|
The Thai Language
 | I've always found that
trying out a few Thai words works wonders. It seems to surprise and delight
the Thais that a westerner (or falang)
is willing to speak anything other than English. If you can master
"hello" or "thank you" in Thai, most Thais will ask you
how many years you've been living in Thailand! |
| The language is pretty
simple structurally, so you can find yourself speaking comprehensible
sentences quite quickly. There are no tenses or genders or irregular verb
forms, etc. The trick seems to be to simplify your English first, and then
substitute the Thai words. So, instead of trying to say "Where are you
going?", think to yourself "go where?"
and then find these words in Thai - bai nai?
You now have a perfectly comprehensible and grammatical Thai sentence. |
|
The only real difficulty is that Thai is a tonal
language, where a word can have different meanings according to the tone or
pitch of voice used. Don't worry about it - just try your luck, and you'll
soon find everyday phrases tripping off your tongue. There's
only one other rule before we start: your Thai will sound rude unless you
add either "kap"
(where the speaker is male) or "kaa"
(where the speaker is female) to the end of phrases like hello and thankyou.
It's a way of
making your speech sound polite, and literally means "sir" or
"madam". |
|
After you've listened to Thais
speaking a little English for a short while, you'll notice that they often
swap "r" and "l" sounds. My name is inevitably
pronounced "Luss" or "Lut". (Saying "Russell"
is practically impossible!) They do this in their own language as well, so
if you buy a phrase book, you may see Thai words written differently to how
they sound in real life. One example is the Thai phrase for
"hundred" which you will see written in the phrase books as "roi".
In my experience, most Thais will say "loi". In the table below,
therefore, I've tried to give you the best approximation of what I've heard
Thais say on an everyday basis, and I use the lazier and more casual "loi"
rather than the more "proper" TV announcer pronunciation. |
| Hello, goodbye |
Sawat-dee [kap/kaa]
-
males say "kap" and females say "kaa" |
| Good bye, good luck |
Chok dee [kap/kaa] |
| Thank you |
Kop
kun [kap/kaa] |
| How are
you? |
Sabai
dee mai? |
| I'm fine,
thanks |
Sabai dee, kop
kun [kap/kaa] |
|
Yes (not
used as often as in English - usually you just repeat the verb to express
agreement) |
Chai |
| No |
Mai, or mai chai |
| Good |
Dee |
| Bad |
Mai dee |
| How much (is it)? |
Tao rai, [kap/kaa]? |
| The bill (check), please. |
Check bin, [kap/kaa] |
| Delicious |
Aloi |
| Spicy |
Pet |
| Not
spicy |
Mai pet |
| {It's) fun, I'm having fun |
Sanuk |
| Like, I like it/them/him/her |
Chorp |
| Do you like it/them/him/her? |
Chorp mai? |
| I don't
like it/them/him/her |
Mai chorp |
| Want, I want it/some/them |
Ao |
| Do you want some/it/any? |
Ao Mai? |
| I don't
want some/it/any, thanks |
Mai ao, kop kun [kap/kaa] |
| Understand, I understand |
Kao chai |
| Do you understand? |
Kao chai mai? |
| I don't understand |
Mai kao chai |
| To know something, I know |
Saab |
| Do you know (the answer to a
question)? |
Saab mai? |
| I don't know (the answer) |
Mai saab |
| To know someone, to have
visited somewhere |
Roojak |
| Do you know him/her, have you
been there before? |
Roojak mai? |
| No, I don't know him/her,
I've never been there |
Mai roojak |
| Eat (rice) |
Kin (kao) |
| Drink (water) |
Deum (nam) |
| Hungry |
Hew |
| Thirsty |
Hew
nam |
| Hot |
Lorn |
| Cold |
Yen |
| A lot, very much |
Mark mark |
| A little |
Nid noy |
| Can |
Dai |
| Cannot |
Mai dai |
| Impossible, no way! |
Ben bai mai dai! |
| Have, I have it/some, there are some |
Mee |
| Do you have it/some/any? Is there
some? Are there any? |
Mee mai? |
| I don't have any/some/them, there
aren't any |
Mai mee |
| Go |
Bai |
| I've already been |
Bai laa-oh |
| Come |
Mar |
| Come
from (England, I'm English) |
Mar jark (Anglit) |
| Never mind, don't
worry , life's too short, etc |
Mai bpen lai |
| Excuse
me |
Kor tort [kap/kaa] |
| What's up? Where are
you off to? How's things? |
Bai nai [kap/kaa?] |
| I'm just having
fun, things are fine, I'm using up some free time |
Bai tee-ow |
| Yesterday |
Meua wan nee |
| Today |
Wan nee |
| Tomorrow |
Prung nee |
| Week |
Ar-tit |
| Month |
Deuan |
| Year |
Pee |
| Next (week) |
(Ar-tit) nar |
| This (month) |
(Deuan) nee |
| Last (year) |
(Pee) tee laa-oh |
| Who? |
Krai? |
| What? |
Alai? |
| When? |
Meu-arai? |
| Where? |
Tee nai? |
| Why? |
Thammai? |
| 0 |
Soon |
21 |
Yee-sip-et |
| 1 |
Neung |
22 |
Yee-sip-song |
| 2 |
Song |
23 |
Yee-sip-saam |
| 3 |
Saam |
24 |
Yee-sip-see |
| 4 |
See |
30 |
Saam-sip |
| 5 |
Ha |
40 |
See-sip |
| 6 |
Hok |
50 |
Ha-sip |
| 7 |
Jet |
60 |
Hok-sip |
| 8 |
Paet |
70 |
Jet-sip |
| 9 |
Gow |
80 |
Paet-sip |
| 10 |
Sip |
90 |
Gow-sip |
| 11 |
Sip-et |
100 |
Neung-loi |
| 12 |
Sip-song |
200 |
Song-loi |
| 13 |
Sip-saam |
300 |
Saam-loi |
| 14 |
Sip-see |
1,000 |
Neung-pan |
| 15 |
Sip-ha |
2,543 |
Song-pan ha-loi see-sip saam |
| 16 |
Sip-hok |
5,000 |
Ha-pan |
| 17 |
Sip-jet |
10,000 |
Neung-meun |
| 18 |
Sip-paet |
50,000 |
Ha-meun |
| 19 |
Sip-gow |
100,000 |
Neung-saen |
| 20 |
Yee-sip |
1,000,000 |
Neung-lan |
Buy a phrasebook! The Rough Guide does a good
one, and I also use Robertson's Practical English/Thai Dictionary.
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