And I Thought Filipinos Were Rude | Thais Are Worse

In the past I wrote a post about how rude Filipinos can be. But it is more of a rudeness by ignorance than rudeness by malice. With Thai people there is a whole different level of rudeness.

thai-people-suck

Thai people suck

To be fair I do think Thai people are a little better about the lack of self awareness type things that are annoying about Filipinos. They may stop in a crowded walkway from time to time, or try and get on an elevator before people get off, but it doesn’t seem to happen near as often as in the Philippines.

Examples of Rude Thais

But Thais are rude in other ways, and I’ll take the goofy Filipino rudeness over the Thailand style any day. Lots of people want to write off Thai rudeness as being all because of the language barrier. That can account for some of it, but not all.

I get in more confrontations in Thailand a month then I do in a year in the Philippines. I am a very unconfrontational person and try to avoid them at all costs. Filipinos are the same. Thais….. not so much.

Of course in Pattaya when they were trying some of their scammy or rip off things that I detailed here that would lead to many of them. But there were other situations that got blown out of hand for no reason. Here is the best example.

Confrontational Reception Lady

I was checking into a place in Bangkok that had serviced apartments on AirBnb and they clean the rooms every day. I ask the lady at the front desk (who I could already tell was a no-nonsense type of person) if I can have them not come in my room every day.

I am a big boy and can keep my room clean enough on my own. I don’t need maids in my room 6 days a week. She says that they can come in twice a week to clean and change the sheets, I ask for once a week and she says ‘impossible.’

Why is this impossible? I am the customer, I am trying to offer them the chance to do less work, and for some reason this is ‘impossible.’ I protest and she will not budge. In the Philippines this would be met with a yes sir and would have been done after I asked the first time.

Fast forward 2 days later. I have just had a really fucked up 2 days where I switched around my sleep schedule and stayed up an extra 12 hours to do so. I don’t do well with no sleep and am like a zombie.

They are supposed to come in every Tuesday and Friday to change the sheets and clean. This is a Wednesday and when I get back my patio door is wide open and I can tell my room has been cleaned.

I am not really sure why they came in but I also want to avoid talking to ‘impossible’ as much as I can so I let it slide. But the back door being left open pisses me off because I killed three mosquitoes over the next 2 days. I am uber paranoid about dengue and malaria.

The next day I wake up and plan on having some ham and cheese croissants for breakfast. I get the ham and cheese out of the fridge and go to grab the croissants off the microwave….. they are gone.

They were tied up in a grocery bag to not go stale. I look all around and they are nowhere. I remember how the maids had been in my room and the only thing I can think of is that they threw them out.

I decide I really can’t have these maids in my room this often messing with my stuff and letting mosquitoes in. I go down to talk to the crazy lady at the front desk and do my best to keep things calm. That lasts all of 20 seconds.

I smile, speak quietly, and try to explain how I would prefer the maids not come in my room anymore. She is saying they have to come. I remind her that she said they would only come Tuesday and Friday and point out how the day before was Wednesday.

She asks what happened and I hesitate……. but I think that without saying what happened I will never get what they want. So I say that the back door was left open and that something small that wasn’t a big deal may have got thrown out.

She instantly picks up the phone and calls the maid. 30 seconds later front desk lady and the maid are talking in Thai. More like yelling. Crazy lady keeps saying impossible impossible, the maid is saying no…… shit has spiraled out of control as crazy front desk lady is escalating and escalating.

Eventually I get what I want. They agree to only come in once a week. Later that day I realized that I ate the croissant during my 12 hours of staying up :).

So ya, I am kind of to blame here hehehe, but in the Philippines there is no way that this ends in a shouting match. It would be yes sir, sorry sir, no problem sir.

Here it was arguing, fighting, yelling. Calling in the maid to make her lose face in front of me. Just a completely different culture as far as confrontations go.

Don’t Speak Unless Totally Necessary

If you are trying to get anything accomplished in Thailand you need to say as few words as possible and let the people do what they do.

They don’t really have any interest in hearing what you have to say anyways and your talking will only go to mess things up. They are going to do what they want to do regardless of what you say.

This is true to an extent in the Philippines as well, but again in a less rude way. I remember months ago I was eating at Ayala Mall when a pasta place was having a buffet.

I ate it 3 times in a couple weeks and the last time they had some really good pesto bow tie pasta that hadn’t been there the other two times. When I went to load up another plate the manager was standing nearby and I told him it was good.

He said yes sir and rushed away, I don’t think he even listened to a word I said and it was totally pointless for me to say it (which I knew beforehand.) Well in Thailand this is how it always is.

