Writing Thai with bargirls

[thailien]

Aged 77, I do this because my hearing is shot.  So I was encouraged to learn to read and write Thai.  
Good teachers in Bangkok and Pattaya, after I retired from teaching English at AUA Bangkok in 2003.

Now when I go out to the bars / agogos, conversation is no longer possible for me.  So I take notepad and pen.  

Writing Thai can serve as offense or defense.  If pressured to buy a Lady Drink, I can slow things down by writing.  
Defense can turn to offense if an attractive lady shows interest in my unexpected ability.  LD for her!  Some interesting written conversations can follow.  Some take up pages of my notepad.  I like to save these for reading and remembering.  But some ladies want the same.  When they insist on taking our written pages as souvenirs to show their friends, I feel that my efforts to learn Thai have been honored.      
Gives me incentive to return, and learn.
 

[Joeleg]

58 minutes ago, thailien said:

Aged 77, I do this because my hearing is shot.  So I was encouraged to learn to read and write Thai.  
Good teachers in Bangkok and Pattaya, after I retired from teaching English at AUA Bangkok in 2003.

Now when I go out to the bars / agogos, conversation is no longer possible for me.  So I take notepad and pen.  

Writing Thai can serve as offense or defense.  If pressured to buy a Lady Drink, I can slow things down by writing.  
Defense can turn to offense if an attractive lady shows interest in my unexpected ability.  LD for her!  Some interesting written conversations can follow.  Some take up pages of my notepad.  I like to save these for reading and remembering.  But some ladies want the same.  When they insist on taking our written pages as souvenirs to show their friends, I feel that my efforts to learn Thai have been honored.      
Gives me incentive to return, and learn.
 

Just curious. Have you come across a Thai that cannot read Thai?

[kizzuwatna7777]

On 24/06/2024 at 19:20, Joeleg said:

Just curious. Have you come across a Thai that cannot read Thai?

Most of Thai girls who at Pattaya do not know their alphabet because of coming villeges of Thailand. They are illiterate and poor unfortunatly but true.

[George1234]

10 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Most of Thai girls who at Pattaya do not know their alphabet because of coming villeges of Thailand. They are illiterate and poor unfortunatly but true.

I never knew that. So what is the literacy rate? 

[kizzuwatna7777]

3 minutes ago, George1234 said:

I never knew that. So what is the literacy rate? 

Exatcly I dont know complately. I got paid attencion when I there, most of bar girls and street walker do not know their language well. Cambodia either. Philipines is better in this regard also they can speak English very well. 

[George1234]

15 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Exatcly I dont know complately. I got paid attencion when I there, most of bar girls and street walker do not know their language well. Cambodia either. Philipines is better in this regard also they can speak English very well. 

So is it that most can’t can read and write in Thai? Or most just don’t have a sophisticated command of the written word? 

I was under the (false?) impression that literacy rates in young adults (including from those rural Thailand) was high. But that in certain regions the length / quality of education can be inadequate. 

[FROST MEDIC999]

48 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Most of Thai girls who at Pattaya do not know their alphabet because of coming villeges of Thailand. They are illiterate and poor unfortunatly but true.

Are you sure ?

What is your findings based on ?

Probably all the Girls I know are very street smart, and actually intelligent.

I would agree some may lag behind, particular coming from rural areas. The days are long gone when they were removed from school at an early age to do/help with Farm work.

MTV, Social Media has opened up a whole new World to the furthest reaches of Thailand, and the school programs are pretty good teaching a variety of subjects with onus on its own language at an early age then migrating to other subjects and yes even English.

Illiterate and poor...Nah not anymore

[Bruce Mangosteen]

9 minutes ago, George1234 said:

I was under the (false?) impression that literacy rates in young adults (including from those rural Thailand) was high. But that in certain regions the length / quality of education can be inadequate. 

This is my impression as well, and I've encountered very few if any illiterate Thais. 

IME, if a bargirl can't read or write Thai, she's usually from somewhere else, especially Cambodia or Vietnam.  Lao is similar enough where Lao-literate girls from there can at least speak and read Thai.

[momo5]

1 minute ago, FROST MEDIC999 said:

Are you sure ?

What is your findings based on ?

Probably all the Girls I know are very street smart, and actually intelligent.

I would agree some may lag behind, particular coming from rural areas. The days are long gone when they were removed from school at an early age to do/help with Farm work.

MTV, Social Media has opened up a whole new World to the furthest reaches of Thailand, and the school programs are pretty good teaching a variety of subjects with onus on its own language at an early age then migrating to other subjects and yes even English.

Illiterate and poor...Nah not anymore

He’s full of baloney.  Literacy rates in Thailand are quite high; well above 80% in every survey/report I’ve ever seen.  

