Me No Ingrish: Travel blogger’s offensive post generalizing Thais sparks conversation

[sanemax]

45 minutes ago, thaiguzzi said:

Er, sorry.

So i'm a Thai on holiday in London, and complain that taxi drivers, mall staff and police can't/don't speak Thai???

Let's do the above with a German, French person or Italian who comes to London on holiday without being able to speak English....

And have a good moan that the taxi driver couldn't speak German, French or Italian...

 Sheesh, some people...

Reminds me of an English guy in my local market town in Nakon Nowhere complaining about the lack of English speakers amongst the shop keepers. "They'd get so much more business".... Yeah right...

English is the International language though , its the language that two people who cannot speak the same language speak in

[Odysseus123]

2 minutes ago, sanemax said:

English is the International language though , its the language that two people who cannot speak the same language speak in

Indeed.

 

I believe that the assembled gov'ts comprising ASEAN also agree with your statement.

[SpeakeasyThai]

'Passive - aggressive and deceitful'.

That just about hits the nail on the head 100% correct in my humble opinion. Except when it comes to Ladyboys then you might as well delete the word passive.

[hellohello123]

I am not a resident of Thailand and have never been. 

I visit once per year for about 8 yrs now. 

 

I don't expect everyone to speak English as it's frigging Thailand. But it's nice when someone does. So sometimes when I ask in English and they say sorry no English. It's not a big deal. 

 

But what really got me last time last month is getting lied to or ignored. 

 

This happened a lot at even 5 star hotels. And it's not to do with lack of English. 

 

English for example 

Asking concierge. Can you please get me a metered taxi to so and so. Please make sure it's metered. 

"oh so you want metered taxi to bla bal?" 

"yes pls" 

 

When taxi arrives. No meter. 

I ask same concierge guy. Why it wasn't meter 4 times. 

 

Reply

"oh taxi sir" 

"I don't know" 

"traffic" 

"smile" 

"pretends to not understand English" 

 

Another example. 

I tried to. Pay my hotel mini bar bill with the amex card I used to pay the deposit. 

Got told they don't accept amex. 

I reply " I just used my amex card yesterday to pay the mini bar bill" 

"no we never accept amex" 

"well that's the only. Card I have" 

"I not check you in for the next night (even though I had another night booked and was fully prepaid) 

 

And this was a 4 star hotel. 

 

 

This sort of behaviour made my blood boil 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2018 by hellohello123

[Darcula]

Are Thai netizens upset?

 

If they are, then this blogger may have touched upon at least a few hometruths.

[Thian]

1 hour ago, thaiguzzi said:

Er, sorry.

So i'm a Thai on holiday in London, and complain that taxi drivers, mall staff and police can't/don't speak Thai???

Let's do the above with a German, French person or Italian who comes to London on holiday without being able to speak English....

And have a good moan that the taxi driver couldn't speak German, French or Italian...

 Sheesh, some people...

Reminds me of an English guy in my local market town in Nakon Nowhere complaining about the lack of English speakers amongst the shop keepers. "They'd get so much more business".... Yeah right...

What nonsense is this?? The whole world knows that in touristic places the spoken language is english...except you it seems. Why do you think i had to learn that at school?

[tandor]

16 hours ago, Thian said:

I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents.

 

The rest of BKK also can't speak english but those tourists rarely go there....

 

Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor..

 

My wife told the taxi the name, he dropped us at a pier but there was no restaurant..we could see it over the water though, 10 meters away. So my wife asked some Thai how to get there....we followed the directions and couldn't find it....she asked again, we ended up in scary alleys which were under construction, totally dark and looked like a scary place you never wanted to be, we even had to walk over elevated planks without railing....

 

We just kept on walking since we got lost totally and after some more directions from locals we finally got there.....

 

I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant and nobody in that whole neighbourhood can give directions how to walk to it, even when we are very close cause we see it....

 

Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less.

...obviously out of his, 200m radius of McDonalds, comfort zone.

[Thian]

9 minutes ago, hellohello123 said:

I am not a resident of Thailand and have never been. 

I visit once per year for about I yrs now. 

