What Is The Thai Word For Coupon?

[HC82]

Hi,

What are the Thai words for coupon and coupons?

Please spell it out in English, not Thai script

Thanks!

Also: are coupons something used by everyday Thai's to save money shopping?

[siam2007]

they say COUPON as well..... adapted from English. I think that's the most customary term.

or am I wrong ?

[Deserted]

Yes, coupon is the word they tend to use. You can also here 'Lairk' used as well, though 'Lairk' has other uses also.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Deserted

[jdinasia]

Actually in Thai (transliterated) it is coupong

[Tod Daniels]

The thai word for coupon is coupon, spelled like this in thai คูปอง BUT pronounced with thai pronunciation rules like this; khuu^M bpaawng^M.

You will hear them sometimes use the word แลก; laaek^F as that means exchange. Like when you're changing money, exchanging an item, or redeeming a coupon for a product.

However in EVERY thai food court I've wandered thru in the entire country which uses a coupon based system for purchases; the counter where you buy coupons always uses the word coupon spelled in thai (sometimes even the english word 'counter' spelled in thai as well ), and the shops all have signs saying they only accept coupons not cash.

FWIW: thai has more 'loan words' from various and sundry languages than you can shake a stick at.

P/S: to make it plural or more than one coupon you use the thai classifier ใบ bai^M which denotes multiples of mostly flat objects. So two coupons would be คูปอง สอง ใบ (except with no spaces between the words ). That translates literally as "coupon two piece"

Edited November 30, 2010 by tod-daniels

[Peppy]

I would write the Thai word for "coupon" as "khoo-bpawng" (คูปอง), though bear in mind that these are usually associated with the bits of paper you use instead of cash at the food court in shopping malls and whatnot. For a coupon that gives you a reduced price on something, I would say "khoo-bpawng lot rah-kah" (คูปองลดราคา).

"Laek", or "lairk" (แลก) is the verb for "exchange"--often used to talk about what you do with your coupons, of course!

EDIT: Sorry Todd, looks like our posts crossed.

Edited November 30, 2010 by Peppy

[jdinasia]

The thai word for coupon is coupon, spelled like this in thai คูปอง BUT pronounced with thai pronunciation rules like this; khuu^M bpaawng^M.

You will hear them sometimes use the word แลก; laaek^F as that means exchange. Like when you're changing money, exchanging an item, or redeeming a coupon for a product.

However in EVERY thai food court I've wandered thru in the entire country which uses a coupon based system for purchases; the counter where you buy coupons always uses the word coupon spelled in thai (sometimes even the english word 'counter' spelled in thai as well ), and the shops all have signs saying they only accept coupons not cash.

FWIW: thai has more 'loan words' from various and sundry languages than you can shake a stick at.

And strangely the only Thai loaner word into English (other than names for thai food -- which are not true loaner words) is ----- Bong (hollow tube -- bamboo) adopted into English as a pipe for smoking .....

[Rikker]

[Edit: Sorry to everyone who already covered a lot of the same ground. Took too long composing my reply ]

As noted, the Thai คูปอง is pronounced coo-pong. The word is French, and the Thai pronunciation is closer to a French pronunciation than English.

In my experience the Thai word คูปอง is most commonly associated not with discount coupons, but with cash coupons -- fixed value tickets used in place of cash. Food courts at Thai shopping centers, for example, virtually all use a "coupon" system (to make sure the vendors pay a required percentage to the shopping center). At the entrance to the food court, the customer exchanges cash for a set of paper coupons of equivalent value, and the vendors accept only the coupons as payment. More and more commonly these days paper coupons are being replaced with magnetic stripe cards, however.

Discount coupons are nowhere near as common in Thailand as in the US, though they're still used here. Coupons are not seen as an essential aspect of frugal living like they are in the US (and there's no Thai equivalent for the English "coupon clipper/cutter", meaning someone who uses coupons regularly to reduce household expenses). Discount coupons here are store specific, and tend to only give a few baht off, perhaps because the discount is coming out of the retail side, not the manufacturer side. I don't think manufacturer coupons exist here (meaning coupons issued by the manufacturer, that you can redeem at any store).

In recent years all the large grocery chains here have adopted loyalty programs (where you swipe a club card at the register to get special discounts on select items), and so now we receive regular coupon mailings for products we buy frequently. So in this sense coupons are becoming more common, but they're still store specific.

[HC82]

Do Thai's user the plural form?

coupongs or coopongs?

[bhoydy]

Do Thai's user the plural form?

coupongs or coopongs?

