Why can't foreigners in Thailand read and speak Thai?

[Escapologist]

I learned to speak, read and write Thai fluently in only five months. If my penis wasn't so huge, and I wasn't so great in bed (according to many low-class hookers, who also confirmed my Thai language prowess, as well as my general attractiveness) then I would probably have taken three months. Because that's what Thailand does to an average chump: it turns him into a legend! Just ask him!

Seriously though, I think that anyone who claims that Thai is "easy" is not being remotely honest. I suppose that I'm not the only one to have bumped into the expat who boasted about his Thai language being "one hundred percent" - only to discover that he is a total cretin the moment he tried to prove it.

I'm finding the process to be a slow one. For a native English-speaker, who doesn't live in Thailand, this stuff isn't French or Spanish. I have a hobbyist musical background, and spent a number of years regularly transcribing music from audio recordings, and so I've found that the tone thing is not a problem for me, and Thais have had no problem understanding my relatively basic Thai, but the SPEED really is an issue! My God can they rattle it off! I imagine a number of years before my listening and comprehension can function without stabilisers!

I agree with posters who said that Thailand becomes a different place when you learn some Thai. I've so far travelled all over the country, khon diaow, and I've found that a nice smile, politeness, and some well-executed basic Thai really can have a disarming affect on a possibly untravelled local who might be a bit distrusting of the shaven headed white devil.

I think that the thrust of the original comment was "when in Rome". I agree but it depends whether "Rome" is Pattaya or Kampheang Phet. One doesn't require Thai and the other does.

[leggo]

Age is irrevelent, in fact learning a new language is very good for staving off all the associated old age problems. I started learning Thai at 68 and have no problems except I have to confess to being a little bit lazy when it comes to revision!

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[Spoonman]

I go to a language school

for 2-4 hours every week and after 9 months have learnt to read and write the alphabet and communicate on a basic level. It is more or less understood that it takes 3-5 years of pretty hard studying to become fluent! I also speak two other languages fluently but learning Thai is the most challenging. Whoever posted the original comment here is setting the bar very high to expect the average ex pat to learn Thai - a lot of them can hardly even speak English properly!

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Poppy cock mate, the OP has learn't to read/speak Thai in just a few short lessons at his local Walen school.

[luckyluke]

http://assets.amuniversal.com/6219783e250d102d94d7001438c0f03b

[sfbandung]

Whenever I say to the missus that I should learn more Thai she says, "Much more important for me to get better at English honey. Only speak Thai in Thailand. English everywhere."

Still I am putting in more effort now. So at least I can talk to my in laws, who are good people and have no chance of learning English.

[jaideeguy]

My excuse is that I'm certified tone deaf and after living here 13 years, I've come to the conclusion that the Thai language is most inefficient in getting ideas across. In translations I see Thais struggling for 5 minutes translating an English statement that can be completed in 1 minute .................and still get it wrong.

[dighambara]

I have been in and out of Thailand for ove 45 years. I have studied the Thai language and I am barely passable at conversation.

WHY - I have never been able to hear any tones. The multiples of 'Gow', 'Mah', 'Sua' completely escape me - and I am not alone.

A few years back, during one class wiht Amrerican, British and German students, some with decades in country, the Thai teacher was trying to describe the tones (dipthong if you prefer), so wrote the nine possible variations & spellings of a single syllable. The teacher proceeded to pronounce each syllable very carefully.

By sound number 6, the class was chuckling, so the teacher stopped and gave us a stern look, then turned back to speak the last 3 sounds - by then we were laughing out loud.

When asked why we were laughing, one English fellow said "Because we can't hear any difference" and all of us laughed even harder.

As for reading, it would be much easier if Thai writing was not written corkscrew fashion; Ignore the leading vowel and read the first consonant, then the vowel above or below the line, then the next consonant or consonant cluster, then read the leading vowel. PLUS, just exactly where does the first word end..?? I noticed in class, that many students began reading a sentence by parsing out the words, one by one from back to front.

i.e. work out what the last word in a sentence is, then the preceeding word and the one before than until all are separated by a thin pencil line. Then the sentence is more or less readable.

[beachproperty]

My excuse is that I'm certified tone deaf and after living here 13 years, I've come to the conclusion that the Thai language is most inefficient in getting ideas across. In translations I see Thais struggling for 5 minutes translating an English statement that can be completed in 1 minute .................and still get it wrong.

Good Point.... Thai's will spend 10 minutes going back and forth on a subject so as to make things "clear" ...but probably still don't really understand.

