Speaking Thai in Thailand is Useless

[TheSpade]

I made a topic before about whether Thai's have difficulty communicating.

I always thought it was just me and my terrible Thai that was causing problems with orders in bars, restaurants etc.

I think they just aren't expecting you to speak in Thai and expect English then when Thai comes out your mouth they get a shock and don't listen properly (or can't understand because it's so bad in my case maybe)

Then I noticed that the same problems arise when a Thai orders in Thai to another Thai.

The order (even if just one thing) has to be repeated several times then they still go away and come back and ask you to confirm. Then bring the wrong thing anyway.

When looking for an apartment I took a very intelligent Thai friend with me who has a job that requires a lot of organisation and responsibility, she is no dummy, yet simple requests from her to the apartment staff such as "how much per month" or "are their apartments free now?" got confused and long drawn out responses instead of the simple answers that we needed.

I asked her what wasn't being understood and why we had to have 10 minute conversations to find out the price of the apartment and she said Thai's are always like this. You never get a straight answer they'll go off on a tangent.

I've even had problems ordering food at street food stalls that only sell one thing. I remember the first time I went to order moo ping from my local stall and the women working there seemed so confused.

They only sell one thing, I told her in Thai, whilst pointing and motioning with my fingers how many I wanted, and yet she just looked at me blankly and said "mai cow jai". So I stopped talking my dodgy Thai and pointed at the food then used my fingers to say how many I wanted....another blank look.

What could I possibly have wanted other than the one thing she sold?

As for directions, a waste of time. Your average Thai person has never walked anywhere in their life so they have no idea which direction things are. They take a motorbike / taxi / bus / skytrain and pay no attention when going anywhere.

Last week was with a girl and she wanted to take a bus home I had no idea where her bus stopped so she asked a street vendor. He points us off in one direction. We walk for 10 minutes and then she ask a moto driver he sends us in another. After walking for ages I say to her "where is the bus stop?" and she tells me the place...I actually knew exactly where this place was (Victory Monument)...and knew fine well we were about 15 minutes in the wrong direction. It was a 2 minute walk from where we initially were.

Edited September 19, 2013 by TheSpade

[ccarbaugh]

Yes BPUUMIKE, - he answered me in English!

[villagefarang]

My experience in Thailand has been very different from the one expressed in the OP.

[DavidMavec]

The bottom line is, If you cannot read Thai well, you almost certainly do not speak clearly or properly.

[mrtoad]

I don't agree with the above statement one bit. I know a number of people who speak Thai fluently, and have no problems communicating. However, they have minimal Thai language reading skills.

[FritsSikkink]

i suspect you dont "pood chart".

i also find speaking thai incredibly useful for shooting the shit with the locals on my doorstep and getting what i want.

if someone doesn't get it i say it again or circumlocute until i am understood. usually only has to happen once.

personally i believe my thai is <deleted>, and because of that when i am not understood by a native speaker i look back to myself for fault, not the person who speaks the language fluently.

And your suspicion that what I say I do not say very clearly comes from? Actually over the years What I have learned is perfect in every way; Tones, long, short, open ends closed ends etc.

I think you are missing the point but of course I can see why. BTW, your English typing could do with some work.

One point I was trying to make was that Thais are not so good with directions as a fact. I figure maybe 15% out of all the directions I (or my counterpart) has ever got was correct. Normally if you follow their directions they are wrong and you end up asking several more folks before you get where you are going. The reason is because Thais are helpful people and would sooner tell something they don't know well then to not try and help at all, hence Motorbike taxis being the best for directions.

As one person said when you do speak Thai some Thais are just amazed and to be honest they can't believe that you can speak Thai so they are not sure if you said what they thought you said, hence why they ask your Thai counterpart.

I am NOT bashing Thais at all as there is a reason I have ben here for 13 years. I am just making a point how after spending so much time learning the language that many times it is hardly worth it if you are with another Thai.

It is a fact that most of us who learn Thai learn the "queens" Thai and that is to proper for common Thais as is learning the Queen's" English let's say in England. The common folk just don't talk that way in the real world. You are better off learning the "slang" Thai (without swear-words)lol. This is the reason that when I speak I might not be understood as well due to speaking "TOO" proper. A hard habit to drop.

Actually over the years What I have learned is perfect in every way; Tones, long, short, open ends closed ends etc.

Who gave you that idea?

