Do You Speak Thai To Farang Wives If Farang Doesn't Understand?

[Gecko123]

2 hours ago, patman30 said:

depends on setting and circumstance
if you are in small setting, English is your first language and you are cutting the farang out of the conversation between his wife and yourself, that is very disrespectful,
if for instance you are at a dinner or event with a few wives and/or talking to a group etc and farang is not the only one left out of the convo then that is completely different.

If English is your first language, and you were having a convo with myself, and then you decided to talk to my wife in Thai (assuming i would not understand any) cutting me out of the convo, it would likely be the last convo you have with my wife or myself and would likely be cut short.

What about a Thai woman who is bi-lingual and who is married to a Thai man who speaks only Thai? Would the Thai husband be justified if he flipped out, cut his wife's conversation with the non-Thai speaking foreigner short, and forbade her from talking to the foreigner again if she engaged in an English conversation with the foreigner which he was unable to follow? Sounds very rigid and controlling to me, not to mention Anglo-centric.

 

And another thing I can't help wondering is whether your "that's rude and highly disrespectful" posture on this issue would change if the shoe was on the other foot and you were the one able to speak Thai and able to take advantage of opportunities to engage conversationally in Thai in culturally mixed settings? 

 

Sounds to me like what you're saying is if I can't speak Thai to my wife, I don't want any other foreigners to speak Thai to my wife either.

Edited February 28 by Gecko123

[Gecko123]

And what would be so objectionable to the foreign husband, if after engaging in a Thai language conversation with a foreigner, the Thai wife or the Thai-speaking foreigner politely summarized the conversation for the benefit of the foreign husband, and solicited his input about what was said?

Edited February 28 by Gecko123

[patman30]

1 hour ago, Gecko123 said:

I didn't say she can't speak English. A person can have enough proficiency to manage routine one-on-one communication with their spouse, but struggle or feel overwhelmed when in a social setting with a group of native speakers.

"her English is limited" so much so she cannot engage in what is likely a small talk convo
if her English is not limited (even though you said it was)
her silence would mean she has no interest in the convo
by "native speakers" you mean Thai yes? 

[patman30]

52 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

What about a Thai woman who is bi-lingual and who is married to a Thai man who speaks only Thai? Would the Thai husband be justified if he flipped out, cut his wife's conversation with the non-Thai speaking foreigner short, and forbade her from talking to the foreigner again if she engaged in an English conversation with the foreigner which he was unable to follow? Sounds very rigid and controlling to me, not to mention Anglo-centric.

 

And another thing I can't help wondering is whether your "that's rude and highly disrespectful" posture on this issue would change if the shoe was on the other foot and you were the one able to speak Thai and able to take advantage of opportunities to engage conversationally in Thai in culturally mixed settings? 

 

Sounds to me like what you're saying is if I can't speak Thai to my wife, I don't want any other foreigners to speak Thai to my wife either.

Strawman (stopped at Thai man)

 

3 minutes ago, Gecko123 said:

And what would be so objectionable to the foreign husband, if after engaging in a Thai language conversation with a foreigner, the Thai wife or the Thai-speaking foreigner politely summarized the conversation for the benefit of the foreign husband, and solicited his input about what was said?

another strawman (not about the wife, but the farang)

Read the OP FFS

[patman30]

1 hour ago, hotandsticky said:

There is more to life than conversation.........😉

if all you seek in life is a maid/sex slave
probably better you just rent

"sHe MuSt LoVe Me, ShE sUcKeD mE oFf"

[mancub]

6 hours ago, Neeranam said:

What word would you use?

 

 

There were clues in my post...why not foreigner or foreign man/boy/lady/girl etc if talking or writing in English ? Farang being fine if talking in Thai.  

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, patman30 said:

if all you seek in life is a maid/sex slave
probably better you just rent

"sHe MuSt LoVe Me, ShE sUcKeD mE oFf"

 

I don't own anything in Thailand.

 

Renting is always the best advice.

[EVENKEEL]

4 hours ago, transam said:

Not surprised............

Is sarcasm the same as irony?

Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny. 

 

Does one's sense of humor diminish with age?

[transam]

12 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

Is sarcasm the same as irony?

Sarcasm refers to the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say, especially in order to insult someone, or to show irritation, or just to be funny. 

 

Does one's sense of humor diminish with age?

Dunno, you tell me..............

[EVENKEEL]

8 minutes ago, transam said:

Dunno, you tell me..............

I expect better comebacks from you........I guess age does diminish the gray matter as well.

[transam]

2 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

I expect better comebacks from you........I guess age does diminish the gray matter as well.

No guessing about it, Trump comes to mind......🤭

[GarryP]

20 hours ago, Lacessit said:

In other words, you're a snob. Don't worry, I don't want to be friends with you.

Spelling error there. It should be a 'k' not an 's'.

[Lacessit]

8 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Spelling error there. It should be a 'k' not an 's'.

No error, but thank you for the alternative.

Being Australian, there are other expressions, such as galah or drongo.

[patman30]

17 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

Renting is always the best advice.

Only for those that cannot afford to own anything.......
You will be happy.

Edited February 29 by patman30

[Freddy42OZ]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:41 PM, Neeranam said:

My wife doesn't speak English.

What type of farang do you think I am?

