His Majesty The King Wants Thai Language To Be Promoted

[george]

HM wants Thai language to be promoted

BANGKOK: -- His Majesty the King asked the heads of Thai diplomatic missions yesterday to help promote use of the Thai language among Thais abroad.

In his speech to ambassadors, consul-generals and senior Foreign Ministry officials gathering for an annual Royal audience at Dusidalai Throne Hall, His Majesty expressed concern over the fact that some Thai citizens in foreign countries could not speak Thai after leaving their homeland for just a short time.

"You diplomatic heads must feel uneasy to see that some Thais cannot speak Thai after leaving the country for just a short while. You must help them by making them proud of the Thai language, which has been in existence as part of Thai culture long before that of many other countries," he said.

Citing himself as an example, the King said at first he could hardly use the Thai language while spending his childhood overseas since he was five.

"When I was back to Thailand at the age of 11, my knowledge of Thai speaking was derived from what my mother taught me. She would only speak Thai to me. I started learning Thai writing and reading at 11 and I could master the written language at 18, while getting fluent in reading took longer," His Majesty said.

Remarking on how people should live a happy life on the occasion of his 80th birthday this year, the King said the key to their happiness is sufficiency. "Suffici-ency is happiness. When you feel sufficient, you feel happy. When you do not feel you have enough, you can't be happy. But sometimes sufficiency for different people is differently defined."

His Majesty said it had been almost a year since he talked publicly about the sufficiency economy, the modest living philosophy he once suggested, which has since become a guideline for government grassroots policies.

"Everyone has talked about sufficiency economy. Some have argued that only applying sufficiency economy is not enough but in fact it is enough if they know how to get sufficient. The problem is that they do not know how to be sufficient, not that the theory does not work," he said.

-- The Nation 2007-08-30

[davejonesbkk]

I was watching this speech on the news last night but my Thai is no-where need good enough to understand it all, is there anywhere I can read the speech translated into English?

[lazeeboy]

I was watching this speech on the news last night but my Thai is no-where need good enough to understand it all, is there anywhere I can read the speech translated into English?

i find it hard to believe thai's would forget how to speak thai in a short while , maybe small children ,my daughter ,born in thailand speaks both thai and english ,i find it hard to believe that if she left thailand she would forget.......

[cdnvic]

I've not noticed any of the expat Thais here in Canada having any problem with speaking their own language.

[astral]

It is a documented fact that a child who learns a language will lose the skill if they do not practice

beyond the age of 11.

However if the language is used beyond 11 it becomes locked in the system.

[Carmine6]

I've not noticed any of the expat Thais here in Canada having any problem with speaking their own language.

Definition of "short" may be the key. If he's using himself as an example and discussing a 6 year period overseas, that may be what he's thinking of.

In Los Angeles, most Thais speak Thai to each other, except that teenagers seem to tend toward English even in Thai Town. That's with a big Thai population so I can see Thais not getting so much practice if they're one of only a few in a given area.

I would love to be able to take Thai lessons somewhere near me. I've never been able to find a class though. Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, etc. available. No organized Thai lessons.

[Martin]

"....it is enough if they know how to get sufficient. The problem is that they do not know how to be sufficient, not that the theory does not work," he said."

As a greatgrandparent, I too find myself interested in what lifestyle my greatgrandchildren, and their contemporaries, will be able to have ten, twenty, thirty, forty years from now.

Clearly there will have to be a shift away from trying to keep consumerism and GDPs revved up to their present state, since the exosomatics (what can be won from within the Earth) are now beginning to falter.

So what will be sustainable and sufficient? There is need for a lot of thinking and discussion so that the transition isn't even more painful and messy than it it has to be.

One problem with the word "Sufficiency" is that it brings to mind the self-sufficiency of agrarian communities in past times, and the idea that it means 'going back' to pre-industrial lifestyles. But that won't be so. Nothing will be uninvented.

There will still be the Internet,electricity, flying, road transport, trains and manufacturing.

What will change will be their affordability. They will have to be (because they will only be able to be afforded to be) used thriftily and frugally.

I hope the youngsters start working out how to 'cut their coat according to their cloth' soon.

That seems to require that the oldest generation start speaking out.

