Thai Year/age Question Please

[Enjibenji]

Hi,

I got totaly confused today when someone Thai was trying to explain their age in Thai year fomat, and when they tried to say they were born. Something like .. if you are 19, but your birthday is this year, you are 20? ..Something like that anyway..

So, instead of words, can someone explain in numbers, which i'm better at.

Example.. if someone is 19 years old now, and their birthday is in.. lets say, October. In what year in Thai format would they have been born?

If this is really simple, i'm sorry, but like I said, I got totaly confused when this guy was trying to explain to me

[girlx]

i seem to remember that thais count their age from the date they are conceived rather than from when they are born?... also they seem to have a hard time figuring out how old they really are, something about converting their years to ours.

[Enjibenji]

i seem to remember that thais count their age from the date they are conceived rather than from when they are born?... also they seem to have a hard time figuring out how old they really are, something about converting their years to ours.

if that is true that would explain some of the anti-abortion sentiment...

can you 'work out' for me (if it's even that) the year of the person born in my example above then?

[JetsetBkk]

Hi,

I got totaly confused today when someone Thai was trying to explain their age in Thai year fomat, and when they tried to say they were born. Something like .. if you are 19, but your birthday is this year, you are 20? ..Something like that anyway..

So, instead of words, can someone explain in numbers, which i'm better at.

Example.. if someone is 19 years old now, and their birthday is in.. lets say, October. In what year in Thai format would they have been born?

If this is really simple, i'm sorry, but like I said, I got totaly confused when this guy was trying to explain to me

It is now 2552.

Someone who is now 19 (20 in October) was therefore born in 2532.

They will be 20 in October 2552.

[MiG16]

keep in mind there are a lot of Chinese-Thais.

the chinese new year tends to be a few weeks later than the western one. this affects how they count their age.

for eg. someone born on 25 Jan 1980 .... in western year that person would today be 29 (almost)

now, if in the year 1980..the Chinese new year fell on say 30 Jan 1980. the way the chinese families count the baby's age is:

once the baby is born....and a new year follows...the baby becomes already 1 year old (even though hes really only 5 days old). then on his next birthday... 25 Jan 1981..he becomes 2 years old instead of 1 (cos he already turned 1 one year earlier due to the new year factor)

at least thats what Ive been told by a few older chinese families. not sure the younger generations still do that though....

(in terms of what you are referring/questioning... it could be something as simple as: many people count their age based on the year born...regardless of what month. eg. someone born in December 1980....will still tell you they are already 29 this year.even though there is still almost a year to their birthday...but because the year has turned 2009...subtract 1980 , voila Im 29 this year. In contrast to me for example -- I will tell people Im still 28 until the one day before my birthday...when I would then RELUCTANTLY turn 29 )

does this help at all?

and yes, in thai BE, this year is 2552. it is based on the Buddhist years, rather than Christian years...but other than the difference being thailand is 500 odd years older.....everything else is on same logic of maths ie 12 months to a year

[Khun Jean]

I think it originated in the past when births were not registered. My parents in law both have 1 january as their date of birth.

Once the new year starts everyone is one year older. Thais like things to be easy and straightforward.

Who cares that you are 29 and 10 months old, you are just 30.

Now if you really want to have some mind boggling answers ask how many weeks there are in 10 years.

[TJAN]

keep in mind there are a lot of Chinese-Thais.

the chinese new year tends to be a few weeks later than the western one. this affects how they count their age.

for eg. someone born on 25 Jan 1980 .... in western year that person would today be 29 (almost)

now, if in the year 1980..the Chinese new year fell on say 30 Jan 1980. the way the chinese families count the baby's age is:

once the baby is born....and a new year follows...the baby becomes already 1 year old (even though hes really only 5 days old). then on his next birthday... 25 Jan 1981..he becomes 2 years old instead of 1 (cos he already turned 1 one year earlier due to the new year factor)

at least thats what Ive been told by a few older chinese families. not sure the younger generations still do that though....

(in terms of what you are referring/questioning... it could be something as simple as: many people count their age based on the year born...regardless of what month. eg. someone born in December 1980....will still tell you they are already 29 this year.even though there is still almost a year to their birthday...but because the year has turned 2009...subtract 1980 , voila Im 29 this year. In contrast to me for example -- I will tell people Im still 28 until the one day before my birthday...when I would then RELUCTANTLY turn 29 )

does this help at all?

and yes, in thai BE, this year is 2552. it is based on the Buddhist years, rather than Christian years...but other than the difference being thailand is 500 odd years older.....everything else is on same logic of maths ie 12 months to a year

Now he will be even more confused.

[thaihome]

Most Thai I know count there age from 1 not zero as is done in the west. They could be right, after all you are never zero years old, they just round up to nearest whole number.

TH

[planemad]

I think the OP simply asked how to convert Thai years to Western format. The easiest way that I was taught was to simply deduct 543 from the Thai year (or add same amount to Western date).

