Should Expats Be Able to Speak Thai

[richard_smith237]

55 minutes ago, 473geo said:

Nah Richard, my wife and I converse in English, of course wives talk about their husbands, same as they talk about money, no need to do it behind anybody's back. 

On occasions I am drawn into the conversation 

 

I threw out another phrase today, must have hit the mark as I got a Phoot maak back ????

 

Perhaps the danger of a foreigner husband speaking Thai to other than the wife, and been misquoted, misunderstood, or just plain using incorrect words is a step too far. Perhaps the husband may also inadvertently release information not usually shared in Thai circles 

 

I think your cloak and dagger theory is a bit over dramatic 

Its not my ‘cloak and dagger’ theory...  Its that presented by some of the guys who have pointed out their significant others don’t want them to know Thai, as pointed out by LaosLover (quote below).

 

4 hours ago, LaosLover said:

The overwhelming consensus that I have read on this board is that most Thai romantic partners would prefer it if you DIDN'T speak Thai. True?

 

Regarding throwing out Thai phrases - I have great fun throwing out the most horrific and offensive swearwords in front of or even at my friends Wives....  who the gasp in shock and either punch me or punch their husband....    all rather amusing all around (no offence or seriousness taken by anyone, we’ve all known each other for years, holidayed together etc)...

 

 

 

[GarryP]

22 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

No its their 2nd language. Im in Isaan. They understand and speak Thai fine.

 

 

Totally agree. My wife's family speak to me in their local form of Issan and I respond to them in central Thai. No problems at all. We understand each other fine. The exception might be in Surin and a few other provinces where the local language would be Khmer. In such a case I'd be screwed. They'd understand me but I wouldn't understand a word they said.   

[owl sees all]

On 8/29/2022 at 4:35 PM, transam said:

It's true, when I am at my watering hole, of about 12 years, I sit there minding my own business doodling on my phone, I am oblivious to all the chat going on, until I hear that word...."Farang", I sit up, look in the direction it came from, so they can see I know they are talking about me, it shut's them up, they think I understand/speak Thai. 

But to be fair, I know most folk who go there, and many try out their English on me.....????

I quite like hearing the 'farang' word. At least it shows they recognise us.

 

As far as speaking Thai goes; I think it benefits Thais more if I can teach them some English.

[zzaa09]

4 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Totally agree. My wife's family speak to me in their local form of Issan and I respond to them in central Thai. No problems at all. We understand each other fine. The exception might be in Surin and a few other provinces where the local language would be Khmer. In such a case I'd be screwed. They'd understand me but I wouldn't understand a word they said.   

Actually, the common vernacular one might hear in Surin is a very twisted and adopted form of Kamen - Phasa Surin....as it's known.

[Doctor Tom]

11 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You have dogs that speak English? What a pity the only circuses in Thailand reside in government.

Yes, they bark in English, so Soi Dogs have no idea what insults they are shouting at them. 

[GarryP]

21 hours ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

So how come waitress number 2 understood what I was saying ?

I said it about five times to waitress number 1 and she didn't understand

I said it once to waitress number 2 and she understood 

Next time that happens and you are with your Thai wife/gf, get your wife/gf to tell the waitress that you are making the order in Thai language. Then place the order. They will understand everything you have said if you speak decent enough Thai. Many seem to switch off when they see a farang doing the ordering. As has been said before, they have told themselves that you are speaking English, which they don't understand, so they are tuned out of everything you say.   

[Kwasaki]

11 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Totally agree. My wife's family speak to me in their local form of Issan and I respond to them in central Thai. No problems at all. We understand each other fine. The exception might be in Surin and a few other provinces where the local language would be Khmer. In such a case I'd be screwed. They'd understand me but I wouldn't understand a word they said.   

I can only speak Royal Thai. 

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, Doctor Tom said:

Yes, they bark in English, so Soi Dogs have no idea what insults they are shouting at them. 

Cat ta polt. ????

[Lemsta69]

On 8/29/2022 at 4:12 PM, NickyLouie said:

I think if you are an expat you should be able to communicate in Thai.

I think if you are an expat you should be free to decide whether or not you wish to learn and/or speak Thai. the locals seem to agree with this so I defer to their expert opinion, not some random ferrlung with a chip on their shoulder ????