 

I don't expect everyone to speak English as it's frigging Thailand. But it's nice when someone does. So sometimes when I ask in English and they say sorry no English. It's not a big deal. 

 

But what really got me last time last month is getting lied to or ignored. 

 

This happened a lot at even 5 star hotels. And it's not to do with lack of English. 

 

English for example 

Asking concierge. Can you please get me a metered taxi to so and so. Please make sure it's metered. 

"oh so you want metered taxi to bla bal?" 

"yes pls" 

 

When taxi arrives. No meter. 

I ask same concierge guy. Why it wasn't meter 4 times. 

 

Reply

"oh taxi sir" 

"I don't know" 

"traffic" 

"smile" 

"pretends to not understand English" 

 

Another example. 

I tried to. Pay my hotel mini bar bill with the amex card I used to pay the deposit. 

Got told they don't accept amex. 

I reply " I just used my amex card yesterday to pay the mini bar bill" 

"no we never accept amex" 

"well that's the only. Card I have" 

"I not check you in for the next night (even though I had another night booked and was fully prepaid) 

 

And this was a 4 star hotel. 

 

 

This sort of behaviour made my blood boil 

 

 

 

 

My parents stayed in a 5* hotel and they are old...the bellboy refused to help them load the luggage in the car..When i asked him in english she (yes a she) didn't even understand my question or what i wanted her to do.

 

When me and my thai wife stay in a 5* hotel the staff ALWAYS ignores me and speak to my wife, even if she is 5 meters away because she knows what's gonna happen.

 

One day my keycard in a 5* didn't work, my wife was in a friends room at a party. I went to the reception and they made fun of me not knowing how to use that crappy card...finally i got one assisting me and nope, it didn't work so we went down again and i got a new card. An hour later again , card didn't work...i went down again, 5 of them were laughing about it and gave me a new keycard which worked once...so later again i had to go for a new card and they told me i should not use it anymore and stay in my room....Like i'm too stupid to open my 5* hotelroomdoor.

 

Also the staff around the pool couldn't speak a word english and were hiding behind the bushes with their cellphone to play games...so if i wanted a drink there was nobody at the bar.

[Darcula]

Quote

OTHER THINGS WE DIDN'T LIKE

• Drugged dressed up monkeys to take photos of (also taking part in fire shows).Caged tigers on ketamine everyday so they can be stroked (not all sanctuaries are bad).

• Chained up elephants walking the same route everyday with tourists on their back.
• Mistreated/Malnourished dogs. 
• Complete lack of self respect toward their own land and wildlife.

 

 

Absolutely spot on, that.

 

[Airbagwill]

16 hours ago, Thian said:

I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents.

 

The rest of BKK also can't speak english but those tourists rarely go there....

 

Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor..

 

My wife told the taxi the name, he dropped us at a pier but there was no restaurant..we could see it over the water though, 10 meters away. So my wife asked some Thai how to get there....we followed the directions and couldn't find it....she asked again, we ended up in scary alleys which were under construction, totally dark and looked like a scary place you never wanted to be, we even had to walk over elevated planks without railing....

 

We just kept on walking since we got lost totally and after some more directions from locals we finally got there.....

 

I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant and nobody in that whole neighbourhood can give directions how to walk to it, even when we are very close cause we see it....

 

Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less.

".nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents." - so try Chinese or Russian?

 

[Tony125]

16 hours ago, Thian said:

I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents.

 

The rest of BKK also can't speak english but those tourists rarely go there....

 

Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor..

 

My wife told the taxi the name, he dropped us at a pier but there was no restaurant..we could see it over the water though, 10 meters away. So my wife asked some Thai how to get there....we followed the directions and couldn't find it....she asked again, we ended up in scary alleys which were under construction, totally dark and looked like a scary place you never wanted to be, we even had to walk over elevated planks without railing....

 

We just kept on walking since we got lost totally and after some more directions from locals we finally got there.....

 

I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant and nobody in that whole neighbourhood can give directions how to walk to it, even when we are very close cause we see it....

 

Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less.

