Chinese Girl Mistaken as Thai
Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 5:06AM Throughout my 10 days in Thailand, one of the most unforgettable things is that I had been mistaken as a Thai. Thai people spoke Thai to me and I replied in Thai in the first two or three sentences then in English. Do I really look Thai? Well, I think I look more Thai than Thai people themselves. The reason why I would say that is because I have become so much tanner and I would rather take their remark as a compliment than an insult because Thai people are so beautiful, as far as I am concerned.
Thailand is the second foreign country I have visited and this was the first time my nationality was being questioned or doubted. Growing up in Taiwan and having surrounded by people from different nationalities and ethnicities, I had listened to their frustration and struggle which they have to go through, not by choice. I never had to deal with their dilemma and having come back to Taiwan, I still don't have to. I live under the privilege entitled to citizens only as well as the convenience of communicating in my own mother tongue; moreover, I did not have to adapt myself to a foreign food, culture and environment. However, having spent 10 days in Thailand which is the longest period I have spent by far in a foreign country, I have experienced, if slightly, the challenge all my foreign friends are going through every single day.
Do you speak English?
On my first night in Thailand, we stopped over at a hotel near the airport for a night so we could fly to Phuket the next day in the morning. Outside of the hotel, there were local food stands by the street. We headed out excitedly to try some "real" Thai dishes that were not "Taiwanese-ized" like the ones they serve in Taiwan. We strolled down the street and examined the food from their images in order to decide which one to eat from since we had no idea about the kind of the food they offered. The moment I saw a young lady frying glass noodle with egg and vegetables; it looked like an acquired taste, I decided her dish was going to be my first meal in Thailand. But as I ordered, my Mandarin flew out of my mouth spontaneously saying "wo3 yao4 yi2 fen4"(I'd like to have one) with my finger pointing at what she is cooking. She smiled at me and continued with her cooking. After a moment, it dawned on me that I was no longer in Taiwan, I couldn't feel embarrassed enough. I figured it was time to apply my communicating tool which they claimed it works internationally --- English. However, to my great surprise, the "powerful" language tool English did not work in this time and place where I needed the most; the girl was not familiar with English at all. Why did they even crown English as the lingua franca when it failed to build a bridge between this lady and I????? Now, I had to work on my body language. I spent five minutes on successfully making my order and another three minutes on completing my payment. You know what, the food was délicieux! After the meal, I wanted to be friendly to her by saying “nice to meet you” in Thai. I had my note which I prepared before my journey ready; I headed over to her and started to read from the note. She apparently did not understand me. I showed her my note but it didn’t help because it was written in Pinyin and Mandarin. I could not even introduce my name to her. I felt utterly ashamed to be unable to communicate with her in Thai. Our communication was so limited that it was almost impossible for us to take on to a further step besides ordering food and asking about the price. The next day, we left the hotel without my knowing her name or number.
Where are you from?
We spent our second in Patong, Phuket. Patong is a well-known tourist spot. Because there are so many tourists here; hotels, restaurants, bars, shops, Thai massage places are simply inevitable and uncountable. I noticed Thai people don’t even live in this area; they come here only for business. A taxi driver told me it’s too expensive to live here therefore everyday he drives from the other side of the Phuket island to here to work. In Patong, foreigners stay in hotels, linger at bars, clubs or on the streets, eat out and bargain at shops. Despite being the lowest season ever, there was still business. As every tourist strolled down the street, Thai masseuses sitting in front of stores with their legs crossed and one foot in sandals dangling in midair would call out “Masssaaaggeeee?” Once you safely passed through successive Thai massage stores without having been successfully invited in by the girls’ charm, you bumped into three or four suit shops of which a salesman standing in front would tell you to “suit up”. Furthermore, unknown Thai men would approach you and ask aggressively “Taxi?” “Tuk Tuk?”(mini-bus in Thailand) or “Where are you going?” Since the business in Patong is so competitive that salesmen and women have to come up with some catchy lines or strategies to get tourist attention and this one caught me, “Where are you from?” My outlook had been assumed to be a Singaporean, Vietnamese, Japanese, Korean and finally a Chinese, to which I preferred to always add an additional comment of “from Taiwan”.
I am no Thai
After a few days in Phuket, my skin just could not get tanned enough that it began to peel lightly. I did not realize how dark I have become until I had my picture taken with my friend and my skin color contrasted to his light skin. Thai people have also started to speak to me in Thai to which I would respond in Thai for first 20 seconds in my poor Thai I had studied in advance then I would speak English. It gradually became too often that people mistook me as a Thai as the result of my very dark skin. One time, my friend and I entered a restaurant and the waitress waited us to a table. She later returned with two menus, one for me and the other for my friend. I had difficulties to understand the description of the dishes because they were written in Thai. When we were ready to order, I asked the waitress what kind of beverages they offered, she turned to the last page for me to read but I asked her what they were again because I could not understand Thai. She stared at me in confusion then she explained to me in Thai. That was the moment it dawned on me that I had been mistaken as a Thai and therefore had been given a Thai menu whereas my friend who had no problem with understanding the description on the menu because he was given an English menu! We laughed and screamed uncontrollably; the waitress apologized for her false assumption but I told her it was alright because I was rather glad to be mistaken as a Thai girl. From now on, my new skin color had become my new disguise as a fake Thai for a cheaper price.
Reader Comments (4)
I have never been to asia yet. (Which is why i visit your channel; to learn before I go.) But when I travel in europe, this is a common occurence. I am swedish, and visit austria often. They always think I am austrian or german, to the extent that I have learned some german just to not make them disappointed, haha.
Love your lessons!
Hi Peggy,
I've been to Thailand a couple of times with people from Taiwan, and they always had the same experience. ALWAYS! They, too, were mistakenly assumed to be Thai - instead of Chinese/Taiwanese. ;) You look amazing, btw!
When I was in Thailand I was mistaken for being Thai by the locals and by tourists also.
Hey Peggy,
I've never been to Thailand, but when I was there, they thought I was from Thailand. Crazy right?
Are you Thai or Japanese?
Anthony