Love for Denmark

Despite being a Thai national who has never been to Denmark, Keerati Thanomsatsana loves the country and speaks Danish fluently. 

On the way to see a client one afternoon on the Skytrain in Bangkok, one of ScandAsia’s Danish staff members was approached by a young Thai man who sat next to him.

“Hello sir. How are you? Where are you from?” asked the bubbly young Thai guy. As a nice and friendly gesture, our Danish staff told him he came from Denmark. And to his surprise, the young man started talking to him fluently in Danish. The conversation got on and when he learned that the Dane used to live in Iceland, he started talking to him in Icelandic. As odd as it sounds, he said he had never been to Scandinavia.

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Keerati Thanomsatsana or Nat

An impression of Denmark

Keerati Thanomsatsana, known as Nat, said he first became interested in Denmark when he was in high school. Struggling with his English language subject at school, he remembered there was a group of Westerners living in a house near his home. A brave Nat decided to knock on their door and ask if they could teach him English.

The westerners in the house let him in, telling him they were from Denmark working on a volunteer project in Thailand. It was the first introduction to Denmark for Nat. After some talk with the Danes, Nat wanted to know more about the country.

“I started reading about Denmark. The more I learned about it the more I liked it. And then I decided I wanted to learn Danish language,” says Nat.

Nat went back to the house and asked the Danes to teach him Danish.

“They taught me to speak Danish, started by pronouncing all of their alphabet from A to Z. There were about 4-5 of them teaching me there. I was their only student at the house once a week,” says Nat.

After almost three months, however, the lessons ended as the group of Danes had to move back to their home country. Nevertheless, it didn’t stop Nat from learning the language. He contacted the embassy, went to the second hand book market at Chatuchak searching for Danish language learning materials. He continued to learn Danish by himself.

“After they left, I learned to pronounce Danish words from some websites on the internet by myself. I enjoyed practicing though I didn’t have a chance to speak it with anyone,” says Nat.

Learning the root of Danish language

Furthermore, Nat learned Icelandic language on the internet.

“I wanted to understand the root of Danish language, and I learned that it came from the Old Norse language which is close to Icelandic. I was lucky the University of Iceland offered an online course teaching Icelandic for free,” says Nat.

Envelope from the professor at the University of Iceland
Envelope from the professor at the University of Iceland

 

While studying his Bachelor’s degree, Nat worked part-time as a waiter at an Indian restaurant in Bangkok. There he met a group of customers who came from the University of Iceland. Well impressed by Nat’s language skills and efforts, they gave him a business card of a professor teaching Icelandic to foreigners. Nat contacted him and later received an envelope with a book and a CD from the professor.

“I was very happy about that. I still have the envelope that he sent to me from Iceland,” Nat says with a big smile.

Nat in his bedroom
Nat in his bedroom

Nat’s passion and collections

Apart from the envelope from Iceland, Nat collects Danish books, newspapers, magazines and things he found related to Denmark, including empty packages of Danish candies.

“I collect stuff about Denmark that I can find. In my bedroom I have small Danish flags, given to me by the volunteers, hanging from my ceiling,” says Nat. “I also have a picture of an SAS plane on my wall.”

In fact, Nat used to be a trainee for SAS Airlines’ ground service at Suvarnabhumi Airport for three months when he was a student.

“I took care of Scandinavian customers, gave them directions and so on. It was a short period of time but I was very happy then,” says Nat. “The job made me feel closer to Scandinavians and it made me proud of myself. If I have a chance, I will do it again.”

Nat says that he loves many things about Denmark including the people, culture, Danish summer festivals, Christmas, music and the food. He even learned to cook Danish food at home by himself.

“I have two Danish cook books. I cooked Frikadeller and Kold Dansk Kartoffelsalat at home before,” says Nat. “I also like Danish music. Among my favourite artists are TV2 and Kim Larsen.”

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Development of language skills

Despite a shaky start in learning English, Nat graduated in Humanities, English major. Now 28, he has been working full-time at Samsung Electro-Mechanics Thailand for two years teaching English to engineers there.