[Denim]

20 hours ago, Dene16 said:

don't know how you can say German is hard when so many words sound similar to English or begin with the same letter as in English. links left, rects  right, hund hound, frei free, zucker sugar, haben have, miich mik, auto car gold gold, tea tee, red rot and the list goes on and on. 

My meaning is not that German is hard but that Thai is easier.

 

No articles , the ,an ,a.

Nouns are gender neutral so no die der das plus Thai grammer is pretty stripped down and easy to understand.

 

And yes, many German words are similar to English. I happened to browse a German porn mag once and recognized familiar words like arshfricker and spermflage without any problem.

[GammaGlobulin]

Expats should first learn English. Obviously, English is a more difficult language to learn, compared to passa Thai. 

 

Baby Steps! 

[Adumbration]

All depends on what quality Thai women you want to bed.

 

If you want to restrict your catchment to splay toed rice farmers that have picked up workable Tinglish in the wake of sleeping with hundreds of punters the choice is entirely yours.

[brewsterbudgen]

19 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

All depends on what quality Thai women you want to bed.

 

If you want to restrict your catchment to splay toed rice farmers that have picked up workable Tinglish in the wake of sleeping with hundreds of punters the choice is entirely yours.

I'm confused.  Are you saying one needs to speak Thai in order to "bed" hi-so career women?

[richard_smith237]

20 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

All depends on what quality Thai women you want to bed.

 

If you want to restrict your catchment to splay toed rice farmers that have picked up workable Tinglish in the wake of sleeping with hundreds of punters the choice is entirely yours.

Or over seas educated women of equal socio-economic status.... 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

25 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

All depends on what quality Thai women you want to bed.

 

If you want to restrict your catchment to splay toed rice farmers that have picked up workable Tinglish in the wake of sleeping with hundreds of punters the choice is entirely yours.

I'm confused.  Are you saying one needs to speak Thai in order to "bed" hi-so career women?

I think he may have just assumed this is such a remote possibility the idea is off his radar  !!! 

[EricTh]

49 minutes ago, Denim said:

My meaning is not that German is hard but that Thai is easier.

 

No articles , the ,an ,a.

Nouns are gender neutral so no die der das plus Thai grammer is pretty stripped down and easy to understand.

 

And yes, many German words are similar to English. I happened to browse a German porn mag once and recognized familiar words like arshfricker and spermflage without any problem.

 

It really depends on your mother tongue. If it is English, then learning another Germanic language like German would be less challenging because there are many cognates and similar grammar.

 

Like I said, many westerners failed in the tones category and the different Thai grammar.  Many westerners use English grammar instead of Thai grammar when speaking Thai.

 

[LaosLover]

12 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

I think he may have just assumed this is such a remote possibility the idea is off his radar  !!! 

Gotta agree. The competition for these rare hothouse flowers is fierce.

 

And Asian men -who Thai women seem to much prefer- want them too. The sort of arty, bohemian women I love barely exist here; and they have much better prospects than me. 

 

Would Thai fluency improve my odds from zero to snow ball's chance in hell? I'm going to go with a hard no.

[Sparktrader]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

I can only speak Royal Thai. 

I speak Shakespeare Thai

 

Thou Shall Sawadee Khrup Thou

[StreetCowboy]

44 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Expats should first learn English. Obviously, English is a more difficult language to learn, compared to passa Thai. 

 

Baby Steps! 

I think English is quite easy to learn; the pass mark is very low.  Chinese, for example, is much harder.  Most native Chinese take a few minutes of learning before they can talk to a stranger, which is one of two, ok, three frustrations when queuing, four frustrations when queuing in McDonalds in Hong Kong. The last is most obvious - the food is dreadful; and the third becomes obvious when you get your food and discover that all the “empty” tables have someone sat there reserving it for their friends in the queue. But before you start looking for a seat, before you start eating the polystyrene containers, first of all the guy in front has to exchange some pleasantries with the server to come to grips with one another’s’ tones. “Aye, they’ve got the hang of it - ‘cheeseburger and fries’” but no! Chinese people are interested in food - “is the same pickles in the cheeseburger as the quarter-pounder? What oil do you use for the fries? Can I have the bacon double cheese burger as a double bacon cheese burger?”

