American Expat Found Dead In Nong Khai Home

[chiang mai]

Kuhn ChiangMai -- I just noticed your comment #132 What's your problem?

A Thai female who does not speak English (which is the only language that concerns me) is less likely to have considered hooking up with a farang than an English-speaking Thai female whether she is a Chula graduate or an airline captain or a bank vice-president.

With a non-English speaking Thai female you may be the first farang she has ever met which brings a whole range of experiences that you will not encounter if someone has decided that are actively seeking a non-Thai companion for whatever reason.

To me my first post #127 was a simple observation utter rubbish, dighead, 'looser' or otherwise.

Mathematically and statistically your statements are incorrect, but it's good to have observations regardless, even if they are the wrong ones.

I work in an office full of Thai women. Some of whom speak really good English, some a little English, a very few (the maids) speak none. Out of all these women I would guess that one or two out of more than 50 have had a romantic relationship with a foreigner

Sure, and then there are the several hundred thousand Issan farm girls each year who speak absolutely no English whatsoever who plan to work in Pattaya or Soi Nana et al, just for the sole purpose of liasing with a foriegner, ergo, there can be no relationship between English language skills or lack of them and relationships with foriegners, it's silly.

[chiang mai]

Chiang Mai huh? Next time your wife decides to spend 15 years in an English speaking country you should join her.

[mrmazinkle]

Kuhn ChiangMai -- I just noticed your comment #132 What's your problem?

A Thai female who does not speak English (which is the only language that concerns me) is less likely to have considered hooking up with a farang than an English-speaking Thai female whether she is a Chula graduate or an airline captain or a bank vice-president.

With a non-English speaking Thai female you may be the first farang she has ever met which brings a whole range of experiences that you will not encounter if someone has decided that are actively seeking a non-Thai companion for whatever reason.

To me my first post #127 was a simple observation utter rubbish, dighead, 'looser' or otherwise.

Mathematically and statistically your statements are incorrect, but it's good to have observations regardless, even if they are the wrong ones.

I work in an office full of Thai women. Some of whom speak really good English, some a little English, a very few (the maids) speak none. Out of all these women I would guess that one or two out of more than 50 have had a romantic relationship with a foreigner

..easy to spot them..the ones wearing all the gold.....

[Osiris]

In order to be part of the community, you must first want to be part of it. That means assimilating, participating, contributing, socialising. If you build fences around yourself and your house, have strict rules as to whom can visit and when, don't expect the community to accept and welcome you.

This is not in direct response to the deceased - just a general comment about being a foreigner in a foreign land.

You go where you are "welcomed".

[DennisKL]

Speaking of going off topic. May I suggest that all the losers who are still suffering the loss of a gold bracelet start a new topic. Perhaps you guys can call it,

"Can't get a GF back home and the same counts for Thailand. Any suggestions where to head next"

Sent from my HTC One X using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[rct99q]

Have lived in Isan for more than five years and have met very few people (women or men) who do not know English (basic english, but they understand some). As for 100,000's of Isan girls going south to work in the bar trade your nuts. There would not be a woman in any village if that happened.

Does it happen yes. I have had no less than 2,500 kids pass through the school over 5 years and nearly every student could speak, read and write English.

Try going to a local Tesco, Big C, Swensen's, Coffee Shop, morning market, any bank, hospital, clinic, pet store, Freshmart, 7/11, car dealership, bookstore, hotel, guest house, resort, school, insurance agent, Truevision store, newspaper shop, ice station, water station, electric company, water company, your local government office, your provincial government office, national park, unesco world heritage park, temple, any person under the age of about 25, university, aquarium, bike shop, western union office......all of them speak or understand some English and guaranteed most have not been romantically linked to a western person...most would have nothing to do with a western person other than business services (ie, buying a coffee) speaking of Starbucks is another palce, KFC, Burger King, Mcdonalds.....hello....all speak English and do not have or want a western partner!

So either some of you come here as Tourists once a year and believe all the bar talk you hear or all of you live were I don't, thankfully. Because quite honestly my neighbors (thai's who speak english) would not want you.

[chiang mai]

Have lived in Isan for more than five years and have met very few people (women or men) who do not know English (basic english, but they understand some). As for 100,000's of Isan girls going south to work in the bar trade your nuts. There would not be a woman in any village if that happened.

Does it happen yes. I have had no less than 2,500 kids pass through the school over 5 years and nearly every student could speak, read and write English.

