Expat Strife & Bad Reputations in Thailand

I’ve been doing some research and I have discovered that the expat life is predominantly a male-driven life style; typically single, white, senior men (ages 50+) living out their retirement overseas. Expat communities crowd Southeast Asia and can be found in every major city and hot spot, tourist destination. In most parts of Asia you can spend less than $6 USD a day on food and rent a comfy furnished apartment for less than $150 USD a month, utilities included….so it’s not hard to guess why so many expats from wealthy regions (USA, UK, and Europe) choose to settle down in cheaper countries like Thailand.

The immigration laws here make it very difficult for foreigners to stay long-term in Thailand, and with good reason. Expats, in particular senior white men, have developed very bad reputations in Thailand. Sex tourism and prostitution is a black market trade that, sadly, flourishes in this country based on its popular demand from wealthy clients such as those expats mentioned above. Please note: I have met many good and decent expats in their senior years, and these are generalizations that certainly do not apply to everyone. Aside from black market sex, it is not uncommon for expats to open and work in businesses illegally in Thailand and exploit their positions of wealth.

 Unfortunately, the surest way to spot an expat is to find a foreigner “farang” middle aged man walking arm in arm with a young Thai woman. I have only on rare occasions met mixed race couples of the same age; it is almost always a foreigner man 20 years old taking a young bride, typically from the Isaan region bordering Thailand and Laos.

Don’t believe me? Look online! Google love and relationships in Thailand and you’ll find forums and websites dedicated to the hot topic of an older ‘farang’ looking for a hot young wife, and in response forums and blogs dedicated to warn these foreigner men from the conniving charms of local Thai women who are purely after their money and assets. (I’m sorry, but if you’re a senior citizen and a young 20 year old bar girl tells you she loves you…you’d be stupid to think she wasn’t looking for a way out!)

The whole thing makes me sick and angry most times…and here in the South of Thailand it’s happening more in the open than I’ve seen anywhere else! There’s a cycle of exploitation happening here: women being objectified, men being suckered, people getting stupid/angry/and violent from situations involving way too much alcohol, an all in all bad reputations are being formed for expats across SE Asia!

Certain generalizations should be stopped, even if they have been in place for more than 100 years.... 

“You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafes.” 
― Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises