Speaking Thai - is it necessary these days for an expat ?

[ABCDBKK]

2 hours ago, bob smith said:

…as you all know my Thai is very good.

 

It has been my experience that the vast majority of locals do not like it when a farang can speak thai, especially in the tourist ghettos. 

 

They see it as the farang knows too much and thus cannot be taken advantage of. If I had my time again, I would not have devoted so much time and effort to learning a language that the locals don’t like me speaking.

 

my advice is just to give em English - lord knows they need it!

 

bob.

OMG, here we go again, bobby-the-man-getter has been thrown out of bars, restaurants, gyms, baht busses, short time hotels, doctor's offices, car wrecks, and just about everywhere else in Thailand for speaking his version of Thai and now he's claiming his Thai is very good. Lol, you can't make this sh*t up, can you?
 

Speaking Thai has given most foreigners the ability to open more doors to communication in Thailand. Thinking that speaking Thai is a bad thing is normally reserved for the people who don't speak it clearly enough to where it results in cohesive dialogue and/or they speak it impolitely.  
 

Meanwhile, bung-boy-bobby goes out on tranny patrol in Soi 6/1 and thinks being able to ask the price of short time, long time, and a reach around in Thai constitutes speaking good Thai. 🤦🏻‍♂️😂
 

Edited April 8 by ABCDBKK

[Gecko123]

2 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

Scottie, please stop posting sad emojis all over my posts, serial sad emojis is against the rules, it's a sign of not being able to debate and it's not nice.

Mike...You're not debating, you're deflecting.

[Mike Lister]

Just now, Gecko123 said:

Mike...You're not debating, you're deflecting.

No, I'm leaving altogether, byee!

[Denim]

It's a dangerous thing if it goes off half cock.

 

You can end up sounding like that <deleted> ' talk Thai with Paddy '  and other similat vloggers who think they are in Einsteins league because they speak some Thai.

[Celsius]

when in Thailand I speak Roman.

[transam]

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

I initially actually thought at first that @Mike Lister was just being sarcastic at @bob smith expense!

But as the hole is being dug deeper I wonder how, if true, this miracle of AN communication was accomplished!

 

PS; why, if true, is this simultaneous bi-lingual bi-vocal communication channel being kept secret from other AN members?

You will have to ask Bob, when he shows up....Ya never know, though it is personal, should let it go...........🤗

[scottiejohn]

Just now, Celsius said:

when in Thailand I speak Roman.

VVVVV

[Goat]

5 hours ago, Yagoda said:

I can and do make my inability to speak

Good luck with that.

[Ratel Snake]

Speaking Thai is useless unless you intend to marry a bargirl and become the beta provider of an Isaan family.

 

Educated Thai people speak english. They are the only ones that might bring some added value to your life.

 

Nowadays I would recommend people who want to interact with Thais to invest in a solid translation device such as Timekettle.

 

Allocate your time wisely.

[transam]

4 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Given that Bob's English has never been very erudite do you think we should communicate in Thai and get  @Mike Lister to translate when we have a problem? 

I dunno...........😂

 

[transam]

Just now, Ratel Snake said:

Speaking Thai is useless unless you intend to marry a bargirl and become the beta provider of an Isaan family.

 

Educated Thai people speak english. They are the only ones that might bring some added value to your life.

 

Nowadays I would recommend people who want to interact with Thais to invest in a solid translation device such as Timekettle.

 

Allocate your time wisely.

How informative..........

[Ratel Snake]

Just now, transam said:

How informative..........

 

I know. Watch and learn.

[transam]

1 minute ago, Ratel Snake said:

 

I know. Watch and learn.

From a newbie, or born again member, I don't think so.............😂

[Ralf001]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

 

But do expats in the city really need to speak Thai? In international companies people speak English.

 

As I posted earlier, I do not but.... It does help in meetings discussing technical stuff with other departments at my work because sometimes they do not know the English words and revert to Thai.

 

Iam happy for them to host meetings in Thai however when asked a question I answer in English.

[Mark Nothing]

I removed all ability to speak and write thai language from my brain decades ago.  Remember, if you can understand it, you have to listen to it being spoken everywhere you go.  No, they are not talking about you.  They couldn't care less about a foreigner.

 

I ignore all thai language spoken to me and don't respond and do not ever speak it.  But always politely.  Life here is much better this way.

[CharlieH]

Off topic posts removed

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, transam said:

From a newbie, or born again member, I don't think so.............😂

I wonder how long before we find out if our previous exchange was/is correct!

[atpeace]

3 hours ago, Kimshaka said:

I do not want to talk to my fellow countrymen why do I want to talk to anyone here?  Not everyone is talkative.  My spouse and I are fine together.  But living in a place where there are three different languages being spoken it is quite hard to pick up one dialect.  I do watch my mates who speak it quite fluently and most Thai's are put off by it.  

Why would they be put off by it?   I think you are just seeing the situation through a distorted perspective.  I have known many x-pats that speak fluent Thai and get along with the locals great.  I also live in a three language area and have no clue how picking Thai as the chosen dialect would be an issue as you seem to think it would be.

 

Just be honest. You probably don't have the mental energy to pick up Thai.  You are satisfied with your probably  mundane life in the sticks and hence create a story that works for you.  It is far from reality though...

[Acharn]

7 hours ago, Goat said:

It is the ones who can not speak and read who are always in a state of frustration.

It is like living the life of an illiterate, deaf mute. 

