Posted This In The Support Forum...

[Guest fj2003]

Oh yeah.... it's a completely different story surrounded by the ten million relatives

I speak thai south, it was a conscious decision on my part since everyone around me spoke Thai south and I spend almost no time in Bangkok (and I have no desire to watch thai tv ). Naomisri, the proper pronunciation should be "Pai laht mai-uh?"  . Koh Phangan and Koh Samui have some of their own words seperate from the mainland. The surefire way to mark yourself as a local is to ask "kay baht-uh?" (how much?) instead of "Ki baht?" or "Towrai?" . . I always pay the Thai price for the taxis etc in Samui. 

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thanks for getting another small lesson of thai south i like to pic up the very small differences even as a german bloke just rushing by before i will go back down from bkk to tao

btw nice thrat ladies

[sbk]

Thanks! We "ladies" usually have interesting threads!

There are hundreds; meht for knife instead of meet, min for smells bad instead of men, yo instead of you, and don't forget to add uh on the end of everything.

So, where is it at would be "yo nai-uh?" instead of "you teenai?" My personal favorite would have to be calling little boys "khai" before their name (it means penis, or in this case, little boy). My nephew is then, khai nook.

Edited January 21, 2005 by sbk

[naomisri]

don't forget to add uh on the end of everything.

So, where is it at would be "yo nai-uh?" instead of "you teenai?"

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Okay so in this case it's something I do already without knowing it was South

My personal favorite would have to be calling little boys "khai" before their name (it means penis, or in this case, little boy). My nephew is then, khai nook.

Heh heh! This one I'll have to try... Don't want to offend anyone though!

The first thing I learnt and one of the most often said phrases by my husband was "Jep poong" instead of "Hua thong" (my stomach hurts). I remember the laughs that I got when I said it to one of the Isaan staff where he works. They also repeat alot of what I say with the Bangkok tone instead of the South. At first I thought I was just getting it wrong all the time, but then I got that my husband actually says it differently!

[sbk]

Only little boys tho! If you don't know the kid's name then Khai will do just fine (like you call the waitress pi or nong, same idea).

What's wrong with jep phung? I figure, I live in the south, I speak what they speak. If I wanted to speak Isaan then I guess that is where I would be living. Besides, it is great to understand what people are saying around me (usually very complimentary too, "ooh, look at that farang, she has such lovely white skin )

[naomisri]

Yeah, I know what you mean. I agree with you, but there is a part of me that still wants to know Bangkok Thai for "official purposes"! Had a good joke with the husband about it last night. He calls his brother Nong Khai as he's 12 years younger, so last night was teaching me to say "Mehr, Nong Khai yo nai uh?" for our next trip to the mainland.

One of the other ones I hear a lot is "prue-uh?" Usually to his son who is verging on his teenage years and getting increasingly moody. Love it. I thought he was saying boat for ages to begin with!!!!

Also "Tamraiyuh?" which I love is becoming increasingly popular in our house. Oh and "baa laew-uh" with a really low rising tone for the "baa" and a really high falling tone for the "laew-uh"!

I find it much more musical to the ear than BKK Thai.

Are you like me and have managed to stay pretty white-skinned then despite the lure of the beach?

[sbk]

Never did feel the lure of the beach, I am afraid. I come from a long line of white skinned red-headed people. Unlike the rest of my family, it is possible for me to get a bit of a tan. But my only color comes from living here. Don't want to look like a wrinkly old shoe!

Yes, my husband despairs sometimes because my thai isn't always the politest (forget ka alot, if you've noticed, locals very rarely use ka and kap). But hey, the guys at immigration are usually the only officials I ever deal with and they all know me. And, lets face reality here, I picked up my thai from the people around me, so if my thai isn't the politest then I guess that just means overly polite speech isn't necessarily required.

[seville]

I know you have tons of time to sit down and write out a bunch of Southern Thai phrases, SBK

But if you feel like it, that would be awesome!! 3 years and don't every remember hearing, "Kay Baht", the Uh? yes. I guess that's because when I shop I don't tend to be with my Thai friends. I hate shopping with others it takes to long.

"Jing a let" is one I hear instead of jing jing.

Would love to have a list. I'm moving back to Had Tien this winter so might make it by finally this time.

As a matter of fact for sure I will come by.

Hey, do know of any kind of Dehumidifiers? I was there in October and I had forgotten how bad the humidity gets. Thank God I have a terry cloth blanket to sleep on top of, as the sheets on the bed felt so damp.

Is there a good food market that you go to for Farang Foods on the island? I searched high and low for real cheese for making Pesto and ended up gettting it on Samui, but there has to be a store on Phangan.

[naomisri]

Jing a let? I haven't heard that one yet, what are the tones like?

We'll maybe have to start a ration run - I'll be sending packages over on the ferry from Lotas.

SBK - I know what you mean about the Husband despairing, I was recently introduced to the manager of one of the big banks on Samui, I don't know what came over me, but I responded with a resounding 'Wadii Ka' and no wai. My husband didn't say anything to me until afterwards, but I think the Bank manager was quite amused rather than anything!

Oh and I am also a white skinned goddess (in Thai terms) or a pasty faced ghost (in Farang terms)

[seville]

Jing(mid) a(l) let(m)

My Thai isn't very good at all and it's hard when you speak with southern people all the time and then go someplace where everyone is more formal in their speach. I have had people tell me I speak like southern Thai people, but I couldn't tell you the difference.

It's lot's of fun trying to learn!!!

[Ravishing]

Hi Shola, would you be kind enough to introduce some Farang women to me?

I would like to meet some great women friends. Cheers!

[Shola]

Hi Shola, would you be kind enough to introduce some Farang women to me?

I would like to meet some great women friends. Cheers!

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er, If you read my first post in this topic (which was my 1st post on the forum) you'd realise I really don't know any farang girls here, which is why I use this forum to connect. So can't really help you there Ravishing Soz.