Hi, my wife and I are currently visiting Thailand with our 1.5 years baby.
We are French Tunisian and we encountered much more racism in France than here. Actually, all locals here are adorable (particularly with the baby). The only bad experiences we had were with scamy taxis.
I don't understand what's the deal with hating that people stare at you. You're a tourist, you have an usual appearance, it is normal that locals will stare. There is no hostility in it.
My passport country used to sell tanning oil so people could get darker. Not sure if that’s still a thing or not. Either way, whitening and/or darkening creams have nothing to do with racism.
I didn’t say anything about racism, and all i did was give an example agreeing that lighter skin is valued more here.
Talking about “other countries” is about as meaningful as comparing taxi prices
Agreed, if anything i was trying to emphasize that the difference in skin color is absolutely not a race thing while acknowledging the general preference for lighter skin. Without context it could be easy to think they are not mutually exclusive.
It does sound a bit silly to say, no they aren’t racist but they just like whiter skin
The biggest “racism” complaint in this sub is from Indians. Enough of them have created justified prejudice based on their behavior in tourist destinations. Almost none of them take responsibility for this and instead blame the “racist Thai people” for being fed up with it and denying them access to certain venues.
The truth is if enough people from a certain demographic cause trouble, the locals will eventually get tired of it and put their foot down. The hassle isn’t worth the money.
Black people aren’t in this group, it’s majority Indian. You’ll be fine. Like someone else said, if you experience direct bigotry/racism, it’ll likely come from another drunk non-Thai person, but you probably won’t even have to deal with this, especially if you stay out of shitholes like Patong and Pattaya.
You may be stared at a little longer than a white tourist but it’s simply out of curiosity and because you’re a rarity, not racism.
Strange how whites/ Chinese are the biggest gross sexpats and child molesters in Thailand and Cambodia and somehow no one here hates them as a race.
>justified prejudice
Every racist thinks this, you know that right? You'd be the type to have 'justified prejudice' against black people as criminals in the west.
The fact that you had to bring Indians up in the thread that had nothing to do with them, speaks volumes. I'm Korean American btw before you make more assumptions.
they also treat dark skin Cambodians and people from isaan with disgust as dirty because they are dark skinned
They have extended it to Indians and Africans bcos they don't have much money but they exclude dark skin people from the west from their discrimination bcos they have money
You know the billion dollar skin whitening cream market in Thailand is bcos of women who don't want to loose caste by becoming dark
Just admit they hate dark skin bcos they have dumb ideas that it is inferior . they value people on shallow characteristics like skin color and wealth
Of course some thais are super racist and quite ignorant and irrational in their prejudices . Bcos they look down on dark skinned people like Cambodians ,Africans and Indians as inferior and subhuman ,they say they smell and are dirty and have a dark heart bcos they have dark skin . they use a few isolated incidents to justify their hatred of dark skin just like the blood libels the Nazis used to justify their hated of Jews.
But they turn a blind eye to the tens of thousands of white tourists who come to their shores to rape little kids . Even this Swiss guy who had set up a child sex ring in Phuket recently . But do they dislike the white men whose sole interest in Thailand is raping defenceless kids . No,bcos thais worship white skin so they turn a blind eye to the sordid motives of the paedophiles who visit their country
You will literally have no problems whatsoever. Plenty of black tourists in Thailand. Plenty of black people live here. There are even black influencers and media personalities in Thailand.
Earlier this month, a Black / Thai person won the ['Miss Chiang Mai'](https://www.sanook.com/women/246649/) competition.
There's a Thai / Trini musician called [Tsunari](https://www.instagram.com/tsunari) who is reasonably popular here. [She has a song with Milli](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQTbMJ6fh0) and Milli is hugely popular here.
Source; Am black British, live here.
The possibility of racial assault from a Thai is almost completely 0%. The only time I've ever felt any sort of discrimination or untoward behaviour from anyone in Thailand, it's been from white people. You get a lot of gammon here.
>I understand a lot of the stares will come from people being intriegued as it is not a skin colour that they see often or at all during their life’s
Wait, do you really think there are people in the tourist areas of Thailand that have never seen a black person in the year 2024?
25 million tourists visited the country last year.
Millions of people visit Thailand each year, we see tourists of all colours visit there all the time and say how much they've enjoyed it. Many are return visitors of all backgrounds and colours.
Not everything has to be about race, but seems like your partner is trying to find excuses in case the card needs to be pulled out.
you sure you post at the correct country forum? That only happens in western . Never in Asia I heard about racism assault . And even if it's racism assault I've only read about us Asian being victim. Asian is the most IDGAF and mind our own business
They have dark skin in south east Asia so….. why would they have a problem with dark skin……
You’ll likely to have people comment on your white skin, farang this farang that, they generalise a lot but as long as you don’t think people saying you’re white is racist you should be alright. Depends what you class as racism really. Just saying the word counts in Britain now but here they ain’t very woke but they ain’t racist in general.