Years ago ....when a friend of mine was visiting for his first time I tried to explain this phenomenom .....and told him to watch and listen as I asked two Thai's to explain why "leaves on tree's are green"....WELL ...what ensued was a discussion for at least 20 minutes between the two Thai's ....at the conclusion of which they said "We don't know"

My friend and I laughed are ass's off......Typical Thai

Edited December 5, 2013 by beachproperty

[Naam]

Because 90 percent of Thai conversations are about food, and I don't care what they ate, when they ate it, was it good, when will they eat next etc....

Total rubbish.

Also, I can't understand the people who say they don't want to talk to Thais.

I can speak, read and write due to simple hard work learning.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

If you are a long-term tourist I guess there's no need to learn. If you're happy to be chained to your wife, fair enough. I could think of nothing worse than having to take my wife to the mechanic, bank, barber, etc. Learning the language gives so much freedom. I'd be totally embarrassed if after a few years I was still using sign language.

I spoke to the local 'head man' at eh weekend regarding security of my house and noise levels.

Last week I had had a drink with my neighbour and I learned a lot about Thai history.

Today, I went to the bank and discussed my mortgage. Yesterday, I had a meeting with one of my kid's teachers to discuss her getting off school for travelling to Bangkok. I could go on but basically, I live a normal life and to say the use of the language is a waste of time is ridiculous.

There are no excuses - only laziness and lack of motivation. Age is irrelevant. I'm no youngster and I'm learning Chinese at the moment. I know old guys, one in his 70s, who have learned to speak Thai fluently.

-some people pay cash for their homes instead of borrowing money,

-some people use a builder who is able to speak acceptable English,

-some people did not marry Thai ladies,

-some people don't live in the wilderness where "headmen" exist,

-some people have studied Thai history without using a neighbour's knowledge,

-some people do not have school age children,

-for some people learning Thai is a waste of precious time.

period!

[brit1984]

Because 90 percent of Thai conversations are about food, and I don't care what they ate, when they ate it, was it good, when will they eat next etc....

Total rubbish.

Also, I can't understand the people who say they don't want to talk to Thais.

I can speak, read and write due to simple hard work learning.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

If you are a long-term tourist I guess there's no need to learn. If you're happy to be chained to your wife, fair enough. I could think of nothing worse than having to take my wife to the mechanic, bank, barber, etc. Learning the language gives so much freedom. I'd be totally embarrassed if after a few years I was still using sign language.

I spoke to the local 'head man' at eh weekend regarding security of my house and noise levels.

Last week I had had a drink with my neighbour and I learned a lot about Thai history.

Today, I went to the bank and discussed my mortgage. Yesterday, I had a meeting with one of my kid's teachers to discuss her getting off school for travelling to Bangkok. I could go on but basically, I live a normal life and to say the use of the language is a waste of time is ridiculous.

There are no excuses - only laziness and lack of motivation. Age is irrelevant. I'm no youngster and I'm learning Chinese at the moment. I know old guys, one in his 70s, who have learned to speak Thai fluently.

-some people pay cash for their homes instead of borrowing money,

-some people use a builder who is able to speak acceptable English,

-some people did not marry Thai ladies,

-some people don't live in the wilderness where "headmen" exist,

-some people have studied Thai history without using a neighbour's knowledge,

-some people do not have school age children,

-for some people learning Thai is a waste of precious time.

period!

come on naam, i thought you were a finance guy... don't you know if you spoke thai you could get advanced notice about any central bank base rate decisions from one of the local fortune tellers...?

or if that doesn't work you might be able to negotiate a 5 baht discount at some noodle shops...

Edited December 5, 2013 by brit1984

[lemoncake]

Because 90 percent of Thai conversations are about food, and I don't care what they ate, when they ate it, was it good, when will they eat next etc....

Total rubbish.

Also, I can't understand the people who say they don't want to talk to Thais.

I can speak, read and write due to simple hard work learning.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

If you are a long-term tourist I guess there's no need to learn. If you're happy to be chained to your wife, fair enough. I could think of nothing worse than having to take my wife to the mechanic, bank, barber, etc. Learning the language gives so much freedom. I'd be totally embarrassed if after a few years I was still using sign language.

I spoke to the local 'head man' at eh weekend regarding security of my house and noise levels.

Last week I had had a drink with my neighbour and I learned a lot about Thai history.

Today, I went to the bank and discussed my mortgage. Yesterday, I had a meeting with one of my kid's teachers to discuss her getting off school for travelling to Bangkok. I could go on but basically, I live a normal life and to say the use of the language is a waste of time is ridiculous.

