Rao Tum Dai: Thai could be world's new english, Prayuth says

[macksview]

ok little general, it is time to go back to your own planet, you have had your fun making the earthlings laugh, cry and shake their heads in disbelief.

 

maybe i am wrong and he has been taking the p*ss all this time.

[Eligius]

33 minutes ago, Ramar said:

Really.  Thai the world language "if you do what I say".   This guy is dangerous and could set the Thais back 50 years

'This guy could set the Thais back 50 years' - he already has.

100 years!

[zd1]

17 hours ago, sotonowl said:

fluent in welsh apparently

 

Now that is a language that is getting a bit of resurgence and by the third or fourth millennium it should have over taken English as the second language of the world, but it looks like them damn thais are going to beat us to it, we should have gone public with our world language take over sooner.

[Squeegee]

17 hours ago, waldroj said:

"...Thai could supersede English as the dominant world language – at least in the opinion of junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha..."

 

Surely, the usual Khaosod English translator is on holidays, and the stand-in doesn't have the same grasp of the language.

 

But, if this is not the case, then all that is left in Prayut's defence is, - well, you simply can't defend the indefensible. In which case, all one can do is refer to a quote (allegedly attributed to a genuine leader of a country):

 

"Better to Remain Silent and Be Thought a Fool than to Speak and Remove All Doubt"

 

As if there was ever any doubt !!!

 

I think you are missing the point. It's not about being realistic or not looking stupid. It is about power, pure and simple.

 

Perception of his image when he opens his mouth doesn't matter because INSIDE Thailand nobody will challenge him. The man can say ANYTHING he likes and he is doing so.

 

It's an expression of arrogant power spat into the face of the rest of the world, since this Prayuth fella claims to know better.

 

Until someone stands up to him he will say whatever he feels like and get away with it. The more ridiculous it sounds to us the more it confirms his power over the population to not be challenged on his deranged, silly ideas.

 

 

[Krataiboy]

Ting tong.

[yorkieb]

Further confirmation that the standee has a higher IQ.

 

Sharpe as a marble, lmao.

[elgordo38]

19 hours ago, khwaibah said:

This has to be false news..

Frankly I would sooner deal with the cardboard cutout. It surely would not utter dumb answers as Thai becoming more popular than English. Methinks the PM has had supreme power for to long and is starting to well hallucinate. 

[elgordo38]

1 hour ago, Broken Record said:

explaining how he became a USD Multi Millionaire being a Soldier,

inherited wealth is the standard answer. 

[zd1]

As I look into my crystal ball (beer leo with ice) I foresee a massive global shortage of native thai language teachers in the next hundred years there will be no thais left in Thailand as they will all be working as native thai language teachers all over the world.

I think the general may have a business plan or maybe he had some of those funny mushrooms in his somtam.

[Matt K]

[LannaGuy]

I think you are all being a bit unfair on our Dear Leader who is being guided by his amulet collection. Thailand cured Ebola, is the Hub of Ethics and has no prostitution so why not become the language of the world?

 

 

[lensta]

Oh <deleted>, welcome to planet Thailand

[Gillyflower]

Well there is one good thing about it all.  We won't be having the eternal discussion on how good or bad English is being taught here.  It just will not matter anymore.  Mind you perhaps it will be replaced by how well (or not) Thai is taught.

[Stocky]

"Thai will be the world’s lingua franca"

 

Baso Yawi, the language spoken in southern Thailand, is more widely understood than Thai!

[Geoff Snell]

I love Thailand and speak a bit of the lingo but when they get on their high horse I just ask them the Big Question. "Without the white mans inventions and technology where would Thailand be on the World stage today." Naturally every Thai looks at me dumbfounded as if I am an idiot until I point out all the things that they need every day that comes from the western world like lets start with the light bulb. Have to call Bill Gates and reset all the worlds computers to sanscript. Sorry I'm going into one. I'll stop right there.

[FredNL]

Someone is (still) thinking that Thailand is the center of the universe !!!

 

Snowwhite, Cinderella and Santa Claus really exist. He's probably having dinner tonight with Snowwhite, Cinderella and the 7 dwarfs. At least the dwarfs will be there because Snowwhite and Cinderella maybe having their monthly period.... 

 

What has this guy been smokin' ?

High on Yabadabadoo?

Or just plain LSD?

 

You see that all American movie stars already speak fluent Thai in their movies on Thai television. I heard it a few times when visiting simple minded people areas in Thailand. Why can't you speak Thai as all Americans on television speak Thai ???

Edited January 13, 2017 by FredNL

[TKDfella]

19 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

This sort of thinking is anti-intellectual and even somewhat dangerous. False hope, misdirection. Thais are already so late to the game. Such poor command of English.

