The Thai Football Association has issued a lifetime ban to Thai referee Mr. Somsak Poosomnuek for using a racial slur in Thai, equivalent to the N-word (‘Ai Dam’), against Abdulkordiri Hamid, a Thai-Ghanaian football player fluent in Thai, during a third division game. In his defense, he claimed it wasn’t racist, pointing to his own darker skin tone compared to the typical Thai individual. Additionally, he noted that his friends have consistently referred to him as ‘Ai Dam’ throughout his life.
Source:
https://www.siamsport.co.th/football-thailand/thaileague-3/35815/
https://www.siamsport.co.th/football-thailand/thaileague-3/37131/
Dont know the historical/social context of the word but thats such a dumb excuse. I’ve seen here a picture of the ref and him claiming he is darker is the same as someone northern european claiming he is nearly black after a week in Mallorca. Dude looks slightly more tan than most Thai and even that is debatable.
Like, what a regard. At least get yourself not a regarded excuse.
equivalent to the N-word (‘Ai Dam’)
Is the pronunciation similar to the cheese Eidam? To avoid any awkward situations in the future
He used hard M
It’s pronounced like I - dam
Would be E - dam like the cheese for a female. I is the male impolite version of ‘you’. ‘E’ is the impolite female form for ‘you’
I’m not racist, some of my best friends are racist
Well remind me to never ask for Dutch cheese in Thailand 😀 no but seriously that is unacceptable from the ref 😐 x
I wouldn’t use that phrase to describe anyone but it isn’t equivalent to the N word.
I know 100% what you mean bro. There’s this word in Korean that’s a slang for blacks and isn’t appropriate but isn’t anything like the n-word, because it doesn’t have the cruel history/context behind it. But it didn’t stop idiotic Black American youtubers/tiktokers from making a dumbass social experiment videos acting like they’re the victims because such a word exists and getting confused Koreans to say it’s a translation of the n-word
Yeah different cultures have different mindsets. Right or wrong I’m not going to discuss but things does get taken out of contex when you are from a different place, raised a different way etc.
Apparently this is another photo of the ref (on the left, obvs). Can anyone confirm?
If so, a more accurate defence might be “I can’t be racist because I tan sometimes”.
Except the insults are towards the tan skinned Thai people, not towards the black race.
Being tan in Thailand implies the person is ‘working under the sun’ like labourers or farmers class thus they have lower in social status.
Its like calling someone redneck or homeless. Not race specific insult.
The articles is wrong about the ref calling himself as a black race person, instead he call himself a lower working class people.
One thing I hate about people on the internet is people who think the world revolved around them and their social problem applies everywhere in the planet. Black people barely exist in Thai, you’d think there’s a black race specific insults made there?
Is there a threshold you need to reach in terms of skin color to identify as black? cause I know being black is about ethnicity not the skin color, referee subject aside, I find this whole “you don’t look black enough, or you’re not THAT black” argument to not make sense at all, I know many “blacks” who are more light skinned than that referee…
Games back?
I’m not racist, some of my multiple personalities are black.
Today I feel black
But which is Thai,which is black?
Samuel L Jackson vibes from pulp fiction
“You people!”
As a thai person, its really not equivalent to the N-word tho.
In Thailand, especially since young age, for some reason people like to nickname a person according to their distinct features.
“Ai-Wan” if you wear glasses “Ai-Tia” if you are short “Ai-Puek” if you are have very very light skin And therefore “Ai-Dam” if you have quite dark skin
Using it in a friendly context, although i still think its not appropriate, sometimes they really use these terms as just a nickname.
However, as much as we try to change the norm of the society, for the longest time, dark skin color represents those who do labour works, therefore having light skin is preferred in Thailand. You will see whitening products EVERYWHERE, collagen products EVERYWHERE, products that claim to make your skin lighter EVERYWHERE!
So yes “Ai-Dam” [literally translated to “Black”] can also be used in a derogatory context. The best equivalent would be if someone would call a fat person “Ai-Uan”, which literally translated to fat. Like its rude, it means to put people down, its not nice.
But its really not equivalent to the N-word…
And trust me, if Thai people want to use the N-word against black people, they would just directly say the N-word just simply cos they dont know what it means and how severe the damage is for saying so.
I still know people who’s still saying it til this day.
So no, Ai-Dam, doesnt equal N-word.
The whole idiology of a term being racist as long as it’s used by someone with a certain skincolor, is very racist in my opinion. U can’t tell half the world its racist, while its a ‘slang’ for the other half of population
equivalent to the N-word
Not gonna defend the guy but I’m tired of reading shit like this. Slurs for the most part don’t have “equivalents.” They’re likely completely different words with completely different usage history even if both are meant to be offensive.