Whats The Correct Respectful Term For "thais Of Chinese Descent"

[peaces]

I've seen it written like that a few times and was wondering.

[mosquitoman]

Removed I just read on of peaces other posts

Edited April 17, 2007 by mosquitoman

[jasreeve17]

CEO.

[A_Traveller]

Thai Chinese is OK, AFAIK and I've come across Sino-Siam in academic texts referencing historical events.

But ultimately one suspects that the level of 'respect' is dictated by the context of usage.

Regards

PS Jasreeve may have just saved us all a lot of time.

[peaces]

Interesting.

Would be good to know which is the least offensive.

[A_Traveller]

Interesting.

Would be good to know which is the least offensive.

Hm.. now I'm wondering why you are asking. As a Brit I can tell you in this forum that single word can be used both with varying degrees of affection or pejoratively.

I sense an agenda here.

Regards

/edit typo //

Edited April 17, 2007 by A_Traveller

[samran]

khon chua chart Jiin.

[lamphun]

Towkay

[peaces]

khon chua chart Jiin.

What does that translate as and "Towkay" also.

[macular]

khon chua chart Jiin.

What does that translate as and "Towkay" also.

"Towkay" simply means: "Boss" in Teochew, which is a dialect of Chinese.

[Pepe']

khon chua chart Jiin.

What does that translate as and "Towkay" also.

My mother in laws friends used to call me this. I was told it meant , boss, owner or son in law.

Now that that I've finished several construction projects and my wife wants a divorce they call me something that sounds like "kwai."

Anyone know what that means...

[MiG16]

if u are looking for formal wordings for the phrase then Id say

'khon thai chuer sai cheen' or 'jeen' (my phonetics is not that good)

literally thai people of chinese descent. but perhaps if a MOD could help move this to the thai language forum, u might get other suggestions

by the way I wouldnt use the 'khon chua chart Jiin' suggested earlier...cos that translates to people/person of chinese nationality, and no where does that show link to the person being thai

[ajarnmark]

khon chua chart Jiin.

What does that translate as and "Towkay" also.

My mother in laws friends used to call me this. I was told it meant , boss, owner or son in law.

Now that that I've finished several construction projects and my wife wants a divorce they call me something that sounds like "kwai."

Anyone know what that means...

If they call you "Khawi" then u r seriously being abused by such people. Khawi simply means buffalo and it implies that you are dumb.

[ThaiGoon]

MiG is right imo. 'Khon thai chuer sai cheen' or 'jeen'

[Tilokarat]

'Khon jin' means chinese person. In the north of Thailand, you hear the words, 'jin haw' a lot, which refers to the Chinese Muslim traders that originate from Yunnan Province. The jin haw (Panthays) caused a lot of problems in the 19th-early 20th centuries by invading Laos, and rebelling in China (Panthay Rebellion). They are known for trading opium and have connections to the Wa States and Kokang in Burma, northern Thailand and Laos. They know the Golden Triangle territory well.

[Pepe']

khon chua chart Jiin.

What does that translate as and "Towkay" also.

My mother in laws friends used to call me this. I was told it meant , boss, owner or son in law.

Now that that I've finished several construction projects and my wife wants a divorce they call me something that sounds like "kwai."

Anyone know what that means...

If they call you "Khawi" then u r seriously being abused by such people. Khawi simply means buffalo and it implies that you are dumb.

----------------------------

Thanks. Actually I know the meaning of kwai, I was just kidding around.

They don't call me that. It's just that I feel like one right now...

[A_Traveller]

Thanks. Actually I know the meaning of kwai, I was just kidding around.

They don't call me that. It's just that I feel like one right now... :D

Let's hope you heard it correctly.....

Regards and hope things get better

[cdnvic]

Thai

[chrisjune]

how about Chi-thai?

heh...

[teacup]

Well certainly…“kon thai” is the most polite one

But “kon jek” seems to be the common preference when referring to the thai-chinese, among thais

[wamberal]

I agree absolutely that you must refer to all Thai people, of whatever ethnic background, as "Thai", unless you want to run the risk of seriously affronting somebody.

[dumspero]

"jek" is derogative, for anyone who might not know. I've always heard "kon thai jeen" for polite use.

By the way, sorry to kidnap the post, but I thought khon (i.e. aspirated) was body hair, and kon unaspirated) was person. Guess I should google but I'm not just ignorant, I'm lazy too...

[Pepe']

Thanks. Actually I know the meaning of kwai, I was just kidding around.

They don't call me that. It's just that I feel like one right now... :D

Let's hope you heard it correctly.....

Regards and hope things get better

[/quote

----------------------------

I believe "what goes around comes around."

I sure I'm in pretty good shape. If not in this life surely the next.

[samran]

if u are looking for formal wordings for the phrase then Id say

'khon thai chuer sai cheen' or 'jeen' (my phonetics is not that good)

literally thai people of chinese descent. but perhaps if a MOD could help move this to the thai language forum, u might get other suggestions

by the way I wouldnt use the 'khon chua chart Jiin' suggested earlier...cos that translates to people/person of chinese nationality, and no where does that show link to the person being thai

ya got me.

If I use it, their 'thainess' is always implied, but their heritage is being made explicit.

but I've always intermixed cheur sai/and cheur chart. Cheur sai is definetly more accurate.

My bad.

[Scott]

Rich or wealthy works for most of the Thai-Chinese I know!

[Naam]

an extremely interesting topic! that raises the question "how does one address a Kiwi who has a maori grandfather, a british grandmother and lives in southern Germany close to the austrian border?"

[samran]

an extremely interesting topic! that raises the question "how does one address a Kiwi who has a maori grandfather, a british grandmother and lives in southern Germany close to the austrian border?"

Maybe: "Poor soul"

(As an Aussie married to a Kiwi)

[percy2]

Reading this topic I keep having an image of Prince Phillip in my mind.

Is it too early for a strong drink.

Cheers

[Neeranam]

Well certainly…“kon thai” is the most polite one

But “kon jek” seems to be the common preference when referring to the thai-chinese, among thais

Agreed, especially the wealthy real Thais.

They don't like the word "jek" but still call us "farang". Hilarious once on the BTS when I overheard Thai chinese slagging off foriegners. I said something aloud about "jek" - that there were a lot of chinese tourists and they were all funny little people. man you should have seen their faces and the rest of the Thais in the compartment thought it very funny.

[Naam]

Is it too early for a strong drink.

Cheers

i humbly beg to differ. going to pour me one now