Asian Pennywort and Pennyroyal

[Kanga Japan]

Sorry to bother you all again, but I have a couple of questions regarding vegetables/plants. Can someone please provide me with the Thai script for the following:

1. Asian Pennywort (Centella Asiatica)

a. Bai bua bok

b. Pak nok

2. Pennyroyal (Mentha Pulegium)

a. Bai bua bong

b. Pak ngong

Your help is appreciated.

[Mole]

"Bai bua bok" is ใบบัวบก which is Centella asiatica.

I actually have no idea what the others are supposed to be.

Do you have links to exactly where you got "Pak nok" "Bai bua bong" and "Pak ngong"?

[Kanga Japan]

Dear Mole,

Thank you again. I just found Pak Nok. It is written as ผักหนอก. I guess that there could be a closer spelling for 'nok'.

Regarding BAI BUA BONG and PAK NGONG, they were mentioned in:

http://www.supatra.com/pages/thaiveggies3.html

I hope that this is of some help.

[Mole]

ผักหนอก is in Isan/Lao language which is exactly the same as ใบบัวบก in Thai. Many fruit and vegetables has different names in the different Thai dialects.

Also, in that link you mentioned, it's just the author being extremely poor at transcribing the Thai.

"Bai Bua Bong" or "Pak Ngong" is apparently the author's way of transcribing the ใบบัวบก (bai bua bok) and ผักหนอก (pak nok).

I find it even puzzling how that the author is Thai and still manage to transcribe it like this. There "ng" sound is not even in the Thai words, so I wonder how "bok" can end up as "bong" and "nok" as ngong"...

Personally, I would actually suggest you just mention ใบบัวบก, and not ผักหนอก.

Every Thai, regardless of dialect will know ใบบัวบก, but not everybody will know what ผักหนอก is, and those who knows ผักหนอก, will also know that it's called ใบบัวบก in standard Thai.

That's why it's really redundant to mention ผักหนอก.

Also, I don't think there's a specific name for Mentha pulegium in Thai. In the dictionaries it's just called a type of mint.

มิ้นท์

Edited April 15, 2014 by Mole

[AyG]

Also, I don't think there's a specific name for Mentha pulegium in Thai. In the dictionaries it's just called a type of mint.

According to http://www.thaikasetsart.com/สะระแหน่ it's สะระแหน่ญวน.

[Kanga Japan]

Dear Mole,

Thanks so much for your mail. I have checked again and there are a lot of other sites which mention BAI BUA BONG and PAK NGONG. You can find them here:

https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=ArfW2TdUS0ToKlL0mH03IWCbvZx4?p=bai+bua+bong%2C+pak+ngong&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-950

Some are just copying others and some are separate identities, although I sort of get the feeling that these two words may exist.

For the Pennywort, I will just use BAI BUA BOK.

Thanks for your help.

[Mole]

No, I can assure you that all those search results are just copies of each other. It seems like somebody wrote it wrong to begin with and it got copied by others.

If you google "bai bua bong" (including the "") you'll get only 22 results (hardly "lots of other sites") and they're all copypasta of each other. And curiously, all the results also include "Pak Ngong", so both are just transliterated wrong. I have a feeling perhaps a Frenchman did it, hence the "ng".

Yes, สะระแหน่ is mints in general and สะระแหน่ญวน seems to be Mentha pulegium

Edited April 16, 2014 by Mole

[Kanga Japan]

Dear Mole,

Thank you for your mail.

Now, this is getting confusing, because สะระแหน่ญวน translates as Vietnamese Mint. Vietnamese mint/Vietnamese coriander is listed as ใบพริกม้า bai prik maa. I think we confirmed this one earlier, in another discussion.

There is a Swedish man in Chiang Mai who runs a garden (Dokmai Gardens). He has a PhD in plant physiology and may know exactly what Pennyroyal is called in Thai.

Thanks again for your help. You have done so much. I will let you know if I receive a reply from him.

[AyG]

Now, this is getting confusing, because สะระแหน่ญวน translates as Vietnamese Mint. Vietnamese mint/Vietnamese coriander is listed as ใบพริกม้า bai prik maa. I think we confirmed this one earlier, in another discussion.

ญวน doesn't really translate to "Vietnamese" - it's "Annamese". (Anam refers to a region of central Vietnam.) There shouldn't be any confusion.

[Kanga Japan]

OK. Thanks Mole. I note that Yuan translates as Annamese.

In an effort to try and obtain more information, I have sent a mail to Dokmai Gardens.

I will let you know if I receive a reply.

Thank you again, for spending so much time on this. By the way, can I ask you - are you Thai?

I am an Australian, living in Japan.

[Mole]

ญวน in Thai will be readily understood as "Vietnamese". Any word containing ญวน will be "Vietnamese something".

So, สะระแหน่ญวน could possibly be Vietnamese Mint.

However, since you did mention that ใบพริกม้า is "Vietnamese Mint" in English, then สะระแหน่ญวน could actually be Pennyroyal.

Even though the English name for it may be "Vietnamese Mint" and สะระแหน่ญวน in Thai translates to English "Vietnamese Mint", they may still not be the same thing.

For example Chinese cabbage in English is not called so in Thai, but "white cabbage", and pepper in Thai is พริกไทย which translates to English as "Thai chili".

It's best you check with the expert in Chiang Mai, and do let us know about your findings.

I am native Thai.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Mole

[Kanga Japan]

Thanks Mole,

I appreciate the explanation about Yuan.

You speak excellent English.

Let's wait and see what Eric at Dokmai Gardens says.

Regards.

[Mole]

I grew up in Norway.

[Kanga Japan]

I see. That explains it.

Thank you.