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Thai Pronunciation

Different Tones, Different Meanings in Thai

Blog Image_Different Tones, Different Meanings

Why Thai Tones Matter!

Did you know that saying “maa” the wrong way could mean “horse” instead of “come”? 🤯

Thai is a tonal language, meaning the way you pronounce a word changes its meaning completely! For beginners, this can be tricky, but don’t worry—I’ll break it down in an easy, practical way.

By the end of this blog, you’ll:

✅ Understand the 5 Thai tones
✅ Learn common tone mistakes (and how to avoid them)
✅ Practice with fun and useful examples

Let’s get started! 🚀

Table of Contents

The 5 Thai Tones Explained

Thai is a total language. It means that the meaning of a word is defined by tone of the syllable. There are in total 5 tones in Thai which are: 

💡 Pro tip: With the English transliteration, you can see the symbol on top of the vowel. The symbols define the tone of the syllable. Unless, there is no symbol, the tone of the syllable is flat.

Tone Thai Example Transliteration Meaning
Mid Tone มา maa Come
Low Tone หม่า màa –
Falling Tone ม่า mâa Grandma
High Tone ม้า máa Horse
Rising Tone หมา mǎa  Dog

⭐️ Notice how changing the tone completely changes the meaning of the word!

Tone Comparison with Real-World Examples

1. ข้าว (kâao) vs. ขาว (kǎao)

  • ข้าว (kâao) [Falling Tone] = Rice 🍚
  • ขาว (kǎao) [Rising Tone] = White ⚪

✅ Example Sentence:

  • ฉันกินข้าว (chǎn gin kâao.) = I eat rice.
  • เสื้อตัวนี้สีขาว (Sûea tua níi sǐi kǎao.) = This shirt is white.

2. ใกล้ (glâi) vs. ไกล (glai)

  • ใกล้ (Glâi) [Falling Tone] = Near
  • ไกล (Glai) [Mid Tone] = Far

✅ Example Sentence:

  • บ้านของฉันอยู่ใกล้ตลาด (bâan kǎawng chǎn yùu glâi dtà-làat.)
    = My house is near the market.
  • เชียงใหม่ไกลจากกรุงเทพ (Chiiang-mài glai jàak grung-têep.)
    = Chiang Mai is far from Bangkok.

3. สวย (sǔay) vs. ซวย (suay)

  • สวย (sǔay) [Rising Tone] = beautiful 
  • ซวย (suay) [Flat tone] = unlucky

✅ Example Sentence:

  • คุณสวยมาก (kun sǔay mâak)
    = You’re very beautiful. 
  • วันนี้เป็นวันซวย ๆ (wan-níi bpen wan suay-suay)
    = Today is an unlucky day. 

4. หมา (mǎa) vs. ม้า (máa)

  • หมา (mǎa) [Rising Tone] = Dog 🐕
  • ม้า (máa) [High tone] = Horse 🐎

✅ Example Sentence:

  • ฉันมีหมาสามตัว (chǎn mii mǎa sǎam dtua)
    = I have three dogs. 
  • เขาชอบขี่ม้า (kǎo châawp kìi máa)
    = He likes horse riding.    

4. ป่า (bpàa) vs. ป้า (bpâa)

  • ป่า (bpà) [Low Tone] = Forest, Jungle
  • ป้า (bpâa) [Falling tone] = Aunt

✅ Example Sentence:

  • ฉันชอบเดินป่าเวลาว่าง (chǎn châawp duuhn-bpàa wee-laa wâang)
    = I like to walk in the forest (trekking) in the free time.   
  • ฉันไปหาป้าที่บ้าน (chǎn bpai hǎa bpâa tîi bâan)
    = I visit my aunt at her home.   

Related Sources

YouTube: Pronunciation 101: Master Thai Tones With a Visual Graph

YouTube: Confusing Thai words with tones – คาว ข่าว ข้าว ขาว เขา เข่า เข้า

Course: Thai Pronunciation Course

Categories
How to say this in Thai Thai Foundation

All meanings of ได้ (dâi)

Learn thai Word ได้ (dâi)

ได้ (dâi) is one of the most frequently used in daily Thai. Maybe it’s because this word has many meanings. In this post, I will teach you all meanings of ได้ (dâi) and ways to use it in your Thai sentences. Let’s enjoy!

