Are Thais taught basic arithmetic?

[Victor Laszlo]

Perhaps make sure you have the correct amount next time, save all that rigmarole. 

[1happykamper]

This Post article spells out the problem. Thailand IQ is actually becoming lower! 

 

https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/584201/low-iq-levels-a-wake-up-call-for-thailand

[ChipButty]

I'm certain they don't do mental arithmetic or times table, even at my ripe old age Im still pretty good I can work it out faster in my head than they can with a calculator, we have a local mom and pop shop in the soi and she is useless she just cannot add up, 

[ravip]

17 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Have a look in your home country, very likely the same.

Agree. Has happened to me in a couple of countries.

[fondue zoo]

10 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Some foreigners I know point-blank refuse to learn even basic Thai. I have no idea what that is supposed to achieve.

 

I only know the nouns for many foods and coupled with 10 fingers haven't starved yet.

Of course the locals think I'm mentally impaired, oh and.. fat, can't forget the fat.

 

[1FinickyOne]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

When I was in school, I remember being encouraged to use tricks and shortcuts (drop two zeros, add them at the end) and that made a huge difference for basic math. I taught my woman how to do that for currency conversion and she was shocked at how easy it was. She told me that kind of thing was not only not taught, but it was discouraged in school. 

 

Very dull and conventional teachers is perhaps one of the issues here. 

Not at the school my niece went to... like most things, it's individual. 

[ignis]

Many shops keep running out of 5 + 1 baht coins.. wonder why

 

You go buy something for 62 baht, give the cashier 102 baht = calculator = they leave the 2 baht on the counter and give you 38 baht change

 

They don't appear to notice that the 8 baht they just put on the counter + the 2 baht left on counter = 10 baht

[The Old Bull]

I went to buy a case of twelve UHT milk advertised at $25 per case but I noticed the price per item on the shelf was $1.76 so I asked the cashier to ring them through one at a time. She baulked saying the price per case was always cheaper so we were at a standoff till the manager showed up .After much head scratching and calculating he finally agreed and rang them through one at a time. Another one you have to look at is sugar sometimes two 500g bags are cheaper than 1 kilo. Justa couple of weeks ago I bought two 500ml whipping cream cheaper than a1 liter box.

[Ombra]

20 hours ago, marin said:

Its not just Thai's it is a generational thing. Back home in California last summer a lot of times the sellers had to use a calculator on something that is just wired into boomers heads. 

You are right. My mother was born in 1920 and died in 2004. When she went to a supermarket, she calculated the cost of items faster than the cashier and she had the exact amount of money in her hand when the cashier told her the total. It was normal with people of her generation. And she complained about younger people's failure to do the same.

[phetphet]

While there must be some good maths teachers here, the education level in some schools is severely lacking. Our twelve year old has had extra curricular maths lessons since she was six. Below is an example of what she is currently learning:

 

 

[Denim]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

I'm certain they don't do mental arithmetic or times table, even at my ripe old age Im still pretty good I can work it out faster in my head than they can with a calculator, we have a local mom and pop shop in the soi and she is useless she just cannot add up, 

 

My first Thai wife and step daughter were the same. They told me that at school the teacher would give them a list of numbers to write down , moving from left to right.  They then had to add them up as the moved along the line. They got lost.

 

I showed them how to add up and subtract using columns .  They were dumbfounded ! It was like magic.  They then spent an hour giving each other larger and larger numbers to add up and getting correct answers. They were really pleased with themselves and it really gave thir self confidence a boost.

 

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

As many have said, it is not only Thais, but they do seem to be more common in the 'lack of arithmetic' skills.

My Thai manager- lovely girl, intelligent but uneducated. (Left school at 14 - pregnant.)

We have to calculate electricity charges for guests. Simple maths.

Subtract meter reading one from meter reading two and multiply by unit cost.

 

12470 - 12119 =  351 x 10 = ???    and my manager went for the calculator.

I showed her how to add a zero.

 

When we do the calculation for customers, 95% foreigners, I have usually worked out the answer before they have found the calculator buttons on their phones.

They look at me in disbelief when they have found that my answer is correct.

 

It is most certainly a generational thing.

[herfiehandbag]

15 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Best way to learn quick maths is Darts ! They should play more darts at school. My wife is an ex teacher but her level of maths in her head is next to kindergarten levels

I used to have a friend whose party piece was scoring darts in Roman Numerals!

[pomchop]

20 hours ago, Negita43 said:

Alternate basic arithmatic for some

When charging 2+2 = 5

When giving change 2+2 = 3

😄

exact opposite of my experience of over 25 years around thailand.  I have found over and over at 7/11 etc when they make a mistake it is nearly always they give me too much change...and then when i point it out they seem confused as they don't know what to do or how to adust it on computer etc

 

....overcharge i am sure happens in some bars and a few places but as said not my experience.

