Thailand Myths

[GLCQuantum]

There are many a myth floating around between the local 'Thai-nstiens' that believe they know more than most. The Old Hands, if you will. I thought I'd start the ball rolling with one of my favourites.

"Thais don't like you (the white-devil) speaking Thai because you can then understand what they are saying about you".

Myth: Thai people like to gossip about their western partner and any other farangs within a mile radius. The partner is there purely for monetary gain, so for him to speak the lingo makes this transaction somewhat more hazardous for them. He should not be allowed to speak their language... it's their language after all - Not his! How dare he!

Speaking their language is not only obtrusive but also untrustworthy on the westerners' part.

"Why should farangs feel the need to listen in on conversations? Why do farangs want to know what we're saying? Are our beautiful beaches and tanned skin not enough for them?"

The Thai person loathes the Western man who speaks Thai fluently.

Fact: Thais like you to learn their language. If you can't speak half decent Thai within a year, Thai people simply label you as a 'special needs' kid who can't retain new information.

[HHTel]

I agree. My Thai is limited but what I do know, when used, I get a far favourable response than if I couldn't attempt to speak with them in their own language.l

[Ratsima]

Thais like you to learn their language. If you can't speak half decent Thai within a year, Thai people simply label you as a 'special needs' kid who can't retain new information.

I started studying Thai in 1996 with the Becker book and tapes (yes, it was that long ago). I've successfully completed the Rosetta Stone Thai CD. I've gone through Pimsleur and about half of High Speed Thai.

I've lived in Thailand for over ten years.

After all that time and all that effort (and money) I still can't understand or speak Thai. In fact, my reading comprehension is much better than my aural comprehension.

Am I a 'special needs' kid?

[Pleng]

If you can't speak half decent Thai within a year, Thai people simply label you as a 'special needs' kid who can't retain new information.

This is much a 'myth' as the "Thais don't like you to learn Thai"

In fact there are cases around where women don't want their husbands to speak Thai. Sometimes the husbands are well aware of this fact and that doesn't seem to concern them (where as it would scare the living **** out of me were I in that situation).

I agree that the norm is that Thais do appreciate it when you can speak Thai, but I've never met one who looks down on people that can't speak the language (it would be somewhat hypocritical, would it not, considering the general level of English spoken in this country?)

What you also fail to take into account, GLC, is that people like you and I have the advantage of having come over here with youth on out side. As people get older, their hearing naturally deteriorates - making them less able to differentiate between the different tones. How are you supposed to pronounce words when you can't hear them properly?

[Big Boy]

What you also fail to take into account, GLC, is that people like you and I have the advantage of having come over here with youth on out side. As people get older, their hearing naturally deteriorates - making them less able to differentiate between the different tones. How are you supposed to pronounce words when you can't hear them properly?

That's a very good point Pleng, and one I had not considered. My knowledge of the Thai language isn't 'special needs', but my efforts at speaking it are pathetic on a good day. I'd always put it down to speaking with a Janner accent.

I often say things to my wife, and it turns into a Little Britain sketch. I say something, she eventually comes back and says you mean ............... I say that's what I said, and she says no, you said ....................., which sounds exactly the same as what I said.

Maybe it is my hearing

[GLCQuantum]

If you can't speak half decent Thai within a year, Thai people simply label you as a 'special needs' kid who can't retain new information.

What you also fail to take into account, GLC, is that people like you and I have the advantage of having come over here with youth on out side. As people get older, their hearing naturally deteriorates - making them less able to differentiate between the different tones. How are you supposed to pronounce words when you can't hear them properly?

Hearing aids have been around for a while now... A good point though.

Anyone over 60 and starting to learn the lingo, regardless of hearing issues, sure - it's gonna take a bit more effort. Anyone under that has no excuse. Or they have a learning disability, which is nothing to be ashamed of.

[Takiap]

I would love to be able to speak, read and write Thai, but I cannot afford lessons, and as for learning on my own steam, I wouldn't know where to begin.

On the upside, I know of four people who have benefited from my lack of Thai language skills - my wife and my three kids. If I were able to speak fluent Thai, I would be more inclined to explain things to my kids in Thai rather than in English, in which case their English would suffer, especially since I cannot afford to put them all in international schools.


Lastly, saying that all expats in Thailand should be able to communicate in Thai is expecting a bit much. It is similar to me saying that all expats in South Africa should be able to speak all 16 official languages, or at a minimum, the three or four most widely spoken languages.

My wife stayed in SA for a while and believe me, she never learned a word of Afrikaans; Xhosa or Zulu.

[pharvey]

There are a couple of important points to make IMHO: -

1. Certainly in the case of the UK - we are very lazy in learning foreign languages. The attitude is pretty much "We speak English, so should you".
2. As I see it (in very simplistic terms), there are two types of people - one leaning towards the sciences, the other towards the arts. Those leaning towards the arts are far more likely to speak a foreign language.