Content Overview

ได้ dâi (Verbs)

ได้ (dâi) can be verbs in Thai.

1.  ได้รับ (dâi) = to receive to get
Please note that, many times Thai people just say “ได้” (dâi) for example, คุณได้เงินหรือยัง (khun dâi nguen reǔ-yang) = Did you received the money?   

2. ได้ยิน (dâi-yin) = to hear
คุณได้ยินฉันไหม (khun dâi-yin chǎn mǎi) = Do you hear me? 

3. อยากได้ (yàak-dâi) = to want to have/to get/to buy
ฉันอยากได้รถคันใหม่ (chǎn yàak-dâi ròt kan mài) = I want to have a new car. 

ได้ dâi as “Yes!”

The word ได้ (dâi) is used to confirm the possibility, ability, availability, and permission. So it can be a reply as “sure”, “of course!” or “absolutely”. 

When someone asked you to go to the cinema, and you want to respond as “yes, sure!”, you can say “ได้ (dâi)”.

ได้ + ending words

You can add some particles (ending words) to use with ได้ (dâi) to give specific feelings or implications. 

For examples
– ได้เลย (dâi loey) = Absolutely yes. 
– ได้สิ (dâi sì) = Ys, of course!
– ได้มั้ง (dâi máng) = Probably yes.

Example dialogue

A: คืนนี้เราไปดูหนังกันไหม (keun née rao bpai doo năng gan măi)
= Let’s go watch a movie tonight? 

B: ได้เลย (dâi loey)
= Yes, Absolutely!

ได้ dâi as “Verb Can/Could” 

The helping Verb “can” in Thai is ได้ (dâi). Please note that there are other words that can be used as “can” in English. For now, I will only explain the ได้ (dâi) as “can”.

If you put the word ได้ (dâi) at the end of the sentence, it works as Verb can.

Subject + Verb + ....... + ได้ (dâi)

ได้ (dâi) = “can” for availability 

If you want to state that something/someone is available, you can use ได้ (dâi).

For examples
– ฉันไปทำงานพรุ่งนี้ได้ (chǎn bpai tam-ngaan prûng-níi dâi) = I can go to work tomorrow (because I am free.) 
– คุณใช้คอมเครื่องนี้ได้ (kun chái kom krêuuang née dâai) =You can use this computer (because no one is using it now) 

ได้ (dâi) “can” for ability 

If you want to state that someone has the ability to do something, you can use ได้ (dâi).

For examples
– ฉันขับรถได้ (chǎn khàb-rót dâi) = I can drive. (because I do not have a  visual disability)
– ฉันว่ายน้ำได้ (chǎn wâai-náam dâi) = I can swim (because I do not have skin infection) 

ได้ (dâi) “can” for permission

If you want to state that someone has permission to do something, you can use ได้ (dâi).

For examples
– เข้ามาได้ (kâo maa dâi) = You can come in.
– ฉันไปเที่ยวกับเธอได้ (chǎn bpai tîiaw gàb ter dâi) = I can go out with you (because my mom allowed me to)  

📍This topic is also taught in the Intensive Thai course. You can see the free preview lesson of the Verb “can/could” in Thai on YouTube. 

Tips for Verb can

As you learned above, there are many cases to use ได้ (dâi) as the “Verb can”. It depends on the context.
 
For example
ฉันนขับรถได้ (chǎn kàp-ròt dâi) means, I can drive.  
It can be because I do not have a visual disability, because I am available to drive or because I am allowed to drive. 

ได้ dâi for past tense

As you might know that there is no conjugation of verbs in Thai including for tenses, we use filling words (aka. particles) to indicate tense. ได้ (dâi) is one of the past tense indicators. 

📍 Learn more about Past Tense on our blog post (5-min read)

“Subject + ได้ (dâi) + verb” is one of the syntaxes for past tense as  “I got a chance to…”.

For examples

– ฉันได้กินเค้กแล้ว (chǎn dâi gin cake láew) = I already ate the cake. (got a chance to eat the cake)
– ฉันไม่ได้กินเค้ก (chǎn mâi-dâi gin cake) = I did not eat cake.  

