My girlfriend was struggling to divide 2 by 5

[mauGR1]

Thai women who date farangs are really not representative of Thais at large, as your example so clearly demonstrates. So to answer your question of "are thai people really this ignorant?," the answer is "no." And why are you dating such ignorant women? Best you can do?

I have to struggle to find a sentence i half-agree with here...And the attack on the OP is totally unjustified.

In my experience, and i am not talking about ordinary workers, all the Thai graduates i talked with, denoted an abysmal lack of common knowledge....At the point that i have given up talking more than food and trivial stuff.

Instead of looking down on Thais, we Westerners should be grateful for having been given a good education since the first years.

Just saying..

Common knowledge? You mean common "western" knowledge. I'd ask about your knowledge of Asia or Thailand specifically, but I'm rather positive it's abysmal. The OP's GF is not exactly young, but young people in general are not going to be taught basic math the same as we were. They make it up by having better knowledge of IT, social networking, and the like than us old farts.

As for the OP, I just find it comical that he would come on here and essentially broadcast that his GF is stupid. Does he think that this reflects positively on him somehow?

Well. The OP said his GF is ignorant, not stupid...

...And i think my knowledge of Asia and Thailand is superficial and limited, but not abysmal...for the rest i agree.

[MegaRanter]

Thai women are smarter than the men. In most family businesses, it's the lady that controls the purse strings.

My personal observation..

[arthurwait]

When will people learn that a Thai degree is completely worthless and that every 7/11 employee has one. Only slight exceptions are scientific degrees from the top universities.

Why because the Thai education system is a joke, same reason they can't do fractions except the aforementioned people with decent scientific/engineering degrees.

[arthurwait]

Thai women are smarter than the men. In most family businesses, it's the lady that controls the purse strings.

My personal observation..

True, probably because they don't get treated like princes.

[lomatopo]

Did you ask your GF to divide 5 into 2, in Thai? Did she understand your question? I think they must learn fractions here in, what, M3?

If a Thai person asked me to divide five into two, in Thai, I would fail. Am I ignorant?

Thai students start to learn fractions on P-4.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Oops, I meant P-3, not M-3.

[pattayadingo]

Wondering why she would want to divide 2 by 5.

Is she going to sell 2 cars and have to give 5 people a piece each?

[Crazy chef 1]

Knowledge and wisdom are not the same.to be happy in your life is real wisdom!or does the knowledge of quantum theory brings you closer to be happy and fulfilled ?

[lujanit]

IMHO the biggest problem here in LOS is education, or maybe that should be lack thereof. Recently a company here in BKK which specializes in outsourcing (back office stuff) and handling Work Permits, Visas etc for expats hired a university graduate whose major was English. English is a basic necessity as you are constantly dealing with expats. Make sense?

The successful applicant was apparently very pretty however it came to light quite quickly that she couldn't speak any english. The interview was conducted entirely in Thai and she wasn't given the standard english proficiency test that all applicants had to complete. Why? You would have to ask the guy who interviewed her.

After less than two weeks push came to shove and the Section Head for Expat Services (herself a Thai) sat her down with the other staff and started asking questions in english. This girl just could not answer. She left that day and never returned.

So my question is what the hell did this girl do for 4 years at university to earn a degree in english?

Edited August 27, 2013 by lujanit

[jocko]

Yes I was making my thesis that the moon landing was a hoax.

Took me a minute to realise that my wife had no idea what I was talking about. She was born after that event in a village without a newspaper or TV.   

What! somebody landed on the moon, When?

[TheSpade]

I know some blonde girls in my home country that could not even explain why 2 + 2 is 4 . I think this is a world wide problem .

Indeed.

There are people back home who can't do basic maths and have no common sense or general knowledge too.

Someone I know said / did the following....

When asked to point to the UK on the map of the world pointed at France.

When asked to point to Europe pointed to Africa.

Asked if Scarborough was in Spain

Asked who Al Queda were and what they did

Asked if India was the capital of Pakistan

Those are just things I can remember of the top of my head. She has a uni degree. Studying to be a teacher at the moment.

Some people I see using a calculator for basic sums but back home they have tills that tell them the total and what change to give and I guarantee most of the staff couldn't work it out in their head so I don't see why it's a big deal.

Worrying slightly when it's 10B + 10B and you've given a 50B note maybe.

Not everyone uses a calculator. Most of the street food vendors round here can count quick as a flash and don't make mistakes with change.

A lot of the Thai's I know personally are quite well aware of what's going on in the world and current events.

I don't see how I can expect them to be able to name members of The Beatles or other bands born before their time, in other countries, that they were never interested in or listened to.

