when you speak thai and they speak english back

[Rangsitreppin]

Ordered khao mun gai in a semi touristy area in phuket and the thai staff (i think she was the owner) was seriously insulted and screaming loudly i can speak english and seemed insulted i tryed to ordwr my food in thai.

only happed about 4 -5 times that thai food venders reply in english but i find it quite rude .

My friend also got this treatment when speaking isaan dialect with hi-so bangkokians who pretended they couldnt understand him.

[Ayutthaya11]

You should of turned it around on her and said your English is crap "Speak Thai"

Edited March 28, 2015 by Ashley1982

[neverdie]

It's the op's appearance and smell that brings the worst out in people.

The lady is aware you are sleeping under her tables in the early hours and urinating on the wheel of her cart, she'd slso displeased your stench is turning other customers away.

Now you want to order food in poorly pronounced Thai and barter for the pleasure.

Poor woman.

[longstebe]

Its when they come back in thai, then I fail miserably.

[MJCM]

Just say in broken English, "No speak Angkrit solly" and see how they react

[Stan42]

Yeah it happens to me from time to time, doesn't really bother me. I just switch back to English. Maybe they just want to practice or show off their skills or something.

[Gecko123]

The conclusion I've reached is that whenever I am receiving service from someone, the smartest thing to do is to defer to however the vendor prefers to conduct the transaction. I say this with an eye towards my ultimate goal which is receiving the best service possible. Insisting on speaking Thai, or becoming visibly annoyed because the vendor speaks to you in English is not likely going to improve the service you receive. If it becomes obvious that the service provider is struggling to communicate in English, you can always gently let them know you can speak Thai.

If you really want to practice your Thai you can always explain that you are studying Thai, and ask if they would mind if you practiced your Thai during the interaction. Most Thais, if they aren't too busy, and assuming your Thai is reasonably good, would be happy to accomodate this request.

With that said, you need to bear in mind that just because you are in Thailand, it isn't reasonable to expect that everyone you encounter will have the time, energy, patience or desire to serve as your unpaid, on-demand, language tutor just because it happens to suit your needs at the moment.

[Jingthing]

In Pattaya, it's usually a clue that the person intends to charge me the higher farang price and seems to think speaking to him in Thai is a trick to ask for the local price, which he is rejecting.

More decent Thais seem to appreciate any level of Thai speaking.

Edited March 28, 2015 by Jingthing

[CharlieH]

"Grammar Police" type comment removed.

[Songhua]

Probably Burmese.

[rixalex]

Something i have noticed is that those Thais who speak bar level English, seem to find foreign spoken Thai almost impossible to understand, and also seem to get a bit irritated when they hear it. Of course foreign spoken Thai is often not spoken that well or clearly - speaking for myself anyway - but other Thais seem generally to be able to comprehend it, and don't seem to get annoyed by it, which leads me to believe that perhaps the communication problem is feigned and designed to send the message, "you are a tool".

[thrilled]

Problem they might not understand the dialect you are using.I have been with people from Nongkhai travel to Bangkok with me.

Then they would have some trouble what people from Bangkok would say and visa versa.

And also the server might be instructed when takng A Farang order to speak in English only.Just go with the flow.Don't sweat the small s_ _ _ _. Mi pin li.

[MilesofSmiles]

Why do you put up with that sort of crap from people? Just go somewhere else <deleted>

[DogNo1]

I had a barista at my favorite coffee shop speak to me in English the other day after I had ordered in Thai. I didn't miss a beat. I told her that her English was quite good and asked where she had studied. She said that she had just picked it up at work but was obviously pleased with my compliment.

[Skywalker69]

Farangs often have problems with the five tones of the thai language, normal, high, rising, sinking and low tone. I think thats why thai´s have problem understanding as farangs many times have difficulties when thai´s speak bad english.

[MJCM]

Farangs often have problems with the five tones of the thai language, normal, high, rising, sinking and low tone. I think thats why thai´s have problem understanding as farangs many times have difficulties when thai´s speak bad english.

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

For example (disclaimer; English Transcript used as not allowed to write Thai here and also please forgive as tones aren't included and also not sure if this is the correct spelling )

Kin Kaow Mai ?

A Thai will (usually) understand that it means "Do you want to Eat (Rice)" and NOT for example "Eat white Wood" as Kaow and Mai as we know can mean different things (up to 5 )

Edited March 29, 2015 by MJCM

[marko kok prong]

Maybe she's thick,maybe you are,really who cares.