Try going to a local Tesco, Big C, Swensen's, Coffee Shop, morning market, any bank, hospital, clinic, pet store, Freshmart, 7/11, car dealership, bookstore, hotel, guest house, resort, school, insurance agent, Truevision store, newspaper shop, ice station, water station, electric company, water company, your local government office, your provincial government office, national park, unesco world heritage park, temple, any person under the age of about 25, university, aquarium, bike shop, western union office......all of them speak or understand some English and guaranteed most have not been romantically linked to a western person...most would have nothing to do with a western person other than business services (ie, buying a coffee) speaking of Starbucks is another palce, KFC, Burger King, Mcdonalds.....hello....all speak English and do not have or want a western partner!

So either some of you come here as Tourists once a year and believe all the bar talk you hear or all of you live were I don't, thankfully. Because quite honestly my neighbors (thai's who speak english) would not want you.

As a rule I don't like the grammar nazi on the internet but the bar has to be set higher for English "teachers" hence, it's "you're" and not "your", a pet peeve of mine I'm afraid.

But moving on: there's a world of difference between students being taught English in a classrooom environment and their ability to use the language to any useful degree in the outside world. So, when you state that your 2,500+ past students could speak, read and write English, I think you perhaps mean something else, do you not!

[rgs2001uk]

Have lived in Isan for more than five years and have met very few people (women or men) who do not know English (basic english, but they understand some). As for 100,000's of Isan girls going south to work in the bar trade your nuts. There would not be a woman in any village if that happened.

Does it happen yes. I have had no less than 2,500 kids pass through the school over 5 years and nearly every student could speak, read and write English.

Try going to a local Tesco, Big C, Swensen's, Coffee Shop, morning market, any bank, hospital, clinic, pet store, Freshmart, 7/11, car dealership, bookstore, hotel, guest house, resort, school, insurance agent, Truevision store, newspaper shop, ice station, water station, electric company, water company, your local government office, your provincial government office, national park, unesco world heritage park, temple, any person under the age of about 25, university, aquarium, bike shop, western union office......all of them speak or understand some English and guaranteed most have not been romantically linked to a western person...most would have nothing to do with a western person other than business services (ie, buying a coffee) speaking of Starbucks is another palce, KFC, Burger King, Mcdonalds.....hello....all speak English and do not have or want a western partner!

So either some of you come here as Tourists once a year and believe all the bar talk you hear or all of you live were I don't, thankfully. Because quite honestly my neighbors (thai's who speak english) would not want you.

Well I live here, maybe I live in the real Thailand as some refer to it.

As for speaking English, yes, hello, thank you , goodbye seems to be it.

Suggest you visit some of the farang orientated entertainment places, every second girl seems to be from either Boo Lee Lam or Soo Lin, some others are from LA.

Please tell me how many actually speak Thai as a first language?

Most speak Thai as a second language, and even fewer speak any English worth writing home about, but thats a discussion for another thread.

I have had no less than 2,500 kids pass through the school over 5 years and nearly every student could speak, read and write English.

Please let me know the name of this palace of enlightment.

[rct99q]

A child who can read a story out loud that they have not seen before and then answer comprehension questions means they can read, speak and write English. I have worked with a few "teachers" from the UK (brilliantly educated by TEFOL) who could not answer the same questions correctly.

So yes they can read, write and speak English. Most young people nowadays are listening to music from overseas, facebook and playing video games all in English. Some are of course at a basic level, but many of them can speak and read 3 or more languages....so they are not dummies. In fact based on my experience (20-30 percent) have a higher level of reading and writing then their counterparts in the US or UK who are churning out idiots at the moment.

As for the mistaken word usage, yes. But we all have pet peeves.....luckily I have a loving family, beautiful children who adore me, classrooms of children who treat me very well, co-workers who enjoy my smiling face when I enter the room, are thrilled by my ability to converse with them in their native tongue and an overall life satisfaction that it seems some people will never have.....you are correct.......enjoy your......existence.

[Thai at Heart]

Have lived in Isan for more than five years and have met very few people (women or men) who do not know English (basic english, but they understand some). As for 100,000's of Isan girls going south to work in the bar trade your nuts. There would not be a woman in any village if that happened.

Does it happen yes. I have had no less than 2,500 kids pass through the school over 5 years and nearly every student could speak, read and write English.

Try going to a local Tesco, Big C, Swensen's, Coffee Shop, morning market, any bank, hospital, clinic, pet store, Freshmart, 7/11, car dealership, bookstore, hotel, guest house, resort, school, insurance agent, Truevision store, newspaper shop, ice station, water station, electric company, water company, your local government office, your provincial government office, national park, unesco world heritage park, temple, any person under the age of about 25, university, aquarium, bike shop, western union office......all of them speak or understand some English and guaranteed most have not been romantically linked to a western person...most would have nothing to do with a western person other than business services (ie, buying a coffee) speaking of Starbucks is another palce, KFC, Burger King, Mcdonalds.....hello....all speak English and do not have or want a western partner!

So either some of you come here as Tourists once a year and believe all the bar talk you hear or all of you live were I don't, thankfully. Because quite honestly my neighbors (thai's who speak english) would not want you.

