Top 5 Reasons You Won’t Like Thailand

[Scott]

Inflammatory post removed. 

 

[HLover]

1 hour ago, Solinvictus said:

So your new nickname is pretty boy. ha. I'd say such a reply is similar to Thais. Good job. Ha

Ummm, ok thank you?

I was mainly referring to the attire aspect of appearance but your well informed compliment is very flattering.

 Your message is very well written. Keep up the fine work.

Edited March 8, 2018 by HLover
Witty banter added

[HLover]

15 hours ago, Justfine said:

Bashing Thailand is his job. Like some on here.

Safe to say he enjoyed bashing himself as a teenager.

[Justfine]

3 minutes ago, HLover said:

Safe to say he enjoyed bashing himself as a teenager.

Hasn't stopped I would think.

[Justfine]

43 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Do you realise that 20 million Thais (around a third) are native issan/kmer/lao speakers and are already on theirs second language when they learn Thai. In the south, 1 million are native Yawi (malay) speakers, and in the east there are 1 million native Karen speakers. There are half a million native chinese speakers.

The Thai Government recognises 62 languages spoken in Thailand.

Chances are the local hospital or Police etc speak more languages than your multi-lingual home country.

They understand standard Thai unless uneducated.

 

 

 

 

[Thian]

1 hour ago, tryasimight said:

I doubt many receptionists could or should give advice about any prescribed medication in any language.  I bet he looked like a complete fool. 

I went to the dentist in that hospital and also got med's from the receptionist, lucky i brought my wife who is thai.

 

Also i don't think he looked like a fool although he really got angry. How on earth can a hospital have a receptionist that gives medicines to patients but can't speak a word english? That's a thailand only i guess. Same happened to me at the pharmacy shops in the big malls, how can you be a pharmacist if you can't speak english? How can you even read the descriptions from the international imported medicines you're selling?

 

Same goes for the Thai air pilots or stewardesses, those pancakes even like to speak a lot through the intercom but i have no idea at all what they're trying to say.

 

Same goes for the immigration in thailand, even on the airports

[mgthom63]

11 hours ago, Thian said:

Not in the hospitals i visited.

 

And once i saw a farang shouting to the receptionist because she gave him medicines but couldn't answer his questions about it.

 

Very dangerous me thinks and very ashaming for that hospital in BKK.

Isn't this getting a little crazy?

 

If I hear you correctly, receptionists in Thai hospitals should not only be required to speak English, but should also now be qualified to answer questions about medicine?  And the farang shouts at her when she couldn't answer?

 

Call me crazy, but the only person who should be ashamed of themselves is the arrogant and self-entitled farang.

 

A hospital receptionist is not there to answer medicine/medication questions....whether in Thailand, Holland, the US or anywhere else. 

 

If you have questions about a medication, you should only talk to a doctor, nurse practitioner (in the US) or a licensed pharmacist!

 

I'm with tryasImight on this crazy assertion!

Edited March 8, 2018 by mgthom63

[Peterw42]

9 minutes ago, Justfine said:

They understand standard Thai unless uneducated.

 

 

 

 

Yes, thats the point, even uneducated Thais manage to learn a second language (often its Thai) and the basics of a couple of others. Educated westerners often dont learn any other languages and see this as the rest of the world is at fault, not their own limited education.

 

 

 

 

[Thian]

6 minutes ago, mgthom63 said:

Isn't this getting a little crazy?

 

Receptionists in Thai hospitals should not only be required to speak English, but should also now be qualified to answer questions about medicine?  And the farang shouts at her when she couldn't answer?

 

Call me crazy, but the only person who should be ashamed of themselves is the arrogant and self-entitled farang. A hospital receptionist is not there to answer medicine/medication questions....whether in Thailand, Holland, the US or anywhere else.  If you have questions about a medication, you should only talk to a doctor, nurse practioner (in the US) or a pharmacist!

 

I'm with tryasImight on this crazy assertion!