Tips to differentiate “past tense” and “verb can”

As you can use ได้ (dâi) for both cases, here is a tip from me. Look at the position of ได้ (dâi): 

ได้ (dâi) at the end of the sentence = Verb can
ได้ (dâi) before a verb = Past tense

– ฉันกินเค้กได้ (chǎn gin cake dâi) = I can eat cake.
– ฉันได้กินเค้ก (chǎn dâi gin cake) = I got a chance to eat cake.

Summary

That’s it for the common ways to use ได้ (dâi) in Thai. One word can have many meanings and also use in different locations of a sentence. I hope you enjoy reading and learning from this blog post.

In case want to improve your Thai foundation and syntax, please feel free to check out the Intensive Thai course, a fundamental course to learn basic Thai foundation (A1-A2 levels). Or if you’d like to have lessons with our certified BananaThai teachers, please check out our private lessons.

Continue reading "All meanings of ได้ (dâi)"
Categories
Situational Thai Thai Foundation

Thai Past Tense อดีตกาล – Tell a story in the past

Cover Blog _ Past tense

Who said Thai doesn’t have tenses? That’s not true. We do have tenses like in English but do not have conjugation to indicate the tense, instead, we use Tense particles (words put into a sentence to indicate tense). In this blog post, I will teach you how to make sentences in Past Tense effortlessly. Let’s dive into it. 

Table of Contents

Tense indicators

In English, we use the conjugation of verbs to indicate tenses.

For example
– I “go” to school. (present simple tense)
– I “went” to school (past simple tense)

However, in Thai, we do not conjugate the verb form. It never changes. Instead, we do have a few words to put in the sentence and it will be understood as this already happened in the past.

Adverbs of time (for the past)

You can indicate the past tense by putting an adverb of time-related to the past. Let’s see some examples:

เมื่อวานนี้mêuua waan néeyesterday
เมื่อกี้mêuua-gêejust now
เมื่อก่อนmêuua gònbefore
ในอดีตnai à-dèetin the past
อาทิตย์ที่แล้วaa-tít têe láewlast week
เดือนที่แล้วdeuuan têe láewlast month
ปีที่แล้วbpee têe láewlast year

Once you put this word at the beginning or at the end of the sentence, this sentence turns out to be in the past form.

For examples
– ฉันกินผัดไทย chăn gin pàt tai) = I eat Pad Thai.
– เมื่อวานนี้ฉันกินผัดไทย (mêuua waan née chăn gin pàt tai) = I ate Pad Thai yesterday.  

– ฉันทำงานที่ประเทศไทย (chăn tam ngaan têe bprà-têt tai) = I work in Thailand 
– ปีที่แล้วฉันทำงานที่ประเทศไทย (bpee têe láew chăn tam ngaan têe bprà-têt tai) = I worked in Thailand last year. 

มา maa (When something happened somewhere else)

Subject + Verb + ......... + มา (maa)

This is one of the most common past tense forms we use in daily. Basically, we put the tense indicating particle มา (maa) at the end of the sentence. 

This form of the past tense is to tell what happened somewhere in the past, while the speaker is now in a different location in the present. 

– ฉันไปภูเก็ตมา (chăn bpai poo-gèt maa) = I went to Phuket.
– ฉันกินข้าวที่ร้านญี่ปุ่นมา (chăn gin kâao têe ráan yêe-bpùn maa) = I ate at a Japanese restaurant.  
– ฉันขับรถไปซื้อของมา (chăn kàp rót bpai séu kŏng maa) = I drove to buy something. 
– ฉันบินไปฝรั่งเศษอาทิตย์ที่แล้วมา (chăn bin bpai fà-ràng sèt aa-tít têe láew maa) = I flew to France last week. 

If you observe these examples close, you will see that many times, the verbs include movement such as ไป (bpai) = to go, ขับรถ (kàb-rót) = to drive, etc. Of course, you can also use other verbs as well in this form.

ได้ dâi (When something is completed, finished, ended)

Subject ได้ (dâi) + Verb ..... + แล้ว (láew)

This form is commonly used when you want to highlight an action that has already been completed, finished, or done. There are two past words in this form. ได้ (dâi) implies “I got a chance to …” and the word แล้ว (láew) means “already”. 

