Words that sound like 'huey'/'huay'?

[happysanook]

What Thai words sound like huay? The only one I know is 'lotto'. I tried a reverse lookup on thai2english but didn't come up with anything. Anyone know any others?

[Gsxrnz]

Huay (low) = of poor quality

Huay (Falling) = creek or small waterway

Huay (Falling) = expressing surprise as an interjection (sure you've heard that one)

Huay (Rising) = lottery

Huay (low) Dtaaek (low) = crap!

[happysanook]

Hmmm... Interesting...

I was on the back of the songthaew in the countryside overloaded with a bunch of country folk and the cops stopped us for a quick look.

I couldn't make it all out, but as we were pulling away the cop said something a couple times. Short phrase that had 'farang huey' and all the bumpkin started laughing.

Hmm... I wonder which it was

[stoneyboy]

Think he was taking the juice I'm afraid to say.

Like oh look shitty foreigner lets all gave a laugh on him.

[happysanook]

It's probably better I didn't understand it then. I likely would have landed myself in the CM hilton otherwise.

[Gsxrnz]

Interesting - was there any reason he might have said that to/about you? Did you catch any of the other words he said?

[happysanook]

As the songthaew stopped, I stepped off the back and they looked somewhat surprised to see a farang on the songthaew.

There were two of them... They asked 'bai nai'. I said the name of the town. And they asked if I could speak Thai. I told them 'nit noy'. They asked how long I'd been in Thailand and I told them 'seven years'. Then one of them patted the back pack I was wearing while another peered into the fully packed songthaew.

Then he told the songthaew driver 'okay, bai!'. As it was pulling away, he said a short sentence/phrase with 'farang and huey' and seeing it got a chuckle/smile from the occupants he said it again. I didn't catch any other words.

I haven't been in a good mood and for the sake of my well being it's better I didn't know what it was if it were the first possible definition you gave.

[Roel]

I would give the police officer the benefit of the doubt. Huay used for expressing surprise: "well well, who could have thought that, a farang here in the middle of nowhere." Unlikely he looks down on you because you are not fitting the profile of the quality tourist that Thailand keeps hoping will arrive in great numbers any day now. Being stationed in the country side he couldn't care less.

[Murf]

I too think you probably misunderstood.

It just isn't something that someone would say in a situation like that.

[happysanook]

Thanks for the positive replies. Ridiculous I let such a silly thing color my perception of Thais and affect my day. Regardless of what the truth was, I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt as suggested.

[Aforek]

I have asked my thai girl friend what means " farang huay ", she understood easily , and she says " farang jon " ฝรั่ง จน ", i.e " poor farang, farang who has not much money"

that's why people laugh, but don't get angry, thai people laugh easily, it's not malicious

I have also asked her how to write , and it's " ห่วย " which is colloqial , and means in english " bad, cheap, poor " ( from my dictionnary )

maybe better you didn't understand, because thai-language .com says it's impolite slang: "bad, not good, sucky . "

[happysanook]

Well it could have been several things. But if I were still a gambling man, I'd bet you are correct. I can't reproduce the exact tone he used. So I'm not sure if it was just expressing surprise or if it's as you say. Regardless, if it's as you say - Maybe it's not malicious, but it is rude. Could you imagine saying that out loud about someone in front of a group of people? Or being one of the people who laughed about it? Shows you who the low class are (every persons in the songthaew). If it was as you guess as opposed to just expressing surprise, the guy is a downright <deleted> bag.

[Gsxrnz]

OP - here's a tip.

If you speak/understand sufficient Thai and something is said about you that illicits a laugh/smirk from other Thais around you, and you're 50/50 on whether it's a good natured joke or a belittling comment, (because of the nuances that we learners don't interpret well) - simply adopt a neutral/polite smile, clap your hands at the joker, and say "gaeng maak maak louei" (loosely translated in the context as "that's really very good", or "a really clever comment").

If it was a genuine friendly joke, the joker and all will laugh more with you because they think you understood and it was in fun. If it's a shot at you, the joker won't laugh or he may do a double take, and depending on who made the comment, the others may laugh louder at the joker because he loses face as you're implying that you know what he said was derogatory. And even then it's all taken as a huge joke - a bit of double entendre which Thais generally love.

Either way, you're a winner. Although saying it to a cop in the wrong mood may not be a good idea.

[Tywais]

Well, you may not like the translation I found. จน (jon) would be more polite to imply they think you were poor. Perhaps more common in Lanna to use ห่วย?

ห่วย (hùay) [to be] bad ; terrible ; poor thai2english

Google Translate - ห่วย bad, poor, terrible, awful, low-quality. Press the speaker button for the sound.

Guess they figure a farang should be in a car not a sawng tao.

[happysanook]

OP - here's a tip.

If you speak/understand sufficient Thai and something is said about you that illicits a laugh/smirk from other Thais around you, and you're 50/50 on whether it's a good natured joke or a belittling comment, (because of the nuances that we learners don't interpret well) - simply adopt a neutral/polite smile, clap your hands at the joker, and say "gaeng maak maak louei" (loosely translated in the context as "that's really very good", or "a really clever comment").

If it was a genuine friendly joke, the joker and all will laugh more with you because they think you understood and it was in fun. If it's a shot at you, the joker won't laugh or he may do a double take, and depending on who made the comment, the others may laugh louder at the joker because he loses face as you're implying that you know what he said was derogatory. And even then it's all taken as a huge joke - a bit of double entendre which Thais generally love.

Either way, you're a winner. Although saying it to a cop in the wrong mood may not be a good idea.

I do speak fairly decent thai. Decent sound, but a bit crap vocabulary. i understand gang mak mak loie and will have it or something similar on the tip of my tongue for next time : )

@tawais - could have been something like that. maybe just the fact that a farang was clinging to the back of an overloaded songthaew in the countryside with a bunch of farmers.

[telldem]

Probably the first time he ever saw a broke farang and decided to make a joke about it. At least he didn't say your mother suck monkey balls.

[happysanook]

Probably the first time he ever saw a broke farang and decided to make a joke about it. At least he didn't say your mother suck monkey balls.

Your post nominated for drunken retard post of the month.