Expat vs Foreigner - Split From Learning Thai Thread

[robitusson]

PC gone fucking mental

who like to hang out with young or old whores.

Hey, it's legal, so whass the problem? Oh. Wait a minute. It isn't. Oh ok.

[Lotuslevi]

I'm a Thai teacher, looking for foreigner
I have been giving private Thai language lessons to foreigners

Remove this word from your vocabulary and use something else more appropriate....

my my, aren't we touchy!

I personally prefer the term whitey-honky-foreign devil-white trash scum.

I'm sorry Haltest, are you something that's above being called a foreigner?

Best of luck to the OP, I meet lots of foreigners looking to find Thai lessons. Had I met you some time ago, it would appeal to me.

[haltest]

Foreigner is not a neutral term whether you like it or not. Words and language have power and that can be seen in how people use it.

Read 1984 if you don't believe me or even look into NLP techniques to see effects of language use. It's a well documented sociological/psychological fact that language can be used to manipulate some people's responses.

From someone who is supposed to be a graduate in Business English, it really is unforgivable in today's world, it just shows the total ignorance of the OP.

Ex-pat is a much more neutral and appropriate term (as another poster pointed out)

[reinvented]

Quote:
Originally Posted by reinvented
PC gone fucking mental

never had you picked as a daily mein kampf reader robbie
whilst i appreciate being notified of a post deletion, sincerley i do
io have no idea what it was and am feeling a bit fucking bedazzaled by what i could possibly have said that was so rude to get a warning from grandma
refer you to the PC quote above

[SageAndOnion]

From someone who is supposed to be a graduate in Business English, it really is unforgivable in today's world

First you don't like the word farang and now you are moaning about the word foreigner. What negative connotations does this word have? You seem to be actively looking for things to be offended by. Pathetic.

[haltest]

First you don't like the word farang and now you are moaning about the word foreigner. What negative connotations does this word have? You seem to be actively looking for things to be offended by. Pathetic.

I suppose you just like to bend over?

[SageAndOnion]

it just shows the total ignorance of the OP.

Only the truly ignorant would make such a judgement, based on one post, and the use of a word that the majority of us seem to have no problem with.

I suppose you just like to bend over?

Bend over for what you weirdo? I have absolutely no problem with anyone using the word foreigner, to describe people of nationalities other than that of the country I am living in. I don't know what negative connotations you associate with this word, but I think that's your problem and not the OPs.

[haltest]

I don't know what negative connotations you associate with this word

It's not what I associate with it, it's what most intelligent, balanced people would associate with it, they would strive to use neutral language and as the OP allegegly has has a degree in business English, I think it's fair comment.

Only the truly ignorant would make such a judgement, based on one post, and the use of a word that the majority of us seem to have no problem with.

I should point out that the use of this word in some circumstances is counted as an aggravating factor in establishing a racial motive for some crimes. You can't do the same with a word like Expat!

Even the collocation: "bloody foreigners" testify to the negative aspect of its use.

[jimbo]

I should point out that the use of this word in some circumstances is counted as an aggravating factor in establishing a racial motive for some crimes. You can't do the same with a word like Expat!

A: Someone stole my bag at the beach in Pattaya!

B: Was it a Thai?

A: No, it had to be a fuckin expat or a tourist! There weren't any Thais around.

B: Pattaya is full of broke-dick, desperate expats, I swear,....

Even the collocation: "bloody foreigners" testify to the negative aspect of its use.

You've never heard "expat trap" to describe an expat posing as a tourist in order to trap another tourist?

[Lotuslevi]

Haltest, you don't set the standards for intelligence, no matter how much you'd like to think you do. I agree with Sage, you're looking for an excuse to be a little bitch about something most level-headed people would not find offensive. By the way, in respone to your earlier post, I have read 1984 and I fail to see explanation of how foreigner is an offensive word.

[SageAndOnion]

it's what most intelligent, balanced people would associate with it

I disagree. I think most people who go to live in a foreign country have thicker skin than you. Even the intelligent ones.

