neighbor was too noisy. A friend of his who speaks Chinese asked the neighbor if he could be quieter and the basic response was no, there's something in it. Actually a lot that comment brought me memories of long distance travel by buses in China in mid-80-ties. Cost of ticket included overnighting in some cavernous halls on the road , there was some bedding on the floor but basically whole busload of people was sleeping, at least some nights, in one big space. If was obvious that other passengers thought nothing about screaming to their friends across the hall in deep middle of the night and when we tried to gesture to keep quiet , plainly they did not understand what fuss is all about. The same in sleeping coaches on the train. Then we took it as part and parcel of exotic travel (it was shortly after big chunks of China was opened to independent foreign travel ) but it was immensely annoying so no wonder Bangkok Guy is ballistic. Tell him he has full support from old vinapu. To be fair I must add that during quite a few long flights I took with various Chinese airlines there were no middle of the night noise problems. reader, splinter1949, moistmango and 2 others 5 Quote
Boy69 Posted October 24, 2023 Posted October 24, 2023 Thais and Chinese are so different in nature like water and oil, if Bangkok Guy regrets renting this apartment better cut losses and move somewhere else just make sure no Chinese there . CurtisD 1 Quote
CurtisD Posted October 25, 2023 Author Posted October 25, 2023 8 hours ago, vinapu said: there's something in it. Actually a lot that comment brought me memories of long distance travel by buses in China in mid-80-ties. Cost of ticket included overnighting in some cavernous halls on the road , there was some bedding on the floor but basically whole busload of people was sleeping, at least some nights, in one big space. If was obvious that other passengers thought nothing about screaming to their friends across the hall in deep middle of the night and when we tried to gesture to keep quiet , plainly they did not understand what fuss is all about. The same in sleeping coaches on the train. Then we took it as part and parcel of exotic travel (it was shortly after big chunks of China was opened to independent foreign travel ) but it was immensely annoying so no wonder Bangkok Guy is ballistic. Tell him he has full support from old vinapu. To be fair I must add that during quite a few long flights I took with various Chinese airlines there were no middle of the night noise problems. Your experience reminds me of two two long ago trips of mine. The first was to China in the 1970s when group travel was still required. It was a great experience with one exception. Walking down old narrow streets I became mildly paranoid about the sound of vigorous throat clearing from high above that was the prelude to the flight of a descending gob of phlegm. On the flight home the front two rows were occupied by a group of officials in Mao suits from whose ranks emanated the sound of a vigorous throat clearing - my burst of laughter overtook me so suddenly that my own nasal passages got a good rinse out with champagne. The second was a trip to Japan followed by HK in the 1980s. Crawling through HK in a cab from old Kai Tak airport to my hotel surrounded by the bustling, sweating and yelling throng I felt that I was back among 'real people' after the politeness and neatness of Japan. vinapu 1 Quote
vinapu Posted October 25, 2023 Posted October 25, 2023 2 minutes ago, CurtisD said: The first was to China in the 1970s when group travel was still required. It was a great experience with one exception. Walking down old narrow streets I became mildly paranoid about the sound of vigorous throat clearing from high above that was the prelude to the flight of a descending gob of phlegm. that's real problem and it was addressed by trying to educate public before Bejjing Olimpics not to do it. Not sure it suceeded Quote
CurtisD Posted October 25, 2023 Author Posted October 25, 2023 9 hours ago, vinapu said: but it was immensely annoying so no wonder Bangkok Guy is ballistic. 6 hours ago, Boy69 said: better cut losses and move somewhere else just make sure no Chinese there . Bangkok Guy has a good ear for accents. On our first walk-through of the building he enjoyed telling me "this person China, this person Singapore, etc" and by the number of "this person China" it was clear the building was majority Chinese, which at the time did not phase him. However, at the time he had not experienced being a minority. He looked so guilty admitting that he wanted to move to a new building that I had to agree that he can look for alternatives to show me when I am next in Bangkok. It is a shame as the building has fantastic facilities, I really like it, but fantastic facilities are nothing if Bangkok Guy is unhappy there. Boy69, 10tazione and Ruthrieston 3 Quote
vinapu Posted October 25, 2023 Posted October 25, 2023 27 minutes ago, CurtisD said: but fantastic facilities are nothing if Bangkok Guy is unhappy there. you got that right ! Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 25, 2023 Members Posted October 25, 2023 11 hours ago, Boy69 said: Thais and Chinese are so different in nature like water and oil, if Bangkok Guy regrets renting this apartment better cut losses and move somewhere else just make sure no Chinese there . A lot of Chinese Thais actually proudly distinguish themselves from the dark-skinned Thai Thais, and are very thankful for their light skinned Chinese blood, and claim they are the elite level Thais. Quote
PeterRS Posted October 25, 2023 Posted October 25, 2023 12 hours ago, Boy69 said: Thais and Chinese are so different in nature like water and oil, if Bangkok Guy regrets renting this apartment better cut losses and move somewhere else just make sure no Chinese there . Some years ago i was thinking that I might consider leaving Bangkok to live in Taipei. Naturally I like Taiwanese. Like Bangkok Guy I also like peace and quiet. What put me off was basically one thing - noise! I could only have afforded an apartment on the outskirts of Taipei and I was concerned at how thick or thin the walls night be. Given that it is prone to earthquakes and typhoons, I assumed pretty thick. But what if neighbours to the right, left and above enjoyed playing mahjong regularly? Since throwing the tiles down on the table is part of the fun, I reckoned it would be all but impossible to keep that noise out of what I planned as a peaceful abode. So I finally ditched the idea. Boy69, vinapu and reader 3 Quote
thaiophilus Posted October 25, 2023 Posted October 25, 2023 You are staying in a traditional Chinese hotel with rooms around a courtyard. Your friend's room is on the other side of the building but you want to talk to him. Do you: Walk round to his room? Use the room phone kindly provided by the management to call him? Yell across the courtyard? Marc in Calif 1 Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 25, 2023 Members Posted October 25, 2023 46 minutes ago, thaiophilus said: Do you: Walk round to his room? Use the room phone kindly provided by the management to call him? Yell across the courtyard? You forgot the most popular choice these days among Chinese: the cell phone -- WeChat. Quote
Members Lucky Posted October 25, 2023 Members Posted October 25, 2023 Many, many Thais have Chinese ancestry. Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 25, 2023 Members Posted October 25, 2023 18 minutes ago, Lucky said: Many, many Thais have Chinese ancestry. That is correct. Quote
vinapu Posted October 25, 2023 Posted October 25, 2023 2 hours ago, thaiophilus said: You are staying in a traditional Chinese hotel with rooms around a courtyard. Your friend's room is on the other side of the building but you want to talk to him. Do you: Walk round to his room? Use the room phone kindly provided by the management to call him? Yell across the courtyard? of course I'd yell, walking is tiring and technology mysterious reader and thaiophilus 2 Quote
Popular Post billyhouston Posted October 26, 2023 Popular Post Posted October 26, 2023 I would never have imagined that it was possible to shout from one end of a 737 to the other. Chinese passengers demonstrated that it was. vinapu, kokopelli3, TMax and 4 others 1 6 Quote
TMax Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 On 10/24/2023 at 11:26 PM, reader said: Give me a brown toned Isan guy any day. Not to mention that Isan guys seem to be better endowed than most, must be something in the water up there reader 1 Quote
Marc K Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 "Give me a brown toned Isan guy any day." Long live Isaan! Quote
vinapu Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 11 hours ago, Marc K said: Long live Isaan! + 1 Quote
reader Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 +1 And. I made the acquaintance of new Isaan masseur today. 10tazione 1 Quote
vinapu Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 1 hour ago, reader said: +1 And. I made the acquaintance of new Isaan masseur today. hope he fit specifications Issanese are famous and cherished for reader 1 Quote
Members scott456 Posted October 27, 2023 Members Posted October 27, 2023 16 minutes ago, vinapu said: hope he fit specifications Issanese are famous and cherished for big dicks? Quote
vinapu Posted October 27, 2023 Posted October 27, 2023 5 hours ago, scott456 said: big dicks? yes Quote