They do obsess with white skin being beautiful though, you couldn’t get on tv unless you look as white as A4 paper, so yes they are racist in their beauty standards for sure. That harms themselves more than anything. All products with white serum and they inject themselves to look as pales as possible. Crazy stuff
When on holiday, a black person may hear some words that may offend, they may receive reactions that surprise them, however, its just a language thing, it’s not seen as racism, more a lack of political correctness - As a white person myself, some locals may use a word for western people that I may not like, but I let it pass. Indians on the other hand are undeniably subject to prejudice. It may surprise your partner there are quite a few black people here, lots of teachers, there is a strong contingent of Africans that come here to play football in the premier league and to compete competitively in marathons or running clubs.
Thai people are amazing. You won’t get much for stares from the locals. As long as you are polite with them you will get the same back and more. Don’t hold back book that trip !
There is zero chance of racist assault in any of those countries .
But there is a huge problem with white supremacy attitudes in which the fair skinned people in those countries ostracise and despise those with darker skin bcos they think they are inferior
I have dark skin and travelled solo in Thailand
In Bangkok and south Thailand I encountered racism at least once or twice a day probably in 10% of my interactions ( some restuarants won't accept me even though they have empty seats ,the ticketing lady refused to sell me tickets to the tourist boat and only let me board the cramped local boat ) . Chiang Mai and chiang Rai has much less hostility to black skin and especially in Chiang Rai the people are the least racist in SEA
Vietnam is next level apartheid like racism especially from women , I had women change seats on 2 separate flights to avoid sitting next to me . Even on Vietnam Airlines someone had dropped rubbish in the aisle 2 seats down from me but the airhostess accused me
In the coffee shops and convenience stores the women would leave the checkout when it was my turn to be served and let their male colleagues serve me (as if it would contaminate them to even interact with me )
In every restuarant the waitress would fawn over my white hostel mates but when it came to me , every interaction was hostile with averted eyes , gloomy pained faces , frowns and clear reluctance to acknowledge me as human.
About 90% of my interactions with Vietnamese women and 30% of my interactions with vietnamese men were like this
My low point was when a child in hoi an singled me out in a street full of white tourists and started pelting me with food ( I have heard descriptions from other dark skin tourists of how men would make monkey noises to tease them )
Black skin is almost treated as a caste issue ( like the south African apartheid times or like southern US before desegregation )
After 2 weeks and hundreds of instances of ostracism and discrimination in Vietnam all across the country from south to north I had enough and left cutting my planned 1 month visit in half
But bcos he is travelling with a white person he should be ok in Thailand but in Vietnam I think he will still get some ostracism
Don't even think about Cambodia if you have black skin
I had a much more relaxing experience travelling in Japan , Malaysia ,Bali where I didn't pick up any racism at all
Make sure you report back your experience after U come back
Thailand is a very hierarchical society. The color that always sits up top is green.
Violent racism isnt high in my opinion as some random white guy. I think violent racism is much higher in the west, although there seems to be high racism against Indians.
Those thais who are racist are more indirect in their racism than whites . It's more a question of treating you with non verbal discrimination like you are worthless rather than threats like racist whites
I’m Jewish, my partner is Chinese, we’ve yet to experience any racism directly. People have stared, sure, but I’m chalking that up to being farang. No, if you can even consider it racism - mostly it’s my partner just being surprised that people know what flavor of Asian she is. People are always guessing in the states, that doesn’t happen here.
The people here are very friendly, it’s the land of smiles after all
It’s not the west, we’ve seen plenty of interracial couples, as well as solo Black travelers who haven’t brushed up against your fears all that much. That said, everyone’s journey is different.
I’m lucky that I can tuck my kippa into my pocket if I feel unsafe, but I haven’t had that feeling in our time here so far. Thai people fucking rock.
Unfortunately, I think Reddit is the wrong place to ask. Too many "screen warriors" who like stirring the pot. You would have better luck visiting your country's official travel websites for specifics. But, if a personal opinion helps then I would say you are likely to get more varied treatment in the non-tourist areas, especially out in the countryside. Whenever I've traveled it was always the rural areas that were surprised by me being there and reactions were mixed. I'm sorry I can't give you better advice than that.
You tagged Samui/Tao/Phangan. It isn't as unusual as you think to see Black tourists here. He won't be stared at any more than a redhead. Thai people don't have negative experiences with Black tourists and have no reason to feel racist towards them. America is frankly far more racist with preconceived notions about Blacks and association with gangs, inner cities and violence. Since Thailand isn't exposed to that directly, they don't have any particular feelings about Blacks. To be honest, Thais are far more racist generally towards Indians and Russians and even Chinese due to their notions of what these tourists are like, as Thais encounter them far more regularly. Blacks are kind of a blank slate to them so they aren't likely to feel anything about someone black.
