Thais "losing face" to foreigners - bus sign gets a lot of online attention!

[webfact]

Sanook Thai Caption: What are these placenames?

 

A bus sign posted on a Bangkok bus fan page was widely shared, reported Sanook.

 

It may have been in English letters and an attempt at transliterating Thai but it was leaving both Thais and foreigners equally confused!

 

The poster on Rotmaethai tried to figure out what the placenames were on Route 60 - a regular cream and red city bus going from Suan Siam (Siam Park) to Pak Klong Talat.

 

There was Fashion - that shouldn't be too difficult for a Bangkok resident but a tourist may not know Fashion Island shopping center.

 

KM8 would be a challenge for anyone and apparently means Ramindra KM8.

 

Bankpi - not too hard, Bangkapi.

 

Bamkhamhacng - well you might need a degree in acquired dyslexia for that - Ramkhamhaeng (university).

 

Knlongtna - that seemed to have been put in the washing machine and hung out to dry....Klong Tan.

 

Pratuna - well they just left off the "M" didn't they! The poster conjectured if Water Gate was a good alternative but rejected that idea. 

 

Finally, Pakknlong - that's Pak Klong Talat. The poster considered "Flower Market" for that - a popular end of the line destination.

 

The poster used some fruity Thai language in calling for the bus company to up their game. 

 

They said that Thais were losing face to foreigners because their English spelling was so bad.

 

Though given the state of much English signage in Thailand it's debatable whether too many tourists would care, they'd probably just laugh.

 

Even if they used the bus!

 

Part of the fun of going to Bangkok is getting lost, suggests ASEAN NOW, for both Thais and foreigners alike!

 

-- © Copyright  ASEAN NOW 2022-09-20

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Monthly car subscription with first-class insurance, 24x7 assistance and more in one price - click here to find out more!

 

Get your business in front of millions of customers who read ASEAN NOW with an interest in Thailand every month - email [email protected] for more information

[sammieuk1]

There are plenty more faces to loose the average general has north of 6.000 of them for example ????

[SAFETY FIRST]

At least they're trying, not like some. 

 

Geeze, there's always someone complaining about anything these days. 

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by SAFETY FIRST

[Celsius]

I understood everything on that sign except KM8 and I don't speak much Thai. These signs have been there as long as I remember.

 

The question is why are rich, wealthy foreigners taking a non airconditioned baht busses in Bangkok?

 

 

[2baht]

"Face" keeping Thai's in the 3rd World!

[mikebell]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Part of the fun of going to Bangkok is getting lost,

and/or drowning.

[PoorSucker]

Spotted this near Pattaya 

[daveAustin]

3 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Geeze, there's always someone complaining about anything these days. 

Just you by the looks.

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

At least they're trying, not like some. 

 

Geeze, there's always someone complaining about anything these days. 

 

Geeze, as soon as there’s a ‘discussion’ there is always someone complaining that a discussion is being held...  

[Neeranam]

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

There are plenty more faces to loose the average general has north of 6.000 of them for example ????

What is 'loose face'?

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, Celsius said:

I understood everything on that sign except KM8 and I don't speak much Thai. These signs have been there as long as I remember.

 

The question is why are rich, wealthy foreigners taking a non airconditioned baht busses in Bangkok?

 

 

The Thai forums such as Panthip are full of this stuff.... 

 

Many people seem to think its just foreigners on forums such as this who make critical observations of ‘some’ things Thai... then people go online to accuse said ‘poster’ of being a Thai-basher etc while being completely unaware of how much the Thai’s are ‘bashing’ the issue and often ‘bashing’ the mentality of ‘some’ of their countrymen, just as we do in the west... 

(far more similarities between us than differences !).... 

 

This ‘jumbled letters things' is one of those ‘cute but a little embarrassing’ ones... 

Similar to ‘<deleted> Curry’ in a restaurant menu.. cute... but it underlines a lack of attention to detail.

 

When observed at higher levels we see this same lack of detail impacting people negatively, sometimes dangerously, as can be observed in the ‘electrics’ in Thailand etc.... 

 

I recall a Thai IT preparing a computer for me, he’d installed Windows....  When I received the computer the Windows was installed in Thai....  (this was working for an international company).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

3 hours ago, sammieuk1 said:

There are plenty more faces to loose the average general has north of 6.000 of them for example ????

