What Women Say About PM Yingluck

[Baerboxer]

Yes that is what I hear. The Northern accent would be gone had she studied Thai more studiously in college. I don't imagine all Thai people from the North speak with a noticeable accent. The same with people from Issan not all have that Lao accent. Thai spoken correctly is not done with an Issan or Northern accent and it is not a comment made just by Bangkok socialites.

Rubbish.An accent is neither here nor there and has nothing to do with speaking Thai or any other language correctly.

In England before the age of railways and the rise of the public school system the great aristocrats around the country all spoke with strong regional accents.

Your reference to Bangkok socialites is puzzling:I doubt the real Thai upper class could care less about Yingluck's accent.The stupidity and bile on the social media about this alleged failing comes mainly from the new rich middle class nervous about political change.

How do you know how aristocrats in England spoke before the railways and rise of the public schools?

[jayboy]

How do you know how aristocrats in England spoke before the railways and rise of the public schools?

Because there are multiple contemporary accounts - for example of the first Prime Minister , Sir Robert Walpole, speaking with a strong Norfolk accent.Similarly Sir Robert Peel had a thick Liverpool accent.The whole subject is dissected at length with a huge range of fascinating examples in:

Lynda Mugglestone, 'Talking proper' : the rise of accent as social symbol. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1995

[rixalex]

Yes that is what I hear. The Northern accent would be gone had she studied Thai more studiously in college. I don't imagine all Thai people from the North speak with a noticeable accent. The same with people from Issan not all have that Lao accent. Thai spoken correctly is not done with an Issan or Northern accent and it is not a comment made just by Bangkok socialites.

Rubbish.An accent is neither here nor there and has nothing to do with speaking Thai or any other language correctly.

In England before the age of railways and the rise of the public school system the great aristocrats around the country all spoke with strong regional accents.

Your reference to Bangkok socialites is puzzling:I doubt the real Thai upper class could care less about Yingluck's accent.The stupidity and bile on the social media about this alleged failing comes mainly from the new rich middle class nervous about political change.

The Thais whom i have heard discussing her speech, haven't been commenting on her accent, but rather some strange gaffes she has made, muddling up words, whilst publicly speaking. I have sympathy for her, as public speaking is difficult, even for the most articulate. I guess though it is all part and parcel of the job and if you are not good at it, don't expect to get an easy ride.

[Trembly]

^^ '....adds that she speaks Thai very poorly and is a bad representative of her country because of her language skills.'

How can that be, unless it's "Gam Muang" often spoken in the outer villages of CMai? Keeping alive a Thai dialect has a noble ring to it, I'd surmise.

Hmmm.... Didn't she also obtain, like her father, post-graduate academic degrees from stellar American colleges? Surely she had had to speak at least some English to graduate.

As an aside, I understand (anecdotally) that a notable CMai university teaches many of their MA(English) courses in Thai as so many of their would-be graduates have little comprehension of the English language.

It may come as a surprise to you that most of the moneyed urbanites in Chiang Mai are Thai-Chinese. Most Thai-Chinese refuse to speak local dialects.

Writing dissertations for Thai undergrad and postgrad students in the west is a thriving industry. I was approached to write a Master's dissertation for a Thai lass in return for 300 of her English Pounds.

[sparebox2]

Yes that is what I hear. The Northern accent would be gone had she studied Thai more studiously in college. I don't imagine all Thai people from the North speak with a noticeable accent. The same with people from Issan not all have that Lao accent. Thai spoken correctly is not done with an Issan or Northern accent and it is not a comment made just by Bangkok socialites.

Rubbish.An accent is neither here nor there and has nothing to do with speaking Thai or any other language correctly.

In England before the age of railways and the rise of the public school system the great aristocrats around the country all spoke with strong regional accents.

Your reference to Bangkok socialites is puzzling:I doubt the real Thai upper class could care less about Yingluck's accent.The stupidity and bile on the social media about this alleged failing comes mainly from the new rich middle class nervous about political change.

