Do Thais have difficulty communicating?

[toybits]

The OP uses on incident to judge whether Thais have difficult communicating. What a brilliant bloke this OP is!

[Rust Never Sleeps]

I have more communication problems in Australia because many Australians only vocabulary, consists of the words,f#ck and me and I want.

[Scottythai]

While I would quite normaly always eat what I am given the only exception is squid (makes me vomit bad) I was at a little pub close to my place that my friend and I went to. He told me the tom yum was great and worth a try. I ordered Tom Yum Goong. Out came Tom Yum Seafood full of Squid. I could smell it right away. Oddly enough at the other side of the restraunt I saw a Thai couple getting a bowl as well. A few seconds later they called the server over (after they tried the soup) and sent it back. I was in the midst of doing the same when ther waiter from their table snatched up the soup infront of me and took it to them. Then proceeded to put the partialy eaten soup infront of me and tell me it was a mix up. If I had not seen with my own eyes the couple tasting the soup from the bowl and did not see it came from another table I would most likely have taken it. I said no thanks I don't want a partialy eaten bowl of food and I was fine now (still feeling ill from the squid smell) I would just enjoy beer with my friends. Everything was fine we drank and had a beer then 20 minutes what looked to be the same bowl came back out. I again said no I was not wanting the soup now as it was the wrong order and I felt sick from the squid smell. Smiles all around then the bowl was taken away. 30sih minutes later we asked for the bill to go to another spot. Suprise Suprise the bowl of soup that was not eaten was on the bowl. I was very quite and descrete to call the server over to and ask why. She got all upset and said it was her mistake and she will have to pay for the soup if I don't. So I asked for her to get the manager and spoke with him about it. He said yes it was a mistake and it will be taken off the bill. When I left I left enough tip for her to cover the cost of the soup and what ever change was extra. If she had to pay for it then it was covered.

While people try to find fault there is always a human factor and for me I accept that. No I would never eat a soup on someone elses table but maybe others would thats their deal.

[TheSpade]

I rcan only think it must depend on the restaurants that you eat at and their rate of staff turnover. When I eat out with my wife we very rarely get the wrong things...

I do, however, question why anybody would oder that filth called Johnny Red. Black is lovely, but Red shouldn't even carry the name Johnny Walker imho. There are many cheap Thai whiskies that taste better...

Maybe she made you repeat the whisky order many times because she couldn't believe anyone would deliberately order that filth! You were lucky to get a waitress with some knowledge of whiskies. :-)

Look Johnny Walker is pure garbage whatever colour you are drinking. Dreadful blended Whisky that no one drinks in Scotland so it gets shipped abroad to gullible foreigners who are tricked into thinking it's good.

I wouldn't dare order any of it back home but they had limited choice of whiskies, the person I was with liked it and it was reasonably priced. When you're mixing it with coke and soda as the Thai's do it doesn't make much difference anyway.

Nice general title to the OP BTW, for a non-Thai bashing thread........................

I haven't bashed Thais. I've asked a question and given some examples of it in action and want to see if there's something I'm missing.

I've gotten a few suggestions as to why they may have difficulty communicating.

The OP uses on incident to judge whether Thais have difficult communicating. What a brilliant bloke this OP is!

Maybe you need to work on your reading skills?

I said this has happened many times yet I gave this as an example. In fact I've given more than one example in the thread and this has all happened in the past week.

Don't start your nonsense.

[petedk]

Where do you guys live?? Here in BKK never have these problems ( and also not whenever traveling throughout Thailand) When I order in Thai or sometines English(depending on the place) or when Thai friends order... 90% of the times it's correct and that one other time its never a big deal.. Just like most other countries.

I live in Bangkok, Thong Lor. The restaurant that lost our order was on Thong Lor. This is a well established place so I was quite surprised at their mistake.

I think many restaurants have a huge turnover of staff so often the people serving don't really care if they make a mistake or not.

Yes, I've also noticed many of the Western Pubs have poor service and make mistakes too. Recently went to one with a friend and ordered a pork chop each. We waited about 25 minutes and the waitress came and said "Sorry Pork chop sold out". What the .... Does it really take 25 minutes to find that out?

[zydeco]

If they have a menu, point to the picture or the line entry in the menu. Do that for the drinks, too.

If only this worked. Usually this is what I will do or if no photos I will point to the Thai writing on the menu and NOT the English so all they have to do is read their own language and write it down on the notepad.

I often wonder if that when translating it into English they got it wrong on the menu so it doesn't match up with the Thai writing but I can't read Thai so I don't know.

Maybe what I think I am ordering is not what is actually written in Thai on the menu but until I learn it I'll never know.

