Thai soldier who wowed the internet with his English skills turns out to be half Thai/ half Singaporean

[webfact]

Thai soldier who wowed the internet with his English skills turns out to be half Thai/ half Singaporean

 

Picture: Sanook

 

BANGKOK: -- A video that showed a Thai soldier eloquently introducing himself in English drew the attention of more than 400,000 Thai admirers online.

 

The soldier talked about himself and the pride he had of representing his country.

 

It turns out that the man in question is called Phoom Srirattanawongsa who is of mixed Thai and Singaporean parentage.

 

A Facebook page that disseminates army news said that Phoom had joined an artillery division.

 

He had studied in South African at the start of his high school days and later went to complete his secondary education in Singapore.

 

After that he went to Mahidol then Chulalongkorn Universities in Bangkok to study economics degrees.

 

Sanook praised the soldier for his fluent English that impressed both people present at a ceremony and Thais online.

 

Source: Sanook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-07-03

 

 

[Bluespunk]

Yes, and...?

[trogers]

2 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Yes, and...?

Not home grown...

[manarak]

3 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Yes, and...?

it's now probably difficult to decide whether the soldier is rather a banana or a watermelon.

Edited July 3, 2017 by manarak

[JoePai]

An educated squaddy 

[Bluespunk]

Just now, trogers said:

Not home grown...

So...?

 

 

[trogers]

Just now, Bluespunk said:

So...?

 

 

A Thai needs to be educated overseas to achieve. Speaks volumes on local education...

[manarak]

7 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

So...?

yawn...

People thought they had there a Thai-educated Thai recruit who doesn't look like a half-blood speaking fluent English and that fact was mediatized in the first place.

Such language skills are a real wonder in Thailand as everyone would think it can't be learned in a course in Thailand.

And in the end they were right.

That is the sort of thing that normal people (media audience) are interested in, i.e. public interest in what is behind a news story.

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by manarak

[RawboneFunksta]

While it is true that studying abroad makes an enormous difference to the confidence and vocabulary of Thai students that is not necessarily a reflection on the innate intelligence of Thai students. Some learn from television and recently I encountered a person who scored level 9 in an IELTS exam who had done just that. Most native speakers do not score anything near to level 9.

[vadid]

What is most amusiing is the look of sheer incomprehension on the faces of the soldiers behind, and no doubt, on the faces of the unseen commanders  whom he is addressing, who no doubt later on asked for a translation.

[Bluespunk]

16 minutes ago, manarak said:

yawn...

People thought they had there a Thai-educated Thai recruit who doesn't look like a half-blood speaking fluent English and that fact was mediatized in the first place.

Such language skills are a real wonder in Thailand as everyone would think it can't be learned in a course in Thailand.

And in the end they were right.

That is the sort of thing that normal people (media audience) are interested in, i.e. public interest in what is behind a news story.

 

I work with a lot of Thais who are fluent in English. 

 

I'll let the press know about them. 

 

Should keep them in stories for months to come...

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

He can speak English, but can he ski downhill? Winter games are just round the corner.

[Bluespunk]

1 minute ago, Dobredin Ghusputin said:

He can speak English, but can he ski downhill? Winter games are just round the corner.

Does he have friends who can fix his results to get him in, though?

[manarak]

11 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

I work with a lot of Thais who are fluent in English. 

 

I'll let the press know about them. 

 

Should keep them in stories for months to come...

the trick is to make them appear on youtube and get many Thais to click and say "wow"

[z42]

Did anyone listen to what he said? Bigging up the commanders and talking about proud traditions ??

Wonder if this brown nosing is to compensate for his not being 100% Thai...

[LannaGuy]

whatever language he speaks the content is censored and complete censored 

Edited July 3, 2017 by LannaGuy

[Prbkk]

No hint of South African accent.

[Dobredin Ghusputin]

11 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Does he have friends who can fix his results to get him in, though?

Playing the flute could make him some friends.

 

 

[aussie11950]

I work with a lot of Thais who are fluent in English. 
 
I'll let the press know about them. 
 
Should keep them in stories for months to come...

I find that hard to believe.
Late last year, a major funeral was covered with English speaking commentators.
I was shocked that they could not pronounce "THE" properly but other words were spoken very well.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cadbury]

14 minutes ago, Bluespunk said:

Does he have friends who can fix his results to get him in, though?

No need for results. His speech was one of the greatest asslicks I have heard in many a long year. He speaks of his "affection for his commanders". That alone should get him through.

That boy will go a long way. Especially If he keeps up that same high quality of toadying.

[MadMac]

So they found one. Needle in the haystack. He will probably become the next big general :D. 

[Bluespunk]

22 minutes ago, manarak said:

the trick is to make them appear on youtube and get many Thais to click and say "wow"

I'll let them know...

[Bluespunk]

12 minutes ago, aussie11950 said:

I find that hard to believe.
Late last year, a major funeral was covered with English speaking commentators.
I was shocked that they could not pronounce "THE" properly but other words were spoken very well.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm sorry you are so jaded you find that hard to believe. 

 

Nonetheless, it is true. 

[Bluespunk]

12 minutes ago, Cadbury said:

No need for results. His speech was one of the greatest asslicks I have heard in many a long year. He speaks of his "affection for his commanders". That alone should get him through.

That boy will go a long way. Especially If he keeps up that same high quality of toadying.

I was referring to downhill skiing...he needs to "arrange" overseas qualifying tournaments to do a Vanessa. 

[Bluespunk]

22 minutes ago, Dobredin Ghusputin said:

Playing the flute could make him some friends.

 

 

Is that a euphemism? 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So are they going to kick him out of the Thai Army now that it's known he's really only a "halfie"???

 

After all, the day may come when Thailand will have to defend its honor against Singapore and all the other malevolent neighbors who could threaten the country's national security...

 

[DLang]

Was he barred from university English speaking competitions like half Western students are?

 

 

[tgeezer]

Very interesting, does anybody know why was he is speaking in English?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

[IMA_FARANG]

Not true that a Thai can not speak excellent English.

I know a Thai woman who was listening as I made a mistake and accidently deleted some information from my computer.

I swore at my computer when it happened.

She said to me in perfect English , "Don't  cuss at your computer, you're the one who made  the mistake".

She was right, but what surprised me more was that she knew and used the  English word cuss  correctly in a sentence.

 

[Cadbury]

31 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

So are they going to kick him out of the Thai Army now that it's known he's really only a "halfie"???

 

After all, the day may come when Thailand will have to defend its honor against Singapore and all the other malevolent neighbors who could threaten the country's national security...

 

Pure Thais are the best and know everything. One of them only told me so the other day.

This lad is only 50% so he is imperfect and therefore has to try other methods to make up for his shortcomings. His commander worshiping speeches should see him through.