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

i suspect you dont "pood chart".

i also find speaking thai incredibly useful for shooting the shit with the locals on my doorstep and getting what i want.

if someone doesn't get it i say it again or circumlocute until i am understood. usually only has to happen once.

personally i believe my thai is <deleted>, and because of that when i am not understood by a native speaker i look back to myself for fault, not the person who speaks the language fluently.

And your suspicion that what I say I do not say very clearly comes from? Actually over the years What I have learned is perfect in every way; Tones, long, short, open ends closed ends etc.

I think you are missing the point but of course I can see why. BTW, your English typing could do with some work.

nice cheap shot, i get paid to write, just not here. it is what it is.

my suspicion that you are not speaking clearly comes from your statement that you were not being understood.

As for speaking the "queens thai", quit making up terms to suit your 'argument'

[JSixpack]

i suspect you dont "pood chart".

i also find speaking thai incredibly useful for shooting the shit with the locals on my doorstep and getting what i want.

And your suspicion that what I say I do not say very clearly comes from? Actually over the years What I have learned is perfect in every way; Tones, long, short, open ends closed ends etc.

LOL. GirlDrinkDrunk is correct. Here's a specific instance in which you clearly didn't know the correct tone of a very common word but arrogantly thought you did:

In Thai, which the lady was directly translating into in her head, rooms and vacant rooms are distinctly different .... "hong" versus "hong warng". Even with a native English speaker, the answer might have been the same as the OP got.

Hong wang, not hong warng. lol

To which I replied:

No, ว่าง = warng or waang, lol, Thai language expert. Syllables have lengths and the transliteration reflects exactly that.

Your trouble is, Gone, that you don't speak the words w/ the correct tones but you can't hear the difference so you INSIST that you do. Then you imagine it's a Thai issue, when it's ALL your own dam_n fault.

Typical.

And like GirlDrinkDrunk and others I find speaking (basic) Thai extremely useful. It has made ALL the difference.

[soundman]

This has become a debate about the finer points in Thai, so, I am sorry, but I have to move it to the Thai language forum so we don't all run foul of our forum rules.

Moved.

[anthobkk]

Hmm...I'm learning Thai, I'm still not good at it but it is becoming more and more helpful and and also allows me to meet new people around my area. A friend of mine has an average Thai, really bad accent but a lot of vocabulary and it really helps us whenever we want to travel, ask direction, advice or anything else. So I think you are just not lucky or met the wrong person. I'm still convinced that speaking Thai will only be an advantage to communicate here even though that's true, whenever I try to speak Thai to my condo office, they will answer in english thinking I won't understand their answer in Thai.

[Briggsy]

This does not ring true.

My Thai is intermediate and I can talk to just about anybody about any subject. The difficulty is rural males with low education who have spent their lives in the same village. Their accent can be too difficult for me. But they have no problem understanding me. The same for everybody else, they can understand me. They can get me with no problem.

I suspect the OP's problem is incorrect tone use or lacking any tone use. Kanphoot phean can be a big problem for Thai listeners.

[anthobkk]

Something strange is one of my friend almost fluent in Lao and feels like he doesn't need to learn Thai much. It's easy for him to talk to people since Lao/isaan language are almost same. He will have problems to communicate with most of Thais in Bangkok, but as we usually ask for directions to motorbike taxis/tuk-tuk/taxi drivers it will be more than ok for him and he will get some favors from them (free amazing parties all night long with locals) more than if he was fluent in Thai.

[Bcgardener]

Same going the other way, Thai to English. Accents are an important influence on any language even when speaking to someone who speaks the same language. Try understanding the '' English'' of a drunk Scotsman, especially one from Glasgow.

Years ago in a Hua Hin bar with a friend, we asked a couple of bar girls what they would like to drink. The answer in Thai English, ''A bucket of pizza''. After many further attempts by the girls we gave up and told them just go get what they wanted. Turns out it was a Bacardi Breeder.

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[Bcgardener]

Oops, damp predictive text. Meant Bacardi Breezer

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[kriswillems]

I have to disagree with the OP.

The reason for getting a blank face is most probably your pronunciation is not that good.

In 95% of all cases I am understood.

In the remaining 4% is am not understand because my pronunciation is not clear enough.

Only in 1% of all conversations I might be not understood because they are "afraid" to communicate with a farang.

[breadbin]

Maybe you think your thai is ok but really its crap and no one can understand you

Have you ever thought about that?

