What's the equivalent idomatic expression for "Catch 22" in Thai? An expression concerning a no-win situation.

For those who don't know, this expression comes from the book "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller. The fighter pilots can only stop flying the insanely dangerous suicidal missions if they are certified as crazy by a doctor. However, the moment anyone asks to stop flying means that he is sane enough to understand the risks involved and therefore cannot be certified insane - and so will not be allowed to stop flying.

I'm looking for an expression in Thai that captures this sense of circular bureaucratic logic, or where you end up in a double bind of some kind, where you end up being in the wrong no matter what you do. And where you also have no power to influence or complain about the regulation.

It's a lovely simple expression in English, but it says so much!

วัฏจักรแห่งความชั่วร้าย maybe?

What's the equivalent idomatic expression for "Catch 22" in Thai? An expression concerning a no-win situation.

For those who don't know, this expression comes from the book "Catch 22" by Joseph Heller. The fighter pilots can only stop flying the insanely dangerous suicidal missions if they are certified as crazy by a doctor. However, the moment anyone asks to stop flying means that he is sane enough to understand the risks involved and therefore cannot be certified insane - and so will not be allowed to stop flying.

I'm looking for an expression in Thai that captures this sense of circular bureaucratic logic, or where you end up in a double bind of some kind, where you end up being in the wrong no matter what you do. And where you also have no power to influence or complain about the regulation.

It's a lovely simple expression in English, but it says so much!

Believe it or not, I actually found it in a dictionary (Oxford River-Books Thai-English Dictionary). It was one of the usage notes under the definition for the word "catch."

ภาวะที่กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก

I searched Google for that definition, and it turned up the following page, among others:

http://dict.longdo.com/search/dilemma

Since the word "dilemma" is a decent working definition for Catch-22, I looked that up in the same dictionary, and it had this funny Thai anecdote:

อยู่ในสถานการณ์หนีเสือปะจระเข้

This means "to be in a situation where you flee a tiger, only to encounter a crocodile." Or more simply, "flee the tiger, meet the crocodile."

Edited February 3, 200917 yr by oevna

Hello, I know that you mean: English/Thai, I have that. I think it is a wonderful book to while away a few hours occasionally.

The Thai idiom "กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก" is fit with the meaning of "catch 22" very well.

"กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก" is a situation which you have something in your mouth but it's impossible for you to neither swallow nor spit it out or you can't make your decision on what you should do.

It's similar to หนีเสือปะจระเข้ but not quite the same because หนีเสือปะจระเข้ means "to succeed escaping from a kind of danger but fail to escape from the other." while "กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก", you can't even make your decision in that situation.

"กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก"

I have been saying กลืนไม่ลง recently as I've had trouble swallowing food.

Is this totally wrong?

"กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก"

I have been saying กลืนไม่ลง recently as I've had trouble swallowing food.

Is this totally wrong?

It's correct as in your condition.

In idiom, เข้า is used for having the opposite direction to ออก.

"กลืนไม่เข้าคายไม่ออก"

I have been saying กลืนไม่ลง recently as I've had trouble swallowing food.

Is this totally wrong?

It's correct as in your condition.

In idiom, เข้า is used for having the opposite direction to ออก.

Ok, thanks K.Yoot.