How Big How Far?

[sukanyacondo]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

[lazeeboy]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

you're not alone ,just today in tesco's i saw what looked like a chocolate moose ,ask the girl what it was ,i didnt understand so i asked the other half ,2 minutes later said its chocolate ,i said i know that but whats in it ,in a huff she walked off ,still dont know what it was but it looked good .........

[WaiWai]

It's more likely to have been a buffalo than a moose .

[sukanyacondo]

Ha ha ha ha glad Im n ot the only one who's wife/gf gets in a huff!! Did she not say "you speakThai how good?" In a sarcastic way??

I just wondered if the measuring thing was more widespread, another example was I went to a glass cutting shop and i wanted 2 pieces of glass 315mm by 254mm by 4 mm thick. Oh my god did that cause a problem for them they couldnt understand why I didnt put 31.5cm and 25.4 cm and although I could easily see what they wanted to do to understand me they were bewildered by my use of mm instead of cm. This is ok but when i want 4mm thick I would have to put 0.4cm.

Always interesting

[meemiathai]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

you're not alone ,just today in tesco's i saw what looked like a chocolate moose ,ask the girl what it was ,i didnt understand so i asked the other half ,2 minutes later said its chocolate ,i said i know that but whats in it ,in a huff she walked off ,still dont know what it was but it looked good .........

It means your other half did not understand it either and was not comfortable enough to tell you straight that she didn't so OR she did not know how to explain it to you.

[sukanyacondo]

It's more likely to have been a buffalo than a moose .

Guffaw but the problem remains would it just be "big" or "small" moose?? Mousse

[meemiathai]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

In terms of what were you expecting the answers to be? Like how many minutes or how many kms? You could have state it in your question maybe the answers would have been different?

[sukanyacondo]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

In terms of what were you expecting the answers to be? Like how many minutes or how many kms? You could have state it in your question maybe the answers would have been different?

I have already said this in my post.

"Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same."

[KireB]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

Seen from the moon, everything is as tall, big, heavy or far!

[WaiWai]

Tres amoussante ...

OK; more seriously, this is a classic example of an exchange between someone from a high-context culture & someone from a low-context culture. If you want to learn more about that, do a search on Edward T. Hall.

(Forgive me if I seem to mention this on about a daily basis but this concept been an extremely enlightening one for me.)

Edited August 19, 2007 by WaiWai

[Zeid]

how about when you ask how much is something they go "1000 up" how much does up reach ? 1000000000000

i now taught the wife the limits and max and min, and it is great now.

[sukanyacondo]

Tres amoussante ...

OK; more seriously, this is a classic example of an exchange between someone from a high-context culture & someone from a low-context culture. If you want to learn more about that, do a search on Edward T. Hall.

(Forgive me if I seem to mention this on about a daily basis but this concept been an extremely enlightening one for me.)

I do find this very interesting but i can see many problems with this way of thinking that its either near or far. I sometimes think my wife does not have any understanding of any measurement scale and put it down to this.

I like the "1000 up" analogy too. Mind you we could say in the Uk "how much are these" and the reply could easily be "£20 and upwards"

[meemiathai]

The conversation usually goes like this when we are driving or walking somewhere (me) " dear how far to your sisters house" The reply is always either not far or far????? I have a problem with this as it tells me nothing at all especailly after "not far" was said an hour ago.

Anyone else get this??

Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same.

Today i asked her how big is that bag (internet webcam) she replied 28+36??????

I said inches or cm??? she said 28W+36H !!!!!!!!!!!

After about 1o minutes she sorted it out all good fun!!

I just wondered if Thailand has a different measuring system to the Uk ie Metres and Inches etc etc

In terms of what were you expecting the answers to be? Like how many minutes or how many kms? You could have state it in your question maybe the answers would have been different?

I have already said this in my post.

"Even if I say how long (time) or how many Kilometres she replies the same."

Would it be better to ask "how many kms is it to our destination" instead of "how far" and "how many minutes" instead of "how long"? There is a little difference. It stops her from choosing the easier answer. Does she speak perfect english?

[meemiathai]

Tres amoussante ...

OK; more seriously, this is a classic example of an exchange between someone from a high-context culture & someone from a low-context culture. If you want to learn more about that, do a search on Edward T. Hall.

(Forgive me if I seem to mention this on about a daily basis but this concept been an extremely enlightening one for me.)

I do find this very interesting but i can see many problems with this way of thinking that its either near or far. I sometimes think my wife does not have any understanding of any measurement scale and put it down to this.

I like the "1000 up" analogy too. Mind you we could say in the Uk "how much are these" and the reply could easily be "£20 and upwards"

I think, generally thais, especially thai women, they do not put in as much attention to the exact amount of kms or time(mins/hrs) when they are going to a place. Therefore if you ask them, they will just roughly answer your question. They don't really see the importance of it.

