You can spot them at any upscale expat hangout or rooftop bar. They carry themselves with the unearned confidence of conquerors. Over a glass of imported wine, they love to pontificate about how Thailand is a “Third World country” populated by people who would still be living in the dark ages if it weren’t for Western benevolence.
”We gave them infrastructure. We gave them technology. We literally brought them toilet paper and modern hygiene, and they still behave like savages,” they say, looking down at the street below with supreme disgust.
This is the cult of the “Supremes”—the self-proclaimed “superior breed” of Westerners who believe their passport and their skin color automatically grant them a higher evolutionary status. They view Thai culture through a lens of absolute historical superiority, convinced that every local should bow in gratitude for the mere privilege of breathing the same air as a European or an American.
They talk endlessly about Western values, civic duty, law, and high culture. They look at the local population as uneducated, lawless children who need to be taught how a civilized world operates.
The Collapse of Civilization at the Dinner Table
But the most fascinating thing about this “superior breed” is how quickly their thousands of years of Western civilization dissolve when the bill arrives.
Watch the exact same man an hour later in a local Italian restaurant or a high-end seafood joint. He orders the imported steak, the premium wine, and the expensive desserts. He demands flawless, silver-service attention from the Thai waitstaff, snapping his fingers and treating them like indentured servants because, after all, “he is teaching them how to run a proper business.”
But when the folder with the check lands on the table—showing a total of, say, 1,200 Baht—the colonial master undergoes a sudden, pathetic transformation.
Suddenly, he isn’t the pinnacle of Western education anymore. He spots a minor detail—maybe the water bottle was brought 3 minutes late, or the ice melted too fast. He begins to shout, intentionally escalating a ridiculous conflict to create a scene.
Then comes the grand finale: The Dine and Dash.
He stands up, puffs his chest, and walks out of the restaurant without paying a single Satang. When the panicked Thai manager follows him into the street, politely asking for the money, the “superior breed” suddenly suffers from acute selective amnesia. He rolls his eyes, waves his hands aggressively, and pretends he doesn’t understand a single word of English.
”No understand! Bad service! No pay!” he stammers like an idiot, hiding behind a fake language barrier and walking away into the night, leaving a 20-year-old Thai waitress to pay for his steak out of her 350-Baht daily wage.
The True Hierarchy of Pattaya
This is the ultimate irony of the arrogant expat. They scream that Thailand is a lawless, uncultured jungle, yet they only live here because the local culture of Kreng Jai (deference and conflict avoidance) allows them to act like criminals without instantly getting their teeth knocked out on the sidewalk.
They brag about inventing the modern world, but they use the tactics of a petty street thief just to save thirty dollars.
The next time you hear a Farang lecturing a bar or a restaurant about “how things are done in a civilized society,” stick around until the end of the night. Watch how he handles the bill. Because more often than not, the loudest defenders of Western civilization are the first ones to run down an alleyway to avoid paying for their dinner.
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