[irresseni]

Just observations from a Brit expat in Germany, hunsolo.
And a footnote.
I find, to be fair, that the women in general in LOS are more polite than the men who address farangs as "You" and think nothing of hawking and spitting in your path.
IMHO, if they can learn enough English to address foreigners, learning to say "Excuse me" is not a giant step.

[hoconnor6605]

Well El charro, sorry you had those defeating experiences ...because in every country/people there will be some "bad apples", but over all I think most Thais are more polite than most Americans. Now I know that most German people are polite & curteous because I lived in Vienna for 2 years-long ago, and Austrians are Germanic people. And I work for & with German people here in U.S..

[irresseni]

Thai road manners?
Watch old people and small children trying to cross a road in Pattaya.
Better still, hire a motorcycle for a day.
Customer service?
Could be better. Not to mention the people who elbow you out of the way at the checkout to pay for a bag of chips.
And blatantly slagging off farangs, in Thai of course, in their presence.
Do they know or even care that many farangs understand Some Thai?
Of course, there's the old man next door to the guest house who always greets people with a gracious nod.

[Thomas12400]

I flew out to Singapore for a quick trip and had quite a tussle with the ticketing agent in Bangkok. I showed all of my quick temper. My sister took me to the side and asked me to Jai Yen Yen. I took a moment and remembered where I was... and tried to calm a bit.

...a few weeks later, my sister was driving in BKK and was cut off by another driver. Curse words flew out of her mouth so fast...horn honking...gestures. I laughed and asked if she'd ever heard of Jai Yen Yen.


(new computer at work and no Thai language input. Hoping to get this fixed by the end of the week)

[hoconnor6605]

Couple of weeks ago I promissed someone on this web, that I will post my positive opinions of Thailand & its people. I posted one few days ago-"Thai Honesty'-now I post another, Thai politeness or self restraint, or self control.While in Bkk. I saw many a traffic jam, even motorcycles "bumping" into cars, yet I have not seen one angry tantrum outburst, not one curse word from "wronged" drivers-nor pedestrians for that matter-rarely if ever did I hear a car horn go off in angry protest. That really impressed me. Here in U.S. cities in bad traffic jams,...Wow!...the cars honking, the cussing, the name calling ...it would put a camel driver to shame So are Thais (and most other Asians) more polite?, more self restrained, more patient?...

[largonioulurI]

So are Thais (and most other Asians) more polite?, more self restrained, more patient?...

Not all Asians, Yes Thai's and Asians from the east side of the continent are very polite, But Asians from the western side of the continent, like the Lebanese are the most arrogant rude people on earth.

[Izzy]

Couple of weeks ago I promissed someone on this web, that I will post my positive opinions of Thailand & its people. I posted one few days ago-"Thai Honesty'-now I post another, Thai politeness or self restraint, or self control.While in Bkk. I saw many a traffic jam, even motorcycles "bumping" into cars, yet I have not seen one angry tantrum outburst, not one curse word from "wronged" drivers-nor pedestrians for that matter-rarely if ever did I hear a car horn go off in angry protest. That really impressed me. Here in U.S. cities in bad traffic jams,...Wow!...the cars honking, the cussing, the name calling ...it would put a camel driver to shame So are Thais (and most other Asians) more polite?, more self restrained, more patient?...

Another extremely interesting observation about Thai ways. Personally, i have never witnessed a pedestrian giving a driver the middle finger salute, but i have certainly heard on countless occasions drivers cursing at other drivers.
I would say that Thais are patient in some occasions - often different ones to Caucasians. But sorry, in terms of driving, i can not agree that Thais are more polite or/and patient that their Western counterparts.

[Vobomei]

Wow, I wouldn't have pegged you, Pailin, as a person having a quick temper! Interesting . . .

I don't know if politeness has anything to do with it, but I do think that compared to the U.S., a lot more cars get through traffic jams per unit time in Bangkok than would be the case in a big city in the U.S. Thai drivers seem to cooperate with each other more than U.S. drivers do, as a whole. In the U.S. it's all about one-upping the other drivers, but I see less of that in Bangkok.

Of course, there are always exceptions . . .

DogoDon

[Evsltkzl]

you bet...