I'm from US and because of my heritage speak some Spanish/French but most Americans only speak English unless their parents are recent immigrants.  Most Brits only speak English even though they are close to Europe and most people from EU speak more than their own language . My father ,gran-father ,uncles  were from Portugal but all spoke 4--5 different languages including English. Because Brits colonised a lot of the world they think everyone should speak English --learn their (Brits) language. Thailand has never been colonised by Brits, French, Dutch ,Germans ect  (as many other Asian countries were) so don't speak or even care to understand those EU cultures. I teach my Thai nephews/neices English as I tell them it is important to learn if traveling or working overseas and even getting jobs in Thailand where they may need translators. When in Britan do the police , security ,taxi drivers talk to travelers in Mandarin?  Spanish? French ? Thai?

[Jip99]

2 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

I'm from US and because of my heritage speak some Spanish/French but most Americans only speak English unless their parents are recent immigrants.  Most Brits only speak English even though they are close to Europe and most people from EU speak more than their own language . My father ,gran-father ,uncles  were from Portugal but all spoke 4--5 different languages including English. Because Brits colonised a lot of the world they think everyone should speak English --learn their (Brits) language. Thailand has never been colonised by Brits, French, Dutch ,Germans ect  (as many other Asian countries were) so don't speak or even care to understand those EU cultures. I teach my Thai nephews/neices English as I tell them it is important to learn if traveling or working overseas and even getting jobs in Thailand where they may need translators. When in Britan do the police , security ,taxi drivers talk to travelers in Mandarin?  Spanish? French ? Thai?

 

 

Great stereotyping!

[Airbagwill]

2 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

I'm from US and because of my heritage speak some Spanish/French but most Americans only speak English unless their parents are recent immigrants.  Most Brits only speak English even though they are close to Europe and most people from EU speak more than their own language . My father ,gran-father ,uncles  were from Portugal but all spoke 4--5 different languages including English. Because Brits colonised a lot of the world they think everyone should speak English --learn their (Brits) language. Thailand has never been colonised by Brits, French, Dutch ,Germans ect  (as many other Asian countries were) so don't speak or even care to understand those EU cultures. I teach my Thai nephews/neices English as I tell them it is important to learn if traveling or working overseas and even getting jobs in Thailand where they may need translators. When in Britan do the police , security ,taxi drivers talk to travelers in Mandarin?  Spanish? French ? Thai?

I agree with the sentiments, bt you grossly underestimate the number of languages that British people speak - or at least know a little of. UK is incredibly multicultural and even government documents are written in several languages depending of the local communities.

[OJAS]

40 minutes ago, Darcula said:

Are Thai netizens upset?

 

If they are, then this blogger may have touched upon at least a few hometruths.

It would definitely amuse me no end to learn that those who had had the misfortune to encounter this particular moron during his stay here were blogging on similar lines about him!

[PremiumLane]

Is he a full time member of this forum? 

[spidermike007]

A large group of tourists that will not be returning. Good. No issues with that, on any level. 

 

The reality is, in my experience, that most Thai people are very responsive to what you put out there. If these guys were a bunch of aggressive, drunk, obnoxious people, that is what they get back from the Thai people. Nobody appreciates that kind of behavior. If you are kind, respectful, generous, and patient with most Thai people, they respond in kind. I find most Thai people to be very pleasant.

 

Also, if you are spending your holiday in Phuket or on Samui, you are likely to encounter alot of surly locals. Both of those spots have the highest concentration of jaded locals, in my experience. 

[DM07]

I could really go on and on about the "he said they said"- bullcrap...

Just one thing: while Coconut (or whoever) is complaining about generalizations, we get to read ...this...

 

"Some of these things are just the quirks of living in a often charming, sometimes exasperating, country and things we get used to if we’ve been here longer than the length of a vacation. We’ve written extensively on dual pricing, the thinking behind it, and the emotions attached to it.

The beachside hookups Bolshaw saw were in Koh Phi Phi, one of the country’s largest tourist destinations and one that, as one commenter mentioned, could have just as easily happened at any beach littered with tourists. The people he saw were likely not even Thai since this sort of display of affection is not part of the culture."