[frankly speaking]

I must agree with many other posters. I think that Halt is making a very large issue over this. However, I think the term expat is equally as offensive. I don't think that using wikipedia's definition is accurate at all. First of all, look at the site, it is not referenced at all. Second look at every major dictionary's definition. Webster, Oxford, etc. The state a much different definition. The term is quite old and was originally used to describe British citizens that stayed in Africa and India and turned their back on their native land.

Using Wikipedia as a reference for an argument is quite weak. Use a reference that has some governing board that reviews what is written.

As for the term foreigner, it doesn't always have a negative connotation. We are foreign nationals living in Thailand. We may not be foreigners, but we are definitely not Thai citizens.

Haltest, you scream about prejudice and yet you use the term Expat. Since Asians living in western countries aren't considered expats, then it is purely an ethnocentric word which shows discriminatory practice.

I agree that the OP should remove the word, because it isn't necessary. For example what if a person of Thai ethnicity who was born outside of Thailand wanted to learn Thai? So I do agree that in this circumstance that it isn't necessary, but to remove the word foreigner from one's vocabulary is quite ridiculous. Try being a foreigner in your own country, you think that we are treated or called anything better. I have been told by some that I am not a real American because I am an immigrant. Being of Asian descent in the US, I was treated with as much bigotry and ignorance as whites are here. Stop being so sensitive when your native country isn't any better.

[cliffsloane]

Though I think Haltest is a little over reactive, I do agree that the thread would be more accurate to say. "Looking for Students to Study Thai." The OP teaches Thai. We don't say that we teach English to foreigners.

However, calling everyone here an Expat isn't accurate and is ethnocentric also. No one calls a Thai person living in Canada, America, England, etc an expat. He/She is called an immigrant.

My understanding of the term "expat" is that the person still has strong ties to their homeland, is likely to go back often, and has no intention of resettling in the host country. I HAVE heard the term used for visiting faculty and post-doc researchers at US universities.

The reason we use the term "immigrant" is that the person so described fully intends to become a permanent resident and/or citizen. Thailand's laws make it impractical and nearly impossible for anyone to become a citizen, thus the term "immigrant" is hard to apply to most of us.

I am so accustomed to hearing "foreigner" applied too broadly, it no longer bothers me. I write it off as an innocuous example of Thai xenophobia. There are far worse examples of Thailand's unique blend of arrogance and inferiority.

Cliff Sloane

[SageAndOnion]

I am so accustomed to hearing "foreigner" applied too broadly

How can it be applied "too broadly"?

There are far worse examples of Thailand's unique blend of arrogance and inferiority.

Arrogance? Like living in a foreign country and expecting them to all change the way they speak, not only English, but their own language as well? I think the only arrogance is coming from idiotic Westerners who fail to appreciate the fact that they are a racial minority in a foreign country, and as such, need to realise that the country is not run entirely for their benefit. The word foreigner may have negative conotations to some people because of their own beliefs and those of their countrymen.

Now either many Thai people take a similar dislike to foreigners or they don't, and it's just you projecting your own feelings onto them. It doesn't really matter. If you think life should consist of well-behaved people, only doing and saying things that you find acceptable, and you are so far up your own arsehole that anyone who does not agree with everything you say must be classified as uneducated or stupid, then you have a very big problem. (I am using you in the plural here, to whom it may apply)

[Cyrille]

My understanding of the term "expat" is that the person still has strong ties to their homeland, is likely to go back often, and has no intention of resettling in the host country.

Blimey - that sounds complicated.

How many visits home need to be conducted for the term 'Expat' to be accurate then?

How do you quantify the strength of the ties to one's homeland?

Cheering when your sports team wins? Preferring the beer there to Beer Chang? Wearing underpants in the colours of your national flag?

I think Khun Charuwan may have been wise to stick to the word 'foreigner'. Far less complicated.