So, taabarang, you see no variations in the food except in the south, east and west? That is, as opposed to in the north where you live.

Thanks for clearing that up.

In Bangkok, I accidentally stepped on a young Thai guy's fay ass looking white pointy elf shoes. He wanted to instantly throw down. I knew better and bitched up very quickly.

In Siem Reap later that year I was dancing up in that Temple club. Some Khmer kid stepped on my shoes. He immediately stopped dancing and looked me in the eye to apologize. Class act.

The whole over-macho bullshit in the club/bars/social settings is a major reason I left America. It was almost to the point that even in the upscale neighborhoods and nightclubs that you couldn't even bump into someone without the standard response of " WTF! Watch your step MFer!"

The biggest part I love about the Khmer is their ability to take small amounts of shit and let it go. I also like that if you give them too much shit, in a blink of an eye they will snap on you.

Fuck Thailand I say. The 30 days I spent there with that Thai Male aggression and being called a farrang everywhere was enough for me to limit that country to short holidays only. Oh, and why would anyone want to live in a country that obviously tries very hard to keep you out?

Thailand's golden expat days are over. Are we running out of places to go on our tiny little rock? Lonely Planet: Mars 2023 edition???

taabarang wrote:I think phuketrichard is on to something here with city mentality. It reminds me of Woody Allen's monologue which contains the following. "How do people in New York start the day? They cop an attitude and go outside." In my village the Cambodian locals do not like the big city. They find everything overpriced and the people kraeut krathom(arrogant) I usually have a good time in Phnom Penh except when I have dealing with a place that caters to foreigners, hence I avoid them as much as possible. I taught in Thailand for six months in Pitsanalok and hated it Thais told me people in the south were much nicer thus propagating another international belief. At lease in Germany, France, and the US people believe the further south you go, the more cordial people become. I never heard this about Cambodians living in the south of the country.

In the U.S. the people in the south are VERY FRIENDLY. But... this is only true if you are A- White, B- Of some denomination of Christianity ( better believe in Jesus) C- Vote republican party ( Put an Obama yard sign up and see how quick your house gets vandalized in Alabama or Mississippi) D- Are of the heterosexual orientation.

Digg3r, my post clearly refers to classic Cambodian dishes only. It's really clear. But the knife away Sparky, it's getting tired.

Again, Sir Quality, I appreciate your take, like I said already I don't necessarily believe it, just sharing the universality of an urban myth. I could say much the same for Bavaria as opposed to Berlin.

Actually barang is not offensive, but it is archaic. It really means French and stems from the days when most foreigners the Khmer knew were French. A really rural variant of this is barang se, a close phonic imitation of francais.
In fact the real word for foreigner is borathey.

I agree about the city thing. Later today I'll post my trip report to Vietnam which states pretty much the same thing. I've clocked over 30 000km in Cambodia and I head to the countryside every chance I get. I'm a city-slicker myself, but country folk are always nicer and more cordial, and almost never try to rip you off. It's also a nice change of scenery... I think city folk in Cambodia are still inherently nice, after all, I left the west and came here because of Cambodian smiles and friendliness.

phuketrichard wrote:

The 30 days I spent there with that Thai Male aggression and being called a farrang everywhere

Is not a derogatory term. its Barang in Cambodia
wait till you are older an everyone calls u "pappa"

30 whole days an you know the country? wow, good on ya, did u get out of Bangkok/Pattaya at all?

here is the difference though Rick- I felt like it was being USED as a derogatory term in Thailand. Everywhere you fucking go. Sure, I hear "Barrang" in Cambodia, but I don't have every other fucker pointing at me on the street and calling me a farrang farrang.

Sorry you love Thailand a lot but that doesn't mean you should step up and defend it's obvious major faults. Thai male aggression. I am sure it doesn't exist for you, from the sounds of it.

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