How do Thais View the Chinese?

[CurtisD]

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. 

 

 

[scott456]

One thing for sure, Thais like the lighter skin color of Chinese.

[reader]

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.

[scott456]

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.

[vinapu]

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.  

[Boy69]

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]

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]

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 

[CurtisD]

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.

[vinapu]

27 minutes ago, CurtisD said:

but fantastic facilities are nothing if Bangkok Guy is unhappy there.

you got that right !

[scott456]

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.

[PeterRS]

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.

 

[thaiophilus]

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?

[scott456]

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.

[Lucky]

Many, many Thais have Chinese ancestry.

[scott456]

18 minutes ago, Lucky said:

Many, many Thais have Chinese ancestry.

That is correct. 

[vinapu]

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

[billyhouston]

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.

[TMax]

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

[Marc K]

"Give me a brown toned Isan guy any day."

 

Long live Isaan!

[vinapu]

11 hours ago, Marc K said:

Long live Isaan!

+ 1

[reader]

+1

And. I made the acquaintance of new Isaan masseur today.

[vinapu]

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

[scott456]

16 minutes ago, vinapu said:

hope he fit specifications Issanese are famous and cherished for

big dicks?

[vinapu]

5 hours ago, scott456 said:

big dicks?

yes