The Coca Cola Incident

[RDN]

I asked a taxi driver in Sukhumvit road "Central Department Store".

"Mai roo".

"Central!"

"Mai roo."

"Drong bai, song kilomet - Central"

Shake of the head. "Mai roo".

Then I remembered what my English teacher had taught me about L's and N's.

"Centrun?"

"OK, Centrun" he said with a smile.

Sometimes I think they're just taking the piss.

[britmaveric]

I asked a taxi driver in Sukhumvit road "Central Department Store".

"Mai roo".

"Central!"

"Mai roo."

"Drong bai, song kilomet - Central"

Shake of the head. "Mai roo".

Then I remembered what my English teacher had taught me about L's and N's.

"Centrun?"

"OK, Centrun" he said with a smile.

Sometimes I think they're just taking the piss.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

RDN - yeah I used to think so too, but that bloody blank look on their face says it all.

[Kathe]

I remember the times trying to get to my village called Don Nang Hong by songtaew.

Songtaew Driver: Pai Sai?

Gazza: Don Nang Hong.

S. Driver: Huh!!?

Gazza: Don Nang Hawng (trying a different pronounciation)

S. Driver: Nakhon Phanom?

Gazza: Mai. Dawn Naang Hong

S. Driver: That Phanom?

Gazza: Maaaiii. (sighs) Dawn Naang Hawng.

S. Driver: Ban Khwang?

Gazza: NO! (pulse quickening) Don NANG HONG.

S. Driver: Aw Hawww. Mai Ruu......Renu Nakhon?

Gazza: NOOOO!!! (temperature rising) DON NANG HONG!!!

S. Driver calls fellow songtaew driver over for assistance. Repeat conversation as above. While conversation is being repeated Gazza listens intently for the sound of a one baht coin dropping.

Then the coin drops.

S. Driver "Awww Hawwww! Don Nang Hong baw??"

Gazza: Ugh! (Loa for 'Yes')

Gazza arrives at the tambon of Don Nang Hong and approaches mc stand.

MC Taxi Driver: Pai Sai?

Gazza: Muubaan Koksawang.

MC Taxi Driver: Huh!????........

For the times that I hit on the right pronounciation they then assumed that I could speak fluent Thai or Lao and would throw a question at me.

Then it was my turn to say 'Huh!!???' 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You cracked me down on the floor now..hehehehe... I like this trade, really funny to read Farang Chang Ruh , chang sang ked...paasah thai. I'm agree with you all. Even me, as I have been living for a long time out of Thailand ( I am Thai ) and sometimes I am not update with thai new language. Once I said let's go to Tesco, nobody knows where I wanted to go . Where is Tesco ? Then.....awwww....Low Tad....., once I wanted to change battery of my watch. I damnly forgot the word of battery in thai as I am always using this word and everybody understands , everywhere in Thailand.

I said I wanted to change my Batt. She .....what ?......Me.....Plien Batt I showed her my watch..(.Nalika...plien Batt.)

She....I dont know phee. Me....Plien Batt you dont know ? S...h.....!!!! t...what is Battery in Thai ? Oh yeah....Plien Taan ( Fai Chai )

[BambinA]

You cracked me down on the floor now..hehehehe... snip/

u re funny babe ... kri kri

sometime i talk with my THAI client in eng also ...dunno why .. just happend .. i dont want people think im "dad ja rit"

[thedude]

You know the Central shopping plaza. We say it Central but the Thais say it Centran. Go figure.!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Apple is another. Appun. As mentioned, when such English words are written in Thai, the L at the end of a word sounds like an N. So why worry about letter for letter transliteration?

It doesn't come out sounding right at all. Why not just write it in Thai so it's pronounced Sentro or appo. Seems like that'd sound closer. Even trying to spell Thai words into English letters often comes out odd.

Vittayu = Wittayu

Sukhumvit = Sukhumwit

sawasdee = sawatdee

Dol = Dohn

I don't even wanna get into the myriad of spellings of Chatuchak

The word "ice" was mentioned. Admittedly, there are some English sounds that are hard for Thais to speak. But I'm more inclined to think it's because of how such words have been seen spelled in Thai. The "s" sound at the end of "ice" ends up being silent. They don't have a problem with the word "icy" (i-see). So for "ice" why not "i-sah".

The whole point of communication is to understand and be understood, whether Thai/English or English/Thai.

I can't say I've ever had a problem ordering a coke though, even out in the boonies. For those who frequently run into such a problem, perhaps one solution is to have it written out in Thai so if there's any confusion, you can just whip it out and let the person read it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thank you for that Amerithai, that was very well explained. so for the rest of you we now know that the natives are actually not stupid, but in fact trying to pronounce english from written thai. what a relief, for a moment there i thought we were going to need to import more english teachers.

henceforth, the avid coke drinker shall include in his/her wardrobe, one fake Coke T-shirt with the Thai logo, and shall adorn oneself in said attire for the purpose of vigorous chest pointing in the event that one anticipates entering a restaurant, american or otherwise. so there, problem solved.

[Judge]

Am I the only one on this whole thread who knows that yoiu never ask for "coke"?

You ask for colaaaa, and work out the brand and diet preferences after they get the first part.

Thais always understand colaaaa right away.

[Chang_paarp]

I can understand Icey's problem. I went to McD's in Southern California and had to resort to the picture menu.

As a person from a designated native english speaking country, I mistakenly assumed this was going to be a simple process as it had been in non english speaking countries. I had hoped to be able to order a burger and a drink that was not part of the numbered "meals", the frys can feed the seagulls.