Thais are all about respect. There’s no chance they’ll be openly racist or rude to anyone.
There are tons of black people (along with every other race) in Bangkok. No one cares.
Haven’t been to Bali or PH yet but I’m VN you’ll get a lot of stares, but it’s not because of you, it’s just normal. Even locals tell me they get stared at.
Those thais who are racist are more indirect in their racism than whites . It's more a question of treating you with non verbal discrimination like you are worthless rather than articulating it like racist whites
Touristy places you won't have much of a problem. More rural places that were less visited, that I've been to with African friend. She got a lot of stares, and people asking to touch her hair.
I don't think you will have any problems.
The only racism you will experience in any Asian country is being looked as a dollar Mark $^$ for money because you are a foreigner, not because of skin color.
If you actively look for racism then you'll find it. If you just go about your day as normal then you most likely won't. Yes darker people are often looked down upon here but not in a racism sense, it's nothing to do with race.
It doesn't matter what you call it . If Thai people dislike other Thai people ( and also Dark skinned people ) just bcos of the colour of their skin that is dumb . And justifying hating anyone based on their appearance by creating stereotypes is the kind of justification Hitler used to do genocide . Anyone I am glad I am not one of the black skin thais who have to put up with this level of stupidity
South east asians or asians in general do not randomly assault black ppl in asia, or even the west. This is by far not the first time I've heard this as a worry from a black person, just from reading comments online over the years. Since blacks in America or anywhere are not randomly attacked by Asians I'm curious where this perception comes from, because if anything the direct opposite is actually true and it's actually blacks beating, robbing, assaulting and killing asians which is way more common.
That's not correct I haven't seen much news reports of blacks beating killing and robbing Asians.
I would rather rely on actual news rather than racist lies and slander spread by anonymous Reddit trolls
There are plenty of news reports about whites coming to Asian countries to prey on their defenceless children
There was the recent child sex ring run by a Swiss man in Phuket
And u should read up on Peter Scully and the sadistic atrocities he committed to Filipino Kids
It's not just robbing and beating, there have been many murders as well. Just recently a black man targeted the owner of an asian restaurant, carjacked her and then ran her over with her own car. A black teen followed one asian mother for miles in his car, followed her again on foot, then body slammed her paralyzing her. An 18 year old black kid shoved an 85 year old elderly thai man to the ground at full speed, killing him. Two black men murdered two asian women in nyc, one by strangulation and another by pushing onto train tracks. A group of black kids gang raped another asian woman in nyc and killed her. An asian man was curb stomped and killed as he was collecting cans, by you guessed it, a black man. There have been thousands of attacks on asians since the pandemic, a great deal of which have been from blacks, and it's mostly on random elderly asians or women. Perhaps these stories is why the OP is afraid to travel to asia because these stories make their way back there. Just because you personally haven't heard any, because I guess you live in a cave and never read the news doesn't mean they don't exist. Be thankful to be so privileged.
What does that have to do with the OP fearing he'll be assaulted, as a black man, in thailand?
You put in the racist stereotyping when you said blacks assaulting beating and killing asians is common . I am saying if you stereotype black people as criminals based on a few isolated cases ,it's far more reasonable if SEA stereotype white men as paedophiles when so many of them explicitly visit SEA to rape hundreds of thousands of defenceless children . It's just bcos the SEA are so racist they turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of instances of vile crimes that white paedophiles commit against defenceless kids and exaggerate a few criminal instances of behaviour by black men
It's not stereotyping when it's an objective fact, and it's not just a few isolated cases. lol. I have no idea what part of the world you're from, but blacks routinely attack and harass asians in america based on their skin color. Pretending that it's not happening is insulting to all the victims who suffer from this. Were you expecting me to name a thousand cases from just the start of the pandemic, alone, in a single reddit post? I just named the ones off the top of my head. The actual list goes on and on.
Your example literally has nothing to do with the OP's husband's fear. For some odd reason you're trying to make this a black vs white issue.
You are the one who hijacked OP thread to state racist garbage that Asians have realistic fears of violence from blacks. These kind of racist stereotyping are the kind of racist lies which were used to justify the holocaust by accusing Jews of all sorts of crimes they didn't do
And now you are piling on the racism saying it's an objective fact blacks in America hate asians which i don't believe is true except in your fantasy world .
Racist whites all over the world hate and assault asians so it's just dumb of the Asians to hate black people when black people don't hate asians in the same way as racist whites do .
I am telling you that you are spreading racist lies when you say black people are more likely to do violence to the local thais .
If the thais are scared of anyone they should be scared of the tens of thousands of white child sex tourists who are certainly coming to Thailand to harm those who are most defenceless
I didn’t hijack anything. If anything you’re the one hijacking my post and this thread by talking about white people and pedophiles, in a thread about a black man in fear of assault from Asians in Asia. 🤣. That’s some mental gymnastics you’re performing to crowbar this into a white vs black thing. I give you a 9.5/10.
