Don't you just love the Thais

[maoro2013]

I think often it is because it is easier to say mai mi that actually do anything. Same as opening a bank account where the staff struggle with English

[emilymat]

We can bring it on ourselves sometimes.

I had a friend in Hua Hin who once ordered a cheese and tomato sandwich without tomato. The whole thing degenerated into a farce. He ended up with bread and butter about 15 minutes later.

Bit like post 26.

[Mudcrab]

Don't you just love the way some tv posters treat threads to seriously.

Dont you just love the way some Farangs make no real effort to speak Thai

Then make jokes about the way staff try to speak english to help them .

Some Amazing Farangs in Thailand.

All I have to do to make Thai people wet their pants laughing is to speak Thai to them.

I seem to get the message across but it must sound funny to them. I do try to sound like them but it is not easy.

haha...know what you mean.

But for the more advanced pants wetting...try doing the karaoke thing with a Thai song where the words are in Thai but in English characters (think aroy..maak maak etc) ..so you can read/sing them...but they bear no resemblance to the actual spoken word.

So they told me...I thought I sounded great!!!

Mind you there were a good few Changs under the belt at the time.

And I can't sing for sh!!t in English anyway....all good fun!

Apparently I'm a legend, but for all the wrong reasons I suspect.

Edited May 30, 2015 by Mudcrab

[JHenry]

I ordered a chicken breast sandwich but the waitress could not understand me. I pointed to her breasts and clucked like a chicken. She returned with a glass of milk.

Why did not you point to her ass and trumphet like an elephant?

[Anthony5]

Don't you just love the way some tv posters treat threads to seriously.

Dont you just love the way some Farangs make no real effort to speak Thai

Then make jokes about the way staff try to speak english to help them .

Some Amazing Farangs in Thailand.

beef mince is everwhere, even 2 grades in big c, pattaya klnag, isnt that marvelous, and a miracle.

Make that 3, because they have one grade from which they make burgers.

[duanebigsby]

Don't you just love the way some tv posters treat threads to seriously.

Dont you just love the way some Farangs make no real effort to speak Thai

Then make jokes about the way staff try to speak english to help them .

Some Amazing Farangs in Thailand.

even if the Thai person's English is pretty good the word "mince" will be unusual for them. Making a hand gesture and saying Chop, chop, chop would be much better.

[Jingthing]

Many Americans wouldn't know from mince either. We say ground.

[duanebigsby]

In Europe you would have the option of horse mince beef also

In UK not sure...its a civilised country

Civilized?

http://www.musclefood.com/meat/exotic-meat.html?gclid=CIzNmO6Y6cUCFUEljgodgi4AWw

I never refer to countries as civilized and uncivilized, it's uncivilized to do so.

Horsemeat is alive and well in the UK.

[Anthony5]

I had a comparable experience when attempting to buy a pair of replacement shoe laces from a Pattaya shoe shop. The shop assistant looked at me like I was an escaped mental patient from the local lunatic asylum. She brought the manager, whose look of astonishment was a sight to behold. "Are you sure you don't mean ladies shoes" she uttered. I confirmed that I was trying to buy a pair of replacement shoe laces for a pair of black mens lace up shoes. She looked horrified as if to confirm that only a madman would seek to replace the shoe laces in such circumstances and that a mentally stable person of full age and sound mind would simply replace the shoes and have done with it. Her hands scrambled frantically for the gun they kept under the counter and In the hope that I could persuade me to leave the shop without killing anyone. In a determined but faltering voice,she advised that I could only get them in Bangkok.

I had similar experiences about shoe laces.

Expats are advised to bring in some spare laces when moving here or visiting more normative (about shoe laces) nations.

Plenty of shoe laces available at Central departent store and the big sports shop on the high floor. Come in different colors, lengths and shapes, and if I remember correctly they are 20 Baht a pair.

[Anthony5]

I have had a big C that I ask for ground chicken but not have, and just take chicken breast and mince it.

