“Don’t complain about our English, If you can’t speak Thai” - sign at restaurant goes viral - again

[ThomasThBKK]

22 minutes ago, P100 said:

I other countries, like China, locals use every opportunityto learn from foreigners whenever they meet them !!  

 

What a load of <deleted>, as a foreigner you can't even hire a taxi in china.

You can't pay anything without having wechat pay, and you need a local bank account to do that. Most shops don't accept cash anymore, you are royally skrewed and they don't give a damn. You aren't allowed to buy a train ticket without a passport check at a chinese trainstation. 

 

As a foreigner you aren't allowed to travel freely either, many hotels aren't serving to foreigners.

 

Maybe not make complete <deleted> up here all the time? 

 

Have fun in china. 

 

 

[DrTuner]

4 minutes ago, Yinn said:

This is thailand. We speak thai. Not England.

Thank you Yinn for representing Thailand on this forum. I will recommend everybody to read your comments so they can get the feel of Real Thailand.

[EricTh]

I have seen an American complaining about the bank staff's English before so this phenomena is quite true.

 

He even lost his temper because the staff couldn't understand his English.

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by EricTh

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, AJS150654 said:

if you owned a restaurant in your home country, would you expect your staff to be multi lingual.

Yes of course

if most of the customers are foreign tourists

the staff (The ones in contact with the customers) needs to have at least decent english skills

it's the most basic economic logic

 

[kensisaket]

Having a menu in English; or, even better with pictures might be a worthwhile endeavor. Pointing to a number/picture will solve pretty much any language barrier.

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, Thian said:

I'm not a native english speaker and i SURE complain about the Thai not speaking english. In places like IKEA, Mac Donalds, BTS-skytrain, Suwarnabhumi airport, Immigration office, Burger King they should hire people who can speak english! In EVERY country they can so why not in Thailand?

Because of the greed of the owmers in Thailand

they perfectly know the ''cultur'' here for the customers is to not complain

and skilled people need to be well paid, so they just take advantage of the situation

and hire low class people with low skills, letting them and the customers deal with it

while the owners are busy filling their bank accounts

 

[IvorLott]

It's an odd one.

 

I have a rule that when in a place catering to tourists, where the staff are expected to have a certain standard of English, I'll use English unless I'm not getting through, then I'll use Thai in a discreet way. 

 

If I'm in the back of beyond, I'll use Thai by default, though the amount of times I have to deal with staff too afraid of looking daft until they know I can speak Thai is unreal. A very common occurrence. 

It also fairly common to start using Thai in a place, then to be replied to in English by a staff member who them acts all offended. 

In my formative days of speaking Thai (I'm sure many have experienced this) I have been in a place, using Thai with the staff member 'expecting' me, as a Westerner, to be using English and have been totally flummoxed until the penny drops and they recognise their own language.

[DrTuner]

2 minutes ago, IvorLott said:

In my formative days of speaking Thai (I'm sure many have experienced this) I have been in a place, using Thai with the staff member 'expecting' me, as a Westerner, to be using English and have been totally flummoxed until the penny drops and they recognise their own language.

I remember one fun occurrence. I think it was in Krabi at the entrance to the national park where the emerald lake is. The service was desperately trying to speak in bad English to me until I asked them in Thai if they can speak Thai (phoodphaasaathaidaimai). He completely froze for at least 20secs until his brain finally computed I was asking him if he can speak his native language. Finally he laughed out loud and I was able to order my moothood.

[kingofthemountain]

1 hour ago, RJRS1301 said:

Do not mistake poor education with low IQ please

sorry for the misunderstanding my ''\'' was a ''or'' . not an ''and''

of course you are right in most of the cases, even if sometimes it's cumulative

[Enki]

31 minutes ago, BestB said:

You may not be able to understand this but English is an international language

No it is not.

There are more spanish speakers than english.

There are more Mandarin speakers than spanish and english together.

There are plenty of countries where the lingua franca is: french.

And there are plenty of countries where the first second language you learn in school: is not english. And on top of that there are countries, were except for the reception in a hotel: no one speaks english, e.g. Spain or Italy (yes, I'm exaggerating, but you get the point, right?)