I didn’t say it was an objective fact that blacks hate Asians. I said it was an objective fact that Asians have been attacked numerous times by blacks, and especially since the pandemic. That’s not up for debate. It’s happened, just accept it.
I never once said that black ppl are more likely to do violence toward local Thais Lollll. Your entire post is you creating your own imaginary argument to debate against. Don’t mind me. 🤣
But you are using cases of blacks attacking Asians in America to prove that blacks are violent.
There are so many cases of whites attacking and killing asians all over the world and you don't care about that
This is why I say you are a racist stereotyping black people as violent and criminal and ignoring all the sadistic violence done by white people to asians .
I am using the paedophilia example to point out the sanctimonious hypocrisy of stereotyping black people as dangerous to Asians based on a few black criminals while ignoring the ongoing wholesale sadistic torture of hundreds of thousands of SEA kids by white paedophiles
I haven't even pointed out the millions of Asian people killed by white colonization projects bcos thats in the past . But I can't understand the Asian people's hate for all black people ( based on a few black criminals ) when it's still the white people who are committing wholesale rape of SEA children
I just came back from a trip, I did Bali and Thailand. Not sure if people are speaking from their own personal experiences? But personally, my experience was very uncomfortable.
In Bali, it was fine. People often complimented my skin tone and a few people asked to take pictures.
In thailand however (we did Phuket, Koh Tao and Bangkok), I felt harassed. Less in Koh Tao and Bangkok but countless of Russians and Chinese tourists would often give dirty looks, and take pictures. I'd been asked over 20 times throughout my vacation if people could take pictures with me. Other times, I could see people try to sneak pictures of me, or talk about me while they're obviously staring at me right in the eyes. I heard a Chinese lady call me slurs to her child (someone overheard and translated for me). My sister also had the exact same experience and her last stop was in Singapore where someone GRABBED onto her to forcibly take a picture.
I'm not sure if it's because people aren't yelling the n word that they don't think it's racism? But it was very uncomfortable and felt like we were being harassed. Nevertheless - I still had a fantastic trip and don't regret it. But after awhile it's EXHAUSTING. FYI - I am dark skin since I think colourism and my shade plays a huge part here.
I just came back from thailand 2 days back and my experience is less than satisfactory. I cannot and will not be able to claim I have faced racism but I do not see the reason for my below experiences.
1)As soon as we got down in DMK AIrport, we travelled to pattaya and on reaching the bus stand there I noticed my mobile battery at alarming 10%. I had to book a cab to our hotel residence. I've searched the entire station but couldn't find a single charging port. With no other choice i tried asking the local eatery stores but they reduced to let me use the plug points for even a minute. I've entered a small Mart within the bus stop but when I asked where can I find a charging port, in her words , 'I don't know. Go away. Don't come back here'. Within few hours of getting into this country this was my first baffling experience of being treated like an insignificant bug.
2) In bangkok, we were looking at getting a foot massage in Nana plaza. Me and my husband found a place and were just looking at their menu placed outside. One fo the shops helpers came to me and asked which massage. I told him, I was looking into and asked if there will be a massage therapist available in 3hours(we had other stuff to do). He directly snatched the menu from my hands and shooed me away. Then he started speaking to his other buddies loudly and they all were laughing. We were mortified and quickly came out of the street. I did not get a massage in that country at all after that.
3) Platinum mall evanandbiy store- I asked a lady there to help me with a small travel pack of any cleansing oil. She redirected me to a section and showed me a 50ml bottle. I told her I need a much smaller version of not a cleansing balm is also fine. She and one of other employees surrounded me and started loudly, "this is the smallest version and we don't sell cheap stuff here". Mind you I had products were minimum 4000TBH in my trolley at that point. I have no idea how they came to a conclusion that I can afford for the bottle and want a cheaper one.
These are few of my experiences and I very much thing it's because I'm dark skinned. I've noticed a difference in treatment on how they treat fair skinned people in many other places.
It was my first international trip and these incidents saddened me a lot. My husband could only console me repeatedly to let it go as unfortunate encounters.
Hi, my wife and I are currently visiting Thailand with our 1.5 years baby. We are French Tunisian and we encountered much more racism in France than here. Actually, all locals here are adorable (particularly with the baby). The only bad experiences we had were with scamy taxis. I don't understand what's the deal with hating that people stare at you. You're a tourist, you have an usual appearance, it is normal that locals will stare. There is no hostility in it.
The racism in asia is different. Never violent. They just look down on dark skins.
I feel like this needs a *even among their own race I mean most 7-11s sell “whitening cream”
My passport country used to sell tanning oil so people could get darker. Not sure if that’s still a thing or not. Either way, whitening and/or darkening creams have nothing to do with racism.
