P i c k u p T h a i

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…

Male polite particle::: ครับ [kráp] (always high tone!)
Female polite particles::: ค่ะ [kâ] and คะ [ká]

– – – – – When to use falling tone ค่ะ [kâ]
(in practice, often changed to low tone [kà])

1. At the end of a statement
2. After these following particles:
– เถอะ + ค่ะ [tèr kâ]
– อ่ะ + ค่ะ [à kâ]
– แหละ + ค่ะ [làe kâ]
– น่ะ + ค่ะ [nâ kâ]

– – – – – When to use high tone คะ [ká]

1.…