Do Thais have difficulty communicating?

[AnotherOneAmerican]

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.

Alternatively and more likely, she is angling for a cut of the action.

The big discussion is how much they can squeeze out of you, and her 'commission'.

[TheSpade]

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.

This makes sense. Good to see someone who read and understood the topic rather than just trying to accuse me of bashing the Thai's or bleating on about the restaurant example.

Thanks for your explanation.

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.

Not the same friend in both situations.

And the one who came apartment hunting with me offered to do so, made all the plans, called all the apartments and made arrangements for me to visit so it's not like she didn't want to do it. I didn't even ask her to.

She's intelligent and organised and very responsible due to her job so it's not an issue with her I'm sure. And like I say the communication issue is something I've seen between many Thai's. It's been explained above as far as I can see.

Alternatively and more likely, she is angling for a cut of the action.

The big discussion is how much they can squeeze out of you, and her 'commission'.

You are totally wrong but you obviously spend too much time with bar girls and the dregs of society to have formed this opinion.

There were no options to squeeze more money out of me because all prices were listed and I know both of these people well enough to know they aren't like this.

One of them makes far more money than me. A very well paying job. She doesn't need to squeeze a few baht out of me.

[Nuna]

Yes, I had the same experience.

Often my Thai friends were also served the wrong food/drinks.

Many of the serving staff are uneducated persons who have worked in that position for less than a few days/weeks and most of them will leave soon again because they aren't able to write/read properly and not able to remember more than 1 or 2 items at a time due to refusing to concentrate on something because it "makes their brain hurt".

I am educated, sir. I earned my first BA years ago and I am doing my second and also working as part time waitress. I had worked full time job for years but now I can't due to my classes. And it's Russian language that hurts my brain, not my job.

You have to realize that waiters have to deal with multiple tasks at the same time. It's tiresome, long hour job.

[Paangjang]

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.

Same thing here. I've helped Thai's understand eachother on several occasions. I don't think it's a language issue i think they sometimes try to "over confirm" things, then both parties get confused.

[manarak]

Yes, I had the same experience.

Often my Thai friends were also served the wrong food/drinks.

Many of the serving staff are uneducated persons who have worked in that position for less than a few days/weeks and most of them will leave soon again because they aren't able to write/read properly and not able to remember more than 1 or 2 items at a time due to refusing to concentrate on something because it "makes their brain hurt".

I am educated, sir. I earned my first BA years ago and I am doing my second and also working as part time waitress. I had worked full time job for years but now I can't due to my classes. And it's Russian language that hurts my brain, not my job.

You have to realize that waiters have to deal with multiple tasks at the same time. It's tiresome, long hour job.

Then you are probably doing a good job!

I wrote "many of the serving staff" not "all"... wouldn't you agree with what I wrote?

And maybe you don't work in one of the touristy places.

Here in Pattaya it is very difficult to get staff, while at the same time the youth here does everything it can to avoid working.

I know that in other places, the situation is totally different.