Well if the doctor in a thai (the one i visited) hospital describes you some med's you have to go to the reception to receive it...it is what it is. Maybe that shouting angry farang got his med's to find out that he's using other med's as well and to avoid side effects he asked her some questions i guess....

 

In that case the farang is 100% right and he should have asked for the supervisor of that hospital to tell his complaints.

 

But to tell you, i have thai familymembers who have the highest functions in the most rewarded hospitals in BKK and i also have a hard time speaking english to them. They even give seminars in western countries for other medics but their english isn't what it should be. They all have a degree from that big university plus many promotions...

 

 

[mgthom63]

31 minutes ago, Thian said:

Well if the doctor in a thai (the one i visited) hospital describes you some med's you have to go to the reception to receive it...it is what it is. Maybe that shouting angry farang got his med's to find out that he's using other med's as well and to avoid side effects he asked her some questions i guess....

 

In that case the farang is 100% right and he should have asked for the supervisor of that hospital to tell his complaints.

 

But to tell you, i have thai familymembers who have the highest functions in the most rewarded hospitals in BKK and i also have a hard time speaking english to them. They even give seminars in western countries for other medics but their english isn't what it should be. They all have a degree from that big university plus many promotions...

 

 

Shouting at the receptionist because she can't answer questions about meds is rude, boorish and pointless IMHO...whether in Thailand, the US, Holland or elsewhere.

 

Hospital receptionists aren't qualified to answer such questions...and if they did try and helpfully answer them, they'd be placing themselves and the hospital at great legal liability if their advice turned out to be wrong.

 

If the farang had questions about his meds, he should have asked to speak to the prescribing doctor or a qualified pharmacist. Or the receptionists' supervisor, if they are qualified/trained to offer advice on his meds.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by mgthom63

[Nowisee]

It's not one of my issues, my fault for not being fluent in thai.  

The point seems to be, that if you are in a service that is directed towards tourism or is in a primary tourist/westerner location, the minor majority of which can speak even basic english, then it would make sense to speak even basic english.  

IF you are promoting your country for "medical tourism" for example.  

Thais should not be teaching english.

In my travels to other asian countries bordering thailand, I am delighted at the level of english spoken.  Ask any of those people why are they learning english. 

 

7 hours ago, Thian said:

Because english is the worldlanguage, is that so hard to understand? And it will never be chinese, there's not even 1 chinese language but several different ones.

 

[Peterw42]

12 minutes ago, mgthom63 said:

Call me crazy, but the only person who should be ashamed of themselves is the arrogant and self-entitled farang. A hospital receptionist is not there to answer medicine/medication questions....whether in Thailand, Holland, the US or anywhere else.

Not to mention the incredible sense of entitlement that a doctor, nurse, receptionist "should" be speaking English in a non-English speaking country, and its their shortcoming for not speaking English as a second language.

[Thian]

38 minutes ago, mgthom63 said:

Shouting at the receptionist because she can't answer questions about meds is rude, boorish and pointless IMHO...whether in Thailand, the US, Holland or elsewhere.

 

Hospital receptionists aren't qualified to answer such questions...and if they did try and helpfully answer them, they'd be placing themselves and the hospital at great legal liability if their advice turned out to be wrong.

 

If the farang had questions about his meds, he should have asked to speak to the prescribing doctor or a qualified pharmacist. Or the receptionists' supervisor, if they are qualified/trained to offer advice on his meds.

 

 

Maybe he asked for the supervisor who wasn't on duty?? who knows...or the supervisor couldn't speak english neither.....

 

We bought our new house from a huge property developer but the saleslady couldn't speak a word english..i just heard she's promoted to sales manager and drives a huge german car now...but still can't speak a word english while ALL the signs and commercials about this moobaan are in english cause it looks so hi-so.

FYI they sell houses untill 30 million baht so i think one might expect those sales to speak english but NOBODY from that developer can speak a word.

 

It's the same when i go to any cardealer here to buy me a car and pay cash, they can't speak a word english and even are rude to me and send me off.\

 

The lack of education is playing it's parts in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

[sanemax]

3 minutes ago, Thian said:

Maybe he asked for the supervisor who wasn't on duty?? who knows...or the supervisor couldn't speak english neither.....

