a little language goes a wrong way

[a447]

just wondering how to ask the guys to do something in Thai. Do I use karuna.....? or Chuay......? (e.g. Karuna tord. hehe) Are those words too polite when speaking to younger guys?? Is there another word I can use?
I don't want to offend anyone, but then again, I don't want to sound too polite and look stupid. It's like the whole "wai" thing. Silly old me...I wai-ed the guys when I did my first trip to LOS, only to be told that a simple nod was all that was required. Apparently, wai-ing someone younger and of "inferior" status makes you look ridiculous.
Does anyone have any other language do's or don'ts? If so, please share them with us.
I'm finding the tones hard - I think I'm tone deaf! - but it's a fun language to learn. I'm trying to get passed "Phom yaak yet khun" and into something a bit more deep and meaningful.

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[thonglor55]

I'm trying to get passed "Phom yaak yet khun" and into something a bit more deep and meaningful.

Why? Is your hope to have the same sort of conversation with them as you'd have with friends back home? Are you hoping for a deep and meaningful relationship? I've got by on a vocabulary of around 200 Thai words for the last 20 years but then I don't expect to discuss the meaning of life or Thai politics or global warming with the sort of boys I meet in the flesh trade. Every Thai I mix with socially speaks better English than I would ever want or need to speak Thai and I discuss the meaning of life or Thai politics or global warming with them in English. You can meet some very pleasant ex-pats (many of them gay) at, say, the Anglican church in Bangkok and as it's an Anglican church there's actually no need to believe in God in order to belong. What's in it for you to learn to speak Thai?

[cdnmatt]

What's in it for you to learn to speak Thai?

Maybe he'd like to have a chat with the hair barber, instead of that awkward silence. What does it matter to you?

As for the OP, I don't know, but I always just say, "chuay pom daai mai" (can you help me?), which always gets an "alai" (what?) or "yangkor" (what? in Lao) response, at which time I beak off whatever I want. Whether or not that's right, I have no idea, but it gets the job done.

Maybe thonglor,you ignorant cockhole, like me, he just has a general interest in learning a little bit of Thai.

[thonglor55]

Does anyone have any other language do's or don'ts? If so, please share them with us.

I've got by on a vocabulary of around 200 Thai words for the last 20 years

Maybe he'd like to have a chat with the hair barber, instead of that awkward silence. What does it matter to you?

Maybe thonglor,you ignorant cockhole, like me, he just has a general interest in learning a little bit of Thai.

As I've said, I know a little bit of Thai - certainly enough to exchange a few words with a barber. I've found a vocabulary of 200 words to be quite sufficient. The OP explained he was struggling. Why are these posters so sensitive?

[pong]

just wondering how to ask the guys to do something in Thai. Do I use karuna.....? or Chuay......? (e.g. Karuna tord. hehe) Are those words too polite when speaking to younger guys?? .

yes, I know about the tones. However-one trick (well, it wont cure everything is not to worry too much about it-do NOT only learn/use single words-then it gets tricky) learn some basic frases-they have some kind of melody in them-and change the basic word in it.
About this Q; do not worry too much. Most Thai are delighted that you even take the effort to speak a little of their native tongue-which BTWfor many a rental boy is not even Thai. The most fitting word for it would be ''koh''. But as Thai is so immensely status-related (and you-as both a visitor, a whiter farang , older and a paying customer) there is no real need to use it from high to low. You gain more status when you use polite Thai, like not ''ao'' for want, but tongkaan (=wish). In requests polite Thai often make it look smaller by adding ''noi''= a little.
Chuay (=help) is more used when you really need some help, like finding a place or the like-say: koh chuay=please give me help. In ho-sex it mainly means: help (your)self. So that is another thing-even with the same tone many words (yes, MANY!) have different meanings-it makes big fun to try to find those. That may explain the sudden laughters on some words you cannot figure out!

Hi,

I hardly think you need to worry at all about being overly polite to Thais using terms such as ' Phom yaak yet khun' which is gutter Thai to say the least, and you would be looked at with disgust outside the confines of the go go bar!

If you were lucky,if you were not,then slapped around the face. :evil4: :evil4:

Would you use such terms to people in the West in any situation?

[a447]

Would you use such terms to people in the West

Yes, if I was in the approapriate situation. In a bar (or the gutter for that matter), I would probably say "I wanna fuck you" rather than "I would like to have anal intercourse with you."

...In a bar .. I would probably say "I wanna fuck you" rather than "I would like to have anal intercourse with you."

Really? I normally just ask for a Gin and Tonic.

[zinzone]

Hi,

I hardly think you need to worry at all about being overly polite to Thais using terms such as ' Phom yaak yet khun' which is gutter Thai to say the least, and you would be looked at with disgust outside the confines of the go go bar!

If you were lucky,if you were not,then slapped around the face. :evil4: :evil4:

Would you use such terms to people in the West in any situation?

Correct! in the West we would usually not say 'Phom yaak yet khun' or its' english equivalent. In the west we are more likely to say: "fuck off". Thats why we have left there and come to live here in Thailand!