Patrick Winn

Based in Bangkok, Patrick Winn produces written and video dispatches on Thailand and Burma for Global Post. By capturing street revolts, a gruesome Muslim insurgency and even transgender beauty...

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Patrick Winn's Notebook:

June 1, 2009 05:14 ET

The benefits of being "farang"

Thailand — friendly, tropical and inexpensive — is flush with expats and retirees. And almost every English-speaking foreigner living in Thailand has been within earshot of the "hardships of being farang" conversation.

It usually involves two Western men, drinking beer or coffee in some public place, reciting a litany of their mistreatment in Thailand.

The cab drivers rip them off. The immigration officials screw up their paperwork. Their rural-born Thai wife treats them like an ATM.

The grumbling builds and builds to a crescendo. And then you hear, "... because that's the way  Thai people think they can treat us 'farangs.'"

Of course, these guys inevitably pronounce 'farang' sarcastically — and mispronounce it at that. It's a Thai word that loosely translates to Westerner. More often than not, light-skinned Westerner. Kind of like "gringo," but just a shade more polite.

I wish this point of view were more isolated, but I've overheard it too many times. Message boards are littered with ugly farang gripes about Thailand.

It's as if they've arrived to this foreign country only to find they're surrounded by all these ... foreigners! With their foreign ways! And their foreign language!

Allow me to be direct. Being "farang" confers so much privilege in Thailand that it's practically embarassing. Especially embarassing for a guy raised in post-modern, race-conscious America.

Guards wave me through metal detectors without a second thought. I am always assumed to be at least upper-middle class. (Pay-wise, even though my income is likely lower than a U.S. Burger King assistant manager's salary, I am.) Teenagers nervously shout "hellloooooo!" on the street and giggle giddily when I walk up and shake their hand.

And if you respond in Thai? Many Thai people seem flattered, as if you've done them a personal favor by learning their tonal language — one that only about 70 million people share. In upcountry Thailand, I've seen a gas station attendent clasp her chest with surprise when I asked for change in Thai.

I feel especially compelled to write all this after returning from an community event at an air force base in Lop Buri, two hours north of Bangkok. A local principal spotted me there — the lone farang in a crowd of hundreds — and dragged me over to his kids so they could practice saying, "How are you?" and "What is your name?"

Switching back to Thai, boys asked if it was cold in Farangland. Girls asked if I used contacts to make my eyes green. Kids lined up to shake my hand like I was someone important.

It's almost as if I've arrived in this foreign country only to find I'm surrounded by foreigners ... who have no idea I'm just a goofy guy from North Carolina.

Come on, guys. Is being "farang" really worth complaining about?

P.S. One big disclaimer: It's not so peachy for all foreigners here, as Thai society's regard for dark-skinned outsiders — and even dark-skinned rural Thais — can be disappointing. An example: Thai-Indians are typically called "kaek," a word that means "guest" despite the fact that they've lived here for decades.  (My Thai-Indian friends do not embrace this word at all.)

As always, anyone who can add more to this discussion should comment below.

May 14, 2009 12:01 ET

The sieged resort's smooth operator

I would have thought the day political protesters invaded Thailand's Royal Cliff Beach Resort — sending half of Asia's presidents and prime ministers fleeing by helicopter — would be recalled bitterly by the resort's leadership.

But Victor Kriventsov, the resort's sales and marketing director, is surprisingly unflappable. I  recently met up with Victor, a major player in the Russian travel industry, while reporting a story on Russian tourists.

We chatted at the seaside complex, the scene of so much chaos just weeks ago. And I had to ask: What was it like to witness your resort under siege?

According to Victor, a bit farcical. Click below to hear some audio excerpts of our interview.

A deputy honorary consul to the Russian Federation, he runs a small consulate on the resort grounds — and I especially like the bit about summoning Thai troops to defend his seaside patch of Russian soil.

"It's so funny. I myself, speaking 10 words of Thai, easily arranged a platoon of marine commandos protecting my (consulate), just like that."

And here's a warning: Scratch the Sultan of Brunei's vehicle at your own peril.

"I saw at beach parking ... the Sultan of Brunei's bodyguards guarding not him, his cars. Immediately, they just took out machine guns. Took a few shots."