 

And frustrating for the poor locals who bear the the brunt of this frustration with the the farang pulling faces an using hand signals, often using singlular Thai words and thinking that the Thai is the stupid one for not being able to understand the mess.

 

In Australia we make immigrants speak english, we should do it here also.

Thai nouns don't have a plural form, and Thai verbs don't have tenses. Thai grammar is actually pretty simple.

[Wobblybob]

 Don't think for one minute that speaking Thai is necessary, however it is a respectful and polite thing to do and the Thais are mostly very appreciative of foreigners that attempt to speak Thai.

[atpeace]

2 minutes ago, Acharn said:

Thai nouns don't have a plural form, and Thai verbs don't have tenses. Thai grammar is actually pretty simple.

Remember thinking this 27 years ago after arriving here to tour Thailand on a pedal bike.  Just finished up with doing 6 months in Mexico and struggling with the complexities of Spanish.  I was completely wrong! 27 years later (20 spent hear), I speak less Thai than the Spanish I learned in a few months.

 

Can you hear the different tones?  How does a person that is tone deaf learn Thai?

[GreasyFingers]

7 hours ago, Goat said:

In Australia we make immigrants speak english, we should do it here also.

Even if it is a Scottish accent that no one can understand. You are making a goat of yourself..

[atpeace]

2 hours ago, KannikaP said:

  3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

As for my partner, everything a woman says is to manipulate and extort money. Best not to be too chatty with them.

You sad 4..k!

A sad 4..K but at least he has a  good sense of humor without that he would be quite pathetic. Looks like karma has been hard on him the last year so probably deserves the right to be grumpy.

[brewsterbudgen]

7 hours ago, Goat said:

It is the ones who can not speak and read who are always in a state of frustration.

It is like living the life of an illiterate, deaf mute. 

 

And frustrating for the poor locals who bear the the brunt of this frustration with the the farang pulling faces an using hand signals, often using singlular Thai words and thinking that the Thai is the stupid one for not being able to understand the mess.

 

In Australia we make immigrants speak english, we should do it here also.

 

If you want Thai citizenship/Permanent Residence  you have to pass a Thai language test.  Most expats are on 'Non-immigrant' extensions which are only issued for a year at a time.  It's very easy to live in most areas with only a very rudimentary ability to speak, read or write Thai.  Thankfully!

[SpaceKadet]

I think it's the environment you're you're in that let's you be more fluent in the local language, or not.

 

I spent over 30 years of my life in the Middle East, on and off, but because everybody in the company I was working for spoke fluent English, and the fact that all merchants you had to deal with also spoke fluent English makes you less prone to have a need to pick up a local lingo.

In retrospect, I wish I had more that just very basic knowledge of Arabic. Would perhaps make it easier in those few tight spots I found myself in.

 

The same goes for Thailand. Wife speaks fluent English, her family doesn't, but we don't socialize that much. I don't socialize at all with other Thais, apart from the necessary interactions like hospitals and merchant interaction where I can use my limited Thai. If I was living alone, perhaps in a larger city I would have no choice but to pick up more Thai. 

 

Don't socialize with western expats either. What I have seen, they like to group together in their little social expat ghettos, and have no need to learn local language.

 

[MangoKorat]

8 hours ago, The Cobra said:

Can you speak Thai beyond the basics ? is it really needed and do you even care ? Just wondered what your take is on speaking Thai ?

I'd say I'm above basic and can speak enough to get most things in life done.  However, many of those who think they can speak Thai, fall down when it comes to conversation - I'm one of them

 

If you are not married or don't have a Thai partner, I think its essential. Lazily, I relied on my wife to get things done when I was married and I realised just what a handicap not being able to speak Thai was when I divorced.  I'm improving and will continue to do so but I think converstaional Thai is going to take some time.

 

On the subject of converastional Thai, I learned one thing recently - we worry too much about using the correct tone.  If you listen to Thai's in conversation with each other you will soon realise that they rely on the context of what's being said far more than the correct tone.

 

I'm told I will learn to speak Thai much faster if I also learn to read and write Thai.  Judging by the intricacy of some Thai characters, that seems hard to believe but the guy who told me that is fluent in both speech, and written Thai. Thai friends say if they didn't know he was foreign, they would think he was Thai so I guess its better to try his advice.

[MangoKorat]

2 hours ago, Ratel Snake said:

Speaking Thai is useless unless you intend to marry a bargirl and become the beta provider of an Isaan family.

You think so? 

 

I recommend you try registering a vehicle in your name and getting new plates for it at Korat Land Transport office or dealing with matters relatinng to your home at the local Amphur. Then come back and say speaking Thai is useless.

[Ratel Snake]

2 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

You think so? 

 

I recommend you try registering a vehicle in your name and getting new plates for it at Korat Land Transport office or dealing with matters relatinng to your home at the local Amphur. Then come back and say speaking Thai is useless.

 

With a translation device ?

Any time, bro :)

[scottiejohn]

3 minutes ago, MangoKorat said:

You think so? 

 

I recommend you try registering a vehicle in your name and getting new plates for it at Korat Land Transport office or dealing with matters relatinng to your home at the local Amphur. Then come back and say speaking Thai is useless.

That is what the GF/Wife etc is for!

[MangoKorat]

1 minute ago, Ratel Snake said:

 

With a translation device ?

Any time, bro 🙂

Much easier to speak Thai and I'm yet to come across a translation service that doesn't translate at least part of a sentence into gobbldygook.