 

 

By the way: if someone in a :Tour- shop" on Khao Sarn is not able to tell you, how to get to Lebua...that is just sad!

Edited February 2, 2018 by DM07

[spidermike007]

39 minutes ago, Thian said:

My parents stayed in a 5* hotel and they are old...the bellboy refused to help them load the luggage in the car..When i asked him in english she (yes a she) didn't even understand my question or what i wanted her to do.

 

When me and my thai wife stay in a 5* hotel the staff ALWAYS ignores me and speak to my wife, even if she is 5 meters away because she knows what's gonna happen.

 

One day my keycard in a 5* didn't work, my wife was in a friends room at a party. I went to the reception and they made fun of me not knowing how to use that crappy card...finally i got one assisting me and nope, it didn't work so we went down again and i got a new card. An hour later again , card didn't work...i went down again, 5 of them were laughing about it and gave me a new keycard which worked once...so later again i had to go for a new card and they told me i should not use it anymore and stay in my room....Like i'm too stupid to open my 5* hotelroomdoor.

 

Also the staff around the pool couldn't speak a word english and were hiding behind the bushes with their cellphone to play games...so if i wanted a drink there was nobody at the bar.

 

There is no doubt, that the english skills of alot of Thai people in the hospitality industry is lacking. That is one of the reasons they are losing so many Western (English speaking) tourists. The five star hotels have a very hard time finding good english speakers. No excuse for that. The nation needs to do better. 

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, Thian said:

I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents.

 

The rest of BKK also can't speak english but those tourists rarely go there....

 

Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor..

 

My wife told the taxi the name, he dropped us at a pier but there was no restaurant..we could see it over the water though, 10 meters away. So my wife asked some Thai how to get there....we followed the directions and couldn't find it....she asked again, we ended up in scary alleys which were under construction, totally dark and looked like a scary place you never wanted to be, we even had to walk over elevated planks without railing....

 

We just kept on walking since we got lost totally and after some more directions from locals we finally got there.....

 

I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant and nobody in that whole neighbourhood can give directions how to walk to it, even when we are very close cause we see it....

 

Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less.

I was looking for a certain shop recently and had a general idea of where it was. Asked a person in a restaurant where it was but no idea. The place I was after was just around the corner from her. It was a very distinctive shop too.

Amazing ........................ indeed.

[natway09]

Give him 10 years,,,, he will be back when he has a bit more maturity

[Johnnyngai]

Stay in Northern Europe, Thailand is for Joe Blow like me.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

There is no doubt, that the english skills of alot of Thai people in the hospitality industry is lacking. That is one of the reasons they are losing so many Western (English speaking) tourists. The five star hotels have a very hard time finding good english speakers. No excuse for that. The nation needs to do better. 

Perhaps that is because despite minting it off people prepared to pay large for 3* service in a so called 5* hotel they want to pay the staff a pittance.

[Tony125]

17 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

I agree with the sentiments, bt you grossly underestimate the number of languages that British people speak - or at least know a little of. UK is incredibly multicultural and even government documents are written in several languages depending of the local communities.

Was not talking about Gov or business employees who as a qualification for their job need to be fluent in another language. Many places in US have signs forms written in Spanish and other languages and some stores have signs saying "we speak Spanish, Viet ect" I was talking about general public in US and Britain such as taxi drivers, security ,police  that Thian in his post said don't understand him. I try to learn a little of the language of countries I go to. If you at least make an effort to speak the people are more inclined to help you. Have had Thai laugh but then correct my speech and help me with what I want. Even had Thai who heard me talking with a Thai who I could not understand come over and tell me in English what the person was saying to me. Has happened many times when I first got here by both male and female Thai. 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Tony125

[Just Weird]

17 hours ago, Thian said:

I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak english while there are loads of foreigners around from all continents.

 

The rest of BKK also can't speak english but those tourists rarely go there....

 

Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor..

 

My wife told the taxi the name, he dropped us at a pier but there was no restaurant..we could see it over the water though, 10 meters away. So my wife asked some Thai how to get there....we followed the directions and couldn't find it....she asked again, we ended up in scary alleys which were under construction, totally dark and looked like a scary place you never wanted to be, we even had to walk over elevated planks without railing....

