How Do You Reply To Thai 's "hello" ?

[phetaroi]

The subject is certainly interesting enough to have a sensible conversation.

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit I always completely ignore Thai people unknown to me calling out "hello" when they see me.

Once I was with a group of Thai people at a big market in the middle of nowhere, somebody hello'ed me, and I gave him the usual non-treatment. Later he approached one of the Thai man in our group, and asked him if I was a farang at all (although I am tall and blond haired), because I didn't reply his hello. The guy said yes, he is a farang, but he is just not interested if people call out hello to him, it happens everywhere continuously.

Obviously the man thought farangs like it if people hello them, and no doubt many Thai people think like him.

I certainly was a bit ashamed when after ignoring a hello, the person walked up to me, and explained me in Thai that I knew him. Don't wanna be perceived as arrogant, but oh well, in the area where I live people who know me almost invariably greet me in Thai, and then I certainly respond, also when I don't remember who the person is.

I know the feeling. About five years ago I was shopping and suddenly realized a man was staring at me. I ignored him. But he came up and said, "I know you." I'm thinking, yeah, right, what scam is this? I said in a rather demeaning tone, "No, you don't know me." "You are Khun Vincent." Oops...indeed, it was a teacher I had known nearly 20 years before! A good lesson not to make too many assumptions.

[astral]

I have deleted a number of off topic posts.

[longstebe]

I like the women who sell bamboo on the side of the road and shout hello as I drive past at 60 on my motor-cy.

I always give them a wave.

I often think what do they think of us who only speak a little Thai.

I've never seen anyone get pissed off because I can't speak the lingo so well.

It's all good fun.

[sbk]

Please don't do that again, I always feel slightly retarded sitting here laughing at my computer screen

Kids are great entertainment, regardless of where you live. Just so long as you can hand them back at the end of the day

I remember, years ago, when my husband's nephew was about 7 or 8, his family had a little shop in their house. The power had gone out, so I went in, in the dark, to buy matches. He was sitting on the floor and shouted out "Hello!". So, I turned around and said "Hello!" back to him. He then said, "oh, its not a farang, its my AhNa (auntie Na) "

Gotta say, we all started laughing at that one

[IanForbes]

Please don't do that again, I always feel slightly retarded sitting here laughing at my computer screen

Kids are great entertainment, regardless of where you live. Just so long as you can hand them back at the end of the day

I remember, years ago, when my husband's nephew was about 7 or 8, his family had a little shop in their house. The power had gone out, so I went in, in the dark, to buy matches. He was sitting on the floor and shouted out "Hello!". So, I turned around and said "Hello!" back to him. He then said, "oh, its not a farang, its my AhNa (auntie Na) "

Gotta say, we all started laughing at that one

I've got to agree. I love the little critters for their innocence and saying what is on their mind with no malice, and no ulterior motive involved.

In my experiences I've pretty much narrowed a Thai's "Hello" down to three things.

1. They just want to be friendly and practice their limited English

2. They want to sell you something and say "Hello" to get your attention.

Or...

3. They actually DO know you even though you might not remember them.

That is one thing I'm always amazed at with the Thais. They can remember some chance meeting that happened ages before and they will remember your name if you ever divulged it.

I normally just respond in kind if someone says "Hello" to me. Or, I'll just nod or wave if I happen to recognize them. It's not hard to tell if someone is trying to sell me something, so I just smile and reply "My ow cup" which is much the same as saying "No thank you". If the person is more persistent then I'll be more forceful in my reply. In the case where some Thai actually DOES know me by name I'll just fumble through the meeting with a smile on my face. I'm not conversant in Thai enough to hold a long conversation anyway.

