Do Pattaya Girls speak the Bangkok Thai (Central Thai)?

[Denis903]

I am a regular visitor to Thailand but I have never stayed more than a month. I would like to eventually retire and spend half the year in Thailand. And maybe even to live permanently in the LOS.

 

I do not know where to live but I like Bangkok, Pattaya, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.

 

I think it would be a good idea to learn Thai. But I do not have a great talent for languages... ;)

 

As everyone knows, there are four main thai languages ​: Bangkok Thai (official thai langage), Lanna, Isan and Southern Thai. 

 

Many girls in Pattaya come from Isan. If I learn Thai, is that I will be able to communicate with the girls in Pattaya? Or do they mainly speak Lao (Isan)?

 

And will I be able to communicate with people from other regions of Thailand if I only speak the Bangkok Thai? Do they speak Bangkok Thai better than English?

 

For I say that it may not be worth the trouble to learn the Bangkok Thai if it is only the people of Bangkok who speaks it. 

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[Tarl]

All Thai people learn central thai at school and are proficient in it. My personal opinion on why they become proficient is thst thai tv is in central thai and the kids love their cartoons and the adults love their soapies.

[jerry]

Most girls speak Isan in Pattaya but they're able to speak proper Thai as well . 

[Cerberus]

If it is your intention to learn Thai then Bangkok Thai is always the way to go. If you learn Issan Thai people will always judge where and how you learnt your Thai, whereas all will understand Bangkok Thai and it will allow you to travel anywhere within Thailand.

[6853395]

If you're a foreigner, proper Thai is what you should speak to everyone.

 

You don't modify your language in the United States based upon region:

 

 

22 fascinating maps that show how Americans speak English differently across the US

http://www.businessinsider.com/american-regional-pronunciation-2016-9/

[spidey]

If you're a foreigner, proper Thai is what you should speak to everyone.

 

You don't modify your language in the United States based upon region:

 

 

 

22 fascinating maps that show how Americans speak English differently across the US

http://www.businessinsider.com/american-regional-pronunciation-2016-9/

Should?

Would you say "aroy" or "aloy"? Most Thais that I speak to use the latter. So do I.

When I am with friends and family I try to speak Issan as that is the language that they exclusively converse in, amongst themselves.

I have lunch with three Issan ladies, most days. I would be completely excluded from the conversation if I didn't speak any Issan.

I agree that it's better to know how to pronounce Thai properly (I watch Thai soaps to achieve this), but in normal conversation , I find "street " Thai more acceptable to others.

[Denis903]

 

Maybe the Isan language plays a role similar in Thailand (for Norteasterners) as the role of the Bahamian Creole in Bahamas or the Haitian Creole in Haïti? 

 

A familiar language spoken among friends and relatives.

 

But at school, with government officials, or in the media, people must speak English (Bahamas), French (Haîti) or Central Thai (Thailand).

 

A friend of mine learned Haitian Creole but when he encounters Haitians, they find it odd that he speaks their language.

 

Thank you very much for your insight.

[izzyg]

Is Issan thai, Issan and Lao the same?

[spacemonkey]

Learning Lao/Isaan would no doubt be more useful for listening in on conversation between bargirls, or bargirls and their families, but, purely from a resources point of view, unless you're fully-immersed, living in Isaan (or Laos), it seems you'd likely have a much tougher time than with standard Thai. There's just much, much more in the way of textbooks, audio samples, tv shows/movies, youtube and other online lessons etc to learn standard Thai from, and not a great deal out there for Lao/Isaan, in comparison.

 

As other posters have said, you'll be understood (by Isaan-raised bargirls) regardless of which you use (if proficient enough), so it just depends on which situations you want to be able to understand them.

 

Probably best to just learn standard Thai, then if you get serious with an Isaan girl the Thai you've already learnt should give you a bit of a spring-board into learning Lao, so you can actually understand what her family are saying when they're talking around you (because they likely won't be speaking standard Thai to each other).

[spacemonkey]

Is Issan thai, Issan and Lao the same?

 

Isaan Thai and Isaan are the same dialect of the Lao language (I think, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

 

In fact, according to Wikipedia, all 6 distinct dialects of Lao can be found spoken in Thai provinces. Does that mean all 6 dialects can be split into further Thai-ised sub-dialects?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_language

 

In a nutshell, though, yeah Isaan and Lao are the same language.