[General] Vietnam is the CLOSEST THING TO Thailand.

[Ashraful Haque]

Vietnam is the closest thing to Thiland.

Does this mean that Vietnam is almost like Thailand although Thailand is a little bit better?

When I googled I could only find 'nearest thing to'. Is it another BE vs AmE thing?

 

[GoesStation]

It means the author believes Vietnam is more similar to Thailand than any other country is. It doesn't say that one country is better than the other.

 

[Tarheel]

Vietnam is the closest thing to Thailand.

No, it isn't.

For that sentence to mean anything you will have to flesh it out a bit. Perhaps: "If you want Thai food, go to Thailand. However, Vietnam is the closest thing to Thailand in that regard

Don't google one thing and expect to get something else.

 

[Rover_KE]

Vietnam is the closest thing to Thailand.

Where did you see that sentence?

Always tell us the source and author (if known) of any text you quote, please.

 

[Tdol]

It means the author believes Vietnam is more similar to Thailand than any other country is. It doesn't say that one country is better than the other.

I would guess that the writer prefers Thailand, though.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

No source, I just made it up myself and was in doubt whether it sounded natural.

 

[Tarheel]

What's the context you want to use that in?

 

[jutfrank]

No source, I just made it up myself and was in doubt whether it sounded natural.

Next time, please give us this important information in post #1. Thank you.

 

[Tarheel]

No source, I just made it up myself and was in doubt about whether it sounds natural.

What do you mean to say by that sentence?

 

[abaka]

I agree that it really does need some context to flesh it out. But once you've established how you propose to measure the closeness of different countries, you might say something like:

Vietnam is the closest you can get to Thailand without actually going there.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I mean natural English, natural to a native ear.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I just came across this> 'next best thing to'. 'Vietnam is the next best thing to Thailand', how does this sound?

 

[jutfrank]

That sounds natural, yes, but what is it you want to say? What does the sentence mean?

 

[Tarheel]

Exactly how is Vietnam the next best thing to Thailand?

The speaker/writer surely has something in mind. He/she is is thinking Thailand is the best at something and Vietnam is next best.

 

[Tdol]

I just came across this> 'next best thing to'. 'Vietnam is the next best thing to Thailand', how does this sound?

It could work fine- what's the context?

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Sorry for not clarifying the context. Our visa application for Thailand got rejected, so I we were thinking about going to a country which would give us a similar experience.
I hope you guys understand what I wanted say.

So are both of them correct and natural English:
1) Vietnam is the CLOSEST THING TO Thailand.
2) Vietnam is the next best thing to Thailand.

 

[GoesStation]

So are both of [STRIKE]them[/STRIKE] these correct and natural English:
1) Vietnam is the CLOSEST THING TO Thailand.
2) Vietnam is the next best thing to Thailand.

They're correct (if you fix the capitalization errors) and natural. Number 1 means Vietnam is the country most similar to Thailand. Number 2 means Thailand is best and Vietnam is second-best.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Thank you very much for the answer but I'm not sure why you marked 'them'. Would you please clarify?

 

[abaka]

This is fine, I'd say:

If you can't experience Thailand, Vietnam is the closest thing to it.

 

[GoesStation]

Thank you very much for the answer but I'm not sure why you marked 'them'. Would you please clarify?

Use them for things that are further away either literally or figuratively. Use these for nearby things like the two sample sentences, which are so close to the phrase with "these" that they're part of the same sentence.