Just say the bare minimum to get the job done and go on with your day. Don’t make small talk, and don’t crack silly jokes that they won’t understand.

But Silly Jokes Are My Whole Game!

Ya this part really hurts me and it took me quite awhile to adapt. As I have written numerous times on this blog the way to deal with sexy Filipinas is to keep the mood light, be a silly joker, and act like a kid.

This just confuses a majority of the girls in Thailand and doesn’t seem to help you out much. It seems like they would prefer to just have boring ‘did you take your dinner yet?’ conversations day after day instead of being fun and playful like Pinays.

This one I will kind of write off as a language barrier thing, and when I was in Bangkok and texting with some girls there that spoke better English they were more down with the jokes.

Even the note that I hand to girls is a bit silly but it presses the right buttons with Pinays and gets them to smile and be happy when they read it. Well it didn’t play well in Pattaya.

I handed out maybe 10 of them (all to hookers except for one girl working at 7-11 next to LK Metro who probably gets hit on often) and none of them texted me.

One night when I had first gotten there I was going to pick up some food and noticed this cute girl with her friends eating at an outdoor small Thai resto.

I picked up my meal and gave her my number on the walk back by even though it was an awful approach spot, I had to hand her my number through a chain fence lol.

When I approached I realized she wasn’t as hot as I had previously thought but I had already started talking with her. Her and her friends seemed pretty receptive and things were left on what I felt were good terms.

Later that night there she is at iBar. She smiles and I go over and say hi. She reaches in her purse, pulls out the note, and throws it at me.

I miss Pinays :(.

Another Run In With Rude Front Desk Lady

While I stayed at that apartment I mentioned before I did my best to avoid the crazy lady at the front desk. I always walked around the side exit to avoid having to talk to her.

Well the internet at this place was pretty shoddy and a few times I had to call down to the front office and ask her to reset the modem. Public and shared wifi generally sucks in Asia, and while this one reached good speed when it was working it lacked in consistency.

I had to do this 3 times in a month, and would have done it more if I didn’t have the 4g from my phone to tether off of. Well on my last day I was out of load for my phone but had no choice but to call down.

Crazy lady asks who is calling, I tell her who, and she says the wifi is fine. Hmm well not for me so please reset it. She says she will send her staff and hangs up.

10 minutes later there is a knock on my door and some guy who works there wants to come in and use my computer to see if it really isn’t working? Lolwut? I tell him nevermind and deal with the slow shitty wifi.

I go out to get some food a few hours later and as I go around the side exit I notice her peering out the window at me. When I get to the street she is there.

She tells me that she sent someone to my room to check on the wifi but I wouldn’t let him in. I confirm that happened (I know cuz I was there) and say its OK if they want to check they can do it the next day when I am gone.

Her reply: We won’t because we know there is no problem. I say OK and walk back inside.

This lady is like consistently the worst at customer service that I may have ever dealt with. She watches for me to leave to come pick a fight with me. Psycho.

And Another!

So I wrote the above post on my last night in BKK. When I woke up I quickly had to check out and head to the airport. I threw all of my life’s possessions in my bag but the only thing I couldn’t bring with me was the fan I bought a month earlier.

When I left the place I stayed at in Angeles I left the fan with the hotel staff and said they can use until I come back, if I come back, but if it is still there I would use it again. They said thank you and were happy to have an extra fan around the place for many months, and to get the ‘if I don’t come back’ freeroll.

In Cebu I left both a fan and an electric stove, once again with no problems or rudeness at all. Crazy lady don’t play like that though.

I told her there was a chance I would return in a month and asked if she could keep my fan there in the office and use it, and then if I came back I would use it for a month and then they could keep it.

‘If you give me fan I give away you no get back.’ I realize there is aircon in the office and they aren’t using fans, so I say what if you leave in the laundry room and for the maids.

‘No if you give you not get back, you can give but no get back.’ I reply with ‘OK nevermind I will go find someone kind to give it to and that is how I end things with crazy lady.

I walk past a laundry shop and give them the fan, not sure they understood my whole ‘maybe I come back in a month thing’ but I think they did. At least that uberbitch didn’t get it.

Is it just me that thinks Thai people are rude? Let me know your experiences with rude Thais in the comments.

29 Responses

  1. jspill says:

    Lol. Yeah i don’t find Thais that rude. That reception lady was about menopause age so a bit of an exception. How often do we talk to old women, not very often.

