I'll preface this by saying that those are remarks I've been thinking through for quite a while. I am not looking for anyone's sympathy, but rather I'd like to understand the underlying reasons for some of the things I have noticed, and how they contradict some of the assumptions I and many have about Thailand.

I will separate my argument into 2 parts, the first of which will be about how one can feel excluded from Thai society as a foreigner despite efforts to integrate. The second part will be about how foreigners are often excluded by government policies no matter what their immigration status is.

I am a young expat 29M, who's been living in Thailand for the most part of 11 years (since I was 18), I can speak Thai with a decent level (including for some technical topics), I can read and write the language as well. I like to think I have a pretty good understand of the local culture thanks to the number of interactions I've had with locals over the years. I'm not very tall or strong, so definitely not the "intimidating" big farang type. I am not especially outgoing yet always quite friendly in my interactions with people.

Despite this, I always end up feeling like I don't really belong. I live in a local residential village in the northeastern outskirts of Bangkok where I seem to be the only foreigner (haven't seen another one in my 3 years here). While the village administration has made it a point to communicate with me, and formally invited me to attend the village's general assembly and vote as anyone else, I've noted a bit of suspiciousness towards me from some of the regular folks in the village. Do you guys know that look? When someone looks at you like they're wondering what the heck you're doing here? This often happens when I'm walking around the village or walking my dogs. Local neighbors will also often talk to each other, but I really haven't had any interaction with any of my neighbors in the past 3 years, except 1, but it was only because I'm the one who initiated the interaction. This brings me to my next point.

I often feel like locals kinda... don't want to talk to me? I have noticed that over the years, most of my acquaintances and friends were made only because I initiated first contact, never the other way around. Perhaps this is because the place where I live as well as my hobbies (aviation and car culture) don't typically attract the same kind of people who would be eager to talk with foreigners.

The following interaction is something I've seen so many times over, I can't recount exactly how many it's happened: I go out to enjoy one of my hobbies, I meet local friends there, I see a new person. That new person proceeds to completely ignore me and/or look at me out of the corner of the eye. I then begin to talk (in Thai) to that person and they will typically appear shocked or surprised. They will typically take a few seconds to comprehend that I am in fact talking to them, and that they can understand me. They then typically become much friendlier, and that's how most of my locals acquaintances and friends were made.

Considering that I'm not the most extroverted type, it never feels great to have to be the one constantly making the first move on people. It feels like everyone turns into a super introvert when around me.

So what's the big deal you say? Well even among the people I have made friends with, I always feel like I'm still a kind of outsider. Most of the time, including me or inviting me somewhere is always some kind of afterthought. This is as if yes, we're "friends", but I'm still a foreigner and not really like them.

Now, onto the second part of the argument and how I feel like foreign expats are always excluded from government programs and measures.

This was triggered by the recent announcement that a flat fare of 20 baht will be introduced for all Bangkok electric trains later this year. Those who are interested must register through an app. Of course, this is only for Thais, as the app used for registration requires a Thai ID card number. I am personally not bothered by that specific program and I do not use public transports anyhow, but it definitely feels like yet another policy that excludes me (and other foreigners) for no reason. Case in point is that working foreign expats are much more scrutinized by the revenue department and often pay taxes much more reliably than many locals (the number of people dodging taxes is astonishing), yet when it comes to seeing some of the benefits of the taxes we pay (like being able to get a cheaper flat fare on the BTS/MRT), well we can't. Entering national parks (also maintained through taxes that we pay)? We often have to pay 5 to 10 times more. I understand that some things are reserved for locals, but in many ways, people who work here, have family here and/or have a long-term non-immigrant status should be considered locals for those matters.

In many countries (mostly in the west, but also in some asian countries like Japan or Korea I believe), foreign expats and other long-term residents will have access to the same facilities and programs as native locals, for as long as they have a residency permit. In Thailand however, we seem to be constantly reminded that no matter how long we've been here, or how many roots we have grown here (in terms of work, family etc), we'll always be nothing more than temporary guests. When dealing with government bureaucracy, it often feels exacerbated.

