Thai Scrabble ace's supporters say UK's Daily Mail is talking rubbish

[webfact]

Thai Scrabble ace's supporters say UK's Daily Mail is talking rubbish

BANGKOK: -- The friend of a Thai Computer programmer who is one of the leading Scrabble players in the world has condemned a story that appeared in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper online.

And a leading British player living in Bangkok has also said that the story is largely "nonsense".

Bangkokian Komol Panyasophonlert, 31, is ranked number two in the world according to the rankings on the mindsportsacademy.com Scrabble website. Scrabble is the world's favorite word game played internationally in tournaments by thousands of people.

It is extremely popular in Thailand where it is played expertly.

Yet rather than celebrate the achievements of this exceptional Thai man the newspaper sneered in bold print that he can't speak English, can't string a sentence together and uses Google translate to communicate if he has to write.

This, the article says, despite his knowing 90% of the English language.

A friend of Komol on the Facebook page under the name "Hatai Yamlimprayoonyong" said that the real story of Komol should be one that celebrates a man worthy of national interest and respect.

"The story of Komol is a great one. He can in fact speak English well and the assertions in the story - written in bold - that he can't speak a word and can't use grammar properly are assumptions that are very wide of the mark," he said.

He also said there were other glaring inaccuracies in the Daily Mail story like Komol reading only words six hours a day and not knowing the meaning of what he memorizes.

He added that the article feeds into a mistaken narrative that Scrabble players like Komol who have brought honour to Thailand are "kind of wasting time if you ask me". He asked other Thais to share his comments and help to put the record straight.

British born Scrabble player Gerry Carter who has lived in Bangkok for more than thirty years and represents Thailand in international Scrabble competition said:

"The Daily Mail story is largely nonsense and gives the wrong impression about Komol who I have known since he was about 14 years old. He could beat me then when I was 38 and now I am thrilled if I ever win against him!

"Komol is not only one of the greatest Scrabble players to have ever lived but he speaks English well and writes very accurately with no need of any translating tools. I should know - I have interviewed him in English for news and blogs that I write on the competitive Scrabble scene around the world.

"Whilst it is true that Scrabble players do not need to know the meaning of the vocabulary they learn in order to play the game I can assure you that a player like Komol knows not only a great deal more words in English than the majority of native speakers he also knows a huge amount of meanings too. And of course he knows the part of speech
of the words - whether they are verbs or can be made into plurals, for example. He speaks well and politely and is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet".

Komol is considered second only to Nigel Richards of New Zealand who is the best player in the world by some way. He came within one game of beating the Kiwi master in a world championship final in Europe a few years ago and in the same year was just edged out of the US national championships by the same opponent.

"Komol is considered a sportsman in Thailand as are all Scrabble players here and should be honored as a great example to Thai youth for all that he has achieved around the world" added Gerry.

Komol learnt to speak much of his English interacting with foreign participants in tournaments all around the world, said Gerry who finished eleventh in the King's Cup tournament in Bangkok earlier this month - some six places behind Komol. Nigel Richards was the winner of the 10,000 US dollar first prize.

The game of Scrabble - usually called Crossword Game in Thailand - receives patronage of the Thai Royal Family in the kingdom and is played by tens of thousands of school children nationwide. There is a large professional circuit here with the biggest corporate sponsorship of the game anywhere in the world.

Indeed, Bangkok is considered the number one city in the world to play the game due to the high level of competition and wealth of expert players in the capital.

"It is quite typical that newspapers like the Daily Mail write nonsense about Scrabble," said Gerry. "It is good that they carry the occasional story about the game but it would be better if they printed more accurate information about players like Komol who have encouraged so many youngsters in Thailand and around the world to take up the
game and improve both their English and their mathematical skills.

Thailand was the first country in the world to have a non-native English speaking Scrabble world champion. Panupol Sajjayakorn won in 2003 when he was still a teenager and Thai architect Pakorn Nemitrmansuk beat Nigel Richards to the crown in Kuala Lumpur in 2009. Most world champions have been British, Americans or Canadians.


