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

[jdinasia]

one of the overriding themes of the "I speak Thai fluently" crowd is the .....advantages...(never really say what they are though specificly....other than the poor idiot who thought he was signing a school document and not knowing he cosigned on a loan....Don't think speaking and reading Thai would've helped him anyway...he's a lost soul)

As said before I don't speak Thai....but have met many "High-so's and Low-so's" many who speak very limited (if at all) English. My lack of Thai has not limited me and my wife as they "all" have taken us in, want to get to know us, want to do things with us, ALL have been very open and accepting of me (EVEN with my limited Thai)... So ...I still don't see the advantage that you all talk about....My wife and I are doing well ...we're a team....and sometimes (most) she translates for me ...never a problem!

You may never ... when your wife is absent

Have to

Drive alone

Read a sign

eat at a place without a menu in English

visit a clinic or even hospital upcountry

have any kind of emergency

want to get to know the 99%

compare ingredients on a label

have a conversation with a stranger

see something interesting happening and ask what is going on

read a newspaper when upcountry

hop on a motorcycle and just drive off the beaten track .........

etc etc etc

nope there are no advantages to knowing the language of the 99% ... none at all

[beachproperty]

one of the overriding themes of the "I speak Thai fluently" crowd is the .....advantages...(never really say what they are though specificly....other than the poor idiot who thought he was signing a school document and not knowing he cosigned on a loan....Don't think speaking and reading Thai would've helped him anyway...he's a lost soul)

As said before I don't speak Thai....but have met many "High-so's and Low-so's" many who speak very limited (if at all) English. My lack of Thai has not limited me and my wife as they "all" have taken us in, want to get to know us, want to do things with us, ALL have been very open and accepting of me (EVEN with my limited Thai)... So ...I still don't see the advantage that you all talk about....My wife and I are doing well ...we're a team....and sometimes (most) she translates for me ...never a problem!

You may never ... when your wife is absent

Have to

Drive alone

Read a sign

eat at a place without a menu in English

visit a clinic or even hospital upcountry

have any kind of emergency

want to get to know the 99%

compare ingredients on a label

have a conversation with a stranger

see something interesting happening and ask what is going on

read a newspaper when upcountry

hop on a motorcycle and just drive off the beaten track .........

etc etc etc

nope there are no advantages to knowing the language of the 99% ... none at all

Been there and done all of it (except compare ingredients on a label...stick to what I know) .....so Still don't see the big deal for "conversational Thai"....as I have said I speak a little....enough to get me by ....so not a problem for me....maybe for you???? but not for me!

[Dogbarker]

I bit my tongue when I first read the OP.

However it occurred to me of course the English speaking community need to encourage English speaking in Thailand in preparation for ASEAN 2015.

Article 34 of the Charter states the working language of ASEAN shall be English .

http://www.asean.org/archive/publications/ASEAN-Charter.pdf

The fact that I am able to converse in several other languages is not the point I just find Thai quite difficult it is not a case of not wanting to learn and have done the "learn Thai course" , not being married to a Thai is a disadvantage also but I do speak a few words not fluently but enough to drive a car, shop and eat and make lots of Thais happy and smile .... M&S comes to Chiang Mai certainly helps.

The local headman speaks no English but speaks smiles , politeness (and has been known to have a whiskey) when we meet and we have a mutual respect for each other . He has welcomed us to the village and the community.

so if you speak English to a Thai person and they frown remind them it is the ASEAN future working language :-)

[BlackArtemis]

I am quite good with conversational Thai, my tones are not the best and I make grammatical mistakes. But I know I can speak it well enough. I am a bit embarrassed about my lack of reading and writing after 7 years (only 5 in country). But then I realize that I can read a menu, and a map and have yet to really find something to truly motivate me to want to read. The only thing I feel I am missing out is on some of the Thai motorcycle forums etc.. In the 7 years here I took an initial course as part of my study abroad program and had a tutor for about 6-7 months. I find myself busy enough with work, going to the gym, and spending freetime with my friends that I keep putting further study off for later. Excuses excuses, I know.

