thailandsgreat

I just copied the sentence into Google translate which "speaks like Paiboon" and I (at my low level) immediately understood. I like this course because sentences are useful and it works technically well. But maybe I should switch course a while just to get back some "self confidence" and then gradually explore other "dialects". That works in Mandarin. If you get the hang of Mandarin you can gradually extend to other dialects/pronunciations. We have two votes for "Google and Paiboon" and one vote for this pronunciation. Maybe the first is "more standard" ? I don't know which other course to use together with this? I like this course because it just gives you useful sentences in audio and writing. It doesn't waste a lot of time on other talk. Structures you want to know more about you can look up elsewhere.

Interesting how you analyze. I have no real training or practice in Thai but this standard Thai is different from Paiboon. You mention Mandarin pronunciation. Standard Mandarin is not as varied. An interesting challenge of Thai language. I just have to listen more.

This is clear and words are basic, but compared to Paiboon, pronounciation is a little different ร goes from R to L and ช goes from CH to TS, I am used to, but here ช becomes S and ข้างหลัง becomes "kaagang" https://www.dropbox.com/s/d5qgk0w7d0vkrsj/Thai ex 006.m4a?dl=0 รถคันข้างหลังชนรถเรา I don't mind, it is good practice, but takes a while since I haven't practiced listening so much yet. The course is good. The sentences come without context which makes them interesting in a way but harder to interpret for a less experienced listener.

The question is simply if there are more variations of "standard Thai" pronounciation than most other languages. These recordings come from a reputable language course and probably speak "standard Thai", but they sound different than e.g. Paiboon dictionary. What do you Thai speakers say? Are there many variations/dialects to "standard Thai" (naturally excluding Isaan language)? (It is no problem to me, I find it an interesting challenge to find different sources for practice.) https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlrbo972cgu4nxc/Thai ex 001.m4a?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/gbboteia1b0gzfw/Thai ex 002.m4a?dl=0 (end of sentence)

After 7 years in China, in school for a large part of that I must say I don't recognize these problems from Mandarin. Mandarin is standardized. People from different areas learn it in the same way and use similar constructs so you quickly get into it and gradually decipher the different dialects. The tones are not so critical imho. My Chinese friends occasionally could construct sentences to put me off. When we were watching TV about floods in Sweden they said the levels of water are high in Sweden as I heard it, but taxes and water have different tones so they were joking with me and speaking about the level of taxes while we were watching water. That tricked me at the level I was. ???? But in context tones are not so critical imho. But what do you Thai speakers say about the example. Isn't it quick and "drawn together"?

The words are not difficult, but Thai is a hard language to recognize the words of when they are spoken, if you just have heard them from e.g. Paiboon dictionary before. This is "normal" speed (not slowed down) Glossika when about half of the 6000 (?) sentences have been listened to. Admittedly I am just a beginner. Good challenge, I don't mind ???? https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlrbo972cgu4nxc/Thai ex 001.m4a?dl=0 And Glossika is good, useful sentences and works well technically. (I follow this thread and I can find it under notifications but not under "manage followed content". Maybe that is as it should be. Maybe I better bookmark it.)

I find it difficult to understand what Thai people say. For the moment I am not in the Kingdom but hope to return soon. When I have been in Thailand and sometimes "studied" Thai by listening to recordings, people understood what I said but I couldn't understand them. I have had several conversations with taxi drivers from Isaan where they didn't understand my English and I didn't understand their Thai, but we had some type of "conversation" where I spoke my very poor Thai and they spoke English. I have studied other languages, also Asian, but I have never previously enocuntered a language so difficult to understand. Now I listen to the Glossika sentences. They seem well chosen. I am somewhere in the middle stages. I often struggle to understand the sentences. But if I read the sentences (I read the phonetic and Thai script so so), I recognize the words after which I can understand the sentence when I listen to it. I "know" the words but I don't recognize them when I hear them. Some of it is naturally due to poor knowledge of tones. (Also my knowledge of the precise structure of the sentence with "filler particles" like hai and dai, lacks.) But my impression is that Thai is very variable in pronounciation and structure and therefore difficult to understand for a foreign learner. Is that correct? Has someone else here used the Glossika sentences? They are useful and the webpage works well. But the man who reads them does not sound like when I listen to the Paiboon dictionary. Words are drawn together like "la liaision" in French which is also difficult for foregners. He also speaks pretty fast. (I now reduced speed by 10%.) Is this how Thai people speak in general? Is the problem of understanding Thai due to variations in pronounciation and structure of the language?

