Gappui

I would say the same thing as Meadish suggested, except using "ใจ" instead of "จิต"

ได้สิ หรือ เอาเลย would sound more natural.

It's a famous Buddhist teaching in which Buddha said there are four kinds of people, and they can be compared to four kinds of lotus (บัวสี่เหล่า).

1. บัวพ้นน้ำ unsubmerged lotus ready to bloom when touched by sunlight = very intelligent people who are able to readily and effortlessly understand dharma (or any teachings) at first hearing.

2. บัวปริ่มน้ำ หรือ บัวเสมอน้ำ lotus on the water level which will bloom the next day = quite intelligent people who, when using a little bit of effort to study or contemplate, are able to understand dharma in a short time.

3. บัวใต้น้ำ submerged lotus = people who have medium or low intelligence, but with good will and effort, they too can one day understand dharma one day.

4. บัวในโคลนตม lotus stuck in mud = hopeless or ignorant and lazy people who won't understand dharma even when repeatedly told to (and they won't make any effort). This kind of lotuses will be food for fish and turtles.

So I guess the title of the drama บัวปริ่มน้ำ suggests that the main character has potential to be good/successful, but is still waiting for a chance to bloom.

hello

wad does this nickname: mameaw means??

It's a name of a fruit, probably a kind of a rose apple (chompoo).

Chompoo is also a popular girl nickname, as well as 'Ple' (apple), and 'Som' (orange), and many other fruit names.

It's getting increasingly difficult to come up with new names that are not too common (like "Ann"). A typical Thai nickname (my generation) is one syllable, and many are just a word out of your first name. To have an outstanding name, nowadays it's a bit of a fad to name your kids 2 (or more) syllables, and most of them are English words, like Garfield, Cartoon, Ozone (!?). It gave my wife and I a lot of stress to think of my two children's real and nicknames so that they won't complain later on.

But it's also funny because commonly we Thais don't pronouce ending sound. So a pretty name like my neighbor's daughter name "Nong Grace" is called "Nong Grade" or even "Nong Gade."

For Thai nicknames, nature-themed names have become popular -- sky, river, earth, tree -- all that stuff.

Jeb Jai (เจ็บใจ) could be another good expression. You hurt at the heart (and not by falling in love but by being deceived or faulted for something you have nothing to do with. When someone jeb jai, he/she is likely to find a way to take revenge.

There is a popular song that has this word in it. It's the title song for the TV show "Pu cha na sib tid" (Conqueror of 10 directions), about Ja-ded, the legendary Burmese warrior.

"Jebjai Konrak don ranggae. Ka ja paw mueng prae hai man wod wai"

"เจ็บใจ คนรักโดนรังแก ข้าจะเผาเมืองแปร ให้มันวอดวาย"

(I'm hurt/upset/angry that my lover was done wrong. I will burn the city of Prae to the ground!)

Jebjai can also be used when someone says something true but hurtful about you, when your colleague is promoted ahead of you, when your lover/someone you trust lied to you, or simply when you found a better deal at another store when you already bought one.

I highly doubt many Thai people know Dutchmen came from the Netherlands.

My suggestion, for spoken Thai, is คนฮอลแลนด์ khon Holland

Holland is probably better known than Netherlands, because "Holland" is always used as the name of the football team. And definitely not ฮอลันดา. This name is used only in history textbooks.

Also, "khon" sounds more natural and colloquial than "chao" which has a feeling of "the person/people of..." And this applies to all nationalities. For example, a Carabao folksong asking if you are a true Thai says "คนไทยหรือเปล่า" but not "ชาวไทยหรือเปล่า". But when it comes to news reporting, say a farang arrested for whatever charge, the word "chao" would be used, like นักท่องเที่ยวชาวอังกฤษ (An English tourist). I guess it sounds more official.

Also, I never heard anyone in Thailand say "go dutch". but "American share" can be heard once in a while". Ironic?

How about

อย่าเชื่อแค่ที่ตาเห็น ya chuer kae tee dta hen = don't believe only what your eyes see

อย่าเชื่อที่เห็นทั้งหมด ya chuer tee hen tang mod = don't believe everything you see

แต่ที่จริง

แต่ความจริง

จริงๆ

or หน้าเนื้อใจเสือ

Context #1

จะไปมั้ย Ja Pai Mai? = are you going?

ไปก็ไป Pai Kor Pai = ok, I'll go

Same meaning as "Pai kor dai" ไปก็ได้

Implies hesitation.

Context #2 = like Sabaijai mentioned, but usually it begins with another prefix "Ja" จะ or "Yak" อยาก

จะไปก็ไป, อยากไปก็ไป

Implies being annoyed, sarcastic.