[PeterSmiles]

one of the overriding themes of the "I speak Thai fluently" crowd is the .....advantages...(never really say what they are though specificly....other than the poor idiot who thought he was signing a school document and not knowing he cosigned on a loan....Don't think speaking and reading Thai would've helped him anyway...he's a lost soul)

As said before I don't speak Thai....but have met many "High-so's and Low-so's" many who speak very limited (if at all) English. My lack of Thai has not limited me and my wife as they "all" have taken us in, want to get to know us, want to do things with us, ALL have been very open and accepting of me (EVEN with my limited Thai)... So ...I still don't see the advantage that you all talk about....My wife and I are doing well ...we're a team....and sometimes (most) she translates for me ...never a problem!

You may never ... when your wife is absent

Have to

Drive alone

Read a sign

eat at a place without a menu in English

visit a clinic or even hospital upcountry

have any kind of emergency

want to get to know the 99%

compare ingredients on a label

have a conversation with a stranger

see something interesting happening and ask what is going on

read a newspaper when upcountry

hop on a motorcycle and just drive off the beaten track .........

etc etc etc

nope there are no advantages to knowing the language of the 99% ... none at all

I don't speak Thai and don't have a Thai wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, and I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades.

[DrTuner]

I haven't found the reading & writing that hard, it took me three months of brute force memorization to learn it. It's the complete lack of analogies to Latin-based languages that's made it so hard. Every word is, for the lack of a better word, foreign. Only recently have I started to be able to guess what Thai words unknown to me mean by being able to compare them to words I know.

Thai occupies a completely separate part in the memory bank, the only connection for me is visual memory, the way I learn it. To be honest there are quite a few things in Thailand I'd like to fill my visual memory with than connections to their vocabulary

[jdinasia]

one of the overriding themes of the "I speak Thai fluently" crowd is the .....advantages...(never really say what they are though specificly....other than the poor idiot who thought he was signing a school document and not knowing he cosigned on a loan....Don't think speaking and reading Thai would've helped him anyway...he's a lost soul)

As said before I don't speak Thai....but have met many "High-so's and Low-so's" many who speak very limited (if at all) English. My lack of Thai has not limited me and my wife as they "all" have taken us in, want to get to know us, want to do things with us, ALL have been very open and accepting of me (EVEN with my limited Thai)... So ...I still don't see the advantage that you all talk about....My wife and I are doing well ...we're a team....and sometimes (most) she translates for me ...never a problem!

You may never ... when your wife is absent

Have to

Drive alone

Read a sign

eat at a place without a menu in English

visit a clinic or even hospital upcountry

have any kind of emergency

want to get to know the 99%

compare ingredients on a label

have a conversation with a stranger

see something interesting happening and ask what is going on

read a newspaper when upcountry

hop on a motorcycle and just drive off the beaten track .........

etc etc etc

nope there are no advantages to knowing the language of the 99% ... none at all

Been there and done all of it (except compare ingredients on a label...stick to what I know) .....so Still don't see the big deal for "conversational Thai"....as I have said I speak a little....enough to get me by ....so not a problem for me....maybe for you???? but not for me!

You are either kidding yourself or stretching the truth then,

If you can read a thai newspaper and have conversations with strangers in places there are not any foreigners then you are approaching fluency.

I guess you could manage a restaurant with a Thai menu without reading if you just keep asking randomly for things,

Getting truly off the beaten track? With no Thai language skills to speak of?

If you do not see the above list as advantages then you again, are far more fluent than you let on, or are kidding yourself.

PS..... again I have ZERO investment in something as random as a stranger on TVF learning Thai or not. I can just tell you that MY life has seen pretty amazing benefits from it.

[jdinasia]

I don't speak Thai and don't have a Thai wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, and I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades.

Congrats! If staying alive and reasonably isolated in farang ghettos works for you then by all means! Enjoy!

[PeterSmiles]

I don't speak Thai and don't have a Thai wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, and I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades.

Congrats! If staying alive and reasonably isolated in farang ghettos works for you then by all means! Enjoy!

Why you feel yourself so superior to other people on this forum

1 . You have no idea who I am.