[pomchop]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I'm certain they don't do mental arithmetic or times table, even at my ripe old age Im still pretty good I can work it out faster in my head than they can with a calculator, we have a local mom and pop shop in the soi and she is useless she just cannot add up, 

The owner of a usa company where I worked had an accounting degree from USA university.  We would often be in meetings where something math related would come up...he would always punch it into a calculator but i could normally figure it out as it was simple math in my head and give him the answer...he always seemed amazed and asked me how i did it?  an ACCOUNTING major....i used to think WOW are you kidding me?  And he went to school back when we all had to learn add subtract multipy divide without using a computer. 

 

Today i sort of get it that they seem to think why should i learn all that stuff when i can just let siri give me the answer.  Sad i think as i sort of enjoyed figuring suff out in my head.  Are computers making people more aware/smarter or dumber?

[Tropicalevo]

18 minutes ago, pomchop said:

Today i sort of get it that they seem to think why should i learn all that stuff when i can just let siri give me the answer.  Sad i think as i sort of enjoyed figuring suff out in my head.  Are computers making people more aware/smarter or dumber?

 

Totally agree. Mental arithmetic was my favourite subject at school.

And as you say, figuring stuff out in my head is fun, a challenge, and hopefully helps to slow down the dementia.

I do a lot of work on spreadsheets, and as my spreadsheet skills are only average, I check that I have done them correct by totalling in my head.

[NanLaew]

22 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Today, I paid my green fees at a golf course. The cost was 350 baht for 9 holes.

 

I gave the manager a 1000 baht note, and a 50 baht note. He looked confused, and tried to give me the 50 baht note back

 

He was using a calculator. He has said before he has a university degree.

 

It's not the first time I have encountered this. Some staff in 7/11 get it, some do not.

 

Is it the education system?

 

I have done the big note + small note cash payment method dozens of times in Big C, Makro, 7-eleven, car wash, the local market... many, many places. Despite this being a largely western habit, I have never yet had a confused cashier, or the handing back of the small note or any misunderstanding what I am trying to achieve by doing this.

 

Therefore, based on the OP's recent experience at the gold club, I somehow feel that I have been cheated out of a life-enriching, Thai monetary transactional experience.

 

Who should I complain to?

[NanLaew]

48 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

I used to have a friend whose party piece was scoring darts in Roman Numerals!

 

An ex-girlfriend of mine could write words, in cursive script, in reverse using either her left or right hand.

[Negita43]

49 minutes ago, pomchop said:

exact opposite of my experience of over 25 years around thailand

I didn't see the word Thai in my post (deliberately since it was meant to be a joke applicable anywhere in the world)

[totsakan]

According to western European standards:

- not being able to understand the language of the majority of the people around you.

- being alcoholic

- being sexist

- being racist

- being in relationship with prostitutes or low educated women you rent

- not being able to have a point of view based on facts but just details

- arguing like retards on forums

- trusting and manipulating groups (gurus, politicians, hate spreaders...)

These and many more symptoms are showing TOTAL EDUCATIONAL FAILURE from school, family, society...

 

The educational system here is not a failure, it's a choice for reasons that anybody not seen as a failure in his own country can understand.

Only those of us who can speak thai can have a point of view on how locals think or speak (it can get surrealist very often).

Spending some time inside local schools to observe how things work is very easy to do for anybody "white" and can also help to understand the situation.

Not being able to count, to plan tomorrow or... to believe in magical crap or low level scams like those you see in many western documentaries where very young women say they go to pattaya to "help their old parents" (who are 35) or not reacting to the hilarious crap you all laugh about in the news is obviously the "positive" consequences of choices...

Nothing secret or hidden, the thai government has no problem publishing information about the level of english going down for example.

Just pay a bunch of  real teachers and app developers and in 2 months you will have the whole country playing a game that will make them fluent in English within 3 years... Put up a similar game pushing people to think by themselves and...

Everything would change at every levels. It would be that easy.

Filipina teachers here had obviously more choices than the local  poor women with similar rural background and their level of education is just a little better but already made a huge difference.

Very poor mathematics is only 1 symptom.

 

[NoshowJones]

14 hours ago, sidjameson said:

I've heard there are foreigners in Thailand who after many years can't speak Thai either!!!! 

 

Was there no second language learning in their education system?

 If it wasn't for tones I would have been proficient in Thai language years ago. Second language?? If Thai was like a normal language, ie French, Spanish, German etc, etc, most farangs living in Thailand would probably be half decent at the language.

[totsakan]

6 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

 If it wasn't for tones I would have been proficient in Thai language years ago. Second language?? If Thai was like a normal language, ie French, Spanish, German etc, etc, most farangs living in Thailand would probably be half decent at the language.

EXCUSES ARE MADE TO BE USED...