[mca]

Knowledge and wisdom are not the same.to be happy in your life is real wisdom!or does the knowledge of quantum theory brings you closer to be happy and fulfilled ?

For some reason I'm reading your post in the voice of the bloke who used to do the voiceover for the TV series "Monkey" mate.

[jocko]

I know some blonde girls in my home country that could not even explain why 2 + 2 is 4 .  I think this is a world wide problem . 

 

  

 

Indeed.

 

There are people back home who can't do basic maths and have no common sense or general knowledge too.

 

Someone I know said / did the following....

 

When asked to point to the UK on the map of the world pointed at France.

When asked to point to Europe pointed to Africa.

Asked if Scarborough was in Spain

Asked who Al Queda were and what they did

Asked if India was the capital of Pakistan

 

Those are just things I can remember of the top of my head. She has a uni degree. Studying to be a teacher at the moment. 

 

Some people I see using a calculator for basic sums but back home they have tills that tell them the total and what change to give and I guarantee most of the staff couldn't work it out in their head so I don't see why it's a big deal.

 

Worrying slightly when it's 10B + 10B and you've given a 50B note maybe.

 

Not everyone uses a calculator. Most of the street food vendors round here can count quick as a flash and don't make mistakes with change. 

 

A lot of the Thai's I know personally are quite well aware of what's going on in the world and current events.

 

I don't see how I can expect them to be able to name members of The Beatles or other bands born before their time, in other countries, that they were never interested in or listened to. 

I was in big DIY chain store in the UK and the power went of of course then the tills stopped working well it was panic they had to replace the younger staff on the tills with some of the oldies who normally filled the shelves to add up the bill. I know some people who could not find country's on the globe I have seen them on TV quiz shows in the UK.

[HeijoshinCool]

IMHO the biggest problem here in LOS is education, or maybe that should be lack thereof. Recently a company here in BKK which specializes in outsourcing (back office stuff) and handling Work Permits, Visas etc for expats hired a university graduate whose major was English. English is a basic necessity as you are constantly dealing with expats. Make sense?

The successful applicant was apparently very pretty however it came to light quite quickly that she couldn't speak any english. The interview was conducted entirely in Thai and she wasn't given the standard english proficiency test that all applicants had to complete. Why? You would have to ask the guy who interviewed her.

After less than two weeks push came to shove and the Section Head for Expat Services (herself a Thai) sat her down with the other staff and started asking questions in english. This girl just could not answer. She left that day and never returned.

So my question is what the hell did this girl do for 4 years at university to earn a degree in english?

Likely she can read English, and is proficient with grammar, just can't speak it.

[bangkockney]

I know some blonde girls in my home country that could not even explain why 2 + 2 is 4 . I think this is a world wide problem .

The funny thing is, you've (unknowingly?) asked a tricky question.

Let me ask you a similar question: why does 541 - 67 = 474

Tell me the why; not how or because, but why.....

Edited August 27, 2013 by bangkockney

[kennedy]

I know some blonde girls in my home country that could not even explain why 2 + 2 is 4 . I think this is a world wide problem .

The funny thing is, you've (unknowingly?) asked a tricky question.

Let me ask you a similar question: why does 541 - 67 = 474

Tell me the why; not how or because, but why.....

Because I said it did!

[whimsy]

 

So my question is what the hell did this girl do for 4 years at university to earn a degree in english?

Errr ....... she was very pretty. That is enough.

[lomatopo]

Thai women are smarter than the men. In most family businesses, it's the lady that controls the purse strings.

My personal observation..

This is de riguer in Matriarchal societies, like that here in Thailand - so not related to innate intelligence.

[patongphil]

Can she cook tasty food?

Is your house clean?

Does she deal with the motorbike taxis/ tuk tuks/ shopping at the market/ insurance salesman/ etc etc?

If so who cares?

[p_brownstone]

Why do you denigrate your Thai girlfriend because she has never heard of Darwin?

Evolution in that sense is simply not understood in Thai religious teachings.

You whine that she "knows nothing about western music before 2006. She sometimes does recognize some classic songs but she just doesn't know the artist or name of the song and very rarely"

​What to you may be a "Classic song" will be, to many Thais, a cacophony ........discordant and quite painful to the ear.

Would you expect a Thai to understand Shakespeare?

Have you heard of Phra Sunthorn Vohara, (Sunthorn Phu) can you recognise or even understand his works?

Of course not - nor would I (or most Thais) expect you to; so why do you think that a Thai should completely understand - much less appreciate - your culture?

