Bar Reports

[Jun]

Elsewhere, I'm reading that Nice Boys may have lads in jeans again. I haven't bothered looking, as it's been years since they had any boys I like.

So you can walk into Nice Boys and pay 200 baht++ per drink to watch Boys in jeans.
Or walk into a bar in Jomtien and watch far nicer looking lads in shorts, possibly with the odd one in underwear and the drinks are 100 baht each.

I'm referring to the bar next to Jewel 78, which I think once had a Dodo Bar sign above the door, but that's gone now. I'm not sure if the Bar69 sign applies to this and the bar on the corner. There were more important things to attend to than finding the name of the bar.

One of my Lao friends says there are lots of younger Lao lads coming to Jomtien, as the economy is slow back at home. I've never had difficulty finding Lao lads in Jomtien.
What I have noticed is some of those relying more on their phone to translate than lads I've met in the past. Perhaps the phones make learning English into less of a necessity than it once was?

[Montree]

What I have noticed is some of those relying more on their phone to translate than lads I've met in the past. Perhaps the phones make learning English into less of a necessity than it once was?

Before the pandemic I met a guy from Laos in the now closed Cupidol. He spoke no English and used the translation app. Six months later his English was excellent and he’s since Graduated from University in Laos. I’m still in touch with him though he’s not returned to Thailand. He does seem to be the exception as most other guys from Laos I’ve met rely on the app. I’ve found slightly better English from Cambodian guys.

I was recently with a guy from Laos and we were both using the app and it occurred that we could just leave our mobiles to carry on talking to each other without us…

[Gaybutton]

Has it occurred to anyone that along with hoping these boys learn to speak English, it would also be a good idea for you to learn some Thai, especially if you travel often to Thailand and/or stay for lengthy holidays?

Relying on the apps is certainly helpful and most of the apps translating back and forth are very good. But it wouldn't hurt a thing to learn at least some basic Thai.

My ability to speak Thai is far from perfect, but it's pretty good - good enough that I rarely have trouble communicating and only rarely need to use an app.

The Lao boys almost all speak fluent Thai. Not so much from the Cambodian or Burmese boys, though.

[Jun]

Has it occurred to anyone that along with hoping these boys learn to speak English, it would also be a good idea for you to learn some Thai, especially if you travel often to Thailand and/or stay for lengthy holidays?

Yes. I'm starting by learning the Thai alphabet, as I couldn't cope with the random ways of spelling the language in Roman font. Often with mistakes too.
There's a long way to go. After learning some of the bar boy phrases, I was asking a Lao lad where does he come from and how old he is. Then of course I don't know how to say "You look younger".

Also, there should to be more of an incentive for the bar boys to learn English.
It improves their earning capability now and perhaps they might get a better job in their next career.

The Lao boys almost all speak fluent Thai. Not so much from the Cambodian or Burmese boys, though.

The Cambodian lads who speak Thai also usually speak some English.
There all sorts of permutations. A Cambodian bar boy might speak Thai and English well, but without being able to read either. Others can also read both.
Then at the other end of the scale, there are lads who just speak Khmer and considering the way they always listen to the audio translation, it's not entirely clear if they can read their own language.

[Gaybutton]

A Cambodian bar boy might speak Thai and English well, but without being able to read either.

I can't read Thai either. I've never had a need for it. The only times I have ever wanted to read Thai were if I was looking at a menu written entirely in Thai or trying to read some sort of label. However with Google Lens, the translate part of that app does the job just fine. If you've never used Lens, all you do is open the app, select translate, and point your phone's camera at the word(s) and BINGO! Now it's in English. The app is free and contains no ads.

Speaking only for myself, I think it's a waste of time trying to learn written Thai. There is enough English everywhere that for me it has never been necessary. If it was I would have made an effort to learn it.

For me, it's spoken Thai that matters - not only learning the words, but also learning the tones which is equally important. When I communicate with Thais, I'm speaking with them, not exchanging correspondence . . .

[Jun]

I just couldn't cope with the inconsistent spelling of Thai in the Roman alphabet. Something rather like:
Sawatdee
Sawatdii
Sawatdi
and
Sawasdee

I believe the final example is incorrect, as they forgot to consider the pronunciation rules for the Thai alphabet when converting to Roman.

Google lens is useful, but has limitations. For a start, if using it on the Motorcycle Taxi price lists, any destination with a name that means something is translated, when what we really want is the Thai name written in the Roman alphabet. Perhaps there's a setting for that, but I haven't found it.
Incidentally, on this trip is the first time I've seen Pattaya with some such price lists in Thai and Roman.

Being able to read some Thai is useful at bus stations.
Also, when a website has the menu option to change language in an illogical place, being able to recognise the word Thai to change language is useful.

Of course it's far better to be able to speak Thai than read it. I can't do either, but for the modest effort made so far, I think my ability to partly read is more useful than having spent the time learning about 80 extra spoken words instead.

One thing is clear. I need to work harder at this. But for me, it's a "nice to do" and it would just work in one country.
Whereas, if the average bar boy learns English, it helps his earning power AND it would work in most countries on the planet.
If he's a Cambodian who can't read Thai or English, he's not going to read much in Thailand.

[Gaybutton]

If he's a Cambodian who can't read Thai or English, he's not going to read much in Thailand.

And yet they somehow manage to get into Thailand, find their way to the bars, and get themselves hired.

[Jun]

And yet they somehow manage to get into Thailand, find their way to the bars, and get themselves hired.

Looking good on stage in underwear must help with the hiring process. Although, I wonder if the bars check that before hiring?
Or if they fancy a host bar, try one with Cambodian management.
Incidentally if all they get is 50 baht per drink sold plus tips, that's performance related pay, with no risk to the bar.

[Montree]

I speak some basic Thai and my Thai boyfriend tries to teach me but I’ve never learned to read any Thai except the numbers. He's not the best teacher though as he can understand me but he doesn't correct me when I make mistakes. My most recent Laos contact couldn’t understand my Thai at all but other guys can make sense of it.

In Cambodia with my boyfriend it was funny as he kept correcting our guide as the languages were so similar. On one occasion though they failed to understand each other and I ended up translating my boyfriend’s Thai to English, which our guide could understand, and then translating his reply back to Thai for my boyfriend.

[Jun]

The only numerals I learnt were the Burmese ones, since Yangon has an excellent bus network, but some of the buses only have Burmese numbers. I picked that up in about 2 days, with a list and reading practice every time a bus went past. Probably mostly forgotten now.

After reading Montree's report yesterday, I downloaded an app for learning the Thai numerals, as that's long overdue. These also appear near identical to the Khmer numerals. That might come in handy for Phnom Penh buses, on the rare occasion that one runs.