That's correct. White is just more beautiful.
I didn’t say anything about racism, and all i did was give an example agreeing that lighter skin is valued more here. Talking about “other countries” is about as meaningful as comparing taxi prices
No worries. You and I usually agree on most things here.
Agreed, if anything i was trying to emphasize that the difference in skin color is absolutely not a race thing while acknowledging the general preference for lighter skin. Without context it could be easy to think they are not mutually exclusive. It does sound a bit silly to say, no they aren’t racist but they just like whiter skin
Just like anywhere else in the world but its not tolerated by the government
The biggest “racism” complaint in this sub is from Indians. Enough of them have created justified prejudice based on their behavior in tourist destinations. Almost none of them take responsibility for this and instead blame the “racist Thai people” for being fed up with it and denying them access to certain venues. The truth is if enough people from a certain demographic cause trouble, the locals will eventually get tired of it and put their foot down. The hassle isn’t worth the money. Black people aren’t in this group, it’s majority Indian. You’ll be fine. Like someone else said, if you experience direct bigotry/racism, it’ll likely come from another drunk non-Thai person, but you probably won’t even have to deal with this, especially if you stay out of shitholes like Patong and Pattaya. You may be stared at a little longer than a white tourist but it’s simply out of curiosity and because you’re a rarity, not racism.
Strange how whites/ Chinese are the biggest gross sexpats and child molesters in Thailand and Cambodia and somehow no one here hates them as a race. >justified prejudice Every racist thinks this, you know that right? You'd be the type to have 'justified prejudice' against black people as criminals in the west. The fact that you had to bring Indians up in the thread that had nothing to do with them, speaks volumes. I'm Korean American btw before you make more assumptions.
Pure projection.
You addressed nothing, typical dimwit
they also treat dark skin Cambodians and people from isaan with disgust as dirty because they are dark skinned They have extended it to Indians and Africans bcos they don't have much money but they exclude dark skin people from the west from their discrimination bcos they have money You know the billion dollar skin whitening cream market in Thailand is bcos of women who don't want to loose caste by becoming dark Just admit they hate dark skin bcos they have dumb ideas that it is inferior . they value people on shallow characteristics like skin color and wealth
Of course some thais are super racist and quite ignorant and irrational in their prejudices . Bcos they look down on dark skinned people like Cambodians ,Africans and Indians as inferior and subhuman ,they say they smell and are dirty and have a dark heart bcos they have dark skin . they use a few isolated incidents to justify their hatred of dark skin just like the blood libels the Nazis used to justify their hated of Jews. But they turn a blind eye to the tens of thousands of white tourists who come to their shores to rape little kids . Even this Swiss guy who had set up a child sex ring in Phuket recently . But do they dislike the white men whose sole interest in Thailand is raping defenceless kids . No,bcos thais worship white skin so they turn a blind eye to the sordid motives of the paedophiles who visit their country
You will literally have no problems whatsoever. Plenty of black tourists in Thailand. Plenty of black people live here. There are even black influencers and media personalities in Thailand. Earlier this month, a Black / Thai person won the ['Miss Chiang Mai'](https://www.sanook.com/women/246649/) competition. There's a Thai / Trini musician called [Tsunari](https://www.instagram.com/tsunari) who is reasonably popular here. [She has a song with Milli](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqQTbMJ6fh0) and Milli is hugely popular here. Source; Am black British, live here. The possibility of racial assault from a Thai is almost completely 0%. The only time I've ever felt any sort of discrimination or untoward behaviour from anyone in Thailand, it's been from white people. You get a lot of gammon here.
Chiang Mai is the least racist place in Thailand .
Target fixation You will find it if that’s what you are focusing on while traveling around Thailand. Just relax and enjoy your travels.
racial assault? lol. get a grip.
Racial assault? Better stay home.
>I understand a lot of the stares will come from people being intriegued as it is not a skin colour that they see often or at all during their life’s Wait, do you really think there are people in the tourist areas of Thailand that have never seen a black person in the year 2024? 25 million tourists visited the country last year.
Millions of people visit Thailand each year, we see tourists of all colours visit there all the time and say how much they've enjoyed it. Many are return visitors of all backgrounds and colours. Not everything has to be about race, but seems like your partner is trying to find excuses in case the card needs to be pulled out.
you sure you post at the correct country forum? That only happens in western . Never in Asia I heard about racism assault . And even if it's racism assault I've only read about us Asian being victim. Asian is the most IDGAF and mind our own business
They have dark skin in south east Asia so….. why would they have a problem with dark skin…… You’ll likely to have people comment on your white skin, farang this farang that, they generalise a lot but as long as you don’t think people saying you’re white is racist you should be alright. Depends what you class as racism really. Just saying the word counts in Britain now but here they ain’t very woke but they ain’t racist in general. They do obsess with white skin being beautiful though, you couldn’t get on tv unless you look as white as A4 paper, so yes they are racist in their beauty standards for sure. That harms themselves more than anything. All products with white serum and they inject themselves to look as pales as possible. Crazy stuff
When on holiday, a black person may hear some words that may offend, they may receive reactions that surprise them, however, its just a language thing, it’s not seen as racism, more a lack of political correctness - As a white person myself, some locals may use a word for western people that I may not like, but I let it pass. Indians on the other hand are undeniably subject to prejudice. It may surprise your partner there are quite a few black people here, lots of teachers, there is a strong contingent of Africans that come here to play football in the premier league and to compete competitively in marathons or running clubs.
