"actually"

[petepete]

I note a lot of Thais starting sentences with "actually" - leading me to believe there's a similar Thai word that's used a lot. Am I right? What is it? Whn would it be appropriate to use it? Most obvious when 'posh' service staff are telling you you've broken or

are about to break some regulation:

"Actually sir there is a dress code; no flip flops"

"Actually all those seats are full, and we usually charge, but I have assigned you one anyway"

any ideas?

[SimonN]

Perhaps; "จริงๆ แล้ว..."

[mikenyork]

Usually "Thii jing" (ที่จริง). this is a pervasively used phrase and perfectly ok to use when you would say in English, "really" or "actually"

[PhilHarries]

I can't help you with the Thai, you've had some good stuff anyway, but from the two examples you've given, certainly in English hotels/restaurants they would use the same phraseology. So maybe it comes from their training.

[Johpa]

There are two possible reasons that come to mind as to why Thais use the term. One is that the word is used somewhat akin to a Thai particle to nuance the degree of certainty to the sentence. And the other is that Thai, especially the written form tends to be a topic centered language as compare to English which tends to be a subject centered language. In Thai they often begin a sentence with a phrase such as " as for the <noun phrase>...." Using the word "actually" in front of the sentence serves a similar purpose.

[PeaceBlondie]

From my novel about a mythical country next to Burma: "Xantese who speak English love to start sentences with usually or actually. However, only naughty Xantese say key so much, since that sounds like the vulgar word for shit."