You Farangs Who Fall For Bargirls Disgust Me

I read 7-8 stories from “Reader Submissions” and all of them are from male “farang”. Is there any woman farang in Thailand? I am a Thai woman and I ’m very offended by those articles. In my opinion, those people are
bunch of losers falling for low-life bar girls. All they want is cheap sex and cheap alcohol. What do they know about the rest of the country? About the real Thai people and life outside Patpong or soi Cowboy? I was born and raised in Bangkok
suburb, yet the world these westerners described was foreign to me. That’s not the Bangkok I know. I don’t deny it existence. But that was just a tiny part of Bangkok. It has nothing to do with many “normal” Thai people.
Those stories give an impression as though large majority of Thai girls are willing to sleep with any “farang” and ready to rip them off. I despise those “farangs”, they usually are old and ugly, and probably can’t
find any decent women in their own country. And those call girls are just plain ugly and disgusting anyway. We, highly educated women, look down on those “farangs”. We think they are so pathetic. Would you really surround yourself
with bunch of low-class, un-educated, rude and bad people in your own country? Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against poor people. There are plenty of nice, hard working poor Thai people. And I respect them as much as
I respect any body.

I’ve lived in United States for more than 13 years (before that I traveled back and forth many times). I first came to the States in 1985, as a graduate student at the University of Michigan. That’s where I met my husband (he’s American,
the nice one.) All my families are still in Bangkok. I visited home often and plan to retire in Thailand. I have 3 sisters, 2 of them and myself graduated from Chula and one graduated from Kasetsart. They’re all married, had great job,
nice homes and comfortable life. Yes, we’re aware of the nasty red-light district in Bangkok. And frankly, I’m quite ashamed of it. But as we all know, where there’s a demand, there’s a supply.

You guy talk about how Thai people judge people from appearance rather than who they really are. Well, there’s a reason for that. Our language has different words refer to same thing. Depend on your background, level of education and up-bringing,
one can tell just by the way one talks what background one comes from. The way the bar girls talk show how crude and low-class they are. Proper manner is important. You can have proper manner even if you’re poor.

When my husband and his parents were in Thailand, I took them around the country and most people thought I was a tour guide. I tried hard to distinguish myself from those women. When I went to Phuket with my husband for our honeymoon, people thought I
was a Singaporean. Well, I don’t look like a hooker and speak fluent English therefore I must be a foreigner. I definitely can’t be Thai since only bar-girl are with farang, right?

Since most of you guys are British. I have to brag a little bit that I applied for a master program at both Oxford and U of London, and was accepted to both places. I turned them down and went to U of M instead. It ’s my destiny. The school of
public health at U of M was top 10 in the country at the time. There’s also one minor reason why I didn’t want to go to England. See, I was quite naive and lived a sheltered life in Bangkok. I’ve never seen any drunken person
up close and personal before. I went to Europe in 1983 with 3 Thai office co-workers (all girls), and during our visit to London, I encountered a drunken old homeless man. We were in the park, somewhere in London, about to have “fish and
chip” for lunch. That’s when I saw this old homeless man. He was very drunk and very filthy. He fell off the bench and wet his own pants. Needless to say I was shock. I lost my appetite and couldn’t sleep that night. The image
kept haunted me. It was ironic there are at least as many homeless here in Dallas, if not more. (Yes, I live in Dallas right now.) Well, I don’t lose sleep over them any more. Neither am I still naive!

Many of you mentioned how bad our education system was (is) in Thailand. Let me tell you something. I went to a Thai private girl school. My English teachers were all Thai, except one in my last year of high school. Yet my English was more than good enough
when I arrived in the States. Actually, I spoke English so well my American housemate didn’t believe I just arrived (I lived in the Co-op). They said either I had been here for a while or I went to international school in Thailand. Gee,
is it that hard to believe there are some smart Thai girls after all!!!!

I have worked in many large corporations in The States and my work ethic is no less than anybody, American and other westerners alike. Actually, I had to work harder than others to prove myself since I’m a woman and a minority. I had to start from
the bottom, even with my master degree from the university better any in the whole state of Texas. The hard work paid off, I was a Sr. Business Analyst in a large retail corporation when I decided to quit 4 years ago. I’m now a volunteer
docent at three different art museums in Dallas. I also do volunteer work for the largest non-profit environmental organization in the US. My husband earns enough money I don't have to work anymore. I do what I enjoy and try to give back
to the society (learning art history, teach art to children and help preserve our precious world). I love to travel and have been to many countries in Europe more than once (can’t get enough of those great museums in various cities). I
also enjoy outdoor activities: hiking, bicycling, swimming, etc. I plan to retire in Chiang Mai 5-6 years from now. Although my family live in Bangkok, and I myself never lived anywhere in Thailand except Bangkok, I find it not to my taste anymore.

If you think I’m the only smart one in the family then you are wrong. My older sister who went to the same school as I did and graduated from Kasetsart University also speak fluent English. She’s an expert in hazarded material and translated
many articles regarding this subject. She can give a lecture in both Thai and English. She’s been to several career trainings in Europe. Many of my school classmates have master degrees from the States (few from England) and many speak
English real well. 75% of my classmate have master degree, the rest either have PhD. or bachelor degree. Yes, all of my classmates have at least bachelor degree, 100%!!! My brother-in-law who also went to Kasetsart speaks good English. He’s
worked for many multinational companies and currently earn more than 1.5 million bath a year. Other 2 sisters and in-laws are all doing real well. So there you go. Not all Thais are lazy and stupid and ignorance. And yes, I am Thai, not Thai Chinese.
My grandfather is a 4-star general and once a ministry of Defense (although for very short time). My father is a 4-star general, ex-chief of the Central Intelligence Department, ex-director of joint military intelligence department and ex-senator
of Thailand. My parents are not rich, just average middle class Thai. My father and grandfather never corrupted or took any suspicious money. You all know the government job never pay that well. Yes, there are many corrupted officials, but there
are also many honest ones. I’m telling you my story so you can see other side of Bangkok life many westerners never experience, the Thais who are honest with high work ethic and intelligent. Regardless of our education system, there are
many bright ones after all!!

Stickman's thoughts:

Always good to hear from Thai readers.