Which Isaan are you living in? Is there another one, where apparently everyone speaks English. Have been up and around here for nearly 20 years, and my nephews and nieces who just graduated from high level unis in Bangkok struggle to hold a conversation with me. I am currently helping the neighbours daughter who is studying in Australia to proof read and help her with her submissions.

[chiang mai]

A child who can read a story out loud that they have not seen before and then answer comprehension questions means they can read, speak and write English. I have worked with a few "teachers" from the UK (brilliantly educated by TEFOL) who could not answer the same questions correctly.

So yes they can read, write and speak English. Most young people nowadays are listening to music from overseas, facebook and playing video games all in English. Some are of course at a basic level, but many of them can speak and read 3 or more languages....so they are not dummies. In fact based on my experience (20-30 percent) have a higher level of reading and writing then their counterparts in the US or UK who are churning out idiots at the moment.

As for the mistaken word usage, yes. But we all have pet peeves.....luckily I have a loving family, beautiful children who adore me, classrooms of children who treat me very well, co-workers who enjoy my smiling face when I enter the room, are thrilled by my ability to converse with them in their native tongue and an overall life satisfaction that it seems some people will never have.....you are correct.......enjoy your......existence.

My experience over the past decade of the rate at which Thai natives are able to learn and adequately utilise the English language has not been great, I think of a few examples:

The medical teaching university where the doctors are required to pass an English test before they can graduate, these are arguably some of the smartest students the country has to offer, the native English language teachers responsible for this training and testing are told to "pass these students" because the country needs doctors.

The hospital near to me where doctors specifically request the customer/language/liason staff not to refer non-Thai speakers to them because of their inability to communicate effectively in any language other than Thai.

The local English language teachers at my younger nieces school who are unable to hold any form of communication in English with me.

The myriad of sales staff in the thousands of stores who are not prepared to try and converse with me when I go to buy something but instead insist on conversing solely via my wife in Thai.

My elder niece, lovely girl, who's placed second in her school for the past three years in Tung Siliam in Sukohthai province, a rural school of some fame, this year she starts at CMU to study medicine, she's been "studying" English for the past three years. When I ask her any question that is longer than three words in length her answer is invariably, "sorry I don't understand".

So what does all of this tell me, it tells me that there's a lot of English language teaching taking place here and many of the teachers are being convinced, for one reason or another, that their students have achieved various levels of proficiency in English. But would an independant examiner mostly concur that said students had really learned English, I suggest that is very doubtful, the evidence for that is surely the items I have listed above combined with the everday experiences of us native language speakers in Thailand. So who is to blame for this scenario, I really don't know but I suspect it's a bit of everyone and everything, the courses are probably not sufficently enduring and robust, not all teachers up to a decent standard, lack of focus by students, no follow up by families, culture and so on, but one thing's for certain, the 2,500 kids you mention have not learnt English.

[mrtoad]

A child who can read a story out loud that they have not seen before and then answer comprehension questions means they can read, speak and write English. I have worked with a few "teachers" from the UK (brilliantly educated by TEFOL) who could not answer the same questions correctly.

So yes they can read, write and speak English. Most young people nowadays are listening to music from overseas, facebook and playing video games all in English. Some are of course at a basic level, but many of them can speak and read 3 or more languages....so they are not dummies. In fact based on my experience (20-30 percent) have a higher level of reading and writing then their counterparts in the US or UK who are churning out idiots at the moment.

As for the mistaken word usage, yes. But we all have pet peeves.....luckily I have a loving family, beautiful children who adore me, classrooms of children who treat me very well, co-workers who enjoy my smiling face when I enter the room, are thrilled by my ability to converse with them in their native tongue and an overall life satisfaction that it seems some people will never have.....you are correct.......enjoy your......existence.

I'm sorry, I really haven't witnessed this at all. Yes there are people in Isan that can speak English, but it's not exactly widespread. Even in Bangkok, kids who go to decent schools and from middle-class backgrounds often struggle to speak any functional English past the "Hello How are you....I'm Fine........."

Having traveled to a number of the provinces,I certainly haven't experienced this, but maybe there is a magical place somewhere in Thailand where English is widely and proficiently spoken, let us know as I would imagine there are a number of companies looking for this potential recruitment goldmine.

Edited January 17, 2013 by mrtoad

[Soutpeel]

Which Isaan are you living in? Is there another one, where apparently everyone speaks English. Have been up and around here for nearly 20 years, and my nephews and nieces who just graduated from high level unis in Bangkok struggle to hold a conversation with me. I am currently helping the neighbours daughter who is studying in Australia to proof read and help her with her submissions.