What is 'loose face'?

Its when the face falls off....    they put another one on, but don’t attach it properly because they know its only a matter of time before they lose that one too !!!!  

[sammieuk1]

3 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

What is 'loose face'?

The one I get in the toilet ????

[Tropicalevo]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

They said that Thais were losing face to foreigners because their English spelling was so bad.

I never criticise or laugh at Thai spelling in English.

Whatever is written is a million times better than anything that I could write in Thai.

[HaoleBoy]

One would think that the Thai Gov would publish a single way to spell (with alpha numeric lettering) place / street names.  It might save them on making road signs.  I've seen places spelled 3 different ways within a block on Sukhumvit.  
Phra Khanong comes to mind ... 

 

Taking it 1 step further for food names would help too for a country so dependent on tourism.   kung / gung      gai / kai

[SAFETY FIRST]

28 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Geeze, as soon as there’s a ‘discussion’ there is always someone complaining that a discussion is being held

And then there's always someone complaining about the complaining. ????

[AsianAtHeart]

Then there's the Thai signs that say "CITY LIMIT PRODUCE SPEED."  See a photo of one HERE.

[proton]

4 hours ago, Celsius said:

I understood everything on that sign except KM8 and I don't speak much Thai. These signs have been there as long as I remember.

 

The question is why are rich, wealthy foreigners taking a non airconditioned baht busses in Bangkok?

 

 

we do, gone up to 8 baht though these days!

Edited September 20, 2022 by proton

[VocalNeal]

What baffles me is that there are many "farangs" living here. Any one of which would be happy to give the correct phrasing or spelling.

[Lemsta69]

18 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

What baffles me is that there are many "farangs" living here. Any one of which would be happy to give the correct phrasing or spelling.

why would you do that unless they're offering a couple grand USD for your translation services? only monkeys and English teachers work for peanuts.

[Robin]

How many of the critics he could make  better job of bus route signs in Thai for their home cities.

At least Thailand is trying to be helpful

[VocalNeal]

15 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

why would you do that unless they're offering a couple grand USD for your translation services? only monkeys and English teachers work for peanuts.

Because we are not all mercenary in nature.????

[FarangFB]

I understand when it's a small business, they don't really have a competent authority to formulate the text.

 

But this <deleted> sign at Pattaya intersections. They couldn't have formulated it in a more confusing way.

 

Am I supposed to turn while it's red? Do I wait for the green to turn?

 

Any other way they wrote this it would be more clear:

"Only turn on green"

"Don't turn when it's red"

"Wait for the green light to turn"

 

[Lemsta69]

3 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

Because we are not all mercenary in nature.????

that's how you end up poor and can't afford to buy a tin of peaches ????

[VocalNeal]

No. Only poor people think that way. ???? But nice try.

[Don Chance]

Status is everywhere.  Losing face is about losing status.  Caste system is also in Thailand.

 

"Because of Thailand’s hidden "caste system" — which is linked to popular Buddhist notions that the poor deserve their lower status because of accumulated demerits from previous lives — Bangkokians typically have a profoundly paternalistic view of the masses."

 

So losing face to a farang would be very unlucky.

[Eleftheros]

4 hours ago, Celsius said:

The question is why are rich, wealthy foreigners taking a non airconditioned baht busses in Bangkok?

It can be much more entertaining to be stuck in traffic for 90 minutes on a bus than it is in a taxi. The bus network is very extensive and often convenient, and you at least get to experience something of local life and color.

[billd766]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

Just you by the looks.

And me as well.

 

I wonder how many of the laughing posters here could translate English into Thai accurately with all the correct tones. Not that many.

 

I admire the guy for trying but I think a qualified translator may have helped.

[animatic]

1 hour ago, Neeranam said:

What is 'loose face'?

You have to detach the loosened face to then lose face. Jaws agog and aghast.

[billd766]

29 minutes ago, Lemsta69 said:

that's how you end up poor and can't afford to buy a tin of peaches ????

No. That is how to gain friends, gain acceptance and improve relationships.

 

Why would anybody want to buy tins of peaches?