So, in answer to the original question, the current Thai year is 2552, take the age 19 from it to leave the Thai birth year of 2533 then take 543 from that to leave 1990.

I hope this helps.

[bonobo]

Not exactly related, but this adds further confusion.  I have a friend who told me she was 28.  This was on all her records. 

later, I found out she was really 27.  When she was born, she got sick. A monk told her family that this was because she was born in a bad year for her.  Her grandmother's farm was washed out that year, so that proved to the family that the monk was right (her grandmother refuses to talk with her because of this bad luck). So they went to the records office, paid the clerk, and changed her birthdate to one year earlier.

[Enjibenji]

Hi,

I got totaly confused today when someone Thai was trying to explain their age in Thai year fomat, and when they tried to say they were born. Something like .. if you are 19, but your birthday is this year, you are 20? ..Something like that anyway..

So, instead of words, can someone explain in numbers, which i'm better at.

Example.. if someone is 19 years old now, and their birthday is in.. lets say, October. In what year in Thai format would they have been born?

If this is really simple, i'm sorry, but like I said, I got totaly confused when this guy was trying to explain to me

It is now 2552.

Someone who is now 19 (20 in October) was therefore born in 2532.

They will be 20 in October 2552.

I think the OP simply asked how to convert Thai years to Western format. The easiest way that I was taught was to simply deduct 543 from the Thai year (or add same amount to Western date).

So, in answer to the original question, the current Thai year is 2552, take the age 19 from it to leave the Thai birth year of 2533 then take 543 from that to leave 1990.

I hope this helps.

maby i'm not the only one who is confused

so, which one is right?

[JetsetBkk]

It is now 2552.

Someone who is now 19 (20 in October) was therefore born in 2532.

They will be 20 in October 2552.

... the current Thai year is 2552, take the age 19 from it to leave the Thai birth year of 2533 then take 543 from that to leave 1990...

maby i'm not the only one who is confused

so, which one is right?

Me of course!

planemad is... well.. plane mad!

I say she was born on October 2532.

She will be 20 in October 2552 - this year. So now she is 19. Ipso facto, QED, Bob's your Uncle.

[sumrit]

Just to confuse things totally my wife gives somebodys age as the birthday they're closest to. For example our daughter was 11 in December so she will tell everybody she's 11 until after June when she'll say she's 12 because she's nearer to her 12th birthday than her 11th. And she can't understand when I try to correct her when talking to English people.

And just to confuse things more my wife has two birthdays, she was born in November but her parents didn't go to the Amphur to register her birth until the following February, three months later and the official put the February date down as her birth date. So she says she's just like the queen of England, she has a real birthday and an official one. I wouldn't mind but she expects a present for both birthdays.

And, as somebody else said, her parents use January 1st because they don't know the date they were born, only the year.

[DC1066]

Just to confuse things totally my wife gives somebodys age as the birthday they're closest to. For example our daughter was 11 in December so she will tell everybody she's 11 until after June when she'll say she's 12 because she's nearer to her 12th birthday than her 11th. And she can't understand when I try to correct her when talking to English people.

And just to confuse things more my wife has two birthdays, she was born in November but her parents didn't go to the Amphur to register her birth until the following February, three months later and the official put the February date down as her birth date. So she says she's just like the queen of England, she has a real birthday and an official one. I wouldn't mind but she expects a present for both birthdays.

And, as somebody else said, her parents use January 1st because they don't know the date they were born, only the year.

This is a pretty common occurance. My wife's actual birthdate is about a month before the one listed in her passport and other official documents. It's all based on when her birth was registered with the Amphur. We just have to remember which one to use when filling in forms.

[G54]

The g/f was 22 before her birthday on 1st Oct last year and she is 22 now Obviously she was really 21 and now 22. No idea how long it will be before she is 23, I will have to wait and see.

A former g/f was 25 years old and then had a birthday with the same result.

[mojaco]

The g/f was 22 before her birthday on 1st Oct last year and she is 22 now Obviously she was really 21 and now 22. No idea how long it will be before she is 23, I will have to wait and see.

A former g/f was 25 years old and then had a birthday with the same result.

I am at a school for young men (18-20 years old) and the ALL say they are one year older than they actually are . . . if they just turned 17 actually, they begin to say they are 18. The Thai schoolmaster uses the word "fully 18" "ครบ 18" when they actually turn 18. I don't know why they want to promote their ages this way though. Seems to be part of their culture?

[JetsetBkk]

I am at a school for young men (18-20 years old) and the ALL say they are one year older than they actually are . . . if they just turned 17 actually, they begin to say they are 18. The Thai schoolmaster uses the word "fully 18" "ครบ 18" when they actually turn 18. I don't know why they want to promote their ages this way though. Seems to be part of their culture?

Maybe when these 17 year olds say they are 18, they mean they are in their 18th year, which is correct.