Why I have no interest in learning Thai

[Zidane]

Dearest Nui

How kind of you to respond so quickly and positively to my entreaty - obviously my initial assessment of your innate personal qualities has been confirmed.

I find your suggestion regarding Le Cellini to be an excellent idea. However, as the majority of my funds are tied up with the estate of a deceased Nigerian government minister for the moment, I am going to suggest an alternative which I am sure you will find attractive.

I am hesitant to put my trust the Thai online banking system, so would prefer to cement our relationship with cash. As the Motel 24 chain is very prominent around the outskirts of Udon (and Ban Dung for that matter), we can meet several times a week (fitting in with your studies of course) to chart out our future. Given that you will be busy with course work and assignments, probably an hour at a time would be sufficient - at the conclusion of which I will happily hand over a crisp 1000 baht note to top up the house deposit fund.

Please get back to me as soon as possible, so we can begin our new life together without delay.

Forever in love

jack

ps I noted your comment regarding your current living arrangements and the 3 katoeys who are in residence.

There is a fellow on a local forum I occasionally contribute to who has expressed an interest in some "different" physical encounters during the day time - his name starts with "Z". Could you inquire of your housemates if they (individually, or as a group) are interested in "accommodating" my friend. They will of course be generously rewarded financially.

Hello Mr Jack,
I very disappointed in you.1000 baht not enough to pay gasoline for my Mercedes Sport to the motel.
I think you not true man.Maybe you man from Nigeria not Australia ?
My Mercedes bought for me by my previous boyfriend,Wolfgang aged 97 from Germany.
One day we find him dead in the lake at the bottom of the hill of our garden.He forget to leave the brake on his wheelchair and come down the hill without stopping and drown.
Some bad falang say we kill him but police say dont worry,he old man brain kaput who commit suicide.
I speak my papa about you.He very angry.Three pick ups full of young men leave my village to look for big black man in Bandung.
If you still pay deposit for our home in Le Cellini you will be safe,I promise.
Love always
Nui x
PS:I hear about your friend Z.He cheap charlie.my friends see him in 7/11 near Rajabhat.Him asking any buy 1 get 1 free offers for young lady.Very bad man.

[jackspratt]

Dear Ms Nui

I have just come across this e-exchange between yourself, and my young jack. He was silly enough to leave your last message on the screen after I sent him to bed.

You are nothing more than a brazen hussy, and I have a good mind to report you to the police, and seek your prosecution under the Computer Crimes Act of 2009. I am sure Thailand has some laws against grooming young boys.

As for that despicable Z person, and his lust for unnatural acts with your room-mates of the 3rd gender (or any gender for that matter), I am simply speechless.

Needless to say, any offers to you made or implied by jack are null and void, given that he is under the age of 14, and therefore unable to make any contractual commitment.

A word of motherly advice - please restrict your solicitations to the numerous elderly, morally deficient members of the UdonMap forum. I have no doubt your efforts will bear fruit if you persist in your amorous endeavours.

I also suggest you look for such a creature who has had, or still has, an interest in learning Thai.

Yours sincerely

Gertrude A Spratt

[pienmash]

Dear Nui ..

Being as it looks like its all over between you n young Jack allow me to introduce myself ,,,,

A handsome hard working diligent shop keeper with exceptionally large testicles ,, i give all my shop takings to charities here in Thailand and being a Doctor i can offer hands on help with your biology assignments , one other thing DO YOU LIKE SAUSAGE !!!!!

Vidal

[Quanteen]

Clowning to mask illiteracy is quite unbecoming. Put in a few easy months and you might start to get it. And might start to seem not so foolish. This is not a slag, it's encouragement.

I suspect for some, maybe many, Thai is simply beneath them.

[Zidane]

Rajabhat girl 1.jpg

Dear Nui ..

Being as it looks like its all over between you n young Jack allow me to introduce myself ,,,,

A handsome hard working diligent shop keeper with exceptionally large testicles ,, i give all my shop takings to charities here in Thailand and being a Doctor i can offer hands on help with your biology assignments , one other thing DO YOU LIKE SAUSAGE !!!!!

