Sign language in Thailand
I wanted to write something about “deaf and dumb” people in Thailand, but I found out that this word should no longer be used as such. It is considered insulting, because people who are deaf and therefore unable to speak with their mouths are by no means mute in the sense of being retarded or less intellectual. Why do I want to write about deaf people? It's like this:
Restaurant
Last night I went for dinner in an (Italian) restaurant. I sit down at a table behind a young couple of people, a beautiful Thai woman and an equally good-looking blonde Farang, both I estimated to be between 25 and 30 years old. It's not busy in the restaurant and waiting for my order I automatically look at that couple from time to time. I look at the girl's back, sitting close, but I can't hear her speak.
The boy orders another dessert and I noticed that this happens without words, but I do hear some guttural sounds. Only then do I also see that those two do not speak to each other with sound, but converse in sign language. Hey, I think, a Thai and a Farang communicate in sign language, how is that possible? Of course I can't personally ask them for an explanation, so I'm left with that question.
Deaf family member
It bothers me further that evening and involuntarily I think of a relative of my Thai wife, who also cannot speak. He drank some liquid at a young age, which has affected his vocal cords, I get as a reason for the fact that he cannot speak. Nothing has ever been done about this, because there is no money for a doctor's visit or even better, a thorough examination in a hospital. The man is certainly not stupid, but very limited in his possibilities. He can't read or write (never been to school), but he is very handy with DIY jobs.
He works as a porter at a rice factory (100 Baht a day for 10 hours of work), goes there on his moped - without really knowing the traffic rules - with a helmet on his head, which is a special feature in that village alone. I get along well with him and with our own gestures, body language, etc. we often understand each other. At least I think so. We drink whiskey together and when the drink is in the man he laughs and makes enthusiastic guttural sounds. I once offered to have that examination done in a hospital, but he is almost 50 years old and does not want to know anything about such an examination.
A go-go girl
I also thought of an incident a few years ago during a pub crawl with some friends on Walking Street, where one of the girls who joined us at the table turned out to be deaf and unable to speak. She could write, even in English, and when she had something to say, she wrote it in a notebook and someone from our party wrote the answer underneath. So she was not bothered by the loud music, but I was surprised that she also “just” danced on the chrome pole. I do that by feel and watch the movements of the other girls, she said. Later we visited that A go go again, but the deaf girl had disappeared. We were told that the girl was not deaf at all and had excellent hearing and speech, but she used "the formula" of being deaf with great success until she fell through.
Markt
Here in Pattaya (and not only here of course) many sellers of all kinds of stuff walk past the beer bars, terraces, etc. in the evening. Occasionally you will see a seller - usually a young lady - offering all kinds of trinkets; by means of a written text on a piece of cardboard she announces that she is deaf and cannot speak. In Bangkok I had already noticed that some market vendors spoke to each other in sign language and it appears that certain areas of street markets - on Sukhumvit, Silom, Khao San - are reserved for the deaf, blind or otherwise disabled.
Sign language
Back to my question how it is possible for a Thai lady and a Farang to communicate with each other in sign language. Wikipedia indicates: a sign language is a visual-manual language in which concepts and actions are represented by means of gestures. It is a natural language with its own lexicon and grammar, which meets the communication needs of a group of, in many cases, prelingually deaf people. Many countries or regions have their own sign language, which is completely separate from the spoken language of the hearing people. NGT (Dutch Sign Language) is used in the Netherlands and VGT (Flemish Sign Language) is used in Flanders. There is no universal sign language, although attempts have been made to do so with “Gestuno”.
Thai sign language
Thai Sign Language (TSL) is related to American Sign Language (ASL) as a result of training for the deaf that began in the XNUMXs by American-educated teachers. Bangkok and the surrounding area used to have its own sign language, the “Old Bangkok Sign Language”, but just like the “Old Chiang Mai Sign Language” and the “Ban Khor Sign Language” are practically extinct.
Yet universal
On another forum I read a question whether a European who is deaf should come to Thailand and make contact with Thai deaf people. There were many reactions and it turned out to be no problem at all. First of all, ASL is well known by deaf people and if not, deaf people quickly adapt to each other despite the differences in the sign language they use.
Finally,
There are several websites on the Internet for deaf people with valuable information information about deaf people in Thailand. Something is done about training and the like for the approximately 100.000 deaf Thai people, but – as with many other things – the lack of money is often the main problem.
My “problem” about the deaf has been solved and I hope that the deaf couple in that Italian restaurant will stay together for a very long time.
Dear Gringo, I will start with a quote from your article.
Quote; “I wanted to write something about “deaf and dumb” people in Thailand, but I found out that this word should no longer be used as such. It is considered insulting, because people who are deaf and therefore unable to speak with their mouths are by no means mute in the sense of being retarded or less intellectual”.
This is just another form of political correctness, I have consulted a number of dictionaries and thesauruses about the word mute, several of the many meanings are: monotonous, speechless, without sound, silent.
The moment I call someone "deaf and dumb" my intention is absolutely not to offend, but the word indicates exactly what that person's "affliction" is, the moment someone is offended by a word of decades a common accepted word I have been, so to speak, struck with STUPIDNESS (speechlessness).
You can look for an insult in everything (nigger kiss, black pete just keep going), words and expressions that have been good for years are suddenly offensive and it strikes me that usually not even the person concerned is offended, but usually people who believe that they have to stand up for that person, because that person cannot defend himself.