-- 2016-07-21

[Chapelroad]

The Daily Mail talking rubbish ?

Here we have a very intelligent Thai.

[dcnx]

1 simple video from the lad of him speaking English would put things to rest.

[z42]

The official scrabble circuit is a complete nonsense. How words such as "xe" or "uw" can be used by anyone while keeping a straight face and smidgen of respectability is beyond me. The Thai guy must have some serious knowledge of some of the longer words that do have appropriate usage though, and for that, fair play to him.

[DLang]

It is extremely popular in Thailand

[JoePai]

I thought "He who must be obeyed" had banned The Mail online here in Thailand

[useronthenet]

Given Thailand has blocked the Daily Mail website, then frankly this is a nonstarter for most readers.

[Dexlowe]

The official scrabble circuit is a complete nonsense. How words such as "xe" or "uw" can be used by anyone while keeping a straight face and smidgen of respectability is beyond me. The Thai guy must have some serious knowledge of some of the longer words that do have appropriate usage though, and for that, fair play to him.

If new words weren't being constantly added, then the game would stagnate to a degree. As it is, Scrabble is extremely challenging, so it is only right that those challenges keep evolving to tease and titillate the fans. Perhaps there is some truth in the criticism that Thais enjoy an advantage in Scrabble because rote learning is ingrained in them from the day they are born, but honestly, who cares - you'll hear no excuses of that nature from the Kiwi Richards nor the likes of Carter. That thousands of Thai kids play the game is to their advantage.

[ianc66]

Actually the daily mail can be accessed here in Thailand.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/index.html

However the content is usually nonsense, as in this case.

[CanInBKK]

Kids game, well suited to Thais

Scrabble a "kids [sic] game"? Sure, it's a game that can be played by kids but to master it and compete at this man's level is something that requires a lot of time and dedication.

[Emster23]

Gee is there an oral component to Scrabble? Must be a version I am not familiar with. It does not matter if he can or can't speak English. Game is about making words with tiles last I saw. Saying he can't speak English so must not be qualified is like saying Ronaldo can't play football because of inability to sing opera.

[prakhonchai nick]

I last played in the Thailand scrabble competition in Bangkok, sponsored by, amongst others, the "other" Thailand English language newspaper, around 23 years ago..

I was knocked out in the first round, by a Thai, who went on to win the competition 2 days later. He seemigly knew every word in the English dictionary, but could not string more than a few words together to be able to speak to anyone in English.

That was the reason I never played again. How ridiculous having a champion who could not speak English.

[exalll]

Last year a New Zealander won the French scrabble world championship despite not speaking a word of French. This was reported as something to celebrate!

[mesterm]

Kids game, well suited to Thais

Scrabble a "kids [sic] game"? Sure, it's a game that can be played by kids but to master it and compete at this man's level is something that requires a lot of time and dedication.

Maybe he prefers the mind games his wife plays with him

[Junkyarddog]

Ali Wah?

[doremifasol]

Given Thailand has blocked the Daily Mail website, then frankly this is a nonstarter for most readers.

Not blocked, you can read the article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3695715/Man-letters-Thai-computer-programmer-ranked-world-Scrabble-despite-speaking-NO-ENGLISH.html

[exalll]

Given Thailand has blocked the Daily Mail website, then frankly this is a nonstarter for most readers.

Not blocked, you can read the article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3695715/Man-letters-Thai-computer-programmer-ranked-world-Scrabble-despite-speaking-NO-ENGLISH.html

Can't. It is blocked

[thai3]

Kids game, well suited to Thais

Scrabble a "kids [sic] game"? Sure, it's a game that can be played by kids but to master it and compete at this man's level is something that requires a lot of time and dedication.

