Thread: The fallen English Empire!

If, Manners maketh man as someone said, then the English are the heros of the day, it takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile.

Observant OP.

My opinion of Brits has changed remarkably since coming to Thailand. Doesn't mean they're all like that, but far too many are.

Originally Posted by Texpat

My opinion of Brits has changed remarkably since coming to Thailand. Doesn't mean they're all like that, but far too many are.

Same as mine, I have worked with some and have met a few when I was young about 50+ years ago in Canada and they were all cool, something like I find Thetyim to be and that was always my image of an Englishman, but since I have been here and on this and other forums in the last 9 years I have sure as hell changed my mind, but like scamp says, we are what we are and there is pricks everywhere , and just associating with them here has sure changed my opinion of them and has transformed me from a gentleman to a kinda rowdy/raunchy bastard.

Originally Posted by blackgang

just associating with them here has sure changed my opinion of them and has transformed me from a gentleman to a kinda rowdy/raunchy bastard. __________________

BG are you blaming the English for your current iconic status? Shit you'll be telling us you like warm beer and wearing socks with your sandals next.

Originally Posted by blackgang

has transformed me from a gentleman to a kinda rowdy/raunchy bastard.

Raunchy ehh! Come on Blakgang get yer tits oot for the lads.

Originally Posted by chassamui

BG are you blaming the English for your current iconic status? Shit you'll be telling us you like warm beer and wearing socks with your sandals

Well said Chass

Originally Posted by Texpat

Observant OP.

My opinion of Brits has changed remarkably since coming to Thailand. Doesn't mean they're all like that, but far too many are.

So has mine, and im a Brit.

Originally Posted by chassamui

BG are you blaming the English for your current iconic status? Shit you'll be telling us you like warm beer and wearing socks with your sandals next.

Nope, I don't drink beer and when I did back in the 70s I liked it COLD, but in this part of the world we had to put ice in the fucking stuff, but I could handle Tuborg Copenhagen or San Maguel Manilla or a good home brew at cool room temp,
I do not wear sandals or short below the knee pants and a singlet like a fucking pommie either, I do wear Khaki pants, T shirts, and sperry top siders deck shoes with white socks.
When falling timber then your pants are stagged off half way between the knee and ankle so they do not hang up on staubs and with no seam in the bottom so they will tear if hung up when you are making a get away from a tree that has just started to fall, and your caulk boots came damn close to your knee, other than that mine are at shoe top.

Originally Posted by blackgang

I do not wear sandals or short below the knee pants and a singlet like a fucking pommie either

Bugger! Neither do I. Should I, seeing as I'm a 'pommie'?

Well, technically, yes, you should. And you should be bald too.

Ever gut anybody with a shank? And that rugby shirt won't do either. It's kickball, all the way.

I also think my opinion of particularly English males has changed quite a bit since I have moved to S.E Asia. The English I knew, worked with and played sport against were quite different socially and when we were all sharing Australian life.

Almost upon my arrival here full time in LOS I started drinking in a bar called Jools in Bangkok for many years and as an Australian in predominately an English patronized bar I copped my far share of wind-up banter which I duly gave back and as good as what I received.

The ironic characteristic I noticed and amongst the English patrons there was if there weren't having a go at me or another Aussie they would be getting stuck into a Scotsman, Irishman or a Welshman and with more gusto.

If nobody was biting then they would start on each other with the Geordies having a go at any Scousers, or cockney's having a go at the Brummies and so on.

I have befriended quite a few English people here and value their friendship and have been reminded and warned about the so-called English sense of humour on many occassions.

Can someone kindly explain to me about this so-called "English sense of humour" which I should understand and particularly when they are in the process of taking the piss out of people of other nationalities.

Thanks in advance but sorry..........................I just don't get it!

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Still my mates anti-social, anti-aussie rant really knocked the shit out of me.

So you thought you'd have an ant-English rant

Again Nick you can comment and as you see fit.

I suppose I have but made it quite clear I was a bit fed up and pissed at the time of my post.

Care to explain to me about this famed "English sense of humour" I should know about and to better understand you lot.........??????????

brits eh? wow chavsamui even turned up in a transit! how english is that! singha and chang singlets are a part of the economy, thailand wouldnt be the same, socks and sandals, no comment

If there is one thing that all English people admire, it's a sense of humour, especially if it's subtle and clever.

You are right that the English are inveterate piss-takers. Think of it as the same as a peacock's tail. A chance to show off wit and humour.
You should never take offence at it, as that will show that you, yourself have no sense of humour, which, in the eyes of an Englishman is the worst sin.
You should give back as good as, if not better than you get. This will earn you kudos and respect.

The closest of friends will take the piss out of each other, to outsiders ears, in the cruelest way.
A rough rule of thumb is that the more comfortable you feel with someone, the crueler the humour.

After all; all humour is based on cruelty, either to ones self, or, the misfortune of others.

^^^To be truthful I observed exactly the same things about Australians when I was in bars in Thailand. They called each other and everybody else cunts and tried to start fights. I was shocked as I thought Australians were OK.

I think the lesson learned is nothing about any nationality, but that going to Thai bars to look for good company is generally a bad idea, especially in Pattaya and the seedier parts of Bangkok.

I learnt that lesson and don't go to them anymore.

Originally Posted by Attilla the Hen

If there is one thing that all English people admire, it's a sense of humour, especially if it's subtle and clever.

