Experiences Of Speaking Thai With Bar Girls

[quenton79]

Dr. O,

 

Are there any programs on the internet that will help you learn how to speak Thai?

[Loong]

For a beginner, this doesn't seem too bad a site.

 

http://langhub.com/en-th/content/category/4/15/41/

[Pheromone]

good stuff Boogie. I was just practicing my Thai today and will continue!

[KDNG]

Very good post DWO'B

 

I remember when I first came onto the board and read guys saying about the 'farang ruu mak' being said by BGs, when one would try to speak Thai. I took this poor advice in and made no attempt to learn any. It was not until one of my trips that a non-BG friend of mine grilled me for not learning any Thai. She told me I had been going for so long, and I do not know any! To be honest I could not even pronounce how to say 'hello' or 'thank you' in Thai.

 

My excuse (which was a very poor one) was I thought I sounded silly when I tried to speak...well, she just gave me this stare and said 'how do you think we feel when we speak English!? You know it is not perfect but we try.' That sure was a humbling experience, and I felt like an even bigger moron because of all the places I had been prior to LOS, I at least learned basics to communicate.

 

From that point on I have been making the best effort I can to learn, and with some success and progress. I have learned other languages in the past and have built upon those experiences to better learn Thai. I have used BGs to help me as well, even though some come from all different areas, in the past I have found learning native really pays off. Of course this can not be the only way, structured learning is key and should be the foundation.

 

About a month ago I was on the phone with a BG buddy of mine, we talked in Thaiglish, and then later that night I went to a friends house and as we were drinking and talking, I thought about how nice it is to converse with someone, expressing how I felt and knowing they understood me. Then I thought about how I felt when I spoke to a Thai or how they might feel when they speak with me and there is that barrier.

 

For those of you thinking of trying to learn, and you go to LOS on the regular, do it.

[ritch]

great thread

 

when i go in like 4 days

its gonna be my 2nd time

cant really call the first time more than a taste

 

now as oliver once said

 

please sir i want more

 

etc

 

anyhow ive been learning some thai the writing perplexes me as does the alphabet but common phrases are easy to learn

but having someone to talk to is probably why i learned it so fast and lots of thai girls need a reason to practice their english

i try my best to find the middle ground was even doing english vocab tests with them and then moving on to my utter lack to now

being a lot more confident in wanting to try out what i know

[herds]

Good your trying the reading, you'll find that only about 1/3 of the consonants and vowels are used in most basic writing so I wouldn't worry too hard about memorizing everything or the sheer amount.

 

I looked at quite a few things that just numbed my brain when I first showed interest, then I stumbled on this:

 

http://www.learningthai.com/readthai_01.html

 

and in an hour spelling basic English words but with Thai characters was possible, I recommend it.

Edited June 7, 2009 by herds

[jaocheu]

When to speak Thai to a girl? Over the years I've played with this, sometimes not speaking Thai at all just listening to what they say to one another, sometimes speaking Thai after a little while of speaking English and sometimes straight away. All I can really say there is no hard fast rule, it depends upon the girls in question and the location. I've never had a girl turn her nose up at me because I can speak Thai, but plenty because I know too much.

 

One advantage of speaking Thai is you can get girls who don't speak English, they are usually younger, newer and prettier and finding things hard, so when you come along are relieved to find a Thai speaker. Often girls who don't speak English don't stay long in the business either, only a few nights, one can imagine their experiences if they have had any with a person who they can't speak to not exactly inspirational. I have chatted to many girls who have lasted less than a week. In Bangkok last year I had a first timer on her second night in the bar (prettiest there), not a word of English. She was so happy to see me and so was here English fluent friend who was an old timer fixed me up with her when she learned I spoke Thai she even dragged her friend out of the dark corner she was meekely hiding in, telling her not to be shy he speaks Thai.

