damo Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 How hard is it to learn about Thai culture, a simple paperback and an afternoon could sort that out, lots of information out there. Language is more individual. OP is fluent in Thai, doubt it. Can't see the big deal with knowing all that make one Thai, it's boring once you have done Thailand to death. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelmann Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I choose NOT to learn more thai as I would end up speaking my mind about all the BS that goes on here. My lack of proficiency allows me to have a rant and no one knows what I am talking about. I can then calm down and nobody is any the wiser. The language barrier here can be a wonderful thing This would be a problem for me too and from what I see they dont do confrontation well.................your food is crap you expect me to pay for this = stabbed to death.............however once found a big pube ina Swensens ice cream they apologised offered me another and then didnt have to pay so some are better than others at coping with the nasty complaining Farang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transam Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 How hard is it to learn about Thai culture, a simple paperback and an afternoon could sort that out, lots of information out there. Language is more individual. OP is fluent in Thai, doubt it. Can't see the big deal with knowing all that make one Thai, it's boring once you have done Thailand to death. ''Check bin'' is all you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HardenedSoul Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 The OP's not talking about Thailand's problems. Yes, of course things like corruption, flooding etc do affect some of us but I think it was referring to the general reluctance foreigners show in learning to speak Thai and how it can impact upon everyday things in everyday life. Personally, I've softened my line on this issue considerably. I was dead set against it but when my first reaction to being offered a lucrative role back in Blighty was to retch, I realized I may be here a little longer than I first thought. Frankly, I'm reluctant to integrate further into the farang "scene" here in BKK because, as it simply can't compare to the social circles I left back in London, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of satisfaction to be derived from it. In light of that, I'm open to giving the Thai language a fair crack - it can't hurt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David48 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 How hard is it to learn about Thai culture, a simple paperback and an afternoon could sort that out, lots of information out there. Language is more individual. OP is fluent in Thai, doubt it. Can't see the big deal with knowing all that make one Thai, it's boring once you have done Thailand to death. Hey Les ... did you know that Dame Edna is currently on her farewell tour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrry Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 How hard is it to learn about Thai culture, a simple paperback and an afternoon could sort that out, lots of information out there. Language is more individual. OP is fluent in Thai, doubt it. Can't see the big deal with knowing all that make one Thai, it's boring once you have done Thailand to death. Hey Les ... did you know that Dame Edna is currently on her farewell tour? What is the bet she has the same number of farewell performances as Dame Nellie Melba or John Farnham. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damo Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 How hard is it to learn about Thai culture, a simple paperback and an afternoon could sort that out, lots of information out there. Language is more individual. OP is fluent in Thai, doubt it. Can't see the big deal with knowing all that make one Thai, it's boring once you have done Thailand to death. Hey Les ... did you know that Dame Edna is currently on her farewell tour? I would'nt mind catching the show, the wifey would LOVE it, I'd really love to see Les though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StreetCowboy Posted July 5, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted July 5, 2012 . Can no man (or woman) find rightful reason in what the OP writes? Anyone ... ? . They say "don't shoot the messenger" but where's the fun in shooting the message? To be honest, the OP is - and can you believe I still don't know the right word for this - an excellent example of his own point. How can one hope to start a reasonable conversation when one cannot communicate - when one comes across so negatively, in the case of the OP. "Opinions will be appreciated" - I very much doubt the real truth of that, regardless of what the OP believed when he wrote it. To me, its self-evident that if you can converse in a local language, a local lingua franca, then you will eliminate a lot of problems, or alternatively find a lot of things easier. It may well not help, though, with problems like burning plastic rubbish, noisy loudspeakers on your fence, or alcoholism amongst the in-laws. Nor poor urban planning and street maintenance. In the long term, liguistic skills are no substitute for cricket... SC 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kilgore Trout Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 First off, anyone who calls themselves a "farang" is an idiot in my book; if you wanna be a step and fetch it go ahead and shuffle off to ya masser.... Second; why dont you go ask the westerners here who do speak Thai (and there are plenty of them) what problems they encounter, then compare. What nonsense; not to mention wanton hubris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DP25 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yes it's true to a certain extent. A lot of the frustrations and problems that many farang have could be reduced by learning even a small bit of basic Thai. It doesn't solve everything of course, but it is not a coincidence that the biggest complainers with the most problems are usually the people who can barely even order a plate of khao pad on their own. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post StreetCowboy Posted July 5, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted July 5, 2012 Yes it's true to a certain extent. A lot of the frustrations and problems that many farang have could be reduced by learning even a small bit of basic Thai. It doesn't solve everything of course, but it is not a coincidence that the biggest complainers with the most problems are usually the people who can barely even order a plate of khao pad on their own. If God had wanted us to speak foreign languages, he'd have not given us fingers to point with SC 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauGR1 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) Life can be very strange sometimes. My ex-neighbour, a Swiss guy who speak Thai more than fluently,hard working, married with a Thai Lady, 2 children including an adopted one, sharing ( paying ) drinks on a daily basis with the neighbourhood, left 2 yrs ago, after 15 yrs in LOS, totally disappointed. Some other selfish foreigners, no wife, no clue about Thai language and culture, seem to be comfortable,harshly criticizing every aspect of our host country...Yet they seem to be reasonably happy with themselves. Well, some questions just can't be answered, i guess. Edited July 5, 2012 by mauGR1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinfoilhat Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Most Thais and most Farangs have no culture at all.... I dont know about that, look up the worldwide staitics on yeast infections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Most Thais and most Farangs have no culture at all.... Agreed..Of course me and you are part of the minority You...I gave up already....much easier without culture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damo Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) How can one explain in a nice way about the interesting conversations one has without creating generalisations about Thai people or having the poignant berate myself because of the people I associate with. Edited July 5, 2012 by damo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaullyW Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Let's be honest here, guys. Much (some might say most) of Thai culture absolutely sucks. It is everything wrong that modern humanity crawled and clawed away from a couple hundred years ago. There is nothing wonderful about Thai culture. It's selfish, boring, void of improvement or critical thought, lacks curiosity and is dangerously xenophobic. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaullyW Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 As for talking, the vast majority of them have nothing really interesting to say. Yes, I do speak Thai. Their thoughts and ideas are generally quite small and limited. This is true for "educated" ones, too. Not just the farmers. Just telling it like it is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Life can be very strange sometimes. My ex-neighbour, a Swiss guy who speak Thai more than fluently,hard working, married with a Thai Lady, 2 children including an adopted one, sharing ( paying ) drinks on a daily basis with the neighbourhood, left 2 yrs ago, after 15 yrs in LOS, totally disappointed. Some other selfish foreigners, no wife, no clue about Thai language and culture, seem to be comfortable,harshly criticizing every aspect of our host country...Yet they seem to be reasonably happy with themselves. Well, some questions just can't be answered, i guess. A Swiss paying drinks on a daily basis for someone else..... No way....more probable he was a KGB spy pretending to be Swiss. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Let's be honest here, guys. Much (some might say most) of Thai culture absolutely sucks. It is everything wrong that modern humanity crawled and clawed away from a couple hundred years ago. There is nothing wonderful about Thai culture. It's selfish, boring, void of improvement or critical thought, lacks curiosity and is dangerously xenophobic. I don't agree with the xenophobic (rest agreed). But I am Austrian so some xenophobic might be complete normal for me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 As for talking, the vast majority of them have nothing really interesting to say. Yes, I do speak Thai. Their thoughts and ideas are generally quite small and limited. This is true for "educated" ones, too. Not just the farmers. Just telling it like it is. Well there are educated and educated.....These with university degree that can't count to ten and than there are these mostly Chinese-Thais who are REALLY educated. They have ideas and discuss about international politics etc etc, but you won't find them easily as they don't mix much with the normal population as they are bored of them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaullyW Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) As for talking, the vast majority of them have nothing really interesting to say. Yes, I do speak Thai. Their thoughts and ideas are generally quite small and limited. This is true for "educated" ones, too. Not just the farmers. Just telling it like it is. Well there are educated and educated.....These with university degree that can't count to ten and than there are these mostly Chinese-Thais who are REALLY educated. They have ideas and discuss about international politics etc etc, but you won't find them easily as they don't mix much with the normal population as they are bored of them. I work in a very large ("elite") multinational finance firm in Bangkok. ALL of them are these Thai-Chinese. Yes, they are certainly a cut above the "regular" Thais, however, they are LARGELY far from interesting people. They are mostly concerned with flaunting their status over other Thais. Edited July 5, 2012 by PaullyW 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobalt60 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 . Can no man (or woman) find rightful reason in what the OP writes? Anyone ... ? . Yes me, he is right, I am stupid, I know, I heard a Thai tell another Thai when I was installing a research irradiator for them a couple of years back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harryfrompattaya Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Well I guess you know Thai now you can work in the rice fields. What pitiful farang individual you must be to work the rice fields. Good Day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apetley Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Well I guess you know Thai now you can work in the rice fields. What pitiful farang individual you must be to work the rice fields. Good Day ? Sent from my GT-I9003 using Thaivisa Connect App Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauGR1 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Most Thais and most Farangs have no culture at all.... Agreed..Of course me and you are part of the minority You...I gave up already....much easier without culture. Culture will haunt you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damo Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 I had to read it twice too. I think he means that with all the Thai powers the OP wants us to believe he has, he now can eff off to the mud and plant his rice and be something he is'nt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mauGR1 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Well I guess you know Thai now you can work in the rice fields. What pitiful farang individual you must be to work the rice fields. Good Day Unless you are eating bandwidth and files for lunch, i cannot find any good reason for you to despise rice workers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David48 Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 (edited) As for talking, the vast majority of them have nothing really interesting to say. Yes, I do speak Thai. Their thoughts and ideas are generally quite small and limited. This is true for "educated" ones, too. Not just the farmers. Just telling it like it is. I work in a very large ("elite") multinational finance firm in Bangkok. ALL of them are these Thai-Chinese. Yes, they are certainly a cut above the "regular" Thais, however, they are LARGELY far from interesting people. They are mostly concerned with flaunting their status over other Thais. Hummm ... my girlfriend is ... Thai Educated FarmGirl Works for an International Thai based Company. Obviously we have no prospects together. I'll start my Dear Jane letter now ... breaking up is so hard to do ... . Edited July 5, 2012 by David48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samsiam Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 We should start a support club.....for those that wish to remain ignorant...yet happy. I'll captain it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phl Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 We should start a support club.....for those that wish to remain ignorant...yet happy. I'll captain it. May be your happiness is due to ignorance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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