[ihunnieibee]

so funny i was thinking about this thread as i walked from my school to the MRT..on feeling that i need to walk n think....

i got a lot of "hello" 's which i replied with "uhh" laughing..or smiles..or ignoring...or pretending to be listening to my ipod, and i got a lot of "tooka tha" (sorry for not knowing how to spell) and "farang" as always... as for the guys asking me if i want a tuk-tuk they usually gets "haaha no" ;x mototaxi..same.... i think thai people think i'm funny, or that i'm lost...usually i mostly use the ignore tactic...not to be rude but i've just been living in NYC the past 7yrs before i came here and i feel like it works pretty well and i don't get suckered into doing anything stupid..or making a fool of myself

[ricklee]

When someone says hello to me I smile and say hello back. "Hello! Sawadee kap!" Works every time. Simple. But I am in rural Isaan and I know they're just trying to say hello. No one's trying to sell me anything out here so I don't have to wonder what their motivation is. What cracks me up is when they start talking to me in Phu Thai, I say (in Thai) "sorry, I don't speak Thai" and they keep on talking. I say (in Thai) "I don't understand, I don't speak Thai" and they keep on talking. So I just smile and converse with them in English, with neither of us having a clue what we're talking about. But it's friendly and fun. And can go on for quite awhile sometimes.

[IanForbes]

When someone says hello to me I smile and say hello back. "Hello! Sawadee kap!" Works every time. Simple. But I am in rural Isaan and I know they're just trying to say hello. No one's trying to sell me anything out here so I don't have to wonder what their motivation is. What cracks me up is when they start talking to me in Phu Thai, I say (in Thai) "sorry, I don't speak Thai" and they keep on talking. I say (in Thai) "I don't understand, I don't speak Thai" and they keep on talking. So I just smile and converse with them in English, with neither of us having a clue what we're talking about. But it's friendly and fun. And can go on for quite awhile sometimes.

I can relate to that, ricklee. It really is funny... but fun.

[MrHammer]

Much of communication is definetly done through tone of voice and body language.

[patklang]

It is VERY important to keep an open mind and remain flexible when in such situations.

For example:

When greeted by a 'sawadee krup' I generally reply with 'wadee krup etc'

When greeted by 'hey farang, you want tuk tuk' (outside robinsons suk soi 19), I generally reply 'hey you kwai, I no need your fu_ing tuk tuk, thanks'

Now thats plain nasty.So you think farang is a derogatory name,thats news to me.Maybe you should say hey somchai,no thank you,i will get a tuk tuk with someone who not call me farang.ARE YOU THE GUY WHO GETS UPSET WHEN I SAY MAN POO HEHEHEHE.

Now thats irony aint it mate.

[patklang]

BTW,

If you are Man Poo fan then sorry but i cannot contribute to your burning when you get shot.

[bonobo]

last week i arrived at Central 10 minutes before it opens and everyone is milling around outside and a Thai teenager made room for me to sit down on the steps which i politely did then he spent the next 10 minutes shouting random football names and associated words to me while smiling broadly as i repeated them and tagged on other words.

Not really funny but it made me smile on the day having completely random football words thrown at me for 10 minutes as if we were having a conversation...

Happened to me one time in Russia, except the terms were all car names, mostly American, but with a few German and Japanese thrown in there for good measure.

[bkkjames]

BTW,

If you are Man Poo fan then sorry but i cannot contribute to your burning when you get shot.

Pat, are you talking to yourself again mate? Seek some help for that.

Back on topic, politeness gets politeness, rudeness gets rudeness

[bonobo]

There is an older gate guard at my condo who rushes out when I drive up, comes to attention, and gives me a loud and proud  "hello!"  He will even tell other guards to back off so he can do this.  I smile and give him back a "hello" each time.

[RickBradford]

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit I always completely ignore Thai people unknown to me calling out "hello" when they see me.

I spent over a decade living in Vietnam, and if you always turn around to see who's calling out in Saigon, you'll be in a neck brace within 24 hours.

You very quickly learn to ignore all the yelling in the street (which is incessant), and to avoid locals' eyes (or they will invariably whip out some useless gimcrack and try to sell it to you).

I am trying to unlearn this tactic, as it seems to be less necessary where I live in BKK (although I'm sure it's still a good way to go in FarangWorld).

A smile and a quiet 'mai ao, khrap' seem to do the trick here, whereas in Saigon, the vendor would just take the equivalent of that as a challenge to harass you all the harder.

[ricklee]

BTW,

If you are Man Poo fan then sorry but i cannot contribute to your burning when you get shot.

