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[mjmates]

"The final and ultimate compliment is: no compliment. When you walk up to someone and chat away to them in Thai and they don't compliment you or instantly ask about why you speak Thai so well, you've received the ultimate compliment. They either assume you grew up in Thailand or are half-Thai. (Eventually curiosity may get to them and they may ask if you have a Thai mom or if you were born in Thailand)"

Chai you hit the nail on the head right here.

[Chai]

I checked out this guy named Todd Lavelle. I liked his music a lot.

I found a video where he speaks Thai too. He speaks very clearly. Yes, there are some minor subtleties to his accent.

[Tod-Daniels]

Todd Lavelle has been here like forever. When he first came here he studied under not one but two Fulbright scholarships. I'd hope he could speak something which closely resembles Thai by now.

In Thai his nickname is ·çÍ´´ì ·Í§´Õ (Todd "good gold"). Now that he's put on weight I jokingly refer to him as ·çÍ´´ì ·éͧ´Õ (Todd "good stomach").

While I'm not a fan of his music, or of him as a person; I will concede, he certainly does speak clear Thai for a foreigner.

[djaidee]

I checked out this guy named Todd Lavelle. I liked his music a lot.

I found a video where he speaks Thai too. He speaks very clearly. Yes, there are some minor subtleties to his accent.

Hi Chai, could you post the Link to this Video where he speaks Thai please

[Eric67]

Personally I'm not too convinced about all these different stages you have to go through when mastering the Thai language.

Last time I was in Thailand, within a couple of days I've had responses ranging from "me no sapeak englit, me no sapeak englit", even though I was speaking Thai to him, giving me that deer in the headlight-look , to "poot geng", "poot chat", or no comment at all, just talking in Thai.

Now I'm pretty sure my Thai didn't improve that quickly, so my guess is most Thais will just say what pops up in their head first, like in any other language.

It's all good though, the only "compliment" that I don't really like is when they say to other Thais "kao poot Thai dai", which often translates to "watch your mouth, because he'll understand"

[ian71]

sà~wàt-dii-kráp ÊÇÑÊ´Õ¤ÃѺ hello,''oh you speak thai very good???????'' ha ha that's the best response i've ever had and made me chuckle for the rest of the evening,,,, ha ha, even before what your name, where you come from,classic i could not care i say something nice you buy me drink attitude, fair play but point proved dont believe the compliments.

[guava]

i could not care i say something nice you buy me drink attitude,.

I would guess "you buy me drink" after "what your name", "where you come from" is what you may encounter in the bars of Pattaya or Patong. If that is the case, I agree, definitely DON'T believe the compliments.

[ian71]

I would guess "you buy me drink" after "what your name", "where you come from" is what you may encounter in the bars of Pattaya or Patong. If that is the case, I agree, definitely DON'T believe the compliments.

To be honest i get just as much of your speak good thai, in some back water thai bar with no farang in some back street in Bangkok, or the same in most back water villages i've been in Thailand, i think its more to do with Wow someone not thai has taken the effort to learn are language.
I enjoy bars/pubs here or at home as much as most people with a will to live, its just hell of lot cheaper here, and makes me chuckle when people think that's all you do in tourist thailand, but saying that, even in some of the little villages ive been to i've never met a nation that likes to drink as a way of life so much and just live for the day and enjoy life. also whats one gonna do when there not working? twiddle my thumbs? not for me.

[David_Loves_Ubonwan]

even in some of the little villages ive been to i've never met a nation that likes to drink as a way of life so much and just live for the day and enjoy life.

You've never been to Ireland?

David

[Tod-Daniels]

I still wouldn’t trust any Thais compliment about a foreigner’s Thai ability. Even if a foreigner says “Sweaty Crap”(pronounced just like I wrote it in English), a Thai will praise their spoken ability. It means less than nothing.

As a rule I wouldn’t trust a Thai here further than I could throw them. Now they’re pretty small, so I bet I could toss one pretty far. Oh and FWIW; I trust the foreigners here even less than I trust the Thais. I live my life by a motto I stole from the television series X-Files; “Trust no one”.

In fact, the real “benchmark” is when they don’t mention how you speak Thai at all. That’s when you’re really starting to be pretty understandable to their ears.

As far as drinking being the national pastime. ..Well you only hafta look at all the “down time” most farmers have between planting their crops and harvesting it to see there’s a LOT of sit around and wait between doing things which might be considered real work.

What else are they gonna do in those one buffalo villages but drink and gossip?