learning the thai language

[parrot]

I've seen versions of this granny (and not so 'granny') throughout Thailand. Markets seem to be a popular spot for them, though.
This cartoon was posted on one of Udon's facebook pages just hours before the lottery draw yesterday. I'll be on the lookout to see if she's driving a swanky new car in the next couple of days, but suspect she'll be back selling veggies at the market.
The first half of what granny is thinking is useful if you tell your children to have a good day at school....and they reply วันนี้สอบ
The second half is useful if you have children who are interrupting your concentration ห้ามรบกวน

[parrot]

I see this sign in many businesses, especially doctors and dentists.....where you often have a bit of time to decipher Thai signs

[parrot]

When I see signs like the ones on this bus.....rear......side.....I think about the hapless tourist who might try their hand at pronouncing the unpronounceable.

[parrot]

Decisions decisions decisions.....do I post this here or in the quintessentially Isaan thread?

[parrot]

Decisions decisions decisions.....do I post this here or in the quintessentially Isaan thread?

[parrot]

If you're holed up at home......or planning for the inevitable 'holed up at home'.....there's not a better time to exercise the brain cells and practice learning Thai. There's a plethora of websites that can take you from the baby steps of learning to read/write up to advanced levels. No need to learn the alphabet first........you can start with simple lessons such as http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Thai/maanii1 ... oryUni.htm where you learn to read on the very first lesson with just five consonants and a few vowels. The site offers pdf/mp3/testing as you go along. Practice each lesson several times....listening, reading, writing.....until you have it down. Then brag to your s.o. that 'I can read Thai! After that one lesson, you'll be ahead of 90++% of the expats in Thailand in Thai proficiency.
From what the experts are predicting, we're in this corona situation for the long haul..........no better time to buckle down than now.

[parrot]

I don't know if there's interest in keeping this thread alive, but being that t.i.t., it'd seem to make sense:
After finding out that the AEK vehicle office was closed (?covid?), I asked a Thai friend if there was another office other than NonSีung where I could renew my vehicle tax. He told me I could do it online (https://eservice.dlt.go.th/). I took the plunge, wary of most any government-related website. To my surprise, the website didn't have the expected dancing icons that many older government websites had. This was straightforward: enter a few bits of basic info on your vehicle, and up pops your online data. Need insurance? Order here. If have already, enter the bin number. Vehicle ID, owner info all pre-entered based on the gov. data base. A few more clicks and your registration is done. Your windshield emblem is mailed via EMS and you can check the status of the mailing via the same website.
So, for me, it rings up as reason #6082 to learn a little Thai language.......and save yourself a trip to AEK or NonSung.

[fdimike]

You can renew your vehicle tax at their office just up the street from the Christian School on Udon Dutsadee Rd (Highway to Nong Khai). Drive in service. Present your vehicle registration book and proof of insurance to the lady in the outdoor booth and some money and she will return a windshield sticker to you. All done without having to leave your vehicle. Older vehicles which require an inspection can have that done right across the street. All very simple and quick.

[parrot]

You can renew your vehicle tax at their office just up the street from the Christian School on Udon Dutsadee Rd (Highway to Nong Khai). Drive in service. Present your vehicle registration book and proof of insurance to the lady in the outdoor booth and some money and she will return a windshield sticker to you. All done without having to leave your vehicle. Older vehicles which require an inspection can have that done right across the street. All very simple and quick.

Thanks for that tip. Last time I was there was 1996 when I first arrived in Udon! I thought they had closed after Non Sung opened up.

As for the online service, I received my windshield emblem via EMS today....as efficient a payment website as I've seen in Thailand.

[FrazeeDK]

Parrot, that north side office primarily did motorcycle registrations... Obviously they've picked up the slack for other tasks...

[fdimike]

The office I described has been doing vehicle (car, truck motorcycle) registration renewal (road tax) for at least 15 years. They do not handle renewing your driver's license. I forgot to add that the employee in the outside booth will also hand you back your vehicle blue book with the date you paid your road tax and the amount paid stamped inside.