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is "Man Poo?" I know what it sounds like, but....

[bkkjames]

BTW,

If you are Man Poo fan then sorry but i cannot contribute to your burning when you get shot.

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is "Man Poo?" I know what it sounds like, but....

[deleted - well it IS off topic ]

[bkkjames]

some pretty good ones so far..

Just a point, most Thais (teeagers and older,) actually have pretty good understanding of English,,

so replying likewise to a greetign of F,,K you,,, can actualy end up in a bit of trouble..

As for those who dont want to be / dont have the time to be; foreign good will ambassadors - a suugestion - go home.

there's a difference between being a polite foreign good will ambassador and being someone who accepts rudeness - regardless of who does it.

[ricklee]

BTW,

If you are Man Poo fan then sorry but i cannot contribute to your burning when you get shot.

Excuse my ignorance, but what exactly is "Man Poo?" I know what it sounds like, but....

It's another word for 'Champions'.

Oh....I think I get it now....it's a football - oh, I mean SOCCER - thing. Silly me.

[jackr]

Our cook's daughter is an adorable 5 year old and learning english. We were practicing body parts, I would say them in Thai and she would say them in English. We did head, eye, nose etc etc. Until I ran out of parts to say. So she said, in english, "asshol_e". And I asked her, "what was that?" and she said it again, "asshol_e". I looked at her with a straight face and said, "No, I don't know that one". So, she used the word for bum in Thai. Again, I said, "nope, don't know that one". Then said to her mother later that if that was what her teacher was teaching her she needed to have a serious talk with the woman!

Had she been watching Meet the Fockers?

[keestha]

The subject is certainly interesting enough to have a sensible conversation.

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit I always completely ignore Thai people unknown to me calling out "hello" when they see me.

Once I was with a group of Thai people at a big market in the middle of nowhere, somebody hello'ed me, and I gave him the usual non-treatment. Later he approached one of the Thai man in our group, and asked him if I was a farang at all (although I am tall and blond haired), because I didn't reply his hello. The guy said yes, he is a farang, but he is just not interested if people call out hello to him, it happens everywhere continuously.

Obviously the man thought farangs like it if people hello them, and no doubt many Thai people think like him.

I certainly was a bit ashamed when after ignoring a hello, the person walked up to me, and explained me in Thai that I knew him. Don't wanna be perceived as arrogant, but oh well, in the area where I live people who know me almost invariably greet me in Thai, and then I certainly respond, also when I don't remember who the person is.

thais actuallt consider it rude if you dont reply,, like u are ignoring them / they are not good enough for u to speak to..

generally in village life, towns, local communities, the Thais all say hello to each other in one way or another..its part of their community spirit,, so no harm in joining in,, just a wavw will d or an acknowledgement with a smile is fine..

Sure, but you are talking about community settings.......what about the total stranger who hello'es me at the highway gas station? He certainly won't sawat dee kap Thai people there that he doesn't know. It is just that I am not interested in a "where you from" type of conversation. I concede you did make a valid point though.

[MZurf]

My wife and I went to a restaurant not long ago and at the door was greeted by a young woman.

Clearly wanting to impress us with her command of the English language and her ability to pronounce the letter "r" instead of substituting it with an "l" she called out: HERRO!

I did manage to say "herro" back to her, but only just:)

[-noodles-]

I think it's FAF when foreigners get their English words mixed up

A Thai friend recently introduced her friend to me and said "this is Minh, she come from Sakon Nakon but she not eat dog." Minh smiled at me and shook her head at the same time.

I said "hello nice to meet you, that's cool you don't eat dogs".

Then we moved onto other topics of conversation.

Generally speaking if a Thai says hello to me i say "sawasdee khrap".

[Soulwy]

From an Austrian friend of mine:

Thai: Where you come from?

My friend: I'm from Austria.

Thai: Aaah, Australia - good country

My friend: No, not Australia, AUSTRIA in Europe, I'm from Vienna in Austria

Thai: Yes, I know..Australia - biiig country

My friend: NOOO, not Australia! AUSTRIA in Europe, Vienna...you know - Mozart?

