Thread: Thai numbers - will they die out?

One of the most surprising things when I first started working at a BK Gov school was that the classroom numbers were in Thai, with the inevitable result that I ended up in the wrong place half the time. It hadn't occured to me that they had their own numbers too! I still get exasperated when (e.g.) passing a motorbike shop and wondering what the downpayments they're asking are.

However (and despite its very best efforts) Thailand is for good or ill part of the global system. Surely therefore, Thais familiarity with Arabic numbers must inevitably see the slow eclipse of Thai numerals - mustn't it?

The first counting marks have not gone away so I can't see how Thai numbers will die out.

Why should Thai? It's the way Thai write numbers and I do not think there is anything wrong with it. Learn them or ask the students to help you finding your classroom.

Originally Posted by jimbo

I kinda' like em.'

Not all that hard to learn...๑ ๒ ๖ ๔

Adds to the mystique of it all.

"Must" is a bit strong methinks. They 'may' one day,... along with the hand-written word.

I think they might go quicker than you imagine - these things tend to acquire a momentum. They may come to be seen as old-fashioned - the quickest kiss-of-death there is.

Originally Posted by kempos

Why should Thai? It's the way Thai write numbers and I do not think there is anything wrong with it. Learn them or ask the students to help you finding your classroom.

Hold on, hold on! why am I getting attacked again? This isn't about me - it's a point that's arisen out of genuine intellectual curiosity, nothing more. I don't have a preference one way or the other. I did kind of get to know them last year, but the graphic representations naturally differ from place to place because, let's face it, they're complex.

Good luck to you my little Thai numeric friends! I bear you no ill will - have a cigar, relax! Stay as long as you like.

I simply wondered whether or not Thais, all of whom are familiar with Arabic numerals, would evevntually cease to use them.

Some of you folk are too argumentative for your own good.

Originally Posted by tropic of cancer

I think they might go quicker than you imagine - these things tend to acquire a momentum. They may come to be seen as old-fashioned - the quickest kiss-of-death there is

Is this your opinion or substantiated ?? I'm curious as I have never seen any culture quickly dispose of it numeric systems before.

If you go into a western-style coffee shop or restaurant (it doesn't have to be McDonalds, just something that aspires to present itself as 'not-particularly-thai') do they generally offer prices in both versions? I don't know: I would block out the thai version.

I just think that there may be a tipping point where new conventions supercede old ones. It's not a conscious decision on behalf of the whole culture Re_fuse - nor do I think history is necessarily any help given the comparative speed of information exchange.