 

 

I don't know but in my 15 years here and 50 years in Asia, the type of guys who marry girls who can't speak English, tend to be working class, and usually retired. 

Well educated, financially well off blokes that comes here on expat packages don't usually marry uneducated women from the provinces. 
 

[hotandsticky]

2 hours ago, patman30 said:

Only for those that cannot afford to own anything.......
You will be happy.

 

No.

 

Those of us that are happy are the ones who do not waste their capital  (and I have a lot..............).

[Freddy42OZ]

On 2/28/2024 at 1:02 PM, scorecard said:

Discrimination.

 

 

Maybe.  I'm just not a fan of the typical retired, divorced, working class blokes.  I much prefer people who came from a better background.
 

[hotandsticky]

Just now, Freddy42OZ said:

 

 

Maybe.  I'm just not a fan of the typical retired, divorced, working class blokes.  I much prefer people who came from a better background.
 

 

 

You need to learn that the background is largely irrelevant; it is where/what you finish up as that counts.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Freddy42OZ said:

 

 

Maybe.  I'm just not a fan of the typical retired, divorced, working class blokes.  I much prefer people who came from a better background.
 

Asians, must be after 50+ years..............

[Freddy42OZ]

On 2/28/2024 at 3:25 PM, hotandsticky said:

 

 

 

There is more to life than conversation.........😉

 

Except without being able to have good discussion with your partner how can you even begin to think of them as your closest friend?  
Surely you were incredibly close friends before you got married?

One of the best things about my Russian GF, aside from being slim and beautiful, is that she's very well educated and speaks perfect English.  We have great conversations about all sorts of things, politics, global warming, crypto, whatever is in the news that interests us.  

[transam]

3 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

 

Except without being able to have good discussion with your partner how can you even begin to think of them as your closest friend?  
Surely you were incredibly close friends before you got married?

One of the best things about my Russian GF, aside from being slim and beautiful, is that she's very well educated and speaks perfect English.  We have great conversations about all sorts of things, politics, global warming, crypto, whatever is in the news that interests us.  

Yeeh, riiiiiiiiiiiiight...................🤥.................

[Freddy42OZ]

Just now, transam said:

Yeeh, riiiiiiiiiiiiight...................🤥.................

 

 

Which bit don't you believe Trans?

[transam]

Just now, Freddy42OZ said:

 

 

Which bit don't you believe Trans?

You like folk from a better background.................😋

[Will B Good]

On 2/28/2024 at 12:34 PM, Gecko123 said:

There are situations where a group of foreign men are sitting around a table and one of the guys is with his Thai spouse, and the Thai spouse sits in silence the entire time. You can tell from the communication between the woman and her husband that her English is limited. If somebody makes an effort to engage with the Thai woman in Thai in order to make her feel more welcome in the group, I don't think they should be faulted for making this effort.

Hence the qualifying statement.........

 

If English is at least understood by all....

Edited February 29 by Will B Good

[Freddy42OZ]

21 minutes ago, transam said:

Asians, must be after 50+ years..............

 

What do you mean?  90% of my friends are Westerners.  I have a few Thai friends and a few HK Chinese but not that many.

[LikeItHot]

Sometimes at a bar when I have all the Thais laughing at jokes in Thai I'll see a farang abruptly get his check and yank his Thai wife away when she laughs too much instead of sitting in silent subservience.  I guess he's allowed to take his wife out while he looks at the girls but she can't have any fun at all.  Swell guys. 

[Freddy42OZ]

2 minutes ago, transam said:

3 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Which bit don't you believe Trans?

You like folk from a better background.................😋

Huh?  What is so hard to believe about wanting to mix with people who grew up more like I did and not with people who were less well off?

[transam]

5 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

 

What do you mean?  90% of my friends are Westerners.  I have a few Thai friends and a few HK Chinese but not that many.

Same here, but I have no idea if they come from a better background, I have never inquired or wanted to know, how they are around me is all I am interested in........🤗

 

 

[transam]

2 minutes ago, Freddy42OZ said:

Huh?  What is so hard to believe about wanting to mix with people who grew up more like I did and not with people who were less well off?

That reads like you have your nose up where the sun don't shine.......

There are poor folk out there that are now millionaires, and you would pooh, pooh them, how strange...

[radiochaser]

On 2/27/2024 at 12:43 AM, simon43 said:

I got confused!  I thought you asked if I spoke Thai to 'farang wives', which seems like a silly idea if these wives are farang!!  Then I understood what you asked.  I would speak Thai only if a Thai partner did not understand English, and I would also speak English to the foreigner out of politeness.

 

Here in Laos some of my Lao friends speak fluent English but their Lao partners do not.  So I will always speak Lao when chatting with them both, out of politeness for the person who doesn't understand English.

 

Finally, my language skills are stretched because an old French guy lives in my village and he doesn't speak Lao or English or....  So I chat with him in French whilst simultaneously translating our conversation into Lao for the benefit of the village kids who always crowd around and want to ask questions of the French guy 🙂

Have you met any Lao that speak French?  During the Vietnamese/American war, French linguists were needed to translate decrypted messages between the Vietnamese and Lao government/military.  The same thing with Cambodia communications between Laos and Vietnam.  It was the lingua franca of Southeast Asia, with Thailand being the exception.