  2. Steven says:

    Hmm, how do I even start this? First of all I’m a big guy so I understand they are going to stare a lot. Okay Let us see, driving on the sidewalk, not moving out the way when I walk by them, staring at my stomach instead of my face, saying stuff about me when I walk by thinking I do not understand, and I could go on and on. Dante I 100% back you on this and let us not forgot Thai people love calling us fat. When I was in Cebu the people actually called me “sir”. I was in shock!!!! BTW Dante I read your books last week and enjoyed reading the stories. Last thing, one time last year in BKK a old guy actually grabbed my stomach at the 7-11. and I did not even know this man. This is one of the reasons why I need a much need break from BKK and will look forward to going somewhere else soon. Regards, Steven

    • RumandCokeMan says:

      They sound like assholes.

      To be clear-
      So by ‘big’ you mean obese and not tall and large like an American football player.

      Are you short or old?

      Could it be they do this because they think of you as weak? It sounds like a US public school mindset smaller fats kids get picked on but tall and strong ones who are fat like football players are left alone by the smart asses and bullies.

      Would the Charlie’s in Thailand do this to a 6’4 America football player (i.e. Built like an offensive lineman) type of big dude who had a belly on him?

  3. Henry says:

    U might like this one:
    http://nessthenomad.com/10-things-i-dont-miss-about-thailand/
    Personally i m just pissed off by the horrible english skills of thais.
    I m not fat, so never had those issues luckily.
    Someone grabbed ur belly cause they thought its too big?? 🙂

    • jspill says:

      ‘Culturally insensitive, filthy with a low sense of personal hygiene, entitled, hedonistic, and a bunch of cheapskates. And it’s not just the tourists – many of the long-term expats are the same way.’

      Sounds like he’s describing Dante there 😀

  4. Henry says:

    Haha… its funny u guys actually share a blog 🙂
    Lets not bash Thailand too much, it always depends on who u meet. I met sweet Thais and annyoing ones… just gotta next the stupid ones – like anywhere.
    And that u cant talk much with them has its advantages too… some Filipinas are too bubbly.

  5. RumandCokeMan says:

    How was Indonesia and its people’s treatment of foreigners Dante? Did it differ from Jakarta to the beach towns?

    As I read this post I thought-
    What would happen in Thailand or Phils if one of them made you (or me)so mad and you lost your temper and started to cuss at them and/or called them ethnic slurs-call the cops? give a white boy an ass kicking? denial of services? or just ‘you ugly too Farang’ name calling fest?

    • kick2dante says:

      in thailand they would probably argue back, in phils they would be so shocked they would just stand their speachless probably

      jakarta people are very nice, pretty much the same as phils but with less english

  6. Harley says:

    I’ve had similar confrontations with such rude receptionists in Bangkok. It was at MT residence in Ramkhamhaeng soi 42. Very rude and obviously frustrated and even when I complained to her superior they didn’t to anything about it. She even started name calling me.

  7. Harley says:

    In Jakarta most people dont speak English at all. Even less than in Bangkok. Bali has more local English speakers, almost like Phil.

  8. RumandCokeMan says:

    Yeah I couldn’t see myself acting that way to a Filipino either man-they are too warm and nice of a people. Thais and Koreans are another story though.

    Glad they are decent to tourists in Indonesia.

    Do you ever see yourself covering South America or Eastern Europe?

  9. fbcj says:

    There was a time when Americans believed in freedom.

    The US is dying from a million cuts. Part of the reason the USA is a nanny police state now is that whenever there is a problem, the kneejerk reaction in the US is to call for a new law.

    Nanny state laws are not the best solution, however. Nanny state laws lead to more laws, higher fines, and tougher sentences. Thirty years ago, DWI laws were enacted that led to DWI checkpoints and lower DWI levels. Seatbelt laws led to backseat seatbelt laws, childseat laws, and pet seatbelt laws. Car liability insurance laws led to health insurance laws and gun liability laws. Smoking laws that banned smoking in buildings led to laws against smoking in parks and then bans against smoking in entire cities. Sex offender registration laws led to sex offender restriction laws and violent offender registration laws.

    Nanny state laws don’t make us safer, either. Nanny state laws lead people to be careless since they don’t need to have personal responsibility anymore. People don’t need to be careful crossing the street now because drunk-driving has been outlawed and driving while using a cellphone is illegal. People don’t investigate companies or carry out due diligence because businesses must have business licenses now.

    The main point of nanny state laws is not safety. The main purposes of more laws are control and revenue generation for the state.

    Another reason laws are enacted is because corporations give donations to lawmakers to stifle competition or increase sales.