For examples

– ฉันได้เจอจอห์นแล้วเมื่อวานนี้ (chăn dâai jer jon láew mêuua waan née) = I already met John yesterday.
– คุณได้ไปซื้อของมาแล้วใช่ไหม (kun dâai bpai séu kŏng maa láew châi măi) = Did you go to shop already, right? 
– ฉันทำงานเสร็จแล้ว (chăn tam ngaan sèt láew) = I finished work already.

Please note that either indicating word can be obsolete or skipped.

 When the verb is not visually with motions or action

Non-action verbs = no indicator

For verbs with non-action that one can visually see, we do not need to put an indicator. We usually understood it from the context. 

คิดkítto think
รู้สึกróo-sèukto feel
รักrákto love
ชอบcháawpto like
เห็นhěnto see
เป็นbpento be
เข้าใจkâo-jaito understand
อยู่yùu

to be (located)

These words can be used in both presents tense and past tense without any other indicators needed. 

For examples:

– ฉันคิดว่าเขาสวย (chǎn kít-wâa kǎo sǔay) = I think/thought she is/was beautiful.
– ฉันอยู่ที่ลอนดอน (chǎn yùu tîi London) = I am/was in London. 
– เขาเป็นคนดี (kǎo bpen kon-dii) = He is/was a good person. 

Negative form

To build a negative sentence in the past form, you always need to add a negative particle “ไม่ได้” (mâi-dâi) before the verb. 

Subject + ไม่ได้ (mâi-dâi) + verb + ...

For examples

– ฉันไม่ได้ไปภูเก็ต (chǎn mâi-dâi bpai Phuket) = I did not go to Phuket.
– ฉันไม่ได้ไปทำงาน = I did not go to work. 
– เขาไม่ได้คิดว่าเขาสวย = I did not think that she is beautiful.  

Telling a story 

To tell a story that happened in the past, you only need to start with the first sentence in the past with the indicators mentioned above, the following sentences can be without a tense indicator as long as it’s still related to the first sentence.

Example story

เมื่อวานนี้ฉันไปกินข้าวที่ร้านอาหารญี่ปุ่นมา อาหารที่นั่นอร่อยมาก ฉันเลยโทรหาเพื่อนให้มากินด้วยกัน 

(mêuua waan née chăn bpai gin kâao têe ráan aa-hăan yêe-bpùn maa · aa-hăan têe nân à-ròi mâak · chăn loiie toh hăa pêuuan hâi maa gin dûuay gan)

Yesterday I went to eat at a Japanese restaurant. The food there was very delicious, so I called my friends to join me.

Learn More 

If you’d like to continue learning this topic of past tense in Thai, I made an episode on my Thai Podcast Channel on Spotify and YouTube. Please feel free to listen and enjoy learning with me. 

Summary

Unlike English, Thai does not have conjugation of verbs even for tense. We do have tense indicators in the forms of adverbs as well as particles (fill words). 

If you want to learn more about Thai tenses or any fundamental topics of conversational Thai and foundation. Check out the Intensive Thai course. It’s the best online Thai course to get started. 

Categories
Thai Foundation

Quick Guide to Thai Classifiers (units of noun)

Cover Blog _ Classifier

One of the most important concept to master Thai is classifier or units of nouns (ลักษณะนาม: lák-sà-nà-naam). This classifier concept is used in daily life especially when you want to tell an amount of things. You need to include the classifier of the noun. This guide will help you go through the important keys of this concept and finally be able to use it in your Thai conversation. 

Table of Contents

What are classifiers? 

Basically, they are words that are used with specific nouns. Each noun has a classifier word. This concept is also applicable in English for uncountable nouns. We usually add a unit of noun when telling an amount of uncountable noun in English. 

For example

– A “glass” of water in stead of a water.
– Two “baskets” of vegetables, instead of 2 vegetables.
– A “loaf” of bread instead of a bread. 

However in Thai, this concept is applied for both countable and uncountable nouns. So we can conclude that, we always use a classifier when telling an amount of noun. (Hence we also call it a unit of noun) 

How to use classifiers?

To talk about a amount of noun

Whenever you want to ask for an amount of noun or to tell an amount of noun, we need to include a classifier. 
 
How would you say this sentence?
“I have 2 dogs.”
 
If you want to say this according to English syntax, you probably say “ฉันมีสองหมา (chǎn mii sǒorng mǎa)”.
 
