Visiting Thailand, more Chinese tourists face language barriers

[webfact]

Visiting Thailand, more Chinese tourists face language barriers
Tony Cheng

WASHINGTON: -- There is no slow down in traveling when it comes to Chinese and Thailand is one of their top destinations.

This year ten million Chinese tourists are expected there. However, visitors may be facing some hurdles on the way.

Hundreds of Chinese tourists pour off tour buses to visit Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Tour guides, many of who have come with the groups from China, shepherd the tourists through the sites.

Full story: http://www.cctv-america.com/2016/04/14/visiting-thailand-more-chinese-tourists-face-language-barriers

-- CCTV America 2016-04-15

[Ricardo]

Perhaps the Thai education-system should teach Chinese, as well as English, but hopefully with better results ?

[NCC1701A]

must be frustrating for the Thai tourist scammers not being able to say "Grand Palace not open today, but I take you river tour, 2000 baht" in Chinese.

Edited April 15, 2016 by NCC1701A

[ToddinChonburi]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

[laolover88]

The article mentions "the needs of the thai hosts". Now apart from money which has its own perfectly clear language what would those other "needs" be?

[simon43]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

Well, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Chinese speak English, but the vast (VAST) majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word.

I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that:

- They are shocked to discover that Thai people do not speak Chinese as their mother tongue

- They are shocked that many Thai people in popular tourist destinations cannot speak any Chinese at all

- They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

Edited April 15, 2016 by simon43

[rkidlad]

I just recently went to Hong Kong with my Thai family. My missus' eldest sister's Thai boyfriend was the head honcho. He kept trying to speak English to the hotel staff, etc. I applaud him for trying but it was more of a 'these are my people so they'll understand my version of English better than yours"

I just let him crack on. He would get so angry when he couldn't understand them or they couldn't understand him. It was always their fault. His English sucks by the way.

[DrTuner]

Must be a shock to learn Mao didn't manage to convert the entire world. Yet.

[Pib]

Must be a shock for mainland Chinese when they can access mostly uncensored internet in Thailand.

[Rayk]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

Well, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Chinese speak English, but the vast (VAST) majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word.

I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that:

- They are shocked to discover that Thai people do not speak Chinese as their mother tongue

- They are shocked that many Thai people in popular tourist destinations cannot speak any Chinese at all

- They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

"The vast majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word."

"I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that"

"They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together"

How is it possible that the Chinese you speak of, who can not themselves speak barely a word of English possibly be aware of or even "shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together."

Sounds more like a bit of the usual Thai bashing as opposed to an accurate statement.

Would you care to elaborate?

Edited April 15, 2016 by Rayk

[mesterm]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

Well, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Chinese speak English, but the vast (VAST) majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word.

I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that:

- They are shocked to discover that Thai people do not speak Chinese as their mother tongue

- They are shocked that many Thai people in popular tourist destinations cannot speak any Chinese at all

- They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

"The vast majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word."

"I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that"

"They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together"

How is it possible that the Chinese you speak of, who can not themselves speak barely a word of English possibly be aware of or even "shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together."

Sounds more like a bit of the usual Thai bashing as opposed to an accurate statement.

Would you care to elaborate?

You don't get around much, do you?

[Rayk]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

Well, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Chinese speak English, but the vast (VAST) majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word.

I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that:

- They are shocked to discover that Thai people do not speak Chinese as their mother tongue

- They are shocked that many Thai people in popular tourist destinations cannot speak any Chinese at all

- They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

"The vast majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word."

"I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that"

"They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together"

How is it possible that the Chinese you speak of, who can not themselves speak barely a word of English possibly be aware of or even "shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together."

Sounds more like a bit of the usual Thai bashing as opposed to an accurate statement.

Would you care to elaborate?

You don't get around much, do you?

That's the best you could come up with Einstein.

How about enlightening me by simply answering the question.

[fusion58]

Visiting Thailand, more Chinese tourists face language barriers

So Chinese tourists are just now discovering that which tourists from every other country in the world already know?

Well, bump whatever is on the front page immediately!

[Acharn]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

No, the Chinese don't speak English. That's like saying the French speak English. Sure, there are some that do. A few. Not many.

Most Thais who speak Chinese speak Deo Chiu or Hakka, which are minority dialects from Southern China, because that's where most Chinese immigrants came from in the Nineteenth Century. Most Chinese speak Mandarin, which is taught in all Chinese schools, but which Thais have to find special schools and teachers for. There's a sign I see from time to time here in Nakhon Sawan for a school that teaches both Deo Chiu and Mandarin. The languages are not much alike.

Actually, there are quite a few Thai who speak English. If you haven't met them it just shows how limited your social abilities are.

[Acharn]

The Chinese speak English but the Thai's ?

Well, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Chinese speak English, but the vast (VAST) majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word.

I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that:

- They are shocked to discover that Thai people do not speak Chinese as their mother tongue

- They are shocked that many Thai people in popular tourist destinations cannot speak any Chinese at all

- They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

Hong Kong Chinese speak Cantonese. There may be some who have also learned English, at least a bit. Shanghai Chinese speak Mandarin, but there may be some who have learned English, at least a bit. One Thai I used to know, who speaks quite good English, was bitterly disappointed when he went to Japan because nobody there spoke English, at least the places he went.

[simon43]

How is it possible that the Chinese you speak of, who can not themselves speak barely a word of English possibly be aware of or even "shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together

Simple - they use their electronic translators (speak Chinese to it, translated into spoken or written English) to ask this question of me.

In any case, having lived in Phuket for 15 years and owned hotels for 12 of those years, I am well aware that the English language ability of most Thais that I meet here sucks big time! Many taxi drivers that I speak with cannot even manage to speak Bangkok Thai, but only know Southern Thai and a few words of English, (which often seem not to include popular passenger comments such as 'turn right', 'turn left' 'go straight on 'or 'be honest, you are a complete and utter buffalo, arn't you?')

I have made the effort to learn some spoken Mandarin. It is nowhere near as good as my Thai and French, but at least I try...

[Farang99]

Japan region revises 'patronising' Chinese tourist guide http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-36139230

Tourism officials in northern Japan have revised a visitor guide designed for Chinese tourists after it was criticised as being condescending.

Originally titled Common Sense When Travelling in Hokkaido, the Chinese-language booklet featured numerous examples of bad tourist behaviour and illustrations plastered with large X marks, the Kyodo news agency reports. But a Chinese resident made a complaint, saying it implied that visitors don't already have good manners and common sense.

[Nicolas32]

Don't worry Chinese are very smart with English but it seems China is losing interest in learning English?

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/02/china-boosts-chinese-usage-slips-in-global-english-proficiency-ranking.html

[Mook23]

The Thai envy/dislike the Chinese: Asians with white skin, with money, with their own solid n€twork in LOS, with no interest in Isaan farm girls/prostitutes...

[mesterm]

"The vast majority of mainland Chinese do not; hardly a single word."

"I know because the majority of guests at my Phuket hotel are mainland Chinese, and many are totally naive in that"

"They are shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together"

How is it possible that the Chinese you speak of, who can not themselves speak barely a word of English possibly be aware of or even "shocked that many Thais in popular tourist destinations cannot string more than a few words of English together."

Sounds more like a bit of the usual Thai bashing as opposed to an accurate statement.

Would you care to elaborate?

You don't get around much, do you?

That's the best you could come up with Einstein.

How about enlightening me by simply answering the question.

Sorry, but that's as much as you deserve.

[bearpolar]

Hopefully they also learn that defecating on walls is not the norm