Thai "howlers"...

[Trebilcock]

Outside a seafood restaurant in Phuket; "Price 100B per gm includes Cook" Didn't fancy her though.

[Hans Brix]

Don't even think about smoking

[Hans Brix]

others I have seen:

"No sit down here"

"shampoo and blow"

I wish I'd written 'em all down. I have seen a load of winners

[Hans Brix]

a few more

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Long winded

http://www.ty-thai.com/23606.html?*session...session*id*val*

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

An oldie but a goldie ( and so berry troo )

[raro]

In Ban Chang, Rayong, they have "Land for Sail"

...what i just wonder is...before publishing a restaurant menu, advertisement etc....there are countless native speakers around who would do the proofreading for a drink...

Edited September 17, 2005 by raro

[LadyinRed]

How about some screaming eggs for breakfast?

"We have a range of alcholics"... (okie, I'll have that dude sitting at the corner of the bar)

[loong]

In Ban Chang, Rayong, they have "Land for Sail"

...what i just wonder is...before publishing a restaurant menu, advertisement etc....there are countless native speakers around who would do the proofreading for a drink...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My friend (English) and his gf were running a food stall. He had a sign made and they spelt 'European' wrong along with other mistakes. Later he wanted another sign and very carefully prepared the text and explained that the text of the new sign must follow the exact spelling as shown. The sign arrived complete with the usual mistakes.

Proof reading by a native speaker does absolutely no good at all. Some people are so arrogant that they believe the native speaker is wrong and that their spelling is correct.

[drummer]

Went the the taping of the Farang Show, an new show for Thai TV coming up - they had a segment for this - the best, by far, was an advertisement for kitty litter, with the slogan "Because no one likes a smelly box" ....

[qwertyuiop]

[ Proof reading by a native speaker does absolutely no good at all. Some people are so arrogant that they believe the native speaker is wrong and that their spelling is correct.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I concur. On several occasions I have offered my services only to be informed that they were not needed as the Thais involved could write in English as well as a native.

At one time I offered my services to a local stockbroker as the research they were putting out in English was poor to say the least. The head of the department said that would be terrific and that he would be happy if I could assist his staff but he himself would not require my services as his English was perfect. He was the worst culprit -

[sbk]

Friend of mine had menus printed up, they sent her one to proofread, which we did together, it had numerous mistakes (chicken soup on one line followed by vegetable suop on the other). We corrected all mistakes, menus came back with different spelling mistakes!

[Neeranam]

In a Bangkok temple:

It is forbidden to enter a woman, even a foreigner, if dressed as

a man.

On Soi Asoke:

Large sign - Transilation.

[RDN]

Need some Viagra?

[IMA_FARANG]

I was looking at the Thai Vs English posting (a rather confrontational title?) and I began thinking not so much of the amount of English used, for that is quite a lot really but the inadvertent mistakes made by both Thais and non-English speaking businesses in Thailand....

e.g.

In Pattaya instead of "Hostess with the Mostess" - it read "Hostess with the Moistes"

Swimming pool in Koh Chang - No swimming in the Nupe....

Seafood restaurant: -

Friend fried,

Squit with garlic and pepper

any contributions????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Saw a notice in a hotel in Pattaya once. it was intended to warn about smoking in bed. Had a picture of a ciggarette and a circle witha line drawn through it. English text said, "Hey You. Be safety in bed"

2. Once, quite a few years back, I saw a classified ad for a translators job for Thai/English/Japanese translator wanted for Japanese company moving to Thailand. The advertisement said," Translator wanting for Japanese company. Thai speaking is wanted. Also in English speaking is needed. Please apply soon."

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Went the the taping of the Farang Show,  an new show for Thai TV coming up - they had a segment for this - the best,  by far,  was an advertisement for kitty litter,  with the slogan "Because no one likes a smelly box" ....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[wilko]

[Even multi-million dollar real estate developments get the treatment. The bizarrely named TIT Tower is hardly Bangkok’s most desirable address. Off Silom Road we have PMT Mansion – an apartment building that I imagine to be full of frazzled English girls leaving a hot iron to burn through their favourite blouse as they retrieve spilled frozen peas from the floor.