You are right that the English are inveterate piss-takers. Think of it as the same as a peacock's tail. A chance to show off wit and humour.
You should never take offence at it, as that will show that you, yourself have no sense of humour, which, in the eyes of an Englishman is the worst sin.
You should give back as good as, if not better than you get. This will earn you kudos and respect.

The closest of friends will take the piss out of each other, to outsiders ears, in the cruelest way.
A rough rule of thumb is that the more comfortable you feel with someone, the crueler the humour.

After all; all humour is based on cruelty, either to ones self, or, the misfortune of others.

Thanks Attila and a very honest and descriptive explanation!

Well LT, I can't help you there as I never thought that they had a sense of humor in the first place.
First one of you folks I met was a Red Haired dude by the moniker of Barry McDonald and he was the son of an Aussie war bride whose step dad was a native of my hometown in Central Oregon and he came there in grade school in 1946 and became a good friend of mine, but he had some strange ways and thoughts, even for a kid,
Tell you how strange that asshole was, after we had grown a tad he got hold of that asshole that was president of the USA at that time, I think he was a kike by the name of Eisenhower [sp] and had that son of a bitch get him OKed to go into the USAF, now ain't that some shit.
Cocksucker had never even been layed yet [said he wouldn't fuck no gal unless he seen her take a shower before he would root her] or even been in the cub fucking scouts and here he going off to war in a fucking flying club with the backing of the POTUS..
Now them Kangaroos is sure some strange fuckers too.

sadly there seem to be so few true gentlemen these days

It's a character flaw they try to pass off as "having a larf."

A bit of old boy fun is good for a few jabs and barbs, but they just never know when to quit. Not sure if it's a feeble attempt at propping themselves up by trying to drag down others, or merely latent anger venting, but LT's characterization of skipping onto the next target is dead-on. It's like a chain smoker sucking in his last drag on a cigarette -- can't just let it go and chuckle and move on. Insatiable desire to rant an rail and act an ass.

Undoubtedly, some will defend the practice as lads having fun, or overly-sensitive targets, but we all know it's deeper than that. And the good poms here know it.

We all like to whine a bit and have some fun at the expense of others, but there comes a point where banter needs to move beyond insults and anger and this idea that you and your ilk are somehow inferior than me and mine. We all know this simply isn't true. More than once I've felt very sorry for some nasty, drunken old pommie asshole as he rails on about something or other -- as if he hold all the answers to every problem the world has ever known simply by virtue of him being a Brit.

I suppose if your intent is to go out looking for trouble, you'll have little problem finding it. That's my impression of many Brits around here. Completely opposite of how I viewed Brits three years ago. The ones I knew in Japan were civilized.

^ Yes BG there are some strange coonts from every walk of life and nation.

Originally Posted by NickA

To be truthful I observed exactly the same things about Australians when I was in bars in Thailand. They called each other and everybody else cunts and tried to start fights. I was shocked as I thought Australians were OK.

To be honest Nick I have never come across an Aussie here that out and out wanted to start a fight but I do not doubt your claim.

Then again I have never had an Aussie friend here and as mentioned before my close friends are predominately English and Welsh, 1 Scotsman with a few Americans sprinkled abouts.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

Can someone kindly explain to me about this so-called "English sense of humour" which I should understand and particularly when they are in the process of taking the piss out of people of other nationalities. Thanks in advance but sorry..........................I just don't get it!

Over centuries the British have developed a unique sense of humour. I am not referring to the lager swilling low IQ morons you see on holiday, but the genuine expat who has made a choice to live work or retire in another country.
We mostly gravitate to what we know and understand when in a strange new place. Hence your reference to an English bar. The same is true in western democracies, where enclaves of Poles, Muslims, Slavs and other minorities tend to live and socialise together. Even the Aussies have turned Kings Cross into a mini Oz home from home.
If they are unhappy about things they can't change, Brits abroad will seek out his kindred spirit to relive some long forgotten battle or football match. I think its a kind of comfort blanket for unhappy expats.
As for humour we are renowned for our stiff upper lip and our distaste for conflict. We prefer diplomacy to battle as we have learned to our cost that we can never really win.
To diffuse all this bottled up anger and loss of Empire we fight amongst our selves, until a colonial gives us the excuse to close ranks and fight a common enemy.
We prefer this to be an intellectual battle rather than real fisticuffs, but most serious Brits with half a brain will always side with the colonies against any other interloper who tries to defile our joint heritage.
It is not uncommon for Brits abroad to start a fight with an Aussie, but when an outsider joins in, the Colonists will join forces and end up buying each other a beer to discuss the merits of their combined victory. We all come from the same stock after all.
In an unequal fight, humour and self deprecation is often the most potent weapon. We will happily laugh at ourselves, until an outsider joins in, then he gets his arse kicked.

Originally Posted by Loy Toy

To be honest Nick I have never come across an Aussie here that out and out wanted to start a fight but I do not doubt your claim. Then again I have never had an Aussie friend here and as mentioned before my close friends are predominately English and Welsh, 1 Scotsman with a few Americans sprinkled abouts.

I feel sorry for you

Originally Posted by astasinim

Whilst all the above countries have contributed in making England what it is/was, theyre under the misguided notion, that theyd be in the same position they are now, without the English.

Fantastic and timely quote mate.

And really I am not taking the piss or again I could be mistaken, but based upon my experiences a lot of English people here never, ever stop reminding these people about that fact which I also find tiresome.