Hallooor . . .hallooor . . .

[simon43]

I'm a peaceful sort of guy

But there is one thing that sends me into a blind fit of rage...

That's when a Thai person telephones me and insists on chanting 'halloor, halloor, halloor' until I put the phone down on them....

When they call I answer 'hallo' or 'sawadee krap;

they say 'halloor'

I say 'Hallo, yes?' or 'sawadee' again or 'dy yin mai?' or whatever..

they say 'halloor'

now I'm getting a litle impatient 'Hallo, yes, hallooooooooooo'

they say 'halloor'

I put the phone down on them.

What are they waiting for me to say? Is there a hidden phrase that I need to use to encourage them to say something else? (I can think of a few choice phrases, but when I've used them before it hasn't worked!)

Simon

[zorro1]

'halloor' 'halloor'.....

[bsided69]

I'm a peaceful sort of guy

But there is one thing that sends me into a blind fit of rage...

That's when a Thai person telephones me and insists on chanting 'halloor, halloor, halloor' until I put the phone down on them....

When they call I answer 'hallo' or 'sawadee krap;

they say 'halloor'

I say 'Hallo, yes?' or 'sawadee' again or 'dy yin mai?' or whatever..

they say 'halloor'

now I'm getting a litle impatient 'Hallo, yes, hallooooooooooo'

they say 'halloor'

I put the phone down on them.

What are they waiting for me to say? Is there a hidden phrase that I need to use to encourage them to say something else? (I can think of a few choice phrases, but when I've used them before it hasn't worked!)

Simon

Just say hello once and then stay quiet. See how many times they say " halloor" before they get confused and put the phone down. I managed to get to 5 halloors once. Just before she put down the phone I am sure I heard a fuse blow?

[RueFang]

This is so going to turn into a everything I hate about Thailand thread. "Halloor" is obviously taken from the English language as a short form for answering the phone. Every Thai says it, it's not just them doing it to p off the stupid farang on the other end. Perhaps they can't hear you? Perhaps they can't understand your poor Thai accent? Just some suggestions.

[zorro1]

You will find that if you stop taking numbers at beer gardens and go go bars this problem will eventually subside. How are these people that you don't know getting your number?

Edited March 11, 2008 by zorro1

[kiakaha]

I'm a peaceful sort of guy

But there is one thing that sends me into a blind fit of rage...

That's when a Thai person telephones me and insists on chanting 'halloor, halloor, halloor' until I put the phone down on them....

When they call I answer 'hallo' or 'sawadee krap;

they say 'halloor'

I say 'Hallo, yes?' or 'sawadee' again or 'dy yin mai?' or whatever..

they say 'halloor'

now I'm getting a litle impatient 'Hallo, yes, hallooooooooooo'

they say 'halloor'

I put the phone down on them.

What are they waiting for me to say? Is there a hidden phrase that I need to use to encourage them to say something else? (I can think of a few choice phrases, but when I've used them before it hasn't worked!)

Simon

Just reply with the standard sound that makes up 75 % of thai conversations...err err err err err

[TheDon]

Rip the phone out of the wall, that usually will solve that problem, you may have other problems then but atleast it solves the one problem you really hate.

[Jockstar]

Have to agree with the Op. This used to piss me off also. Or even when your Thai is not great like mine. You reply in English then they start speaking again in Thai. You say i dont uderstand in Thai and they still blab on. I just hang up.

Or they then call back, just to check they dialed the right or WRONG number.

[zorro1]

Rip the phone out of the wall, that usually will solve that problem, you may have other problems then but atleast it solves the one problem you really hate.

[Aries74]

This is so going to turn into a everything I hate about Thailand thread. "Halloor" is obviously taken from the English language as a short form for answering the phone. Every Thai says it, it's not just them doing it to p off the stupid farang on the other end. Perhaps they can't hear you? Perhaps they can't understand your poor Thai accent? Just some suggestions.

Sometime my parents would ask the caller, who do want to speak to.

tông gaan poot gap krai - krup/ka

[simon43]

The point is that I already speak good Thai and when I 'persuade' Thai callers to actually speak with me, we have no problems conversing....

The typical caller is maybe a Thai business returning my initial enquiry call.

Simon

[richard_smith237]

This has also driven me insane – especially after a particularly early in the morning after heavy evening the night before.

I have turned my landline on silent due to so many businesses cold calling.

I have lost all patience with the hallooor halloooers….

When someone I don’t recognize on the caller I’d says halloor, the second halloor is they get before I’ve hung up.

If its any of my friends I can see their caller ID, Thai or Wester, its usually hi there, hey, waddee etc etc and

If it’s a company, they ask for me by name… if its only hallooor, then whoever it is has no business calling me and its clearly a wrong number *(past experience has shown this to be 99% true)…

I never have this problem with incoming international calls (*from bangks etc) – I don’t know why it happens here, but I suspect a lack of phone protocol instilled by businesses.