However it still does not explain why when Thai people are ordering to a Thai staff member there are still problems.

Oh, I agree, it doesn't always work. Was just in Black Canyon a week or so ago and the reason they never brought me my order was that they "forgot". I do agree with others, too, that this is usually not a big deal. Food is cheap and plentiful, here, and most of the time, even if they bring me the wrong order, I enjoy whatever Thai food they bring me--sometimes more than I would with what I originally ordered.

[Banzai99]

Yeah, I reckon they should have university educated Farangs slaving away 15 hours a day for a few hundred baht in a 45c Kitchen, I'm quite sure you'd never have to put up with such blatant incompetence ever again.

As we all know, every restaurant in the western world always get their orders right.

Why can't these natives be more like us Farangs, why can't their businesses run like they do in the west, why can't they drive like they do in the west, why can't they be educated like they are in the west, why can't the police be like they are in the west, why can't the government be like the governments of the west, why can't I own land here like I can in the west, why do I live here at all when it's not like the west ?

I wan't to change it, well, not everything of course, only the things that don't suit me, but why oh why can't these pesky natives not understand that THEY have to change to suit ME.

I swear this country is going downhill, and if they are not careful, I'll leave and never come back.

[Kilgore Trout]

Yeah, I reckon they should have university educated Farangs slaving away 15 hours a day for a few hundred baht in a 45c Kitchen, I'm quite sure you'd never have to put up with such blatant incompetence ever again.

 

As we all know, every restaurant in the western world always get their orders right.  

 

Why can't these natives be more like us Farangs, why can't their businesses run like they do in the west, why can't they drive like they do in the west, why can't they be educated like they are in the  west, why can't the police be like they are in the west, why can't the government be like the governments of the west, why can't I own land here like I can in the west, why do I live here at all when it's not like the west ?

 

I wan't to change it, well, not everything of course, only the things that don't suit me, but why oh why can't these pesky natives not understand that THEY have to change to suit ME.

 

I swear this country is going downhill, and if they are not careful, I'll leave and never come back.

I take it youve never seen a hi so thai scold a waiter or attendant like a slave?

Kind of blows your rabt out of the water

Sent from my GT-S5660 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[TheSpade]

Yeah, I reckon they should have university educated Farangs slaving away 15 hours a day for a few hundred baht in a 45c Kitchen, I'm quite sure you'd never have to put up with such blatant incompetence ever again.

As we all know, every restaurant in the western world always get their orders right.

Why can't these natives be more like us Farangs, why can't their businesses run like they do in the west, why can't they drive like they do in the west, why can't they be educated like they are in the west, why can't the police be like they are in the west, why can't the government be like the governments of the west, why can't I own land here like I can in the west, why do I live here at all when it's not like the west ?

I wan't to change it, well, not everything of course, only the things that don't suit me, but why oh why can't these pesky natives not understand that THEY have to change to suit ME.

I swear this country is going downhill, and if they are not careful, I'll leave and never come back.

Someone either can't read or has poor comprehension skills. This isn't about 'poor' service (by Western standards) the service thing was just an example.

It's about Thai's seemingly having difficulty communicating even with other Thai's and the reason behind it if there is one.

When two Thai people talk in Thai and a simple thing like a bottle of whisky is asked for there should not be mass confusion and lots of requests to repeat what was ordered...there is obviously communication issues somewhere.

[NanLaew]

The reason for this is simple. In our countries, you can only screw up so many times before you face serious consequences, such as losing your job.

Here, there is no accountability. No matter how much someone screws up they will not lose their job or be held accountable for mistakes, especially when there is a foreigner involved, the waitstaff's mistakes are blamed on the customer.

It is just that simple.

I guarantee that if Thais were held accountable for their mistakes, mistakes just would not happen as much.

You had me until the "...especially when there is a foreigner involved,..." bit.

My goodness, we just aint all that in their eyes. Get over it.

[Sheryl]

The thread title is rather misleading since you are talking not about an across-the-board communication problem in Thai society but specifically about staff in restaurants getting orders wrong or not understanding them.

Which I agree, is a common occurrence. Probably more common for foreigners due both to language issues and the fact that we are more likely than Thais to be ordering something that might be unfamiliar to the waiter or not available/seldom requested in that particular restaurant.

[NanLaew]

Yeah, I reckon they should have university educated Farangs slaving away 15 hours a day for a few hundred baht in a 45c Kitchen, I'm quite sure you'd never have to put up with such blatant incompetence ever again.

As we all know, every restaurant in the western world always get their orders right.