[kizzuwatna7777]

Correct, Most of Thai people who live countryside are illiterate due this reason Thai bar girls that at Pattaya are unread also( sorry about that it is not their fault) because of they are from countryside ( most of them)

As you wrote Bangkok's education is very well even great.

Edited July 30, 2024 by kizzuwatna7777

[kizzuwatna7777]

1 minute ago, momo5 said:

He’s full of baloney.  Literacy rates in Thailand are quite high; well above 80% in every survey/report I’ve ever seen.  

There aren't just Thai in Thailand mate; Cambodian, Laotian also. 

[FROST MEDIC999]

2 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

There aren't just Thai in Thailand mate; Cambodian, Laotian also. 

Don't forget Turkey,  where I  believe you come from 🤣

[kizzuwatna7777]

2 minutes ago, FROST MEDIC999 said:

Don't forget Turkey,  where I  believe you come from 🤣

I might have met worst 😁 Sorry about that 

[kizzuwatna7777]

Just now, kizzuwatna7777 said:

I might have met worst 😁 Sorry about that 

But Camdoia neither because of I known there well, I had small busines  for a moment. 

[kd_traveller]

13 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Correct, Most of Thai people who live countryside are illiterate due this reason Thai bar girls that at Pattaya are unread also( sorry about that it is not their fault) because of they are from countryside ( most of them)

That is not backed up by UNESCO statistics which state that the adult literacy rate in Thailand is 94.1% and 99.1% for Thai females aged 15-24.

 

[Leo_Bia]

1 hour ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Most of Thai girls who at Pattaya do not know their alphabet because of coming villeges of Thailand. They are illiterate and poor unfortunatly but true.

Heard this myth for decades now, but I have still to meet these bar girls that can not read & write.

[momo5]

22 minutes ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

There aren't just Thai in Thailand mate; Cambodian, Laotian also. 

Yes, but the topic of the thread is writing Thai with bargirls and it’s very reasonable to assume that would imply writing Thai with Thai bargirls as this is Thailand.  As an aside, I’ve met many Lao over the years and they’ve all been able to read/write … I suspect you spend more time in lower echelons of society than I do.  

[FROST MEDIC999]

Crikey you do know your quoting yourself !! 5555 

[Rocketboy]

11 hours ago, momo5 said:

He’s full of baloney

I think so too!!

[hormone]

18 hours ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

Most of Thai girls who at Pattaya do not know their alphabet because of coming villeges of Thailand. They are illiterate and poor unfortunatly but true.

Untrue about the illiterate part, just look at them using their phones, if they can't read... I don't know what they are using the phones for (of course TT+IG don't need reading/ writing skills, but they text all the time!)

17 hours ago, kizzuwatna7777 said:

There aren't just Thai in Thailand mate; Cambodian, Laotian also. 

Well you said THAI girls... in Pattaya!
And we all agree that if a bar girl seems to have trouble reading Thai, think Cambodian, Myanmar, Lao maybe, Viet. 

I think in 10+ years I have actually maybe met 2-3 THAI girls at most in Pattaya who had difficulty reading/ writing in Thai. 
And actually one last week in BKK for whom I had doubts as she would want to hear the google translate version and did not seem to comprehend the thai writing on my phone so well (and certainly not my thai pronounciation).

[thailien]

OP here, thanks for interesting responses.  
 

My sample size is small, as I am so old that I do this without a phone for Google translate, etc.    With me, they gotta put pen to paper.  Not all can do.

Those who can keep a conversation going in written Thai on paper, some even showing enthusiasm for this odd gambit, get a LD or three from me.

Those who seemingly cannot read or write may instead not be willing.  It slows things down.  Very useful for quickly weeding out unwanted companions.  
 

 

 

[Dalef65]

Interesting thread in more ways than one.

[Joeleg]

I think there is confusion between literacy and education. No matter the level of a country economy most adults can read and write including those living in rural villages. What can be surmised is that those who live in rural villages less educated compared to cities and towns which is also the same in developed countries. 

You can see them punching away in Thai on their phones all the time. I also cannot recall a single girl who did not have a phone without using messaging. 

I am sure there will always be a few that cannot read or write and they are exceptions. 

 

[The Goose]

Good on you OP for coming up with a good and fun solution to communication issues as we age.

I would surmise that the lack of literacy for the overwhelming majority of the world is a thing of the past. As we continue to be more connected than ever before it's significantly easier to learn even the basic stuff

[dontpanic]

Can read and write some Thai myself and it has helped my pronunciation quite a bit. My attempts at ง or ng still get a laugh. When I started I thought why am I bothering but I stuck with it and am glad I did.

BS on the Thais who can't read, the old poor farmer's daughter story is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. You'll find bargirls have had lots of jobs and are in patts to earn money and have a good time as opposed to working in a factory for 29 days a month and living somewhere where nothing happens.