This actually has nothing to do with Thailand, but I will still add a relevant example, a large number of people feel offended by the name “farang” that the Thai often use for us, but there are also a large number of people who like to call themselves "farang", they probably don't feel offended.
By the way, a buddy of mine is also “deaf and dumb”, he takes absolutely no offense at the word ( he can't hear it anyway he says ), he has met a Thai woman who only speaks Thai, but with sign language, or something like that it calls, with hands and feet, they understand each other perfectly and have been in a relationship for several years, they are both blood happy but also equal to each other.
Sorry for the whole story.
Regards,
Lex K.
That's just how it goes, Lex, words that used to be possible, are no longer possible. A woman, for example, was once a very common word for the person a man married, now you only use the word in a negative sense. The English wife is still a useful word. Just look up what a woman's womb was once called, that word is now downright foul language.
I also read what I said about the word word deaf and dumb from a Dutch website about the deaf and I thought that was a nice opening to the story.
Did you like the story of this Farang?
Gringo,
I thought it was a good story, very recognizable, since I also know people with an “audio disability” (nice word, right?) And at least you don't put them in the “pathetic” box, many people have that tendency sometimes, much to the chagrin of the “deaf and dumb” himself.
I would like to point out, however, that a not inconsiderable proportion of people who beg because they are deaf, or who use their disability in another way, are cheating and taking advantage of your kindness.
(pity), but you yourself noticed something similar with your story about the girl in the GoGobar.
Regards,
Lex K.
The original meaning of dumb is not stupid or retarded or anything like that, but unable to speak. The other meanings have gradually become commonplace. The reason why deaf-mute (English deaf-mute) is no longer used is not because it is not neat, but because most deaf people can speak. Not with the vocal cords, but with sign language.
Yeah I was just thinking about that too. The ′′ swear ′′ like word comes from there of course and not the other way around. But after a long time sometimes you have to revise and change/leave something. Entire meanings become obsolete in the way it is used.
How many young people call each other Mongolian? It may sound like something else, but it just happens when someone does something that someone else thinks is rude or weird. Or if you just make a mistake.
If you now look at children around 10 years old on a football field in the Netherlands. Just uttering words to each other, words that are not themselves and I will not mention.
The word stupid sounds offensive. A cousin of mine became deaf at a young age due to meningitis. When people characterized him as stupid in my presence, it hurt. It is better to use the word deaf..
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Again, Johan, deaf and dumb has absolutely nothing to do with mental abilities.
Deaf and dumb just means DEAF AND DUMB.
Stupid in being unable to speak, so.
Once heard a blind man state that he wasn't visually impaired at all.
He was blind, and certainly not handicapped!
Nice piece of Gringo.
With the necessary informative background.
Nobel to put this population group in the spotlights as well.
And it is as you write, many did not receive an education for lack of money.
But that is no different for their brothers or sisters without a disability.
They also have no education due to the lack of money.
I think it's a punishment, by the way, how they manage to save themselves socially.
Without 'social' security or any facilities. Without self-pity.
Get so much respect, at least from me anyway.
Have some Thai deaf people in the circle of friends, it is surprising how well the communication goes, even if it is sometimes with hands and feet. Rarely misunderstandings, and if so, there is a lot of laughter. Brave people, and most of them are and feel happy.
Davis
Not being allowed to use the word Deaf and Dumb was probably invented by Dumb people who don't know the meaning of the word Dumb.
Are you not allowed to write or say handicapped? Does it have to be disabled or disabled? Have a look at the following website…. it drives you crazy…or should I not say? It makes you less intellectual….
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handicap_%28medisch%29
By the way, a nice story and also interesting reactions!
I think having taken in this story & answers I'm just going to play dumb for a while.
Or is that not politically correct.
I wonder if sign language could be a nice support for understanding other languages. If part of the characters used are the same in all languages, then that is a big step towards understanding what is being said in a foreign language. Nowadays you see more and more that spoken text is supported by sign language on television. It would be nice if that sign language became a language that is understood all over the world. That could be that “Gestuno” or “ASL” Our distant ancestors also use sign language and there are people who understand this sign language. A conversation about this between Jan van Hooff and Humberto Tan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZysk3mQp3I
The problem is that quite a few Dutch people do not master their own language properly. DOM says something about the intellectual situation, STOM = not being able to speak.
Not (properly) knowing this difference says more about the stupidity of the person in question.
Stupidity is quite different from being stupid in the sense of having a low intelligence. In addition, everyone can just act stupid, come out stupid, hit a blunder, behave like an ass or make a blunder. Stupidity is behavior; dumb is what you are. Mind you: not everyone who is stupid behaves stupidly. But people who often behave stupidly, you would almost give the qualification of stupid in the long run. Many responses certainly lead me to think the latter of a number.
Great piece of information. What is missing is that Thai TV, in particular, provides informative programs with sign language as standard. In the Netherlands, this must be announced “at … o'clock the news with sign language”. The coronation last weekend was a good example and there was even a channel with intelligible commentary in English. There you have it.
You mean that you are insufficiently fluent in Dutch (like so many people who do not know the difference, ditto: lie and lay, know and be able to)
STUPID = inability to speak, usually caused by a hearing problem, so never heard the sounds to mimic.
DOM = not enough weeks/knowledge and ability.