 

And regardless: for a Thai it is quite difficult to learn english, as english as in relation to Thai, a super complicated language.

 

Thai on the other hand is a super simple language. Complaining that one who speaks naturally a simple language makes mistakes in a complex language, is not very smart/intelligent or polite. Especially if it is a street food restaurant.

 

In Thai it is: "go bathroom". Why would a Thai not literally translate that to english, and say in english: "go bathroom"?

 

You don't know anything about languages, but you think your language is "the world language"? ROFL.

 

[monkfish]

30 minutes ago, Yinn said:

This is thailand. We speak thai. Not England.

Some people try to speak english for help you. But you complain.

 

 

Another complainer. 

Most taxi customer in Thailand is thai people. 

 

 

Not must. Up to him. Not up to you.

 

i am learn English. Up to me. 

 

If you want to complain about the English in restaurant, not go there, they not want you go. Up to them.

 

 

Why do you always complain about the complainer isn't that a bit hypocritical?
Oh sorry I forgot only Thai allowed to complan.
 

[snowgard]

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Now you actually offend 3 more countries of which most do speak basic English. That aside, English is the world language for Tourism & Hospitality, as well for ASEAN. Nobody ever said Thais should be speaking more than English language either.

The next stupid comment. I not offend someone. English is not the onliest world language for Tourism & Hospitality. French, Spanish and Russian also. It depends where you travel.

And this is the real point "TRAVEL"!!! The most Thais not speak english because the don't must do it. It's their home country, the most friends are Thai, TV is Thai, News are in Thai, .... A lot of Thais have learned english but they are to child to speak it because maybe they speak it wrong. The most people who speak english as second language learned it really when they travelled in the world. You learn it by doing and this you must when you travel. But the most Thais never come out of the country.

[miskanotaji]

9 times out of 10, when I say a phrase, the 1st part will go one ear in, the other out.

no matter what I ask, 90% of the time I get an answer to different question.

 

 

"which coffee is stronger: this or that?" - "you want this coffee?" --> I asked "which one is stronger!"

"how much are bananas?" - they'll take bananas and begin packing them --> I didn't ask to sell them to me, I asked only "how much!"

"what is coffee mocachino"?" - "you want mocachino? 50 baht" and she'll begin to prepare it --> I asked "what is it!" I haven't asked to give it to me yet.

Edited January 20, 2020 by miskanotaji

[roo860]

19 minutes ago, Yinn said:

Another complainer.

Not at all, I can converse adequately in Thai, so this doesn't affect me, with all the Gala Dinners, acceptance speeches etc that you go to, I hoped for some improvement. 

????

Edited January 20, 2020 by roo860

[miskanotaji]

in a bank "what's required to open an account?" -- "give me your passport" --> "I asked only "what's required!"

 

 

[Airalee]

The only person I heard of berating a Thai person for their choice of language was a Chinese national.  When the manager of the guesthouse I was staying in spoke to them in fluent Mandarin (She had worked in Taiwan for years), they yelled at her to “Speak English!”

 

Crazy world.

[miskanotaji]

after a little while, they'll say  "Ooooooo" which is similar to "got it, finally". Now I assume that've understood me. No -- they still haven't understood.

[DrTuner]

10 minutes ago, snowgard said:

The most people who speak english as second language learned it really when they travelled in the world. 

I doubt it. English is taught in schools all over the world. Many countries have a high proficiency score because of that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EF_English_Proficiency_Index

 

Thais simply don't want to learn it, even if it is taught in the schools.

Edited January 20, 2020 by DrTuner

[miskanotaji]

2 minutes ago, Airalee said:

The only person I heard of berating a Thai person for their choice of language was a Chinese national.  When the manager of the guesthouse I was staying in spoke to them in fluent Mandarin (She had worked in Taiwan for years), they yelled at her to “Speak English!”

 

Crazy world.

One person in one isolated situation said something. so what?

Edited January 20, 2020 by miskanotaji

[Enki]

4 minutes ago, Airalee said:

The only person I heard of berating a Thai person for their choice of language was a Chinese national.  When the manager of the guesthouse I was staying in spoke to them in fluent Mandarin (She had worked in Taiwan for years), they yelled at her to “Speak English!”

 

Crazy world.

