Video of farang waiter working at Bangkok restaurant goes viral

[alex8912]

12 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

The Thai language is extremely hard to learn.  One of the hardest languages to learn, actually.  The Thai alphabet is not Roman.  It takes years for most to be able to learn to read Thai.

 

English is the global language.  Thailand just refuses to teach it properly.  There aren't even English language shows on Thai TV.  I've seen English language shows in many countries around the world during my travels.  I'm not talking about cable.

 

Don't blame foreigners for not learning Thai.  Many of us only live here part time.

Wrong!!  Why have so many foreigners been able to learn it then?  Poor excuse. It's easy to start to learn it little by little and build on it through repetition just like any other language. Also not many letters to learn. Wow the Thai alphabet is not Roman!!!  

[kannot]

On 2/6/2017 at 6:39 PM, djayz said:

As a matter of fact, I DO live in BKK. 

 

If nobody understands you, then maybe the problem isn't the people you're talking to... go figure matey. 

 

Always remain calm, speak slowly and generally things go smoothly. 

 

I hope you have better luck next time getting the food you order. Bon appetit! 

Call 1171 ask for a Caramel Cream Frappe at McDonalds and see what you get, ive given up many times, The Wife is more persistent, even then it often  arrives wrong but she  calls them and they have to come back and replace it for free....about 3  times replaced now  with her  calling.

What  youll get is a Caramel Coffee.....I dont like coffee, I do  like listening to the conversation though lets  just say it  goes  like this " Caramel Cream Frappe, Caramel Cream Frappe" , now repeat about 6  times and youll understand....they still dont, it could run to 7-8 times repeated...painful to listen to

[kannot]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

Arroy Dee = Aree Doy = Sap Dee = Sap Lie. 

 

 

Try some petrol stations, I go and  ask for "pan nung diesel", vacant  look so ask for "nung pan diesel" vacant  look, she goes asks another person  come back and says "nung pan diesel"

Sometimes i try it the other way round but it rarely  works

[kannot]

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

Wrong!!  Why have so many foreigners been able to learn it then?  Poor excuse. It's easy to start to learn it little by little and build on it through repetition just like any other language. Also not many letters to learn. Wow the Thai alphabet is not Roman!!!  

roman 26  thai 42-44 is  it? then  theres  the  tones,  i wouldnt  call it  easy  to  learn at  all and  ill often see Thais really not understanding whats been said even by a  fellow  Thai, its not a precise language is it?

Edited February 7, 2017 by kannot

[psyvolt]

32 minutes ago, kannot said:

often see Thais really not understanding whats been said even by a  fellow  Thai, its not a precise language is it?

As an Aussie, have you ever tried understanding what a scottish person is saying? And yet they are speaking English.

[manarak]

1 hour ago, psyvolt said:

As an Aussie, have you ever tried understanding what a scottish person is saying? And yet they are speaking English.

or so they claim!

[craigt3365]

3 hours ago, alex8912 said:

Wrong!!  Why have so many foreigners been able to learn it then?  Poor excuse. It's easy to start to learn it little by little and build on it through repetition just like any other language. Also not many letters to learn. Wow the Thai alphabet is not Roman!!!  

Some have learned it, but most have not.  Few speak fluent Thai.  When I lived in Mexico, most foreigners spoke pretty good spanish and could easily get by.  That's not the case here.

[Phuketboy]

Is it illegal for a foreigner to work as a waiter?  Every restaurant I eat at has foreign waiters, nothing new seeing foreign wait staff.  People from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Russia etc.  What is the difference? If you are going to arrest 1, then arrest them all.  I don't know where the police will house them though, because there will be quite a few thousand I would say.  

[joepattaya1961]

In  Asian restaurants (it's not a typical Thai thing), you usually order a number of dishes, side-dishes, appetizers, soups/salads and they will be delivered in random order after being prepared. 

At some point your table will be filled with dishes and it's very common that you have a plate of rice in front of you and "pick" from the side-dishes whatever you like. 

If you are at a bigger more upscale Chinese restaurant (or Thai restaurant with Chinese owners), you will find those big round tables with a carroussel in the center. Serves the same purpose: sharing all the food on the table. 

 

Having a meal is usually an 'event' that's shared with friends, business-partners and family. Sharing everything that's on the table is part of that event. 

 

Although it's more or less a cultural thing, I still find it slightly annoying. 

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by joepattaya1961

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, manarak said:

or so they claim!

Have you ever listened to a Geordie, a Brummie and a Welshman trying to hold a conversation?

[DaveE13]

6 minutes ago, joepattaya1961 said:

In  Asian restaurants (it's not a typical Thai thing), you usually order a number of dishes, side-dishes, appetizers, soups/salads and they will be delivered in random order after being prepared. 

At some point your table will be filled with dishes and it's very common that you have a plate of rice in front of you and "pick" from the side-dishes whatever you like. 

If you are at a bigger more upscale Chinese restaurant (or Thai restaurant with Chinese owners), you will find those big round tables with a carroussel in the center. Serves the same purpose: sharing all the food on the table. 