 

When speaking Thai to a girl I have a few jokes, usually responses to the typicle standard bar girl responces and talk to them like human beings, about things Thais like to talk of their village, family, gossip about other girls. Thai girls are painfully honest when in gossip mode, the mind boggles at what you learn.

[Dr.Winston]

When to speak Thai to a girl? Over the years I've played with this, sometimes not speaking Thai at all just listening to what they say to one another, sometimes speaking Thai after a little while of speaking English and sometimes straight away. All I can really say there is no hard fast rule, it depends upon the girls in question and the location. I've never had a girl turn her nose up at me because I can speak Thai, but plenty because I know too much.

 

One advantage of speaking Thai is you can get girls who don't speak English, they are usually younger, newer and prettier and finding things hard, so when you come along are relieved to find a Thai speaker. Often girls who don't speak English don't stay long in the business either, only a few nights, one can imagine their experiences if they have had any with a person who they can't speak to not exactly inspirational. I have chatted to many girls who have lasted less than a week. In Bangkok last year I had a first timer on her second night in the bar (prettiest there), not a word of English. She was so happy to see me and so was here English fluent friend who was an old timer fixed me up with her when she learned I spoke Thai she even dragged her friend out of the dark corner she was meekely hiding in, telling her not to be shy he speaks Thai.

 

When speaking Thai to a girl I have a few jokes, usually responses to the typicle standard bar girl responces and talk to them like human beings, about things Thais like to talk of their village, family, gossip about other girls. Thai girls are painfully honest when in gossip mode, the mind boggles at what you learn.

Welcome to the forum. My experiences match yours, it's nearly always a bonus speaking Thai once it reaches a certain level. It's all about communication after all. When it comes to when to and when not to speak Thai my best answer is to use the language that that you speak the best as a pair. If her English is better than your Thai then speak English and vice versa! I love the response you get from the fresh girls when they realise they can actually communicate with you. It must be a real confidence booster for them.

[Ajay75]

Welcome to the forum. My experiences match yours, it's nearly always a bonus speaking Thai once it reaches a certain level. It's all about communication after all. When it comes to when to and when not to speak Thai my best answer is to use the language that that you speak the best as a pair. If her English is better than your Thai then speak English and vice versa! I love the response you get from the fresh girls when they realise they can actually communicate with you. It must be a real confidence booster for them.

 

 

I've found this is the best approach sometimes as well. I've also done the reverse where we both want to practice so I'll speak in Thai and she'll speak in English in conversation. Can be a little bit of a pain sometimes if some girls know you can speak as they are constantly asking you questions for english translations for thai expressions. I've lost count of the number of sms's I've written and translated for girls into Thai.

 

Gossip is a great ice breaker though as they cant help themselves when talking about customers, other girls in the bar etc. I dont quite agree with some of the earlier posts of girls not lasting long who cant speak english as I've seen a few flourish in their English since I first knew them over a couple of years.

 

I think you should just play it by ear by the girl. Some can just be bloody minded and not want to know. I remember last trip I was in iBar with some friends and I was chatting to this girl in Thai and she kept on saying she didnt understand until her mate butted in and said that she understood me fine. Just that her mate didnt like it when farang speak too much. Cant win sometimes.

[Dr.Winston]

I've found this is the best approach sometimes as well. I've also done the reverse where we both want to practice so I'll speak in Thai and she'll speak in English in conversation. Can be a little bit of a pain sometimes if some girls know you can speak as they are constantly asking you questions for english translations for thai expressions. I've lost count of the number of sms's I've written and translated for girls into Thai.

 

Gossip is a great ice breaker though as they cant help themselves when talking about customers, other girls in the bar etc. I dont quite agree with some of the earlier posts of girls not lasting long who cant speak english as I've seen a few flourish in their English since I first knew them over a couple of years.

 

I think you should just play it by ear by the girl. Some can just be bloody minded and not want to know. I remember last trip I was in iBar with some friends and I was chatting to this girl in Thai and she kept on saying she didnt understand until her mate butted in and said that she understood me fine. Just that her mate didnt like it when farang speak too much. Cant win sometimes.