So, to summarise the prevalent view on TV, the Prime Minister is totally inept, incapable of nought but buying Burberry shoes, can hardly cut ribbons, is a total puppet of her brother, cannot speak her own language and therefore is presumably hardly capable of communicating with Thai people, has no worthwhile or relevant work experience, nearly drowned most of the country through her ineptitude, screwed up the terrorism thing ( I was thinking of a different adjective there), has a worthless degree from a presumably worthless American university, speaks ( when she is allowed ) with the wrong accent, has neither brains nor ideas ( back to puppet master ) and is totally 100% corrupt............

She probably also has a driver, because she lacks the skills required.

Looks like we are doomed would you not agree ??

My Mother was closely related to the Pope.

I wouldn't say it is a worthless university.

Kentucky State University Web ranking 3366

Harvard 3

Oxford 19

What about Thailand best uni: Chula?

[Trembly]

As someone who grew up speaking Kam-Mueang, Thai and English (and is picking up Lao at a comfortable pace since relocating) I can tell y'all categorically that Yingluck does not have a regional accent but a socio-economic one. Yep, there's dialects and then there's accents.

People from the North, South, East, West, Isan and the streets of Bangkok generally have unmistakable and dam_n-near inescapable accents when they speak standard / central Thai. Even the Thais from the central plains that surround Bangkok have a swinging brusqueness that is quite different from the Thai that the King, Abhisit or news readers speak with even though they are nominally using the same dialect.

Yingluck speaks Thai like the provincial Thai-Chinese girl that she is; it typically sounds like middle-class Bangkok Thai but it is a little rougher around the edges. Thai-Chinese in the provinces almost always refuse to speak the local dialect unless they marry out or down. If you can't understand Thai but would like an idea of how Yingluck sounds when she opens her mouth just imagine the words of George W. Bush coming out of Hilary Clinton or Giuliani.

Edit : the provincial Thai-Chinese accent is not to be confused with the old-skool immigrant, rice-sack humping, working class Chinese accent that can still be heard in places like Prakhanong, On-Nuch and Sam-Yan among others. This accent is the stiff verbal dog leg that is stereotyped in Thai TV and is not for the faint hearted. Mothers and daughters use the suffix 'wa' to each other and their everyday talk could bruise a Khlong-Toey stevedore. I can't get enough of the way the bums stick out on many of these Thai-Chinese girls though.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Trembly

[jayboy]

As someone who grew up speaking Kam-Mueang, Thai and English (and is picking up Lao at a comfortable pace since relocating) I can tell y'all categorically that Yingluck does not have a regional accent but a socio-economic one. Yep, there's dialects and then there's accents.

People from the North, South, East, West, Isan and the streets of Bangkok generally have unmistakable and dam_n-near inescapable accents when they speak standard / central Thai. Even the Thais from the central plains that surround Bangkok have a swinging brusqueness that is quite different from the Thai that the King, Abhisit or news readers speak with even though they are nominally using the same dialect.

Yingluck speaks Thai like the provincial Thai-Chinese girl that she is; it typically sounds like middle-class Bangkok Thai but it is a little rougher around the edges. Thai-Chinese in the provinces almost always refuse to speak the local dialect unless they marry out or down. If you can't understand Thai but would like an idea of how Yingluck sounds when she opens her mouth just imagine the words of George W. Bush coming out of Hilary Clinton or Giuliani.

Edit : the provincial Thai-Chinese accent is not to be confused with the old-skool immigrant, rice-sack humping, working class Chinese accent that can still be heard in places like Prakhanong, On-Nuch and Sam-Yan among others. This accent is the stiff verbal dog leg that is stereotyped in Thai TV and is not for the faint hearted. Mothers and daughters use the suffix 'wa' to each other and their everyday talk could bruise a Khlong-Toey stevedore. I bloody love the way the bums stick out on many of these Thai-Chinese girls though.

