Give directions of way - How do thais do it really?

[glegolo]

I have tried to figure out how thai give directions to people who is asking. I mean who is asking? Not thais anyhow,, it is almost always foreigner (falangs) that are asking for directions...

This is not meant to bash thai, just curiosity from my side. I mean who can blame other sorts of people when you sometimes in our own western country gets really stupid showings and directions when asking for it.....

I.e. people urge you to pay attention to a little fence on the right hand side and than talking and talking and give really difficult instructions. When in fact on the left hand side there is a church standing there high as St Peters cathedral in Rome....

I have asked from time to time and least to say thai are NOT used to read handsignals,, and absolutely not used to give instructions at all... Very very poor..... But I may be mistaken... maybe they give nice instructions according to them selfs??

How do you guys sees it.. is it a problem to ask a thai when in Thailand??.....

Glegolo

[BB1950]

Thais ask for directions too! That's because address in Thailand don't mean crap!

Locals know the area just about everyone or place.

Learn to speak Thai... Don't rely on hand gestures!

[gerry123]

i have asked my wife to ask directions a couple of times but it does seem that asking seems to equate with ignorance

IE they don't like doing it lets get back to the subject it always gets into a very long discussion but also seems very localized info given out

maybe just me but i try to avoid any asking now, got myself a very accurate GARMIN GPS saves a lot of grief

and lengthy inaccurate fruitless discussions

[harrry]

I once asked a girl for directions in Australia.

Gp dpwn the street until you come to Sue's Bridal Gowns,Cross the road and walk down the lane there until you get to Betts fahions then turn right till you get to Black Shoes.

It woud be much easier if she had said down the street near the hardware shop next to Dick Smiths Electonics.

[Gecko123]

OP:

Giving and receiving directions is a pretty basic life skill. If the suggestion here is that Thais might have impaired skills in this department, I think that is kind of unfair and demeaning to Thais.

I've been traveling more than usual lately, and have asked for plenty of directions in the process. You can't use GPS to find everything. When I ask for directions, I get answers like:

"It's at the second U-turn heading South."

"Make a left at the second red light, and go about half a kilometer."

"Make a left at the third soi, go about 100 meters, and it'll be on your left."

Sure there are times when distances get a little vague, and if the directions involve a complicated series of turns, etc., I might have to stop (maybe even a few times) to check again. But that exact same thing happens quite often back home. I try to look for someone who looks like they might know. I avoid asking children, most teenagers, people who look like they never drive, and the elderly.

Asking someone "Where is XYZ hotel?" is relatively easy. Understanding a complicated set of instructions in Thai can be quite challenging for a non-native speaker. Another thing to consider is that all of the reference points which all of the locals know about like "Mabel's house," Where Rose used to have her dress shop," "Where they're going to open the 7-Eleven next year," or "Where Uncle Charlie crashed his motorcycle" are meaningless to an outsider.

I just think that unless you are very fluent in Thai, it's really unfair to try to judge how well Thai's give directions.

[Eddy B]

I once had a skin rash due to a bug bite and wanted to see the doctor who had treated my friend before with the same thing. I ask his wife to draw me a map, which she did. With said map I made my way to the area she had told me and followed it to a clinic. So I sat down and waited til I was asked by the receptionist to give my details. Well about 15 minutes had passed and I had noticed the other patients seemed to all of the female persuasion and pregnant. I thought this odd so I approached the desk and asked if doctor Sombat or whatever his name was was working at this clinic. Well talk about embarrassing, I had only been sitting in the pregnant woman's clinic and it all got a good laugh from the ladies when they all realised I was in the wrong place. Luckily one of the receptionists gave me a ride on her bike about one block over to the correct clinic. Diffidently a humorous but also embarrassing experience!! At the end of my story, the right doc also did give me the right cream for the bug bite rash and it cleared up.

[opalred]

its as wife says they wont say dont know

its to show power and will say anything to make them feel smart . and you find it will be the wrong way

the best one i got was travelling to malaysia on moterbike

out of hatyai i new the border wasnt far and had been travelling sometime so guessed was on wrong rd

about 8 police on rd checking or collecting money

i asked them which way to malaysia border they talked together then one came over and pointing straight ahead

so went ahead after sometime came across a sign to bangkok

again they will say anything show power we not dumb/?