Taxi Thai 1 - Taking a Taxi Can be Just Like Groundhog Day

When asking foreigners that have been in Thailand for any reasonable amount of time “How’s your Thai?”, I often hear the answer “Oh, I speaka bit of Taxi Thai and that’s about it”.  Striking up a conversation with ataxi driver is a great way to build up fluency when speaking Thai, and there’sno reason ‘Taxi Thai’ can’t be great Thai.  Some of practicing / learning Thaiin taxis are :

• Taxi drivers can come from various social andregional backgrounds, letting us hear a variety of accents and levels of speechwhen speaking Thai.
• In many cases, it’s highly unlikely that you willmeet the driver again.  With this kind of turnover, if we try something and itdoesn’t work with one driver, change it and try a new approach with the next –no-one will ever know you goofed the first… second … third times!  – A bit likegroundhog day!
• The language used in a taxi at base level is fairlypredictable (giving directions, destinations, street names, speaking aboutwhere you come from), though this can be expanded upon as confidence builds.

The following vocabulary includes common terms that might be used in a dialogue between ataxi driver and passenger.  Set a goal for yourself of learning or testing anew term each time you ride in a taxi. This list is just a start. Next time youtake a taxi, keep your ears peeled and try to learn even more terms to add somecolour to your journey.

Vocabulary