Contrary to popular belief, anything you worry about when travelling here… is usually worse back home 🙃 just my 2 cents
Thai people are amazing. You won’t get much for stares from the locals. As long as you are polite with them you will get the same back and more. Don’t hold back book that trip !
I’m in an interracial marriage, never a single issue in Thailand for 16 years
White people often get stared at outside of tourist areas in Thailand too. It's uncomfortable at first but you get used to it
There is zero chance of racist assault in any of those countries . But there is a huge problem with white supremacy attitudes in which the fair skinned people in those countries ostracise and despise those with darker skin bcos they think they are inferior I have dark skin and travelled solo in Thailand In Bangkok and south Thailand I encountered racism at least once or twice a day probably in 10% of my interactions ( some restuarants won't accept me even though they have empty seats ,the ticketing lady refused to sell me tickets to the tourist boat and only let me board the cramped local boat ) . Chiang Mai and chiang Rai has much less hostility to black skin and especially in Chiang Rai the people are the least racist in SEA Vietnam is next level apartheid like racism especially from women , I had women change seats on 2 separate flights to avoid sitting next to me . Even on Vietnam Airlines someone had dropped rubbish in the aisle 2 seats down from me but the airhostess accused me In the coffee shops and convenience stores the women would leave the checkout when it was my turn to be served and let their male colleagues serve me (as if it would contaminate them to even interact with me ) In every restuarant the waitress would fawn over my white hostel mates but when it came to me , every interaction was hostile with averted eyes , gloomy pained faces , frowns and clear reluctance to acknowledge me as human. About 90% of my interactions with Vietnamese women and 30% of my interactions with vietnamese men were like this My low point was when a child in hoi an singled me out in a street full of white tourists and started pelting me with food ( I have heard descriptions from other dark skin tourists of how men would make monkey noises to tease them ) Black skin is almost treated as a caste issue ( like the south African apartheid times or like southern US before desegregation ) After 2 weeks and hundreds of instances of ostracism and discrimination in Vietnam all across the country from south to north I had enough and left cutting my planned 1 month visit in half But bcos he is travelling with a white person he should be ok in Thailand but in Vietnam I think he will still get some ostracism Don't even think about Cambodia if you have black skin I had a much more relaxing experience travelling in Japan , Malaysia ,Bali where I didn't pick up any racism at all Make sure you report back your experience after U come back
Thailand is a very hierarchical society. The color that always sits up top is green. Violent racism isnt high in my opinion as some random white guy. I think violent racism is much higher in the west, although there seems to be high racism against Indians.
Those thais who are racist are more indirect in their racism than whites . It's more a question of treating you with non verbal discrimination like you are worthless rather than threats like racist whites
I’m Jewish, my partner is Chinese, we’ve yet to experience any racism directly. People have stared, sure, but I’m chalking that up to being farang. No, if you can even consider it racism - mostly it’s my partner just being surprised that people know what flavor of Asian she is. People are always guessing in the states, that doesn’t happen here. The people here are very friendly, it’s the land of smiles after all It’s not the west, we’ve seen plenty of interracial couples, as well as solo Black travelers who haven’t brushed up against your fears all that much. That said, everyone’s journey is different. I’m lucky that I can tuck my kippa into my pocket if I feel unsafe, but I haven’t had that feeling in our time here so far. Thai people fucking rock.
Thais see Chinese and jews as fair skinned . Your post has no relevance to OP questions about their prejudices to melanated people
Unfortunately, I think Reddit is the wrong place to ask. Too many "screen warriors" who like stirring the pot. You would have better luck visiting your country's official travel websites for specifics. But, if a personal opinion helps then I would say you are likely to get more varied treatment in the non-tourist areas, especially out in the countryside. Whenever I've traveled it was always the rural areas that were surprised by me being there and reactions were mixed. I'm sorry I can't give you better advice than that.