[Mudcrab]

We can bring it on ourselves sometimes.

I had a friend in Hua Hin who once ordered a cheese and tomato sandwich without tomato. The whole thing degenerated into a farce. He ended up with bread and butter about 15 minutes later.

Bit like post 26.

A few years ago I went to Brisbane, Australia for a conference. They put us in a fancy inner city boutique hotel...French speaking staff etc etc.

Went down for breakfast and asked for eggs , bacon and (what I thought would be baked beans..hey I'm a simple eater).

Got a funny look from the waitress...beans? yes beans.

yep ...got a plate with eggs, bacon and still frozen chopped runner beans (straight out of the bag I suspect) decoratively sprinkled on top.

Ate the lot too. Little bit crunchy but not too bad.

[loloal]

3 days ago I was in a family Mart to buy my daily Pocari Water. I spot a small promotion sign in Thai saying "Promotion, 2 bottles 30 ฿" (Which is the usual price for 1 bottle)

I'm not fluent but I can read basic Thai.

I decide to take 4 of them for 60฿, good deal.

The cashier says "120 ฿, not 60 !"

_ but I see promotion

_ nooo mai mee promotion

I bring the promotion sign to her and read it (in thai) :

_ 2 bottles 30฿

_ but you don't have 2 bottles ! You have 4 bottles !

I went with the mai pen rai attitude, paid 120฿ and was amazed

TiT !

Edited May 30, 2015 by loloal

[Mudcrab]

Why did you ask for minced meat? It is available in every grocery store in the entire Thailand. It is so hard not to find it here. Trolling, are not we ?

Really, show me where the minced beef is in Big C in Surin. I've seen a few ridiculously priced steaks but can't recall seeing mince.

A lot of the Thai people I know (in fact ALL the Thai people I know) just say they don't like beef because of the smell.

Maybe it's more of a religious thing that they have inherited over the years, but I've never seen anyone eat beef around here...chicken , pork, fish etc but never beef.

[Pattaya28]

This thread is hilarious !!

Almost as funny as the guy that got covered in Poo on Walking Street.

Shoe-Laces ....... or lack of

[duanebigsby]

3 days ago I was in a family Mart to buy my daily Pocari Water. I spot a small promotion sign in Thai saying "Promotion, 2 bottles 30 ฿" (Which is the usual price for 1 bottle)

I'm not fluent but I can read basic Thai.

I decide to take 4 of them for 60฿, good deal.

The cashier say "120 ฿, not 60 !"

_ but I see promotion

_ nooo mee promotion

I bring the promotion sign to her and read it (in thai) :

_ 2 bottles 30฿

_ but you don't have 2 bottles ! You have 4 bottles !

I went with the mai pen rai attitude, paid 120฿ and was amazed

TiT !

Why didn't you buy two and then come back 2 minutes later and buy another two? 60 baht for two minutes work, worth it!

[Jingthing]

Silly you.

Go native.

Buy the two on promotion.

Bag them.

Then buy the other two.

[Jingthing]

This thread is hilarious !!

Almost as funny as the guy that got covered in Poo on Walking Street.

Shoe-Laces ....... or lack of

Not sure what you find funny? That sometimes people need to buy replacement laces?

[impulse]

Restaurant in the building where I work:

Me: What's the special today?

Her: Honey mustard chicken.

Me: Sounds good, I'll have that.

Her: Sorry, finished.

[loloal]

Why didn't you buy two and then come back 2 minutes later and buy another two? 60 baht for two minutes work, worth it!

I almost did but a mix of being late to gym + face loosing risk for the cashier + I was so amused, I let it go

[Jingthing]

I think there might be a BOOK in this kind of stuff.

[Gsxrnz]

Don't you just love the way some tv posters treat threads to seriously.

Dont you just love the way some Farangs make no real effort to speak Thai

Then make jokes about the way staff try to speak english to help them .

Some Amazing Farangs in Thailand.