They are hardly offensive. Thais in general are fine with dirty or even sexist jokes. Go to any of the night "cafes" and you'll hear much worse that make people ROTFL. The only forbidden jokes that would make people say "ooh..." are about listener's father/mother, Buddhism (sometimes), and absolutely not about the royal family.

Many senior Chinese-Thais use the pronoun "ee" too. I'm not sure why.

"Gae" is also a pronoun that's normally rude, but in many context it's acceptable, such as when speaking to a friend (esp. girl to girl) or when referring to a third person.

Both "Ed" and "Bpad" have the same low tone.

Need to see it in a sentence to be sure, but K. Neeranam's and K. Meadish Sweetball's explanations are very likely. Is it a noun, verb, complete sentence etc???

I think it's a Nga Caravan's song, btw. There's a song called "Kor Hard Sai Kao Hai Tao Ma Fueng" (Give the White Sand Beach to the Mafueng turtles).

I think the problem is not so much long or short pronounication, but the tonation of the words for those who've not mastered the "por pla" (bp) sound. Also, farang speakers of Thai language tends to say Thai words with ending sound, which Thai language doesn't have. So Sib-ed becomes Si-bed or Si-ped, which sounds close to sib-bpad. (and also wrong grammatically)

So my suggestions is to make sure that you treat each word as its own. Meaning that you have to say 2 words, not one. SIB-ED, SIB-BPAD. "Ed" as in "Jed" (7), "Sed" (done). Like the name "Ed" or "jet" or "set" but it has a low tone. When saying Bpad (8), think of "Bad" "Had" etc.

BTW, think of 10 as "SIB" not "SIP" as it should be the way it's written.

I've never seen Thais with reins for their toddlers. We got some strange looks from them when our daughter was younger. The Thai way is to hold the baby - skin contact and all that. Prams/strollers are not often used, for a similar reason - well maybe the cost and state of the pavements has something to do with it.

One thing that I'v noticed is Thai toddlers - 2 year old+ having a lot of freedom to run around as they please - even when next to a busy road in Bangkok. Something you'd never see in my home country. Upcountry it's not unusual to see a 4 year old and a 2 year old walking to the shops themselves and again playing near a busy road.

Thais go up to babies and say, " mun keiow" which translates as it's chewable. Also older Thai women often say the baby is (na gliat)ugly - something to do with the ghosts. tell the missus not to say this to UK babies and their mothers or they might not understand.

Tell your wife not to expect people on a bus to stand up for the kid when he/she is 5 years old.

Good luck mate, it's the beginning of a great adventure!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I cringe every time I see a baby/babies or toddler/s held unsafely on a motocycle.

I also see a lot more strollers at malls and supermarkets now than say 5 years ago. Some malls have rental strollers.

As a father of a toddler who was born in the US, I'd say I agree with what everybody's said. Another issue might be co-sleeping and attachment to mother/father. Many Western households have a room just for the baby, and all but ridicule co-sleeping. But this is not the case in Thailand, where many children co-sleep with parents since they were born until they're 4-5 years old (or teenager!). Many Thai children, boys or girls, are very attached to their parents, who are basically their servants -- dad is the cheuffer and mom's the maid.

Also, Thai parents usually don't encourage their children to work while in school, unless it's family business, or they're poor. Children are expected to obey parents, not necessarily be independent.

Hi, yes it still exists. A Thai male must reach his 21st birthday and then in April he goes to a station where he picks a bit of paper out of a bowl. I forget which way round it is but the papers are black and red. One says you go.... the other not go. Two years service is the norm. There are ways to avoid National Service - bribery!

I think red means 2 years away from home, black means all-night party and perhaps แก้บน

A more common option to avoid this service, as I did, was to have 3 years of "ร.ด." (Ror Dor) training once a week (half day) in high school. Girls love this because they can go out to malls. At the end of the 3rd year, everyone must complete a dreadful training at "Kao Chon Gai" in Kanchanaburi (which IMO was not as bad as as the scary stories told before we went). This is optional, and many katoeys and rich kids opt not to do it since this can be bribed quite easily. Thailand is not going to be short of soldiers in a foreseeable future.

หลอก is basically the shortened word for any of the words that start with "หลอก" so it can be used in most any context related to an act of deception. The only difference is in the second (adjoining) word.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phleng_Sansasoen_Phra_Barami

The Thai name is "เพลงสรรเสริญพระบารมี" but also known as the "Kao Wor" song because "Kao Wor" are the first two words, and the real name is too long.

As it's near the King's birthday, how about some words related to His Majesty?