[puukao]

I would define "useless" differently. I learned Thai (4-5 classes, so just a little bit) for the following reasons:

1. kill time

2. Ed Visa

3. Say dumb words to people to make them laugh, conversation starter

4. not be that guy who refuses to learn Thai after 928347839247328423 years

5. expand my brain

6. my own comedy

So for me, it's not "useless"......in fact, all thais tell me "khun puut passa thai geng maak!!!!!" well, after i give them 30 baht for the fruit shake.

[craigt3365]

Gone: my wife has a hard time understanding you. Many foreigners think they speak great Thai, when in reality,it is not that good. My wife understands my terrible attempt at thai. As you know us, i hope you understand.

Sent from my traveling tab.

[CaptHaddock]

I have no doubt that for some people attempting to speak Thai is indeed quite useless.

[Bcgardener]

I think your own native accent also affects your Thai pronunciation. I have had many instances where Thais could not understand my friend as he has a quite pronounced American drawl but could understand me when I repeated the phrase and I am not that good speaking Thai.

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[Ace of Pop]

I think your own native accent also affects your Thai pronunciation. I have had many instances where Thais could not understand my friend as he has a quite pronounced American drawl but could understand me when I repeated the phrase and I am not that good speaking Thai.

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It would be nice if Ferangs realised some Thais, my Wife included cant understand all Thai Dialects,far South.and shes thicker than Me. I can speak Thai Lao learned in Ubon Rat 28 years ago.In BKK they smile at the dialect,yet my Mrs cant grasp Lao,or wants too. BOON BOON GRI.

[bunnydrops]

I speak American English. My wife understands me with no problem. But if I meet and speak to another English speaker, even one from a similar area in America, she can't understand most of what they say???. My Thai isn't very good. I understand what is said but am not understood. I do find that if I speak more "though my nose" I am understood more.

It is frustrating. Buying a ticket to Udon Thani at Mo Chit. Said it 3 times, blank-- finally the face of one of the ticket sellers lights up "Udon Thaniiiii!"

[NBD]

It's not "useless" but I can understand the point entirely. If they can possibly cross check the statement with a Thai then that is the route they will take.

[EvilDrSomkid]

To be sure, some people just don't want to understand westerners speaking Thai. I am under no illusions regarding my Thai.

As an example, there is a fat little kid in our soi who if I try to speak with him immediately sticks his fingers in his ears and says: mai kao jai phaasaa falang.

My wife says he just a snot nosed shit with no manners.

[ThailandDenmark417]

When I first moved here 13 years ago and was at that time doing the Playing around game I would be with a girl and if we needed directions or some local knowledge I would tell her to as a Thai as I could not speak any Thai. Normally they were hesitant and/or shy to ask but now I understand why.

I eventually got married and even with my wife it was the same thing, she would never ask anyone anything. Most of us know that back home if you need directions or some local knowledge you just as a localnot here.

I decided that the only way I would be able to survive in this country was to learn Thai.

To make a long story short I have done ok and speak pretty good Thai including tones etc. phood chart.

It hasnt really helped at all as when I am in a restaurant or venue and order in what I think is perfect Thai, they just look at me with the look of a Phnom Phenn Motorcycle Taxi driver, then look at the Thai I am with for confirmation. She/he says exactly the same thing as I just said then everything is ok.

I also now know why Thais are reluctant to ask for directions as well because even if you ask someone who should know, you get some very strange answers that lead you strait to NOT where you wanted to go. Motorcycle taxi drivers are best at helping if needed.

Today I called the Pattaya Court to ask about the new tourist courts location, operating hours etc. and before being hung up on rudely I could here the guy telling his colleagues farang phood Thai before he just hung up.

Even in my condo I will be asking something at the front desk and they just look at me until a Thai walks up, asks me what I want and then repeats the same thing I just said in perfect Thai to the receptionist and gives me the answer back in English even though I understood the answer.

I have come to the conclusion that speaking Thai in Thailand is pretty much useless and I dont know why I bother. Also I now realize why over the past 13 years every Thai I have asked is reluctant to ask another Thai for anything.

Rant over !!!!

It's NOT useless. You been here for 13 years, with the "effort" you've put in you should be able to speak like a thai.

Stop blaming it on the country or the people, it works just well for us others...

[TheSpade]

Having said that, I do find it frustrating sometimes - even single words repeated over and over and some Thais just can not get it - for example, just the other day my daughter wanted a 7-11 hotdog. So, I popped into 7-11 and asked for a hotdog - blank - repeated at least 8 times "hot dog" - now as words go it fits quite nicely into the short syllable Thai language - in Thai it is even spelled as "hot dog" - but the person serving me just could not get it - eventually one of the other servers looks over and gets it first hit - some people are just dumb I guess!