All I have to do to make Thai people wet their pants laughing is to speak Thai to them.

I seem to get the message across but it must sound funny to them. I do try to sound like them but it is not easy.

I've discovered recently that if you speak it while trying to sound totally ridiculous and over the top, they seem to understand more and laugh less or not at all.

You have to feel similar to the way you'd feel in English if you were imitating English with a foreign accent. Say for example you were imitating an Indian accent (with or without the wobbly head). The more you try, the sillier you feel, but the more accurate it actually comes across.

Anyway, works for me.

[Rajab Al Zarahni]

Why did you ask for minced meat? It is available in every grocery store in the entire Thailand. It is so hard not to find it here. Trolling, are not we ?

Really, show me where the minced beef is in Big C in Surin. I've seen a few ridiculously priced steaks but can't recall seeing mince.

A lot of the Thai people I know (in fact ALL the Thai people I know) just say they don't like beef because of the smell.

Maybe it's more of a religious thing that they have inherited over the years, but I've never seen anyone eat beef around here...chicken , pork, fish etc but never beef.

"A lot of the Thai people I know (in fact ALL the Thai people I know) just say they don't like beef because of the smell."

This is also true from my own experience but curiously I have never come across anyone from any other country who refrains from eating beef for the same reason.

It could be that the beef on offer in Thailand generally comes from that breed of cow you often see with the hump on its back. I think that the reason steaks are so disappointing in Thailand is for reason that it they come from that breed of cow.

[impulse]

Many Americans wouldn't know from mince either. We say ground.

Especially if we've tried mincemeat pie. And there doesn't seem to be any meat.

[angiolo]

I ordered a chicken breast sandwich but the waitress could not understand me. I pointed to her breasts and clucked like a chicken. She returned with a glass of milk.

I dont believe this , but a funny story. I know a Welsh version ,but thats another story

[impulse]

A lot of the Thai people I know (in fact ALL the Thai people I know) just say they don't like beef because of the smell.

Can't say I blame them. I have to hold my nose to cook up ground beef here for spaghetti sauce. Never had that issue back home with ground beef.

In fact, I binned the first few batches, thinking they had gone off. But when it happened about the 3rd or 4th time (and from different stores), I just kept cooking.

Same problem with ground pork's smell, but the ground pork back home stinks too.

Edited May 30, 2015 by impulse

[duanebigsby]

I think there might be a BOOK in this kind of stuff.

I suspect you're right about the book.

[Rockhopper]

Warorot Market in Chiang Mai has hundreds of shoe laces.

[berybert]

Someone told me the best way to be understood when speaking Thai is to camp it up.

Flounce about and they find it easier to understand.

[RachaRob]

^{I was in a hotel in Bangkok and wanted to get room service but they had two different numbers. So I called one of them and said I wanted to order, he said ok and hung up so I called the second number and did order some food. Five minutes later there I a knock on the door, I thought that was quick! So when I opened the door there was a man standing there with two bottles of water and he said you want two water? (to order) I took them and was still laughing when my food finally came.}

[autryme]

We can bring it on ourselves sometimes.

I had a friend in Hua Hin who once ordered a cheese and tomato sandwich without tomato. The whole thing degenerated into a farce. He ended up with bread and butter about 15 minutes later.

Bit like post 26.

A few years ago I went to Brisbane, Australia for a conference. They put us in a fancy inner city boutique hotel...French speaking staff etc etc.

Went down for breakfast and asked for eggs , bacon and (what I thought would be baked beans..hey I'm a simple eater).

Got a funny look from the waitress...beans? yes beans.

yep ...got a plate with eggs, bacon and still frozen chopped runner beans (straight out of the bag I suspect) decoratively sprinkled on top.

Ate the lot too. Little bit crunchy but not too bad.

About time this Forum offered up a few innocent laughs.

Mudcrab, we don't have Baked Beans in Brisbane... we are not that simple!

But guess what, went for work breakfast meeting this morning and .....................Beans !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!