 

We bought our new house from a huge property developer but the saleslady couldn't speak a word english..i just heard she's promoted to sales manager and drives a huge german car now...but still can't speak a word english while ALL the signs and commercials about this moobaan are in english cause it looks so hi-so.

FYI they sell houses untill 30 million baht so i think one might expect those sales to speak english but NOBODY from that developer can speak a word.

It's the same when i go to any cardealer here to buy me a car and pay cash, they can't speak a word english and even are rude to me and send me off.\

The lack of education is playing it's parts in Thailand.

Thais should be given English proficiency tests , before they are given Thai Nationality , like back in the U.K. 

   Thais are not given U.K. citizenship, until they can speak English and have passed the test .

The same should happen in Thailand , they shouldnt be given Thai Citizenship, until they have a certain level of speaking English .

[mgthom63]

OK, I understand that you're not happy by the level of English demonstrated by Thai hospital/hotel/ambulance/police/mall staff/real estate agents....and would prefer that more of them speak English.

 

I personally think you're wrong, unrealistic and a little xenophobic.  But I respect your different opinion.

 

But let's not argue about this anymore. Ok?

 

We can agree to disagree and move on :)

 

 

Edited March 8, 2018 by mgthom63

[Thian]

18 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Thais should be given English proficiency tests , before they are given Thai Nationality , like back in the U.K. 

   Thais are not given U.K. citizenship, until they can speak English and have passed the test .

The same should happen in Thailand , they shouldnt be given Thai Citizenship, until they have a certain level of speaking English .

Many Thai even can't speak Thai, serious...they speak half Lao, even my wife can't understand them.

[Justfine]

4 minutes ago, Thian said:

Many Thai even can't speak Thai, serious...they speak half Lao, even my wife can't understand them.

Then don't mix with uneducated people and intelligent Thais understand Isaan/Lao.

[sanemax]

1 minute ago, Justfine said:

Farangs should be given IQ tests before obtaining a visa.

Along with a "sarcasm detecting" test

[jak2002003]

Love it here... my quality of life is much better here than back home. I also find most Thai people much nicer than people back home... despite what some posters have said.  

 

However some petty 5 things that annoy me are:

 

1.  Base Speakers Music Noise.

Can't escape the noise, sometimes from 5.30 (from one or other local temple) till gone midnight (from endless birthdays, funerals, parties), even if not too loud its still really irritating because it's just so rare to get some real quiet for a few hours. (and I don't even live in the city).

 

2.  Corruption

From police, immigration, government officials, money under the table kind of stuff, (even the 'charge the farang more' thing) etc.  It causes so much delay and is very unfair to people who don't have the money to pay, or are just trying to be honest and obey the laws.  It also allows people with money to get away with some really bad crimes.

 

3.  Bitter, Weird, Dirty, Rude, Social misfit, Missionary, or Snobby Expats. 

 

Enough said.

 

4.  Visas and immigration stuff.

 

But happy to do this as its the price I pay to live here.  Just frustrates me all the needless repetition of information each time when they could just have it all on a database.  

 

 

And now 5 Things I don't like about the UK (my own country), just to be fair.

 

1.  The aggressive, threatening, rude and sometimes violent portion of the population.

 

2.  The pettiness of some people, calling the police or council about stupid little things like a neighbour having a bonfire, some having the dog off a lead, or a bin bag put out a day too early.  

 

3.  Cost of living.. including being ripped off by utility companies and the council tax.

 

4.  Weather... nearly always raining or some weather disaster warning, too cold, floods, drought, strong winds etc.  

 

5. Food.  Now find it really heavy, bland and tasteless, after eating spicy and strongly flavoured Thai foods for years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mgthom63]

26 minutes ago, Thian said:

Many Thai even can't speak Thai, serious...they speak half Lao, even my wife can't understand them.

Your wife can't understand Lao?

 

I hope she never tries to work at a hotel, hospital or real estate agency!

