Is it worth learning Thai

[naboo]

5 hours ago, Perhaps2more said:

naboo...... (1)  So, you did not mean that...really.

 

I really did. The people I choose to socialise with are good people. And they come from a variety of backgrounds. The people I have to engage with on a day to day basis, the general population, some exceptionally wealthy, some exceptionally poor, say some nasty things, some ignorant things. The more I speak Thai, the more I realise the general population, from all walks of life, are pretty unpleasant. I do believe the recent surge in nationalism is partly to blame, but the roots of selfishness, racism, ego and ignorance are where it all comes from.

[GinBoy2]

2 hours ago, naboo said:

I really did. The people I choose to socialise with are good people. And they come from a variety of backgrounds. The people I have to engage with on a day to day basis, the general population, some exceptionally wealthy, some exceptionally poor, say some nasty things, some ignorant things. The more I speak Thai, the more I realise the general population, from all walks of life, are pretty unpleasant. I do believe the recent surge in nationalism is partly to blame, but the roots of selfishness, racism, ego and ignorance are where it all comes from.

Without wanting to generalize too much here, but i understand what you are saying.

 

In some respects I wish I didn't speak Thai, and probably more so read Thai.

 

The rose colored spec brigade tend not to speak or read, so live in a bubble of 'hansum man', 'I love America' (insert country of choice) etc.

 

Sitting and listening to Thai's talk in restaurants, Starbucks wherever, and I would say this applies a lot more to BKK than the North, their real gut views on foreigners in general, ain't very pretty

 

 

[Perhaps2more]

2 hours ago, naboo said:

(1) The people I have to engage with on a day to day basis, the general population, some exceptionally wealthy, some exceptionally poor, say some nasty things, some ignorant things.

(2) The more I speak Thai, the more I realise the general population, from all walks of life, are pretty unpleasant.

(3) I do believe the recent surge in nationalism is partly to blame, but the roots of selfishness, racism, ego and ignorance are where it all comes from.

(1) The people you "have to" engage with are not really your social group, are they? It is not possible to know all of them in depth.

(2) You are generalizing and we all know generalization is the basic idea of all prejudices e.g., racism, sexual racism and the rest.

Thai people think the English are polite and well mannered because they used to see only the upper class English. Can you say all the English are like that? Can you say the Chinese are like ... that? Really? 14 hundred million of them are like that? 

Every country is the same, there are good and bad people in them. You choose to be around those people that you think are good enough for you. The rest of the country you leave them alone.

People in every country of poor economy seem to have one similar character that is fighting for survival. This is very obvious in India. It does not mean they all are bad or unpleasant. Just think you are lucky that you do not have their kind of life.

(3) Nationalism in Thailand has been like that for a very long time. They have the system to maintain it. The government maintains it for its own advantage. People stand still in the morning and evening to show respect when they hear the national anthem. They are taught to respect the royal family. They believe it is normal to grovel and bow at the feet of the royal family. Thai education is to memorize what they are told and then take exams. They are not encouraged to think for themselves. Thai history books are books of wish lists rather than facts but the people believe them. Everything Thai, to them, is the best in the world. Now that is ignorant. Thai expat often call Thailand "Gala land" because people live inside Gala (coconut shell). 

[Perhaps2more]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

Sitting and listening to Thai's talk in restaurants, Starbucks wherever, and I would say this applies a lot more to BKK than the North, their real gut views on foreigners in general, ain't very pretty

In Buddhism, there is a teaching about Cause and Effect. They don't think bad of you without a cause, just as you don't think bad of them without a cause either. Whenever I am in Thailand I always see many visitors to Thailand who act, speak, think superior to the locals. Of course, the locals are poorer, standard of living is lower, so what you think of are facts. The poor Thais do not like it but they seem to accept it as something of a routine in their lives but not the educated or those that have no need to engage with these type of visitors. You are right that it happens more in Bangkok because Bangkok has more of the people who know that they are no lesser than these visitors. 

Had you been on the receiving end, you would have understood the pain they felt.

Of course, they are generalizing normally, but when they come across nice visitors, as you know, they love them. 

[Tim207]

On 5/12/2019 at 4:20 AM, wilailuk said:

I won´t bother to learn anymore, people are just too stupid to understand even "zip baht" "dongbai" etc. - so I just gave up.. It´s like thai people enter the "zombie zone" when they hear farang talking thai..

i understand you perfectly well. What i dont understand is why your money has a zipper on it and why you want to pickle a sheet of something

[Tim207]

On 5/12/2019 at 4:41 AM, nausea said:

being ignorant is often better; you don't hear the insults.

