Curry And Borscht Needed to Reopen Pattaya

[dinagam]

A private bitcoin wallet is equally useful in El Salvador...

[latintopxxx]

...dodger....so true...universal language..especially when accompanied with body language/hand signals

[Gaybutton]

The ability to speak Thai has been an enormous help to me over the years. It is probably much greater benefit to expats living in Thailand than to holiday makers whose interest is not much beyond arranging a one night stand.

I have never even tried to learn to read Thai. It has never been necessary. Nearly everything except the smallest mom-and-pop shops usually include English. It may not always be correct English, but you'll understand. The one aspect of this on my "I Don't Get It" list is why many business and government signs are not proofread by a native English speaker. How hard can that be? The result often leads to mistakes such as my favorite example. This was an actual sign from a barber shop that used to be on a corner near Center Condo. They're long gone now. But when they were in business I couldn't resist taking the photo:



If you do try to learn to speak some Thai, make sure you try to get the tones right. Often the tone is as important as the word itself. Wrong tone and they don't understand what you're trying to say.

When trying to speak English to a Thai, speak slowly, pronounce your words very clearly, use simple words, and do not use slang. You might be surprised at how often their ability to understand English is much better than you might expect. Most of the time they can understand more than they can speak.

There are also translation apps for your smartphone - both written and spoken. There are apps on which you can speak English, sometimes full sentences, and it will be voice translated into Thai. Usually, with the same app your Thai friend can speak Thai and it will be voice translated into English.

I use two such apps when necessary: CM Thai Dict and VoiceTra(Voice Translator). There are plenty more to chose from too, but these two work very well for me. And most of these apps are free.

For translating written Thai into English, try Google Lens. It works through your phone's camera. Select the translate option, then hold the phone up to the thai writing. Now English will appear on your screen rather than the Thai. It takes a little getting used to, but it works quite well. That app is also free.

[Dodger]

When trying to speak English to a Thai, speak slowly, pronounce your words very clearly, use simple words, and do not use slang

Excellent advice.

I can't tell you how many times I've heard a farang speaking to a Thai so fast that I can't even understand him.

What really gets me is when a farang uses words and phrases that only someone who either majored in English in a university somewhere, or worked part time as a Shakspearean actor would understand. In any event, the result is always the same. The boy sits there staring at the idiot nodding his head as if he understands...and practicing Jai Yen by not telling him to slow down and just speak simple English.

[Oliver2]

I find communication with P straightforward when I'm with him because communication is more than an aural and oral process. However, by telephone or LINE is more difficult. Is this a problem others have?

[arsenal]

"I find communication with P straightforward when I'm with him because communication is more than an aural and oral process. However, by telephone or LINE is more difficult. Is this a problem others have?"

Dunno. I've never spoken to P by telephone or LINE. Hahaha.

[Oliver2]

That's odd. He's often threatened to leave me because he's found a more generous and good-looking falang. It must have been someone else. Good....I didn't want to lose such a valued friendship,

[Nirish guy]

Going back to GB's beauty salon sign above for a second and thinking back to the famous "no money no honey" saying I dread to think then what the 500 Baht "honey fumigate" treatment might entail !!!