2 . You have no idea where I live other than that it is somewhere near Pattaya

3 . You have no idea of where I have been in Thailand during those 2 decades, but I bet my head that I have traveled more than you ever will.

Anything else you want to throw up to make us believe that you are THE man ?

[DavidMavec]

Of course speaking Thai offers benefits, it is really not logical to dispute this. How could it not?

It is more a question of how much benefit it offers and in my opinion the benefits of learning to speak Thai in Thailand are much less than learning to speak the local languages of other countries.

Many Thai people feel uncomfortable when foreigners speak Thai in my experience and even if they know only a few words in English and your Thai is fairly decent, they will use the English words instead. It is really quite bizarre and the language is used as a weapon by many Thai people as a way of keeping us separated from them and unintegrated. I find this behavior quite disrespectful and I feel like learning Thai has helped me learn the "real Thailand for farangs" and it ain't as pretty as I thought before I learned.

On my end, I refuse to speak English to Thai people unless I know them and there is mutual respect established. I'd say I have an intermediate-advanced level and am fine for general conversations...I can read the newspaper but with some difficulty. I studied it for about a year before getting fed up with Thai culture.

[jdinasia]

I don't speak Thai and don't have a Thai wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, and I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades.

Congrats! If staying alive and reasonably isolated in farang ghettos works for you then by all means! Enjoy!

Why you feel yourself so superior to other people on this forum

1 . You have no idea who I am.

2 . You have no idea where I live other than that it is somewhere near Pattaya

3 . You have no idea of where I have been in Thailand during those 2 decades, but I bet my head that I have traveled more than you ever will.

Anything else you want to throw up to make us believe that you are THE man ?

LOL.

Right back at you

Except I do know that you claim to have lived in Thailand a long time, you claim to not speak (and one can assume read) Thai That you live in/near a farang ghetto. (and frankly who cares how much you travelled ... afaik you have a car and driver and the driver is fluent and your bat man!

What it does mean is that your travels in Thailand will be different from those of someone that speaks and reads Thai. (maybe not worse, but different for sure) .. and those of us that do bother to learn the languag[e of the country we chose to reside in can still play the illiterate farang card anywhere we go. I tend to only use it with the police in BKK .. but that is me.

When I go to the travel fair, alone, at QSNCC I get the Thai prices because I can read the ads .. and yes they have some out in English right next to the ones in Thai and they are not the same.

When I hop on the bike and ride out into the hills of Khao Yai National park alone, I can stop anywhere and sit with a coffee and talk to the people there and ask if there is anywhere strange or different or only locals know about.

you say

" I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades." ---- and I say I have done a bit more than just "pretty well stay alive"

Again, if not knowing the language of the 99% works for you, then my hat is off to you! It wouldn't work for me

[jdinasia]

Many Thai people feel uncomfortable when foreigners speak Thai in my experience.....

David, the only places I have experienced that is in Pattaya, Patong, and lower Suk, in BKK.

Everywhere else I usually get treated quite well due to speaking Thai. Places for tourists where they run the scams I have found a bit of resentment from people that are in the scam business.

[BarryM]

The more i learned about the Thai language and culture, the more i came to realise its incompatibility with what the rest of the world regard as civilisation and enlightenment.

[cooked]

Sorry you are "appalled". That's your problem, not mine.

 

First of all, I'm not "illiterate".  I'm a whole lot smarter than 98% of the Thai people, that's for sure.  I'm university educated and I believe plenty smart.

 

Second, I live in the middle of Bangkok, where plenty of English is spoken.  Almost everything is written in English.  My wife speaks great English if I need a translator.  There just isn't enough motivation for me to go out and learn the language.

 

I know enough Thai to get the food I want to get, find the bathroom and get home in a taxi.  And that's good enough for me, lol

 

Why don't you worry about your own life instead of others who you are supposedly so much smarter than.  From your post it's obvious you're not that smart.

