Thailand Trivia

[Kan Win]

Full name of Bangkok, that Krung Thep mahanakorn etc etc, is the longest city name in the world.

"City of Angels, Great City of Immortals, Magnificent City of the Nine Gems, Seat of the King, City of Royal Palaces, Home of the Gods Incarnate, Erected by Visvakarman at Indra's Behest."

Win

[Kan Win]

Thailand is shaped like an elephant's head.

Ohh and the Big Mango (BKK) is shaped like:-

A Big Mango (BKK)

Win

Edited November 26, 2012 by Kan Win

[HeavyDrinker]

The word "sawatdee" is Hindu. The Sanskrit word for well-being is "savasti". It's a fabricated saying to replace the more common "kin khao leow yang" (have you eaten yet) greeting and was introduced on purpose.

Load of <deleted> pal!

The word is indeed Sanskrit but where do you think the Hindi got it from....?

you're just making thing up....

[ManInSurat]

The word "sawatdee" is Hindu. The Sanskrit word for well-being is "savasti". It's a fabricated saying to replace the more common "kin khao leow yang" (have you eaten yet) greeting and was introduced on purpose.

Load of <deleted> pal!

The word is indeed Sanskrit but where do you think the Hindi got it from....?

you're just making thing up....

Hindu. As in the religion. The word comes from the Sanskrit "Sindhu" itself originating from the name of the Indus River.

If you're having problem with the concept, here's a nice comparison chart for you.

Hindi is a language and not what I meant at all. Sanskrit is the "Divine Language of Hiduism." and where the "borrowed" savasti or sawatdee comes from.

HeavyDrinker? I'd say 8pm is way too early to be that drunk "pal".

There's only one thing worse than being that anally retentive in public, being anally retentive and wrong.

What is wrong with people on this site?

Edited November 26, 2012 by ManInSurat

[SlyAnimal]

Earlier posts about the river Kwai, that didn't exist reminded me about the Mekong River.

Full name in Thai is "Mae nam Kohng"

The Thai word for river is Mae nam which means "Mother of water" Full name in Thai is "Mae nam Kohng" so River Kohng

Mae nam can be shortened to Mae, so Mae Kohng.

When we say Mekong River, are we actually saying River Kohng River?

As you are obviously riveted right now I can hear you ask the question "But what does Kohng mean?"

"Kohng " translates to "rancid, stinking"

This means that Mekong is actually translated as "Stinking River"

You have probably all seen the Thai whisky called Mekhong. I have to wonder if a farang whisky would be so popular if they named it "Stinking River Whisky"

Actually, I was curious about your post, and asked my gf about the word Kong, and checked my dictionary but for English translations of words for smelly / rancid etc, however didn't found anything like Kong (The literal translation for river is correct). So I decided to check wikipedia, to which I found:

In the Mekong's case, Mae Nam Khong means Khong, The Mother of Water. "Khong" is derived from the Sanskrit "ganga", meaning the Ganges.

So actually the Khong in Mae Nam Khong is from Hindi Sanskrit. Which is common in quite a few Thai city/province names, where the names originate from a variety of different languages.

Also, the Khmer, Thai and Lao alphabets all originate from the Khmer alphabet, which is why you'll notice that many of their alphabets are very similar, albeit less/more squiggly, and with a few changes that have occurred over time.

[manly100]

With my limited knowledge of Thai, I was pondering if there was any connection between Phar Lap - as in lightning and our esteemed Oz racehorse by the same name. From google it's unclear, but maybe a part owner of Phar Lap was indeed Thai ?

A New Zealand horse?

[loong]

Earlier posts about the river Kwai, that didn't exist reminded me about the Mekong River.

Full name in Thai is "Mae nam Kohng"

The Thai word for river is Mae nam which means "Mother of water" Full name in Thai is "Mae nam Kohng" so River Kohng

Mae nam can be shortened to Mae, so Mae Kohng.

When we say Mekong River, are we actually saying River Kohng River?

As you are obviously riveted right now I can hear you ask the question "But what does Kohng mean?"