    Many laws are contradictory, too. Some laws say watering lawns is required, while other laws say watering lawns is illegal.

    Many nanny state laws that aim to solve a problem can be fixed by using existing laws. If assault is already illegal, why do we need a new law that outlaws hitting umpires?

    Nanny state laws are not even necessary. If everything was legal would you steal, murder, and use crack cocaine? Aren’t there other ways to solve problems besides calling the police? Couldn’t people educate or talk to people who bother them? Couldn’t people be sued for annoying behavior? Couldn’t people just move away? Even if assault was legal, wouldn’t attackers risk being killed or injured, too? Do people have consciences? Having no laws doesn’t mean actions have no consequences.

    If there is no victim, there is no crime.

    We don’t need thousands of laws when we only need 10.

    Freedom is not just a one way street. You can only have freedom for yourself if you allow others to have it.

    Should swimming pools be banned because they are dangerous? Hammers? Bottles? Rocks? Energy drinks? Pillows?

    Control freaks might get angry when a neighbor owns three indoor cats, but what did the neighbor take from them? Why should this be illegal? Is outlawing cats something a free country should do? Doesn’t banning everything sound like the opposite of freedom?

    Instead of getting mad at people who like freedom, why don’t people realize that freedom is a two way street?

    If you allow others to paint their house purple then you can, too.

    If you allow others to own a gun then you can, too.

    If you allow others to swear then you can, too.

    If you allow others to gamble then you can, too.

    Who wants to live in a prison?

    Think. Question everything.

    • RumandCokeMan says:

      The political rabbit holes root of tyranny not symptoms you just described is-
      b-a-n-k-e-r-s

      Google the Bankers Manifesto of 1882, and Albert Pikes 3 World Wars

      The Federal Reserve started in 1913 the in 1916 the 16th Amendment was unconstitutionally ratified and only a year later (1917) WW1 went down. All these wars are a bankers hustle like UNs and roses said in a song “I don’t need your civil war, it feeds the rich while it buries the poor”.

  10. harley says:

    This experience you had is EXACTLY the kind of frustrated Thai I had encountered at my first ever apartment in Bangkok.

    The best you can do is simply ignore her and leave the place, and right before you leave tell her that you found her to be very rude, and just walk away without looking back. That’s what I did even though I had to wait thru the whole month until the rent would finish. That’s when I heard her name calling to me behind my back while I just left.

    I stayed 2 more years in Bangkok after that and my second experience was with the condo I moved in. I paid 20,000 baht for a 1 bedroom condo for 1 year and paid a 2 month deposit, but the owner and her husband were also extremely rude to me on the phone, just because a neighbor complained several times to the building manager that I was making too much noise, which wasn’t really true.

    When my contract almost ended they kicked me out and took 1 month deposit (20,000 baht) and only returned 1 month instead of the 40,000 I should have gotten because nothing in the whole condo was broken when I left.

    Then a few weeks after I left the condo that neighbor who complained (a fat Thai chick in a relationship with an ugly old Canadian guy) actually rented my condo and left hers. So my suspicions were true that they did all this just to get me out and take over my condo unit which was a lot bigger than theirs and not that much more expensive.

  11. harley says:

    and you don’t have to feel sad about the ventilator fan you left behind and that cooking stove. I’ve left behind a lot of stuff and just didn’t think about it.

    My office desk for which I paid 150$ is just one example, because I wasn’t able to sell it to anyone unfortunately before my rent was finishing and even after that nobody was interested. Then a printer that I really needed and paid 250$ for and nobody would buy from me even I posted it online for almost a fraction of the price. Yeah… I really needed that printer for a while, but then it was just impossible to sell.

  12. Jobo says:

    Thais problem is Thais think they are the center of the universe and their shit smells like roses. The truth is Thailand smells like shit and the world is laughing at the their half assed backward country.

  13. kumar says:

    Just want to share my experience . I have been to thailand 8 times. I just return from bangkok today and was searching online why thais are so rude. And happened to land on this page.

    My trip was just 5 days and all the following happened:

    I landed at the airport and asked a lady security officer where was the skytrain and she just pointed the direction and turn away. And i went to chatuchat market and order some food but can’t finish the fries so i asked the shop man to pack it and he rolled his eyes irritated and walked away and came back 15 mins later. It was just fries.

    I took a cab but the driver did not on the meter and he also did not tell me he won’t start the meter and the price, so when i did ask him he said no meter. I told him i’ll only pay 150 bhat but i know the price was only around 75 bhat as i took it earlier from my hotel. When i reached my destination i handed him 150 bhat and he started yelling so loud. i tried to argue with him too but in the end i just paid up since i did not want any trouble.