Great post from someone who clearly knows his material - authoritative, well expressed and funny.

[kerryk]

As someone who grew up speaking Kam-Mueang, Thai and English (and is picking up Lao at a comfortable pace since relocating) I can tell y'all categorically that Yingluck does not have a regional accent but a socio-economic one. Yep, there's dialects and then there's accents.

People from the North, South, East, West, Isan and the streets of Bangkok generally have unmistakable and dam_n-near inescapable accents when they speak standard / central Thai. Even the Thais from the central plains that surround Bangkok have a swinging brusqueness that is quite different from the Thai that the King, Abhisit or news readers speak with even though they are nominally using the same dialect.

Yingluck speaks Thai like the provincial Thai-Chinese girl that she is; it typically sounds like middle-class Bangkok Thai but it is a little rougher around the edges. Thai-Chinese in the provinces almost always refuse to speak the local dialect unless they marry out or down. If you can't understand Thai but would like an idea of how Yingluck sounds when she opens her mouth just imagine the words of George W. Bush coming out of Hilary Clinton or Giuliani.

Edit : the provincial Thai-Chinese accent is not to be confused with the old-skool immigrant, rice-sack humping, working class Chinese accent that can still be heard in places like Prakhanong, On-Nuch and Sam-Yan among others. This accent is the stiff verbal dog leg that is stereotyped in Thai TV and is not for the faint hearted. Mothers and daughters use the suffix 'wa' to each other and their everyday talk could bruise a Khlong-Toey stevedore. I bloody love the way the bums stick out on many of these Thai-Chinese girls though.

Great post from someone who clearly knows his material - authoritative, well expressed and funny.

Agree 100% well said.

[hellodolly]

Her ineptness is staggeringly breathtaking - even by Thai standards. She hasn't got a clue about politics and cutting ribbons and pouting isn't going to solve Thailands problems, is it!!!!!

She should butt out and clear off and do something useful like........well anything else!! A major cabinet reshuffle doesn't suggest that it has been a successful 5 months to me - I want someone to tell me one thing she has done well, although this will be an almost impossible task, I realise that!!!.

Well she has managed to piss you off rather well!

She has made some great photo shots.

She has done a great job of being a mouth piece for her brother (innocent one of course)

[philw]

As someone who grew up speaking Kam-Mueang, Thai and English (and is picking up Lao at a comfortable pace since relocating) I can tell y'all categorically that Yingluck does not have a regional accent but a socio-economic one. Yep, there's dialects and then there's accents.

People from the North, South, East, West, Isan and the streets of Bangkok generally have unmistakable and dam_n-near inescapable accents when they speak standard / central Thai. Even the Thais from the central plains that surround Bangkok have a swinging brusqueness that is quite different from the Thai that the King, Abhisit or news readers speak with even though they are nominally using the same dialect.

Yingluck speaks Thai like the provincial Thai-Chinese girl that she is; it typically sounds like middle-class Bangkok Thai but it is a little rougher around the edges. Thai-Chinese in the provinces almost always refuse to speak the local dialect unless they marry out or down. If you can't understand Thai but would like an idea of how Yingluck sounds when she opens her mouth just imagine the words of George W. Bush coming out of Hilary Clinton or Giuliani.

Edit : the provincial Thai-Chinese accent is not to be confused with the old-skool immigrant, rice-sack humping, working class Chinese accent that can still be heard in places like Prakhanong, On-Nuch and Sam-Yan among others. This accent is the stiff verbal dog leg that is stereotyped in Thai TV and is not for the faint hearted. Mothers and daughters use the suffix 'wa' to each other and their everyday talk could bruise a Khlong-Toey stevedore. I bloody love the way the bums stick out on many of these Thai-Chinese girls though.

Great post from someone who clearly knows his material - authoritative, well expressed and funny.

yes , fully agree.