Well, here's another point of view
[QUOTE=Blunderer]Always nice to get some different points of view.
I'm white, so, I suppose it is inevitable that my opinions are going to be tainted by that. Not necessarily from any pre-conceptions of my own (although that's possible as well), but, because I am shown what people expect me to want to see. The implication in your message is that (being white) I might be predisposed to the idea of Thai's being more attracted to whites than blacks (actually, a more accurate statement might be less repulsed by whites than blacks, but I'll get there shortly).
Now, as I mentioned, the Thais that I meet may want me to think they like me (and my 'kind') more than blacks, so, they present that point of view to me, and, I come away thinking that that is their point of view. I say it is possible, but I don't think it is likely, and here is why:
1) I've formed a few deep and abiding friendships with some Thai's over the years. They've been to visit me in various parts of the world etc etc. Almost to the last man, they've viewed blacks as inferior. This attitude is diluted heavily with education. It also seems to fade away for expat Thais. My point here is, amongst my Thai friends, it is pretty much taken as a given that the Thai's are an incredibly racist bunch (and this may or may not be a bad thing. Whether it is or not is a subject of great debate), and, that Thai's generally don't like blacks. They don't like whites much either, but blacks are definitely a couple of rungs down the ladder.
2) Anthropologically it makes sense that they'd put whitey a cut above. The people from the poorest part of Thailand (Isaan) are also the darkest. Dark skin is associated with working in the fields (and therefore poverty). For these reasons dark skin is considered undesirable and millions upon millions are spent on skin whitening products. It is the same deal as here in the west, if you have money, you have time to lie around in the sun, so a tan is desirable. We spend millions on tanning products.
Now, all that being said, there's always a segment of the population that varies from the most commonly held view. You've mentioned them in your post. I've certainly heard of middle aged Japanese women hiring big studly black men (although I've never seen it). I think the higher standards of education in Japan and Korea probably have a lot to do with that, not to mention black heroes in action movies and the like that are seen everywhere. While I happily acknowledge that cross section of the Thai population exists that would prefer blacks to whites, I would maintain (pretty strongly in fact) that that segment isn't a huge one.
As a final point, it is worth noting that the Thais consider the Indian's to be the absolute bottom of the barrel. My guess is it is because they've seen plenty of poor Indians around the place (there's a heap in Phuket trying to flog stuff in the markets). Rarely have they seen any poor blacks (the only blacks I've ever seen in Thailand have been wealthy enough to go there on holiday), so, they're considered in a kinder light than the Indians. [/QUOTE]
The impression you and some others here are presenting (or strongly trying too)is pretty obvious. I’ve never before encountered so many that wanted so badly to be the porridge that Goldilocks chose.
That the Thais may be telling you what they think you might want to here kind of fits with what has been said before here about Thais being so outwardly "friendly" and seemingly amicable to a persons face despite whatever they feel otherwise. Some have said similar things to me about whites when none are around.
The majority of the posts regarding this subject just seems like more generalizing and projecting. I have Thai friends too, not to mention several business acquaintances, and not to burst any of your bubbles; but lets just say that when you get a group of non white people of different ethnicities together (black, asian, Hispanic, middle eastern, etc) the conversation is a bit more "free" than it normally would be than when whites are present. Trust me, there are some things that non white men and women of any ethnicity have in common. Some things talked about that you all just really don’t want to know that sometimes lead to bonding, ie- from my personal experience, many thais know that many whites don’t consider them as equal (I can kind of see why; some of you talk about them as if they are a race of children who need your care and guidance) but can usually only speak amongst themselves about it but I’ve found that it doesn’t take much for them to express this sentiment to other people of color.
Now, I mentioned before that I noticed that Thais have a bias against each other regarding skin tone but to suggest and rationalize that they would project that bias onto other ethnicities for the same reasons is somewhat a short-sighted theory. A light skinned Thai is not judging a dark skinned American as working in the fields or poor especially in this day and age when they are all too well aware that the average black American or brit who bothers to travel there more than likely makes in a year more money than what the average Thai will make in their lives.
That being said I submit that the same rationale you all apply to Thais’ view of other dark skinned ethnicities also applies to Thais view of whites; that the Thai who date and marry them are varying from what I surmise is the most commonly held view of Thais marrying only Thais and that the Thai women who are attracted to whites is mainly because of the white "heroes in action movies and the like that are seen everywhere" (not *gasp* because they actually like the guy). While I acknowledge that cross section of the Thai population exists that would prefer only whites to anything else, I would maintain (pretty strongly in fact) that segment isn't a huge one.
What strikes me as odd is that for some strange reason, you and some others here seem very intent on stating what races Thais do and don’t like despite the fact that none of you are Thai. That last paragraph is especially telling in that you are simply projecting your own bias’ against Indian people. For whatever reasons, I can only guess but I do have a theory or two in mind and I would wager that I’m not too far off the racist mark.
Does the idea that Thais might not really care about what type of Farang they would care to be with, or that many would prefer to not be with whites at all really bother you all and if so, why?
Anyway, I have another business trip planned for Jan and I plan on providing a thorough "education" to many of the Thai women I am already set up to meet. Who knows, since they are apparently paying to sleep with black men, maybe I can make a little cash on this trip. [url]http://www.msuspokesman.com/media/paper270/news/2002/11/08/WorldNews/Thai-Female. Elite. Demand. Black. Gigolos-318113.shtml[/url]