Sorry, doesn't impress me as being a 'smart' (as in 'intelligent') post at all.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2

[cooked]

I am still struggling with the Thai language but I experience a real joy when, maybe in the car waiting for the wife, I suddenly work out what the sign in front of me means. (beer chang classic was a good one recently). How do you guys get to the correct diesel/gasohol pump if you can't differentiate a D from a G? Look for the number 91 or 95? I would really feel stupid if I had to do that. I can read a little Thai and this compensates for my inability to speak fluently. If you don't enjoy learning useful stuff, you are old no matter when your birthday was.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2

[Thai at Heart]

Me too and I'm always appalled by such general statements from a well written apparently intelligent person that only supports my Thai wife's attitude with a grade 4 education. Certainly coming to Thailand cold without even a compass and nobody that could really speak English, to even help put my address on a letter, while having to take Thai classes for about a year 2 days a week for a couple of hours, hoping to be able to exchange thoughts and not just cute phrases for her friends and family for what's the matter with me.

Sure as s--t I know now what the matter is for even thinking it possible to to learn that much that fast with people whose idea of being and English scholar means knowing maybe enough to dangerously jump to conclusions after just hearing one or two words with about twenty different meanings, (and one tenth of their entire vocabulary after taking it for however number of years).

Yesir I'm just as dumb as post and illiterate too, with no need to learn anything else about their own country to survive either.

Now at least I know why so many people that come to my country cluster and don't even try to integrate or bother to learn the language, or just cringe when you speak to them, instead of even trying to blabber enough English that an intelligent person might be able to communicate with them, forgetting about any accent..

What an arrogant different kind of post posted this.

Farang ting dong

[Naam]

- Most people where I come from and here borrow money to buy their first home. Did you pay cash? I remember you inferring in another thread or three that you had a lot of money.

- having a builder who speaks English will certainly limit your options.

- if I were single, it wouldn't be for very long. Being able to speak increases your pick-up rate, of course.

- I live in Khon Kaen, Amphur Meung. Ask your Thai friends about 'headmen' in all communities. If you don't have any Thai friends due to your disability, ask your butler.

- I read some stuff about the 'Thammassat massacre' but much more informative talking to somone who was active in it. I speak to my father-in-law about the Vietnam war too as he was there.

- some people have a superior colonial attitude and basically wouldn't stoop to the level of the Siamese. Some people don't have a single Thai friend after living here for years. The only Thais some people know are their servants. DO you drink gin and tonic?

-yes i paid cash for my home but admit that i had a mortgage for my first home (a condo) 42 years ago.

-i needed a builder who was able to translate my instructions and get me the craftsmen i required. for eleven months i was the first man at the construction site and the last man who left. my options were only limited because i was not able to supervise several crews who worked simultaneously on site.

-i am happily married since 34 years and therefore don't need to speak Thai for a "pick up".

-there is no headman in the gated community i live.

-i don't have a butler.

-my late father-in-law was never in Viet Nam. and i don't need anybody to tell me about the war in VN. reason: i made two "tours" each nine month in 1966/67 in a combat unit and i do not like to talk about the horrors i experienced.

-calling my withdrawn lifestyle "colonial attitude" is silly.

-the afore mentioned lifestyle is the reason why i don't have any local friends. no Thai ever rang my bell and asked me whether i'd like to be his friend and neither did the ladies ask who cut my hair, giving me a foot massage and/or a pedicure.

-i don't drink gin and tonic but prefer grapefruit juice, soda water and portwine (in that order).

next!

Have you tried the new "blue magic" soda water? its delicious

sounds like a Soda/Viagra mix

[Naam]

I don't speak Thai and don't have a Thai wife, girlfriend or boyfriend, and I have managed pretty well to stay alive in Thailand for the past 2 decades.

Congrats! If staying alive and reasonably isolated in farang ghettos works for you then by all means! Enjoy!

why do you assume he lives in a Farang ghetto?

[thailiketoo]

- Most people where I come from and here borrow money to buy their first home. Did you pay cash? I remember you inferring in another thread or three that you had a lot of money.

- having a builder who speaks English will certainly limit your options.

- if I were single, it wouldn't be for very long. Being able to speak increases your pick-up rate, of course.

- I live in Khon Kaen, Amphur Meung. Ask your Thai friends about 'headmen' in all communities. If you don't have any Thai friends due to your disability, ask your butler.