“My English got better when I went to Uni but I still enjoyed looking for opportunities to practice my Danish language. When I travelled to places like Hua Hin I often asked random tourists where they came from. If they said they were from Denmark I would speak Danish to them. A lot of Danes I met were very friendly and happy to talk about their country. Obviously, I still approach random Westerners today,” Nat says with a smile. “That’s also how I practice. One day I hope to speak Danish fluently.”

Nat’s project and dreams

At the moment, Nat is studying Master of Arts in Communicative English for Careers at Phranakhon Rajabhat University. As part of his course, he is working on a thesis focused on ‘Problems for Thais in learning and speaking Danish’.

“I know it’s not English but I have convinced my professor that it’ll be useful for many people who learn Danish like me. I gather information, look into Danish words and areas that are difficult for Thais to pronounce and learn, figure out why and give recommendations to solve the problems,” says Nat.

“Hopefully, it will complete next year and it should be published. I hope Thai people learning Danish will find it useful,” Nat adds.

Though many differences between Thai and Danish languages make it difficult for many Thais to learn Danish, Nat believes that anyone can be good if they give it enough time and attention.

Although Nat doesn’t get to speak Danish in his daily life, he practices almost every day and hopes that his Danish language skills and love for the country will be useful and bring him luck one day.

“My dream is to travel to Denmark. I also wish to take my mum and dad to see the country I love. I will have my foot in this country one day,” Nat says with determination in his voice.

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17 Comments on “Love for Denmark”

  1. Hi, Eid. Thank you for the invitation. You can contact me at [email protected] or [email protected].
    I like your country very much, and this is the reason why I choose Danish language to my thesis. Now I’m learning Danish on the internet and hope I could speak Danish fluent soon. Thank you.

  2. Nat ka,

    I’m s President of the Thai Danish Club. We’re having an Annual Party on Nov1 st would like to invite you for the party.
    I’m in London at the moment but will contact you once I’m back. Place give me your contact address or mobile numbers. Will contact you.

  3. Hi, Jacob. Thank you for your kindness. If I have your books, maybe they’re useful for my thesis. Now I’m learning Danish on the internet because I love your country and I need to speak only Danish when I meet Danish people. I promise I’ll contact you via mail soon. Mange tak.

  4. hi, Jacob. Thank you for your feedback. Yes, I like your country very much. That’s why I choose your language to be my thesis for master degree. And it would be a great chance for me if I can go to Danmark, I need to see this small but beautiful country with my own eyes. My mail is [email protected]
    or [email protected] Please contact me anytime.

  5. Hi, Asger. Thank you for your comment. You can contact me anytime via e-mail. Mange tak.

  6. Hi, Rasmus. Thank you for your comment. You can contact me directly via e-mail. Mange tak.

  7. God aften, Karsten. Thank you for your positive support and thank you again for nice conversation and I really hope to see and talk to you very soon. Now I’m learning Danish on the internet. See you

  8. Hi Nat,
    I got several Danish books you can have for free. During my last move I sorted out all my book and I got a load that’s yours if you want them.
    Email me on jakob(AT)varming(DOT)dk.
    Venlig hilsen Jakob

  9. Lovede this storry. If Nat loves Denmark as Munch as I love Thailand , he midt be passionate. Maybe we ought to start a FB collection in order to have him travelling to DK.

  10. Nat is an exception. Thailand was the only Southeast Asian country to escape colonisation by France & the U.K. in the late 19th century so its people maintained its culture but never experienced the legacy of foreign linguistic influences unlike its immediate neighbours.

  11. Hey there……
    Wow!! I loved to read this story and it made me happy to meet a “danish wannabe” 🙂 Its really cool that he can speak Danish, although I still dont know why he loves Denmark so much haha…… (I struggle to see the greatness in that country anymore LOL…).
    Is Nat on Facebook ??? I would like to write with him and follow him………
    Hav det super godt…..haaber vi kan skrives ved.

  12. Is this guy anywhere on the social media? I would like to get in contact with him. As a Dane, this makes me very happy to read. If you ever need anything, I would be more than happy to help you improve your Danish.

  13. I was very surprised when I met him in the Skytrain. it’s not everyday you meet a Thai starting singing Kim Larsen songs for you even he never hass been in Denmark
    deep respect. Kind Regards Karsten Reinholdt Jakobsen

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