wasabi

Pardon me, but why would anyone find a multilingual Thai-Lao-Khmer speaker from a Thai province in Isaan, Sisaket, that shares a border with Cambodia, to be unusual at all? I would expect that it would be the norm in many villages of that province with Khmer being a mother tongue, Isaan being the native tongue, and Central Thai being the official government language used in the media and in the schools.

I have found that bi-lingualism and mutil-lingualism to be the norm in many Thai border provinces if not the norm everywhere outside of North America and certain island states.

What I had thought was uncommon was speaking Lao Cambodian and Thai proficiently. I realize countries bordering Laos or Cambodia are likely to have citizens who speak either dialect but I hadn't previously heard of someone speaking more than one.

Only Al Gore can fix this situation, he cares deeply about the Thai Baht and the welfare of US expats in Thailand. Al Gore for President 2008.

Topfield just out of curiosity what do you do at weekends when the currency markets are closed???????

BB

While it's silly to have 4 simultaneous threads about F/X rates I have to admit I think about it almost as often as Mr. T-field

I understand the whole tone system, I can hear the difference between the tones and I can pronounce the tones correctly, but I've to think very long before I can't actually pronounce a sentence with the correct tone. I can (slowly) read Thai language (without understanstanding everything I read). I can write often used words.

This is a good observation. I'm at the point where I can pronounce most individual words correctly, or at least well enough that a Thai person can understand, but unless I speak slowly whole sentences don't receive the same comprehension. I have a Thai language partner and I've noticed the same thing from her, when she speaks English. she can say most individual words well enough, however when reading a passage in a book I often can't understand her. That's because every language seems to have a rhythm to it, even more so tonal ones like Thai. I do think the tones slightly shift when strung together, like two falling and a high tone might sound like one falling, mid and high. (That's just a random example) True mastery does seem to require being able to know how a language fits together soundwise not just individual words.

Can you use ภายหน้า and ภายหลัง in exactly the same way or is there a difference?

ภายหลัง, ทีหลัง, วันหลัง any difference between these? If yes when should each be used.

I can't really break it down mate - its not an exact science. I have a house in Thailand so the 100K would go on living expenses, sanook, travel and all that. Really, 20K GBP is not much if you fancy getting a plane for an overseas holiday or a local jolly. I spend much more than that when I'm on a month long jolly to Thailand nowadays....

I guess you know what the average Thai person gets?

I know many people with families, car and house re-payments etc who have a happy life on 20,000 baht. You need five times that for living expenses - what a jerk.

Touch of jealousy here pehaps.

Neeranam rants on ad-nauseum about how little he can live on.

Truth is it's all he's got, and he can't stand to see others who do so much better.

Wonder what his wife thinks

Naka.

I'll admit I am jealous of anyone who has a budget of 100,000 BHT a month. When I first read this thread I feltl the OP was in fact just bragging as it's obvious he has enough and one could live comfortqaby on this amount. I still feel this entire thread is more about boasting then actual budgeting.

I will however agree one could easily spend in excess of 100,000 if they wanted to live high on the hog. Many things are cheap in LOS however many are not. I was very surprised and disapointed how much I spent on my most recent vacation to LOS. I realized I'll need at least 60k BHT a month to have the lifestyle I expect. 100,000 at today's rates would indeed be living like a king. I don't spend nearly that much in America where COL is higher and I live a decent active life.

I'm not sure how wise the recent protectionist measures are. While on one hand Thailand is small and needs to have measures to protect itself against exploitation, it also needs to compete with others in the region. Vietnam just joined the WTO and has been loosening restrictions. They will thus get a large amount of foriegn investment. Yes everyone invests with self interest first, but the host country can benefit. I think Thailand is missing a prime oppurtunity with China leading the pack and now many looking for hidden gems. It looks like Thailand is going to miss the boat on the Asia boom that is happening now. Most big investors feel spooked by Thailand and that they might pull the rug out from under their feet with their knee jerk economic policies.

