Colonel_Reb
Hall of Famer
As some of you know, I spent the summer in Southeast Asia, mainly in Thailand, but I also spent time in Myanmar(Burma), Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore. I came away with a different perspective on some things, mainly understanding other cultures for our own benefit. One example of this is regarding the Vietnam conflict and our on and off support for different leaders in the region. If we had adequate knowledge about what was going on in that part of the world, we would have known the domino theory was unfounded by that time. Knowledge of their culture would have helped during this time as well. Anyway, that isn't the main thing I wanted to get across.
Someone just brought this up in another thread a little while ago, but I want to give my perspective about this and a couple of other related observations. First, people in Southeast Asia are proud of their heritage, both cultural and ethnic. They like to tell you about it too. I wish there was more of that kind of enthusiasm here in the states. Secondly, many Thai and other SE Asian women prefer white American men over any other foreigners and often over men from their own country. I know because I was hit on several times and talked to a couple of them about this. The reasons why as told to me is because they are tall and very handsome, and they treat women well and respect them. This in contrast to European whites. Why do they prefer whites? Because they believe it is best to have the lightest skin color possible. Women in many SE Asian countries wear face coverings and use umbrellas during the day to keep from getting a tan. People who have darker skin are not thought as highly of, for different reasons, one being a status/class issue. This was very interesting to observe, and I remember wishing people back home would be more interested in preserving their white heritage. These people aren't white but they wish to be, to a certain extent. As I said before, they are proud of their own ethnic identity, but I also noticed a definite affinity by women of that area to be as white as they can be and some try to find white American men to marry. There is no such affinity for black men, no matter their country of birth.
Southeast Asian people, and Thai people specifically are some of the nicest and most accomodating people I have ever met. It was a nice change from some of the places I have lived in here, but I am very thankful to be born and live in America. There were several things that I learned to appreciate about their culture that we don't have here, but I also am now much more aware of the many things that we are blessed with in America more so than any other country on earth and I was excited to get back here!
I learned a lot during my trip beyond this, but I thought it was time to share some of the things I learned that pertain to this site.
Someone just brought this up in another thread a little while ago, but I want to give my perspective about this and a couple of other related observations. First, people in Southeast Asia are proud of their heritage, both cultural and ethnic. They like to tell you about it too. I wish there was more of that kind of enthusiasm here in the states. Secondly, many Thai and other SE Asian women prefer white American men over any other foreigners and often over men from their own country. I know because I was hit on several times and talked to a couple of them about this. The reasons why as told to me is because they are tall and very handsome, and they treat women well and respect them. This in contrast to European whites. Why do they prefer whites? Because they believe it is best to have the lightest skin color possible. Women in many SE Asian countries wear face coverings and use umbrellas during the day to keep from getting a tan. People who have darker skin are not thought as highly of, for different reasons, one being a status/class issue. This was very interesting to observe, and I remember wishing people back home would be more interested in preserving their white heritage. These people aren't white but they wish to be, to a certain extent. As I said before, they are proud of their own ethnic identity, but I also noticed a definite affinity by women of that area to be as white as they can be and some try to find white American men to marry. There is no such affinity for black men, no matter their country of birth.
Southeast Asian people, and Thai people specifically are some of the nicest and most accomodating people I have ever met. It was a nice change from some of the places I have lived in here, but I am very thankful to be born and live in America. There were several things that I learned to appreciate about their culture that we don't have here, but I also am now much more aware of the many things that we are blessed with in America more so than any other country on earth and I was excited to get back here!
I learned a lot during my trip beyond this, but I thought it was time to share some of the things I learned that pertain to this site.