How can long-term expats with DTV and Non O/A visas cope with learning Thai?

Start with the numbers first as they are commonly heard and used....aim to learn 2 numbers a day to memory...end of a week you have them...now listen for them.....thats a start it gets easier

I’ve lived in Thailand for over 13 years and barely speak any Thai and have rarely found it to be an issue. Where your language fails laughter and smiles usually compensate.

My suggestion to help with communication and learning at the same time is to get a Language Translation device to help talk with the locals, you speak English, they hear in Thai, then vice versa when they speak back to you. This will help you understand what they are saying in Thai while translating to English. There are alot of different translation devices which definitey has THAI as a language. I grew up in Thailand, left and retiring there later this year and yes I speak Thai without device. Good Luck.

Get the translator ear buds

Thai is EASY! It's very basic in its structure and doesn't have complex conjugations Many words are built up from common-sense constituents which tend to make good sense. Like ผู้ (puah) is a common word used for person, and ใหญ่ (yai) which means "big". Guess what it means? An adult. I started learning Thai when I first got stuck here during Covid. It took going to ALA school in Asok to have a breakthrough and get decently fluent. I then completed the Duke Language school program (not for a visa, just to get it better). Having learned Mandarin and studied many other languages, it's WAAAY easier and more fun. And Thai people are super friendly and fun to talk to! It's much harder to learn say German, since German people will often speak English with you and the language is MUCH harder. It's the best decision ever to learn Thai. It's filled with loads of great movies, music and amazing people to experience and enjoy.

Take a class. Learn the alphabet and to read.

I learned words to be relatively independent. Numbers, directions, complements, household items, food, finance, directions and more. Then google translate to fill in some gaps.

Buy a letters chart.

Then write,rewrite all day until you can write each one and sound it.

Get a Thai to demonstrate the sounds.

It took me 1 month to learn them.

Then pay for enough lessons to show the mechanics of the language.

The aim is to read the symbols and vowels.

Then slowly learn a few words each day using them at least 3 times that day to help remember.

Then keep a book of the new words and practice.

Then a few lessons helps.

Not overly difficult but certainly improves living here.

I highly recommend learning Thai script. It takes some effort but you will learn the sounds better that way.

I got a book for Thai infants and learned to read and write the Thai "alphabet" that way.

In addition to that, search YouTube for "learn Thai" and follow some of the excellent teachers there.

Also search Facebook/Instagram and follow pages there.

Don't expect to learn overnight. After a few months you should be able to get by in daily life with simple phrases. It took me years to reach intermediate level.

You can decide yourself of course, people need to.respect. I only think then when you live here (I live here too) that at least you can make yourself understandable. Not need to speak perfectly.

Many times I see english talking people getting frustrated or even angry when the Thai people not understand then.... Stupid..Why should they??? They are Thai not english. And then I hear them speak proper english as if they think.... the thai must understand our language.

Well, that is my opinion.

..... relax.....

I have translator function on my phone, for emergencies, but most times there will be somebody with absmattering of English, to get you through.....

And if you do start to handle the Thai language, you only have to go to the next province, and you're back to square 1.

Don't obssess about it, you will only get a headache.

I feel that Thai is a hard language to learn. One word , pronounced several ways , can mean so many different things , especially with the five different tones.

I so understand what you’re talking about and feeling. I’ve been here on a retirement visa for 3 months and dealing with the language and cultural differences are challenging. Even those who speak English words have different meanings. All I can say is BE PATIENT, listen and learn as much as you can. It gets better

Not everyone is an academic, one of lifes mysteries good luck

Nice and honest question. I have been living here for nearly ten years, and I am ashamed to say my Thai language skills are woefully inadequate, but I can get by in most basic situations. What I would say, is don't get too hung up on the tones. Generally speaking the Thais are very understanding and helpful, if you say it wrong they will say it back to you correctly, so you just need to try and mimic how they said it next time. The biggest step is just trying to say a few words and not be embarrassed when they laugh :-) It's the only way to learn imho

It took me 40 years and now other foreigners say I speak Thai well.

There’s a great book for learning Thai… it has links to a website where you can hear the whole book read in Thai and English. I’ll post the name later. I always say that it’s easy to learn Thai bady… no use of a / the, no plurals, verbs don’t change form, no real past or future tense. The 5 tones are difficult for some. I know only 400 words, but can have simple conversations.