 

one great advantage is you will find that very few people say anything bad and the few that do you can treat appropriatly rather than thinking they are some kind of friend. i also get a headsup when meeting new people because my friends will quickly tell some people i speak thai before they have a chance to say something insulting, those people i know i can never trust and can mostly ignore

[Perhaps2more]

On 5/12/2019 at 10:20 AM, wilailuk said:

I won´t bother to learn anymore, people are just too stupid to understand even "zip baht" "dongbai" etc. - so I just gave up.. It´s like thai people enter the "zombie zone" when they hear farang talking thai..

In Thai, word ending is not pronounced and word tone is fixed, changing tone the meaning is changed.

There is no "Z" in Thai. ... 10=sip (low tone)

Thai people think farangs enter the "zombie zone" when they hear Thai talking English.

A Thai waiter might say, "Yu wan fri ri oa stae ae chi. Eweritie ee chee hia. Wa du yu woa?"

You do not hear the ending of words which is important in English. It is in your nature to listen to them but it is not in Thai nature to pronounce them. 

In Thai, people listen to the tone of words, not word endings, to get the meaning. It is in their nature to listen to tones. They get confused with wrong tones because each tone is another word.

[Tchooptip]

On 5/11/2019 at 8:26 PM, villagefarang said:

For me personally the answer is, YES.  

 

The ability to speak Thai has opened innumerable doors for me and ushered me into a world I would have been denied access to without being able to speak Thai.  Jobs, Thai television, social groups and friends came from speaking Thai.

 

I wouldn't have gotten very far with my wife if I hadn't been able to speak Thai when we met.  After 22 years, a university degree in English and years of travel, her language ability is on a par with mine and we can switch between English and Thai as we please.

 

I have clearly led a very different life from those who have answered NO.  I would not be happy living like that but hope others are truly content with their lot in life and their answer is not simply a case of sour grapes.  ????

A real pleasure to read such an answer ???? Yesterday my wife and I went to buy a new pair of glasses for her, Instead of waiting on a chair like an imbecile, I spoke with a young optician not far from one hour, he had an incredible sense of humour, I had not laughed so much for a long time, he congratulated me many times on the extent of my vocabulary ???? which is pleasant LOL. But on the other hand I also easily understand people who do not want to learn Thai, because it's been seven years since I sweats daily to progress slowly. On the contrary those who just criticise learning Thai, there I am lost!
 I also read moderately, but some modern fonts are still indecipherable. And for some words I really need to think before understanding, like for instance เออออ  but it's logical, two consonants two vowels lol

My daughter's wife have two children four and six years I can talk with them, understanding them only to a certain extend (Issan) ! But they understand me and call me ตา ????

 So like you I can say my live would have been different had I not fight like daily to learn the Thai language. I also have a very friendly relationship with my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law who are both adorable and helpful. 

[Tchooptip]

On 5/12/2019 at 5:28 PM, PerkinsCuthbert said:

I know where you're going with this, Rooster, so I will answer with "แย๊ต", which has no meaning in Thai.

Yes, for children certainly better than writing เย็ด ????  








 

 

[Solinvictus]

On 7/9/2019 at 9:55 PM, naboo said:

I really did. The people I choose to socialise with are good people. And they come from a variety of backgrounds. The people I have to engage with on a day to day basis, the general population, some exceptionally wealthy, some exceptionally poor, say some nasty things, some ignorant things. The more I speak Thai, the more I realise the general population, from all walks of life, are pretty unpleasant. I do believe the recent surge in nationalism is partly to blame, but the roots of selfishness, racism, ego and ignorance are where it all comes from.

@Naboo I found your comment to be quite spot on. Once you are able to understand spoken Thai and can grasp the Thai logic not to mention understanding many 'lowbrow' blurts and comments they make, they can be IMO indeed 'unpleasant.' I myself, enjoy speaking up and when you do you that, a bit of confrontation, they really dislike you. Ha. Whatever...

 

I think it is also good to remember that unlike westerners, Asians are a very collective society and do not deviate from social norms much.

 

To be honest, I kinda find it boring to spark conversations with new Thai people at times..same old same old..It's like they have all been programed or indoctrinated the same. ha.  P.S. This doesn't mean I'm not happy here. ????