ThaiBrat Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) [media]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DptRL-dXJ-4[/media] Thai Prime Minister speaking in English doing an interview with Al Jazeera last month. In the interview, she talks about flooding, the economy, Myanmar, Asean and her brother Thaksin Shinawatra. She appears to have a handle on the situations facing Thailand. Edited June 25, 2012 by ThaiBrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NomadJoe Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I expected her English to be better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnnyBKK Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I wonder if they chose that network because they were more amenable to working from a script without any ad-hoc challenges or hard questions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paangjang Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Why is her English sooo bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnnyBKK Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Why is her English sooo bad? It was probably a bit better when she was a studying for her advanced degrees in Kentucky, but since her return (been a while now?) I reckon she's been speaking 99.999% Thai and therefore her English skills have been slipping. If you don't use it you lose it as my SOs keep telling me. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregb Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Why is her English sooo bad? It was probably a bit better when she was a studying for her advanced degrees in Kentucky, but since her return (been a while now?) I reckon she's been speaking 99.999% Thai and therefore her English skills have been slipping. If you don't use it you lose it as my SOs keep telling me. . . Why do you think she spoke English while in the US? You don't honestly think she wrote her own papers or did her own homework, do you? If you do, then I would like to offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge for very favorable price. There are many, many wealthy Thais that go overseas for their education and can barely speak or write English at all. They hire someone to do their work for them, and classes are specifically selected that can be engineered to generate a passing grade with minimal language skills. I'm not saying you are wrong that it didn't get worse since then. I don't know one way or the other. But it would be presumptuous to assume the current PM's English was ever any better than today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Payboy Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I had no problems understanding her. Couldnt say the same about the interviewer though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudolus Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Haven't got a clue what message she is trying to get across. I hear the words, and know what she is saying, but not a clue what they actually mean. She is cute as a button though; would be great to do a kiss and tell on her (just before you get killed). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWPattaya Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I actually found her better than expected. Speaking English, that is. The content of what she said however.................... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudolus Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I actually found her better than expected. Speaking English, that is. The content of what she said however.................... Exactly what I thought. What Thai politicians struggle to understand is that to the rest of the world people like to question things, and not just hear a party political broadcast and statements consisting of "trust me, I'm a politician " I would love to see a real reporter in the western style going to town on one of these guys and girls; a Thai Paxman, where the interviewer sits there and says "but you have been making various pledges and promises since you have been in power; have not followed upon any of them, certainly necver delivered upon any of your promises. So how do you expect the voting public to believe anything you ever pledge again?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSnapper Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 This is the Thai top elite. Probably she could get a job as a secretary in Singapore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ignis Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 English is much better then her Brothers was.. Or should say when he was PM, maybe he now speaks English much better.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArtVandalay84 Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Schwing! Edited June 25, 2012 by ArtVandalay84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudolus Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 This is the Thai top elite. Probably she could get a job as a secretary in Singapore. 97000 posts and that is the best you could come up with? She's more receptionist level actually - "you hold on yeah". beeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppp as the phone gets put down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeryHansumMan Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Hmmmm..... $11 Billion to stop floods occurring again....... or $10 Billion to the "Friends of Thaksin Fund" and $1 Billion for flood prevention? P.S. She doesn't have a square-head like her bro. Was she adopted? Edited June 25, 2012 by VeryHansumMan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. Can you imagine if Stephen Sackur or Paxo was interviewing her? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingthing Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) The AJ announcer Kamahl Santamaria and Inbetweener's Simon Bird ... separated at birth? Edited June 25, 2012 by Jingthing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. And I guess they took her phone off her so she couldnt call or SMS her brother to ask.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotsak Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) http://edition.cnn.c...ref=videosearch Jump to the 1:50 min mark.. We have a plan.. Edited June 25, 2012 by kotsak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenSnapper Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. The interviewer was very polite and spoke very slowly and accentuated. Like a teacher in school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 Why is her English sooo bad? I would bet her English is better than your Thai. It is difficult to make an assessment on Yingluck, based on this interview, because we don't know if she was given the questions in advance and rehearsed the answers, or if it was unrehearsed. If it was unrehearsed , I would say she did very good, if she had the questions in advance of the interview , not so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exsexyman Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I expected her English to be better. I wonder how well David Cameron speaks Thai. Or Angela Merkel, or Barack Obama. Hell, G W Bush could barely speak English! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. Can you imagine if Stephen Sackur or Paxo was interviewing her? Which questions did you think she did not know the answers to. and in your opinion what would you think would have being the correct answer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) I expected her English to be better. I wonder how well David Cameron speaks Thai. Or Angela Merkel, or Barack Obama. Hell, G W Bush could barely speak English! Me too because, as everyone knows, Thai is an international language that facilitates trade/business around the world thanks to the country from which it originates former position as the world's most powerful economy with an empire that spanned 25% of the planet. The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. Can you imagine if Stephen Sackur or Paxo was interviewing her? Which questions did you think she did not know the answers to. and in your opinion what would you think would have being the correct answer? I didn't need to know the answers to realise she was winging it. Did you? Edited June 25, 2012 by HardenedSoul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnnyBKK Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I didn't need to know the answers to realise she was winging it. Did you? I disagree, I think the whole thing was pretty close to fully scripted. Her mental struggling was in remembering her lines and doing the internal translation as she obviously doesn't think in English. IMO PS I don't think any of these factors have anything to do with whether or not she's a capable representative of those with the real power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigJohnnyBKK Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) As a side note, at first I laughed when she said climate change is the most urgent/critical issue facing her leadership. However from a big-picture POV she may well be right, the importance of whether or not big brother returns certainly is unimportant in comparison. Link to a relevant recent article Related TED talk: ! Edited June 25, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 I didn't need to know the answers to realise she was winging it. Did you? I disagree, I think the whole thing was pretty close to fully scripted. Her mental struggling was in remembering her lines and doing the internal translation as she obviously doesn't think in English. IMO And, had I not previously seen interviews in which she answers questions in English with more fluency, I might agree with you. As to her capabilities as a proxy for the ruling elite, I really just don't give enough of a toss about Thai politics to be able to comment with any authority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirineou Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 HardenedSoul, on Today, 05:23 , said:The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. sirineou, on 28 minutes ago, said: Which questions did you think she did not know the answers to. and in your opinion what would you think would have being the correct answer? HardenedSoul, , said: I didn't need to know the answers to realise she was winging it. Did you? If she was " Winging it" then I think she did pretty good, So I will ask the question again, Which question did you think she was "Winging" and what in your opinion would have being a better answer? and keep in mind that you , have a better command of the English language (we hope), already know the questions, and have time to think of answers, and have an edit button. Ok. get set.... ready...... GO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaullyW Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Why is her English sooo bad? It was probably a bit better when she was a studying for her advanced degrees in Kentucky, but since her return (been a while now?) I reckon she's been speaking 99.999% Thai and therefore her English skills have been slipping. If you don't use it you lose it as my SOs keep telling me. . . Johnny, do you ever find anything not to defend about Thailand? Common, brother. What about all the other millions of people who speak primarily their first language but who speak a second language, like English, far better than she can? And, these are people without "advanced" degrees attained in second languages... Anyway, the criticism of her should only make minimal mention of her lack of ability in English (especially because of her "advanced" degree from some random state in the US). There are plenty of other areas on which we can focus our criticism of her. Not least is her inability to think and reason clearly (in Thai or English). She's largely a dunce. Think Sara Palin, for those who may have followed the last US elections. Thais criticise her Thai speaking and her lack of ability in logic and reasoning all the time. How would you defend her to them? Or would you, seeing as how they are Thai? Would you rather just agree with them despite their argument being counter to your typical defense of anything and everything Thai? A conundrum no doubt. Be real, man. Edited June 25, 2012 by PaullyW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) HardenedSoul, on Today, 05:23 , said:The problem isn't her English; she has a decent enough vocabulary. She understands the questions perfectly well; she just doesn't know the answers. sirineou, on 28 minutes ago, said: Which questions did you think she did not know the answers to. and in your opinion what would you think would have being the correct answer? HardenedSoul, , said: I didn't need to know the answers to realise she was winging it. Did you? If she was " Winging it" then I think she did pretty good, So I will ask the question again, Which question did you think she was "Winging" and what in your opinion would have being a better answer? and keep in mind that you , have a better command of the English language (we hope), already know the questions, and have time to think of answers, and have an edit button. Ok. get set.... ready...... GO. Oi ! Stop being a <Snip!>. I'm neither an expert on Thailand nor the solutions to the challenges it faces so I don't know the answers to those questions. I do, however, know when someone else doesn't know the answer either and waffles their way through. Oh and there's no need to doubt my grasp of the English language. It's somewhat superior to yours as evidenced by my knowledge of correct comma placement Edited June 25, 2012 by metisdead : Expletive removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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