Thai folk and mental arithmetic

[Terry]

Let's just say that the two subjects don't mix.................

Everything must be done on a calculator or at the till.........

For example

Today I visited a 7 eleven and my bill was 71 Baht

The smallest note that I had was a THB 500. So I presented it with THB 11 in small change.

Now - my change from 500 should be 429. But if I tender 511 then the assistant need only give 440 in change in notes - easy, so you would think and it avoids having tons of shrapnel in the pocket for me.

Not so - it totally confused the poor lass and I ended up getting 350 back. So - after a long talk with the supervisor I finally got the right money.

I won't bother any more

[Dannie Boy]

I think it varies, I have often given the odd few baht as well as a higher amount in notes and not had any problem getting the correct change - TBH, I'm sure that in the UK where I come from, it would be no different or even worse!!

[migrant]

Here in the states it's no different.

[lindosfan1]

In the UK it's the same, they are allowed to use computers from a young age, when they should be developing their mental skills.

[dtaai-maai]

You paid a 71 baht bill with 511 baht? I think there are more than a few forum members who'd have been bemused by that, Terry!

Have to agree with the other posters - this is more a generation issue than Thai-West, and it's not recent; it goes back 30 years or more.

[Big Boy]

I must admit, even though I fall outside of DM's generation parameters, my mental arithmetic skills are not what they were. I blame technology. I haven't dumbed down to the extent shown in the OP, but I'm not as good as I once was.......... or maybe it's old age

Likewise, technology has all but killed my handwriting ability.

[Name Taken]

Let's just say that the two subjects don't mix.................

Everything must be done on a calculator or at the till.........

For example

Today I visited a 7 eleven and my bill was 71 Baht

The smallest note that I had was a THB 500. So I presented it with THB 11 in small change.

Now - my change from 500 should be 429. But if I tender 511 then the assistant need only give 440 in change in notes - easy, so you would think and it avoids having tons of shrapnel in the pocket for me.

Not so - it totally confused the poor lass and I ended up getting 350 back. So - after a long talk with the supervisor I finally got the right money.

I won't bother any more

I have encountered that same situation many times, Thai people are just on a completely different wavelength(they don't think the same way as us westerners).

[eatuae]

Having taught mathematics for 40 years ( loved every min of it ) I agree it is not just another things to bash Thais with. It's a general problem which you can't just blame on technology. As a youngster I had my tables and mental arithmetic drummed into me by not only school but at home too. How many parents will spend an hour or so doing this. Yes the calculator and computer do add to the problem but mental arithmetic teaching at home is just so easy

[Big Boy]

Having taught mathematics for 40 years ( loved every min of it ) I agree it is not just another things to bash Thais with. It's a general problem which you can't just blame on technology. As a youngster I had my tables and mental arithmetic drummed into me by not only school but at home too. How many parents will spend an hour or so doing this. Yes the calculator and computer do add to the problem but mental arithmetic teaching at home is just so easy

I agree, and went through the same home teaching as did my son. However, what I'm saying is that if you don't use it, you lose it. My mental arithmetic is nowhere near as good as it was, and neither is my hand writing. It is so convenient to use modern technology.

[eatuae]

You are totally correct have to make use of mine all of the time. As to hand writing thank god for key board my misses fills in all my forms

[STEVE G]

Have to agree with the other posters - this is more a generation issue than Thai-West, and it's not recent; it goes back 30 years or more.

I'd agree with the 30 years or more, I left school in 1980 and was allowed to use a calculator for my "O" levels, my brother left two years before and had to use a slide rule. I've still got the calculator somewhere, it's one of those Casio's with the blue LED numbers.
To be honest, I don't miss not knowing how to use a slide rule and I can't make an axe out of flint either!

[Big Boy]

LOL, I had to use Log Tables.

[Edit] richard probably used an abacus.

As an aside, have you ever seen anybody using an abacus properly? The guy in the pharmacy on the side of Chatchai Market uses one all off the time, and is brilliant at it.

[Gérard]

Answering the OP, this is my way which proved to be widely accepted :

I give the 500 or 1000 note and let the girl choose the small change in my other hand.

[STEVE G]

Answering the OP, this is my way which proved to be widely accepted :

I give the 500 or 1000 note and let the girl choose the small change in my other hand.

I find myself doing this kind of thing more but it's normally because I don't have my reading glasses with me, it's more a case of age attacking my eyes at a faster rate than my mental arithmetic!

[Dannie Boy]

I must be lucky, I'm 63 and still don't wear/need glasses and my mental arithmetic is near as damn it, still as goods it was 50 years ago, I think mainly because like others from a similar era have mentioned, it was drummed into us at an early age and stuck.