Why can't these natives be more like us Farangs, why can't their businesses run like they do in the west, why can't they drive like they do in the west, why can't they be educated like they are in the west, why can't the police be like they are in the west, why can't the government be like the governments of the west, why can't I own land here like I can in the west, why do I live here at all when it's not like the west ?

I wan't to change it, well, not everything of course, only the things that don't suit me, but why oh why can't these pesky natives not understand that THEY have to change to suit ME.

I swear this country is going downhill, and if they are not careful, I'll leave and never come back.

Someone either can't read or has poor comprehension skills. This isn't about 'poor' service (by Western standards) the service thing was just an example.

It's about Thai's seemingly having difficulty communicating even with other Thai's and the reason behind it if there is one.

When two Thai people talk in Thai and a simple thing like a bottle of whisky is asked for there should not be mass confusion and lots of requests to repeat what was ordered...there is obviously communication issues somewhere.

So nobody has come close to helping you suss out the cause for these... misunderstandings? Untrained, underpaid, disinterested, non-Thai staff? No?

Getting back to the Johnny Red example; maybe they were shocked that you wanted to buy a whole bottle versus per the glass? I mean that's a whole lotta unpaid work for a waitress that gets it wrong no?

I do recall a Client insisting on a bottle of Jack when courting me at a Soi 11 watering hole and I only wanted a couple of glasses. Certainly no questions were asked in that instance. I was only a bit disappointed that my (name on it) half-empty bottle disappeared when I skipped my regular Thursday libation for a month while I was out of the country. This was the place I mentioned earlier that has some cracking staff for a while.

[joepattaya1961]

It's not just with ordering food, a lot of Thais do have problems in understanding others.

In some cases people respond with "Arai na", basically asking for a repeat of what was said.

Same for Thais on the telephone........takes ages to get messages across.

[Mooner]

It's not just with ordering food, a lot of Thais do have problems in understanding others.

In some cases people respond with "Arai na", basically asking for a repeat of what was said.

Same for Thais on the telephone........takes ages to get messages across.

I agree! I do notice little mistakes here and there. It doesnt bother me. I have noticed though the problems communicating though as very simple orders or statements seem to take a long time to clarify wether they have it or understand the question.

Apart from arai na the words i notice Thais most common replies are mai mee or mai rue!

[TheSpade]

The thread title is rather misleading since you are talking not about an across-the-board communication problem in Thai society but specifically about staff in restaurants getting orders wrong or not understanding them.

Which I agree, is a common occurrence. Probably more common for foreigners due both to language issues and the fact that we are more likely than Thais to be ordering something that might be unfamiliar to the waiter or not available/seldom requested in that particular restaurant.

The restaurant thing was just an example. There have been multiple other instances like when I went to look for an apartment and took a Thai friend with me.

I could see there was great levels of confusion between my Thai friend and the people who worked at the apartment buildings over minor details like how much the rent was,

Conversations would go on forever then afterwards when I would ask what was said my friend would tell me "I asked him the price and he keeps telling me different price every 2 minutes, then when I confirm the price with him he say something totally different again".

This Thai friend is an intelligent person, has a very important and well paying job and is very organised and precise so I know it wasn't just her being lazy / stupid / asking silly questions or anything like that.

There seemed to be real difficulty just getting simple facts like the price, if there was WiFi available, if there were any rooms free. Something that should be a yes or no answer turned into a 2 minute back and forth conversation with lots of confusion.

My friend told me afterwards that she would struggle to get a straight yes or no answer from people when there was no other option but a yes or a no.

So nobody has come close to helping you suss out the cause for these... misunderstandings? Untrained, underpaid, disinterested, non-Thai staff? No?

Getting back to the Johnny Red example; maybe they were shocked that you wanted to buy a whole bottle versus per the glass? I mean that's a whole lotta unpaid work for a waitress that gets it wrong no?

I do recall a Client insisting on a bottle of Jack when courting me at a Soi 11 watering hole and I only wanted a couple of glasses. Certainly no questions were asked in that instance. I was only a bit disappointed that my (name on it) half-empty bottle disappeared when I skipped my regular Thursday libation for a month while I was out of the country. This was the place I mentioned earlier that has some cracking staff for a while.

Sure the issue could be poorly paid and trained staff and that would explain not really giving a shit and not caring what they bring but again for the tenth time it's not just about wrong orders being brought people make mistakes when they are busy / lazy ./ tired it's about when 2 people are having a simple conversation or making a simple request and it cannot be understood even when they are talking the same language....that to me shows communication problems.

No waiting staff would ever be surprised that someone wanted to order a full bottle of whisky seeing as that is the standard in every Thai restaurant and bar in the country. Only ting tong tourist pay over the odds for single spirits and mixers when full bottles of spirits are available dirt cheap and can be checked in when not finished for next time.