[Rangsitreppin]

Im getting it now .

Only speak to thai to thais who cant speak english.

[Skywalker69]

Farangs often have problems with the five tones of the thai language, normal, high, rising, sinking and low tone. I think thats why thai´s have problem understanding as farangs many times have difficulties when thai´s speak bad english.

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

For example (disclaimer; English Transcript used as not allowed to write Thai here and also please forgive as tones aren't included and also not sure if this is the correct spelling )

Kin Kaow Mai ?

A Thai will (usually) understand that it means "Do you want to Eat (Rice)" and NOT for example "Eat white Wood" as Kaow and Mai as we know can mean different things (up to 5 )

Depending on the tone the same word can mean 5 different things. If you want to say come here and use ther wrong tone in come you can turn the word come into horse or dog.

[Skywalker69]

Farangs often have problems with the five tones of the thai language, normal, high, rising, sinking and low tone. I think thats why thai´s have problem understanding as farangs many times have difficulties when thai´s speak bad english.

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

For example (disclaimer; English Transcript used as not allowed to write Thai here and also please forgive as tones aren't included and also not sure if this is the correct spelling )

Kin Kaow Mai ?

A Thai will (usually) understand that it means "Do you want to Eat (Rice)" and NOT for example "Eat white Wood" as Kaow and Mai as we know can mean different things (up to 5 )

The word for eat spells with G (gai)

[tifino]

I let the missus order, and I jump in at the end with a " Pet muk muk" and pointing at the item - so I don't get the farang version

[MJCM]

Farangs often have problems with the five tones of the thai language, normal, high, rising, sinking and low tone. I think thats why thai´s have problem understanding as farangs many times have difficulties when thai´s speak bad english.

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

For example (disclaimer; English Transcript used as not allowed to write Thai here and also please forgive as tones aren't included and also not sure if this is the correct spelling )

Kin Kaow Mai ?

A Thai will (usually) understand that it means "Do you want to Eat (Rice)" and NOT for example "Eat white Wood" as Kaow and Mai as we know can mean different things (up to 5 )

Depending on the tone the same word can mean 5 different things. If you want to say come here and use ther wrong tone in come you can turn the word come into horse or dog.

Also better not use (towards persons that is) the general classifier for animals

[sfokevin]

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

You would think so... But how many time have you been eating at a resturant and mid meal decided to go to the bathroom... Farrang gets up from table and wanders to the rear of the resturant and says to the first staff member he meets "Haung Naam Yuu Tee Nai'?"... Only to be greeted by a clueless blank scared stare from the staff member...

What could the crazy Farrang wondering about possible want?...

They are not so keen on situational processing...

Edited March 29, 2015 by sfokevin

[MJCM]

I agree, but I also disagree as a Thai is usually capable to understand, if a Foreigner gets the tone wrong, what it is all about.

You would think so... But how many time have you been eating at a resturant and mid meal decided to go to the bathroom... Farrang gets up from table and wanders to the rear of the resturant and says to the first staff member he meets "Haung Naam Yuu Tee Nai'?"... Only to be greeted by a blank scared stare from the staff member...

They are not so keen on situational processing...

An alternative conclusion could be, that (who have problems understanding) they are not used to hear foreigners speaking Thai. (But that's just guessing)

Edit: Maybe it would be better just to say "Haung Naam Yuu Sai" 555555

Edited March 29, 2015 by MJCM

[Neeranam]

Usually doctors are the worst.

I met a Thai woman in Aberdeen who was speaking Thai on her phone - when I asked er where she was from she said she was Scottish.

I have told those annoying types that I am Thai.

[DogNo1]

The consonant that begins the Thai word for "eat" is an unaspirated k sound, not a g sound. The slippery differences in Thai consonants and vowels plus Thai's tonality can make understanding a westerner who mispronounces Thai tricky. Do you have any trouble understanding heavily accented English? I do although if I think about it, I can guess what is being said by the context.

Interestingly, English written without vowels is pretty understandable

[Razzler1973]

I have someone reply back in English when asking something in Thai before

Never had someone shout at me though, that's ridiculous and not common at all

I can imagine Bangkokians with proper jobs (what you call 'hi-so' no doubt) not really wanting to be spoken to in Isaan dialect. I know some Bangkokians gone up to Isaan for work with their company and been over charged like a tourist and come back not happy at all