One of the things I have found interesting in our five years of global travel is that, in many countries, discrimination based on ethnicity or nationality is either explicitly or implicitly allowed. I am not saying that there is no racism in Canada or the USA, however, the vast majority of people there believe racism is wrong and it is against the law in both Canada and the USA to discriminate based on ethnicity, race, skin color, etc. We have observed an increase in the overt fear and discrimination against people perceived as foreigners with the coronavirus pandemic.
Here are some of the examples I have seen or heard about in the past few months.
Chinese banned from restaurants in Thailand
Early on in the covid19 timeline, February 2020, a restaurant in the city of Chiang Mai put up a sign stating that they were not accepting Chinese customers. The police convinced them to take it down, although no law prevents them from posting such a sign. The police suggested that they rephrase the message in Chinese to say that they had run out of food.
Health Minister blames dirty foreigners for coronavirus spread in Thailand
During a publicity event at a transit station in Bangkok in early February 2020, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul railed against some white-skinned people that did not accept the face masks that he was handing out. “These kinds of people, we should kick them out of Thailand,” he told reporters, waving a handful of masks in the air.
Although he later apologized for his outburst, about a month later on his Twitter account he posted, “It’s winter right now in Europe so these people are fleeing the cold in Thailand. Many are dressed dirtily and never shower. As hosts, we have to be careful. Even they don’t want to mingle with each other, closing their borders,” the post said.
“Today I’m in Chiang Mai. There’s pretty much no more Chinese tourists, only farangs. More than 90% of Thais wear masks, but not a single farang has one. This is why there’re so many infections in their countries,” another tweet from the minister said. “We have to be more careful of Westerners than Asians.”
“Farang” is a word used to describe a person with white skin in the Thai language.
Thai Government celebrates the fact that “No new cases of covid19 yesterday among Thai citizens”
This graphic was taken down within one day. But the official Thai government website published an infographic celebrating the fact that no cases of Thai citizens with covid19 infections had been reported the previous day. However, there were 18 new cases reported in migrant workers living in Thailand. A government official apologized and beginning the next day the daily briefings and the government website began using a new graphic and the catchphrase, “Leaving no one behind. Inclusive and compassionate.”
The poster says in big letters: At last, the number of infections among Thai people is zero. Then in small letters it says: But 18 migrant workers have covid19
Foreigners not allowed to enter some banks, phone stores, or renew their driver’s license
I have seen a few posts from people in Thailand with signs from banks and other businesses saying something to the effect of, “Sorry, no foreigners allowed inside at this time.” Sometimes the sign says no foreigners, sometimes it says, no farangs, i.e., white-skinned people. This is especially interesting when you consider that no one has been able to enter Thailand for about sixty days, so any foreigners or white-skinned people have been here for at least that long, well beyond the incubation period for coronavirus.
Another thing to consider is that to have a Thai driver license you have to be an official Thai resident, they don’t give driver’s licenses to tourists. Similarly, with a bank account, tourists don’t get bank accounts in Thailand. If you have a Thai driver’s license or bank account, you most likely would have been in Thailand for a while and are a legal resident. We have met people who have lived in Thailand for over 30 years, but would be considered a foreigner and therefore banned from entry to these places at this time because of their white skin.
Foreigners given one week to vacate their apartments in Shanghai, China
Our friends, who now live in Bangkok, lived for thirteen years in Shanghai, China, and still have many friends there. One of their friends told them that they just got notice that they had to vacate their apartment within one week. The apartment building no longer wanted to rent to foreigners. This apartment building is right across from the International School, and therefore has many foreigners living there. They, and many of their ex-pat neighbors, have lived in the building for years. Although not explicitly stated, the likely reason is that the building was concerned about foreigners bringing in covid19.
On a related note, another friend of ours got a text message the other day from one of their friends, a long-time ex-pat living in China. The friend was on a plane in China. The person sitting next to them asked to be reseated because they didn’t want to sit next to a foreigner. The flight attendant quickly complied and moved the Chinese passenger away from the foreigner.
My purpose in writing this is mainly to inform and because I found this observed behavior very interesting. As a white-skinned Canadian-American citizen, I rarely see these kinds of prejudices, especially directed at me. It is also novel for me to observe this since, in the USA or Canada, many of the things I related in this post would be illegal and could result in lawsuits, criminal prosecution, or public outrage.
Our experience with the Thai people has always been very warm; some of the kindest, friendliest people in the world.
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