Giving Farangs a Bad Name
Strange, but after 10 years of frequent visits / holidays to Thailand I think some behaviour kind of gets accepted in the nightlife areas of Bangkok, Pattaya, etc. There's nothing wrong with that but let’s get something straight, there is a line even the hardcore party animals on their 2 weeks of escape from their real world must accept and be aware of. Parents do not take their kids to Nana Plaza <sadly they do and I saw a couple of kids there this week, perhaps 8 or 10 years old – Stick> and / or ping pong shows in Patpong so why would you subject their kids to behaviour that you think is ok on your trip to Thailand that you would not otherwise display in your home country, and would you treat your local landlord with contempt and abuse?
Point in case…
At the start of my annual 3-month Thailand holiday, 23rd December on Koh Samet, I’m sitting in the beachside restaurant of my resort at 6.30 pm having just came down from my bungalow meters from the beach to have dinner. I parked myself at my usual table and relaxed, looking at the moonlight on the ocean. It was a perfect evening in a perfect location. As I looked around there was a large farang asleep on the floor next to a table in the middle of a walkway.
Children were passing and asking their parents “Why is that man lying on the floor, daddy?”
“Err, I think he must be tired sweetheart” , or “Just walk past” was the embarrassed reply.
*(By the way, I am not a parent but totally respect the family values, just as I was brought up and asked myself the question “what would I say? too”)
Half an hour later the large (really large man) comes to life uttering French obscenities. ‘Bloody French’ I think to myself. He gets up falls over and goes back to sleep in a different walkway. Another half hour passes, more people walk around him, he gets up pulls himself together, rubs his face, speaks more French, then swaggers to the bar. He could hardly stand up or talk he was so incoherent and the lovely staff could not figure out what he wanted. He disappeared.
24th December, same place, same time, same farang comes to the bar and abuses the owner. “Effing Thailand..last time I'll be back here” in English, Cockney if I’m not mistaken. I am English so I know the difference. UK rugby top on, so my French theory was put to bed, obviously a past life coming back in his stupor..
He continued his tirade against the Thais, “Unfriendly, money grabbers, sh*t” etc. At this stage I was a little concerned for the welfare of the petite Thai lady owner he was abusing but she kept her calm and in perfect English replied “If you want to have a drink you must pay for what you had yesterday.” She also made a phone call which I'm sure was to advise of the situation to other family members close by in case of needing backup. I know the family well and they are decent, hardworking people but would react strongly to any provocation.
Turns out he had had a skinfull the day before, had passed out, abused the staff and left without paying the bill.
“I would have remembered if I didn’t pay the bill” he responded.
“No, you were very drunk” the owner replied.
“I wasn’t that drunk” was his retort but then said ”So if I pay for yesterday can I have another drink?”
“Yes ok if you pay both now” the lovely lady said.
All this time I sat at the bar looking at him shaking my head. I thought he may come over and whack me and frankly I didn’t care. He was an arsehole, acting like everyone should be subservient to him because he had money to spend (or not as the case was).
After some ums and ars, he paid for 2 half bottles or whisky, the one he walked away from paying the day before, then drank the one in front of him in half an hour, and staggered down the beach..
I was embarrassed on all counts and thankfully I don’t see this too often on my 3 month visits to Thailand. You seriously can’t blame the Thais for not being as welcoming as they once were given the trash they have to deal with and I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg. Thankfully I don’t frequent the usual places this type of idiot does and I pity the staff that have to put up with it.
If you are this farang, or a farang who acts like this way and are reading this, SHAME ON YOU! SHAME THAT YOU THINK IT’S OK TO BEHAVE THIS WAY IN A COUNTRY NOT YOUR OWN, AND SHAME ON YOU FOR SUBJECTING CHILDREN & DECENT PEOPLE TO YOUR DRUNKEN SQUALLOR. BE ASHAMED, VERY ASHAMED!
Stickman's thoughts:
As more people visit Thailand these, it is to be expected that amongst them there will be some who leave their manners at home. To be frank, while I certainly do not blame the Thais in this instance, I think business owners have a responsibility to throw people like this out. The Thais may be non-confrontational generally but failure to remove this person from the premises could lose them others as customers.
