farangdude84

I hate to point out the fly in the ointment, but would this work if you can't speak really fluent Thai?

Yeah, one would think that the foreign accent would be the tip-off.

I wish Saudi Arabia didn't make Christianity illegal - but I don't go protesting about it.

Imagine that - a military junta delaying elections.

If you met your wife in the bar, she has a P.3 (maybe up to P.6) education, spoke broken English peppered by a bunch of swearing when you met her - she was probably a bar girl.

If when you met your old lady, she asked you to help her send money to her parents right after you two got busy - she may have been a bar girl.

If your wife has a master's degree and is the manager at some office - she was probably never a bar girl.

I fail to see the point of the OP The poster said he's been coming to Thailand "on and off" for 6 years - yet, in that time can't tell the difference between a woman who has worked the bars and one who has not? I think that on the next trip, the author of the OP should try going somewhere other than Patpong to see how OBVIOUS it is when women have not been in the bar scene.

If you don't have a problem with it, enjoy the fun of having an entire family celebrate together. If you are not okay with it, put your foot down. The old lady will act upset, complain she isn't getting her way, and what not - then again, so do children.

Of course my OP assumed that you had a Thai partner

As for not speaking Thai because we are not migrants, (unlike the subjects of the German TV programme in my OP link); whilst most of us are not 'migrants' in the sense of having acquired Thai citizenship, many of us are migrants in all but name, if it is our intention to live permanently in Thailand.

I do not have Thai citizenship (can't tick all the application boxes...), but I consider myself a migrant because this is now my permanent home and I have a long-stay visa.

You can't be a migrant in all but name, you either are, have a new passport, and can stay forever, or you aren't.

You long stay visa means jack, the Junta will have you out tomorrow, if they feel like it.

What you consider (in some delusional universe of your own) means nothing to the government of Thailand.

You have a temporary residence in Thailand.

And it's gonna get harder for you to stay in it.

Someone's paranoid.

I'm American but would question what one has to be proud of. I take pride in things I work for - not in accidents. It certainly wasn't my choice where I w as born, so why does pride have anything to do with it.

You do realize propaganda isn't reality, right? In those places you named, Americans are not hated. People don't like the government of the USA, but that doesn't mean they are going to go around killing Americans. If you want to go by statistics, Americans have a higher chance of being killed if they stay in the US than if they go abroad.

Like most Thais even give a flying *bleep*. Still, doesn't hurt to be vigilant.

yes, there must be a lot Thais who helped torture people in Thailand. They should rot in jail forever. But no one cares.

I don't think that any American have to worry about any Buddhist Thais, but there are Muslims as well and there are lots of "imported" Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia there could be some fanatics who don't understand that this American tourist has nothing to do with the crimes of his government.

แม่งสัตว์ was suggested by a Thai person....

Krap-pom is also used ironically - as in how English speakers use "aye,aye, sir"

1). What level are you?

If talking in terms of speaking about things I'd talk about in English, then nearly fluent. If taking fluency to mean ability to talk about a whole range of topics, then intermediate. I can't talk about engineering or nuclear physics in Thai - and really couldn't in English either (the difference being that in English, at least I know the vocabulary being used).

2). Can you read and write Thai?

Yes.

3).How long have you been learning?

almost 6 years

4). How did you learn?

I learned via books, speaking, and constantly asking "what is this?" or "how do you say this?"

5). Other languages?

American English - native

German - near-native (I miss some cultural references one would have only from living there)

English - near-native

French - advanced

Norwegian - upper beginner/low intermediate (upper intermediate/advanced reading)

Swedish - beginner (intermediate reading)

Spanish - intermediate reading/beginner

Lao - beginner, but by virtue of thai, probably upper intermediate

Slovak - I know some bits and bobs

I asked a friend and was told it would be quite impolite to say แมงสัตว์ เงียบไปเลย อย่าทำให้กูขึ้น

My friend also advised to use that only with friends...

So, it seems that telling someone to shut the F up in a non-joking way isn't as common in Thai as in English?

For a foreigner to achieve near-native fluency in any language is a heck of an achievement. It isn't knowledge of vocabulary and grammar structure that is the hard part - it's when language and culture meet. For instance, native speakers of any language will share a common knowledge and will be able to make references that the non-native may not catch. Anyone who can catch such references and use the L2 in a way that shows language and the culture of that language fully fused together has accomplished something laudable. In any language.

ขอบคุณครับ ผมเคยได้ยินว่า ปิดปาก มันเป็นวิธีการบอกให้เงียบไม่ดีเลย

ก็การใช้คำว่าเหี้ยในประโยคนี้มันไม่แบบไทยใช่ไหมครับ

What of อีเหียปิดปากเลยซิ

I can communicate easily with Thais, talk about things I would in English (i.e. I don't discuss neurology in English, therefore have not [yet] learned such vocab in Thai). I'm able to read books written in a casual style. I'd put my Thai at around intermediate level, I guess. However, the number of foreigners who can do the following is likely quite low:

-read academic text

-understand rachasap

-fluently discuss technical problems

-give a speech using rhetorical thai

-speak with monks using ecclesiastical thai

-use idioms properly in everyday speech

-make puns

-read/write poetry

etc.

ดื่ม ไม่ใช่ ตืม

Ha, I know Actually, it'd be best not to say shut up. The Thai way would be more like saying something like เจ็บคอไหมครับ or เดียวผมจะไปเอาน้ำมาให้นะครับ and when asked what is the deal, the reply along the lines of ก็แคคิดว่าเธอคุยอีกไม่ไว้ถ้าไมีมีอะไรตื่มนะครับ My Thai probably isn't perfect, but I think the message is understandable.

Lara, if the OP is asking how to tell his wife to "shut the F up," I don't think he's concerned with politely asking her to stop talking.

I got your point. Anyway, I just put more effort to make sure that other Thai learners have alternative ways for saying 'shut up.' that's it.

What's Thai for "I have something you can blow other than hot air"?

Lara, if the OP is asking how to tell his wife to "shut the F up," I don't think he's concerned with politely asking her to stop talking.

Was it ลูบ I wonder? That word means "touch/grope" and seems to fit the context of the rumors that she was spreading.

Any idea what the Thai spelling would be for the "luup" part? Or what tone was it?

Well, you mentioned it's a store you've been frequenting. If you were buying something that you've bought before, "you're out already?" as in "you're out of this thing you're buying?" would be a normal question, methinks.

The OP went to a store and the storekeeper asked หมดไปรึเปล่า (mod pai rue* plao) ...which means "are you out already?"

*In speech the ร will sound like an "l"