ในหลวง = Nai Luang (Royal Boss) = an affectionate name reserved for the King. Kind of like his nickname instead of a longer "Pra-chao-yoo-hua" (The Lord Above One's Head).

Rao Ja Soo Per Nai Luang = We shall fight for the King (the phrase on Sondhi's yellow shirt)

วันเฉลิมฯ = Wan chalerm = No, not Chalerm's infamous son (who has changed his name to only "Wan". This is shortened from a longer word you don't want to remember (and the "ฯ" signifies that, as in "กรุงเทพฯ" -- the city whose real name is the world's longest). It means "royal birthday" for any member of the royal family. But of course, there are only two holidays, which are the King's and the Queen's birthday (Dec 5, Aug 12). BTW, Dec 5 is also Thailand's National Day (Wan Chart) and Father's day (Wan Por).

เศรษฐกิจพอเพียง = Settakij Porpiang = self-sufficiency economy. A royal project after the financial crisis of 1997, which IMO seems to be the opposite of Thaksinomics.

ทรงพระเจริญ = song pra chareon = Long Live the King!

Long Live the King! and happy father's day to all you fathers out there

"Wilko “...if we want to do any good in Thailand perhaps we should try and get rid of the hierarchical nature of society here and all the corruption and nepotism that goes with it”

Pudgimelon “ ... As for doing good in Thailand, how do you expect to challenge the hierarchical nature of society and all the corruption and nepotism in this country from a barstool? That stuff only gets changed if WE take an active and positive role in OUR communities....”

An opinion from a Thai, this will and can never happen. Thai culture is a highly hierarchical culture (actually the most, as a well known professor used to argue). Thai culture needs this complex hierarchical system in order for the society to function properly. At least in this era, for the Thai culture as we know it. Like it or not, it's a reality in Thailand, and it won't change soon. If you plan to be here for a while, it's better to adjust rather than trying to change. In fact, trying to change can be interpreted as simply disrespecting Thai culture. It's like saying that people in Farangland have too much freedom of expression that it caused deviants, it should be curbed. The royal families should not be criticized.

Most farang cultures value social equality. Thais willingly accept that there are social classes, so the whole purpose of life for most Thais is to climb the social ladder until one is a "jao kon nai kon" (boss). This hierachical system is probably much more complex than one (esp. farangs) can see on the surface. It is so interwoven in daily activities that you learn by nature. I'm even "relearning it" after spending some years overseas. There are unspoken rules, exceptions etc, that one must learn to figure out who is "higher" than who. Several social factors contribute to one's social status in Thailand, and each one carry different weight/significance. I can't list them all, but I'll try. Let's start with some easy ones:

Age, title in the org. (esp. government's C), money/salary, car, house, spouse, family, education level, school (esp. private/public university), ethnicity, appearance, physical/athletic ability, gender, skills (esp. English, and now computer), gadgets (cell phones, computer), graduation year, country where one got degree (dek nok?), relationship to some "Big" guys .... what else ... there should be plenty more.

So my point is that being a farang might help you start with a couple of positive social factors: being white, being from abroad, English skill (that many Thais might want to practice with you or just to show off), supposedly possesing more money than an average Thai, supposedly being good at something (if you're hired by a company) ... That should give most farangs a much better start than an average Chula/Thammasat graduate (who should also get a better job than most grads), and become socially attractive many middle/upper class Thais who must feel like having farang friends are cool.

So yes, I concur that being a farang in Thailand can give you a headstart in Thailand. But as I mentioned, there are many other social factors that will raise or lower your status after your "farangness" starts to wear off. Yes, there probably will always be some Thais who think you are interested, but it depends on each person whether he/she will keep attracting the people of higher or lower status.

This is an opinion of a middle class person born and raised in Bangkok. I can't speak for the upcountry people.

I can't say for folks in the upcountry, but here in Bangkok, I refer to my wife as "fan" 98% of the time in normal and semi-formal conversation, 1.5% "mia" in jokes, and 0.5% when talking to unfriendly district or bank officials.

I notice older people, such as my parents or my wife's parents are in a similar pattern, but probably use "mia" more than 1.5%.

