In (American) English we refer to "officers" and "enlisted men". My late wife told me the equivalent Thai terms, but she passed away last year and I haven't been able to remember them. During a trip from Chiang Rai to Nakhorn Sawan the topic of my service in the U.S. Army came up and I wanted to explain that I was a non-commissioned officer. I had to settle for giving the equivalent actual rank (which I do remember). Can anyone help me out here? I'd like to know the terms for "commissioned officer" versus "non-commissioned officer" and "enlisted man."

I don't want to impose too much, but that leads me to wonder about the terms for the classes of Thai society in the past. I know the common, free persons were "phrai," and slaves were "thaat," but I don't know the term for the upper class. Sorry for using Latin letters -- I can read Thai but I can't type it and the letters on my old keyboard have been worn off some keys.

ผู้ดี - poo dee was the term for upper class.