Trust vs Reliability

[sakuragaoka2001]

If someone could translate the following two sentences to Thai that would be very appreciated.

1) I would like to be able to trust you

I.e. I would like to be sure that you don't lie to me and you don't cheat on me

2) I would like to be able to count on you

I.e. if for instance we agree to meet at some place at some time, I'd like to be sure that you will be at that pace at that time, or if we agree that you will do this or that, I'd like to be sure you actually do this or that

Thanks a lot in advance

-Mario

[jimmbo60]

Oh dear Mario you expect a Thai to be at a certain place at a certain time how novel

[sakuragaoka2001]

Only within a generous tolerance band ;-)

[jimmbo60]

very big band say 1 week

[James HKT]

If you need to ask the question then I think you already know the answer.

Why don’t you give us the back story and the old wise crows here might be able to tell you what you really want to know.

[sakuragaoka2001]

James, I'm not quite sure I get your point. Need to ask which question? Know which answer? I don't speak a single word Thai so obviously I don't know the answer to my question above. And why you think what I'm asking is not really what I want to know? Yes it is, it is exactly what I want to know.

But I'm happy to give you a bit of a background if that's a custom in this forum. I have a Thai girlfriend and usually we speak English with each other, but her English is not so good and my Thai is much worse (i.e. non-existing), so sometimes when it comes to subtleties I use Google Translate to write a message in Thai (translating it back and forth a number of times to gain some confidence in the accuracy of the translation) rather than in English. Now you certainly know that when it comes to Thai, GT is fairly bad, and in this particular case GT returned the same translation for both sentences, which means that at least one is obviously wrong. So I need a human being for the translation.

If you speak Thai then I'd be grateful if you could help me with the translation. Thanks a lot!!

[James HKT]

Hi Sakuragaoka


I studied in a language school here for a few years when I moved out here, and would describe my Thai as conversational with a lot of technical terms relating to property legal documentation and transfer process.

The phrases you would like translated are difficult to translate perfectly since they are complicated and conditional within the phrases. My Thai certainly would not be good enough. So, the problem you will have is that the translator would have to understand English to such a high standard as to understand the subtle nuances that if translated wrong would completely change the meaning of the questions. I am not even sure if they can be accurately and faithfully translated in any case since most translations attempt to relay the spirit of the phrase rather than an exact copy. English and Thai are very different I would suggest a much simpler sentence structure.

However, clearly you are not sure that you can trust this lady, are not sure if she is lying to you, are not sure if she is cheating on you, and not sure if you can count on her. I have used your terms.

In my opinion there is no point to ask any of these questions, I am sorry to say. If she is a liar and a cheat she will say that she is not, if she is not a liar and a cheat, she will also say that she has not, so you are no further ahead.

Good luck anyway

[Baz M]

I was about to ask my wife what....

1) Can I trust you?
2) Can I rely on you?

were....but then it dawned on me....I don't have the technical skills to convert my keypad into Thai, like I can my phone....or to attach a photo on here....I'm working on it, and if nobody responds I will have an answer somehow i.e phonetically so you can leave a voice message …

My advice though, ditch her!!

[sakuragaoka2001]

Thanks Baz M. Please note that what I need translated are NOT questions, they're wishes ("I would like to..."). Thank you.