ฉัน chǎn = I 
มี mii = to have/has 
สอง sǒorng = 2
หมา mǎa = dogs
 
But this is wrong. In Thai, we say “ฉันมีหมาสองตัว (chǎn mii mǎa sǒorng dtua)”. The word ตัว (dtua) in the sentence is the classifier of the noun หมา (mǎa) or a dog. 
 

Syntax to tell Amount of Noun

Noun + Amount + Classifier​

For examples

1.) หมาสองตัว (mǎa sǒorng dtua)  = 2 dogs:

หมา (mǎa) is a noun. สอง (sǒorng) is an amount “2” and ตัว (dtua) is a classifier of dog and animals.

2.) นักเรียนหนึ่งคน (nák-riian nèung kon) = A student: 

นักเรียน (nák-riian) is a noun. หนึ่ง (nèung) is an amount “1” and คน (kon) is a classifier of human or person. 

3.) ฉันเอาเบียร์สองขวด (chǎn ao beer sǎam kùuad) = I want 3 bottles of beer. 

เบียร์ (beer) is a noun, สาม (sǎam) is an amount “3” and ขวด (kùuad) is a classifier as a container of food/drink. 

Ask about Amount of Nouns

And then you want to ask for an amount of noun, you can use this syntax:

Noun + กี่ (gìi) + Classifier = How many?

For beginners, you probably learned the word เท่าไหร่ (tâo-rài) as “how much/how many?”, but if you want to speak natural Thai, you better use the word “กี่ gìi”

For example

1.) หมากี่ตัว (mǎa gìi dtua) = How many dogs? 

หมา (mǎa) is a noun “dog”, กี่ (gìi) is a question word and ตัว (dtua) is a classifier of dogs or animals.  

2.) นักเรียนกี่คน (nák-riian gìi kon) = How many students?: 

นักเรียน (nák-riian) is a noun “student”, กี่ (gìi) is a question word and คน (kon) is a classifier of human or person.

3.) คุณเอาเบียร์กี่ขวด (kun ao beer. gìi kùuad) = How many bottle of beer do you want?

เบียร์ (beer) is a noun, กี่ (gìid) is a question word and ขวด (kùuad) is a classifier as a container of food/drink. 

To specify a noun

Whenever you want to ask someone to specify a noun, or when you want to specify a noun, you need to use a classifier.
 
A few examples of sentences that include specification of nouns are:

Which dog is yours? 
Which dish did you like the most? 
Which house is more expensive? 

This dog is mine. 
I like the last dish the most. 
The big house is more expensive. 

 
To ask a specific question with the question word “which”, we ALWAYS use a classifier with a noun.

Which one? 

Noun + classifier + ไหน (nǎi) = Which? ​

For examples

1.)  หมาตัวไหน (mǎa dtua nǎi) = Which dog? 
2.)  นักเรียนคนไหน (nák-riian kon nǎi) = Which student?  
3.) เบียร์ขวดไหนอร่อยที่สุด (beer kùuad nǎi, aròi tîi-sùd) = Which bottle of beer is the most delicious. 

To specify a noun with “the/this/that”, in Thai we use this following syntax with a classifier: 

Definitive Noun (This, That, The)

Noun + classifier + adjective

For examples

1.) หมาตัวนี้ (mǎa dtua níi) = This dog
2.) นักเรียนคนไทย (nák-riian kon Thai) = The Thai student 
3.) เบียร์ขวดเล็กอร่อยที่สุด (beer kùuad lék à-ròi tîi-sùd) = The small beer is most delicious. 

To use with adjectives of quantity

Some บาง (baang)

Noun + บาง baang + classifier = some ….

For example, 

1.) หมาบางตัว (mǎa baang dtua) = Some dogs
2.) นักเรียนคนไทยบางคน (nák-riian kon-Thai baang kon) = Some Thai students.
3. อาหารบางอย่าง (aa-hǎan baang yàang) = Some food

Every ทุก (túk)

Noun + ทุก túk + classifier = every ….

For example, 

1.) ร้านอาหารทุกร้าน (ráan aa-hǎan túk ráan) = Every restaurant 
2.) แมวทุกตัว (maew túk dtua) = Every cat
3.) เสื้อทุกตัว (sêua túk dtua) = Every shirt 

Many หลาย (lǎai) 

Noun + หลาย lǎai  + classifier = many …. 

