Im the new guy here, so sorry if this topic is old/stupid.

I really dont understand why thais always say stuff like "tam mai pen!"/ "gin mai pen".

The first thing I think is; well...how can you try anything new if you have never done it before? Maybe I just dont understand the translation from thai to english, but to me it means "I have never done it, so..."

For example. If I went to a Japanese restaurant with my friends in the states and he ordered some funky "raw octopus with wasabi", I would never say " I have never tried that...<deleted>? Dont they have hamburgers here?"

This is the feeling I get when thais speak like this. Yes, I know of the whole Asian "herd mentalilty", but really, how do you get beyond this first step with people that dont try anything new?

About 2 years ago I was a DJ at a very popular club in Chiang Mai. I played Hip-Hop and UK dance. All night I had thai customers come up to me and say "Uh...what is this, I have never heard it before, dont you have some music I know?" or something like that.

Now, the same club only plays top 40 Hip-hop ,ie. eminem and other bastard american music.

How do you get thais to try anything new? This is the question.

mai pen = can not

i.e gin my ben = can not eat ( could be you dont know how to eat)

gin mai wai = can not eat ( but more like physicaly unableto eat)

gin ai dai = can not eat (but more like something is preventing you from eating)

mai khoy gin = never eaten

mai koey gin, mai koey tam, mai koey fang means never eaten, done and listened to.

mai pen means---cannot as mentioned by RC.

There certainly are a lot of misunderstandings between farangs and thais!

I understand that much. Its just that I think it means just a little more than that...something along the lines of

"I have never (X) so...Im not about to start to...Im not sure...about"

Im sure alot of you have had the experience of a thai girl saying it when you try to get her to "tam nit noi" with oral sex.

Sure she has DONE it, but what she is saying is a little more subtle than "I have never done it"/"I cant do it".

See what I mean?

Ah, now I understand. ;-))

Yeah, it's kind of a resigned 'cannot' kind of like a toddler not only claiming he cannot tie is shoelaces, but more importantly the statement is that he doesn't WANT to tie is shoelaces. :-))

Also the all-purpose, any time 'reason' is a good one when asked 'why can't you ..."

Answer: khee-kiat.

kheekiat kin

kheekiat fang

kheekiat tham

kheekiat pai

kheekiat #####

kheekiat everything!!

Cheers,

Chanchao

Note: 'kheekiat' mostly in the translation of 'bored to', I think 'lazy' is often not the most correct translation of khee-kiat.

One can even be kheekiat nawn (sleep!) :-)

Cheers,

Chanchao