I realize this is a tough one, but can anyone give me a Thai equivalent of "dusky maiden." In English this means to me an attractively brown-skinned and exotic young woman, but since dark skin is not attractive in Thailand, I'm not sure there could be an equivalent, even as a poetic expression. However, I'll take any suggestion that gets the general idea across.

Google Translate gives me พยับสาว, which is something like "gloomy girl."

สาวดำขำ - a woman with dark complexion and an appealing Personality

I'll probably get stoned, hung and run out of town on a rail for saying this, but I have often heard Thais refer to such a person as

ผู้หญิง สเปคฟรั่ง

Because most Thais believe with all their hearts that farangs are attracted to dark-skinned women. (I'm just the messenger here)

Thanks. But as an endearment, "sao sapec farang" doesn't quite have the same poetry as "My dusky maiden."

Thanks. But as an endearment, "sao sapec farang" doesn't quite have the same poetry as "My dusky maiden."

You're absolutely right. But getting the idea of a compliment and dark skinned into the same Thai phrase is just a contradiction in terms (as far as Thais are concerned). An analogy might be to try to pay an American woman a compliment by noting that she was pleasingly plump. I don't think it can be done.

saao dam khem tee saen na rak khawng phom my adorable salty black maiden ...no guarantees, though.

...no guarantees, though.

Tell you what, I can guarantee that if I said that to my wife, I should need to be a reasonable distance away and already running!

Thanks. But as an endearment, "sao sapec farang" doesn't quite have the same poetry as "My dusky maiden."

Kaewmala in her book Sex Talk, had a little on this.

DAM TAP PET ดำตับเป็ด - a sexy dark-skinned woman. lit. “dark like a duck’s liver”.

...Someone commented on a duck-related expression in the book: ดำตับเป็ด “dark like a duck’s liver,” which refers to a sexy dark-skinned woman. He said his Thai wife told him that the expression would be taken as an insult by most Thai women. Why? What woman wouldn’t want to be thought of as sexy?

Let me elaborate. The expression is rather old and the traditional usage may have changed (a normal occurrence in linguist evolution). In the original usage, a woman being “dark like a duck’s liver” was considered sexually alluring. It was a compliment. But perhaps the passage of time coupled with increasing obsession of Thai people with light skin has driven the “sexy” part out of existence, leaving only the undesirable “dark” part in the expression.

So it seems, this old compliment has transformed into a negative comment – often a taunt, according to my younger girlfriends...

http://thaiwomantalks.com/tag/ducks/