Thai: Yeah i know - and Kanguruhs...

Hilarious!

I know it is a hard job to explain Austria-Australia difference.

[KBTexas]

From an Austrian friend of mine:

Thai: Where you come from?

My friend: I'm from Austria.

Thai: Aaah, Australia - good country

My friend: No, not Australia, AUSTRIA in Europe, I'm from Vienna in Austria

Thai: Yes, I know..Australia - biiig country

My friend: NOOO, not Australia! AUSTRIA in Europe, Vienna...you know - Mozart?

Thai: Yeah i know - and Kanguruhs...

Sad to say, but if you substituted American: for each instance of Thai: it would be a very common conversation here too.

[IanForbes]

From an Austrian friend of mine:

Thai: Where you come from?

My friend: I'm from Austria.

Thai: Aaah, Australia - good country

My friend: No, not Australia, AUSTRIA in Europe, I'm from Vienna in Austria

Thai: Yes, I know..Australia - biiig country

My friend: NOOO, not Australia! AUSTRIA in Europe, Vienna...you know - Mozart?

Thai: Yeah i know - and Kanguruhs...

Hilarious!

I know it is a hard job to explain Austria-Australia difference.

Yes, that was a funny story. I have heard similar ones when mentioning Thailand and Taiwan. And, that is from people who were supposedly educated. I live in Canada where many Americans still believe we live in igloos in the frozen north.

[IanForbes]

I think it's FAF when foreigners get their English words mixed up

A Thai friend recently introduced her friend to me and said "this is Minh, she come from Sakon Nakon but she not eat dog." Minh smiled at me and shook her head at the same time.

I said "hello nice to meet you, that's cool you don't eat dogs".

Then we moved onto other topics of conversation.

Generally speaking if a Thai says hello to me i say "sawasdee khrap".

What's wrong with dog meat? They actually taste pretty good when fattened up.

[andyc2006]

Your grasp of geography concerning the world is about as good as that of the indigenous natives residing here in the glorious "Land 'O Thais", which is to say it's next to non-existent. ...

I mean Austria and Australia are both in North America, right?

FWIW Australia is its own country, as well being its own continent, and is located in the "Southern Hemisphere" of the world (that means the bottom half). Austria is its own country, but is in the continent called Europe, which is located in the "Northern Hemisphere". Sadly neither is located in "North America".. Nice amusing try though. I know stuff like this is difficult for someone whose out there 'glad-handing' the thais day in day out.

In my opinion, especially given the hygiene I see most thais exhibit here; I wouldn't EVER shake hands with any one whether I knew them or not. I rarely even acknowledge thais that I see on a daily basis with anything more than a slight head nod, no matter what language they address me in.

I just don't have time to be the foreign good will ambassador to these people. Good to know you seem to have shouldered the good will ambassaors role instead. Keep up the great work, as you say, "the thais love it...", or at least you think they do.

you made all of this up. i don't believe a word of it.

Agreed. No freakin' way Austria its own country. The Aborigines wouldn't stand for it.

[andyc2006]

Yes, that was a funny story. I have heard similar ones when mentioning Thailand and Taiwan. And, that is from people who were supposedly educated. I live in Canada where many Americans still believe we live in igloos in the frozen north.

I'll call that bluff. Most my American friends don't realize that Canadians already have igloo technology.

[andyc2006]

I completely agree, I don't care where it is in the world I hate anyone badmouthing someone because they think they're superior to them, maybe because they're in a 'customer/client' situation. I think the Americans can be the worst but my fellow Englishmen can be obnoxious too. They are here so why would they change in Thailand?

The most insulting Americans tend to never leave the USA. Trust me that we're all better off for that.

There are certainly exceptions, but the Americans I meet overseas are amongst the best of the lot, and typically aren't extremely offensive (again, I realize there are exceptions).

Regarding English vs. Americans being offensive, one thing I've observed is that when Americans are being offensive, they typically don't even realize it, whereas when Brits are offensive, it's intentional. Not sure which is better... unintentionally clueless or intentionally rude... I guess there are times when the latter is warranted.