I feel like this can be quite contradictory given Thailand's and Thai people's reputation as being friendly, welcoming and tolerant towards foreigners in general. It's like on the one hand, Thais are supposedly friendly and welcoming, but on the other hand, some Thais, especially the ones in government go out of their way to make foreigners feel like they shouldn't loiter around for too long. Meanwhile, in countries that often have the opposite reputation, like Japan or Korea, where it is often said that people aren't very fond of foreigners staying in their country, foreign expats get to enjoy the same privileges as locals for as long as they are permitted to stay.

I am having a hard grasping the logic here. I would like some of you guys, locals and foreigners alike to respectfully enlighten me a little.

I ask my co-worker, which she is a local Thai "P Kay, I have a sore throat, stuffy nose, little cough and headache.. what should I take for medicine?". And she replied "You can go to the hospital, so you can use the insurance and get the medicine for free".

Sounds like a good idea right, then I ask her "Wow sure, where do I go tho for the hospital?" and she said "Let me check... There's one hospital near your condo, it's like 600m from your condo". And then I was like sweet, I went to the hospital at 18:00. This is the hospital:

I got there, and then I was directed to the nurse who was also the receptionist. Then she asked me if I had an appointment or not, and I said no not yet. Then she ask my symptoms. and when I told her my symptoms, this was her reaction:

Sir, this is a mental hospital 😐

DAMN I was like deada$$ embarrassed. I was like "ooh really? I thought it was a general hospital" and she was like "no sir, we only treat mentally ill patients" and then I say thank you and left.

Damn that was like the craziest experience of my life.. Can't read thai, can't understand thai, and boom suddenly you're in a mental hospital 🤣

It was hella experience. I bet that nurse be like "should we take him in? maybe he is mentally ill that's why he came here and said those symptoms" damn sonnnn

and yeah, from now on, I need to check more thoroughly from the Google Maps... haha

Have a hard time believing this

My ride to Chanthaburi city interrupted yesterday as the runway at Tha Mai airport (navy) has an extension which crosses the road, brief holdup for traffic.

Three rainmaker planes based here took to the skies, additional photos from their Facebook page.

Heard them again this morning.

Tourists: 'clear skies'

Locals: 'rain'

I am from Hong Kong, but I work in Bangkok. In Hong Kong we like to gift nice snacks to doctors and their clinic staffs once we get to know them more. I have been visiting this hospital regularly for a treatment that I am doing, and it's been a few months and I have had a good experience with them. I want to bring them some Hong Kong snacks next time I go home as a token of my appreciation.

I told my girlfriend (she is Thai) about this and she told me Thai people don't usually do this, is it true ? If I do gift them some snacks, will it be viewed negatively ?

As a Thai and British mix child I’m sick of people making assumptions about my family or specifically prejudices against my mother. Everywhere we go including around Thai British, people are far too quick to assume my mother was a “poverty stricken” Thai young lady who married an older rich English man and Thai women even make remarks. I have grown up in Thailand i speak thai and identify mostly Thai but many people assume otherwise so say things in-front of me. In the UK I heard so many make sly remarks or when I attended boarding school when I was younger hear people make remarks. Even in this Reddit there are people who make assumptions or remarks about Thai women. It’s frustrating even more so when my mum is in fact the older woman she is from a wealthy family, she’s the one that pays for everything in my household from our properties, businesses, private school educations to my international uni fees in the states, while my dad is from a fairly poor background in the UK and doesn’t even work (but is great loving father). So sick and tired of assumptions especially when my mum is a hard worker from an esteemed family in Thailand and people reduce her to being a Thai wife all because when she was studying abroad she fell in love with a white man ?!?!? Rant over thank you :)

Hello,

First, thank you in advance for taking the time to read this. I won’t be posting specific identifying details in this post because I’m hesitant to blast someone’s photo and personal information without their permission. But putting that aside, I’d greatly appreciate assistance/advice based on the information I have and would be happy to answer follow-up questions here or privately, depending.