Don't let Victor's laughs fool you. The invasion was a gut-punch to Thailand's tourism industry and,  in the travel business here, everyone has suffered. But you gotta admire his attitude.

May 7, 2009 08:06 ET | Updated: May 7, 2009 13:30 ET

Bootleggers fight back

Pirated DVDs are as common in Thailand as mango and sticky rice.

I know because a close friend of mine — let's call him "me" — buys them all the time. Me, who is an otherwise great guy, loves that six-DVDs-for-500 baht ($14.30) special offered by Bangkok's finest hawkers of bootleg cinema.

Me simply cannot resist their siren song. (He's also too cheap to subscribe to cable.) The hawkers are everywhere — outside the pub, in the wet market, beside the noodle stand — so there's no place to hide.

Now, it seems, the bootleggers are under attack, and I don't mean that figuratively. In the Patpong district — ground zero for Bangkok red-light sleaze and a great place to buy knock-offs — vendors rioted after police raided their stalls last night.

Details are still fuzzy, but English-language bloggers and the Thai media have reported that shots were fired. This all went down on a typically jam-packed stretch of Silom Road. Some apparently fled to a nearby luxury hotel to wait out the ruckus.

The raids are arranged by the government, under renewed pressure from the U.S. to crack down on piracy. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and his Commerce Ministry, have said the raids will continue every two days.

Mahboonkrong mall, a heavily touristed paradise of cheap electronics and bootlegs, is another likely target. I — I mean, Me — can only hope that the fourth-floor stall near the escalator, the one with the amazing selection of offbeat films, will be spared.

April 30, 2009 05:16 ET

Wanna throw shoes at Thai soldiers? Apply here.

Pop quiz — Were the red-clad protesters who rioted in Bangkok this month:

A. Crusading "have nots" who valiantly rose up to topple  Thailand's entrenched elites?

B. Violent hayseeds who will support any politician corrupt enough to pay them off?

If you chose B, you might enjoy this mock application to join the anti-establishment Red Shirt movement, which recently staged a mini-revolt in Bangkok. (For Thai readers, here's the original version.)

If you chose A, and just clicked on that link, you're probably punching your monitor right now.

Of all the academic ponderings and online rants I've read about these protesters, nothing so succinctly encapsulates how a certain faction of urban, educated Thais view them.

The satirical form to join the Red Shirts — who mostly hail from Thailand's rural rice-farming regions — asks applicants to check off their "special skills": kicking soldiers, howling loudly or slapping women.

Under the "What qualities to you look for in a good prime minister?" heading, applicants can choose "has the soul of a killer of 2,500 men."

The fake form has been circulated by e-mail and posted to a Thai news site owned by the leader of a rival political faction that despises anti-establishment protesters and their favored politicians.

That English translation was graciously posted to Thai 101, an impressive blog on Thai language. (The blog's proprieter admits in the "About" section to spending 10 minutes in Thai bathroom stalls trying to transcribe graffiti. I suddenly feel less weird.)

April 29, 2009 11:38 ET

100 days deep, Obama camp (mostly) quiet on Thai unrest

Since U.S. President Barack Obama's ascent to the White House, Thailand has plunged deeper into a public debate about the kingdom's democracy.

America and Thailand are dear old pals — a former monarch once offered to ship over some elephants during Abraham Lincoln's tenure — but you won't hear much opining from Camp Obama about this kingdom's struggle to settle internal grievances over democracy.

After protesters paralyzed Bangkok this month, the U.S. State Department issued a bland-as-oatmeal condemnation of this "unacceptable violence." When Thailand's foreign minister met Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C. last week, he emerged claiming Hillary "expressed her confidence" in the direction the government was "leading Thai society."

Thais, still enamored with Obama 100 days deep, should expect this sort of muted diplomatic language until the political crisis is tamed.

Much more fascinating will be Camp Obama's pending formulation of a policy towards Burma, Thailand's not-so-democratic next-door neighbor. When Hillary swings through Bangkok this summer for a Southeast Asian summit, Thailand will likely urge her to limit sanctions against the junta-run country as other powerful voices urge her to take a harder line.

Meanwhile, in these distressing economic times, Obama is indirectly providing job security for at least one Thai balladeer in coastal Thailand.