Get good with Google Translate

I know 400 Thai words… it’s enough to have a basic conversation. If I remember when I get home, I’ll post the name of a great book I have for learning Thai… It has a link to a website which reads every page in Thai and English

It's always going to be easier to find someone who can speak English, than it is to learn a new language.

Started to learn Thai by myself on my 3rd day of my first holiday in Thailand (3 weeks holiday in 1989).

Bought a few dictionaries and learned the script. Changed my life completely. It's as if I'm in a seperate parallel Harry Potter world which those who can't read or write Thai have no access to.

You can perfectly live here without knowing Thai. But the massive amount of little things you are missing then is unreal.

In all my contacts I always use Thai - unless their English is really better than my Thai. Then I use parts English, or parts Thai. Because some things can still be better expressed in Thai than English. (Or the other way around).

I can type Thai messages as quick as English.

Knowing enough Thai is not just knowing Thai : but also having some knowledge about province or region specifics.

That being said : (1) because I always learned by myself, never used a teacher, I wasted valuable time on learning wrong from time to time.

And (2) it has been frustrating at times that it takes soooo much longer to learn compared with an average western language. The difference is really huge. In those 37 years of learning Thai (it never stops) I could have been fluent in several different western languages.

For a non- Thai speaker I sound fluent in Thai. But that's just deceptive because you can't hear the mistakes. Thai people might say I'm fluent in Thai, but that's just being overly supportive.

After decades learning Thai, 1 thing I have learned and come to accept is that there will NEVER be a day that I will be fluent in Thai. I can easily fool those without enough Thai knowledge, but wouldn't pass fluency criteria tests.

I gave up! A couple of years ago, not long after I arrived, I was keen to learn some Thai as I thought it would be a good opportunity to open some doors. I got together with a one-on-one instructor for an hour every Sunday. I was making a little progress, but she jetted off to other lands and so I lost my teacher. English is so prevalent in Bangkok, and me being lazy, I just haven't restarted the process. Unlike the way I did it, I do think it's important to learn the characters so you get the tones right. Romanized Thai seems acceptable to learn, but doesn't really work for the long-term.

I married to a Thai man and he learned Swedish when we lived in Sweden and therefore it's my turn to learn thai now when we live in Thailand. But honestly I found it a bit disrespectful to live in a country and not learn the language. Also you will understand the culture even better by learning the language. I'm not fully fluent yet but I'm determined to be. I can read and write thai. My husband is my biggest supporter and he makes me read everything. He also makes me fill in forms at the hospital ect. Just so I can practice. He said to me to start with the alphabet and that's what I did. Languages are hard to learn. You just have to not give up. My biggest challenge is to have the courage to speak more. I'm very shy. But I'm getting better. My husband asks me to order food etc. Don't give up, you got this! 💪

I find it very hard to remember, my wife is Thai and speaks pigeon English so it's not to bad, but the Thai language is very high pitched and nazzly so hard for me,

Live in authentic Thailand where the language is a must rather than being merely convenient. I get by but I have been told by a few Thai freinds that being fluent comes with a caveat. Some will label you a Cheap Charlie.!

God only knows why.? 😬

I moved to the countryside when I first arrived to Thailand and worked here.

I had to learn Thai just to get by, go the market and be able to do things by myself.

Was the best decision I made and whilst I'm not proficient, my wife and I speak in Thai 99% of the time rather than English.

Personally I don't really understand how people can live in a country long term and not be able to know enough to do the basics like go to the post office, bank, supermarket.

Everyone is different of course. But personally I didn't move to the other side of the world to have someone to hold my hand and "baby" me all the time because I couldn't figure out a way to communicate.

I also love riding a motorcycle. If I go out on my own it's important for me to communicate properly if I breakdown or have a problem. It also gives me plenty of opportunities to practice talking to people who've never spoken or in a lot of cases never seen a westerner in real life.

The best way for me to learn was just practice practice practice. At the market, at the shops. Make friends where you're switching between Thai and English.

I used to have a little whiteboard and notebook.

Every week I'd aim to learn and remember 5-10 words. Over a year thats 300-500 words and sentences. If I had maintained that over 4 or 5 years, that's close to 2,000-3,000.

My only regret was not learning to read sooner. If I did that after a year of living here, my pronunciation and ability to recognise the tones would probably be far better than it is.

Cost less than 2 drinks at the bar.....sure helps alot and feel more welcome by locals

Easy .. my thai wife speaks fluent English

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I’m glad I can’t understand.