    And when i wanted to go from my hotel to the airport no taxi wanted to use the meter and quoted me 500 bhat and some even drove off when i asked them if they could use the meter. I totally agree with this articale as not once or twice but more than that. i am just sharing my most recently trip experience. This will be the last time i’m traveling to thailand. They need to learn to be more respectfully , which i doubt is going to happen anytime soon.

    p.s: there were still other things that happened but i think you get to point.

    • thibault says:

      sorry but it seems you have unrealistic expectations.
      1. any security officer in the world aint going to be polite. theur job is to keep things secore, they re not public relation officer. if they lose time answering, they get distracted, some may do it on purpose. ask a custom officer to chit chat in youe airport. he wil’ strip search you to the rectum, so much you look suspect doing that.
      2 the doggy bag is something tyat just does not exist anywhere outside of the usa, maybe some others. ylu do t pay a quanity of food, but a service. if you cant finish, your fault. nobody is supposed to have more work and pay for a container because of you.
      3. taxi driver are scammers the world over nothing new herec outside of the facr that you should prepare to it instead of waiting for some honest white knight to be nice with you.

  14. Patrick says:

    I have lived in Thailand for a number of years. I find Thais some of the nicest friendliest people in Asia. Mind you i dont stay in tourist area or hotels. I have stayed in Temples and apartments in area Westerners seldom go. My Thai friends have saved me a number of times regarding medical emergencies and once when i was in Myanmar and needed money.If you just stay in the tourist areas and go to gogo bars your not going to meet the average Thai make a attempt to learn there culture.
    As far has comparing. Thais Fillipinos you cant really compare remember Thailand was never conquered its culture was never westernized. The concept of face is greater then the phillipines. The phillipines was under Western occupation for 400 years first by the Spanish then the Americans. They adopted the religion of there conquerors and are the most westernized people in Asia certain eastern concepts are weaker in PI, such has face. Some advice never make a Thai person lose face they will try to get revenge otherwise there cool people. I enjoy reading your blog

  15. Gennie says:

    I’ve been living here in thailand as an esl teacher for 2 years now and I agree with you about the part where thais doesn’t give you your stuff back. I lived in an apartment for a whole semester and the landlady was really nice, but just when I was going to move out and said I’m going get my things once I come back, they said I cannot have it and they never even gave me my deposit back when it was clearly stated in my 6 month contract that I can have my deposit money back once I leave. Another part is people calling you fat. I’m an average built and I like to wear baggy clothes at home and I’m aware that it can make me look big but I don’t care as long as I’m comfortable. Hell they even make fun about my choice of clothes and they always call me fat as if it was a laughing matter! even at the school canteen who serves us food will serve the thin ones a large portion while the bigger ones, they will give you very little portion no matter how much you pay.

    then there is this thing with the clothing stores. one look and they will be the one to decide for your size not you. they said kept insisting that I am an XL but actually I am M. my choice of clothing yeah so I have no choice but to buy an XL and once I wear it at home, it was 2 sizes bigger than me. Fuck it.

    then the privacy. they will be friendly with you and try to get to know you then the next day, everyone in the neighborhood already knows everything about you and it was like normal to them but to me it is so rude. I hate gossips and I even hate it when people even try to spy on me. I am rooming with 6 other thai teachers and time to time, they freakin’ knock on my door just to know what am I doing to the point where they check out everything I have in my room! so I have no choice but to move out.

  16. Jobo says:

    I’ve been in SE Asia for a while now. The most helpful piece of advice I have ever been giving about dealing with the locals: “Treat them all like retarded ten year old children and you’ll get along fine”

    This advice works, to further break that statement down, how would you treat a retarded ten year old? You would need lots of patience, don’t frighten them, explain things very simply and clearly, if they don’t understand don’t get mad, smile a lot and just ignore them if you don’t need anything or want to talk to them.

  17. Allie says:

    Been working at a Thai place. I came in with an open mind, after having worked there for 2 years I had enough of the abuse. Thai women in my experience are rude, if they can blame someone else for what they did wrong they will and if you make any mistake they’ll go off on you and tell you you’re worthless. There’s no insight into what they do wrong or what they are like. Generally speaking I am very cautious around Thai women. I’d like to say I don’t like them at all. But some are nice. I think they should be nicer to one another stop talking behind each other’s back and generally speaking behave. Hopefully I’ll have better experiences around Thai women some other time. Oh yeah also I’m a woman.

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