The younger generations are, understandably, mostly concerned with understanding the immediate past so that they can compete in the present.

But the immediate past has been been a period (and the only one that Earth will ever see) of ever-increasing consumption. So it is no guide to what to do during a period of reducing consumption. There needs to be a lot of studying of what will be feasible, and what won't be feasible, over the coming decades.

They will live in interesting times.

[Tony Clifton]

I was watching this speech on the news last night but my Thai is no-where need good enough to understand it all, is there anywhere I can read the speech translated into English?

i find it hard to believe thai's would forget how to speak thai in a short while , maybe small children ,my daughter ,born in thailand speaks both thai and english ,i find it hard to believe that if she left thailand she would forget.......

Their not forgetting Thai, it's slowly morphing into something that sounds "real cheap", according to my wife. She's actually horrified of the way children speak and act in the park near our house and wants our child to stay away from that at all cost.

From "yee sip" to "yip" :

"Yip baaaaht"

"20 baht?"

"Heuuu!"

Look at the whole rapper influence in many places throughout the world. How many of their parents can even understand what the kids are saying when their kids are talking to their friends along with the monkey-like gestures that usually follow? What about these guy's kids? It only takes one generation and a strong cultural influence, be it good or bad. Contrary to the good influence, the bad one spreads on it's own.

[LookSaMoon]

Teenager nowaday if not speak Thai with farang accent, they will speak Thai mix English or speak like down syndrome ppl.

[Tywais]

From "yee sip" to "yip" :

"Yip baaaaht"

"20 baht?"

"Heuuu!"

That usage has been around for a very long time and may be regional. Heard it used regularly by all ages when I was here over 35 years ago in the Sattihip/Rayong area. Also expanding it, the term 'yip et' meaning 21, etc. So not really a new change in language usage.

[DurianChips]

I was watching this speech on the news last night but my Thai is no-where need good enough to understand it all, is there anywhere I can read the speech translated into English?

i find it hard to believe thai's would forget how to speak thai in a short while , maybe small children ,my daughter ,born in thailand speaks both thai and english ,i find it hard to believe that if she left thailand she would forget.......

Sometimes it's not that they forget the Thai language; it's that they "forget" the Thai language. My wife had a friend here in the US who, after being here 6 months, announced that, since he only speaks English, he had forgotten Thai. I think he thought it made him seem cool. To us, of course, it looked ridiculous, because his English still wasn't that good, so if we were to take him at his word, it would mean he no longer had mastery of any language!

[astral]

What we speak is a personal decision.

When I married my Thai wife 10 years ago I spoke Thai as the norm.

I regret that decision.

I should have spoke English and let my wife speak Thai

We would all have benefited, especially her children......................

[Jersey_UK]

I suspect that some folk in Thailand do struggle with the concept that any Thai would be quite happy to leave Thailand behind.

For some Thais surely not that much different an experiance / motivation from the European "huddled masses" from a Century or so ago heading accross the pond.............only too happy to leave and "move on".

[sbk]

From "yee sip" to "yip" :

"Yip baaaaht"

"20 baht?"

"Heuuu!"

That usage has been around for a very long time and may be regional. Heard it used regularly by all ages when I was here over 35 years ago in the Sattihip/Rayong area. Also expanding it, the term 'yip et' meaning 21, etc. So not really a new change in language usage.

Widely practiced in the upper and middle south and, AFAIK, considered Southern dialect.

[OxfordWill]

There is also an article in todays Nation on this speech, I found it interesting how the King concentrated on this idea of the civilised country being attained via the heritage of language.

[Suszzy]

it's impossible that people will forget how to speak their own language!!

no matter how long you've been away from home.

i beleive you will not forget your mother tongue.

ok, sometimes you can't think quick enough in your language but..

to say you forget how to speak..its very unlikely

[Yooyung]

I can just imagine it now. Uncle Somchai is holidaying with his family in Australia for a few months. One morning his wife asks him......

"Hiew kow mai?"

It is greeted by a blank bovine stare.

"What was that ?" he asks looking at his wife like she speaking in some alien tongue.

"Khun poot passa thai dai mai?" she retorts angrily.

There is a sudden realisation.