 

Having a meal is usually an 'event' that's shared with friends, business-partners and family. Sharing everything that's on the table is part of that event. 

 

Although it's more or less a cultural thing, I still find it slightly annoying. 

 

One of my favourite Asian restaurants in central London does exactly the same thing dishes brought out randomly. You get used to it.

[BugJackBaron]

Man, if Thai Visa served cheese to go along with all the whine...

so I'll add a little..on a recent trip to Vientiane I find that in a Laos restaurant the waiter could not speak Laos or Thai or English(my Thai wife was with me). Our best guess was that he was Vietnamese(there are a lot in Laos) but we ordered by pointing at the pictures on the menu....

 

 

[seancbk]

4 hours ago, kannot said:

Call 1171 ask for a Caramel Cream Frappe at McDonalds and see what you get, ive given up many times, The Wife is more persistent, even then it often  arrives wrong but she  calls them and they have to come back and replace it for free....about 3  times replaced now  with her  calling.

What  youll get is a Caramel Coffee.....I dont like coffee, I do  like listening to the conversation though lets  just say it  goes  like this " Caramel Cream Frappe, Caramel Cream Frappe" , now repeat about 6  times and youll understand....they still dont, it could run to 7-8 times repeated...painful to listen to

 

Have you ever thought to go into McDonald's and ask the staff what the Thai is for Caramel Cream Frappe?   Surprised your wife (presuming she's Thai) doesn't know the Thai name.

Google translate give this - Khārā mel khrīm yĕn pĕn wûn 

 

Edited February 8, 2017 by seancbk

[Destiny1990]

11 minutes ago, BugJackBaron said:

Man, if Thai Visa served cheese to go along with all the whine...

so I'll add a little..on a recent trip to Vientiane I find that in a Laos restaurant the waiter could not speak Laos or Thai or English(my Thai wife was with me). Our best guess was that he was Vietnamese(there are a lot in Laos) but we ordered by pointing at the pictures on the menu....

 

 

In Vientiane i went to a restaurant sat down some waiter brings me the menu and he tells me he will come back take my order in 3 minutes.The restaurant was empty besides me after 15 minutes he still not reappeared so i left.

[Destiny1990]

42 minutes ago, Phuketboy said:

Is it illegal for a foreigner to work as a waiter?  Every restaurant I eat at has foreign waiters, nothing new seeing foreign wait staff.  People from Burma, Laos, Cambodia, Russia etc.  What is the difference? If you are going to arrest 1, then arrest them all.  I don't know where the police will house them though, because there will be quite a few thousand I would say.  

Yes they coming from all over the world to become waiters here in Phuket because its so acceptable overhere.Is this what u try to get across?Fake news mate.

[seancbk]

1 hour ago, BugJackBaron said:

Man, if Thai Visa served cheese to go along with all the whine...

so I'll add a little..on a recent trip to Vientiane I find that in a Laos restaurant the waiter could not speak Laos or Thai or English(my Thai wife was with me). Our best guess was that he was Vietnamese(there are a lot in Laos) but we ordered by pointing at the pictures on the menu....

 

 

Did you try French? 

 

[BugJackBaron]

14 minutes ago, seancbk said:

Did you try French? 

 

Mais, oui. Parlez-vous francais?

But he said "non" , which led me to believe he may be Vietnamese.Not many "younger" vietnamese - he looked about 40 - speak French anymore  though they may recognize  it.

Edited February 8, 2017 by BugJackBaron
clarification

[manarak]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

Have you ever listened to a Geordie, a Brummie and a Welshman trying to hold a conversation?

been golfing in Scotland, slept in Bed & Brikfists and many shots were "braw"...

[alex8912]

3 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Some have learned it, but most have not.  Few speak fluent Thai.  When I lived in Mexico, most foreigners spoke pretty good spanish and could easily get by.  That's not the case here.

 I have found it much easier to learn three or four word sentences not just repeating one word like soo many foreigners seem to do incorrectly.  Let's face it there are a lot of old foreigners on TVF who have tons of time on their hands hence 20,000, 30,000++ posts who don't spend a little time everyday trying to learn Thai and better yet read and write it. 44 characters is nothing. I lived in Japan and learned hiragana, katakana and a few hundred Chinese characters in 18 months and did not go crazy studying. Many guys get the Thai girlfriend or wife and just give up and are attached to her like a baby to their blankly everywhere they go. We all see it. It's pure laziness and you have to try to drop heavy British or Australian or whatever accent you have to be clearer and it's not that hard to do if you really want to.  How much crap do we read everyday about what a "stupid" Thai did but they can all speak Thai!  Older gents especially just decide to give up and find others who give up and hang out together.  Sorry it's a very poor excuse. I'm only here about half the year and used to come just 3 or 4 months and I'm no expert but I learn new phrases every week and repeat a lot. It's just not that hard.  People give up and many people can not even count from one to ten without a heavy home country accent and that is pure stubbornness and laziness. Lack of basic Thai I'm sure is the reason between the people who get in a Bangkok taxi and have them use a meter with no problem 99.9% of the time like myself,  and the guys who whine and whine about how they never use a meter. Just that should be the catalyst to at least learn "taxi Thai" streets, numbers, straight ahead, left turn, right turn, three way/ four way intersection, u turn ( very easy lol), small st, etc.  Can you imagine not being able to explain where you live if needed?  I couldn't.  Yet many many posters can not. 

