When To Not Use Thai

[Dr.Winston]

on many different occasions and for many different reasons I have found myself in situations where I have decided it is better to not speak Thai with Thai people.

 

An obvious example is when their English is better than your Thai. To use Thai in this situation would reduce the effectiveness of communication (Assuming you're a native English speaker). There's another side to this......responsibility, if you make an arrangement with a hotel receptionist in Thai and something goes wrong then who is likely to get the blame? Not the native Thai speaker, you can be sure of that.

 

Another potential advantage to using English even if your Thai is up to the job at hand is that it makes it easier to be accepted as a tourist. For example a friend once booked tickets for a sleeper train to Chiang Mai for himself an I. When we had taken our seats I looked at the tickets and noticed that they were for the wrong month! the date was in roman numerals but the month was abbreviated in Thai script which he couldn't read. I decided that the best way to play it was as a regular tourist. I just waited until they checked the ticket and acted shocked while he pointed out the error. His English wasn't very good and in the end he went out of his way to keep the "tourists" happy. After a lot of fuss they bumped us up to a 1st class carriage. If I had used Thai I think that I we would have been deemed as partly responsible. I think that this same strategy would also work well with the Tourist Police. The Policeman would feel that he was fulfilling his role of protecting tourists.

 

Sometimes you will meet Thais, especially up-country who are proud of their English. These days I will usually let them gain the admiration of their friends or family by having the whole conversation in English even when my Thai is better. I once got a free meal paid for in a classy Bangkok restaurant because I chatted to a businessman in English and then gestured to his colleagues that his English was top-notch. When they left he smiled and said goodbye and I thought nothing of it until I went to pay my bill and was told that he had requested that it be charged to his companies account!

 

Have you had any similar experiences or can you think of any when it might be better to stick to English?

[Goldfishpie]

Totally agree. Best to play the non understanding tourist in some situations. I reckon also that speaking Thai to people who are trying to speak English with you could be kind of offensive. As for gaining from speaking English I get free beers often with the guys on my street. I know they are just

using me to improve their English but that suits me as I gain beer and free lessons in Thai.

[Esco]

Have you had any similar experiences or can you think of any when it might be better to stick to English?

 

Down Soi 6 faking its your first time in Thailand, talk the usual bullshit and pretend you're a bit shy of walking upstairs then as soon as you are on the first floor tell her in Thai to take a shower. The look you will get is priceless

[Dr.Winston]

Down soi 6 faking its your first time in Thailand, talk the usual bullshit and pretend you're a bit shy of walking upstairs then as soon as you are on the first floor tell her in Thai to take a shower. The look you will get is priceless

 

Yeah, I forgot the fun reason to not speak Thai. I've done similar things myself including having a massage for two hours while the two Thai girls talked together about should they invite us to shag them for 1000 Baht. I didn't let on until we were leaving (Didn't fancy them) and then I said in Thai "The massage was good but we don't want a shag right now thank you" One of them hit me, Cheers.

[Esco]

Yeah, I forgot the fun reason to not speak Thai. I've done similar things myself including having a massage for two hours while the two Thai girls talked together about should they invite us to shag them for 1000 Baht. I didn't let on until we were leaving (Didn't fancy them) and then I said in Thai "The massage was good but we don't want a shag right now thank you" One of them hit me, Cheers.

 

555 Thai girls gotta love 'em!

[LaaMok]

I have very selective hearing, if I am having an arguement in Thai and its my fault, its back to english again and that way they dont understand, and all of a sudden I dont understand there Thai.

 

I was caught out once with a bargirl and suddenly it was back to english haha

[Alleycat]

In a reversal, I sometimes pretend I don't speak English when a Farang speaks to me in broken English..I actually did this once to a guy that had threatened to kill me because I accidentally knocked his drink over..When I convinced him I was Thai and not Japanese as he thought, he backed down (thought better of it when I convinced him I knew the management of the club in Patpong)..This guy's mate later told me that he was in Bangkok for a Muay contest and that I was lucky I wasn't from England as he would have kicked the shit out of me as he hated The English!!!! (they were Scot's)

[Dr.Winston]

In a reversal, I sometimes pretend I don't speak English when a Farang speaks to me in broken English..I actually did this once to a guy that had threatened to kill me because I accidentally knocked his drink over..When I convinced him I was Thai and not Japanese as he thought, he backed down (thought better of it when I convinced him I knew the management of the club in Patpong)..This guy's mate later told me that he was in Bangkok for a Muay contest and that I was lucky I wasn't from England as he would have kicked the shit out of me as he hated The English!!!! (they were Scot's)

 

Very resourceful there AC Your verbal wordsmithery matches your written and you lived to love another day! Excellent.

Edited August 11, 2008 by Dr.Winston O'Boogie

[7-Eleven]

I've been caught out a couple of times by a ex girlfriend... i've said something in Thai and she's asked me where I learnt it... "off a language cd" I reply... "no you cannot learn that off language CD, that word from Issarn only... you been talking to bar girl" yek yek yek...

[Dr.Winston]

I've been caught out a couple of times by a ex girlfriend... i've said something in Thai and she's asked me where I learnt it... "off a language cd" I reply... "no you cannot learn that off language CD, that word from Issarn only... you been talking to bar girl" yek yek yek...

 

Yes mate, learn from a CD, or stay away from the smart ones!