51 I knew it!

52 Taking care of you is killing me

56 When I have time, I should hire you to be my wife

58 Drive fast, I’ll be suspected of using amphetamine (ya ma or ya ba), drive slow, I’ll get cursed like a dog.

59 Anyway I look, you’re a Laotian (a kind of deregatory toward Isaan people)

60 Plara (smelly Isaan food) mouth plus the mouth of a market vendor (the word “plara” is misspelled to “para”)

61 Seeing smoke makes me tired, seeing “mor” (a slang for a certain female’s body part) makes me smile. (medium vulgarity)

62 Bad boy (or girl)

63 In traffic jam, use the motorcycle, but if you want safety, ride with me.

64 I’m not a Laotian (but the phrase is in Laotian language)

65 You’re good

66 Bad, good, weathy, or poor, no one can avoid traffic jam.

67 A trouble-maker

69 You deserve to die for passing on a left lane. (the word “suek” is rude”)

70 Darn…(you’re/she’s/he’s) playing hard to get (the word “mang” is rude)

71 If you think you’re fast, try passing on a curve.

72 Gotta ask the big sister first.

73 Weathly or poor, no one can avoid “cherng tagon” = (I’m not sure what it is exactly, but it’s something to use in a cremation, probably to collect the ashes). The word in the phrase is “ta-gron” which is a misspelled abbreviation – which I never heard anyone use this word).

74 When your husband is careless, then you’ll have sex with you (this is a ruder version of a more well-known phrase “pua pler laew jer GUN” = we’ll meet when you’re husband is careless.

75 Doing it just for fun can produce a body (= baby).

76 Drive slow, don’t dare being on the right lane.

78 Drunken fiend (= basically means a drunkard but sounds a little better)

79 Wild age

80 Hiding from my wife

84 Orphaned (deprived) of money

85 Bad old man

86 My wife’s here to control me

87 Affair by heart

88 For you

89 Big boss’ order

90 Bought a wife with cash, got this car by mortgate

91 If you know, you’ll get the chill

93 I knew it (same as #51)

94 Gone/ Bad luck

95 Even though I’m fast, I’m not passing on a curve.

I translated them as close to the orginal word and order in the phrase as possible, so some of them might not make much sense. Feel free to ask.

Interesting website! I'll translate them as literally as possible. The numbers are the order of the sticker. I did the untranslated ones and the ones I thought slightly mistranslated. Sorry if there're any mistakes.

6 Everytime you tap me, I’ll give you a reward = I’m ready whenever you ask for it (sex).

8 Not seeing the coffin, not crying = Not realizing something of serious importance until it happens or at the final moment = careless, negligent

15 I’m having a spasm! (medium vulgarity as it conveys sex)

18 Not feeling repentent until you get knocked up

19 Drive fast, the money’s good; Drive carelessly, the cops grab you!

20 The boss doesn’t mind, so I’m having a reckless fun

24 I’m sick of new drivers! (amateurs = mue samak len) this is a mockery of another common sticker “ko apai mue mai” (Sorry, I’m a new driver = just learning to drive).

25 This car will make me rich

26 Sorry, I’m in a hurry to work

27 (This car model is the…) “I say you will be rich” model (an adapted version of Luang Por Khoon’s famous saying and amulets)

28 New driver, no pollution

29 True love loses to a (Mercedes) Benz

30 I'm not cool, but have something to eat (a reverse version of a more well-known “Cool but doesn’t have anything to eat”)

31 You’re asking for a spanking!

32 Lie still, it’ll be good

33 You’re asking for it.

34 Born rich.

36 Wealthy of down payment

38 Fast to be drunk (a word play of “wattu wai fai” (inflammable)

40 Cheap or expensive, it better be red.

42 A dog stole my wife. (dog = new lover)

47 Wait for turtle (my slow car)

48 I’m not afraid of smart people, I’m afraid that you’re not smart

49 Don’t touch my husband (= he’s mine) (an adapted version of the Thai title of a famous Hong Kong film “Puying Ka Krai Ya Tae” (Don’t touch my woman).

50 Every sweat is for my children’s future

Will continue later.

Agree with Siamesekitty on "suay ngam." Not usually heard it used with human (or animal) beauty, at least not spoken language, and has nothing to do with sexiness.

I still think the word "Na rak" should also included. "Suay" means mostly her physical beauty. "Jai dee" means generous or having a "good heart." "Narak" implies that she is lovely or cute in both appearance and manner.

So the sentence could be

Wannee/pom mee/kwam sook maak (or maak maak)/(pause)/tee/mee/panraya/tee/suay/(pause)/narak/(pause)/laew yung jai dee duay (and also generous)

The three adjectives can switch places as you like -- the last one being the added quality (bonus).

Or

Wannee/pom mee/kwam sook maak (or maak maak)/(pause)/tee/dai tang ngarn kub (be married to)/panraya/tee/suay/(pause)/narak/(pause)/laew yung/jai dee duay

"Dai panraya" (imo) has a double meaning or a folksy feeling since "dai" can also be interpret in a sexual way -- as in "dai sia."

Also, don't forget the thank the parents -- a lot (for raising such a good person), and the guests, especially any special guests the parents might have.