Something I’ve Always Wanted To Know

[phetaroi]

...still those signs are encouraging tourists to venture further from the bitten track and explore the whole country.

Yes, those temple dogs out in the provinces are a problem!

[kalasin]

I have seen road signs in Thailand with only french text below the thai text. So maybe one day there might be one or two road signs in danish too?

[troehr]

The vast majority of Chinese kids attend private international schools.

Really? That's quite surprising.

It's also quite wrong. Only a very small percentage of Chinese students go to international schools. The vast majority go to government schools.

[7by7]

Actually many French can and do speak English, except when talking to a Brit!

Hving worked and lived in France i can tell you that you are very wrong

I don't know your nationality, but you did say you are an English speaker. So, no French person would speak to you in English, which I think proves my point!

(BTW, both this and my previous are meant to be jokes; don't take them too seriously.)

[PattayaParent]

don't forget Thailand is near China and Vietnam.

In Germany, all roads also have US military / NATO signs which regulate traffic, defining on which lanes tanks should drive, etc.

I am sure road signs in english are very helpful to western forces in case of a conflict.

My bet would be that there were no road signs in English before the US troops came to Thailand during the Viet Nam / American War but when they left the whole country had English signs.

[keyjor]

The most common 2nd language is English for now. The next generation might learn Chinese instead. Good luck learning to read that.

True. My daughter who is fluent in Thai, Laos, English is now taking Chinese lessons at school.

[Birdman]

I have seen road signs in Thailand with only french text below the thai text. So maybe one day there might be one or two road signs in danish too?

Was that in Trat or Chantaburi? Trat was once a part a French Indochina.

[jackr]

Actually many French can and do speak English, except when talking to a Brit!

Hving worked and lived in France i can tell you that you are very wrong

I don't know your nationality, but you did say you are an English speaker. So, no French person would speak to you in English

I've also worked there and can tell you you are wrong.

Met some real nice chaps over there that made the effort. Then again, also spent a bit of a time with a French chic over here who got really annoying after a while... France does this better, that better, nicer language, we need to keep English songs off the radio blah blah. Real pretty but such a f*cking bore.

[Thongkorn]

Actually many French can and do speak English, except when talking to a Brit!

Hving worked and lived in France i can tell you that you are very wrong

I don't know your nationality, but you did say you are an English speaker. So, no French person would speak to you in English

I've also worked there and can tell you you are wrong.

Met some real nice chaps over there that made the effort. Then again, also spent a bit of a time with a French chic over here who got really annoying after a while... France does this better, that better, nicer language, we need to keep English songs off the radio blah blah. Real pretty but such a f*cking bore.

I remember France trying to cleanse there pure language of English, it lasted a few weeks , English is the International speaking language for Emergences, as agreed long ago , maybe time for a change,Should be a laugh. The next question is "why does Thailand drive on the left".

[doggie888888]

The next question is "why does Thailand drive on the left".

Answer: Thailand is a country so it does not drive per se.

However Thais drive on the left, right, middle, and everywhere in between, against traffic, across traffic and often off the roads as well.

[sassienie]

OP, I am surprised that you were 'Afraid' to ask this question.

Is there anything else bothering you??? Perhaps you should post in Dear Mr Neverdie for your answers in future.

Perfectly logical question to ask.

Yes, you are bothering me and please don`t shout, you`re scaring my dogs.

Edited November 22, 2009 by sassienie

[tw25rw]

I am ever so glad that the second language in Thailand is English,and NOT French or German

France is the most foreign country -as an English speaker - that i have ever worked in. It is almost impossible to get by if you don't speak French. The French are quite ignorant to the fact that English is the favoured world language and very few speak English - or take showers regularly!

You could substitute France for much of Britain.

[tw25rw]

I remember France trying to cleanse there pure language of English, it lasted a few weeks , English is the International speaking language for Emergences, as agreed long ago , maybe time for a change,Should be a laugh. The next question is "why does Thailand drive on the left".

If they're going to choose a side, it may as well be the same as the first country to do so.. Same as the more civilised parts of the world.

[mrjohn]

These signs are not written in English.

They are written in a Romanised script. This is to acknowledge that the Thai alphabet is not known outside Thailand. It is therefore for the benefit of non Thais.

Furthermore, in my experience there are very few Romanised road signs in rural areas.....

[bonobo]

Spanish is the most widely spoken language

Spanish has about 330 million native speakers.  Mandarin Chinese has about 900 million.

[IMA_FARANG]

I have no idea why road signs in Thailand are in English as well as Thai....except I guess so that I can read them.

After I read through the posts on this subject here, I happened to be looking at a BBC World News report on the Hajis that are coming to Mecca for this Haj season in Saudi Arabia.

If you know Saudi Arabia you'll know that non-moslems are not allowed to enter the city of Mecca.

(THere was a road around Mecca so non-molems didn't have to pass through Mecca. We used to call that road, "The Christian By-pass".

The BBC article had a photo of the enterance to the Grand Mosque...where no non-moslems should ever be.

There was an overpass near by...something in Arabic was written on it.

Just below it was what I took to be the English translation...it read "Warning Max Height 4 Meters"

So here's another question....Why English translations on warning signs in Saudi Arabia?

P.S. Here's a funny story.

Some years ago I was with some Thai friends who spoke only limited English.

We stopped at a restaurant for a quick lunch. I felt the need to go to the toliets, but there was no Male and Female written on the toliet doors. Nor were there those "pictures"...one with a Female wering a skirt and a Male in pants...which you often see.

So I was unsure of which one to go to, and my friends didn't understand my question about which toliet to use.

