Maybe they said that. But my Thai, a tonal language, was very poor.
They used to laugh when I tried it. "AH! He's speaking Thai! Yess, yess, but it's not "khop khun ka", it is "khop khun khrup" (and with the right tones) - The ending "ka" is used by females and "khrup" by males
Great people the Thais
I remember ‘mah’ horse or ‘Moh’ pig, when pronounced with different tones, it meant something totally different.
You will always be a Farang (not Falang), Rabanito. How hard you try,....
(It took me some time to realize the Thaï language does use the ‘r’ but practical nobody can pronounce it.)
First I fell in love with the food and in my search to find the most original recipes I fell in love with a cook who made the best Pad Thai in town. Not only Pad Thai, she chopped Quail entirely (Head and legs) and fried the minced meat with Thai mint and peppers, unbelievably delicious food.
Enfin, that’s how I got hooked in the Thai community.
The only problem they had: Gambling!!
They played a game called PokDeng, or something like that. It was a fast card game and money (and the gold) moved from owner faster than a flee can jump.
I guess it was the most interesting period in my twenties.