There are no excuses - only laziness and lack of motivation. Age is irrelevant. I'm no youngster and I'm learning Chinese at the moment. I know old guys, one in his 70s, who have learned to speak Thai fluently.

-some people pay cash for their homes instead of borrowing money,

-some people use a builder who is able to speak acceptable English,

-some people did not marry Thai ladies,

-some people don't live in the wilderness where "headmen" exist,

-some people have studied Thai history without using a neighbour's knowledge,

-some people do not have school age children,

-for some people learning Thai is a waste of precious time.

period!

come on naam, i thought you were a finance guy... don't you know if you spoke thai you could get advanced notice about any central bank base rate decisions from one of the local fortune tellers...?

or if that doesn't work you might be able to negotiate a 5 baht discount at some noodle shops...

How do you think he makes his money? He listens to them, misunderstands most of it, picks what he thought they said and its correct

[JLCrab]

So when the Brits still had an empire, how did they learn the local languages?

[JHenry]

Everybody has been there so many times. When someone says "it is a tonal language" I nearly vomit. You do not need the tones that much if you say the entire sentence. Thais will understand you from the context. Why then nobody wants to speak Thai? The answer is very simple. There is no motivation. Retired are happy with their pensions. Those who work do not need Thai. Their income, property , career will not change even if they speak absolutely perfect Thai. They do not speak it because they do not need it. Capish? A parrot can tell the directions to the taxi driver or explain the bar girl how much he is able to pay. This is the motivation and that is about it.

I will replay to my own post. This lack of motivation has the economic roots created here. The expats are now allowed to fully integrate economically and legally. You all know that : no land, no green cards, no loan, no nationality, only certain jobs etc, etc. Socially too. Even people who got the nationality (I know personally) still remain farang. These is the root of the problem. All these posts about respect, new horizons that the Thai language opens etc are ego boosting bullshit. I speak decent Thai by the way, if you are interested. Does not use it much, does not help me much either.

Edited December 5, 2013 by JHenry

[JLCrab]

Now if it were to turn out that Ms. Tangmo here was interested in you and doesn't speak a lick of English (whether that is true or not) would the ability to work out the requisite arrangements in Thai be considered merely 'ego boosting bullshit'?

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/6258/tangmopattarathida1ei6.jpg

[wolfmanjack]

It requires a lot of effort on our part.

Thailand makes it near impossible to ever become a citizen, we're not allowed to buy land, etc, etc, etc

Due to this most people will only regard themselves as temporary visitors so why bother learn a language that is only useful in a country where you're staying on a temporary basis.

Long term temporary or not, I don't see the point. I will never be here permanently and I'll move on at some time in the future at which point Thai becomes useless and I have less useless things to spend my time on.

Sorry but the part of becoming a citizen is not true. Its not anymore difficult than in any western country. If you pay taxes and work here on a work permit you can be a citizen within 5 years the same as most other countries. Plus in most developed countries they put an age restriction where as here there are none.

That is funny.

I know a guy that became a monk when he first came here and learned to speak fluent thai during his time as a monk. When he left the temple he married a thai woman and started a successful business. After running his business and paying taxes above and beyond the stated required amount for 15 years, he applied for permanent residence and was refused. I guess it was not so easy for him.

After hearing his story knowing he can speak thai 100 times better than I can and makes a lot more money, i did not even bother to try.

In the USA your husband/wife gets you a temporary green card based on their income level of 125% of the poverty level. After two years the temporary can be converted to permanent resident. After 3 years of being a permanent resident you can become a US citizen No requirement that you have worked or paid taxes. As a matter of fact they only have to have been in the USA for 18 months of those 3 years as a permanent resident.

If it was that easy for us to become thai citizens i would have done it a long time ago. Providing I did not have to give up my US citizenship that is.

[mgjackson69]

...It is a slur, not nessecarily racist or negative but a slur none the less...

Huh ?!?

I guess I can see how a slur might not be 'racist', but how the hell can a slur not be negative?

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[Africanteacher]

"I not understand. Thai Language , CANNOT".

I said that in my African accent.

[96tehtarp]

1. Many foreigners consider Thai a stupid and useless language and not worth the effort to learn.

Many foreign men are married to a Thai woman who has a considerable vested interest in their husbands never learning Thai. That may explain why foreign women who are in relationships with Thai men often speak and read/write Thai exceptionally well.