Vidal

Hello Vidal,thank you for your message and the private pm you send to me.
I see you are from Scunthorpe in England and were a member of the Muslim Brotherhood there.
Thank you for your kind offer to find me many positions in your place of work when your partner,Dao,is away at the temple for 3 months.
But I am a little confused about Scunthorpe.Is it the same as what Guantanamo Bay is to America ?
Please forgive my ignorance but I have not travelled much,other than to places like Dubai,Singapore,Switzerland and Japan with my ex boyfriend,Wolfgang from Germany,who recently passed away after a tragic wheelchair accident at the age of 97.
But I think I might have seen you at your place of work.Yesterday I passed Nong Sim in my Mercedes Sport and saw a pleasant looking farang with white hair and lots of gold on his person outside your premises,is that you Vidal ?
Anyway,I must come to your premises and drink a pint of Magners Cider in memory of my beloved Wolfgang and we can talk further.
Nui x
PS:You know I suspected young Jack was just a boy.He talk as if 1000 baht is big money.Maybe his mum gives it him as his monthly pocket money !

[parrot]

Mod Note: Enough with the short saucy novel! Time to get back on topic, please.

[Zidane]

OK,
I can speak just a little bit of Thai (enough to order Thai food in a restaurant,for example) but I find that english is generally understood in my day to day life such as going to the bank,Tesco's,Central Plaza,UD Town etc.
And when you are over 50 its a hell of a lot more difficult learning a new language than when you are 15.
If nobody spoke any english over here then,no doubt,I would make the effort to learn Thai.
I reckon quite a few expats over here would agree on this ??

[WhoUrDaddy]

Almost wish people didn't speak English, then I would have to learn it, as would like to be fluent. If necessary, most would, or it wouldn't be a very pleasant living here.

[bumper]

I know this post is about << reasons >. Not to learn Thai..
But for a second let s suppose someone would want you learn/study Thai in UD..
Of course private tutoring would be the first choice for most people
What other options would there be ? Language schools?? Language academies ?, University programs?
Can any one of these UD Thai language schools, academies, universities provide the proper documents to obtain a student visa ?
K3

The-monk

AUA provides the documentation unless something has changed

[Jello]

I know this post is about << reasons >. Not to learn Thai..
But for a second let s suppose someone would want you learn/study Thai in UD..
Of course private tutoring would be the first choice for most people
What other options would there be ? Language schools?? Language academies ?, University programs?
Can any one of these UD Thai language schools, academies, universities provide the proper documents to obtain a student visa ?
K3

The-monk

AUA provides the documentation unless something has changed

I don't think AUA is offering classes in Thai currently, but you can contact them here:
AUA Udonthani Branch 35/6 Supakitjanya Road, Muang, Udornthani 41000 Tel. 0-4224-1155 Fax. 0-4224-2845 Email : [email protected]

All of the other small one teacher Thai language schools here cannot get you a student visa.
The University program Parrot posted above can but is very intense from what I understand. Not for the casual student. You would need to devote the majority of your time to studying.

LOTS of schools in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and Chiang Mai that will help you get a student visa after you've signed up and paid for 180 hours of classes. (do a Google search) Some have weekend classes, so if you are living in Udon you could commute. Seems I remember reading about one that allows you to attend class via Skype, but I could be mistaken.

Chok dee!

[semperfiguy]

My former wife of 19 years is a Thai, and in 1992 we moved back to the USA not far from the campus of a major university. Shortly thereafter we discovered that there was a Thai Association on the campus comprised of students who were sent by the Thai government to earn their PHD's. These people were the so called "creme dela creme" of the latest generation of up and coming government employees. My wife and I entertained groups of 15-25 Thais in our home on numerous occasions throughout each year. There was always a new group rotating in from Thailand, so this went on for a period of nearly 10 years. All of them could read, write and speak English very well, so there was never any need for me to learn to speak Thai.

Now mind you...I've been in sales and marketing my entire adult life, and I know how to initiate a conversation and get the other person to talk. And I like to talk about a variety of subjects and get into deep and substantive discussions, and that even with a perfect stranger. Having said that, I can't remember a time when I ever engaged one of those PHD students in a conversation that was anything more than shallow and boring to say the least. They just seemed to be incapable of deeper and creative thinking, and they behaved like cloned robots.

