plenty of western names make me chuckle too

Does this mean to ... "low yer accounting, taxation and registration fees" ?

I have Thai lady friends by the name of ... Aie, Eye, Oh, Yu, Veu, On, Nee, Ning, Nong, Boon, Boom, Mai, Mook, Sook, Porn, Ping, Wing, Soo, Luk, Kik, Kee, Kung, Fong, Gong and Fern, and a few I can't pronounce properly in English. I won't post their pictures, but you know what I mean. I believe all Thais have nicknames as well as much longer family names. Nobody has ever logically explained to me why. Very often their family names are much prettier than their nicknames. For example, my friend Boon's real name is Suttalinee, My friend, Veu's maiden name is Orasa and My friend Kung's maiden name is Chutima. I think the maiden names are much nicer sounding and as pretty as the ladies. For my taste, the short names are too blunt and harsh for woman.

I recaII once reading or being toId that the Thai nickname comes from a tradition that it protects the baby from eviI spirits. If the spirit knows the babies reaI name it can hurt the baby in some way. AIso, the nickname can be used without the formaIity of adding "Khun". I think the nicknames are often pretty cute though. AII seem to be one syIIabIe names aIso. AIthough the two times that someone gave me a nickname they had two syIIabIes..so i dunno!

I was told some years ago that many Thais (particularly the younger ones) do not even know their real name.

I never called my wife by anything other than her real name.

Maybe that's why we encountered a few prpblems along the way, i.e. the evil spirits overheard her real name

There was also a guy asking On here how long the YEARLY flu vacine lasted There might be a clue in the name

That reminded me of a time I was offshore in the middle of the sea on a steel barge, with 3 of us looking over the side to the water. There was a ladder going down the side of the barge but the bottom rung did not make it to the water, and one of the guys pointed it out. Then the other one said, in his infinite wisdom, "must be low tide". Hmmm, bubbles in the brain me thinks.

true story. Girl is asked how many eggs in a dozen. She answers, that depends on how big the eggbox is

I was following a tanker truck in China and it had two lines on the back:

DAN

GEROUSGAS

A lady I knew many years ago had twin daughters named "Ae" and "Bee" I asked her what happend to "Cee" She just looked puzzled

I recaII once reading or being toId that the Thai nickname comes from a tradition that it protects the baby from eviI spirits. If the spirit knows the babies reaI name it can hurt the baby in some way. AIso, the nickname can be used without the formaIity of adding "Khun".

Well, in a family setting, sure. Brevity is appreciated. Anywhere else though, at the office, among (slightly less close) friends, the nickname is used together with Khun or Phee, Nong, Paa, Lung, etc.

I think the only reason the nickname is used without any of those in a close friend/ family setting is because brevity is all that counts, the shorter the better so without the need for any and all formality, also the Phee or Nong is dropped. (Alternative: The Phee or Nong is kept but the name is dropped, resulting in an equally short form of address, just calling someone as 'Phee'! 'Mae'! etc.)

I was told some years ago that many Thais (particularly the younger ones) do not even know their real name.

My daughter certainly doesn't. Not both her full names as per her passport anyway.

I have a friend who's daughter is called Milk!

Why? Because she drank a lot of milk while pregnant!

Our daughter is called Lanna Samantha (Lanna-Sam), as she was born in the Lanna Hospital

and they placed her in crib number 3 . . easy really!