I came to Thailand before the term political correctness had ever been
coined. Or if it had I certainly had never heard of it.

As phraseology such as intellectually or even horizontally challenged
started to plague the west that I had ditched, it was always far more
refreshing to be in a country where a spade was actually referred to
as a spade.

Imagine calling someone a spade in the UK these days.

It was always possible – and still is – to poke fun at the Royals; I
shall never forget my news editor calling Prince Charles “wing nut”.
But increasingly the public had to watch what they said as not just
social approbation awaited – they could wind up in court.

Terms like “ageism” became mainstream; you were a social pariah for
suggesting that your female work colleague looked nice today.

In the early eighties, as first Ariana Afghan Air then later a boat
across the Indian Ocean brought Rooster to south east Asia, I had time
to contemplate what I had l left behind and what possibly awaited me
in my Brave New World.

That world was Thailand and it was immediately obvious that here was
both a place where you could say exactly what you thought as well as
where buttoning your lip could save you lying on a floor with rice
gruel for breakfast for years and only Somchai to hear your moans.

The trick was in knowing what you could and couldn’t or shouldn’t say
of course – and it was made all the more difficult with the “could”
category being so vast!

The fact that Rooster was now pigeonholed according to color and race
was the first in your face indication of change. But I tried to use it
to my advantage: my first attempts at humor went down well such as
when asked if I would like some raw guava….Indignantly I refused
“Farang gin farang day yang ngai? (How on earth can a Caucasian be
expected to eat a guava?).

Ok, you need to have been there…

Reading on the front of a local newspaper that a visiting foreign head
of state might be taken to a soapy Thai massage parlor as part of
their local cultural tour quickly confirmed that political correctness
would take some decades before it was washed up on these shores.

Things have changed like everywhere, though I always feel that Thais
becoming more politically correct is something usually done to appease
the “God of Tourism” – it is done grudgingly and usually with a wily
wink that we are only saying that to please you – when push comes to
shove we’ll ignore it, just like the laws we don’t like, seems to be
the message.

Every week on Thaivisa you can see the gulf of political correctness
between the west and here as wide as the Gulf of Thailand. And I think
I prefer it that way.

I have been doing some advisory work at a large recruitment firm in
Krung Thep and I had suggested to a Thai I met there that in the UK it
was now illegal to demand a candidate photo on a job application.

“But how would you know what they looked like and whether they were
suitable to be hired?” came back the reply.

In a similar vein my first reference to Thai news this week is the
story about the pretty lady cop acting as a drill sergeant keeping the
men in line in Kamphaeng Phet. Yes, the translator went to town in
English but it was all there in Thai after all and why should PC be
necessary when referring to Thai cops anyway!

The female cop was young, curvaceous in her well cut uniform, yes,
never mind if she was good at her job; she was a right bit of alright
leading to my favorite forum comment of the week.

It was from “NCC1701A” in Hua Hin who usually regales us with his
ideas for sentencing but lightened up a bit this week with: “Could you
imagine the sh*t storm this would cause if you did a story like this
in the USA”.

Political correctness was never something that the UK tabloid press
wanted and neither do they bother to let facts get in the way of a
good story. The Sun – who famously said “Elton Takes David Up the
Aisle” when the singer married his same sex partner – were at it again
when 90,000 baht became 90,000 quid.

The story was the former Eastenders star that no one has heard of who
fell down at a Samui waterfall, bust his knee and now expects the
Thais to pay for his stupidity.

Jeremy Clarkson would probably call them “slopes” – the Thais not
their inclines – but I am glad that the Samui hospital director said
it like it is and had a go at the nasty foreign press. Because they
are very nasty.

The Sun of course feels they can say anything they like about Thailand
as they feel so shackled by their hacks no longer being able to say
things at home like “Zip me up before you Go Go” when George Michael
was caught in some Piccadilly toilets.

Bash the Asians, keep ‘em in their place – they deserve it. Why do we
need to be politically correct when it comes to them?

A twenty something who could hardly be called politically correct is
Nathan Bartling, the American Youtuber who dominated the news this
week at least until some Russian beg-packers came along to take off
some of the heat.