Do you ever go to bars and restaurants in Thailand as you would surely know that is the norm?

It's not just with ordering food, a lot of Thais do have problems in understanding others.

In some cases people respond with "Arai na", basically asking for a repeat of what was said.

Same for Thais on the telephone........takes ages to get messages across.

Good to see someone else has noticed it.

Lots of pained expressions and asking to repeat it.

Was talking to a friend earlier who has a thai gf and has lived here for a long time with her. He says he notices she constantly has difficulty communicating simple things with other Thais. Sometimes he can understand exactly what is being said and yet she can't and his Thai isn't anything other than intermediate.

[Chittychangchang]

You've set me off on my kai dom sup sup story.

How long does it take to boil an egg in our recent 4star Bangkok hotel experience. 1 hour plus on average!!After a week of morning explanations in thai to the same waitress and chef....guess what?

Blank apathy.

Kai dom sup sup!!!!!<deleted>!!!!

CCC

[wooloomooloo]

You've set me off on my kai dom sup sup story.

How long does it take to boil an egg in our recent 4star Bangkok hotel experience. 1 hour plus on average!!After a week of morning explanations in thai to the same waitress and chef....guess what?

Blank apathy.

Four star doesn't mean a lot in Thailand.

My wife and I have patronised many a hotel and prefer not to be disappointed with poor service, but that rarely occurs, and if we did, we wouldn't complain as we'll not return. If a business doesn't have a certain amount of repeat customers they're unlikely to survive for long.

[katana]

I don't expect the waiting staff to understand my dreadful English and even more dreadful Thai. I always thought that was why the wrong food and drinks so often were delivered and accepted it as being my own fault.

But now I'm seeing that even when a Thai tries to order from another Thai they have great difficulty.

It's not just the wrong order being brought but you can see there's great confusion between them both when trying to relay what is wanted and things have to be repeated several time.

I just want to know how Johnny Walker Red Label which gets repeated 3 times by me, twice by the waitress and 2 or 3 times by the Thai person I'm with can possibly be misunderstood. There has to be something going on I'm not understanding.

Are you sure your Thai friend knew what you meant when she repeated back 'Johnny Walker Red Label' to you?

Sometimes even when an English loan word enters the Thai vocabulary, they pronounce it in a different way to a native English speaker which can lead to confusion.

[Chittychangchang]

Another common communication problem is asking a tuk tuk to go to the bus station and end up outside a tailors with him humming about free gasoline

CCC

[TheSpade]

I don't expect the waiting staff to understand my dreadful English and even more dreadful Thai. I always thought that was why the wrong food and drinks so often were delivered and accepted it as being my own fault.

But now I'm seeing that even when a Thai tries to order from another Thai they have great difficulty.

It's not just the wrong order being brought but you can see there's great confusion between them both when trying to relay what is wanted and things have to be repeated several time.

I just want to know how Johnny Walker Red Label which gets repeated 3 times by me, twice by the waitress and 2 or 3 times by the Thai person I'm with can possibly be misunderstood. There has to be something going on I'm not understanding.

Are you sure your Thai friend knew what you meant when she repeated back 'Johnny Walker Red Label' to you?

Sometimes even when an English loan word enters the Thai vocabulary, they pronounce it in a different way to a native English speaker which can lead to confusion.

Yeah I'd told her before I attempted to order that I was going to get Red Label. We talked about it and she understood.

She told me a story about the last time she drank it and went crazy.

Edited July 8, 2013 by TheSpade

[notmyself]

It's not just with ordering food, a lot of Thais do have problems in understanding others.

In some cases people respond with "Arai na", basically asking for a repeat of what was said.

Same for Thais on the telephone........takes ages to get messages across.

I agree! I do notice little mistakes here and there. It doesnt bother me. I have noticed though the problems communicating though as very simple orders or statements seem to take a long time to clarify wether they have it or understand the question.

Apart from arai na the words i notice Thais most common replies are mai mee or mai rue!

Within the confines of food my Thai friends call dining out something which I forget but it translates (not literally) as 'lucky dip'.

[NanLaew]

I guess it's just piss poor customer service then. Years (and years) ago, the Thai service was legendary with probably the right proportion of service staff in all aspects of the hospitality business to meet the amount of visitors. Thailand is much different now, with many more tourists as well as expatriate workers and retirees and many more tourist destinations, hotels and restaurants with higher staff turnover.