 

Maybe you did win! You vetted out a girl who didn't like you speaking Thai. Why would she not want you to speak Thai? because she would prefer a farang she could keep in the dark? Why would she want keep you in the dark?

[Ajay75]

Maybe you did win! You vetted out a girl who didn't like you speaking Thai. Why would she not want you to speak Thai? because she would prefer a farang she could keep in the dark? Why would she want keep you in the dark?

 

This was my exact thought straight away but I wasnt bothered or interested in her anyway. Was just a bit of a laugh but any girl who says that they dont like it sets alarm bells ringing straight away.

[guykrup]

Even with my very bad pathetic attempt at Thai...it provides me with a way to stop the same questions I am asked over and over...I tell the girls when they ask "Why you learn Thai" that I am a guest in there country and I want to show some respect for their culture...they probably don't believe that but it is mostly true...that and it does help a lot with the less spoiled farm fresh girls that I prefer as long as Soi 6 is there when I need just the sex

[td5855]

Learnt thai from books when I were working offshore. Just a few basic phrases which done me okay, until I met the GF. Her English was zero, my Thai tones were below zero. Paid for her to go to learn English, i paid for lessons at home. Why...........I was now going up to the village and no one could speak English. Her parents made me very welcome, so wanted to know what they were saying.

 

I can speak Thai good enough to get by, just don't expect a discussion on Philosophy.

 

Agree with early comments on girls not wanting you to speak Thai. Yes, avoid them like the plague.

 

In a few bars (My haunts) a lot of the girls come and talk to me, since they say I am not a holiday maker, instead a con-thai?? You get some of these girls relaxed in your company, they know you and your GF, know you will not barfine them. But they can relate to you since you live here, made the effort to learn Thai, understand them and you do not speak badly of them.

 

Learning Thai helps in ways you would not expect e.g.

Speaking over a satelitte phone from an oil rig with HSBC in Bangkok. Bank employee was trying to tell me the fax number. Could not understand his Thai accented English. Spoke to him in Thai asking he tell me the number in Thai. He did, saved a lot of grief.

 

Never thought learning thai would help with Banking only taxi drivers and girls.

 

You just never know??

 

PS.

My GF (3 years) pushes me to speak Thai instead of English when together in the house. She says she gets face having Farang her family can talk too.

 

So guys .....you get a good one, learn Thai, say you love her in Thai, give her compliments in Thai and pass endearments in Thai, they do appreciate it.

 

They know you are still a farang but "YOUR DIFFERENT"....Now where have you heard that before??

 

 

Apologies for these innane rambles.............time for a beer.

 

Next week when I get off the rig

Edited July 10, 2009 by td5855

[nicnic123]

I am just starting to learn Thai.

Is it a good idea to do a course?

Thanks for the great insight.

[Dr.Winston]

I am just starting to learn Thai.

Is it a good idea to do a course?

Thanks for the great insight.

Yes. If you're the self motivated type then a good CD based course should be fine to get you started. Perhaps get a Thai person to go through what you have learned once a week or so. if you can afford lessons with an instructor then all the better.

 

I can't stress enough the importance of learning properly right from the begining. See it as building a strong foundation from which you can learn.

[Ajay75]

Yes. If you're the self motivated type then a good CD based course should be fine to get you started. Perhaps get a Thai person to go through what you have learned once a week or so. if you can afford lessons with an instructor then all the better.

 

I can't stress enough the importance of learning properly right from the begining. See it as building a strong foundation from which you can learn.

 

So true, I wish I had started with my teacher right from the start instead of floundering around for 6 months just learning phrases and asking simple questions. I think things like Pimslar are ok to get you started for a holiday but if you want to learn properly get a teacher. I basically started from scratch (well almost apart from the stuff I had learnt) with conversational Thai with my teacher and I consider myself to have been learning properly for 6 months now. I consider what I learnt before was a bit of a waste of time as it was just for use on holiday but I hadnt seriously committed to learning like I have now.