I'm sorry but I just get hysterics reading these......

You know the difference between BSE and PMT?

One is Mad Cow disease and the other is a brain disease affecting cattle...

[wilko]

That reminds me of a time when an ex told me she go crazy with her mother. After asking what the problem was and much confusion, I eventually realised that she meant KFC - not Crazy

Not Thai but still funny

The following products failed to research and understand the local cultures, to their cost:

Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "It takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "It takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate."

An American t-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa) the shirts read "I saw the Potato" (la papa).

When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you." The company thought that the word "embarazor" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant."

Chevrolets new Nova was released in Spain, before they realised that 'NO VA' in Spanish means "wont go".

Fords Pinto failed to sell as expected in Brazil. 'Pinto' translates there to 'Tiny male genitals'.

Gerber baby food in south africa used the same packaging as in the U.S. without realising that in Africa they often show the contents of a product on the packaging, as a high percentage of shoppers there cannot read. The Gerber product labels showed a baby.

"Come alive with the pepsi generation" translated to "Pepsi will bring your ancestors back from the dead" in Taiwan

Coca-Cola, when translated to Chinese, read "bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect.

Coors slogan "Turn it loose" was put into spanish and read "Suffer from Diarrhea".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm told that Rolls-Royce had to make a last minute name-change to a proposed model named "Silver Mist" as in German this translates as compost or dung heap.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I still love the ' thank you very big '

[wilko]

Gobble-dee-gook seems to be the main language of government...

This from the National park Koh Chang...

or this at Klong Prao Resort: there were 2 copies of this sign, the other inexplicably spelt completely correctly. This begs the question; "which sign came first?"

Edited September 18, 2005 by wilko

[wilko]

Or in December people keep saying "May Kissmar"

[Gazza]

I still love the ' thank you very big '  

Or when they describe something medium sized it's 'Big little'.

On Phuttamonthon Rd (I think) heading out to Nakhon Pathom there's a small vacant and run-down shopping complex called MT Square. MT (empty) is quite an apt name for it.

Edited September 18, 2005 by Gazza

[LivinLOS]

Why does this not fill me with trust..

[newworks]

for a slightly different flavor of screwy enigmatic english (something that i`ve gotten very used to living in japan for 7 years), see www.engrish.com

[raro]

If you guys ever get a hold of the Pattaya.com magazine...it's a classic. Must be made by some hi-so Thais with a good self-deception about their English abilities. Total mumbo-jumbo. No chance to understand what they intended to write about.

Edited September 18, 2005 by raro

[raro]

This one is from Kasikorn Bank's Internetbanking page:

Account Summary

To view the balance of all accounts that I have authority to access via the e-Bizlink Service.

Today Transaction

To view today's activities transacted through Branch channel of the account(s) that I have authority to access via KBANK e-BizLink Service.

Batch To Do List

To view the batch transaction request waited for editing / approving.

..and so on...the initial set-up was so much gibberish that I couldn't figure out at all what I was supposed to do...

[Beachcomber]

Ms Beach informed me of a flat on the motorcycle by stating “No wind in the wheel"

[donna]

Once seen in:

Chiang Rai night market: "Big Crap"

Fern Restaurant in Mae Hong Son: "Fried Aborigine with Basil" (Out of sheer interest, I ordered this to see what I would get. Aubergine!)

Opposite my apartment block there is an ad for a new massage place down the road saying "Food Massage"

[PETERTHEEATER]

Ah! The old double standard for admission charges. The sign fails to inform of admission fees for Thai Nationals.

In cases like this I vote with my feet after telling the ticket man that I object.

Gobble-dee-gook seems to be the main language of government...

This from the National park Koh Chang...

or this at Klong Prao Resort: there were 2 copies of this sign, the other inexplicably spelt completely correctly. This begs the question; "which sign came first?"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[chaiyapoon]

Been looking at restaurant websites today and found this on Thipsamai.com last item on the menu under Pad thai song-kreung

The result is a stringy,tangy,juicy and wonderful mess.

Something lost in the translation?

[Kan Win]

Menu in Kan

Now I know why we do not have many of them visiting Kan.