When I moved to Udon Thani and observed the level of intellect of the locals compared to that of the former PHD students, I knew right then and there that learning Thai was going to be a complete waste of my time. If, after putting forth all that time, expense and effort into learning a new language, I could only expect to have these superficial nonsensical conversations at best, then I decided that my purposes would be better served by sign language and grunting. My wife and I have been together 24/7 for three years and I have no desire to go anywhere without her. Therefore, if I run into anything that I can't handle on my own, then she's not too far away to come to my rescue. It works for me!

[Jello]

The-monk,
This school offers classes via Skype and can get you a Ed visa. http://effectivethai.com/?utm_source=go ... 4god-WIAlQ

[stattointhailand]

It really helps to know a bit of Thai when watching things like "The Open" on TV in Thailand.

Don't know where I'd be if I couldn;t understand .....

Tiger Woods cup

First Tee Cup

Drive cup

OOOOhhhhhhh

Rough Cup

Provisional Ball cup

[Frankie 1]

Now mind you...I've been in sales and marketing my entire adult life, and I know how to initiate a conversation and get the other person to talk. And I like to talk about a variety of subjects and get into deep and substantive discussions, and that even with a perfect stranger. Having said that, I can't remember a time when I ever engaged one of those PHD students in a conversation that was anything more than shallow and boring to say the least. They just seemed to be incapable of deeper and creative thinking, and they behaved like cloned robots.

Semperfiguy, may I ask how many foreign languages (apart from English) you could speak fluently enough to hold an in-depth discussion confidently in that foreign language when you were a student?

Not everybody is a sales peson, not everybody is as confident in speaking to strangers as you are.

Do you know if those students held in-depth conversations among each other? Or with each other, but not with you? Maybe because they looked up to you, maybe because they didn't feel confident enough around you, maybe out of respect.

Students are young adults, party a lot, hang out, chill, why would they engage in serious conversations while visiting older people in a foreign language in a foreign country? Maybe it's not even an appropriate thing to do in their culture.

How can you expect Thai people to hold an in-depth discussion with you in your language, while you (after so many years) can't speak properly with them in their language?

How would you know if they can't hold an in-depth discussion among each other if you can't understand what they say?
They probably think that you are not interested in them, in their language or in their culture, so why would they take the effort to engage in a serious discussion with you?

[Frankie 1]

There are a lot of people from other countries living in my country (Holland).

Most of them are Islamic Morroccans. A lot of Morroccans already live in Holland for more than 50 years, however a lot of them can't speak and have no intention of learning my language. They come with their culture, their religion, build their own schools and their own temples. They don't want to fit in, live in their own communities, and expect us to adapt to them.

A lot of Dutch people complain about Morroccans, feel that they don't respect our culture, live too much in their own communities, don't respect us and don't want to fit in into our society.

Meanwhile the Morroccans don't feel accepted, they look down on us while we look down on them.

Seems to be a similar situation with a lot of Farang in Thailand. They look down on Thai people, but forget to look in the mirror at their own behavior. Don't even have the decency to learn the language of the country they choose to live in.

[dbriggins]

This has been an interesting discussion. "I don't speak Thai because I've never heard anyone say anything worth responding to" is an unusual reason for not learning a language even though living in the country. Having had discussions with everyone from government ministers to rice farmers, there is an argument that could be made that few Thais are deep thinkers. One of their favorite sayings is "don't think too much!" But when one sees that even the discussion on this board rapidly spun out into a discussion about Thai co-eds, perhaps judging Thais on their presumed shallowness is a bit hypocritical.

Having said that,I will say that one night I sat in a rural village in Northern Thailand having dinner with a group of Chinese and Thai locals, and while the Chinese debated putting a man on the moon and if it was possible, the Thais were discussing which insects were best to eat. But this cultural trait has been argued over for literally centuries. I read a complaint from a Chinese businessman in the 18th century that the Thai were only interested in having a good time, never looking to the future, and always wasting money on food and drink. At the same time, a Thai trader was writing about how money-hungry the Chinese were, and how they never enjoyed life.

Thai culture has a problem with the western concept of cause and effect, and their particular breed of logic reflects this problem. If A is equal to B, and B is equal to C, the Thai mind will often jump directly to "thus A is equal to Q". This nonsensical approach (in the western mind) doesn't allow for deep conversation, because one is constantly explaining why one has come to the conclusion one has. It becomes monotonous, especially to the Thai. It's not fun. So why do it? But that would be true of 90% of the Western friends one might have. Deep conversations are not the result of intellectual prowess, but of the ability to share concepts and ideas in an open fashion. That requires knowledge of self, and the ability to think with an open mind about the ideas being given to you. Not a common trait in any person.