"Kohng " translates to "rancid, stinking"

This means that Mekong is actually translated as "Stinking River"

You have probably all seen the Thai whisky called Mekhong. I have to wonder if a farang whisky would be so popular if they named it "Stinking River Whisky"

Actually, I was curious about your post, and asked my gf about the word Kong, and checked my dictionary but for English translations of words for smelly / rancid etc, however didn't found anything like Kong (The literal translation for river is correct). So I decided to check wikipedia, to which I found:

In the Mekong's case, Mae Nam Khong means Khong, The Mother of Water. "Khong" is derived from the Sanskrit "ganga", meaning the Ganges.

So actually the Khong in Mae Nam Khong is from Hindi Sanskrit. Which is common in quite a few Thai city/province names, where the names originate from a variety of different languages.

Also, the Khmer, Thai and Lao alphabets all originate from the Khmer alphabet, which is why you'll notice that many of their alphabets are very similar, albeit less/more squiggly, and with a few changes that have occurred over time.

http://www.thai2english.com/dictionary/1278197.html

Nice to know that there is another meaning for Kohng.

Does seem strange to call a river "stinking River"

[Neeranam]

The word "sawatdee" is Hindu. The Sanskrit word for well-being is "savasti". It's a fabricated saying to replace the more common "kin khao leow yang" (have you eaten yet) greeting and was introduced on purpose.

Load of <deleted> pal!

The word is indeed Sanskrit but where do you think the Hindi got it from....?

you're just making thing up....

I think both you are confused here.

Heavy Drinker - Hindi is a language, not any people.

'Hindu' is not a language.

[KhaoNiaw]

In the opening sequences of the video for Blondie's song 'Atomic', the banner in front of the building is in Thai. Blondie played 2 concerts at the Ambassador Hotel on 31st December 1977 and 1st January 1978, which is where the banner comes from.

[payak]

im confused, if the thai language came from khmer, why is it they cannot understand each other at all.

thai is a tonal language to, khmer is not,

[overherebc]

The king of thailand has been king since 1946, He's the longest reigning monarch in the world.

.......of those currently alive.

I believe Thailand is the only country that has issued a 60 Baht note.

For His Majesty after 60 years as King.

[DP25]

in 1968 the population of thailand was 14m , today its over 70m, ..........thais breed same labbit !

In 1968 Thailand had 35 million people. It was 14 million in 1938.

http://www.populstat...ia/thailanc.htm

Today Thailand has an extremely low fertility rate, lower than the US and many European countries, so the population will soon stagnate and eventually start to shrink in a few decades.

[SlyAnimal]

im confused, if the thai language came from khmer, why is it they cannot understand each other at all.

thai is a tonal language to, khmer is not,

Thai Alphabet, not Thai Language.

Much the same as how most of Europe uses the roman alphabet.

[DP25]

im confused, if the thai language came from khmer, why is it they cannot understand each other at all.

thai is a tonal language to, khmer is not,

The language didn't come from Khmer, just the letters in the alphabet were based on the Khmer alphabet. The Khmer alphabet came from India.

Khmer language and Thai language are otherwise completely unrelated. Totally different language families.

[patongphil]

The king of thailand has been king since 1946, He's the longest reigning monarch in the world.

.......of those currently alive.

I believe Thailand is the only country that has issued a 60 Baht note.

For His Majesty after 60 years as King.

Not sure how many countries have issued Baht notes of any other denomination

[Kan Win]

Hi Folks,

In Thai "Song" is 2 so lets get another song in and get the party going.

5555 is HaHaHaHa

Hock (6) is the pork knuckle that is in the ad on ThaiVisaDotCom. or Ad hock postings.

Jet (7) is the plane to come into Thailand on. Lucky Number for some.

Pet (8) is my wife's diamond ring friend, mine is roasted Duck as I do not like chilies.

Sip (10) I like that as I do sip me water and beer.

Win

[Neeranam]

Many people say Loy kratong is always in November - it's not it's sometimes in October.

[Dancealot]

Songkran has a derived translation meaning "war"

[Dancealot]

im confused, if the thai language came from khmer, why is it they cannot understand each other at all.

thai is a tonal language to, khmer is not,

payak, i don't think they cannot understand it. But it is more about they don' t want to understand it. It' s a reoccurring neighbouring country dispute

thing..

Similar like Netherlands and Germany. There will always be some hostility because of 'what happened before....'.