"Aw loom laew" he says while reaching for a copying of the 'weekend Australian'

A tad ridiculous.

[Bagwan]

I suspect that some folk in Thailand do struggle with the concept that any Thai would be quite happy to leave Thailand behind.

For some Thais surely not that much different an experience / motivation from the European "huddled masses" from a Century or so ago heading across the pond.............only too happy to leave and "move on".

A century ago? Brits are queuing up to leave the UK now that immigration has become de facto colonisation.

[Dakhar]

promote Thai language.... yes, it would be better if the rest of the world learned Thai, in order to prepare for the next exonomic super power house....

[TAWP]

Well, atleast Thailand IS the hub of thais.

[TexasRanger]

I find it hard to believe they forget their language, they probably choose not to speak it, I mean, if you live in a country then you generally speak the language of that country. Maybe they are trying to distance themselves from the stigma attached to being a Thai, let's face it, their global reputation isn't the best in the world and is getting worse as time goes on.

[Carmine6]

snip

Maybe they are trying to distance themselves from the stigma attached to being a Thai, let's face it, their global reputation isn't the best in the world and is getting worse as time goes on.

Don't know where you're taking your polls, but I've found the opposite to be true. Lots of Thais in Los Angeles, so maybe that's the difference.

[Jersey_UK]

Maybe they are trying to distance themselves from the stigma attached to being a Thai, let's face it, their global reputation isn't the best in the world and is getting worse as time goes on.

[LindsayBKK]

Well I don't think Thais that leave Thailand to live in other countries will forget their language but maybe their kids will.

[Hampstead]

i am sure thai people around the world would love to keep a greater knowledge of thai language and culture but maybe more importantly on their minds are working hard for their famalies future in whatever country they are living, leaving little time to spend worrying about increasing their language skills. and why are people stating that thai's are losing their language skills, where are the facts to these statements

maybe as a monarchy its a little different, as he or she have access to specialised tutors who can spend time tutoring a child in the finer arts of thai language and customs, but being a monarchy presents benefits that the average thai can never possess

whats more interesting about this speach is why now? isnt their more apt subjects to speak about, which have greater importance in thai people's lives

and the last 3 paragraphs state the words sufficient or sufficiency 8 times, do people really need that many seeds planted in their minds?

[thaigene2]

I'm afraid if you haven't begun to tie these things together that's happening right now relating to foreigners in thailand (like visas, retirements, no access to thai loans, etc, etc,) and how this WILL affect you directly (and I don't care how many millions you have - you too pal will figure into this), then you may figure all this out just a little bit too late.

Sufficiently late by the way..

[thaigene2]

Well, atleast Thailand IS the hub of thais.

Yes absolutely correct. And since you're not Thai you'll soon need to kiss your family goodbye (assuming they are thai and you are not), or take them with you - which seems to be where this is all heading...don't get too comfortable here is my only advice..

[Hampstead]

thaigene2

no one is too late to see whats going on

my previous post was merely a sarcastic attempt to indirectly speak on this subject which affords itself so much stigma, it was an attempt to highlight the farcical propaganda being pursued by certain elements of thai society.

if you know anything of sales techniques, then surely you will know how to plant seeds into people's minds by using words on multiple occasions, as was the case in the use of sufficient and sufficiency being spoken of 8 times in 3 paragraphs.

Edited September 1, 2007 by Hampstead

[rainman]

My wife asked me last week (and I told her) how to say a word in Thai while we were driving somewhere in a taxi. She could remember it in English, but not Thai. You should have seen the face of the taxi driver

[sonnyJ]

From "yee sip" to "yip" :

"Yip baaaaht"

"20 baht?"

"Heuuu!"

That usage has been around for a very long time and may be regional. Heard it used regularly by all ages when I was here over 35 years ago in the Sattihip/Rayong area. Also expanding it, the term 'yip et' meaning 21, etc. So not really a new change in language usage.

Widely practiced in the upper and middle south and, AFAIK, considered Southern dialect.

What's all the fuzz about???? Yip is as rare as kap without proper r, everywhere in Bangkok. It's just convenient.

I still don't get the HEUUU part,, maybe you are trying to say hiaa?? Just cannot connect it to this topic