Comparing Thai to Spanish is not comparable. For example many Americans learn it in junior or senior high school and many travel and live in Mexico or they are from California or Texas and learn it there or speak it there so of course more will speak Spanish when in Mexico compared to Thai in Thailand. If you seek foreigners who speak Thai even fairly well ask them some things they did to learn it and it will help you as well. Many people here do speak Thai ( I don't mean short term visitors) and many at least in Bangkok will talk to you for a minute and give you friendly helpful tips. Just ask. 

[snoopy21]

On 2/6/2017 at 3:45 PM, NCC1701A said:

has the squad of 50 cops to arrest him showed up yet?

 

 

As I know, there are 38 kinds of work foreigners cannot do in Thailand even they obtained work permit; waiting tables is one of that 38 I believe . BTW, the minimum monthly salary of an expatriate is THB50,000 per month.

[johng]

What the hell are you talking about.  Google maps does not require you to download anything.  You just need an internet connection and have your GPS turned on.

Try using it without your internet connection...you wont get very far because it can't download the map data (yes you can pre-download the map data)...but saying Google maps doesn't require a download is plain wrong.

[johng]

Try some petrol stations, I go and  ask for "pan nung diesel", vacant  look so ask for "nung pan diesel" vacant  look, she goes asks another person  come back and says "nung pan diesel"
Sometimes i try it the other way round but it rarely  works

Try "Deesen nung pun" works better to state the fuel first then the amount.

[seancbk]

28 minutes ago, johng said:

 

Try using it without your internet connection...you wont get very far because it can't download the map data (yes you can pre-download the map data)...but saying Google maps doesn't require a download is plain wrong.

 

 

Why would you have a phone that can use Google Maps and not have a data plan?   

That's like having a car and deciding not to fit tires to it.

[johng]

If you use an app like Sygic there is no need for a data plan
the map data for a chosen area is pre downloaded onto the phone only GPS needs to be on to navigate..Google for some reason only offers a limited area of map data "download" for storage on a phone.

[johng]

 
Why would you have a phone that can use Google Maps and not have a data plan?   

That's like having a car and deciding not to fit tires to it.

data plans cost more money
my car goes just as well using locally made "deestone" tyres or the more expensive firestone tyres.

[craigt3365]

8 minutes ago, johng said:

If you use an app like Sygic there is no need for a data plan
the map data for a chosen area is pre downloaded onto the phone only GPS needs to be on to navigate..Google for some reason only offers a limited area of map data "download" for storage on a phone.

You can download areas in Google Maps for offline use.  I use that feature all the time for my tablet which doesn't have a sim card.  Works perfect.

[seancbk]

2 minutes ago, johng said:

32 minutes ago, seancbk said:

 
Why would you have a phone that can use Google Maps and not have a data plan?   

That's like having a car and deciding not to fit tires to it.

data plans cost more money
my car goes just as well using locally made "deestone" tyres or the more expensive firestone tyres.

Data plans don't cost *that* much.  I have a 400 THB a month data plan with AIS that is more than enough (3GB Limit) and I'm a pretty heavy user of data.

Having a smart phone with no data means you can't check Facebook, get your emails, use Instagram, LINE, Whatsapp or any of the software that requires a data connection.  Essentially making the phone useless.

However, even with cheap tires on a car you can still use it to get around.

 

[johng]

I know im an old dinosaur, but when I'm out my mobile stays in my pocket until someone calls or I need to make a call
At home my TOT ADSL+Wifi provides "unlimited" data for 631 baht per month free IPTV thrown in
regularly use 6-9 Gb of data per day.

[seancbk]

2 minutes ago, johng said:

I know im an old dinosaur, but when I'm out my mobile stays in my pocket until someone calls or I need to make a call
At home my TOT ADSL+Wifi provides "unlimited" data for 631 baht per month free IPTV thrown in
regularly use 6-9 Gb of data per day.

We are from very different generations. 

I don't remember the last time I used my phone to make a telephone call.    

When I'm out I rarely put my phone in my pocket, I am constantly engaged in keeping up with the 1000 real friends I have on Facebook, updating my Instagram accounts, responding to Line messages and Facebook messenger messages.    

 

[oldlakey]

4 minutes ago, seancbk said:

We are from very different generations. 

I don't remember the last time I used my phone to make a telephone call.    

When I'm out I rarely put my phone in my pocket, I am constantly engaged in keeping up with the 1000 real friends I have on Facebook, updating my Instagram accounts, responding to Line messages and Facebook messenger messages.    

 

Thank GOD I am from a different generation also