I am tone deaf like most european people, it's not a problem at all to learn thai language, speak, understand and be understood in most situations. (sadly some people like some doctors are not often able to understand the need to adapt to a non native but in such case i use pedagogy and everything goes well).

[richard_smith237]

4 hours ago, Victor Laszlo said:

Perhaps make sure you have the correct amount next time, save all that rigmarole. 

 

Thats an outstanding idea...  Carry around the change for every eventuality - standby gormlessly counting it out perfectly..   then watch as the cashier does exactly the same - You do this right ?... carry perfect amounts of change to cover any and multiple purchases ?

 

The Ops situation is very normal: He attempted to made things simpler, but made it more confusing for the cashier who may not have had the strongest of educations - They are of course fearful of making a mistake so have it drummed into them to 'double check' everything with a calculator. 

 

One of the reasons paying by promptpay is just simpler and quicker for me.

[NoshowJones]

29 minutes ago, totsakan said:

EXCUSES ARE MADE TO BE USED...

I am tone deaf like most european people, it's not a problem at all to learn thai language, speak, understand and be understood in most situations. (sadly some people like some doctors are not often able to understand the need to adapt to a non native but in such case i use pedagogy and everything goes well).

When I first came to live in Thailand I went on a Thai language course in Bangkok for a month, I was learning the language, but my big drawback was understanding Thai people talking to me, it put me right off.

[marin]

57 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

If it wasn't for tones I would have been proficient in Thai language years ago. Second language?? If Thai was like a normal language, ie French, Spanish, German etc, etc, most farangs living in Thailand would probably be half decent at the language.

 

17 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

When I first came to live in Thailand I went on a Thai language course in Bangkok for a month, I was learning the language, but my big drawback was understanding Thai people talking to me, it put me right off.

You have got to be kidding me. Or maybe you are joking. Pure silliness. 

[totsakan]

6 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

When I first came to live in Thailand I went on a Thai language course in Bangkok for a month, I was learning the language, but my big drawback was understanding Thai people talking to me, it put me right off.

LAZY RETARD (sorry, that's what came first to my mind... nothing personal).

it sure take more than a month or a year to learn a foreign language... See yourself as lazy or thick or both and we'll have something to agree about

it's your choice if you want to live like a childor a mentally disable person by choosing not to be able to perform  very simple tasks like going to the post office, order food or ask for direction... Being dependent of a specialized educator or in many case here of a low educated woman is in no way something to be proud of. No pain, no gain

[pomchop]

How much time do you suppose the average farang who lives in thailand full time or say six months a year spends in actually studying thai vocabulary or attempting to learn at least a few hundred words?  It never ceases to amaze me how many farangs have been here for decades and would have trouble with counting to a hundred or knowing a few basic phrases like ...i understand, i do not understand, do you understand?  Yes it is  tough language but a very basic knowledge is really not that hard to learn but you do have to actually study it at least a bit.  And i have found the Thais to be very kind in trying their best to understand my Thai as much as i may mangle the tones etc.  It is actually fun for me to joke with them a bit about it all.

[BigStar]

21 hours ago, phetphet said:

Thais having calculators handy seems to be one of those things, but it does seem to also show a lack of ability in Maths.

 

Actually, they are very useful for communicating with and avoiding arguments w/ farang and other tourists.

[Walker88]

I think it's a problem not limited to Thais, but young people worldwide. Modern 'conveniences' have led to limited development of the brain, which ostensibly stops developing at age 25. Buy something for 40 units most anywhere, and give a 100 denomination note, and out come the calculators in Bangkok or Boston. Others have mentioned map reading....many young people couldn't find their way home without GPS. They fail to learn spatial skills or conceptualize the layout of their domain.

 

I've impressed the hell out of service staff by instantly telling them change, such as what I'm due for a 787 baht meal if I've handed the staffer a thousand baht. One is instantly Eye N Stine. Again, this is hardly limited to Thailand. I'm going to guess few of today's young people could do Feynman tricks for solving complex integrals in their head.

 

Another thing is many young people cannot read the time on the watch they are wearing as a fashion item. They do not know what the three hands...hour, minute, second...mean and how those relate to the numbers in a circle. They need to look at their phone, which say 13:26.

 

Many skills that helped the brain develop lots of connections are no longer being used. Most people do not even write long hand anymore, instead just typing or using their thumbs to touch a phone screen. Writing cursive script once helped the brain develop spatial orientation and coordinate hand movements. No more. This stuff doesn't just materialize on its own; it requires doing specific actions to generate neural connections.

 

 

[Lacessit]

2 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

 If it wasn't for tones I would have been proficient in Thai language years ago. Second language?? If Thai was like a normal language, ie French, Spanish, German etc, etc, most farangs living in Thailand would probably be half decent at the language.

Bear in mind all the Western languages are just as tough for Thais, because their language does not have combined consonants.

 

Another factor is the Thai alphabet, which is much more difficult to learn than the Greco-Roman.