To begin, I’m searching for my birth mother. I have the full name she used on various documents while living in the United States, based on public records. I have done extensive searches across every platform I can think of, and from what I have determined, her trace goes cold in 2007 in Texas, United States. I tried to make an inquiry to the local police of her last known location and gave them all the information I have. They looked her up and told me her lease expired in 2007 and there were no residential updates. Her drivers license also expired in the 1990s, and there is no death record for her. She is not a U.S. citizen and given her lifestyle, I’ve been curious if she was deported, but I have no way of determining that, since I wouldn’t be able to get her signature. The detective said that no deportation records showed up on his end but that those don’t normally show up on his end.

I tracked down her two ex-husbands but only one got back to me. He gave me old pictures of her but didn’t have any names or information on her family or knowledge of what happened to her. I don’t imagine that her other ex-husband would know what happened to her either.

She was born in Thailand (I don’t know if she was born in Bangkok, but she reported that her family was from there). Her father died in 1960 and she and her mom came to the U.S shortly after, stayed for 3 years and then came back to Thailand. My birth mom returned (likely alone) to the United States in 1972. She also has/had a sister and brother. Her brother supposedly remained in Bangkok when my birth mom relocated to the U.S. and her sister supposedly lived in the United States at some point. I don’t know if she still does or if either of them are still alive or who their own families are. I have their “street names,” but no other information about them. I have my birth mother’s name and birthdate that she reported but I have no idea what her official birth Thai name was or if she changed her name when she came to the U.S. or if it’s different from her first and maiden name she used in the U.S.

I know she lived a hard lifestyle and didn’t maintain regular contact with her siblings, ex-husbands, children, etc. But even so, I’d still like to know that she’s safe and figure out what happened to her. No one seems to know. Right now, she is literally dust in the wind.

I connected with an ex FBI agent who did a brief look into her as well. She has no credit history, phone number, email address, no information on her and her last known address is the lease that expired in 2007. I am currently trying to see if one of his contacts knows any PIs in Thailand but right now I don’t even know if she’s there. She most likely would only have ended back up there if she was deported, based on what I was told.

The reason I am posting in this Thailand form is:

1. I’m curious if anyone knows if there’s a way to determine if someone was deported without needing their signature?
2. I have my birth mother’s U.S. reported first name and supposed maiden name, her birthdate and some potential birth locations (Bangkok, Ubon Rathathani and Udon Thani), and decades old pictures of her. Can that somehow be used to try and search for her or find her birth record and family names in Thai? I don’t speak or read the language so navigating Thai websites has been impossible and overwhelming, even when I do the translate to English feature which doesn’t always work for me).
3. A U.S. based "Search Angel" which is someone who helps adoptees find their birth family for free told me that my best bet is to find a Search Angel who has connections in Thailand, speaks the language, can look up/pull records, etc. since based on everything I outlined, she believes that my birth mom is likely back in Thailand. Does anyone here know of a Search Angel with Thailand connections?

DNA testing didn’t produce any results other than distant relatives. None of them know who their ancestors are, so that was a dead end too. My birth father would not be of any use in this particular case.

The people with my birth mother's maiden surname who live in the U.S. is also a short list and I confirmed none of them are her siblings. I tried also searching her siblings “street names” that I was given in different databases to try and find her sister but didn’t have enough information to figure it out.I also tried sending emails and letters to two regional administration offices based on the areas that showed up on my DNA testing profile with a birth record search request for my birth mom but never heard back.

Does anyone have any potential advice or recommendations?

I don’t really have a ton of $$$ to spend on a PI, and I’m hesitant to spend so much money given how little information people have come back with already. So, a Search Angel with connections to Thailand, who speaks the language and can look up records would be much appreciated, if anyone has recommendations.

