Farang Assimilation?

[eagle]

note: phily cheese steaks are not a ribeye on a bun :shock:

[maidai]

well that's utter hypocrisy coming from the guy who told me *i* need to learn about American culture. *you* lecture people about their culture all the time, does it require a special license, is that why no one but you is allowed to?

i'm not even sure what you're reacting to tbh. quite possibly he told you what asians or asian americans feel in another post but he didn't in the one you quoted. i don't necessarily agree with his post, but your reply doesn't have much to do with the post you quoted.

I figure you have not read his previous post, if not then i suggest you do. second he concured with a statement, which means he is in agreement and said the view point is my own as though no other Thai living in america would have the same notions? so go figure it out.

He suggest he knows the view points of Ethnic Thai ppl living in america as though he is a minority/Thai himself living in America, him disagreeing with my views would suggest he knows more then I do, now wouildnt it. if you have trouble figuring that out let me know, i will be more then happy to point it out for you

Do I know exactly how it feels to be Farang living in Thailand on a personal level? Of course not, You know why, Because I am not Farang. Its not very hard to figure out dude. :roll:

Who needs to learn about American Culture? what the heck are you talking about, i live in america for most of my life, i know as much about american culture as the next guy. If your suggesting only English Americans are the only true americans, then I dont know how it is on a personal level to be an American(English descent) then thats fine, if you basing being an american as being of English descent. however most have already agreed america is a melting pot with no true ethnic.

[maidai]

One of the reasons Americans often use the -american moniker is because there is no long term cultural history. America is a nation of immigrants... many of them. By the way, someone said that you never hear European-American. That is because they would say German-American or Italian-American. Many groups use the hyphens to distinguish themselves from others. And they join groups like the Italian-American club. Personally, I have no problems with this. Since the US is a land of immigrants, I don't mind certain people or groups trying to hold on to their heritage.

To another part of the thread, yes, there are many parts of America where racism still exists. In fact, it is common throughout the world. People naturally don't except outsdiers until they know them personally. Cities are always going to be more tolerant because there is more diversity while small towns are not. However, the US makes a very strong effort to overcome this. It's probably an impossible effort but the country tries.

To correct an early statistic, the two largest Chinatowns in the western hemisphere are both located in NYC. One is on the lower east side of Manhatten and the other is in Flushing Queens.

Now on to assimilation. What are we really talking about. Do we mean that a westerner must become Thai with a Thai name, convert to buddhism, etc., etc. to make the country their home? If that's the case, what do you do about Thai Muslims and Thai Christians? Are they not assimilated? Granted, if you are living in Thailand, you should learn the language. It's quite shameful to not even try to learn the basics (which is quite common even amongst expats who have been here for decades). This is not a comparison with other countries just a general observation. Why would you want to live somewhere that when you can't understand the local language?

Can a person become Thai? First tell me what that means and then I'll tell you if they can or not. Is there a book that list the qulifiying points? Does a tall person need to loose a few centimeters and color their hair black? Do they suddenly need to like Korean pop culture? To me, assimilation means living in harmony with your environment and vis versa. If you've accomplished that, you've assimilated.

As a side note, I found it interesting that MaiDai chose to use the word farang so easily. Being Thai, you know its a deragatory word. Perhaps you could help with the assimilation process by not labeling others in such a way. You see, assimilation means that both sides need to live in harmony.

To assimilate is to just assimilate, it doesnt mean you become that race. Muslims and christian thais dont share the cultural norms of being Thai, in this case they are only thai by blood, but not culturally Thai unless in my personal opinoin there culture predates the introduction of Buddhism, being we were animist before the introduction of Buddhism.

To be ethnic Thai you must share in our bloodline, someone can be Thai as long as that person has Thai lineage, Blood is blood in this case. My family line has been living in Thailand since 698 AD.

[moo_noy]

For those who live in Thailand. Do Farang want to be assimilated into Thai culture or is this Love for Thai culture just an act?

You see other ethnic ppl such as the Chinese, Lao, Mon and Khmer ppl who have lived in Thailand over years assimilate into Thai culture, so will we ever see any of these farang ppl do the same?

Or could they ever been seen an being kon Thai, maybe its impossible for them to truly assimilate being they arent even asian?

nice place to visit,nice things to see, but wouldn't want to live it

[digitalcat]

For those who live in Thailand. Do Farang want to be assimilated into Thai culture or is this Love for Thai culture just an act?

You see other ethnic ppl such as the Chinese, Lao, Mon and Khmer ppl who have lived in Thailand over years assimilate into Thai culture, so will we ever see any of these farang ppl do the same?

Or could they ever been seen an being kon Thai, maybe its impossible for them to truly assimilate being they arent even asian?

nice place to visit,nice things to see, but wouldn't want to live it

nice place to visit AND marry a Thai girl?

[zeusbheld]

well that's utter hypocrisy coming from the guy who told me *i* need to learn about American culture. *you* lecture people about their culture all the time, does it require a special license, is that why no one but you is allowed to?

i'm not even sure what you're reacting to tbh. quite possibly he told you what asians or asian americans feel in another post but he didn't in the one you quoted. i don't necessarily agree with his post, but your reply doesn't have much to do with the post you quoted.

I figure you have not read his previous post, if not then i suggest you do. second he concured with a statement, which means he is in agreement and said the view point is my own as though no other Thai living in america would have the same notions? so go figure it out.

next time make it easy on us and quote the post you're responding to, mkay? as for what he said before that i'll just take your work for it.

He suggest he knows the view points of Ethnic Thai ppl living in america as though he is a minority/Thai himself living in America, him disagreeing with my views would suggest he knows more then I do, now wouildnt it. if you have trouble figuring that out let me know, i will be more then happy to point it out for you

i'll assume for the sake of argument that he said that (whether you interpreted what he said correctly isn't interesting to me at the moment).

while i doubt that the pov of thais in america is any more homogeneous than the pov of farrangs in thailand, thais in america would be more likely to be somewhat representative of thais in america than american whiteys abroad, yeah. so in broad strokes i'd agree with that. don't overreach though. i'd imagine there's a great deal of variation amongst thais in america.

and i promise to try not to overreach in my understanding of whitey living in thailand. easy promise to keep when i see the friday afternoon crowd parked behind their leos at the minimart nearby. nothing against 'em but i really don't want to know what goes on in their heads.

Do I know exactly how it feels to be Farang living in Thailand on a personal level? Of course not, You know why, Because I am not Farang. Its not very hard to figure out dude. :roll:

you make it quite hard to figure out when you quote a different post from the one you're responding to.

Who needs to learn about American Culture? what the heck are you talking about, i live in america for most of my life, i know as much about american culture as the next guy.

it was *you* who suggested *i* needed to learn about American culture in another thread. i'm surprised you don't remember it, it was the single stupidest thing ever posted on TF (and that's an achievement).

If your suggesting only English Americans are the only true americans, then I dont know how it is on a personal level to be an American(English descent) then thats fine, if you basing being an american as being of English descent. however most have already agreed america is a melting pot with no true ethnic.

please explain how you reached that conclusion based on what i said, because it has sweet **** all to do with anything i've *ever* said. creativity is great but should be applied to writing and speaking rather than reading and listening.

[AustinT]

The second post on this thread is still the best.