 

Look at the energy China is putting into English.  But even the Chinese know despite one billion speakers, it can't be the world's lingua franca. But, 70m Thai many largely uneducated will deliver Thai as the new world language.

 

This observation is so wrong I bet if Thai kids could study and need only ONE language, it would be English.

 

Pure folly. Good luck General and good luck getting free military training from US and EU in Thai.

I quite agree with your point. However, unlike Thai, Chinese is not based on an alphabet but on pictograph characters and one needs to learn to read and write at least a couple of thousand (as well as being a tonal language) to hold general conversations.  e.g . 我要回家 = I want to go home. Vowel repetition in the English requires knowing how to pronounce vowels in different words (to, go) while in Chinese you need to memorize the many strokes in different characters. While one word can have several meanings,  e.g. 'home' in Chinese one needs to learn how to write other characters for different meanings. The other advantage of English over other languages is that it is an evolving one while Chinese and Thai are not. With several thousand Chines characters to learn it is unlikely to become the international language and Thai being a static language is not really suitable.

[TheGhostWithin]

20 hours ago, seajae said:

only in his own mind, seems many of the old rusted on thais think that thai is superior to english and refuse to speak it, cant help stupid

 

I can confirm, my mother in law was offered free English lessons to assist her in communication with her compatriots at a dual government conference in Singapore a few years back. Her reponse: "Why would I want to learn English, I am Thai, I live in Thailand."

 

The same Mother in law scolds me.when I pronounce Thai words incorrectly, and it appears me being fluent in Thai is her expectation of me to "show respect".

 

The mindset is so different here on matters of language and morals.

[Veritas48]

I would like a few grams of whatever he is taking.

[BsBs]

WE are so lucky to have a so smart and bright guy in charge <3

 

 

[moon47]

This will surely happen, and it will be on the same day that the general Thai population learn to speak English at a functional level.

 

Or more plainly put "Not in this lifetime... !!"

 =\...

[Cake Monster]

I am laughing so much, the tears are running down my trouser leg 

[djayz]

Arai wa? 

Is it 1st April already? 

 

I think it's good that he encourages the children to love, be aware of and be proud of their language and heritage, but the rest is just OTT. 

 

Edited January 13, 2017 by djayz

[CantSpell]

4 hours ago, Broken Record said:

I doubt he makes any decisions at all, he is just following orders.

 

I would think all he wants to do is enjoy a retirement with all of his vast wealth he accumulated on a Soldiers pay, but therein lies his problem, he has to do what he's told or his vast wealth will be investigated and if a proper investigation is done he knows he'd be in for a very tough time explaining how he became a USD Multi Millionaire being a Soldier, so it's payback time now, his obvious corruption has been overlooked in the past for times like this, he has to do as he is told, or, they find someone else who will do as they are told whilst he is sitting in jail, and his family are disgraced and poor.

 

The few families that hold the real power in Thailand know all about the corruption, the only people who can do anything about it wont do anything, because it suits them to leave things just the way they are.

 

They run the country by pulling the strings of whatever puppet is on the stage, it's their show, the puppet is just that, a puppet.

 

This and that...

 

3 hours ago, Squeegee said:

 

I think you are missing the point. It's not about being realistic or not looking stupid. It is about power, pure and simple.

 

Perception of his image when he opens his mouth doesn't matter because INSIDE Thailand nobody will challenge him. The man can say ANYTHING he likes and he is doing so.

 

It's an expression of arrogant power spat into the face of the rest of the world, since this Prayuth fella claims to know better.

 

Until someone stands up to him he will say whatever he feels like and get away with it. The more ridiculous it sounds to us the more it confirms his power over the population to not be challenged on his deranged, silly ideas.

 

 

 

 

Or he really intends to 44 the world, whichever is the most plausible :) 

[phetphet]

How many Thai speakers in the world? vs How many English speakers?

 

Why would the rest of the world even want or need to learn Thai?

 

Perhaps he wishes to reduce education costs on teaching English in Thai schools. Or been on the waccy baccy.

[tartempion]

Spoken Thai sounds horrible to me, there are nicer sounding languages out there, our smart general must not know any of them.

[kowpot]

Well I guess he is telling them to master the Thai language, because there is no chance in hell they will ever master English.

[Artisi]

23 hours ago, Crossy said:

I'm sorry, but, "huh!".

 

English is spoken all over the world as first, second and even third languages.

 

Thai is spoken in, well, Thailand.

 

Our illustrious leader has finally lost the plot.

 

Yes, its spoken in Thailand - and mainly spoken badly.

Think the PM has more than lost the plot.

[Artisi]

23 hours ago, obnox said:

Is he related to Kim? 

Twin brother maybe. .

[Artisi]

23 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

I hurt myself laughing.

Certainly no good for hernia problems