Perhaps his Madarin was not good? E.g. if he was from Hongkong ... Perhaps she did not even speak Mandarin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Taiwan

[Airalee]

1 minute ago, miskanotaji said:

One person in one isolated situation said something. so what?

I just found it humorous that it was a Chinese person.

 

Sorry to hear about how troublesome it was for you to buy bananas.

[monkfish]

57 minutes ago, Yinn said:

This is thailand. We speak thai. Not England.

Some people try to speak english for help you. But you complain.

 

 

Another complainer. 

Most taxi customer in Thailand is thai people. 

 

 

Not must. Up to him. Not up to you.

 

i am learn English. Up to me. 

 

If you want to complain about the English in restaurant, not go there, they not want you go. Up to them.

 

 

English is the official language of Asean of which Thailand is a member so I assume some people choose to learn English as to be able to communicate with the rest of World and not just to help us. lol.

Edited January 20, 2020 by monkfish

[Airalee]

1 minute ago, Enki said:

Perhaps his Madarin was not good? E.g. if he was from Hongkong ... Perhaps she did not even speak Mandarin? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Taiwan

I can see reading comprehension isn’t your forte.

 

*She* was fluent in Mandarin.

[miskanotaji]

in general, English is a shifftyy language. Spanish is way better.

 

Also, to british and americans - "how many languages, except your native language - English, do you know?"

Edited January 20, 2020 by miskanotaji

[Enki]

5 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Thais simply don't want to learn it, even if it is taught in the schools.

Thai schools usually don't teach english. They teach how to pass an english test. And those are mostly based on memorising arcane things. E.g. a 6 year old should know how to write Penguin and identify a picture of a Penguin. Albeit: he most likely does not even know what a Penguin is ... you see the problem?

[kingofthemountain]

8 minutes ago, miskanotaji said:

9 times out of 10, when I say a phrase, the 1st part will go one ear in, the other out.

no matter what I ask, 90% of the time I get an answer to different question.

 

 

"which coffee is stronger: this or that?" - "you want this coffee?" --> I asked "which one is stronger!"

"how much are bananas?" - they'll take bananas and begin packing them --> I didn't ask to sell them to me, I asked only "how much!"

"what is coffee mocachino"?" - "you want mocachino? 50 baht" and she'll begin to prepare it --> I asked "what is it!" I haven't asked to give it to me yet.

Imo you ask too much questions lol

 

they don't understand your questions

how do you expect they can explain you something in the answer?

 

On a more serious side 

if you want ask ''what is it?'' try ''A ni a lay?''

but of course don't

expect an answer in english. 

 

And if you want ask ''what is the price for this?'' try ''A ni ki bath?'' showing the item with your finger

usualy they have a calculator to show you, or they use their fingers. You can also try to learn

the numbers, it's not very difficult

 

[EVENKEEL]

6 hours ago, Yinn said:

No 

translation= stop complain like idiot.

Agree but...… If your business is based on only tourists would it not make business sense to have some English speaking staff.

[Shouldhaveknownbetter]

2 minutes ago, miskanotaji said:

in general, English is a shifftyy language. Spanish is way better.

 

Also, to british and americans - "how many languages, expect your native language - English, do you know?"

That is a silly question sir.  If you did not hear the United States is a country of immigrants.  There are more bilingual speaking people in the USA than most countries in this world.

[Enki]

2 minutes ago, monkfish said:

English is the official language of Asean of which Thailand is a member so I assume some people choose to learn English as to be to communicate with the rest of World and not just to help us. lol.

IFTFY: English is one of the official languageS of Asean.

 

And completely irrelevant for 90% of the people living here. Most people in ASEAN speak already 2 or 4 languages, as in Thai, Lao, or Lao and Vietnamese, or Thai, Lao, Chinese and Japanese. The "natural pressure" to learn english is for most asians super low, as they never ever are in a situation their they need it or where it is "useful". E.g.: if you go to Lao or Vietnam, and even parts of Isaan: they speak French. Do you speak French?

An exception is for historical reasons - and the number of local languages: India.

It is somewhat funny that people who most likely speak only _one_single_language_ complain about people who speak several from childhood ...

[Jim walker]

When in Rome