- I read some stuff about the 'Thammassat massacre' but much more informative talking to somone who was active in it. I speak to my father-in-law about the Vietnam war too as he was there.

- some people have a superior colonial attitude and basically wouldn't stoop to the level of the Siamese. Some people don't have a single Thai friend after living here for years. The only Thais some people know are their servants. DO you drink gin and tonic?

-yes i paid cash for my home but admit that i had a mortgage for my first home (a condo) 42 years ago.

-i needed a builder who was able to translate my instructions and get me the craftsmen i required. for eleven months i was the first man at the construction site and the last man who left. my options were only limited because i was not able to supervise several crews who worked simultaneously on site.

-i am happily married since 34 years and therefore don't need to speak Thai for a "pick up".

-there is no headman in the gated community i live.

-i don't have a butler.

-my late father-in-law was never in Viet Nam. and i don't need anybody to tell me about the war in VN. reason: i made two "tours" each nine month in 1966/67 in a combat unit and i do not like to talk about the horrors i experienced.

-calling my withdrawn lifestyle "colonial attitude" is silly.

-the afore mentioned lifestyle is the reason why i don't have any local friends. no Thai ever rang my bell and asked me whether i'd like to be his friend and neither did the ladies ask who cut my hair, giving me a foot massage and/or a pedicure.

-i don't drink gin and tonic but prefer grapefruit juice, soda water and portwine (in that order).

next!

Have you tried the new "blue magic" soda water? its delicious

sounds like a Soda/Viagra mix

It's made by Chiang. 8 baht if I remember right. Good stuff.

[Naam]

I am still struggling with the Thai language but I experience a real joy when, maybe in the car waiting for the wife, I suddenly work out what the sign in front of me means. (beer chang classic was a good one recently). How do you guys get to the correct diesel/gasohol pump if you can't differentiate a D from a G? Look for the number 91 or 95? I would really feel stupid if I had to do that. I can read a little Thai and this compensates for my inability to speak fluently. If you don't enjoy learning useful stuff, you are old no matter when your birthday was.

Sent from my GT-S7500 using Tapatalk 2

whether "stuff" is useful or not depends on the perspective of the individual. i prefer to read (actually rather trying hard to decipher) poetry of Farid al-Din Attar in Farsi or a Ghazal by ‎Ghulam Ali in Urdu to the interesting signs on pumps at a service station.

and when my 44 year old car needs "Caltex 95 Gold" my wife's driver will fill her up to the brim after the weekly carwash. by the way, driving my old car with my dogs to a deserted beach on a sunday morning makes me feel younger than ever.

[Somtamnication]

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....

Very true. I speak basic Thai. I can read the numbers and generally converse ok with the locals. And a lot of time I get complemented when buying noodles, about my Thai.

What I take exception to, from the OP's title, is "why can't foreigners", when it should read "why can't SOME foreigners"....

I know a consular official who went to live at an Isaan village for 9 months, not knowing any Thai, and stayed there throughout, for the purposes of being in a meeting and only listening to what Thais say to each other during negotiations.

He regretted learning Thai, because he said, all they ever talk about is food.

[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....

Very true. I speak basic Thai. I can read the numbers and generally converse ok with the locals. And a lot of time I get complemented when buying noodles, about my Thai.

What I take exception to, from the OP's title, is "why can't foreigners", when it should read "why can't SOME foreigners"....

I know a consular official who went to live at an Isaan village for 9 months, not knowing any Thai, and stayed there throughout, for the purposes of being in a meeting and only listening to what Thais say to each other during negotiations.

He regretted learning Thai, because he said, all they ever talk about is food.

You think red hot go go dancers swinging around a chrome pole, sweating and gyrating to the beat are talking about food? They are communicating and talking in Thai but it's not about food. When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food. When the policeman stops me for speeding we don't talk about food.

[Somtamnication]

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....

Very true. I speak basic Thai. I can read the numbers and generally converse ok with the locals. And a lot of time I get complemented when buying noodles, about my Thai.

What I take exception to, from the OP's title, is "why can't foreigners", when it should read "why can't SOME foreigners"....

I know a consular official who went to live at an Isaan village for 9 months, not knowing any Thai, and stayed there throughout, for the purposes of being in a meeting and only listening to what Thais say to each other during negotiations.

