Sure you can get by in any country without speaking the language, however, if you have made up your mind and Thailand is your final destination in life, learn the Thai Language.
It will make your life so much more complete.
Foreigners have all kinds of complaints how hard it is, and yes it is a hard language, but it is not impossible.
How do you eat an elephant? The answer is one bite at a time!
The same is true with learning Thai.
The key to first learning Thai is what I call situational Thai.
Look at your daily life in Thailand.
What kind of situations will you be faced with?
Buying things.
Eating out.
Basic greetings.
Traveling and directions.
As a more direct example that I taught my husband back in the beginning.
- Wake up in the morning – how to say good morning
- How to ask for breakfast.
- Orange Juice, Milk, Coffee, eggs, toast, etc.
- Stay home or eat out?
- Silverware, napkin, glass, cup, plate
- Ordering from a waitress/menu
- Where would you like to go eat?
Learning that, and other food words, you can make it through breakfast, lunch and dinner the rest of your life.
The trick is to learn what you will use. You don’t need to become 100% fluent overnight.
Image the situations you will go through in your day/week and learn those well.
You might be surprised how much easier life becomes.
Another key is when you are learning your situations, you MUST, if you are interacting with a Thai, learn their responses.
Example: Coffee with sugar. The waitress may ask you in Thai “How many sugars would you like”, so it is crucial to not only learn the situation (How to ask for sugar) but also to understand her response.
It is not hard to learn an entire situation in less an a week if you try!
Good luck!