I do think there is a better balance which could promote nationalism while also encouraging foriegn capital to come in. Even if the hedge funds came in for a quick buck, in their wake they might have left many new businesses, jobs and even improved infastructure.

I've totally lost what has even happened, the girl didn't steal it, some boy did, and now there's some element about needing to keep the peace due to a fight? I guess there's no point in trying to unravel a series of lies since there is no foundation of truth to discover other than greed.

This whole story invokes pleasant memories of seeing the ex-wife off at the airport never to be seen again.

Another Thai person my coworker says while there is greng jai, he's never heard of paying a thief for stealing.

How could you forget this one สุวรรณภูมิ

Tell the family you want to talk personally with the girl. Go to a private location then take her over your knee and spank her for a solid 3 minutes until her brown bottom is bright red. Send her out of the room then head to the local bar for a well deserved Singha. If the family asks for the 30,000 just keep saying mai kao jai and drinking that Singha.

You don't understand Thai people is one of the oldest scams out there. Really it's a lose lose situation for you, if you pay you will be hit up again and again, if you don't pay your wife will hold a grudge but at least you'll be 30k richer. If the girl is pretty you could consider paying the 30k as long as the girl promises to be your mia noi upon reaching 18 years of age but this doesn't exempt her from the spanking. After all aren't you paying some type of replacement dowry if so you deserve your just due. hel_l their the ones who want to do it the Thai way.

I am good friends with this girl so I could find out anything needed to solve this mystery I just haven't really known what to ask. Since I don't speak any Lao or Cambodian it's hard for me to measure her proficiency, I can recognize the Lao language by sound and I've seen her speaking conversationally with girls who I know are proficient in Lao. When together in Phuket she was able to understand the dialect of the speakers there, which I assume is a Cambodian variant? It definitely was not Lao.

*** I just called her, she said it's common in Sisaket and she's not unique. I wish I could speak Cambodian, Lao and Thai.

Oops!

My wife has just ask to borrow the compensation money from me!!!

What's the politeness answer that I can give?

Simon

your in between a rock and a hard place mate, as she's your wife and things like this can cause lots of problems especially when she knows you can afford it.

say no and see what happenns.

glad its you and not me.

I know TIT but the idea of compensation is to repay someone for damages you caused. Not pay them for damage they created themselves. I guess the logic is if the farang hadn't brought all those tempting travelers cheques non of this would have ever happen. Looks like Simon being part of the farang camp gets to be the one who pays even though he bears no relation or responsibility to any of the parties involved. If it were me I'd get a divorce and take the loss. Unless you want a lifetime of this nonsense.

well mate, i agree with you entirely and this is the things us farangs must deal with in los if you marry.

it makes no sense at all to us but the thais look upon things very differently and this is where the big problems start.

im a firm believer that if you want to play the marrage game in los you must be prepared to play under thai rules.

to not do so will dam you with a life of misery and you will end up insane.

easy way is to not get married and then you dictate your own rules.

very easy.

I'm not saying I don't have compassion for the girl who stole or that she is an evil person. My belief is she should not be rewarded in anyway. Turning the other cheek is one thing, lining a thieves pockets is another. What's happening here is a complex interweaving of cultures, the idea of face and the concept farangs should always pay makes it an easy fix in your relatives minds.

The suggestion for divorce was too harsh though I wasn't joking about the fact this is probably just the beginning of such foolishness and frustration. I was married to a Thai women and little Thai logic detours like this was a key inspiration in our separation. I still deeply love Thailand and Thai people but I never want to be in a position where I'm financially responsible or burdened to someone who thinks the farang foots all bills again. I've gotten very good at saying no for the more outrageous claims like this (I don't worry about chump change like being overcharged for Som Tam) and have dealt with many tantrums as a result, but being unhitched I always have the option to walk away.

Oops!

My wife has just ask to borrow the compensation money from me!!!

