Do you really need to know Thai?

[ptaddtest]

OK, so maybe its just my experience but you can travel alot of places around the world without knowing the language. Is it necessary to know the language to have a good time and to be safe? Im from the south(US) and even my english aint so good

[Craig_ozz]

no need to know Thai. Out of the 10's of thousands of visitors (mongers) to pattaya each year, very few would speak thai.

[redfred]

A few words help or get a girl that speaks english

[Lucifer88]

i thought i needed to learn the language in the early days of visiting,, mainly due to meeting a sweetheart of mine on my first trip,, over the years i have noticed i get shunned quite a bit from the girls now,,, mostly i get common phrase (farang rue mak),,, basically meaning i "know too much",, also girls assume and accuse me of having a thai wife already, and no matter what i tell them, they do not believe me. I think that learning the language makes the girls classify me as a hardcore monger in their eyes and know that they cant "pull the wool over my eyes" and they don't waste their time with me now,,, it has its good and bad points,,, so for me now i mainly have to pretend i don't know very much about things in the beginning of meeting a girl,, it makes things alot funner. Heck,, they do the same thing usually,,, most of the time these girls have been in and around pattaya since their early teen years,,, by the time they are 25 they are 10 seasoned vets usually.

[Luv2Phuket]

Having traveled to a number of countries, I can say that Thailand is one of the easiest country to get around/have fun in without being able to say much, if anything.

 

It's helpful to be able to say a few of the basics -- thank you, hello, etc.

 

Coming from the South (originally; now in SoCal) myself, I think the girls get a kick out of a little "twang" when you try to speak Thai.

[jayarr]

I feel like I'm in it for the long haul whether it's p4p or a farmgirl using me as a full-time atm, so I would like to learn the language.

[ptaddtest]

OK, so a few basic phrases. If I wanted to learn Thai whats the best way? Hopefully the twang goes a long way.

[THAJEC]

Answer is NO But sometimes is funny joking BG

[Pattaya_Brian]

i thought i needed to learn the language in the early days of visiting,, mainly due to meeting a sweetheart of mine on my first trip,, over the years i have noticed i get shunned quite a bit from the girls now,,, mostly i get common phrase (farang rue mak),,, basically meaning i "know too much",, also girls assume and accuse me of having a thai wife already, and no matter what i tell them, they do not believe me. I think that learning the language makes the girls classify me as a hardcore monger in their eyes and know that they cant "pull the wool over my eyes" and they don't waste their time with me now,,, it has its good and bad points,,, so for me now i mainly have to pretend i don't know very much about things in the beginning of meeting a girl,, it makes things alot funner. Heck,, they do the same thing usually,,, most of the time these girls have been in and around pattaya since their early teen years,,, by the time they are 25 they are 10 seasoned vets usually.

 

Good post.

 

It usually only seems to matter to Thai men if we speak the language or not.

 

Thai man: "You speak Thai?"

Me: "Nit Noy"

Thai Man: "Ha ha ha!"

 

The basics for most of us:

 

Cold beer: "Singha yen yen."

 

Marlboro Red: "Marlboro dang."

 

Two packs? "Marlboro dang song"

 

Order a cocktail with a lot of ice? "Jack Coke nom kaeng yuh yuh."

 

Water: "Nom."

 

Milk: "Nome"

 

Ice: Nom Kaeng."

 

Orange juice: "Nom Sum."

 

Butter: "Nui."

 

Smell good: "Home" or "Hom."

 

Smell bad: "Min."

[ptaddtest]

Thanks guys.

[1981bob]

i thought i needed to learn the language in the early days of visiting,, mainly due to meeting a sweetheart of mine on my first trip,, over the years i have noticed i get shunned quite a bit from the girls now,,, mostly i get common phrase (farang rue mak),,, basically meaning i "know too much",, also girls assume and accuse me of having a thai wife already, and no matter what i tell them, they do not believe me. I think that learning the language makes the girls classify me as a hardcore monger in their eyes and know that they cant "pull the wool over my eyes" and they don't waste their time with me now,,, it has its good and bad points,,, so for me now i mainly have to pretend i don't know very much about things in the beginning of meeting a girl,, it makes things alot funner. Heck,, they do the same thing usually,,, most of the time these girls have been in and around pattaya since their early teen years,,, by the time they are 25 they are 10 seasoned vets usually.

 

Must be interesting though, to be able to understand what the fuck they are saying about you in thai

[rowyco]

OK, so a few basic phrases. If I wanted to learn Thai whats the best way? Hopefully the twang goes a long way.

 

If you really want to learn Thai, I suggest you learn to read Thai first. I'm in the process of learning to read Thai and its really not as hard as it seems before you start.

It eliminates the need to learn the various versions of transliterated Thai before you actually learn Thai.

[Dr.Winston]

No, it's not necessary in Thailand if you just want to have a good time.

[herds]

pointless really, but i like it.

[Ajay75]

Just got back from a month and thought I'd test the water in some places (gogo's, bars) but then after about 2 weeks I just shut up and spoke English all the time unless it was in a place where I didn't want to BF anyone. Even when I spoke english they kept asking if I spoke Thai. Ended up being more of a hinderance than help. If you go enough you end up getting a reputation for speaking and it doesn't help with some girls. Ok it will weed out the bad eggs but if you just wanna ST them then theres no problem.

 

The only usefulness I can see in using Thai is on the street with taxi's, street vendors etc.

 

With the girls, unless she speaks very little English its more of a hinderance than help in Patts. Also ended up annoying me sometimes listening to what they were saying about customers. Also when I was hungover or tired, I didn't want to talk Thai but some Thai people I know just wanted to rabbit on and I just couldnt be bothered. I liked it more when I knew nothing 555

Edited February 1, 2011 by Ajay75