All you need is a good memory and a lot of reading, pointless waste of time

[gomangosteen]

Daily Mail, creative use of fact

The DM did not conduct an in-person interview, or even by phone

Their story was based on a Facebook conversation

Full transcript here (yes, in English)

https://www.techtalkthai.com/worldwide-3rd-rank-scrabble-player-komol-shows-what-he-said-in-an-interview-with-dailymail/

Sample:

[iforget]

Who is Charlie Moore, who wrote the story? Anyone know him?

Story says he uses Google Translate if he wants to communicate in English. As anyone who has tried using GT for translating anything other than single words between Thai and English, this is total bullshit. It's useless.

BTW I have no trouble getting the Mail on my phone. Maybe it's been unblocked?

[robertson468]

Given Thailand has blocked the Daily Mail website, then frankly this is a nonstarter for most readers.

How odd! I live in Thailand and read it everyday. More misinformation from TV Members?

[iforget]

Kids game, well suited to Thais

Scrabble a "kids [sic] game"? Sure, it's a game that can be played by kids but to master it and compete at this man's level is something that requires a lot of time and dedication.

All you need is a good memory and a lot of reading, pointless waste of time

Pointless? He's made £30,000 from it (about B1.4m). What game do you play that also makes you that kind of money?

[Estrada]

Given Thailand has blocked the Daily Mail website, then frankly this is a nonstarter for most readers.

Not blocked, you can read the article here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3695715/Man-letters-Thai-computer-programmer-ranked-world-Scrabble-despite-speaking-NO-ENGLISH.html

It is still blocked if you are in Thailand you must use a VPN to view the Daily Mail on-line.

Edited July 21, 2016 by Estrada

[scorecard]

The official scrabble circuit is a complete nonsense. How words such as "xe" or "uw" can be used by anyone while keeping a straight face and smidgen of respectability is beyond me. The Thai guy must have some serious knowledge of some of the longer words that do have appropriate usage though, and for that, fair play to him.

If new words weren't being constantly added, then the game would stagnate to a degree. As it is, Scrabble is extremely challenging, so it is only right that those challenges keep evolving to tease and titillate the fans. Perhaps there is some truth in the criticism that Thais enjoy an advantage in Scrabble because rote learning is ingrained in them from the day they are born, but honestly, who cares - you'll hear no excuses of that nature from the Kiwi Richards nor the likes of Carter. That thousands of Thai kids play the game is to their advantage.

Advantage.

No different to tall basketball players probably have some advantage and any similar list would have thousands of scenarios.

Some folks are naturally good at some things whether they are short or tall fat or thin old or young: art, cooking, maths, conceptual thinking and a long list of other items, therefore they have an advantage, this is life.

[RandolphGB]

Isn't the story saying he's clever for not being able to speak English yet winning at scrabble? Hardly sneering at him

[nakhonandy]

Sounds like an impressive achievement to me, so what if his English isn't perfect.

I have a few English friends wot are like that.

Well done to him.

As for the Daily Mail, middle class brain dead drivel.

[Shiver]

I don't think many English speakers know 90% of the words. The ones I hear around here tend to be punctuated by expletives anyhow.

Is it necessary that a great football player can speak more than one language?

[gandalf12]

Scrabble is not about understanding the meaning of words and it is not about placing a word in the correct context within a sentence. It is about spelling a single word. I know Thai's who have no idea about a words meaning but can spell a lot of English words.

Based on what I have seen I would consider the claim for him to be the champion is true.

If anyone can prove to the contrary then please do, other wise stop condemning this guy of whom you have no knowledge

[Broken Record]

I thought "He who must be obeyed" had banned The Mail online here in Thailand

He who must be obeyed is only doing what he's told to do, he has no choice.

[Bangkok Barry]

I'm sure you know full well that the Daily Mail (as already noted by others above) is blocked by the Censor here in Thailand, and its article cannot be viewed without a VPN.

Well, I live in Thailand and using TOT I have had no problem accessing the DM for over a year. Without a VPN.