I learned to join the queue in front of the staff member with African heritage.

Chang

[The Dude]

The Dude can state with certainty that he has had difficulty on a number of occasions understanding what Brits, Scots, Aussies, Irish, American Red necks, New Jorkers etc are saying. Thems accents can be most brutal to decifer so I wouldn't blame the Thai necessarily. A dude once asked me for 40 Marlboro in a most thick Brit accent. He sounded like a member of the Sex Pistols and I didn't have a clue as to what he was talking about. He took 2 packs of smokes and threw them down in front of me and said "20 and 20 is forty", in that sex pistol accent. After that I used to joke with friends mocking that dude's accent. They really could dig it

[tripperj]

I just talk with the same accent they do and it works most of the time. the only problem is i have to hide away when i ring my gf so no one hears me

[AmeriThai]

thank you for that Amerithai, that was very well explained.  so for the rest of you we now know that the natives are actually not stupid, but in fact trying to pronounce english from written thai. what a relief, for a moment there i thought we were going to need to import more english teachers.

henceforth, the avid coke drinker shall include in his/her wardrobe, one fake Coke T-shirt with the Thai logo, and shall adorn oneself in said attire for the purpose of vigorous chest pointing in the event that one anticipates entering a restaurant, american or otherwise.  so there, problem solved.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL! Lessee, shall I wear the red Coke T-shirt with the Thai logo today? Or the other red Coke T-tee shirt with the Thai logo?

I guess that wouldn't be very practical to lug around a pocket full of scraps of paper for every misunderstood word. English isn't the easiest language to learn. For those who are just starting to learn Thai or don't know it at all, having a pocket trnaslation dictionary along might be helpful in some cases. It isn't the Thais who are stupid. If anything, it's that foreigners who don't understand the Thai language or some of the English words as spoken by Thais have a problem with communication. There's certainly no obligation on the part of the Thais to know English. After all Thailand is their country and Thai is their language.

Admittedly though, when it comes to some written English words seen in Thailand, it can be pretty humorous, if not confusing, at times to see all the variations in the spelling of certain Thai words in English letters. But one can start to get the hang of it after a while.

With regard to being misunderstood when ordering a Diet Coke, some of the suggestions previously posted are good solutions.

[jrincon17]

Okay so I walk in a restraunt and I'm greeted by a waiter who asks me if I'd like a drink.

So I answer with "Yes. A diet coke please."

I assume the waiter in question understands the word coke because after all he is working in Pattaya which is one big tourism spot. Also I'm in a popular shopping mall with english speaking tourists and I'm sat in an American restraunt. He has also made a good job of his English so far and coke is probably the most popular drink around.

I was quite shocked to see him squint and reply with "Ha?". After fifteen mins he decided to get another member of staff she also didn't understand. At this point another member of staff walks past and says "Oooooooooh you mean cooooke" saying coke in that Thai accent of theirs.

Then they all seem to understand and start nodding their heads and smiling. It seemed I didn't say it in that Thai accent so they didn't know what the heck I was on about.

Strangely this Isn't the first time I've had the "Coke incident" whilst in Thailand. Is this just me or have any of you also had this problem?

I thought it was just with coke except today when I went to Maccy D's I asked for a Taro Pie. Confusion set in and even my step-mum didn't know. The funny thing is my Step-mum ordered exactly the same thing for herself just last night.

She then asked for the till guy to say in English what pies he had avaliable. The first one he said was "Tarrrrroooo pie" I said yeah thats the one I would like and have just been on about. "Ooooooh you mean Tarrrrroooo pie" he replyed in that bleedin' Thai accent. Then my Step-mum and the till guy began smiling.

All because I didn't say it in the Thai accent   

Is this really just me this happens to? Ahh I love this crazy country sometimes 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

where are you from ?

[BambinA]

/snip

where are you from ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

she is an english rose

[Ice Maiden]

/snip

where are you from ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

she is an english rose

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yuppers I'm English

... Yeah a farang female don't all run away at once

Edited October 7, 2005 by Ice Maiden

[dr_Pat_Pong]

/snip

where are you from ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

she is an english rose

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yuppers I'm English

... Yeah a farang female don't all run away at once

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're different Icey

[camerata]

Another problem with Thais' pronunciation of English is their habit of abbreviating them and adopting them into the Thai language. For example, English teachers will know that "conwur" is "conversation" and everyone knows that "inter" means "international."

But these shortened forms can be really obscure in business English. I kept hearing the word "feet" in business meetings and assumed it might mean "freeze," but it didn't seem to fit the context. It turned out to "feasability study" shortened to "feasability" shortened to "feas" and pronounced "feet."

[Patex]

...Thais seem extremely rigid in what they can understand and deduce from limited understanding...Thais on the other hand appear to simply not be able to grasp what I could possibly mean...

If they were fast understander they would not have to serve you for a 4-6000 ฿ salery,

Regards, Patex

[Darkling]

Maybe its coz ur a northerner 

Ask for "coca cola" 

anybody know the thai for "dandelion and burdock"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This will be good.

[Flysiam]

Am I the only one on this whole thread who knows that yoiu never ask for "coke"? 

You ask for colaaaa, and work out the brand and diet preferences after they get the first part.

Thais always understand colaaaa right away. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know - in my 40 years in Thailand I always asked for a "Coke" and I got it... If I wanted a "Pepsi" - thats what I got too...

Thais have always understood Coooke....right away.