Many foreigners live in tourist areas where the indigenous Thai people also have a vested interest in the foreigner not having much of a clue what is going on around them. The foreigners ignorance facilitates double-pricing. Also the locals in Tourist areas often don't speak Thai. Rather, they speak Yawi, Issaan, or Khmer. When faced with a foreigner who speaks Thai they will immediately switch to a dialect the foreigner can't understand.

Learning Thai is time consuming and requires much more effort than drinking beer.

Some foreigners can't learn a second language.

Edited December 5, 2013 by 96tehtarp

[davidsuphan]

I have Money, I find that it speaks all the launguages that I need.

[FiftyTwo]

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

Taking advice from Thai bankers and tradesmen ..............

You are taking a bit of a risk!

Reading home loan details, trivial, same all over the world, no need to read Thai to pick out the numbers.

Building, asking shops about materials, you must live in a very hi-so area, my shopkeepers don't have a clue about anything.

[monkey4u]

If I learnt to speak Thai then I would no doubt tell my neighbour what I thought of her.

This in turn would cause more headaches so I just call her a dumb cow for which she smiles

My wife does all the shopping so I dont need to converse with shop keepers,if I ring to order beer or spirits the retailer I use speaks perfect English

[jdinasia]

Hmm the "tone deaf" old saw has raised its head in this thread. It is another excuse since speaking Thai is not singing and the tones used in Thai are not notes, even those that are "tone deaf" are able to create a mid to, falling tone, rising tone, low tone and high tone.

Normal conversation even in non-tonal languages would be difficult without this ability since even English uses the tones. Rising tone at the end of a sentence to indicate asking a question, for example. (except people from Melbourne, where every sentence is a question due to an odd dialectical issue!)

Edited December 5, 2013 by jdinasia

[Keesters]

My choice when I decided to stay here almost 30 years ago was to learn to speak Thai. English wasn't as widely understood/spoken here then as now. I went to a language school and studied. I can now hold my own in pretty much any Thai conversation. My only regret was never learning to read and write it.

A Farang mate who has been here almost as long as I have still can't order a coconut when we go to the beach.

Each to his/her own.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Keesters

[FiftyTwo]

I learnt to read and write Thai 30 years ago. It is very useful to be able to read Thai, for instance the restaurant menu, the buses and so on. A friend found that he had signed as guarantor for a B6.5Million condo, because his wife told him the contract was for his son's schooling. Had he been able to read Thai even a little he would have realised that he was being conned. I believe that being able to read Thai is essential in business rather than relying on Thai staff to translate who may deliberately tell you that a document says something else to what it actually says, because they are also working for your opposition as a spy. This happens a lot in the construction industry. Corruption is everywhere.

And he didn't think 6.5 million was a little high for school fees?

"Oh darling, I can't read this document, it says 6,500,000 on it, but I'm stupid so I'll sign anyway"

[portly]

Many foreigners here, like myself , tire of not being understood by thais , often .even though their thai is half decent , because a lot of natives simply don't WANT to understand . Especially if you,ve learnt to talk in a different region , I,v'e lived in Phuket for 12 years , reasonably well understood . A year and a half in Chiang Mai , and I still get " uhhh", or :"allai wah " response to even simple questions or statements .

An englishman . talking with a frenchman,,german etc ,for example with accent in english would :adjust his ears to understand . And vice versa,

Here , nah !

I agree that since thai conversation is mainly about food and other, not too interesting topics, why try too hard .

Aside from that , it really is a most unattractive language ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,as for learning to read it , do me a favour

[JHenry]

And then a guy says "I could read a deed on the house". Excuse me, what name is the deed on? Your wife? She can kick you off the house any time she wants and no Thai language in the world will change that. But you still can read Thai newspapers in the gutter though. And by the way, watch your wife's cousins and brothers. The ones eating som-tam on your floor. One of them is a very special one for her. Nothing personal. No offense to anybody.

[Naam]

Because 90 percent of Thai conversations are about food, and I don't care what they ate, when they ate it, was it good, when will they eat next etc....

Total rubbish.

Also, I can't understand the people who say they don't want to talk to Thais.

I can speak, read and write due to simple hard work learning.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

If you are a long-term tourist I guess there's no need to learn. If you're happy to be chained to your wife, fair enough. I could think of nothing worse than having to take my wife to the mechanic, bank, barber, etc. Learning the language gives so much freedom. I'd be totally embarrassed if after a few years I was still using sign language.

I spoke to the local 'head man' at eh weekend regarding security of my house and noise levels.

Last week I had had a drink with my neighbour and I learned a lot about Thai history.

