hookedondhamma

OMG! How will the farmers ever manage without the subsidy?..........doh! I forgot, they don't get any of it anyway! Lower away!

That's what these naive rice farmer communities get for believing in populist policies, and they will again not learn from their mistakes and believe in those empty promises again and again and again...

... They get what they blindly wanted to and get ripped and stripped...

Perhaps those non-Thai's up North in Isaan will stop moaning and complaining when I refer to the Pheu Thai voters in the area as being naive, gullible and stupid now. as there is clear justification to do so.

I think I should be safe as I have an inkling that not too many will be 'tuned in' to this topic as it doesn't look so good on their equally stupid hero in foreign realms!!!!

Non-thais up north in isaan ? oh my! You better sleep with one eye open ...

Hey possum, there's a dinner dance on the 28th and the Thai dancing school wants to learn some Scottish dances, you up for it? It was great wee night the last night, I want to see the Thai skirling around doing the Dashing White Sergeant

I'd give my rotten, baht scheme rice to see that"

If you're English have you ever tried talking to the average American about sports?

They like rounders, hockey on ice, netball, a form of football where hardly anyone even touches the ball let alone kicks it and motor racing where the cars just go round and round in circles forever.

No, not really. You must be using the popular world slagoff for Americans which you consider 'redneck'. As for myself I have never found anything exciting about watching cars go around in a circle ... Or men beating the living daylights out of each other either ...

And what is netball? what is that? must be something new.

Isn't that the guy who sang the liver song? dtap ... Dtap dtap -dtap dtap ... Dtap dtap -dtap dtap *cheesy electric guitar riff*

One would think the gays could fade away from the headlines now they can marry, but no they don't. What is it this time they want? Federal equality? Are they making stuff up?

They cannot marry and are still denied some basic rights that some of us take for granted. I don't think the rude woman spoke for the majority of gay people, particularly those with some manners.

+1 and a rainbow!

Most Thai men like Football and Beer so they are good subjects. My Brother-in- Law likes talking about Chickens and his Yellow Bus and my Neighbour likes talking about when he worked in the Middle East. Never really had a problem in this way.

A friend of mine who speaks Thai pretty well always told me that they can hold a 2 hour conversation about something as simple as a soup spoon.

Yes! It is true! Have you ever been to a Maw Laam performance?

You seem to have taken a flier at this without thinking. Yes there are some Thai people who have poor access to media, and there will be plenty who are disinterested, but there are plenty more who are just as interested in world news and the like as the rest of us.

We will have to disagree on this.

Most Thais I know wouldn't be bothered if the rest of the world died tomorrow.

Trouble is TB, you're still essentially a tourist here, it's very hard for any foreigner to really interact with Thais, impossible for a tourist.

You seem to have taken a flier at this without thinking. Yes there are some Thai people who have poor access to media, and there will be plenty who are disinterested, but there are plenty more who are just as interested in world news and the like as the rest of us.

We will have to disagree on this.

Most Thais I know wouldn't be bothered if the rest of the world died tomorrow.

Trouble is TB, you're still essentially a tourist here, it's very hard for any foreigner to really interact with Thais, impossible for a tourist.

Not knowing much outside of their own country is more of an American thing!

I work with over 200 Thai's, males and females, and interact with them as a normal human being on a daily basis, some mates, some you go to the pub with, some you flirt with, some you speak <deleted> with - all normal as far as i see it.

not really an American thing but more like a subtle american bashing. Oh well, everyone is doing it ...

I just smile and nod. If they ask me a question, then I'll answer in a way to let them know someone is listening. Thais for the most part do not like being alone. So even if it is the taxi driver that wants to talk about American hotels or his trip to Switzerland I don't mind it. Thais love fun in every sense and they can bring it out whenever, wherever - so if smiles are around it's all good.

Good vid. I used to go to Mahamakut of loei a couple years ago but lived with students from Loei rach - heck, i lived a couple kilos away.

You silly farang just don't understand Thainess and what it means to be Buddhist.

Good sarcasm. But for those who truly think as such, it has nothing to do with Thainess and everything to do with being bat sh*t crazy.

Edited after reading egros post

My wife was saying doy and jao are also used in Chiang Mai the same they're used in Laos.

I agree. Northern Thai is a treat to listen to.

@tomtomtom69

"In Lao, males usually say "doy" which sounds a bit like the Chinese "dui" meaning right or correct wen answering something in the affirmative. Females either say "doy" or "jao". I have never heard a Thai Isarn speaker use "doy" but maybe I wasn't listening for it. I should ask one of my Thai Isarn friends if she knows this word; I suspect she might but probably wouldn't use it herself or even any males she knows would use it"

Butter in Lao is "beu" or essentially "beurre" from the French, whereas in Thai it's "neuy".

This is wrong I'm afraid. "Doy" is a more polite form of "jao" and used by both sexes to mean "yes" or used as conformation.There is no differentials in the Lao language between the sexes as there is in Thai.

Neuy is Laotian for butter also.

interesting. So there's no khrap or kah in Laos. Issan there is although not much in the village or at least ours when neighbors talk to each other it's just err err.School kids use khrap/kah out of respect towards adults. Then again khrap /kah is Thai language not Laos. Another thing is the similarities between the writing. But that's another story huh.

Language is fascinating!

Isaan used to have it's own script, just like the in the north you can see remnants of the lanna script at various temples. (if anyone is interested there is a monk who still writes it, and at his temple there's still a few whiteboards with all the nuances of the script). It was known as Isaan Thamm/Isaan Dhamma script and was very similar to and resembled both the Thai noi, Lanna, and Mon scripts. It had it's own set of tone rules and markers, and used to be used to teach the children at temples. Thaification happened.

