Hey,

Firstly, i am new here... so hi everyone..

I am meeting a friend in Chiang Rai in a few weeks and staying with her family. I thought it might be fun to try and learn a little bit of northern Thai....

Can anyone help me out with a few words/phrases that might come across well? I have a few basic greetings etc so was just after some helpful small talk.

Also, are there any resources available for learning this (books, cds etc) ? I have searched but come up with nothing except for one expensive pack that required a higher level of Thai than i currently have.

Thankyou!

Hi Pete.

I am pretty crap at kham meuang myself but I do understand the basics after a few years here. The below is based on the Sankhamphaeng/Doi Saket/San Sai version, and part of kham mueang as spoken in Chiang Mai. Kham mueang in Chiang Rai is and sounds slightly different, although they understand each other fine.

anyang or a'yang = arai = what?

anyang balam baluea = arai nak naa = Geez, what's with all this? / What's all this racket/fuss?

mae (n)ying = phuu ying

(n)yin dii jad nak = khawb khun maak = thank you very much

bpuun = noon = (way) over there

bpai aew = bpai thiaow = go out/somewhere for fun/leisure/relaxation

bpen ja daai phawng = bpen yaangrai baang = How's it going?

bpai nai wiang = khao bpai nai mueang = go (in) to the city

khai hua = hua-raw = laugh

bpik baan = gklab baan = go (back) home

ya gaan = tham ngaan = work

dtaee gah = jing rue = really?

dtaee dtaee = jing (jing) = yes, really!

There are some general differences that may make it easier to decode spoken kham mueang if you know a bit of Thai.

The 'ch' sound in Standard Thai becomes 'j' in a number of words (in actual fact, unaspirated 'ch' but there is no symbol for that in English, and 'j' is close enough).

So, 'chue arai' (what's (your) name) becomes 'jue anyang'.

Also, some words which take 'r' in Standard Thai, take 'h' in kham mueang. Not all though. The ones that don't usually take 'l' instead:

hoong hian = roong rian = school

lot = rod = car

What about

ui - speak

oo baw jaang - I can't speak kum meaung