 

We just kept on walking since we got lost totally and after some more directions from locals we finally got there.....

 

I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant and nobody in that whole neighbourhood can give directions how to walk to it, even when we are very close cause we see it....

 

Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less.

"I agree about the not speaking english part....taxidrivers, staff in the big malls around Siam, the police in that area, the security...nobody can speak English"'

As you well know, that is nonsense.  Most taxi rivers, mall staff and police in those areas can speak enough English to do their job adequately, they are taxi drivers, mall staff and police officers, that's all, they are not tour guides, neither are they there to engage in meaningful conversation with those who cannot speak the country's language.

 

"Last week we went to a restaurant which is very highly mentioned at tripadvisor...".

Perhaps the taxi driver wasn't a regular a visitor to TripAdvisor as you are, why would you expect him to frequent an English language website containing dodgy recommendations made mainly by the owners of the businesses mentioned there?   Wouldn't it have sense for an intelligent person like yourself to make enquiries about the location of a place before you went there instead of blaming a taxi driver and some local for not knowing one specific restaurant that they would probably never even dream of patronising? 

 

"I had to laugh so much about it, it's a famous restaurant..."

So famous that you had no idea where it was.

 

"Yes, that's thailand...nothing more nothing less".

No, it's not but that last comment is Thian, nothing more, nothing less.

[thaibeachlovers]

54 minutes ago, Thian said:

My parents stayed in a 5* hotel and they are old...the bellboy refused to help them load the luggage in the car..When i asked him in english she (yes a she) didn't even understand my question or what i wanted her to do.

 

When me and my thai wife stay in a 5* hotel the staff ALWAYS ignores me and speak to my wife, even if she is 5 meters away because she knows what's gonna happen.

 

One day my keycard in a 5* didn't work, my wife was in a friends room at a party. I went to the reception and they made fun of me not knowing how to use that crappy card...finally i got one assisting me and nope, it didn't work so we went down again and i got a new card. An hour later again , card didn't work...i went down again, 5 of them were laughing about it and gave me a new keycard which worked once...so later again i had to go for a new card and they told me i should not use it anymore and stay in my room....Like i'm too stupid to open my 5* hotelroomdoor.

 

Also the staff around the pool couldn't speak a word english and were hiding behind the bushes with their cellphone to play games...so if i wanted a drink there was nobody at the bar.

LOL. I never had that sort of problem in my 1* hotel stays.

IMO the only thing better about a 5* hotel than places I stay is that the room is bigger. I've read the reviews of every 5* hotel near where I live in Chiang Mai, and most western tourists are unhappy with their experience, while I'm very happy with my hotel which charges me 1/6th the amount.

 

Re nasty staff; I once ( before tsunami ) stayed in a well known resort on Phi Phi. In the reception an elderly tourist tripped and fell on the floor. Not one of the many staff came to help her up, and they all laughed openly at her.

TiT.

[Just Weird]

14 hours ago, Thian said:

I speak a little thai but when i do it they speak sooo much to me that i wished i never tried it.

 

But mostly there's an educated thai around who comes to help and she (always a she) speaks good english..unfortunately those educated persons never are the ones who work in shops or places for tourists.

"...educated persons never are the ones who work in shops or places for tourists'.

More irrational, unjustified nonsense.  How can you state something like that, so categorically, with a  straight face when it's nothing more than an over-generalization and empirically not true?

Edited February 2, 2018 by Just Weird

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, hellohello123 said:

I am not a resident of Thailand and have never been. 

I visit once per year for about 8 yrs now. 

 

I don't expect everyone to speak English as it's frigging Thailand. But it's nice when someone does. So sometimes when I ask in English and they say sorry no English. It's not a big deal. 

 

But what really got me last time last month is getting lied to or ignored. 

 

This happened a lot at even 5 star hotels. And it's not to do with lack of English. 

 

English for example 

Asking concierge. Can you please get me a metered taxi to so and so. Please make sure it's metered. 