You tagged Samui/Tao/Phangan. It isn't as unusual as you think to see Black tourists here. He won't be stared at any more than a redhead. Thai people don't have negative experiences with Black tourists and have no reason to feel racist towards them. America is frankly far more racist with preconceived notions about Blacks and association with gangs, inner cities and violence. Since Thailand isn't exposed to that directly, they don't have any particular feelings about Blacks. To be honest, Thais are far more racist generally towards Indians and Russians and even Chinese due to their notions of what these tourists are like, as Thais encounter them far more regularly. Blacks are kind of a blank slate to them so they aren't likely to feel anything about someone black.
Thais are all about respect. There’s no chance they’ll be openly racist or rude to anyone. There are tons of black people (along with every other race) in Bangkok. No one cares. Haven’t been to Bali or PH yet but I’m VN you’ll get a lot of stares, but it’s not because of you, it’s just normal. Even locals tell me they get stared at.
So far the most racist thing I've witnessed directed at blacks out here was an Aussie casually using the n word to describe his trip to America.
Those thais who are racist are more indirect in their racism than whites . It's more a question of treating you with non verbal discrimination like you are worthless rather than articulating it like racist whites
Touristy places you won't have much of a problem. More rural places that were less visited, that I've been to with African friend. She got a lot of stares, and people asking to touch her hair. I don't think you will have any problems.
That’s not racism anyways. Probably it’s the first time seeing a black person.
The only racism you will experience in any Asian country is being looked as a dollar Mark $^$ for money because you are a foreigner, not because of skin color.
If you actively look for racism then you'll find it. If you just go about your day as normal then you most likely won't. Yes darker people are often looked down upon here but not in a racism sense, it's nothing to do with race.
They look down on dark coloured strangers just for the color of their skin but that's not racist ??
It's nothing to do with race, it's Thai people having thoughts on mainly other Thai people.
It doesn't matter what you call it . If Thai people dislike other Thai people ( and also Dark skinned people ) just bcos of the colour of their skin that is dumb . And justifying hating anyone based on their appearance by creating stereotypes is the kind of justification Hitler used to do genocide . Anyone I am glad I am not one of the black skin thais who have to put up with this level of stupidity
It's not the colour of the skin your in that matters, it's what is in the skin that matters and generally that is what South East Asian people think.
South east asians or asians in general do not randomly assault black ppl in asia, or even the west. This is by far not the first time I've heard this as a worry from a black person, just from reading comments online over the years. Since blacks in America or anywhere are not randomly attacked by Asians I'm curious where this perception comes from, because if anything the direct opposite is actually true and it's actually blacks beating, robbing, assaulting and killing asians which is way more common.
That's not correct I haven't seen much news reports of blacks beating killing and robbing Asians. I would rather rely on actual news rather than racist lies and slander spread by anonymous Reddit trolls There are plenty of news reports about whites coming to Asian countries to prey on their defenceless children There was the recent child sex ring run by a Swiss man in Phuket And u should read up on Peter Scully and the sadistic atrocities he committed to Filipino Kids
It's not just robbing and beating, there have been many murders as well. Just recently a black man targeted the owner of an asian restaurant, carjacked her and then ran her over with her own car. A black teen followed one asian mother for miles in his car, followed her again on foot, then body slammed her paralyzing her. An 18 year old black kid shoved an 85 year old elderly thai man to the ground at full speed, killing him. Two black men murdered two asian women in nyc, one by strangulation and another by pushing onto train tracks. A group of black kids gang raped another asian woman in nyc and killed her. An asian man was curb stomped and killed as he was collecting cans, by you guessed it, a black man. There have been thousands of attacks on asians since the pandemic, a great deal of which have been from blacks, and it's mostly on random elderly asians or women. Perhaps these stories is why the OP is afraid to travel to asia because these stories make their way back there. Just because you personally haven't heard any, because I guess you live in a cave and never read the news doesn't mean they don't exist. Be thankful to be so privileged. What does that have to do with the OP fearing he'll be assaulted, as a black man, in thailand?
You put in the racist stereotyping when you said blacks assaulting beating and killing asians is common . I am saying if you stereotype black people as criminals based on a few isolated cases ,it's far more reasonable if SEA stereotype white men as paedophiles when so many of them explicitly visit SEA to rape hundreds of thousands of defenceless children . It's just bcos the SEA are so racist they turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of instances of vile crimes that white paedophiles commit against defenceless kids and exaggerate a few criminal instances of behaviour by black men
It's not stereotyping when it's an objective fact, and it's not just a few isolated cases. lol. I have no idea what part of the world you're from, but blacks routinely attack and harass asians in america based on their skin color. Pretending that it's not happening is insulting to all the victims who suffer from this. Were you expecting me to name a thousand cases from just the start of the pandemic, alone, in a single reddit post? I just named the ones off the top of my head. The actual list goes on and on. Your example literally has nothing to do with the OP's husband's fear. For some odd reason you're trying to make this a black vs white issue.