[Angelo]

On my next trip, I'll be taking lessons, in part to get an education visa and end the visa run hassle. I'm wondering if anyone here has had experience with any of the Thai schools in Pattaya as I'm trying to decide which one to go with. The one on one classes are more expensive but seem to be best as you can work them around your schedule. I don't want to be stuck to a 2 day a week schedule for a whole year as that makes it impossible to take a one or two week side trip to some other place. Or are the group classes flexible on this as well?

 

As for bar girls not liking falangs who speak Thai, I've only met one that was like that in the past 3 years. A trifling skank in the Pirate coyote bar in Patong. She had the nerve to actually hit me in crotch for speaking some basic Thai. It was amazing how fast her mood changed from being all over me to almost hating me. I asked her, "you only like falangs that don't know anything so you can bullshit them, don't you?" to which she replied "yes". I told her to go away and that I didn't like Thai girls who knew English Just to rub it in I bought drinks for 4 of the other girls and gave another girl 200 baht for her birthday wreath right in front of her.

 

Aside from her, I've only gotten surprise and good feedback when I speak Thai although I'm not on a conversational level yet, just words/phrases. I do have one Thai girl who I'm friends with that teaches me Thai and Cambodian words but she said she refuses to speak Thai with one of her friend's boyfriends who speaks Thai well. Strange.

[aitch]

I met a girl one night wearing a nice dress and reading glasses. looked just a little out of place there at the bar. english was pretty good and i took to her pretty quick. later on she changed into a t-shirt that read "mishevious". i looked at her shirt and read it to her suspecting that it would not be an easy word for her to say (the ending "s" in mis and "ous", the "v" in vi). turned out to be the tongue twister from hell but she would try, and try, and try . . . anyway, i spelled it out for her in thai, went over how it was articulated, . . was thinking this girl is never going to be able to say this word, and then she said it perfectly, one time. will never forget the look on her face. next morning, they we were eating breakfast, her telling me she would help me work on my thai if i would continue to work on her english. deal ! she ended up being a really good teacher (was relentless). hung out for a week, had lots of fun, and no strings. stayed at her room one night and all her roomates were asking if alot of the falangs favored girls who wear glasses.

[Benny10]

I wonder why I didn’t discover this excellent post earlier.

 

Sharing exactly the same thoughts and experiences I recommend for any foreigner to learn some Thai.

 

Of course it’s not very likely that BM’s who visit LOS occasionally will speak fluent Thai, but even if you speak only some basic phrases (no bargirl slang) you will learn that it opens doors.

 

Once I was able to communicate in proper Thai I experienced a whole new world.

People react very happy, usually a big smile appears on their face, they look at you respectfully and you will hear them many times talking to each other “phut Thai dai” (he can speak Thai).

 

Another positive side effect is the communication with farm fresh BG’s as mentioned in the OP.

[Wideeyedvoyager]

Learn Thai podcast on itunes is free, load itup tour ipod and go, vids audio.. good program. basic thai.

[Ducar]

Maybe you did win! You vetted out a girl who didn't like you speaking Thai. Why would she not want you to speak Thai? because she would prefer a farang she could keep in the dark? Why would she want keep you in the dark?

 

 

Thanks for the link. Good thread.

 

Your last sentance is the reason I do not want BGs to know that I can understand them right away.

 

For my studies I have the advantage of having a local Thai population where I live here in the States although it is very small.