In this day and age many young Isaan won't believe you, especially if foreigner; it seems to be gaining interest little by little again, though.

There's a great PdF floating it there that does a darn good job teaching it, though it uses Thai to do so.

If anyone is interested and in Korat let me know; I read and write it, and thanks to the computer, type it as well. There is also a temple here that has the Isaan Thamm characters carved across the main doors of the large chant hall.

I also have access to Lanna documents and those written in Mon (also read and write both), if anyone is just curious to look.

Back on topic, i absolutely love the Laotian language. I studied it before coming to Thailand and ended up in Loei so it was great. still get allot of laughs when i speak it though so mainly stick to Thai.

... I've always found Thai durian overrated.

I wrote many MA thesis/theses for Thai teachers and all they were concerned about was the font that was used in the finished product.

-

Comic Sans being the most popular I assume?

Eeeeeeeaaaaahhh ouch

No, you won't meet many Thais on this forum. However, I wouldn't worry; Thai students are generally very friendly, though you may find some who are reluctant to speak English.

Agreed. Thai students (esp. University) are very sweet people and love to have a good time. <~~~~ excluding the turf wars of course.

If anything truly annoys you just remember it isn't your culture and if you find yourself too miserable, you might be comparing your culture to theirs a bit too much.

What is your course of study? I hear they have a good music department.

Try and take public transportation over motor scooters, and if the price sounds ridiculously outrageous, it probably is.

How is your Thai? 'mai mii'is something you may hear often but just keep smiling, and out will soon learn how to use it when needed as well.

Other than that, enjoy your stay! If you have time try and check out chiang mai.

Wow Benalbina, you are doing THE most.

I personally wouldn't even drink it if it was fresh out the distillery

But there are many who do, indeed! ( I see empty bottles quite often in the street in the early morning)

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.... Payak??

The education system here is obviously, strictly Thai. For many of us who grew up somewhere else we probably will never understand it; Any outside suggestion will probably be taken with a grain of msg - that probably causes many western teachers headaches. Let the ministry take care of it ... They always do ...

I used to assist one of the the English teaching Thai teachers in Lopburi back in 2010; I never found the kids unruly but always found it a bit abnormal how they wouldn't be more active; the teacher told me they were just shy. Coming from a western country 'fun' was something not normally stressed in my school system. After getting rid of the glare and taking in a smile, things got a lot better. Then again, the class size was under 25 and I probably am way out of qual to suggest anything helpful to your situation.

I can say, though, if you know what you plan on pursuing in the future is something that is absolutely necessary, by all means take it up. You won't hear any 'if you don't like it then leave' crap from me - I think what you mentioned in your post could become even more magnified if you stay on the track you're currently on. it's great you can see the reality of how things are rather than how you would like them to be.

Good luck in whatever choice you make :-)

Sorry Kris; I meant the way we hear Thai and then spell it it in Roman letters can cause all sorts of weirdness - makes me wonder how successful those phrasebooks are without the audio recordings. But then again Thai typing is forbidden here so that's just how it is I guess.

Oooh I just read the post I made ... I forgot to double-check the autotype :-/

Welcome! There's lot of interesting material here.

If you want to really get the most of it don't take the internet with you when you turn off the computer.

I get strange looks back here in Canada when I say "Kraap pun Ka" when someone gives me something.

that's cause its korp kun ka.

Sent from my LG-E612 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

The romanization of Thai kills me everytime :-)

I thought there ws a srandard somewhere, though it doesn't seem to be enforced anywhere except roadsigns. Normally for those ons who can speak it it's fairly simple to make it the Thai from the romanizaton but to those that quite can't yet, I imagine it must be hell.

The Tai Yai or Shan language spoken in Shan State of Burma is in the same language family as Thai and Lao.

Burmese, however, is completely different.

Cambodian (Khmer) is also entirely different from Thai, although they use similar alphabets, and Thai has a number of loanwords originating in Khmer.

Vietnamese and Malaysian are both totally different from Thai as well.

because so many receive thai tv in Cambodia, many understand basic Thai.

As a caveat, you can speak thai to get around in Lao and cambodia, but only as a tourist. Settl down somewhere and you will quickly find that your Thai becomes a source of resentment -- the locals will soon bgin to wonder when you will begin to make the effort in their real language that you made with thai

Fair point, I reckon it would be fairly easy to move from Thai to Laos, how about Thai to Cambodian?

Thai and Lao are mutually intelligible. I know that much as I have no problem speaking Thai in Laos and having the responses in Lao. A bit like going from Oxford to the thickest of Glaswegian accents.

I don't speak Khmer, but friends who speak both tell me that there are a plethora of words in Khmer used in Thai, but perhaps in slightly different contexts. I guess if I sat down and studied it for a year, or went to live there, then I'd be able to speak it. But the difference is in a very rough sense probably equivalent to German and English.

Perhaps the Lao listeners understand Thai for the reasons already given, and not because the languages are interchangeable

My Thai fiends will speak in their Issan dialect when they do not want some of the southerners listening in.

Seems like the isaan language has been morphing rapidly; I had no problems speaking Lao in Loei, but in Nongkhai and other areas it was clear there was a line between Isaan and Lao speak. Many dialects, I know. I guess when that glorious era went on to wipe out the native scripts of the Isaan alphabet and destroy much of their literature, the thaification began to work effortlessly.

I think Thai is useful anywhere there are thais. they hold he language in high regard, so knowing it makes things a bit more friendly and trusting.

A very stupid bunch of kids ....

Agreed. One of my friends was telling me he used to do the same as a kid. Took out one of his front teeth when I made a comment about getting teeth knocked out. I asked him why, he said 'sanook.'

You think some would outgrow it but apparently that isn't the case. Rough and tumble time yay!

Your kids are so cute, Samran! Precious!