I was in an expat bar a couple of months ago and chatting with this Dutch guy (in English). When the Thai bar maids, that I knew, came over - he started chatting and joking with them. His Thai was good in that his vocab and grammar was very good - and the girls, being used to listening to out attempts at Thai for a fair while, understood mostly - but his accent was terrible. It was hard not to grimace (and his Thai was better than mine) - his voice was almost like a cockney accent, no sing-song-ness (if you know what I mean) - the tones were there (comparatively), but it was still so hard to understand him. So, to the Op, maybe it is an accent problem rather than a language per se (???)

I notice I need to adopt the Thai 'accent' when speaking Thai to be understood.

Actually need to put on a funny voice and say the words just like the way I think Thai's say them.

It's amazing how they can go from not knowing what I am saying to understanding.

Sing song-ness is spot on.

[A1Str8]

I ve experienced such things so many times that I say something in thai and they act like they dont understand. It is simply because thais do not like seeing foreigners trying to integrate into the society and speaking the language is a clear sign of that. But it doesn't bother me, I usually let them know that I know they speak thai therefore they understand me even if I have an accent. So it's either they stop refusing to understand me or we are going to sit there all day until they start to speak their language. They always get the point.

My ex gf is from a wealthy family. She is highly educated and is fluent in english. She literally hated if I spoke thai and it bothered her. But she was not alone with that insecurity. I have met several people who share the same trait. I have always felt for them.

Regarding to directions, I am surprised most of them are able to find their way back home.

But dont get me wrong, I like thais. They are cool. But it's just the way they are.

Sent from one of my devices using the internet

[Gone]

When I first moved here I lived in Rangsit Bkk. There was only 1 other farang living there at the time and he was French. He actually taught me my first basic Thai words etc (and he spoke quite well. My wife taught me absolutely nothing lol. I carried the "Lonely Planet Thai Phrase" handbook with me everywhere I went because the wife worked every day and I had nothing to do. No Thais in Rangsit could speak English so if I wanted to eat or know something I would pull out my phrase book and try to say it, then the Thai would smile, read the Thai from the book in the correct way and repeat it until I could say it half decent.

Living in Sakhon Nakon and Kalasin was no different years later but I had it down enough by that time to get around.

I am NOT fluent by any means because there are many subjects like Politics, Hospital, Law etc. that you normally don't get a chance to talk about so if I know I am going to talk to the Prosecutor lets say, I try to learn the words I want to make clear on www.thai-language.com etc and then write it down in English/Thai font and repeat it to them. Sure I don't use the correct tones etc with words I am not familiar with but thats how you learn and a good Thai will always help.

It seems that when I'm in an area (the province) that does not know much English that my Thai is very well understood however here in Pattaya dealing with Government folks they would sooner hang up on me then try and get through a conversation.

It is a LOT easier to speak or be understood in person then on a phone which just came to mind now.

Craig: when you get back we will sit down with your wife and get her to ask me to say certain things and she what she thinks 5555555 If she says "good" then you drink, If she says "no good" then I drink ok? Have a feeling that we will be equally drunk by the end of it 555555

[FritsSikkink]

I landed at Swampy, said in what I considered to be quite clear Thai: "Yak by thanon Petchburi laa Ekamai." (I want to go to Petchburi and Ekamai.) The driver looked at me and stated emphatically - :I DON'T SPEAK ENGLISH!"

That is NOT clear Thai

[kokesaat]

I'd put myself at the lower end of the intermediate speaking level, but I can read and write (albeit slowly). I live in rural Isaan.....lots of undereducated folks around. I yak with non-educated and educated folks alike, and almost never have a problem with anyone understanding me. I chalk it up to my teacher who I insisted pound in proper pronunciation/tones during my classes. Contrast that teacher to one before her who would tell me my tones/pronunciation was perfect.....when it was far from so.

Speaking Thai in Thailand is Useless? Far from it.....makes life so much more satisfying knowing I can go to the electric office, the banks, renew my license, deal with immigration in Thai, hire and fire a maid or a gardener, order in a restaurant, console a neighbor when tragedy strikes, or deal with frequent police stops without paying....all without carrying around a long-haired translator. Speaking Thai in Thailand is Useless? I can't imagine getting by without speaking Thai.....or reading for that matter.