 

My Lao GF would really shout at her if she wasn't understood, serious :)

 

I'm half-tempted to write a letter to the Thai PM suggesting that all hotel, hospital, ambulance and realtors pass a language proficiency test in Lao, Mandarin, English and Russian...or be terminated from their employment immediately.

Edited March 8, 2018 by mgthom63

[sanemax]

16 minutes ago, Thian said:

Many Thai even can't speak Thai, serious...they speak half Lao, even my wife can't understand them.

They are probably Laotions though and not Thai .

All Thais speak Thai .

[sanemax]

16 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

2.  The pettiness of some people, calling the police or council about stupid little things like a neighbour having a bonfire, some having the dog off a lead, or a bin bag put out a day too early.  

But on the other hand , you would have an estate full of rubbish strewn across the ground, because the bags split , polluted air from bonfires and dangerous dogs roaming around .

   Cannot have it both ways

[Rimmer]

Some troll posts, flames, replies even a statement in  German have been removed

[thaibeachlovers]

Why stop at 5? I can think of at least 20 without trying hard, and most of them would be agreed with by most expats.

Anyway, tourists and expats would have completely different dislikes, as our experiences are completely different. Most tourists will never need to go in an immigration office.

I don't even get the point of the article. Dislikes abound in every sphere of humanity. Be more useful writing an article on how to avoid the problems.

 

Just bringing up his "Russian" wife devalues the article, as I can't think of any reason to mention her ethnicity, other than as a subtle boast. 

However, I'd be interested in her top 5 dislikes of her home country.

 

Sounds to me like he was having a "slow day at the office", and took the easy way out.

[alex8912]

4 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Do you realise that 20 million Thais (around a third) are native issan/kmer/lao speakers and are already on theirs second language when they learn Thai. In the south, 1 million are native Yawi (malay) speakers, and in the east there are 1 million native Karen speakers. There are half a million native chinese speakers.

The Thai Government recognises 62 languages spoken in Thailand.

Chances are the local hospital or Police etc speak more languages than your multi-lingual home country.

No the local hospitals here do not speak more languages.

” The government recognizes 62 languages spoken in Thailand” They also recognize a lot of other BS that is false. 

Most of my local 7/11’s in BKK have workers who can speak better English than staff at 5 star hotels , large hospitals , police and EMT’s here.  They get paid even less.  

Edited March 8, 2018 by alex8912

[Thian]

1 hour ago, sanemax said:

They are probably Laotions though and not Thai .

All Thais speak Thai .

No way, Thai from the NE speak thai/lao...

[sanemax]

2 minutes ago, Thian said:

No way, Thai from the NE speak thai/lao...

Is that (they speak )Thai and Lao ? or a different language to both ?

[Thian]

6 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Is that (they speak )Thai and Lao ? or a different language to both ?

It's a mixture of both...

[Peterw42]

9 minutes ago, sanemax said:

Is that (they speak )Thai and Lao ? or a different language to both ?

Around 20 million Thais, issan/lao is their first language spoken at home, then they learn Thai at school.

(then they move to pattaya with all their issan bargirl friends and speak issan again, lol)

 

 

[jak2002003]

3 hours ago, sanemax said:

But on the other hand , you would have an estate full of rubbish strewn across the ground, because the bags split , polluted air from bonfires and dangerous dogs roaming around .

   Cannot have it both ways

Ah... so you are one of them!!!  Only joking.

 

Don't you remember the days when we are allowed to have a bonfire in the garden.  I don't remember the air being so polluted back them from that.  Also we used to have rubbish in one single bin.  We could have this outside the house.  There were no piles of rubbish all over the place then either.  In fact it looked neater without all the different huge bright coloured plastic bins on wheels they have everywhere now... they clutter up the street a lot too.

 

Was not talking about dangerous dogs roaming around freely.  I meant when someone has a pet dog in the park, or on a deserted beach and lets it off the lead.  Now there are signs everywhere saying dogs must be kept on a lead, or not even allowed on the beach.  Before these laws I can't remember every getting bothered by a dog off a lead.

 

So, I don't want it both ways really.. just a medium ground.