What Is It About Thai's On The Telephone

[monty1412]

Cracks me up... every time I get a call from someone Thai particularly ladies they start off launching into jist of conversation and generally you haven't a clue who they are or what they are talking about. No introductions or stating where they are from

Case in point.. call just received

Me... Hello and stated my name

Her.... Its ready at shop

Me.. sorry ??

Her.. its ready you come pick up

Me.. pick up waht

Her.. at shop

Me.. sorry who is this

Her.. is this Khun XXXX

Me. yes

Her... its Khun Bom at shop

Me... sorry what shop

Her.... motorbike shop

Me.. which one

Her.. you come other day and order

Me.. yes but I have some parts on order from a few shops .. which one are you

Her.. no we only have one shop

Me...( deciding to take different tack).. what shop are you

Her.. you come other day

Me.. ( realising my different tack didn't work) Ok what part is it you have

Her.. Ohh Rear sets for your bike'

Me.. Ok .. now I know

Im not complaining , its just quite funny trying to decode conversations and I often wonder why they dont start off with

Her.. is this Khun XXXX

Me.. yes

Her hello its Khun Bom at 517 Shop.. you order rear sets from us....

Mind you compare this to life in western countries where they don't even bother to call to let you know part is in. And part is in shop exactly when she said it would be.

Life in Thailand... never a dull moment..

[webfact]

moved to General forum

[maxme]

You will get used to it soon enough.

[tinfoilhat]

There is the small issue of the fact that they are dealing in a language that is not their first.

I am actually pretty happy to receive a phone call from any vendor, period, let alone in english.

any phone call that doesn't go through 14 rounds of hello is also a bonus.

any wrong number that does not result in follow up attempts for the next two weeks is heaven.

[Moonrakers]

Phone rings. I answer

Me: Hello

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Hello

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Yes, hello

Caller: Harooooooor

Me: Cry poot krap

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Pom poot prasat Thai g'dai krap

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: say hello once more and I'll hang up

Caller: .................................................. Harooooor

End of converstion

[tombkk]

You will get used to it soon enough.

They expect you to recognize their voice. Why? Because they recognize voices.

Now we have caller ID, which helps. Before that, our customers expected to be recognized by their voice, and our Thai staff did. It was quite embarrassing when a customer called me and I had to ask who's calling.

[mrtoad]

Phone rings. I answer

Me: Hello

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Hello

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Yes, hello

Caller: Harooooooor

Me: Cry poot krap

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: Pom poot prasat Thai g'dai krap

Caller: Haroooooor

Me: say hello once more and I'll hang up

Caller: .................................................. Harooooor

End of converstion

Repeat around six times, until they figure they have the wrong number

[pattayadingo]

Another thing to consider is that many Thai people do not tend to shop around like we would and go on a pricing spree. One past g/f was totally bemused that I went to several places to price some goods I wanted.

Maybe they think you should have done the same

[Petesear]

Maybe your caller would not need to babble on in broken English if your Thai was as good as their English?

If you are going to say it is then why let the conversation get so far in English?

Just a thought....

[David006]

probably a bit off topic but was sitting on the veranda with my coffee yesterday an the wife, as usual ,was sitting talking on the phone to her sister and had been for 15 minutes or more. So I thought of something the wife needed to ask her and conveyed this to the wife.."ask her about yadda yadda...fertiliser or some such...."

wife: " s'okay dear I ask her later we are going to see her in a little while at mamma's house"

gotta love 'em...lol

[Sing_Sling]

I do love it when their phone rings . . . the look at the phone for a second like a foreign object has just been handed to them . . . they then answer with a timid 'hallooh' so as not to anger this object.

Ah, the little things in life

[bendix]

Oh oh oh . I think I know the answer to this riddle.

Is it, perhaps, because she is being extra polite and trying to communicate with you in your own language even though she is . . ummmm . . Thai and the conversation is happening in . . . . ummmm . . . Thailand?

[Banzai99]

Oh oh oh . I think I know the answer to this riddle.

Is it, perhaps, because she is being extra polite and trying to communicate with you in your own language even though she is . . ummmm . . Thai and the conversation is happening in . . . . ummmm . . . Thailand?

When there are no Farangs about they all speak in perfect English only switching to Thai in the presence of a Farang, just to make a Farangs life difficult cos they don't want us here.

[Berkshire]

Y U NO SPEAK THAI IN THAILAND?

You speak Thai then no more asinine phone conversations followed by asinine posts on TV. Everybody wins.

+1

[Berkshire]

Oh oh oh . I think I know the answer to this riddle.

Is it, perhaps, because she is being extra polite and trying to communicate with you in your own language even though she is . . ummmm . . Thai and the conversation is happening in . . . . ummmm . . . Thailand?

I was amazed the girl spoke/understood English that well. The OP should be commending her instead of whining about her.

[trainman34014]

I think anybody who gets a phone call to say something's arrived for them is a lucky person. My experience has been that you have to call them or you will never know !

[robblok]

Oh oh oh . I think I know the answer to this riddle.

Is it, perhaps, because she is being extra polite and trying to communicate with you in your own language even though she is . . ummmm . . Thai and the conversation is happening in . . . . ummmm . . . Thailand?

When there are no Farangs about they all speak in perfect English only switching to Thai in the presence of a Farang, just to make a Farangs life difficult cos they don't want us here.

I have to agree, seen this so many times.

