Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia - Magnets For Scum?

I recently wrote to a charitable organisation that operate a website promoting help for impoverished and abused children in Cambodia. I suggested a link exchange with them and they initially agreed enthusiastically. However, a few days later and after I had set up my part of the exchange, a senior figure in that organisation wrote to me and politely withdrew their interest in exchanging links with us, citing our sex, love and relationships section as the reason for this.
Slightly bemused, I wrote back for more information and was told that as they work with abused children, they cannot be seen to have an association with any website that allows discussion about sex in any way, shape or form. No problem, I suppose, however, this never did sit very well with me and it's troubled me a little for a while.

It's fair to say that some countries are attractive to a certain type of expat. However, is it fair to say that those expat populations are largely sociopaths, criminals in exile, social retards/lepers, drop outs incapable of making a life for themselves in their homeland hence ran away to somewhere they could feel more accepted amonsgst similar company?
Can the same be said for more affluent countries like, for example, Singapore or Japan? Perhaps these countires, despite having a more executive level of expat, are not so different and it's all the same thing under a different guise.

I choose my friends very carefully. I don't take into account lifestyle choices made by that person but in their attitudes towards others. I respect manners, protocol, etiquette and most importantly, kindness. I haven't been to every country in Asia but there are places I feel at threat, not necessarily from local brigands but from my own kind. Even the worst flea pit sh*t hole gangster run gogo bars (non farang) in unknown corners of Thailand didn't make me feel as unsafe as the time I was threatened by a group of English hooligans in Koh Samui a couple of years ago after they tried to feel up my girlfriend.
I'm no snob... but I would think twice about breaking bread with the apparantly largely stoned clutch of dreadlocked bums that find themselves in Cambodia for a few months to 'find themselves'.
The ex-postal worker staff (example only) that find themselves investing their life savings in Angeles city are there for the views of Pinatubo of course, not to mention the ratio of people living off immoral earnings, robbery proceeds and Russian money laundering in, lets say, Pattaya?
How many people do we know that love it so much in low cost tropical climes that they can't get with the program and get their arse home to get a job and favour ponsing off the generosity of people who don't know them better (not thinking of anyone in particular, honest )

Perhaps I'm being a little unfair. All I'm saying is that I find it hard to make friendships with people I enjoy the comapny of in these places. Perhaps I'm a snob and I never realised it and I should look in the mirror occasionally

Couldn't agree more fella, this is one of the few badthings putting me off moving over there... the fact that they might think I'm one of them!!!

This is difficult to gauge. Every level of society has their perceived level of 'scum bags'. I think that I'm a fairly decent man married to a decent Thai woman, but I have done some scummy things over there, some I regret and some I don't regret. I have never done anything criminal, and I have absolutely no interest in children as sexual conquests; that is very sick behaviour. However, I would guess that if a middle class Thai person was told of my exploits, saw the places where I have imbibed and me being a western male, this person would undoubtably classify me as this type of scum that Thailand doesn't need. The most ironic twist in all of this is that hundreds of thousands of males who are citizens in the above respective countries, engage regularly in exactly the same type of activities.

Well, I wouldn't be the first farang to have an old lady attempt to sell me her clearly underage grandaughter while on the bus to somewhere and as I mentioned in another thread somewhere or other, is that because of their perception of Westerners or a perception of affordability?

Incidentally, I forgot to mention... I love Isaan, however, with each time I go back, I grow less impressed with Westerners there. I reckon I only have time for 1 in 20 or 1 in 30 of the guys I meet there. Most of them would be at home in the Trouble Arms in Fight Alley in Tattoo Town in Gangstershire in London. It's truly cringemaking to hear these characters talk to their wives like dogs.

... and yes, I am referring to Surin... and you know who you are.

I can't say for sure, because I have not traveled in Asia yet, but I have heard enough stories to know that there is a problem. I have heard horror stories from expats as well as locals. My wife and other Thais here tell that they found a difference between the farangs they meet in Thailand and the ones they meet in the US. So, I voted for number two.

Unfortunately we are to blame to a certain extent. How often do we go back and tell others what a wonderful/cheap place some of these SEA countries are. Before we know it - it soon becomes populated with the less desireable from back home. (word travels fast)

Not lot one can do, however do know that this sort of person ends up in a deep hole after a while and the situation is eventually solved through the locals. I do admit this reflects badly, but what can one do. Try and do our best to be treated individually and not collectively.

There is no doubt that there is a extremely large number of shady sleaze balls in SEA, and I am sure that with the increased effort of the Law Enforcement agencies we will continue to read about the arrest of farangs with outstnding warrants and and for crimes here. Most of these types think they can just blend into the seedier lifestyle and go unoticed. True for a while, hopefully not to long. And yes, they centrally located in certain parts of the country.

There are two types that bother me .
The overserved tourist and the broke expat that I unkindly refer to as " been in the sun to long " . I have had run " in's " with with this type more than any tourist .
For the most part I don't care about the farangs in Thailand and I usually do not assoiate with them . I go to Thailand to get away from farang .

Well, how about Hong Kong? Rich, successful and expats with fat wads of international finance commisions in their pockets.
Take a stroll around Tsim Tsa Tsui on any evening and look to the first floor of so many buildings and see the inviting bright lights of expensive hostess bars (and I mean Expensive) and Jap traps.
How does 3500 Hong Kong Dollars for a few hours sound for a night with a Wan Chai gogo girl (usually Thai farm girl anyways).
... or take a walk up the stairs to the first floor of any apartment block in Causway Bay or Mong Kok as you'll find a working girl in every room and open for business.