Patrick

Edited August 27, 2013 by p_brownstone

[Tim207]

IMHO the biggest problem here in LOS is education, or maybe that should be lack thereof. Recently a company here in BKK which specializes in outsourcing (back office stuff) and handling Work Permits, Visas etc for expats hired a university graduate whose major was English. English is a basic necessity as you are constantly dealing with expats. Make sense?

The successful applicant was apparently very pretty however it came to light quite quickly that she couldn't speak any english. The interview was conducted entirely in Thai and she wasn't given the standard english proficiency test that all applicants had to complete. Why? You would have to ask the guy who interviewed her.

After less than two weeks push came to shove and the Section Head for Expat Services (herself a Thai) sat her down with the other staff and started asking questions in english. This girl just could not answer. She left that day and never returned.

So my question is what the hell did this girl do for 4 years at university to earn a degree in english?

I have known several Thais with fairly good reading and writing English skills but very poor conversational skills. They have the vocabulary but have no practical speaking or listening practice. It is kind of like learning Thai from another farang who learned using Thai transliterated into the Latin alphabet and rarely speaks to Thai people.

[samran]

My ex wife had a degree from Thailand and a Masters from Australia but didn't know who Shakespeare, Bill Clinton or the Rolling Stones were. She sparked up when I said the Beatles but could not tell me a song or member of the band but she said she had heard the name. Btw she is 40 years old.

Thais are told from day one that everything they need is in Thailand and everything that is good comes from Thailand and are not taught or encouraged to look outside Thailand, so I suppose it is hardly suprising that they have no knowledge of popular culture from the West. That doesn't explain how " I wanna be a billionaire" assualts my ears everytime I go out though!!.

When I was teaching 74% of my group students (all adult learners) some of whom worked at GM thought the car was invented in Thailand.

on a lighter note:

I recently went into a 7/11 and bought 3 packets of sweets at 10 baht a packet. The girl worked it out on a calculator. I gave 40 baht and..... well you know the rest.

You mean like all those Australians who think Holden and Ford are Australian owned?

[Bosse137]

Check out "Jaywalking" on Jay Leno show.. never seen such ignorence in my life.Many do not know who Obama is!!! I am talking of US citizens!

[giggles]

no wonder farangs get fedup and go home after discovering this

[yimlitnoy]

I have been here for 34 years and I cannot count how many farangs I have met that lost everything to such stupid girls, they lost their house, car, money, property etc... Now can you tell me who cannot count, the girls or those men?

[Stradavarius37]

Another Thai bashing thread - how terribly original.....

[Stradavarius37]

Why do you denigrate your Thai girlfriend because she has never heard of Darwin?

Evolution in that sense is simply not understood in Thai religious teachings.

You whine that she "knows nothing about western music before 2006. She sometimes does recognize some classic songs but she just doesn't know the artist or name of the song and very rarely"

​What to you may be a "Classic song" will be, to many Thais, a cacophony ........discordant and quite painful to the ear.

Would you expect a Thai to understand Shakespeare?

Have you heard of Phra Sunthorn Vohara, (Sunthorn Phu) can you recognise or even understand his works?

Of course not - nor would I (or most Thais) expect you to; so why do you think that a Thai should completely understand - much less appreciate - your culture?

Patrick

Because he's a western-centric troll!

[Suradit69]

Must confess , the shop I buy beer at 40bht a bottle, 5 at a time, 200 bht. Done so for years. Still they use the calculator at all my purchases.

And the reason they started using bar codes and computerized cash registers first in western countries was because the sales clerks and stock boys were too stupid to avoid making mistakes that cost stores a ton of money and angered customers.

I'm sure it would be easy to pose a number of fairly elementary questions to the OP that he would be unable to answer and then we could all leap to the conclusion that all farang are brain dead as well. If you've ever watched the Weakest Link on BBC Entertainment, you'd be astounded at how thick many of the contestants are.

Edited August 27, 2013 by Suradit69

[WitawatWatawit]

And the reason they started using bar codes and computerized cash registers first in western countries was because the sales clerks and stock boys were too stupid to avoid making mistakes that cost stores a ton of money and angered customers.

Aah, not really sure that's right ... seems like it was a case of tracking inventories ... not tracking check-out chicks ...

http://www.barcoding.com/information/barcode_history.shtml

Check-out chick of the week. Hmmm...

[Skint]

How many of you have asked your GF or Mrs after reading this thread what 2 divided by 5 is? Brilliant

[Jasun]

How many of you have asked your GF or Mrs after reading this thread what 2 divided by 5 is? Brilliant

I did, she said 2/5 is 2/5.