Hi guys, Sorry for a very basic question. I have been away for some time but I can finally return to the Kingdom. I have been out of the loop for a while. Are there any new rules for the visa waiver? I carry Swedish/EU passport. Do I get 45 days renewable once if I only show passport and a "throwaway ticket" to e.g. Phnom Penh at immigration? Do I need to fill any on-line form? I got 4 jabs Covid vacc in the yellow UN-pamphlet. I am 50+ and used to get retirement visa through the agency next door to Immigration in Jomtien. Is this still a good deal or are there other alternatives? Thank you so much Thailandsgreat

I may use the wrong word. A general insurance is cheaper if you also agree to pay a fee in case you must use the insurance. If I buy a general medical insurance it will be cheaper if I agree to pay an additional smaller amount in case I am hospitalized. (I called that deductible, maybe there is a better word.) Will a general medical insurance w/ coverage $100,000 do? Thanks for bearing w/ my questions.

So any medical insurance covering $100,000 will do, from what I read? That is the only demand? So one with a high deductible would at least cost less to buy. (Sorry if this is treated elsewhere. I have been away a while.)

Thank you UbonJoe. Will do. I remember a few years ago, being demanded an onward ticket by check-in in my home country. But like you say, it was not on visa. At that time I intended to enter on visa waiver.

I will enter on my "retirement visa" (non-O I believe it is called) with reentry permit. It is valid until January 2022. But I believe airport check-in in my home country will demand an onward air ticket. So I plan to buy the cheapest "throwaway ticket" (wherever that may be?) to f.ex Phnom Penh, departing about one month after entry. Do I really need to buy insurance to the end of my non-O visa in January or will it be enough to buy about one month until my "departure" verified by the ticket to Cambodia?

Thanks. I will check them out. But two weeks is a long time. Maybe I start w/ Phuket Sandbox

You're right. Phuket Sandbox Will be the way to start. I haven't been to Phuket in a long time. Then I stayed in Patong. I don't remember what "Phuket city" is like.

That's a topic I was hoping to get views on. I stayed in Pattaya and saw it being shut down last winter. Went to C.M. and saw the square at Bradu Tapae completely empty of people, Burger King had left. For some reason C.R. also seems to have lost its attraction. Jetyod st. not at all like before. Well. We'll see. Maybe time has come to go there and look for a wife ???? Organization, food, what have you are #1 in the Kingdom.

It's more like the Fourth Reich (EU) is trying to fit all 27 into one.

Thanks UbonJoe, I don't know for which time you come up with the best information. I come from northern Europe. It seems I need PCR, health insurance, hotel booking and will get 2 weeks quarantine. For Phuket sandbox with quarantine on the entire island I also need vaccination.

I have been out of Thailand a while but my retirement visa is still valid some months and I plan to return. I hope to go to my home country and get vaccinated before I return to Thailand. While travelling I have lost contact with the latest developments. Where do I best read about regulations, asq, hotels, health insurance, Phuket sandbox and other options that could be useful? I may start in Pattaya but will consider Phuket sandbox. Thank you

Me too. Maybe it gets in the shade of Big C Central Pattaya, it lies a bit from the street w/ a parking in front of it.

I left in March. The exit permits that had been needed to leave from the bus station had just been scrapped. So some bars around Buhakao, LK, Soi Honey are open now. About the same when I left. 7/11:s had seating areas closed. Are they still closed? 7/11-ship on South Pattaya was a nice place to sit down. Is the seating area still closed? As I remember the food court in Big C South Pattaya only did take out, but the one in Central Pattaya was open. Are both open for dine in now?