Its in a parallel universe where there are fluffy bunny rabbits, tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

[rgs2001uk]

Which Isaan are you living in? Is there another one, where apparently everyone speaks English. Have been up and around here for nearly 20 years, and my nephews and nieces who just graduated from high level unis in Bangkok struggle to hold a conversation with me. I am currently helping the neighbours daughter who is studying in Australia to proof read and help her with her submissions.

Its in a parallel universe where there are fluffy bunny rabbits, tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

I thinks its that mythical province where the buffalo never get sick.

Farang have been searching for it for years with no luck.

[Thai at Heart]

Which Isaan are you living in? Is there another one, where apparently everyone speaks English. Have been up and around here for nearly 20 years, and my nephews and nieces who just graduated from high level unis in Bangkok struggle to hold a conversation with me. I am currently helping the neighbours daughter who is studying in Australia to proof read and help her with her submissions.

Its in a parallel universe where there are fluffy bunny rabbits, tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

I thinks its that mythical province where the buffalo never get sick.

Farang have been searching for it for years with no luck.

Is it in the Thai-light Zone?

[Soutpeel]

Which Isaan are you living in? Is there another one, where apparently everyone speaks English. Have been up and around here for nearly 20 years, and my nephews and nieces who just graduated from high level unis in Bangkok struggle to hold a conversation with me. I am currently helping the neighbours daughter who is studying in Australia to proof read and help her with her submissions.

Its in a parallel universe where there are fluffy bunny rabbits, tangerine trees and marmalade skies...

I thinks its that mythical province where the buffalo never get sick.

Farang have been searching for it for years with no luck.

Maybe his geography is not upto snuff and he has been living in Singapore for the last 5 years...

[chiang mai]

I suspect that posters view is not untypical of the gap that exists between the results many of the teachers think they are getting and the reality of what has been learned and is useful.

[rgs2001uk]

I suspect that posters view is not untypical of the gap that exists between the results many of the teachers think they are getting and the reality of what has been learned and is useful.

More likely a result of the, "no child left behind" policy, the policy that some schools have where no child fails, every child passes with straight A's.

The schools reputation matters more than the quality and level of education actually delivered, its all about two little words, face and money.

[EyesWideOpen]

Kuhn ChiangMai -- I just noticed your comment #132 What's your problem?

A Thai female who does not speak English (which is the only language that concerns me) is less likely to have considered hooking up with a farang than an English-speaking Thai female whether she is a Chula graduate or an airline captain or a bank vice-president.

With a non-English speaking Thai female you may be the first farang she has ever met which brings a whole range of experiences that you will not encounter if someone has decided that are actively seeking a non-Thai companion for whatever reason.

To me my first post #127 was a simple observation utter rubbish, dighead, 'looser' or otherwise.

Mathematically and statistically your statements are incorrect, but it's good to have observations regardless, even if they are the wrong ones.

I work in an office full of Thai women. Some of whom speak really good English, some a little English, a very few (the maids) speak none. Out of all these women I would guess that one or two out of more than 50 have had a romantic relationship with a foreigner

Sure, and then there are the several hundred thousand Issan farm girls each year who speak absolutely no English whatsoever who plan to work in Pattaya or Soi Nana et al, just for the sole purpose of liasing with a foriegner, ergo, there can be no relationship between English language skills or lack of them and relationships with foriegners, it's silly.

I was in a bar speaking in Thai to a farm girl who had just arrived in Pattaya. I asked her if she could speak English. She said no, she only knew how to speak hello. I then asked her if she was afraid of going with a farang who did not speak Thai. She said no problem. I then asked her what she did when the farang customer was talking away in English at her. Her response had me in stitches. It was.......

smile a LOT !!!!!!!!!!

I have traveled extensively in throughout Isan by motorcycle, and yes, the general English level is very low. So unless you attend Thai school and learn excellent Thai, if you move to Isan to live in the village of your lovely new Thai wife, you will live a somewhat isolated life.

Edited January 17, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[rct99q]

Subject today was the use of modal verbs.....any guesses from the peanut gallery? Without Wiki....thought so. Ask a Thai student the next time you see one..if they don't know.......explain it to them.

I will ignore the bar girl story.......so sad.....to have your eyes wide open.

Yes the Thai system encourages no student be left behind, depends on the teacher though on what level they expect from a student/s. As for the general populace...again my world must be different. The neighbors kids know more English than Thai (2 and 3 years old) as that is what they are learning.

I will continue on in my efforts to help the people I come in contact with.......I would hope you will do the same.

[96tehtarp]

Very sad.

[Briggsy]

This thread is so off-topic it is unreal.

[keestha]

This thread is so off-topic it is unreal.

Agree. Maybe not so nice for people who knew and loved the guy who has passed away.

[endure]

As this thread has nothing whatever to do with Pattaya bar girls or the Thai education system it's closed.