Did you know?

Thai script was invented by King Ramkhamhaeng (พ่อขุนรามคำแหง) in the year 1283. It has been used by the Thai people for as long as 734 years!…

Did you know? We use the same word for “bean”, “nut” and “pea” in Thai. To us, they are all “ถั่ว (tùa).”

ถั่วแดง [tùa daeng] red bean
ถั่วเขียว [tùa kiǎw] mung bean
ถั่วขาว [tuà kǎao] white bean
ถั่วดำ [tùa dam] black bean
ถั่วเหลือง [tùa leuǎng] soy bean
ถั่วฝักยาว [tùa fàk yaao] green bean
ถั่วงอก [tùa ngâwk] bean sprout
ถั่วลันเตา [tùa lan tao] snow pea
ถั่วลูกไก่ [tùa lûuk gài] chickpea
ถั่วลิสง [tùa lí sǒng] peanut
(ถั่ว)พิสทาชิโอ [tùa pít taa shi ô] pistachio
(ถั่ว)อัลมอนด์ [(tùa) ao mâwn] almond
(ถั่ว)มะม่วงหิมพานต์ [(tùa) má mûang hǐmmápaan] cashew nut…

We saw this tweet on Twitter and thought it would be interesting for you guys to learn this word, “เสือก [seùak]” so we translated the tweet for you. It is a bad word but definitely worth knowing. Thai people use it all the time. First, read the tweet.

สิ่งที่ทำ
(sìng tîi tam)

มัน: ยิ้มไรอะ คุยกับใคร
(man: yím rai à, kui gàp khrai)

กู: เปล่าค่ะ
(guu: plào kâ)
มัน: เปล่าอะไรเห็นยิ้ม แฟนหรอ
(man: plào arai hěn yím, fan rǎw?)…

เมื่อไหร่ที่รู้สึกว่าชีวิตไม่มีค่า
[mêurài tîi rúu sèuk wâa chiiwít mâi mii kâa]
Whenever you feel like your life is worthless,

จงออกไปช่วยเหลือเพื่อนมนุษย์
[jong àwk pai chûai lěua pêuan manút]
go out to help fellow human beings.…

ถึงเวลา [těung welaa] + verb + แล้ว [léaw]
= It’s time to….

ถึงเวลาเข้านอนแล้ว
[těung welaa kâo nawn léaw]
It’s time to go to bed

ถึงเวลากินข้าวแล้ว
[těung welaa gin kâao léaw]
It’s time to eat.

ถึงเวลาเรียนภาษาไทยแล้ว
[těung welaa rian paasǎa Thai léaw]
It’s time to study Thai.…

คนดีสำคัญกว่าทุกสิ่ง
[kon dii sǎmkan gwàa túk sìng]
Being a good person is more important than anything else.

เห็นด้วยไหมคะ
[hěn dûai mái ká]
Do you agree?

– – – – – V o c a b – – – – – (^ 3 ^)/*

คนดี [[kon dii]: good person
สำคัญ [sǎmkan]: important
กว่า [gwàa ]: than
ทุกสิ่ง [túk sìng]: everything
เห็นด้วย [hěn dûai]: to agree …

There are a lot of people of Chinese ancestry living in Thailand, especially in Bangkok. The dialect they use within their families is called “the Teochew dialect.” A lot of words from this dialect are understood by many Thai people. “อากู๋” [aa gǔu] is a Teochew word that refers to “a brother of one’s mother” or “maternal uncle.”…

ต้นไม้ [tôn máai] = tree
ต้น [tôn] + tree name = ….. tree

Example:

ดอกซากุระ [dàwk sakura]: Cherry blossom
ต้นซากุระ [tôn sakura]: Cherry tree

Photo taken by Yuki Tachaya at Big Bear city, California…

Did you know that it’s very easy to convert the Christian Era or the Common Era (CE: ค.ศ. คริสต์ศักราช, [krítsàkkaràat]) to the Buddhist Era (BE: พ.ศ. พุทธศักราช, [pútthasàkkaràat])? You can do that just by adding “543” to the Christian era.

For example,
2016 + 543 = 2559
ค.…

When you learn that you have a new project/assignment/gig coming up, you can use the phrase “งานเข้า” [ngaan kâo], of which the literal meaning is “a job/project came in.” Usually, it is a good thing when that happens but since you won’t be available to do anything else except for working on that project, it could be considered a bad thing as well.…

ประธานาธิบดี [prathaanaatipbawdii] President
สหรัฐอเมริกา [sahàrát America] The United States of America
คนที่ 45 [kon tîi sìisìphâa] The 45th (person)

Grammar – – – – ( ^ n ^ )

Noun + (Classifier) + ที่ [tîi] + number
= The first, second, third…(ordinal number)

Examples:

วันที่หนึ่งสิงหา [wan tîi nèung sǐng hǎa]
= วัน [wan] + ที่ [tîi] + หนึ่ง [nèung] + สิงหา [sǐng hǎa]
= Day + tîi + 1 + August
= The first (day) of August.…

Since Thai food is undeniably tasty and Thai cuisine is a huge part of the Thai culture, plus, good and cheap food is available everywhere you go, 24 hours a day, you might easily find yourself overeating while in Thailand. If you hear someone say one of these phrases below to you, you should probably try to eat a little bit less because that person is telling you that you eat a lot (and it often implies that you eat too much)

กินจุจังเลย [gin jù jang loei]
literal meaning: “You eat a lot!”…

เท่ากับ [tâogàp]: “as (adj./adv.) as”

Did you know that in informal Thai, you can omit the word “กับ” [gàp] in “เท่ากับ” [tâogàp] when you compare something to something else? It actually sounds better and more natural without it. Let’s take a look at the examples!

ไม่มีใครหล่อเท่าแฟนฉัน
[mâi mii khrai làw tâo fan chán]
Nobody is as handsome as my boyfriend.…

แกล้งโง่บ้างจะได้มีความสุข
[glâeng ngôo bâang ja dâai mii kwaam sùk]
Play dumb sometimes and you’ll be happy.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

แกล้งโง่
[glâeng ngôo]
To play dumb

จะได้
[jà dâai]
so that…

มีความสุข
[mii kwaam sùk]
To be happy…