So I watched until I saw what I assumed was a Female enter one of the toilets, and then I used the other one.

Later my Thai wife asked me how I knew which toliet to use. I told her I just watched where that women went and went to the other one.

With excellent Thai logic she asked me,"But what if that person you followed was a katoey?"

I had never thought of that.

Edited November 22, 2009 by IMA_FARANG

[Maizefarmer]

It stems from the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic - which has sought (rather successfully) to introduce a universal standard to road signage for all countries to sign up to - adopting the Roman Alphabet (more so than English as a language) as that which was at the time the most universally used. Of course more folk speak Chinese than English, but at the time China wasn't what it is today - and the difference there is not so much language as it is symbology - Spanish is not far behind, but the Roman alphabet is used, as it is with most Western/European countries. Seems to have worked quite well.

[salty]

I am ever so glad that the second language in Thailand is English,and NOT French or German

France is the most foreign country -as an English speaker - that i have ever worked in. It is almost impossible to get by if you don't speak French. The French are quite ignorant to the fact that English is the favoured world language and very few speak English - or take showers regularly!

And they cheat at football.

[tutsiwarrior]

I would say that geographically more people speak spanish than mandarin...I can order breakfast easily from mexico city to santiago and have been able to communicate with portugese and italian speakers without difficulty with my fluent spanish...

plus, spanish, being phonetic, is easy to learn for folks that use a romanised alphabet...can't say the same about mandarin...

Edited November 22, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[andyww]

But Thai road signs are often in American rather than English.

Eg "Parking Lot"

There are other examples but damned if I can think of any now..

[tutsiwarrior]

'DON'T SPIT ON THE SIDEWALK OR YOU GO TO THE HOOSEGOW'

meaning:

'If you spit on the pavement you shall go to gaol'

I'm sure that there are many other examples to illustrate...

Edited November 22, 2009 by tutsiwarrior

[thaihome]

It stems from the 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic - which has sought (rather successfully) to introduce a universal standard to road signage for all countries to sign up to - adopting the Roman Alphabet (more so than English as a language) as that which was at the time the most universally used. Of course more folk speak Chinese than English, but at the time China wasn't what it is today - and the difference there is not so much language as it is symbology - Spanish is not far behind, but the Roman alphabet is used, as it is with most Western/European countries. Seems to have worked quite well.

Go to the front of the class.

TH

[PeaceBlondie]

Whilst amongst whingeing Poms at tea time, it's 'mind the gap' and petrol and round footballs, bonnets and boots, anaraks and footpaths. Great thread - it took 80 posts to reach the Brit-Yank divide. Betwixt us, I could care less.

[neverdie]

OP, I am surprised that you were 'Afraid' to ask this question.

Is there anything else bothering you??? Perhaps you should post in Dear Mr Neverdie for your answers in future.

Perfectly logical question to ask.

Yes, you are bothering me and please don`t shout, you`re scaring my dogs.

No this is not shouting, THIS IS SHOUTING, sorry but I find it very hard to believe that your dogs are reading this forum .

You also failed to answer the perfectly logical question on why you were 'afraid'?

[neverdie]

Great thread - it took 80 posts to reach the Brit-Yank divide.

Yes, well thats almost a record .

Edited November 23, 2009 by neverdie

[bkkjames]

I think they put the signs in English because most taxi drivers can't read.

[JetsetBkk]

Whilst amongst whingeing Poms at tea time, it's 'mind the gap' and petrol and round footballs, bonnets and boots, anaraks and footpaths. Great thread - it took 80 posts to reach the Brit-Yank divide. Betwixt us, I could care less.

Talking of the Brit-Yank divide... you Yanks say "I could care less" when you should be saying "I couldn't care less" (which is what us Brits say), because if you could care less about something else then it implies that you do care just a teensy-weensy little bit about it.

But if you could not care less about something, then that the subject is totally devoid of any semblance of care emanating from you.

So the Brits are right and the Yanks are wrong.

I rest my case.

[MarkBKK]

The vast majority of Chinese kids attend private international schools.

Really? That's quite surprising.

It's also quite wrong. Only a very small percentage of Chinese students go to international schools. The vast majority go to government schools.

With an estimated population (under 18) of over 352 million I kinda guessed it was probably fantasy. I was attempting to use sarcasm to encourage Pakboong into explaining what he really meant to say ...

[Mosha]

The next question is "why does Thailand drive on the left".

Answer: Thailand is a country so it does not drive per se.

However Thais drive on the left, right, middle, and everywhere in between, against traffic, across traffic and often off the roads as well.

One Pacific Island has just switched to driving on the left. Their reason? Cars with steering wheels on the right are cheaper.

[bonobo]

I would say that geographically more people speak spanish than mandarin...I can order breakfast easily from mexico city to santiago and have been able to communicate with portugese and italian speakers without difficulty with my fluent spanish...

plus, spanish, being phonetic, is easy to learn for folks that use a romanised alphabet...can't say the same about mandarin...

English is spoken as an official language in well over a hundred countries, Spanish has about 40 (including New Mexico and Puerto Rico in the US). Mandarin Chinese is the official language in 3 countries. So yes, Spanish is spoken over a broader geographic region than Chinese if you ignore the various Chinatowns of OC.

Hindustani, which is the name for the various dialects of Hindi, is actually the second most spoken primary language. (If you take only "pure" Hindi itself and not the other dialects, though, it drops down to about 7th place.) Spanish and English are neck-and-neck for third place as a primary language, although English far opt-paces Spanish in total numbers of speakers.

Depending on the source, Thai is at around 30th place on the list of ost spoken languages.