Translation Of Thai Area & Street Names

[Trevor]

Sukhumvit -- the wise man pumps

Ploenjit -- ?

Pathumwan --

Sathorn --

Huay Khwang --

Ratchathewi --

Phasi Charoen -- Rising Taxes

Nonthaburi --

Lad Phrao --

Bang Kapi -- Shrimp-paste village

Bang Kholaem --

Bang Khen --

Don Muang -- Area of Higher Ground

[meadish_sweetball]

Great topic idea! Most of these are not transparent to me either so it will be interesting to see explanations.

Phasi Charoen -- Rising Taxes

Hmm, 'charoen' (or jaroen) means 'to prosper; to advance; to be advanced' so I am not sure about the 'rising' part, unless you are looking for creative explanations?

[sutnyod]

Din Daeng - red soil

[meadish_sweetball]

Lad Phrao -- Coconut slope

[mangkorn]

I missed the joke re: Sukhumvit, but I think it's actually a combination of two words meaning something like "passing closely by/at a prudent distance" - which seems a pretty good name for a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city.

[sutnyod]

I missed the joke re: Sukhumvit,

suck 'em wit!

[Trevor]

I missed the joke re: Sukhumvit, but I think it's actually a combination of two words meaning something like "passing closely by/at a prudent distance" - which seems a pretty good name for a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city.

Sukhum = wise man

Vit = to pump

Fits in with Bangkok's low-lying terrain, but I could be wrong.

[DavidHouston]

As far as เขตราชเทวี - Ratchatevi District goes, here is the history of the name and the princess for which the district is named. Reference: Wikipendia, Thai version.

ที่มาของชื่อเขต

สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสุขุมาลมารศรี พระอัครราชเทวีชื่อเขตตั้งตาม สี่แยกราชเทวี ซึ่งเป็นจุดตัดระหว่างถนนพญาไทกับถนนเพชรบุรี โดยคำว่า ราชเทวี นั้นมาจากชื่อสะพานข้ามคลองประแจจีน (ปัจจุบัน ถมไปแล้ว) บนถนนพญาไท ก่อนเข้าถนนเพชรบุรี ที่ตั้งชื่อตามพระนาม สมเด็จพระนางเจ้าสุขุมาลมารศรี พระอัครราชเทวี เป็นพระนางเธอในพระบาทสมเด็จพระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว (รัชกาลที่ 5) ว่า สะพานพระราชเทวี

"The district is named after the Ratchatevi four-way intersection which is the crossing point of Phayathai Rd and Petchburi Rd. The name Ratchathevi comes from the bridge which crosses the Prajaejeen Canal (which has now been filled in) which ran along Phayathai Rd before it intersected with Petchaburi Rd. This, in turn, was named after the royal name of "Somdej Phranang Chao Sukumalamansri Phra Akkarachathevi." She was a princess in the court of King Rama V. The bridge was thus named 'Phraratchathevi Bridge.' "

_______________________

Sorry, folks, I am weak on my royal language. Perhaps someone can tell us what the title "พระนางเธอ" is in English. Thanks.

Sometimes a name is just a name.

[mangkorn]

I missed the joke re: Sukhumvit, but I think it's actually a combination of two words meaning something like "passing closely by/at a prudent distance" - which seems a pretty good name for a major thoroughfare in the heart of the city.

Sukhum = wise man

Vit = to pump

Fits in with Bangkok's low-lying terrain, but I could be wrong.

Thanks for the clarification: I had the wrong spelling of "vit" in my head.

[DavidHouston]

Bang Kapi District has a website on which the origin of the name is explained: (See http://203.155.220.239/subsite/index.php?s...ntContentID=138)

' ส่วนชื่ออำเภอที่เรียกกันว่า “ บางกะปิ ” นั้น เป็นชื่อที่ทางการตั้งขึ้นซึ่งอาจสันนิษฐานว่าเพราะท้องที่นี้อุดมด้วยกุ้งเล็ก ๆ มากมาย และประชาชนนิยมนำมาทำกะปิกันมาก หรืออาจสันนิษฐานได้ว่ามาจากคำว่า “ กระบี่ ” หมายถึงท้องที่ที่มีลิงชุกชุมเพราะเป็นป่าทึบ และเมื่อนำมาประมวลเข้ากับสัญลักษณ์ของเขตบางกะปิที่ใช้ตราหนุมานเป็นเครื่องหมาย ก็น่าจะเป็นไปได้เช่นกัน '

"The name of the district (Amphur) which is called “Bang Kapi” was officially designated as such presumably because the area is rich in tiny shrimp. Many of the people in the district used to make shrimp paste from these shrimp. Alternatively, some have assumed that the name comes from the word “Krabi” from the locale which has large numbers of monkeys owing to the area’s dense jungles. And, when one also takes into account the fact that the symbol of Bang Kapi district is the representation of Hanuman, the Monkey King, it is possible that the monkey jungle is the source of the name."