Is the reputation of the poorer countries deserved then? Surely this is just wallet snobbery and the difference between some f*ck wit warehouse boy from Wal Mart being able to get laid because his mates told him about it, or he saw some banner on the internet for a porn site, stating that LBFM's from the PI give it good and Thai chicks want you right now, go there for a two week vacation, fall in love, write an article for Stickman stating what a bunch of rip off artists the Thai's are, before returning to stack shelves for another 11 months to save up enough to go and blow it on whores for another few weeks, go back home, write to well known Thai specific forums that they're now an expat but they just happen to be living in their home country in a shed but will be back soon to marry their Tee Ruk just as soon as they've had some fun with some Nana girls on their next visit, which usually never actually happens because the realities of life mean they'll be stuck in the warehouse stacking shelves for the rest of their days and the girl they dreamed of tires of waiting, not that the girl was ever waiting for them in the first place because she's saw him coming a mile off and has no conscience at all when it comes to taking the hard earned cash of a manual worker from the states.

... or Europe.

I lived 4 years in Chumpon, Thailand and knew the 15 or so farangs living there, no real sociopaths to speak of, a few idiots, a lot of assholes, many alcoholics, but probably most of us are assholes anyway.

I recently moved to Udon Thani city and have not acquaintained any farang yet, I am not eager neither to meet one.

That's rather dark Mandrake . Is something bothering you ?

About the failed banner deal: I believe the organisation would not have minded the sex part so much had it not involved recommendations and discussions about which brothels to go to.

Whichever way you look at it, most people's morale tell them it is wrong to frequent such places, and you should already know this. The fact that many expats in Thailand view the issue differently does not change that fact.

Oh I'm just getting warmed up!
Need the definition of a deadbeat dad?... just hang out in a few bars in the North East and pin your ears back.

Jeff1, on Mar 20 2006, 10:19 AM, said:

I'm not sure.

meadish, on Mar 20 2006, 11:45 AM, said:

Quite.

I wonder if it might be useful to sub-divide those we identify as "undesireable" into sub-sets.

In my own mind, I generally try to make such distinctions as I feel they are different enough to meit it.

First is the innocent (and innocuous) first-time tourist who starts gushing the first minute off the plane before knowing a thing, really. No harm in that; I just get a little embarrassed for that person. But when after, say, three weeks that tourist loftily starts denouncing the views and experiences of Old Asia Hands. (I've been out here nearly 19 of the past 21 years, the past 16 non-stop.) While there's still no harm done, it does get right up my nose.

Second come the sometimes harmless and sometimes not-so-harmless category often generically called "beach bums," though I've seen them far from any beach. Though circumstances have sometimes forced me into close contact without any [serious] difficulties, when possible. I also have found this particular sub-set to be loudest in their assertions "You HAVE to give me a visa extension -- I know my rights, by damn -- I'm American [or whatever nationality]." (BTW, I should hastily interject that I'm American, so I'm certainly not picking on the citizens of my homeland.) Though such assertions are harmless, they REALLY gall me, especially if the protester is indeed American!

Third, and last, comes the worst of all, one containing a fairly broad spectrum in itself: criminals, to give this group a broad name. Scam artists. Pickpockets. Even the odd robber or thief. Worst of all in this category, to me personally (and I believe to all of you) is the one I consider sub-human: those seeking child sex. I would happily watch as Thailand put them into a maximum-security prison for a long stretch, then deport them to their home countries -- IF their home countries had laws covering child sex by one of its nationals abroad. If not, leave the sucker rotting here for the rest of his (or, more rarely I think, her) days.

Don't know if some sort of classification system is of any use to any of the rest of you, but it helps me keep perspective.

Cheers --

This post has been edited by MekhongKurt: 20 March 2006 - 02:17 PM

You should add another category, just before the last one... the Farang beggar. What a truly incomprehensible sight to see a Westerner begging in a BKK park or living in a container in Pattaya.

Thanks for clearing the air there Kurt. I was getting nervous for a bit. The guys that are truly scum are like a few friends that I have had in the past. The type who need to borrow money often and then say things like,
"I'll get all the rounds next time out." Well, f$#% that, how about just paying me back the f@#$ing cash instead! Tourists are just tourists, letting loose and making fools, no big deal. If I were a fork lift driver at Walmart and that was all there was, I'd spend every last cent on broads and booze in the tropical sun. It's the so called expats who know better and know the score who continue to screw themselves, the ones they love and their friends, over and over.

I voted 'why do these countries put up with the scum'.
No wonder most Farangs don't want to make eye-contact with another Farang. Could be a 'Gary Glitter' type creep...

Boon- not so fast mate. I know on many occasions I've bumped into my fellow farang and I have to say these aren't the sort I would associate anywhere in the world. A few of them I'd class as some of the biggest TW*Ts in the world behaviour wise. Don't get me started on how they treat women there, you'd think they would treat them well since there would be no chance on this earth that they'd ever see a woman back home. Then you have the farang that see you and instantly want to borrow dosh from you. Help a fellow farang out - bit short and as a farang you should help me out.