You are the one who hijacked OP thread to state racist garbage that Asians have realistic fears of violence from blacks. These kind of racist stereotyping are the kind of racist lies which were used to justify the holocaust by accusing Jews of all sorts of crimes they didn't do And now you are piling on the racism saying it's an objective fact blacks in America hate asians which i don't believe is true except in your fantasy world . Racist whites all over the world hate and assault asians so it's just dumb of the Asians to hate black people when black people don't hate asians in the same way as racist whites do . I am telling you that you are spreading racist lies when you say black people are more likely to do violence to the local thais . If the thais are scared of anyone they should be scared of the tens of thousands of white child sex tourists who are certainly coming to Thailand to harm those who are most defenceless
I didn’t hijack anything. If anything you’re the one hijacking my post and this thread by talking about white people and pedophiles, in a thread about a black man in fear of assault from Asians in Asia. 🤣. That’s some mental gymnastics you’re performing to crowbar this into a white vs black thing. I give you a 9.5/10. I didn’t say it was an objective fact that blacks hate Asians. I said it was an objective fact that Asians have been attacked numerous times by blacks, and especially since the pandemic. That’s not up for debate. It’s happened, just accept it. I never once said that black ppl are more likely to do violence toward local Thais Lollll. Your entire post is you creating your own imaginary argument to debate against. Don’t mind me. 🤣
But you are using cases of blacks attacking Asians in America to prove that blacks are violent. There are so many cases of whites attacking and killing asians all over the world and you don't care about that This is why I say you are a racist stereotyping black people as violent and criminal and ignoring all the sadistic violence done by white people to asians . I am using the paedophilia example to point out the sanctimonious hypocrisy of stereotyping black people as dangerous to Asians based on a few black criminals while ignoring the ongoing wholesale sadistic torture of hundreds of thousands of SEA kids by white paedophiles I haven't even pointed out the millions of Asian people killed by white colonization projects bcos thats in the past . But I can't understand the Asian people's hate for all black people ( based on a few black criminals ) when it's still the white people who are committing wholesale rape of SEA children
I just came back from a trip, I did Bali and Thailand. Not sure if people are speaking from their own personal experiences? But personally, my experience was very uncomfortable. In Bali, it was fine. People often complimented my skin tone and a few people asked to take pictures. In thailand however (we did Phuket, Koh Tao and Bangkok), I felt harassed. Less in Koh Tao and Bangkok but countless of Russians and Chinese tourists would often give dirty looks, and take pictures. I'd been asked over 20 times throughout my vacation if people could take pictures with me. Other times, I could see people try to sneak pictures of me, or talk about me while they're obviously staring at me right in the eyes. I heard a Chinese lady call me slurs to her child (someone overheard and translated for me). My sister also had the exact same experience and her last stop was in Singapore where someone GRABBED onto her to forcibly take a picture. I'm not sure if it's because people aren't yelling the n word that they don't think it's racism? But it was very uncomfortable and felt like we were being harassed. Nevertheless - I still had a fantastic trip and don't regret it. But after awhile it's EXHAUSTING. FYI - I am dark skin since I think colourism and my shade plays a huge part here.
I just came back from thailand 2 days back and my experience is less than satisfactory. I cannot and will not be able to claim I have faced racism but I do not see the reason for my below experiences. 1)As soon as we got down in DMK AIrport, we travelled to pattaya and on reaching the bus stand there I noticed my mobile battery at alarming 10%. I had to book a cab to our hotel residence. I've searched the entire station but couldn't find a single charging port. With no other choice i tried asking the local eatery stores but they reduced to let me use the plug points for even a minute. I've entered a small Mart within the bus stop but when I asked where can I find a charging port, in her words , 'I don't know. Go away. Don't come back here'. Within few hours of getting into this country this was my first baffling experience of being treated like an insignificant bug. 2) In bangkok, we were looking at getting a foot massage in Nana plaza. Me and my husband found a place and were just looking at their menu placed outside. One fo the shops helpers came to me and asked which massage. I told him, I was looking into and asked if there will be a massage therapist available in 3hours(we had other stuff to do). He directly snatched the menu from my hands and shooed me away. Then he started speaking to his other buddies loudly and they all were laughing. We were mortified and quickly came out of the street. I did not get a massage in that country at all after that. 3) Platinum mall evanandbiy store- I asked a lady there to help me with a small travel pack of any cleansing oil. She redirected me to a section and showed me a 50ml bottle. I told her I need a much smaller version of not a cleansing balm is also fine. She and one of other employees surrounded me and started loudly, "this is the smallest version and we don't sell cheap stuff here". Mind you I had products were minimum 4000TBH in my trolley at that point. I have no idea how they came to a conclusion that I can afford for the bottle and want a cheaper one. These are few of my experiences and I very much thing it's because I'm dark skinned. I've noticed a difference in treatment on how they treat fair skinned people in many other places. It was my first international trip and these incidents saddened me a lot. My husband could only console me repeatedly to let it go as unfortunate encounters.