ไปสาย

[farangnahrak]

Two taxi cab drivers at the Bangkok South Bus Station the other day asked me 'ไปสาย?' (spelling?)

Given the context, its obvious they meant ไปไหน, but I've never heard this word before.

What dialect is this?

[Boksida]

Lao

[321niti123]

Its north eastern, Isaan, language which is very similar to Laos

[anchan42]

ไปสาย would mean you are running late.

ไปไส would be ไปไหน in Issan dialect.

[klons]

Sometime ago, their was a group of workers that I passed almost daily on my bicycle on my way home . Everytime I went by, the same guy would say “bpai sai” and then laugh. I’m still not certain what he meant or what he thought was so funny.

[anchan42]

Sometime ago, their was a group of workers that I passed almost daily on my bicycle on my way home . Everytime I went by, the same guy would say “bpai sai” and then laugh. I’m still not certain what he meant or what he thought was so funny.

I think they asked “where are you going” and then expecting puzzle look on you face.

Probably just joking around and not mean any harm.

[klons]

 

Also one time in a short chit chat between 2 other people I heard one person say ไปซ้าย

Being puzzled by bpai sai, I asked what they meant in this case.

I was told “go left “ meaning you go left I go right, we are not on the same page, don’t understand each other. Would ไปซ้าย also be some sort of colloquillism by itself ? or is there maybe more to it that I missed.

[farangnahrak]

 

Also one time in a short chit chat between 2 other people I heard one person say ไปซ้าย

Being puzzled by bpai sai, I asked what they meant in this case.

I was told “go left “ meaning you go left I go right, we are not on the same page, don’t understand each other. Would ไปซ้าย also be some sort of colloquillism by itself ? or is there maybe more to it that I missed.

Maybe its a political term, like a Leftist? He went to the Left . . . just a guess . . .

[GarryP]

 

Also one time in a short chit chat between 2 other people I heard one person say ไปซ้าย

Being puzzled by bpai sai, I asked what they meant in this case.

I was told “go left “ meaning you go left I go right, we are not on the same page, don’t understand each other. Would ไปซ้าย also be some sort of colloquillism by itself ? or is there maybe more to it that I missed.

Maybe its a political term, like a Leftist? He went to the Left . . . just a guess . . .

When talking at crossed purposes this may be used. For example, if I am talking about one thing and the person I am talking to thinks I am talking about something else, usually through misunderstanding, Thai's may say that I am going (or speaking) right while the other person is going (speaking) left. Quite common actually. No political inference.

As to the OP's question, as answered by others, "Where are you going?" in NE Thai.

[Tod Daniels]

I would guess it is indeed Thai/Lao or Issan-Thai dialect. ..

Benjawan Becker has a series called "Speak Like A Thai" (พูดแบบไทยๆ). At last count I think she's got 7 in the series. (Most are quite good, especially the slang & idiom one )

The 5th one in the series is called "Northeastern Dialect".

The first page of the book has the following sentences and examples (the spelling is copied outta the book too);

"How are you?"

ภาษากลาง (Central Thai); สบายดีมัย

ภาษาอีสาน (Issan Thai); สำบายดีบ่อ

“How is it going?”

ภาษากลาง (Central Thai); เป็นยังไง

ภาษาอีสาน (Issan Thai); เป็นจังใด

"Where are you going?"

ภาษากลาง (Central Thai); คุณ(จะ)ไปไหน

ภาษาอีสาน (Issan Thai); (เจ้า)สิไปไส

"Where have you been?"

ภาษากลาง (Central Thai); ไปไหนมา

ภาษาอีสาน (Issan Thai); ไปไสมา

"Have you eaten?"

ภาษากลาง (Central Thai); กินเข้ารึยัง

ภาษาอีสาน (Issan Thai); กินเข้าล่ะบ่อ

Given the often irritating thai penchant for dropping unnecessary words in conversational colloquial speech ( ); it is no great stretch of the imagination to see that ไปไส is indeed Issan-Thai for ไปไหน, factor in the sheer number of Issan thais who make their living in Bangkok and I'd wager it's almost a sure thing.

While I certainly struggle enough with Bankokian thai, I found this c/d-book (and really most in the series) to be really quite the interesting read and well worth their cost.

One caveat if you get the Northeastern Dialect book. Listen to the c/d FIRST before tryin to belt out the Issan-Thai (even if you can read thai)!! The tones for Issan-Thai sound screwy (at least to me) compared to Bangkok thai. Speaking any of the Issan-Thai words with a central thai accent will get you laughed right off your proverbial plastic chair!

Good Luck

Edited May 24, 2010 by tod-daniels

[mangkorn]

...The tones for Issan-Thai sound screwy (at least to me) compared to Bangkok thai. Speaking any of the Issan-Thai words with a central thai accent will get you laughed right off your proverbial plastic chair!

Khun Benjawan explains, in another book, that Lao language is "very forgiving" in the use of tones. That's a charitable way of saying "they're all over the map."

Spend any time in Lao, and that will become clear. (For the uninitiated, Isan is essentially a dialect of Lao. Lest anyone come to argue some fine point about it, please don't bother: I said a dialect of Lao, meaning there are some differences between, say Ubon and Wiengchan, with the former obviously having more Thai characteristics in the mix. In any event, Isan people also regularly call themselves Lao - which is their cultural, ethno-linguistic identity. That is not a contradiction; they are proud of both their Thai nationality, and their Lao identity.)

Anyway, regarding the tone issue, something similar is at work in Khorat, which is technically Isan, but linguistically is not Lao - although there is some inevitable overlap. Friends of mine from there explain that Khorat dialect is basically Central Thai, in vocabulary, but that the spoken tones are usually very different. One friend feigns great pride in declaring that she is trilingual: Thai, Lao and Khorat...

The beauty of Central Thai - not only for farangs - is that every Thai person knows it and can speak it perfectly well, which is (or was) one key thing that has held the country together as a nation for a couple hundred years. Even in Laos, most people can speak Central Thai, too, when they want to. The two languages aren't all that different, really.

Most provincial Thais will speak Central Thai to a foreigner who can also speak it, even when they are conversing with others in their native dialect at the same time - if they are considerate. They are remarkably capable of easily switching back-and-forth, without missing a beat.

[farangnahrak]

The beauty of Central Thai - not only for farangs - is that every Thai person knows it and can speak it perfectly well, which is (or was) one key thing that has held the country together as a nation for a couple hundred years. Even in Laos, most people can speak Central Thai, too, when they want to. The two languages aren't all that different, really.

Most provincial Thais will speak Central Thai to a foreigner who can also speak it, even when they are conversing with others in their native dialect at the same time - if they are considerate. They are remarkably capable of easily switching back-and-forth, without missing a beat.

In my experience, everyone *understands* central Thai, but not everyone can speak it. When I travel to Nahkorn Nowhere, I'm always begging them to speak Central. Most can't do it.

That said, since we are on the subject of Isaan Lao tones, I would like to share a useful/interesting fact.

Laoatian has three major dialects (Thailand has four). Two of the dialects have five tones, the 3rd has six tones. That said, the vocab often matches that in Thai, but the tones are all whacked up . . .