[LookSaMoon]

Bang Kapi District has a website on which the origin of the name is explained: (See http://203.155.220.239/subsite/index.php?s...ntContentID=138)

' ส่วนชื่ออำเภอที่เรียกกันว่า " บางกะปิ " นั้น เป็นชื่อที่ทางการตั้งขึ้นซึ่งอาจสันนิษฐานว่าเพราะท้องที่นี้อุดมด้วยกุ้งเล็ก ๆ มากมาย และประชาชนนิยมนำมาทำกะปิกันมาก หรืออาจสันนิษฐานได้ว่ามาจากคำว่า " กระบี่ " หมายถึงท้องที่ที่มีลิงชุกชุมเพราะเป็นป่าทึบ และเมื่อนำมาประมวลเข้ากับสัญลักษณ์ของเขตบางกะปิที่ใช้ตราหนุมานเป็นเครื่องหมาย ก็น่าจะเป็นไปได้เช่นกัน '

"The name of the district (Amphur) which is called "Bang Kapi" was officially designated as such presumably because the area is rich in tiny shrimp. Many of the people in the district used to make shrimp paste from these shrimp. Alternatively, some have assumed that the name comes from the word "Krabi" from the locale which has large numbers of monkeys owing to the area's dense jungles. And, when one also takes into account the fact that the symbol of Bang Kapi district is the representation of Hanuman, the Monkey King, it is possible that the monkey jungle is the source of the name."

I like to eat kapi with sour mango.

[seonai]

พระนางเธอ looks like Phranang Chai

[Rikker]

This is an excellent topic idea.

Many place names (or toponyms) have an associated cultural backstory, sometimes making them difficult to decipher without knowing about the history of the area. Even when we can decipher the meaning, though, we may still not be any closer to understanding the name until we know how an area got the name. That's where the backstory comes in.

As for สุขุมวิท, my guess is that วิท here comes from วิทยา, and thus together it means something like "profound knowledge" (สุขุม modifying วิท). That doesn't explain how that road came to be called that way though. From Wikipedia: "Sukhumvit Road is named after the fifth chief of the Department of Highways, Phra Pisan Sukhumvit." (พระพิศาลสุขุมวิท would be the ceremonial name/title, bestowed by the king. The guy's real name was ประสพ สุขุม.)

There are lots of streets and places named after people from Thai history. Phahonyothin (พหลโยธิน) Road is another one, named after a former Prime Minster.

I've also noticed is names based on local industry. For example, there's an area near the Siam Cement Group headquarters in บางซื่อ called เตาปูน, which anymore is only the name of a nearby intersection, but is still locally understood to mean the general area. It's so called because SCG used to produce their cement there (now they just have offices), hence เตาปูน, . There's another area inside พหลโยธิน 34 which locals call โรงถ่าน, which puzzled me--it's not the official name of anything, it's just local speak for that sort of general neighborhood, which includes mostly private homes, and squatter slums. Turns out that area used to produce a lot of charcoal. Similarly, the area known as สะพานควาย is so-called because there was a lot of water buffalo herding around there, and there was a literal buffalo bridge at one point.

Often the names incorporate a word meaning something like city or village:

นคร = city

ธานี = city

เวียง = city

บุรี = city

วัง = palace

บ้าน = village

บาง = town along a waterway

Toponyms based on topographical features are also very common. (Usually it's feature + X, as in ห้วยขวาง)

Some you may have seen:

สมุทร = ocean

ห้วย = brook or stream

ดอน = highland

โคก = knoll, small hill

ป่า = jungle

แม่ = river

ทุ่ง = field, meadow

นา = rice field

บึง = swamp

หนอง = swamp

กุด = swamp (this one's common in the Isan)

Here are a few more I'll venture a definition for:

ห้วยขวาง = wide stream

นนทบุรี = town of enjoyment (also บุรีรัมย์)

เมืองทอง = city of gold (also สุพรรณบุรี)

[Richard W]

Pathumwan -- Lotus (ปทุม) Wood (วัน).

Why isn't there a link vowel in this Pali compound? But then, you don't see one in most transliterations of the name of the wat, วัดปทุมวนาราม (Wat Pathum Wanaram = Wat 'lotus forest temple'). The lotuses reported grew in Khlong Saen Saep.

[Neeranam]

khlong saen saeb - canal of 1000 stings - don't get the water on your skin

[Rikker]

Saen แสน literally means 100,000, not 1000, but it's also used as an intensifier. e.g. แสนสวย "extremely beautiful."

I think คลองแสนแสบ is a good example of a name that we can interpret literally in a number of ways, but is easy to mistranslate without context. The canal was dug in the 1830s, and it's unlikely the name would come from dirty water back then, as Thailand was very much pre-industrial.

The name is more commonly attributed to the massive numbers of mosquitoes around it (or any body of water). An account from "Travels in Siam and Cambodia" by Englishman D.O. King is frequently cited to support this idea, but I can only find a Thai translation of the relevant section:

"...คลองนี้ยาวถึง 55 ไมล์ เชื่อมนครกรุงเทพฯ กับแม่น้ำบางปะกง บริเวณที่ราบชนบท... คนพื้นเมืองเป็นคนเชื้อสายมาเลย์... ไม่ว่าพวกเขาจะทำอะไรอยู่ก็ตาม มือข้างหนึ่งจะต้องใช้ปัดยุงเสมอ ..."

Translated back into English, it says, "This canal is 55 miles long, connecting Bangkok with the Bang Pakong River. The area is a rural plain... The natives are of Malaysian stock... no matter what they are doing, one hand is always busy swatting mosquitoes."

Thus, the แสบ in แสนแสบ probably means the sting of endless mosquito bites.