[Globeliner]

"Hey you" has to be the most annoying

[Aries74]

Don't pick up the phone and get an answering machine.

If it's important they will leave a message.

Now when I think of it they might leave the message as hallooor hallooor.

Get a new number.

Another thing is that they could use the computer to dial your number.

[AlexLah]

Pick up the phone and say who is speaking (your name).

In my case many times they ask for Khun Somjod or something like that.

No have, I reply.

Sorry wrong number, click.

Is that so difficult?

[Oleg_Rus]

another question, even worse "tinay?" (where is it? or where the %^* I just called ?) - The best answer is "hong nam" - makes me laugh, and really stupid.

"American Embassy" works great as well.

PS - lame, right ?

[MarkBKK]

I'm a peaceful sort of guy

But there is one thing that sends me into a blind fit of rage...

That's when a Thai person telephones me and insists on chanting 'halloor, halloor, halloor' until I put the phone down on them....

When they call I answer 'hallo' or 'sawadee krap;

they say 'halloor'

I say 'Hallo, yes?' or 'sawadee' again or 'dy yin mai?' or whatever..

they say 'halloor'

now I'm getting a litle impatient 'Hallo, yes, hallooooooooooo'

they say 'halloor'

I put the phone down on them.

What are they waiting for me to say? Is there a hidden phrase that I need to use to encourage them to say something else? (I can think of a few choice phrases, but when I've used them before it hasn't worked!)

Simon

Yes, you're so right, it's bloody annoying, isn't it. Every time it happens to me I end up very annoyed and very dissapointed that I simply can't learn to speak the langauge well enough to make myself understood all (or even very much) of the time. And everyone is right, if I don't like it I should leave. In fact, I'm packing my bags now.

[ashacat]

Yes, this is really annoying!! I speak Thai and it doesn't really help to stop the barrage of "Han-lorrrrrrrr's"

[BigSnake]

Relax they could say worse things, they just can't speak english give them a break learn a little Thai, after all we are guests here.

[cmsally]

Normally it's someone with no phone protocol.

Cut in after first Hallo and ask who they want to speak to; if they don't know, tell them to go away and think about it and call later.

Should work.

[kiakaha]

You could always try this :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8

[pop_corn]

Im not very patient with tha either, so I started to answer my phone in a very not friendly tone and saying "WHAAAT"

then no one have continued saying "halloor"

[AlexLah]

Yo OP,

Get a life mate.

Learn some Thai and culture.

[george]

another question, even worse "tinay?" (where is it? or where the %^* I just called ?) - The best answer is "hong nam" - makes me laugh, and really stupid.

The best answer is "Tee nee"

"American Embassy" works great as well.

LOL

[xsplat]

I'm sure someone will accuse me of trolling, but it seems to me that Thais aren't so good at processing unexpected information, and they tend to freeze. Deer In Night Lights DINT eyes. Nothing moves in the head, so they go back to the beginning and try again. Unexpected answers can not be easily processed, and you have to repeat yourself. And novelty doesn't work so well, in any situation. Ask for something slightly different from the menu, speak Thai and have a Farang face, etc, etc, it's been said a million times.

[JetsetBkk]

How are these people that you don't know getting your number?

Wrong numbers, that's how.

I dialed a wrong number on Mother's Day. A lady answered and said "Hello?". So I said "Hello Mum, happy mother's day!". She said "Oh, thank you very much. Who are you?". So I said "It's me, Jetset in Thailand". [Yes, even my mum calls me 'Jetset']. She said "But I don't know any 'Jetset'". So I said "Is this "013........" and she said "Yes, it is". So I said "But that's my mum's number". And she said "No, it's mine."

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I'd written one digit down wrong on the number I'd stuck next to the land-line phone.

But a really enjoyable wrong number - we were both laughing our heads off by the time I said "Cheerio".

[Gravelrash]

This is so going to turn into a everything I hate about Thailand thread. "Halloor" is obviously taken from the English language as a short form for answering the phone. Every Thai says it, it's not just them doing it to p off the stupid farang on the other end. Perhaps they can't hear you? Perhaps they can't understand your poor Thai accent? Just some suggestions.

You are right of course, a very insightful, balanced and considered reply. I saw it too, there was a wave of anti-halooor building up here that needed to be hit on the head. I say if they don't like haloor then go home!

[pop_corn]

You could always try this :

http://youtube.com/watch?v=un_PjRXV5l8

Its great! u made my day!

[sbk]

A simple "Who are you calling" after the first hallor usually does the trick for me. Lowers my blood pressure, and keeps me from blowing a gasket. You should try it, it will reduce your stress levels

[dantilley]

Just reply with the standard sound that makes up 75 % of thai conversations...err err err err err

Yes, very true!