Its really easy to get frustrated over here dealing with some of the people that you meet. There are a number of reasons. One of the big ones is that I do not speak the language well. I can understand and speak some Thai, I've just never really put in the effort that I need to master the language. Part of the reason is that most of the time it is easy to get by here in Nichada while speaking very little Thai. The other reason is that it is a pretty hard language to master. The tones and sounds are really difficult to pick up, particularly at my age.
Another reason that its easy to get frustrated is that a lot of the people that you deal with are not very bright. I don't mean to be unkind, but the overall education system here is pretty lacking and sometimes it really shows. My wife, who speaks Thai very well, is often frustrated with dealing with her fellow Thais.
Of course, another fact is that Thai people are, by and large, pretty laid back. An unkinder soul might say that they are lazy. That's not really fair though. A lot of Thai people put in a lot of hours at work. The problem is that they often produce a whole lot less than an American would in much less time. Thai's love to have fun, and the Thai word for fun is sanuk. For some Thais, if its not sanuk, they are not going to put much effort into it.
Another problem is that sometimes if you do not say something exactly how the person expects to hear it, they give you a blank stare. For example, if you order a coke in a restaurant, you would say in Thai "I want a glass of coke." At first, I didn't remember the word for glass, so I would say "I want a coke". While most Thais would understood what I was saying, ten or twenty percent would be completely perplexed. Even though the only way they served coke was by the glass, the fact that I didn't say glass when ordering it confuses them to the point that I might as well be speaking English. If I were at a stand that sold cans, bottles and fountain coke, I could understand why the clerk might not know exactly what I wanted if I just said that I want a coke. In restaurants, there is usually no other way to order it.
Am I stereo typing Thais? Sure, I probably am. The above characteristics are found in a lot of people, although hardly everyone. There are some very bright and hard working Thais. My wife is Thai, and she and her brother work extremely hard. Tim's mother was putting in six ten or twelve hour days when she was in her 70's. Still, I think that they are the exception.
The other day I was in the grocery store villa, which is located in Nichada and a five minute bike ride from the house. The majority of Villa's customers are Westerners who live in Nichada. Since the grocery is inside Nichada, you need to be a resident, guest, or student of ISB to even get to the store. Most of their customers do not speak Thai very well, if at all. As a result, they staff people who usually speak some English. I guess the exception is at the small deli counter.
Let me make clear, that I've bought lunch meat before in a number of grocery stores here, and in many of them, the deli clerk spoke no English. I know how to say how many kilo's that I want. I usually point to the item and say how much I want. When I order ham, I'll usually say "pork" and point at the particular ham. Its really pretty simple.
The first time I bought some lunch meat at Villa, I accidentally said one and a half kilo instead of half a kilo. The reason is that one and a half is "kilo klueng" while half is "klueng kilo". It was my mistake, but they took back the excess lunch meat.
Since then, a different person has waited on me, and she is truly awful. I do the same thing that I do in every other store and she just stares blankly at me. I say I want half a kilo, she slices a whole kilo. I say one, she slices one half. Its maddening.
This past Sunday, I almost completely lost it. I wanted a kilo of ham and half a kilo of salami. I pointed to each and said the correct amount. She slices very slowly, so I went ahead and picked up a dozen other things that I needed. I came back and she handed me half a kilo of ham. I pointed at the ham and said nung kilo (one kilo). I pointed at the salami and told her klueng kilo. She points to the ham and says half a kilo and the salami and says a kilo and a half. I'm baffled at this point. I point to the salami, and then point to the weight on the label for the ham, which says half a kilo. She still does not understand.
At this point I'm really frustrated. I am wondering if she is just trying to screw with me, or she is just stupid. I know its not kind to say that, but its exactly how I felt. In most misunderstandings here, I am more than willing to accept that a lot of the blame goes to me because I cannot speak Thai well. Not this time though. She understands the words I am saying, but somehow cannot understand what I want, or immediately forgets it. I hold up my finger for the lady to wait, while I called Tim. I asked Tim to explain what I want to the clerk. I told Tim that I was ready drive a nail through my head. I'm not sure if she understood what I said, but she knew I was frustrated. Tim was able to explain what I wanted.
I will not buy lunch meat at Villa any longer. If I need it from there, I'll send the maid. Truthfully, I don't know how most Westerners order from this lady.
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