Im normally so hungry and grumpy I sit down at any table and wolf it while their mates are still negotiating their sauces and soft drinks. And get up queasily, remembering why I stick to Chinese restaurants - you can get beer there

[Mac Mickmanus]

3 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Gotta agree. The competition for these rare hothouse flowers is fierce.

 

And Asian men -who Thai women seem to much prefer- want them too. The sort of arty, bohemian women I love barely exist here; and they have much better prospects than me. 

 

Would Thai fluency improve my odds from zero to snow ball's chance in hell? I'm going to go with a hard no.

Yes, its not often you go into a Pattaya bar and a Woman mentions the artistic merit of Salvatore Dali or whether Banksys paintings should be considered as art or not 

[KaputtAlreadyNa]

On 8/29/2022 at 4:43 PM, peterfranks said:

 

 

Then again, I always see those posts on here from people who demand that immigrants in their home country should be fluent in the language or be sent back

Spot on ????????????

[LaosLover]

Def hate Banksy. To death. 

 

I had a hi-so bohemian GF for about a minute and a half. In Laos. Might be as many as 8 bohemian hi-so women in Laos. And she was a solid 9, looks wise. It was down to my historic preservation project there. Prob not replicable. But we keep in touch yearly in case both our spouses die -one hopes painlessly.

 

So I had my day in the sun and now that ship has sailed, just to mix metaphors.

[moogradod]

29 minutes ago, EricTh said:

..........  Many westerners use English grammar instead of Thai grammar when speaking Thai.

...and vice versa. I find it quite amusing when my wife asks: Was it "Fishcat" or "Catfish" again ?

[1FinickyOne]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:37 PM, Sparktrader said:

Im in Isaan.

oh lord, stuck in Isaan with the Memphis blues again...

[richard_smith237]

19 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Gotta agree. The competition for these rare hothouse flowers is fierce.

 

And Asian men -who Thai women seem to much prefer- want them too. The sort of arty, bohemian women I love barely exist here; and they have much better prospects than me. 

That depends on your ‘game’ and of course your age....    there are plenty of guys with well educated respectable women who are financially independent....

 

Such women are of course no longer interested in me, why would they be? (rhetorical), I am now too old, late-40s, married...  Wife is still cool, arty, far more fashionable, funny etc than I ever will be...  Three years younger, she looks fifteen years younger !....    Why me and not a Thai guy of similar socio-economic standing ???...  I guess back in the day I had some game !!!!

 

Never knock yourself... but if we’re the sort of guy who makes no effort at all, the sort of person who thinks 'why bother there is no need to converse with the locals' then for the most part their attitude already precludes them from any meaningful and mutually respectful friendship or relationship....

 

 

19 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

Would Thai fluency improve my odds from zero to snow ball's chance in hell? I'm going to go with a hard no.

In many cases not at all....  In some cases its a hinderance....  

 

..... there is no quicker identifier of socio-economic status than a foreigner using ‘bar girl Thai’ and telling his new ‘middle-class bit of fluff’ that he will ‘dop-sallop-sallai’ her !!!! ....  she’s cringing and already working on escape strategy !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

[1FinickyOne]

18 minutes ago, LaosLover said:

But we keep in touch yearly in case both our spouses die -one hopes painlessly.

Why don't you just introduce your spouses? 

[LaosLover]

1 minute ago, 1FinickyOne said:

Why don't you just introduce your spouses? 

My wife met her.

 

She kept her Frenchie spouse far, far away from us. Which I guess means me.

[LaosLover]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Such women are of course no longer interested in me, why would they be? (rhetorical), I am now too old, late-40s, married...  

 

 

 

 

I'm 69. I still have sex with my wife. That's a small club indeed.

 

As Saint Kenny Rodgers pointed out, You Gotta Know When to fold 'em.

[1FinickyOne]

1 hour ago, GammaGlobulin said:

Expats should first learn English. Obviously, English is a more difficult language to learn, compared to passa Thai. 

 

Baby Steps! 

I fly

you fly

we fly

he flies

 

[GammaGlobulin]

2 minutes ago, 1FinickyOne said:

I fly

you fly

we fly

he flies

 

Spanish Fly...