Today, I went to the bank and discussed my mortgage. Yesterday, I had a meeting with one of my kid's teachers to discuss her getting off school for travelling to Bangkok. I could go on but basically, I live a normal life and to say the use of the language is a waste of time is ridiculous.

There are no excuses - only laziness and lack of motivation. Age is irrelevant. I'm no youngster and I'm learning Chinese at the moment. I know old guys, one in his 70s, who have learned to speak Thai fluently.

-some people pay cash for their homes instead of borrowing money,

-some people use a builder who is able to speak acceptable English,

-some people did not marry Thai ladies,

-some people don't live in the wilderness where "headmen" exist,

-some people have studied Thai history without using a neighbour's knowledge,

-some people do not have school age children,

-for some people learning Thai is a waste of precious time.

period!

come on naam, i thought you were a finance guy... don't you know if you spoke thai you could get advanced notice about any central bank base rate decisions from one of the local fortune tellers...?

or if that doesn't work you might be able to negotiate a 5 baht discount at some noodle shops...

any central bank rate decisions are sniffed out by my dogs. but you do have a point about getting discounts conducting some small talk with noodle vendors. it could save a lot money. i love noodle soups and especially meat ball soups. so if i stop having them at home and use discounted "street soup" reinvesting the savings by establishing a long term fixed deposit the accrued and compounded interest would yield some handsome capital after let's say..... 300 to 400 years.

i could also stop tipping the ladies who are cutting my hair, giving me a foot massage and a pedicure. speaking Thai would enable me to tell them "tip? mai roo rong roi!" the reason, a resident Thai speaking eggsburt is lecturing that Thais consider generous tips as insults.

[thailiketoo]

Because 90 percent of Thai conversations are about food, and I don't care what they ate, when they ate it, was it good, when will they eat next etc....

Total rubbish.

Also, I can't understand the people who say they don't want to talk to Thais.

I can speak, read and write due to simple hard work learning.

Was it a waste of time? Of course not. I just bought a house and it would have been extremely difficult if I couldn't have read the mortgage details or been able to tell the builders what to do.

I just built a shed and to go around shops asking for advice on what material to use etc would have been impossible if I was linguistically challenged. I read newspapers to see what's going on.

If you are a long-term tourist I guess there's no need to learn. If you're happy to be chained to your wife, fair enough. I could think of nothing worse than having to take my wife to the mechanic, bank, barber, etc. Learning the language gives so much freedom. I'd be totally embarrassed if after a few years I was still using sign language.

I spoke to the local 'head man' at eh weekend regarding security of my house and noise levels.

Last week I had had a drink with my neighbour and I learned a lot about Thai history.

Today, I went to the bank and discussed my mortgage. Yesterday, I had a meeting with one of my kid's teachers to discuss her getting off school for travelling to Bangkok. I could go on but basically, I live a normal life and to say the use of the language is a waste of time is ridiculous.

There are no excuses - only laziness and lack of motivation. Age is irrelevant. I'm no youngster and I'm learning Chinese at the moment. I know old guys, one in his 70s, who have learned to speak Thai fluently.

-some people pay cash for their homes instead of borrowing money,

-some people use a builder who is able to speak acceptable English,

-some people did not marry Thai ladies,

-some people don't live in the wilderness where "headmen" exist,

-some people have studied Thai history without using a neighbour's knowledge,

-some people do not have school age children,

-for some people learning Thai is a waste of precious time.

period!

Some people borrow at a rate lower than inflation.

Some people get a builder based on building experience and expertise instead of language ability.

Some people think it odd to carry coals to Newcastle.

Some people like a quiet rural life.

Some people are young at heart enough to start a family.

For some people learning Thai is not a waste of precious time.

Period!

[Naam]

I learnt to read and write Thai 30 years ago. It is very useful to be able to read Thai, for instance the restaurant menu, the buses and so on. A friend found that he had signed as guarantor for a B6.5Million condo, because his wife told him the contract was for his son's schooling. Had he been able to read Thai even a little he would have realised that he was being conned. I believe that being able to read Thai is essential in business rather than relying on Thai staff to translate who may deliberately tell you that a document says something else to what it actually says, because they are also working for your opposition as a spy. This happens a lot in the construction industry. Corruption is everywhere.

And he didn't think 6.5 million was a little high for school fees?

"Oh darling, I can't read this document, it says 6,500,000 on it, but I'm stupid so I'll sign anyway"

you can only shake your head when reading these fairy tales.

[Kangawallafox]

Because I'm a foreigner that's why.

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