I'm in Vietnam at the moment doing a visa run.  Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon to be exact.  

Our first night here we wandered around the hotel looking for a place to have a drink or two.  We're not in the tourist area of town so we did quite a bit of walking before we found a place that looked like it had some pool going on.  

We walked in and they were playing on snooker tables.  But the snooker tables had no pockets and they were all playing with 3 balls.  I asked the manager if there was someplace that had 8-ball and he gave me directions down some side soi.  

Showed up there and the place was all Vietnamese guys playing pool.  A few women racked balls and served drinks.  Not BKK style or anything.  More like a neighborhood bar.  

So when we walk in the girls try to show us to a table but they immediately start speaking to Ked in Vietnamese.  She hasn't got a clue what they're saying.  

No matter how much I try to give the order for both of us the girls keep speaking to Ked in Vietnamese.  She just looks at me.  I look at her and laugh.  

Finally, Ked says "2 Heinekens, please."  The girls stop dead in their tracks.  In fact, it seems like everyone has turned around to look.  I look at the girl and say "She's Thai."  The girl yells out to everyone something in Vietnamese which I assume is "She's Thai" because I heard "Thailand" in the commotion.  

We also had a similar experience today down near Reunification Palace.  We got a water from a street vendor and this old woman starts yapping away at Ked like they've known each other for years.  She even motions to me with her eyes and from the body language the best I can tell she was saying something along the lines of "Ahh, you got yourself a foreigner."  

Ked's just starting at her blankly.  Finally I say "She's Thai."  I thought the old lady was going to have a heart attack.  

Lesson:  Never judge a book by it's cover :-)

Snooker table 3 balls sounds like billiards to me

Bill, I was there yesterday! I experienced the same...but they do get replies from me such as 'Sorry Im not Vietnamese please talk in English' but sometimes girls could be really nasty if ur with a hot guy!

I get that a lot here in Thailand......When i tell people im from Scotland they say 'ohh i thot you UK man'

My Thai ex went to a shop in MBK and they spoke to her in English, and to her friend in Thai - ok, the ex is 25% Chinese, but still of Thai origin, so it was a little strange...

Had a Vietnamese friend visiting me in Bangkok, whom I took around to see the sights. When we went to the royal barge museum, I paid for two tickets. The guy looks at me, looks at her, says something to her in Thai and then charges me one foreigner ticket and one Thai ticket.

Of course, when he started speaking to her in Thai she started to respond in English with a "what? what?" I had to shush her to keep the price from going up.

Alas, we did not pass this test at Wat Phra Kaew, as they demanded a conversation that she could not perform.

I had the same situation here... I dated a Vietnamese girl who didn't speak Thai.

Waitresses would start conversations with her in Thai... I'd answer and say "She's not Thai, you can speak to me..."

And they would STILL try talking to her rather than have a conversation with a white guy in Thai.

ummm Thai Airways has flight to Ho Chi Minh na ka Bill,,, Bua confirm ;p

sorry, maybe its too late to tell you hahaha

lol...that's kind of fun experience, isn't it?

@Bua . . . just a little too late :-) LOL

Actually, the AirAsia flight went pretty smoothly (i.e. I slept for most of it).

Querida 4 August 2010 1:29AM

but sometimes girls could be really nasty if ur with a hot guy! <<<

luckily Ked didn't have that problem !!!!

sorry Bill .... couldn't resist that one !!!

Yeah, but at least they could understand what I was saying :-)

next flight ;p

Hongkong with me

Why the boys and girls always address me in English? I'm not!

Bill, I will show you 3 ball on a pool table!

3? I don't think all of those are balls. Best see a doctor.

He he.. When i travel in arab countries, often happens that local people try to speak german with me, because i am 189cm - blond hair - blue eyes... The worst is when they shout "hallo.." ... Grrrr....

As well i can speak some basic german, my favorites fluent languages are french - english - dutch...