"oh so you want metered taxi to bla bal?" 

"yes pls" 

 

When taxi arrives. No meter. 

I ask same concierge guy. Why it wasn't meter 4 times. 

 

Reply

"oh taxi sir" 

"I don't know" 

"traffic" 

"smile" 

"pretends to not understand English" 

 

Another example. 

I tried to. Pay my hotel mini bar bill with the amex card I used to pay the deposit. 

Got told they don't accept amex. 

I reply " I just used my amex card yesterday to pay the mini bar bill" 

"no we never accept amex" 

"well that's the only. Card I have" 

"I not check you in for the next night (even though I had another night booked and was fully prepaid) 

 

And this was a 4 star hotel. 

 

 

This sort of behaviour made my blood boil 

 

 

 

 

Thinking about it, the only really bad staff behaviour I've personally experienced in Thai hotels was in ones I consider too expensive.

In cheaper places, the staff are usually friendly and helpful.

Perhaps that is because the customers that the staff have to put up with in expensive hotels are often not nice people.

[Thian]

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

There is no doubt, that the english skills of alot of Thai people in the hospitality industry is lacking. That is one of the reasons they are losing so many Western (English speaking) tourists. The five star hotels have a very hard time finding good english speakers. No excuse for that. The nation needs to do better. 

Well after dealing with it for many years now i have a list of places where they do speak english and i prefer to shop there. Got so tired of that uneducated behaviour.

 

Even at the Mac or Burger King i can't order food, they constantly hire new staff which seem to be fresh out of the forest.

 

ALL the collegues of my wife (a few hundred) had to follow english lessons during worktime, the big boss hired an american private teacher for them and they all had to go to his lessons 4 hours a week. That's been going on for 6 months now but they still can't speak a word english...they have university degree's and work in the IT...with foreign customers/trainers/certifications and equipment. 

 

Even my neighbour who has the highest education available in Thailand (all titles) is not fluent in English, we can conversate well though but i have to  repeat my words several times mostly and keep it as simple as possible. My 6 year old thai cousin really speaks fluent english but his parents hired a private teacher for him since he was 4.

 

This article is just another example of how the Thai (and many TV-members) just ignore the importance of education. They even get angry from comments like this..

 

In the EMquartier i've seen many Japanese expats eating in restaurants where the staff can't speak a word english, they just point on the menu and pay for that, no words spoken at all. It will stay like that if nobody dares to speak about it.

 

This week i was on the kasetsart university fair, loads of students there but NONE of them can speak english on a level that's acceptable. Also the vendors there have never heard of latin names for plants which are the standard internationally. 

 

Well Singapore is around the corner, for me going there is like a warm bath and i 'm happy to pay the higher costs overthere, it's all worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Just Weird]

11 hours ago, jak2002003 said:

It does surprise me... well it used to, how many Thai people that work in tourist or immigration jobs.. full time, for years on end, can not speak English.  I thought that would be a basic requirement of that job.

 

Maybe I will go and apply to be a German Language Translator... even though I can't speak any German........

Wasn't the German language eradicated and replaced by English?

[thaibeachlovers]

12 minutes ago, Just Weird said:

  Wouldn't it have sense for an intelligent person like yourself to make enquiries about the location of a place before you went there instead of blaming a taxi driver and some local for not knowing one specific restaurant that they would probably never even dream of patronising? 

 

 

5555555555555555555555

I once wanted to go to a very famous restaurant in Bkk that served so many people every night that the waiters had to use roller skates. Given it was back in the olden days before internet, I obtained the address and checked the road in a map.

Set off in a taxi with my Thai GF that spoke perfect English to find that place, but despite driving several times up and down the road, a huge restaurant was no where to be found.

Turned out that the road in question is called a different name in the middle, and we were on the wrong end. Taxi driver had no clue as to where this very famous restaurant was.

I do blame the taxi driver for not knowing, but TiT. If I didn't need to have someone take me to a famous restaurant, I'd have taken a bus.

 

Then there was the taxi driver in Jeddah that didn't know where a famous and huge hotel was, despite it being visible from where he picked us up from, but that's another thread.