[astralrecon]

exellent thread,good stuff

i am on my next phase of thailand,been going on holliday for several years now

time to learn there culture,alphabet

got be good to speak thai with thai people

as they want to sell you stuff and have nice time in there country

so come back again,lot girls wanted me to have fun,make me happy

but could not explain in english about it,as they think thai,speak thai as root lang

so thai concepts to them are hard to convert to english

less they been to europe,learn our ways

i also meet long term thai expats in u.k

dont speak thai any more

my friends thai wife sunny

when i was at her house,phone rang,her mum calling her,in thai

from nontaburi,bangkok

she stood there bit stuned for 1 minate

then said ,mother on the phone,speak thai

she said ,thai lan gone ,for 1 min

then it kicked in ,and she started speaking thai

was mad

also i try bit thai to a thai lady in restraunt in plymouth ,got no response and she kept at useing english

i sad sawadee kap when went in and when left,wai too,order ,kow put guy,rice fried chicken,said kop koon kap when get it ,ask if aloy mai,delicious,well she raised eye brows,walked off,was strange,but never mind,mai pen rai

well i recon,if you follow the path of a thai child,start school,get books,home work

learn a,b,c,vowles,then small words,then read books,like peter and jane,but thai versions

slowly over time,say 7 years ,learn the gramer,as there time spent in school

but will miss out on thais speaking to each other,and to you

mum dad speaking to you in thai,ect,thai radio and tv,films,singing songs

but you could grasp the basics,read write speak

as a school child does,then need exsposere to thai culture,the people,learn the hidden stuff

jokes.arguments,humour,every day stuff not in books

keep face is mad,lie to be happy,smile at all costs

well when on holiday i allways try to find a good english speaking taxi man

then hang on to him ,if based by hotel,use for trips,

then get translations,gossip ect

taxi men talk about any think,women,money,polotics ect

but as good english,can explain to you ,what thia men think about ,like in every day life

and what falang wants ,while here in there country ,see and explore,drink and sex

works for me,culture learning,

to read the signs be nice and the news paper

i have learnt 1 to 10,speak it and write the thai number

so pick up on thai numbers when in a lot of thai letters,i see them as numbers straght a way

and now start on alphabet,gor guy ,a g,chicken,and kor kai, a k,egg,then so on

now when write thai letters on paper,say copy a word from thai dictionary,i straght a way pick out the g or k

and know its a g or a k,but then gramer comes into play,with volwes,changers,say combinations of letters when together,mean some think new,mad,then got a killer volwe,so drop that letter,ignore it,mad again

so if you know say,sawadee kap p-daa,then can steal the thai words for them out of a dictionary,write down next to each other,so then get thai person to read it out,and know what it says,means

so same as read a thai book,read words ,describe the event or thing,not sure as cant read thai yet,but i keep at it,string alone a few words,as like spoken thai,got some thai alphabet books,and volwes,sala ,so can look at them ,as on there own,and copy to paper,like school,learn the basic grammer stuff,well i love this web site,lot good stuff here

many thanks to any one who posts good info,as intel from the front is allways welcome,

as many are stuck back at home,so pass the time learning and reading ,pictures the best

well if the Desire to learn is there,i rekon it can be done

well i love to hear the thai girls say the five mais,and why tones are important,all mai but spelt bit different,so tell what each one is,mad

handy to learn to write your name in thai ,so chalk it up on pool table board when playing

and use thai numbers too,1 to 10 not take long to learn to write

some old petrol pumps there got thai numbers too

well haveing fun learning thai ,

roll on next trip to los

more research ,and walk the six

[Dr.Winston]

A mate just phoned me from Pattaya. He mentioned that he'd hooked up with a TG and asked me if I wanted to speak to her. When we'd been speaking Thai together for about 30 seconds she suddenly started screaming in English 'I love you, I love you', she then called over a couple of her TG mates over for a chat. Who says they don't like it when you speak Thai?

[cuteincords1]

ดร. เพราะคุณมีปากหวานจังเลย

thanks for you insights they make goog reading

[Dr.Winston]

ดร. เพราะคุณมีปากหวานจังเลย

thanks for you insights they make goog reading

Lol. No honestly,didn't 'sweet mouth' her at all I just chatted and told her to keep an eye on my mate for me