"ไทยมุง"

[DavidHouston]

Friends,

I was directed to a curious word today, "ไทยมุง". Lexitron has:

ไทยมุง [N] crowd; throng; mass; onlookers; multitude; horde; flock Def. คนจำนวนมากที่เข้าไปรุมดู.

DS has "curious spectators, onlookers, gawkers.

The Matichon Dictionary also has a definition: "กลุมคนที่ชอบไปมุงดูเหตุการณ์ต่างๆ", which sure looks like the DS definition.

Anyone know if this word is related to ไทย as in "Thai people" and why this may be so?

[kriswillems]

Apparently there are many possible explanations:

http://guru.google.co.th/guru/thread?tid=7d239b7c4c5ca800

Edited September 9, 2010 by kriswillems

[AjarnPasa]

A group of rubber-neckers. The kind of crowd that gathers round an 'event' such as a motorcycle crash to look but not help. Sadly it's only on occasions such as these that I have heard the phrase used.

[bannork]

Ghoulish onlookers is not a bad description.

I remember being in your neck of the woods,David, Krabi, to be exact about 20 years ago, and this bloke had been stabbed badly. A crowd gathered round but no driver would take him to the hospital, fearing bloodstains on the seats!