What's the politeness answer that I can give?

Simon

your in between a rock and a hard place mate, as she's your wife and things like this can cause lots of problems especially when she knows you can afford it.

say no and see what happenns.

glad its you and not me.

I know TIT but the idea of compensation is to repay someone for damages you caused. Not pay them for damage they created themselves. I guess the logic is if the farang hadn't brought all those tempting travelers cheques non of this would have ever happen. Looks like Simon being part of the farang camp gets to be the one who pays even though he bears no relation or responsibility to any of the parties involved. If it were me I'd get a divorce and take the loss. Unless you want a lifetime of this nonsense.

I am friends with a girl from ศรีสะเกษ who can speak Lao, Cambodian and Thai. This is purely from her upbringing and not from any formal language classes in school. I thought ภาษาอีสาน was primarily a variant of Lao with some regions speaking Cambodian, and another dialect in Korat unrelated to either. But why would someone from Sisaket be able to speak Lao and Cambodian rather than one or the other. Is this common? Does anyone know the general geographic breakdown of Isaan and the language which most closely reflects their dialect. I know two other girls from Roi-et and Khon Gaen and they both understand Lao but not Cambodian. However my main question is why does she know two dialects.

slightly off topic, but can a Farang work in the money management industry in Thailand or is this a restricted job?

First before I complain about Thailand I haven't found a place I'd prefer to live (or try to make a living) so in spite of it's problems there obviously is something that is still right in fact some of the problematic elements are what gives life to the enjoyable ones. Mostly I agree with several posters here and I'll basically summarize what I agree with and add my own.

Thais always being right: For example if you get into an accident the farang is at fault. Farangs being treated like 2nd class citizens. Yet in some ways I admire the Thai nationalism and how they do all seem to have a shared identity and look out for each other first. I tie in the propensity to lie to avoid any conflict with this.

Materialism: Places like the Emporium and Siam Paragon and those who like to be seen coming out of them with lots of stuff. This is not unique to Thailand, it just seems like Thailand has appropriated one of the things I dislike about the USA. I think the USA also used to have more soul and a person was judged by the content of their character not the watch on their wrist, Thailand has only lagged its evaporation of self and now caught up with style before substance.

The weak economy. As another poster said it's not a place to invest your life in. You'll work your life away with minimal personal gain and savings. That is if you work for someone else since labor is so cheap. Naturally if you could find a business that could exploit this you could make a fortune.

Poverty cycle. Parents and elder siblings too lazy to work and demanding a hand out from their young as their due. The young feeling obligated to put family before self and only continuing the cycle by not being able to invest in themselves and improve the lot of all.

As it stands right now unless I could find an employment niche or was in a position to retire I can't see myself living in Thailand. I have a friend who once said, "Thailand is a great place to spend money not make it." So for the most part if I could make or have made my money elsewhere and slowly burn it down in Thailand I might feel differently.

That job pays about 10K BHT less than even the lowliest English teaching job, which would be easier to get and you wouldn't need to know Thai, though of course it would help. Why would someone take this fairly demanding job for such little pay? Is there big room for advancement or something.

In my experience there are several strata of farang salary.

1) The teachers who can earn between 25,000 - 100,000 depending on their qualifications and, more importantly, the quality of the school.

What do you have to do to be a teacher earning 100,000 is this possible for an English teacher?

Does everyone always say Krap or sometimes Kap? No r sound. It seems since most Thai's have trouble with r they leave out the r, and it becomes the same word you would use to say drive a car kap rot. I find myself taking on this habit too and seem to always be understood.

Bush the elder is going to discuss getting the THB back down to 44:1 USD. I applaud his efforts.

Explains the surge in $.

Today's surge is not just BHT:USD, it seems to be some strength with the USD in general

Well over speculation can cause disaster, so good news that they are putting a bit of control over their currency.

Control??? This is robbery...

Only in the sense of Robin Hood, taking from the rich (not me) and helping the poor (me)