Edited August 19, 2007 by meemiathai

[dominique355]

Does anyone know what is the official measurement system in Thailand? Is Thailand metric?

OK, the street distances are in kilometers, but I tried to buy a mattress of 200 by 200 cm. OMG, impossible. Nobody knows what this is.

And when I ask my wife about the distance to destination, she answers: About 5 kilo. 5 kilo? Hello! For me 1 kilo is a weight. For her is a distance. Go figure.

And on a slightly different note, have you noticed this new unit of measurement, creeping even into the scientific community: The Footballfield.

Now I must confess, I have no idea about football, but what intrigues me mostly is that - as far as my limited knowledge goes - there is American football and there is European football, often also referred to as "soccer". Which of the two is meant? Or do they play on the same size of field? But most of all, how long and wide is a football field, I mean in meters?

In one of the lasted shows in Discovery Channel was now introduced the volume unit of "Olympic size swimming pool". Can someone enlighten me, how much is is, I mean in cubic meters or liters?

I am a poor, stupid European who has only learned the metric system, which is just easy enough for my simple mind. I always admired the US Americans for being able to deal with their complicated measurement system.

[WaiWai]

I do find this very interesting but i can see many problems with this way of thinking that its either near or far. I sometimes think my wife does not have any understanding of any measurement scale and put it down to this.

And she he probably thinks you are obsessed with numbers & tend to think too much .

After all, what does it really matter ?

(Yes, such aspects of knowing are not ones I could ever leave behind, or want to.)

We all have our particular Achilles heels when it comes to intercultural relations, though. Numbers & measurements may be yours. One of the greatest causes of annoyance for me is the "order of time" thing. I am not sure why, but people interrupting and over-riding conversations (e.g. when in a check-out queue ) is one of the things I have found most irritating. When I examine the "reasons", it is clear that "politeness" and "logic" & values connected to time are very culture-specific notions.

[bkkbill]

I've sure found out the hard way not to ask my wife to quantify anything. Once I got that figured out all was fine.

[Valjean]

Tres amoussante ...

OK; more seriously, this is a classic example of an exchange between someone from a high-context culture & someone from a low-context culture. If you want to learn more about that, do a search on Edward T. Hall.

(Forgive me if I seem to mention this on about a daily basis but this concept been an extremely enlightening one for me.)

Thank you for this. Did a quick search on Wikipedia and got a good summary: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_context_culture

It seems too often in this forum the posts about Thais and Thailand are so western-culture centric and just missing any sense that there may be a different way to look at experience. This concept provides a frame of reference to understand just how fundamentally different the points of view can be. And even if one strives to understand and see a different view we are still so blind.

"We don't know who discovered water but we know it wasn't a fish"

[duratanium]

Ha ha ha ha glad Im n ot the only one who's wife/gf gets in a huff!! Did she not say "you speakThai how good?" In a sarcastic way??

I just wondered if the measuring thing was more widespread, another example was I went to a glass cutting shop and i wanted 2 pieces of glass 315mm by 254mm by 4 mm thick. Oh my god did that cause a problem for them they couldnt understand why I didnt put 31.5cm and 25.4 cm and although I could easily see what they wanted to do to understand me they were bewildered by my use of mm instead of cm. This is ok but when i want 4mm thick I would have to put 0.4cm.

Always interesting

Love it when I get that

On how far... we were going to buy a fountain. I asked how far and she said abt 50 kilometres there. After 50 klicks I asked how much further.

'Not far'.

120 kilometres after setting off we arrived at our destination!!!

As for sizes it is all in inches and usually pretty accurate on that but distance... oh boy!! Deffo a full tank of gas to go further than the local market

Edited August 19, 2007 by duratanium

[sukanyacondo]

I do find this very interesting but i can see many problems with this way of thinking that its either near or far. I sometimes think my wife does not have any understanding of any measurement scale and put it down to this.

And she he probably thinks you are obsessed with numbers & tend to think too much .

After all, what does it really matter ?

(Yes, such aspects of knowing are not ones I could ever leave behind, or want to.)

We all have our particular Achilles heels when it comes to intercultural relations, though. Numbers & measurements may be yours. One of the greatest causes of annoyance for me is the "order of time" thing. I am not sure why, but people interrupting and over-riding conversations (e.g. when in a check-out queue ) is one of the things I have found most irritating. When I examine the "reasons", it is clear that "politeness" and "logic" & values connected to time are very culture-specific notions.

what does it matter??? Ok so you're driving to one of her friends house and she says not far but what she really means is 100km but you dont know beacsue her idea of far and mine are different. The w e run out of petrol (gas) Then what???? But then again I do find that some Thais only react when the problem is in their face, if its not going to arrive for a day or two they ignore it until they have no choice by which time its a mess to sort out.

Teaching my wife to drive has been interesting especially the "reading the road ahead"