เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันผี

[taxexile]

แต่ละแห่งมีแรงงานเถื่อนเป็นร้อยๆ บางแห่งเกือบพันคน

each place has hundreds of illegal workers , some have almost a thousand.

นายจ้างส่วนใหญ่จะมีแรงงานต่างด้าวจดทะเบียนเอาไว้รายละ 10-15 คน

most hirers register only 10 to 15 of their workers

เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันผี

to use as a stick against ghosts

(i.e. in order to keep the authorities happy)

could somebody give a more accurate translation of the last phrase .

thanks.

Edited October 6, 2007 by taxexile

[taxexile]

i posted this question another forum (the paknam language forum) and have so far received this response :

Re: เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันผี ...what does it mean ?

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สวัสดีค่ะ

I only heard the expression 'เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันหมา' which means being a chaperone for a woman.

Anyway, my understanding for 'เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันผี' is where they have numerous illegal workers, the employers register only 10-15 workers to comply with the law. They think the registration would satisfy the authority.

[soundman]

เอาไว้เป็นไม้กันผี

to use as a stick against ghosts

(i.e. in order to keep the authorities happy)

could somebody give a more accurate translation of the last phrase .

thanks.

It is a saying that you want somebody or something to stand between you and the ghost. It can actually be between you and anything, fire or dog or volcanoe - just change the last word (ghost in your example).

Cheers - good to learn something new everyday!

Soundman.

[taxexile]

thanks soundman , that ties in with what i thought , and with the chaperone phrase above .

[BambinA]

To me, I heard about ไม้กันหมา ..means the intermediate person who faces with the problem instead you.

and for your context ,ไม้กันผี, it sounds the same