[parrot]

Today, over our traditional morning cuppa, my wife started talked about ขนมตดหมา (kanom dtod ma).....which she reminded me I've eaten before but forgotten about. If you plug in the link below and your browser is set up for auto translate, it'll probably discuss dog fart snacks....which is actually the literal translation of ขนมตดหมา. The dessert is made with the root of the Paederia linearis Hook.f. vine. It so happens that the roots of the vine are sweet, while the vine itself smells like........as you'd guess.
Part of my daily crossword puzzle is looking up things like ขนมตดหมา.......why it's called that, what are the plant properties, etc. It shouldn't be a surprise that the plant has many medicinal properties.....that seems to be the case with most all things Thai that stink to high heaven or are very bitter.
After seeing the photos in the link below, I do remember eating the dessert, and I remember how delicious it was. It's probably a good thing I didn't know the name of the dessert while I was eating it.
https://mgronline.com/travel/detail/9610000007990

On a separate note: My wife was browsing Robinson's a few days ago, and I walked through the makeup area to hit the bathroom. Nothing to translate in Thai, but a part of the name caught my attention.

[Niggly]

Well after today, @Parrot can have another reason to learn to read basic Thai.
House hunting.
I have spent all day zigzagging Nong Khai (see the weather channel if you’re interested in where) & I could have done a lot easier circle route if I could have read where we were going before setting off.
No one else seemed to mind, but they were just passengers taking in the scenery

[parrot]

Well after today, @Parrot can have another reason to learn to read basic Thai.
House hunting.
I have spent all day zigzagging Nong Khai (see the weather channel if you’re interested in where) & I could have done a lot easier circle route if I could have read where we were going before setting off.
No one else seemed to mind, but they were just passengers taking in the scenery

In my early days of learning Thai, I asked a taxi driver in Bangkok to take me to Rama 4 Rd. He didn't understand. Only upon decyphering the street sign when I got out did I discover that it's not Rama 4 Rd. It's Phra Ram 4.
Not long after, my friend drove me to Bangkok and we were looking for the sign to Rama 4 Rd from one of the outlying ring roads. Surely, I thought, there would be a road sign for that main artery. But, nooooooo, there was a small sign in Thai on the side of the highway indicating the exit ahead for พระราม 4. No English. Luckily, I saw the sign in time........and I knew then that all the pain and agony of learning even kindergarten level Thai was worth it.

[Niggly]

^ I have to confess, even if I knew how to read a bit of Thai , I probably wouldn’t have been able to decifer the multiple handwritten addresses on screwed up bits of paper.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

I figured out how to read, write and speak Lao by reading the Lao and Thai writing on buses. Well, what else are you going to do while waiting 2-3 hours for a bus at Savannakhet?

[parrot]

If you or your partner have wondered about the seemingly high price of some nursery products these days, the increase is the result of adding a few select Thai words to the name of the plant:
รวย = rich
โชค = lucky
มงคล = auspicious
เงิน = money
ทอง = gold
So, an ordinary, easy to grow plant that would normally go for 35-50 Baht can easily fetch 100 Baht........if you're struck with the idea of a lucky name.
Does it work? Certainly for the seller, it does!

[parrot]

The best lesson in my year long Chinese course at DLI in California was when one of the instructors walked into class and locked the door.....then proceeded to give us the lowdown on all the words we should never admit to knowing. That was about 7 months into the course. When I came to Thailand in 1971, I got the beginnings of that lesson in the first day in Bangkok......I was accompanied to Sanam Luang for the kite festival. It was quite the show.....and although I couldn't speak a word of Thai, most everyone wanted to know if the foreigner could 'fly a kite'. It wasn't until later in the day that I understood what most of the Thais really wanted to know.
https://thethaiger.com/news/national/th ... n-thailand

[pepesgrill]

ลูกชิ้น louk chin , meat ballon a stick. with streets
deserted mostly after dark. stopped at this fellas
stand and 5฿ stick, pork,beef , sausage,

fried in oil& serve hot with sweet red sauce &
cabbage strips? bargain of week, 50฿ large bag

[Drunk Monkey]

Not sure i think louk.chin is processed meat formed into balls what they put in noodle soup .. it can also be skewered then dipped in a sweet chilli sauce .. dont think much meat involved made from left over bits n bobs like ears to gues etc ..originates from.Vietnam and made in huge quanties in the soi opposite the Karen hotel on wattanapong rd ..

As info only