He regretted learning Thai, because he said, all they ever talk about is food.

You think red hot go go dancers swinging around a chrome pole, sweating and gyrating to the beat are talking about food? They are communicating and talking in Thai but it's not about food. When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food. When the policeman stops me for speeding we don't talk about food.

I don't know anything about red hot gogo dancers and their conversations.

My statement is on daily conversations, not when you are getting stopped by a cop for breaking "their" laws.

[thailiketoo]

You think red hot go go dancers swinging around a chrome pole, sweating and gyrating to the beat are talking about food? They are communicating and talking in Thai but it's not about food. When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food. When the policeman stops me for speeding we don't talk about food.

I don't know anything about red hot gogo dancers and their conversations.

My statement is on daily conversations, not when you are getting stopped by a cop for breaking "their" laws.

That still leaves, When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food.

As an addendum you don't have to be breaking the law to be stopped by a Thai cop.

Edited December 6, 2013 by thailiketoo

[David48]

...

-i don't have a butler.

...

next!

Naam. What ... no Butler ...

You know no that puts the impending visit of me, the misses and the newly born Twins in Jeopardy.

... and I've already bought the bottle of Port for you ...

.

[FiftyTwo]

That still leaves, When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food.

As an addendum you don't have to be breaking the law to be stopped by a Thai cop.

When I go to my bank the teller almost always asks if I have eaten yet.

Not much conversation involved with deposit and withdraw (fark and tawn).

Air-plane booking, "would you like vegetarian sir", sounds like food talk to me.

Don't know about cardiologist, but when I talk to the nurses it always involves chat about me feeding them.

Immigration, when I went for my last marriage extension, my mrs and the lady immigration officer spent a lot of time discussing what Thai food I would eat.

Edited December 6, 2013 by FiftyTwo

[thailiketoo]

That still leaves, When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food.

As an addendum you don't have to be breaking the law to be stopped by a Thai cop.

When I go to my bank the teller almost always asks if I have eaten yet.

Not much conversation involved with deposit and withdraw (fark and tawn).

Air-plane booking, "would you like vegetarian sir", sounds like food talk to me.

Don't know about cardiologist, but when I talk to the nurses it always involves chat about me feeding them.

Immigration, when I went for my last marriage extension, my mrs and the lady immigration officer spent a lot of time discussing what Thai food I would eat.

Must be you. Doesn't happen to me. Maybe there is something about you that makes people talk about food.

Last night had some folks over to watch the History channel program about Thailand. Never mentioned food.

[DrTuner]

I've found food to be the most interesting topic in here. Had I not asked the locals, I would have missed such delicacies as grilled field rat. Yummy.

[transam]

That still leaves, When I go to the bank and the bank teller performs the transactions I ask she is not talking about food. When I go to the hospital and speak to the cardiologist we don't talk about food. When I reserve a seat on the airplane with the cute Thai counter girl we don't talk about food. When I go to immigration and don't have any problems with my visa extension we are not talking about food.

As an addendum you don't have to be breaking the law to be stopped by a Thai cop.

When I go to my bank the teller almost always asks if I have eaten yet.

Not much conversation involved with deposit and withdraw (fark and tawn).

Air-plane booking, "would you like vegetarian sir", sounds like food talk to me.

Don't know about cardiologist, but when I talk to the nurses it always involves chat about me feeding them.

Immigration, when I went for my last marriage extension, my mrs and the lady immigration officer spent a lot of time discussing what Thai food I would eat.

Must be you. Doesn't happen to me. Maybe there is something about you that makes people talk about food.

Last night had some folks over to watch the History channel program about Thailand. Never mentioned food.

Perhaps they had already eaten.

New people we meet always ask Mrs.Trans what I eat. When she tells them I do not eat Thai stuff their faces drop............ ............

[David48]

Perhaps they had already eaten.

New people we meet always ask Mrs.Trans what I eat. When she tells them I do not eat Thai stuff their faces drop............ ............

... you serious?

I know your fondness for the Big M ... but you don't eat Thai.

Even Thai Clam ...