My Mate Nate, or My Twat Nat as I prefer to call him, is about the
most hated person in Thailand at the moment though I have to say a lot
of that is jealousy about the money he is making.

According to some sources he may have creamed off a million bucks in
clicks from his YouTube antics making his 5,000 baht fine for railway
trespass a trifling bagatelle.

The righteous are calling for him to be deported and many want to see
his work permit but when all is said and done, is he not today’s
version of Candid Camera or Jeremy Beadle’s “You’ve Been Framed”.

The Thai authorities would be better off utilizing his large following
for a touch of “promotional payback” and rather than sending him and
his like packing they should look at ways of taxing him to the tune of
40%.

Work permits and tax were the last thing on the mind of the Russian
beggars armed with little Olga firstly in Bangkok then latterly in
Chiang Mai. Prior to the days of social media the antics of these
beggars would have just been seen as quirky with perhaps the odd shout
to “go back to where you belong”.

These days everyone has an opinion and the wave of outrage seems to be
out of all proportion to the act even indeed if they have done
anything wrong.

Except of course committing the heinous crime of offending the court
of social media with all those holier than thou types who have never
done anything wrong. Yeah, right.

Some idiotic posters claim to believe that the antics of people like
Nate and the beg-packers tar every visitor to Thailand with the same
brush. This is pure ignorant Thai bashing showing the posters up as
worse than those they attempt to criticize.

Rooster has always felt that the Thais are smarter than most
nationalities– an attitude that has helped me not just be happy in the
kingdom but, on occasion, given me the edge in not underestimating my
adversary!

Not that living in Thailand is a battle – but it can seem like a
challenge at times. Certainly reading – and translating – much of the
crime this week was not a walk in Suan Lum.

In Nong Khai there was the horrendous rape of a nursing assistant by a
convicted murder let out to strike again. He had somehow walked into a
public hospital with a knife tucked into his trousers prompting the
director to say “security is fine”.

Maybe he should take notice of the 7/11 staff at the hospital who
immediately contacted the police when the man started spreading
camphor on his privates in the store saying he was randy.

A small clue that he might be up to no good.

Unfortunately the cops were too late to save the assistant who should
sue the hospital in my view.

The nutter remains at large but the cops in Surat Thani did better
with a 48 hour arrest in the “Dressed to Kill” slaying of a woman who
the murderer claimed swindled him.

Rules of Engagement in Thai business conflict have always contained
the sub-sections “employ a hired gun” and “massacre the entire family
just in case” but in Surat the murderer – again released following
murder – just satisfied himself with dressing up as a woman, tying up
the victim with cloth and duct tape…oh, and kicking the corpse on his
way out.

It was a much better week for the airline industry and the city of Chiang Mai.

The Thai media managed to scour the internet to find an organization
that was prepared to say that Bangkok Airways was one of the best
airlines in the world and their airport on Samui equally superb –
despite the fact that it makes Mor Chit bus station look organized.

Chiang Mai was somehow named the third best city in the world and it
was amusing to see many of the forum posters who love the place come
out and rubbish that.

Rooster has never been a fan and thinks that if you are going to live
in a polluted and traffic infested metropolis you may as well live in
a nice one like Bangkok.

And so to a couple of Rooster awards. My “Fair Play But It Was About
Time” award goes jointly to the cops who have brought back the jet set
monk to face trial on money laundering, drugs and molestation charges
and the judge who sentenced highway killer and “Boss lookalike”
Jenphop to five years for driving into two graduates at 250kmh.

In the case of the monk it remains to be seen if the law can convict
him while nobody will be surprised if Jenphop is really out on bail
and using his millions to escape porridge.

I wonder if Boss is reading the stories for tips?

Finally, well done to the bods at the labor ministry who at last are
reviewing that infamous list of 39 occupations that only Thais can do.
They have grasped that nearly all of the jobs no Thai actually wants
to do.

The general PM weighed in with his helpful advice to keep the
profession of tour guide for his countrymen only.

But then we could hardly expect political correctness in every
quarter, could we.

Rooster

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