[jai yen yen]

This has been an interesting discussion. "I don't speak Thai because I've never heard anyone say anything worth responding to" is an unusual reason for not learning a language even though living in the country. Having had discussions with everyone from government ministers to rice farmers, there is an argument that could be made that few Thais are deep thinkers. One of their favorite sayings is "don't think too much!" But when one sees that even the discussion on this board rapidly spun out into a discussion about Thai co-eds, perhaps judging Thais on their presumed shallowness is a bit hypocritical.

Having said that,I will say that one night I sat in a rural village in Northern Thailand having dinner with a group of Chinese and Thai locals, and while the Chinese debated putting a man on the moon and if it was possible, the Thais were discussing which insects were best to eat. But this cultural trait has been argued over for literally centuries. I read a complaint from a Chinese businessman in the 18th century that the Thai were only interested in having a good time, never looking to the future, and always wasting money on food and drink. At the same time, a Thai trader was writing about how money-hungry the Chinese were, and how they never enjoyed life.

Thai culture has a problem with the western concept of cause and effect, and their particular breed of logic reflects this problem. If A is equal to B, and B is equal to C, the Thai mind will often jump directly to "thus A is equal to Q". This nonsensical approach (in the western mind) doesn't allow for deep conversation, because one is constantly explaining why one has come to the conclusion one has. It becomes monotonous, especially to the Thai. It's not fun. So why do it? But that would be true of 90% of the Western friends one might have. Deep conversations are not the result of intellectual prowess, but of the ability to share concepts and ideas in an open fashion. That requires knowledge of self, and the ability to think with an open mind about the ideas being given to you. Not a common trait in any person.

Very accurate analysis of the way things are.

[rufus]

I find it amusing that many Australians complain about multi culturalism and say that migrants do not bother to learn English. I have no knowledge of American complaints, but suspect that the situation would likely be the same.
My take on the matter is that if you live in a country for some years and have not bothered to learn the language, you have no right to complain if you are cheated in shops and generally looked down upon. It is not hard to learn enough to hold a reasonable converstaion. The reasons for not doing so are sheer laziness or possibly cultural arrogance. The latter has certainly been displayed in a number of posts on this topic.

[parrot]

I understand the problems of learning another language....especially when you're older.....but of all the excuses I've heard, 'Thais not being capable of carrying on deep conversations' is about the shallowest I've heard.

My wife has used the "don't think too much" bit on me a few times. Invariably, it'll come up in situations where I'm thinking like an American and she's thinking like a Thai. 'How can a monk have a fleet of Rolls, Mercs, BMWs, piles of gold, designer clothes, a wife, kids........and suddenly the country has opened its eyes and discovered the truth?' I ask.
"Don't think too much," she'll say......."if people believe he is a reincarnated venerated monk (or something even higher), they'll be blind to everything else about him."

There's a good reason that Thais sit around a flourescent bulb in the evening hours talking about what bugs are good to eat.....while an American in their midst might want to discuss the latest Republican efforts to squash Obamacare (again). The American would complain of shallow conversations, the Thais would say, "you think too much."
Didn't David Carradine star in a TV show about this very subject?

[ting_tong]

I find it amusing that many Australians complain about multi culturalism and say that migrants do not bother to learn English. I have no knowledge of American complaints, but suspect that the situation would likely be the same.
My take on the matter is that if you live in a country for some years and have not bothered to learn the language, you have no right to complain if you are cheated in shops and generally looked down upon. It is not hard to learn enough to hold a reasonable converstaion. The reasons for not doing so are sheer laziness or possibly cultural arrogance. The latter has certainly been displayed in a number of posts on this topic.

you will hear this in the US on a phone: for english press 1 + para Espanol o prima dos
WTF ?

I learned to speak Thai to blend in and have a better time, I feel sorry for those that can not speak Thai, up to them if they want to be that way (the dum basses).

through immersion, I learned to speak Thai like a Thai, tell jokes (which is very important if you want to blend in) use their sayings in everyday conversations, slangs and swear words. I am now spending some time learning to speak Lao.