Again, happy to answer any additional questions. Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. :)

i went to thailand in august and found this specific tea at nearly every gas station i went and it’s so good i haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. i’ve looked for it online, but none of the places i’ve seen ship to the us. does anyone know how i could possible get this to the us? also im looking for specifically the watermelon flavor. thank yall so much🙏🙏

Wanting to avoid lugging heavy kit with me & preferable to leasing kit. Any recommendations for pro kit (Canon bodies and lenses) also equipped studio suggestions welcomed.

Many thanks

I’ve been traveling around thailand for about a month and have caught a pretty mean cold and cough was wondering what you recommend I get from 7 eleven or pharmacy that’ll help with my cough. Thank you

Hi there, I’m visiting Thailand (Bangkok) this month. Please suggest me some wholesale places for purchasing skincare items like Serum, Night cream, soap and all in bulk/Wholesale.

Quite curious about your opinions and experiences.

Pattaya is full of CCTV cameras. What happens to this footage? Do they provide real-time surveillance and automatic facial recognition? For example, in the walking streets, are these recordings used to investigate violations after the fact? For example, violations of the Narcotics Act, theft, and so on?

To what extent is there an independent investigation afterwards? After all, all facial images are stored from the time of entry into the country. It should all be matched and investigated or is this technical not mature enough? Especially when reentering again.

Im female, and due to expenses back in uk and not found a partner that wanted to move out of his parents house for same reasons, I came to Thailand to focus on my career and growth so i can save money for the future. I feel not enough women speak out about this, and there isn’t many like me here, its mostly men. Lately ive felt lonely here and tried putting myself out there, of course im met with constant toxicity and selfish intentions and its really just making me so exhausted being here, I mentally feel more drained trying to find meaningful connections with others than actually working! This place goes against all my values in people, i like kindness, and genuine people, but this place has sold a sex crazed, club and greed culture, that it permanently leaves this mark inside the people who stay minds, where they dont know how to blur lines between the sex tourism part from normal people. When in approached its harassment, sexualisation and no respect, i feel unsafe here as a female from men, and also the female travellers are equally as toxic because they will lie about there time spent here or cling onto there boyfriends. I want to leave as my visa is running out, but i cant think of places that is warm, peaceful, and generally not known for sexpats mentality. I feel really overwhelmed and stressed out here because i feel like a prey in a land full of predators, even going to 7 eleven makes me nervous . Any recommendations for women alone, that is much better to make connections and have a healthier lifestyle?

We’re (hopefully, as still waiting to sign a contract) looking at relocating to bkk and wondering what the conditions of high rise condos after the earthquake. We’re specifically looking at the Rama 9 area. Obviously don’t particularly want to move somewhere where we will have to relocate again quickly.

I remember last few years in Chiang Mai/Chiang Mai

38 C minimum around this time of year and up to 45 C on extreme days

Phuket last year around this time was 38 C everyday, blazing sunshine everyday and extremely hot

Weather forecast for Chiang Mai shows just 30-35 C in the next few weeks

Hi everyone,

Basically I have been having intense heart wrenching scary palpitations for three years. Did all kinds of tests but no one has been able to figure it out. I am wondering if there is any hospital or clinic that has a good reputation for figuring things out?

I have always used royal canin as they have a good reputation, but now I'm seeing online some people discussing some cons like not mentioning the % of meat and using alot of low quality carbs

What's your thoughts on royal canin

And what's the best dog food available in Thailand in your opinion?

I’m living and working in Thailand for the next 6 months. I picked up a 15 day tourist sim at the 7-11, but I’m not a tourist and need something longer.

I don’t have a Thai bank account, so not sure what my options hare here. Just buy a 30 day tourist sim each month? Top up my existing number when it expires (seems the more expensive option)?

Thanks for any tips!

I have family visiting so I have to opportunity to get some, otherwise unattainable, home comforts. What would you ask them to bring for you? In case I forgot something. Last time I got 3kg of confectionery!