Regarding the OP's contention that is a 'universal' in Thailand to be able to buy a bottle of spirits versus a glass in any and all bars or restaurants, I beg to differ. It certainly is common and fairly easy (except when he tries to!) but it sure as buggery isn't the standard or the norm in LOS.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Within the confines of food my Thai friends call dining out something which I forget but it translates (not literally) as 'lucky dip'.

Probably

Siang Chok - take a chance - lottery

[Berkshire]

Just curious, Spade (aka OP), but do you have a Thai GF or close Thai friend? If so, wouldn't it make more sense to ask a Thai if they have a problem communicating with each other? It's like asking a Thai if they think farangs have problems communicating with other farangs.

[TheSpade]

I guess it's just piss poor customer service then. Years (and years) ago, the Thai service was legendary with probably the right proportion of service staff in all aspects of the hospitality business to meet the amount of visitors. Thailand is much different now, with many more tourists as well as expatriate workers and retirees and many more tourist destinations, hotels and restaurants with higher staff turnover.

Regarding the OP's contention that is a 'universal' in Thailand to be able to buy a bottle of spirits versus a glass in any and all bars or restaurants, I beg to differ. It certainly is common and fairly easy (except when he tries to!) but it sure as buggery isn't the standard or the norm in LOS.

In nearly every single bar in Thailand I've been to I've seen Thai's with a bottle of whisky on the table. Singles with mixers are always stupidly priced compared to a bottle. You'll often only get 3 or 4 singles for the full price of a bottle.

Just curious, Spade (aka OP), but do you have a Thai GF or close Thai friend? If so, wouldn't it make more sense to ask a Thai if they have a problem communicating with each other? It's like asking a Thai if they think farangs have problems communicating with other farangs.

I did mention already in the thread somewhere that I asked the friend who took me to see apartments why the difficulty in communicating the apartment price, room availability etc and she simply said the people she was asking kept giving her vague or indirect answers or different answers from one minute to the next which is why she had to keep asking over and over again.

The other that the Red Label incident I asked her why there was so much confusion over what was wanted and she said she didn't know.

[notmyself]

Within the confines of food my Thai friends call dining out something which I forget but it translates (not literally) as 'lucky dip'.

Probably

Siang Chok - take a chance - lottery

Could well be.

In a way it is good because you get to try things which you have never had before though the downside is that if you order that dish in the future you will likely get something else. Don't go out much as a group these days but when we do we takes turns at ordering. When it's my turn I get one of them to do the translating and ask to speak to the chef. I just order rice for 5 and 5-600 Baht's worth of food of the chef's choosing. Give it a go.

[PaullyW]

Yes, they often do have trouble communicating succinctly.

Having a pretty good grasp of Thai, my theory is that Thai does not lend itself well to precision in communicating. It's a very vague and rudimentary language.

If you ever listen to Thai people talking, listen for what percentage of the communication is "alai?" or "what?". Sometimes I think many Thais spend 10-20% of their communication trying to negotiate meaning long after the meaning should have been clear.

Very simple language and simple people. It is also what makes it beautiful in a way.

[jaideeguy]

I observe after living with a Thai in a Thai moo baan for over a decade that they speak soo much, but say so little. It is a very imprecise language and the culture is not into [important] details...........ya gotta love them anyway!

Re Thai restaurants in Thailand................all I can say is that it's good that tipping is not into the culture here yet. Maybe if it was, they would make less mistakes.

The only way to get what you want is to cook it yourself at home, which I am doing more and more. Imagine the chaos and mistakes in the kitchen if there are so many mistakes in the dining area.............makes me shudder.

[Norcan]

I remember a friend giving me a quote some years back which I've never forgotten and pass onto others regularly:

Order what you want. Eat what you get.

Even Mrs N passes this onto the other Thai family members who all seem to nod acceptance.

Sent from my HTC One using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NanLaew]

Just curious, Spade (aka OP), but do you have a Thai GF or close Thai friend? If so, wouldn't it make more sense to ask a Thai if they have a problem communicating with each other? It's like asking a Thai if they think farangs have problems communicating with other farangs.

I did mention already in the thread somewhere that I asked the friend who took me to see apartments why the difficulty in communicating the apartment price, room availability etc and she simply said the people she was asking kept giving her vague or indirect answers or different answers from one minute to the next which is why she had to keep asking over and over again.

The other that the Red Label incident I asked her why there was so much confusion over what was wanted and she said she didn't know.

This is not the same friend is it? If it is, she would appear to be the common denominator when it comes to obfuscation, confusion and misunderstanding. Maybe she is uncomfortable being the interpreter which is not uncommon as it places them in a position of some responsibility... and in her case it seems quite handy to blame it on the other people for being vague, indecisive or clueless.