[Eff1n2ret]

Oh oh oh . I think I know the answer to this riddle.

Is it, perhaps, because she is being extra polite and trying to communicate with you in your own language even though she is . . ummmm . . Thai and the conversation is happening in . . . . ummmm . . . Thailand?

Don't be hard on him, he only rides a motorbike. You shouldn't mock those less fortunate than yourself.

[bendix]

Don't be hard on him, he only rides a motorbike. You shouldn't mock those less fortunate than yourself.

Based on those rigorous criteria, there'd be noone left to mock.

Gimme a break.

[Banzai99]

I do love it when their phone rings . . . the look at the phone for a second like a foreign object has just been handed to them . . . they then answer with a timid 'hallooh' so as not to anger this object.

Ah, the little things in life

So Thai people look at their Cellphone to identify the caller then say hello in a non aggressive manner when answering the call.how strange, I do exactly the the same thing too, must have been in Thailand too long

[monty1412]

Y U NO SPEAK THAI IN THAILAND?

You speak Thai then no more asinine phone conversations followed by asinine posts on TV. Everybody wins.

If its asinine then don't do it any dignity by replying. Of course I don't think anyone on this forum would be surprised that if one did speak fluent Thai then yes this wouldn't necessarily happen or at least happen so regularly , so appreciate you stating the bleeding obvious even if you had trouble with some basic english words and had to resort to sms speak

[Sing_Sling]

I do love it when their phone rings . . . the look at the phone for a second like a foreign object has just been handed to them . . . they then answer with a timid 'hallooh' so as not to anger this object.

Ah, the little things in life

So Thai people look at their Cellphone to identify the caller then say hello in a non aggressive manner when answering the call.how strange, I do exactly the the same thing too, must have been in Thailand too long

Good job of being obtuse . . . Not at all what I wrote, but don't let your editorialising stop you from drawing the wrong conclusions

[tombkk]

Y U NO SPEAK THAI IN THAILAND?

You speak Thai then no more asinine phone conversations followed by asinine posts on TV. Everybody wins.

If its asinine then don't do it any dignity by replying. Of course I don't think anyone on this forum would be surprised that if one did speak fluent Thai then yes this wouldn't necessarily happen or at least happen so regularly , so appreciate you stating the bleeding obvious even if you had trouble with some basic english words and had to resort to sms speak

I speak fluent Thai, and I can assure you that the gist of the conversation would have been the same. I often receive phone calls from some unkown number and then someone who doesn't state their name says "the goods" are ready now. The conversation goes pretty much the same way in Thai as the OP's example in English.

"It's a cultyurla thing."[tm]

[lannarebirth]

Y U NO SPEAK THAI IN THAILAND?

You speak Thai then no more asinine phone conversations followed by asinine posts on TV. Everybody wins.

+1

Actually, until you learn to speak Thai, you never really know how assinine a conversation could possibly be.

[Lite Beer]

A number of petty squabbling posts have been removed.

[HLover]

Of course she was 'bemused'; it wasn't her money being spent. *Just go to 1 shop dahrkling-then we go look tv and I hungry again*

Another thing to consider is that many Thai people do not tend to shop around like we would and go on a pricing spree. One past g/f was totally bemused that I went to several places to price some goods I wanted.

Maybe they think you should have done the same

[canuckamuck]

This has to be a put on. Everybody knows the shops never call.

[necronx99]

Y U NO SPEAK THAI IN THAILAND?

You speak Thai then no more asinine phone conversations followed by asinine posts on TV. Everybody wins.

+1

Actually, until you learn to speak Thai, you never really know how assinine a conversation could possibly be.

I can read Thai, and speak it moderately, I have found however that the absolute best talent to develop is one that lets you NOT understand or comprehend a single word being spoken the second my wife picks up the phone. It all just fades into a slightly annoying background sound, a bit like cicadas or green frogs.

Even when she is speaking English.

[2unique]

probably a bit off topic but was sitting on the veranda with my coffee yesterday an the wife, as usual ,was sitting talking on the phone to her sister and had been for 15 minutes or more. So I thought of something the wife needed to ask her and conveyed this to the wife.."ask her about yadda yadda...fertiliser or some such...."

wife: " s'okay dear I ask her later we are going to see her in a little while at mamma's house"

gotta love 'em...lol

Beautiful, I stand there like a child that may get some chocolate, anxiously shuffling from one foot to another saying, ask him if my English manual has arrived, ask him, ask him as my wife holds her motherly hand up for quiet. End of call, impatiently I query manual status to invariably hear, oh I didn't ask, they'll never have it yet if at all!

I weep and mumble, you could have just asked, as for the umpteenth time my dreams die inside.

[mca]

I'm fascinated by the fact that a number of locals seem to be able to have a 5 minute conversation with a wrong number.

To be honest though regarding phone nightmares the same thing happened back home. I used to have a job in HR. Quite often it'd go like this

Me; Hello. Human Resources.

Caller: I came in last week for an interview. Have i got the job?

Me: What's your name please?

Caller: I came in on Thursday.

Me: What's your name please.

Caller: It was as PR assistant.

Me: Yes but we interview a lot of people. What's your name?

Caller; Who are you? I want to speak to the guy who interviewed me.

Me; That would be me. I do all the interviews. Now if you don't tell me your name I'm hanging up.

Caller: Are you the boss?

CLICK.........