As Tod already mentioned there is no plural form of something just by adding an s at the end, it wouldn't be pronounced anyway. So, like he said 'koopong song bai' would get you two coupons although generally when buying coupons you need to request the amount of the coupon so maybe 'koopong roi neung song bai' would get you 2 100baht coupons

Edited November 30, 2010 by bhoydy

[a51mas]

There is a word for coupon in Thai

บัตรลดราคา = but - lod - ra - ka

[Tod Daniels]

There is a word for coupon in Thai

บัตรลดราคา = but - lod - ra - ka

Not to disagree, or be picky (even if it may seem that way ) but. ..

It is my experience that บัตรลดราคา or using thai-language dot com's pronunciation guide; bat^L loht^H raa^M khaa^M; is two or three thai words (depending on how you parse it out) combined to carry a meaning. คูปอง khuu^M bpaawng^M however is the stand alone foreign loanword used in thai for 'coupon'.

In the quoted previous post; บัตร bat^L just means card, as in บัตร เอ-ที-เอ็ม; ATM card, นามบัตร; business or name card, บัตรเครดิต; credit card, etc. The word ลด loht^H means to reduce or lower, and ราคา raa^M khaa^M means price/value. When eavesdropping on thais ordering McDonalds, Burger King, etc via the phone I've only heard them use the word 'coupon'; even if that coupon gives a lower price or something for free with the purchase.

In many super markets they have a บัตรสมาชิก bat^L sa^L maa^M chik^H or 'member card' where indeed you do get a ลดราคา 'lower price' on sale items.

Still, I hear the english word ‘coupon’ with the thai pronunciation spoken much more and every thai in the country seems to understand it too. In fact more and more thais are starting to use the english word 'card' การ์ด gaad^L nowadays over the thai word บัตร bat^L.

Be that as it may, I think you're 100% safe using 'coupon' as long as you pronounce it like a thai would. ..

Edited November 30, 2010 by tod-daniels

[rgs2001uk]

Do Thai's user the plural form?

coupongs or coopongs?

As Tod already mentioned there is no plural form of something just by adding an s at the end, it wouldn't be pronounced anyway. So, like he said 'koopong song bai' would get you two coupons although generally when buying coupons you need to request the amount of the coupon so maybe 'koopong roi neung song bai' would get you 2 100baht coupons

In situations like this I say, koopong song roi (คูปองสองร้อย) whether they come as 4x50, 2x100 or 1x200 is irrelevant.

For discount coupons like those issued by Tesco/Lotus written on them is คูปองส่วนลด, discount coupon, these are for specific items only, usually the stuff they are trying to shift because its not a big seller.

When waiting at the checkout the girl usually asks, มีบัตร,when referring to the store card.

The word coupon seems to have taken on a multi use role, where the noun คูปอง is used without an adjective describing what exactly its use is, at the food court or an in store discount coupon are just referred to as คูปอง where its role is understood by both parties.

[bhoydy]

Do Thai's user the plural form?

coupongs or coopongs?

As Tod already mentioned there is no plural form of something just by adding an s at the end, it wouldn't be pronounced anyway. So, like he said 'koopong song bai' would get you two coupons although generally when buying coupons you need to request the amount of the coupon so maybe 'koopong roi neung song bai' would get you 2 100baht coupons

In situations like this I say, koopong song roi (คูปองสองร้อย) whether they come as 4x50, 2x100 or 1x200 is irrelevant.

For discount coupons like those issued by Tesco/Lotus written on them is คูปองส่วนลด, discount coupon, these are for specific items only, usually the stuff they are trying to shift because its not a big seller.

When waiting at the checkout the girl usually asks, มีบัตร,when referring to the store card.

The word coupon seems to have taken on a multi use role, where the noun คูปอง is used without an adjective describing what exactly its use is, at the food court or an in store discount coupon are just referred to as คูปอง where its role is understood by both parties.

Just to clarify, i was referring to a situation where one person would go and get the food and the other person would get the drinks in, hence the 2 cards or coupons.

But to be honest, i never even use the word koopong, i just say the amount. In fact it is a word a rarely hear. I usually hear บัตรสมาชิก or คลับการ์ด at the checkouts.

[SoftWater]

And strangely the only Thai loaner word into English (other than names for thai food -- which are not true loaner words) is ----- Bong (hollow tube -- bamboo) adopted into English as a pipe for smoking .....

Can anyone else confirm this? That's a great bit of trivia, if true!

[Peppy]

And strangely the only Thai loaner word into English (other than names for thai food -- which are not true loaner words) is ----- Bong (hollow tube -- bamboo) adopted into English as a pipe for smoking .....

Can anyone else confirm this? That's a great bit of trivia, if true!

I guess the OP's query has been thoroughly answered already, so we might as well change the topic. It's been done already, though; see this thread from a couple years ago, particularly posts number 9 and 10 by Mangkorn and Katana:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/202384-words-borrowed-from-thai/

Seems it is indeed true, and it certainly is a neat bit of trivia.