I have been lucky enough to travel around the world and spend several years in foreign countries since I was a kid, but have struggled to pick-up/learn the local language(s). I am an engineer and therefore towards the sciences (Terry, BB and others will attest to the fact that I am "well up" on rocket science).

With regards to the myth... well, the LHG is Chinese and she'd be delighted if I spoke Mandarin - I guarantee you however, she'd switch to her local dialect if she didn't want me to understand!!

[Nereus]

The only "Myth" is: that any Farang can learn to speak Thai. It is complete and utter Bovine Ordure.

Anyone can learn to sing like an Opera singer. Anyone can learn to play the Violin, or any other musical instrument, doesn`t matter if you are tone deaf. Or a dozen other things that some people excell at, while others have no hope. It has nothing whatsoever to do with brain power.

I worked with a crazy jock for several years, a complete and utter a**hole. However, he had lived in Japan and spoke perfect Japanese. When he moved here it took him less that 6 months to master Thai. Very few people could understand just what he was saying in English however!

[GLCQuantum]

This is another myth which I particularly enjoy...

"All Thai women are only after the Western man's money. She will never truly love him."

Myth: When Thai women see a farang man, the pound signs start 'ring-a-ding-dinging' in their eyes. The man is there for the taking. There to be rinsed of his hard earned moolah. It's fair game. A Thai woman will merely put up with a Western man's company for her own financial gain. There is no love... sometimes they actually actively dislike the man they married. He is there simply to provide the lady with a house, car, iPhone, motorbike and gold.

The woman's family are also in on the deal and will constantly pester for more money. Excuses will be coming frequent and fast...

"The buffalo's sick."

"Grandma's sick."

"The prawns are sick."

A Thai woman and their family will take all of the Western man's money within a few years. Failing that, they'll kill him instead.

Fact: It's only the prostitutes who are there to milk the farang - that's their job! Normal Thai women are in fact like any other woman, believe it or not.

[JamesWest]

i don't speak thai. i can't hear the difference in the tones. and my short term memory is shot.

i enjoy being out of the loop. sort of peaceful. and you learn to read peoples reactions in a different way which makes you more alert.

it is really funny when i am out of tourist areas where you don't see farangs. walking around you hear all the thais talking and being surprised to see me and every third word is "farang", as if i don't know what that means.

it starts as i get off my scooter and as i walk in markets the alert goes out... the thai ladies all smile and shatter "farang" and i can see them talking about how if they can get a net over the farang ATM they would not have to sit here all day cutting up fish. i hope that is what they are saying. see how nice it is to be out of the loop.

i have a friend who a genius. he is a american who looks like a serious version of mr. bean. bow tie professor type.

he can speak thai so perfectly that on the phone you would not know he is a farang. i have heard first hand from thais saying he has no trace of a non thai accent.

i will not say by whom on a open forum, but he was hired as a young man during 1965 to sit in on meetings and act clueless as to what the thais were really saying to each other. and then report everything that was said.

he also traveled around thailand to just listen to what people are saying. sort of a clueless looking American monitoring conversations in specific areas in Bangkok and north and east near the borders and airbases.

i have a friend who can play guitar like eric clapton.

we all have our talents.

and back to the topic of myths, it is friday. time for my milking.

[dundrillin]

A few examples of what your friend overheard may make for an interesting thread.

[Pleng]

That's a very good point Pleng, and one I had not considered. My knowledge of the Thai language isn't 'special needs', but my efforts at speaking it are pathetic on a good day. I'd always put it down to speaking with a Janner accent.

Well the accent certainly doesn't help. You really need to leave your accent at home when learning any foreign language - you're learning a whole new set of sounds from scratch. I'm lucky in that, coming from the home counties, I don't have an accent, so there's nothing for me to drop. When I started studying, though, I was in a class with a lad who had a very strong American accent, but you wouldn't be able to tell that he was American if you're conversing with him in Thai.

[GLCQuantum]

A few examples of what your friend overheard may make for an interesting thread.

I agree...

Come on James, spill it!

[GLCQuantum]

This is another classic, commonly used among the people who have never met the upper-class here.

"Hi-so's (upper-class) are spoilt rotten brats who use and abuse the system caring for no-one else but themselves".

Myth: The upper-class of Thailand are the most corrupt people on the planet. They buy their way into good situations and buy their way out of bad ones. Their kids all whizz around in ferraris and lambos from the age of 12. The upbringing of their offspring is horrific - never telling their children 'No', buying them whatever they want and spending very little time with them - the maid can clean up their mess.

The upper-class look down on anyone who isn't on the same rung of the ladder. They will not humour anyone lower than themselves on the social scale as they'll 'lose face'. In short, they are the spawn of Satan.

Fact: The upper class of Thailand are an incredibly humble group of people. Being well educated (mostly in Western countries) they have a much more open mind than most Thais. Being blessed with wealth from birth, the upper-class often go out of their way to improve the well-being of those less fortunate.

A few bad apples make the papers now and again, so the farang community jump up on their chair, beating their chests and proclaim...

"Those bloody Hi-so's are a disgrace - the lot of 'em".