For example, 

1.) ครูหลายคน (kruu lǎai kon) = Many teachers
2.) อาหารหลายจาน (aa-haǎn lǎai jaan) = My dishes of food
3.) โทรศัพท์หลายเครื่อง (too-ra2-sàb lǎai krêuang) = Many phones   

A list of Thai Classifiers 

Here I gathered all classifiers that are commonly used in daily life and grouped them in an easy way to remember.

Common Classifiers

Human / Personคน konex. นักเรียนหนึ่งคน (nák-riian nèung kon) = A student
Animals / Clothes / Furnitureตัว dtuaex. โต๊ะหนึ่งตัว (dtó nèung dtua) = A table
Fruits / spherical shapeลูก lûukex. กล้วยหนึ่งลูก (glûuay nèung lûuk) = A banana
Devicesเครื่อง krêuangex. โทรศัพท์หนึ่งเครื่อง (thoo-rá-sàb nèung krêuang) = A phone
Piece ofชิ้น chínex. เค้กหนึ่งชิ้น (cake nèung chín) = A piece of cake
Cars / bicycles / scooters / spoon / forkคัน canex. รถหนึ่งคัน (ród nèung kan) = A car
Housesหลัง lǎngex. บ้านหนึ่งหลัง (bâan nèung lǎng) = A house
Service units (restaurant, cinema, etc)ที่ tîiex. ข้าวเปล่าหนึ่งที่ (kâo-bplào nùeng tîi) = A unit of rice served
Pen, knife, axeด้ามex. ปากกาหนึ่งด้าม (bpàa-gaa nèung dâam) = A pen
Kindsชนิดex. สัตว์หนึ่งชนิด (sàt nèung chà-níd) = A kind of animals

Cheat word

If you do not really know the classifier of a noun, you can say อัน (an) for small objects.

For example, 
If you want to say “two glasses”, you can say “แก้วสองอัน gáew sǒorng an”. Thai people will surely understand you even though the correct classifier for most of containers is ใบ (bai).

Classifier for food and drinks

The classifiers for food and drinks in Thai are similar to English, we usually use the containers as a classifier. 

Food in a dishจาน jaanex. ข้าวผัดหนึ่งจาน (kâaw-pàt nèung jaan) = A dish of fried rice
Food in a bowl (noodles, soup)ชาม chaamex. ต้มยำหนึ่งชาม (dtôm-yam nèung chaam) = A bowl of Tom Yam soup
Sauce or food in a small saucerถ้วย tûuayex. ไอศรีมหนึ่งถ้วย (i-sà-cream nèung tûuay) = A small bow of icecream
Food in a box (take away)กล่อง glàwngex. ผัดไทยหนึ่งกล่อง (Pad Thai nèung glòng) = A box of Pad Thai
Food in a bag (take away)ถุง tǔngex. ก๋วยเตี๋ยวหนึ่งถุง (gǔay-tǐiaw nèung tǔng) = A bag of noodles
Drink in a glass or cupแก้ว gáewex. น้ำแข็งหนึ่งแก้ว (náam kǎeng nèung gâew) = A glass of ice
Drink in a bottleขวด kùuadex. โค้กหนึ่งขวด (Coke nèung kùuad) = A bottle of Coke
Drink in a canกระป๋อง grà-pǎwngex. สไปร์ทหนึ่งกระป๋อง (sà-príte nèung grà-pǎwng) = A can of Sprite

Practical examples

Let’s learn the usage of classifier in practical Thai dialogues. 

Project 2 bottles of waters

A: เอาน้ำเปล่ากี่ขวด (ao náam-bplaao gìi kùuad)
= How many bottles of water do you want?

B: สองขวด (sǒorng kùuad) 
= Two 

These are the most affordable cities in Ontario to buy a house | CTV News

A: บ้านคุณหลังไหน (bâan khun lǎng nǎi)
= Which house is yours?

B: บ้านใหญ่ๆหลังนี้ (bâan yài-yài lǎng níi)
= This big house. 

557,241 Classroom Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

A: ในห้องเรียนมีนักเรียนทั้งหมดกี่คน  (nai hôorng-riian, mii nák-riian táng-mòt gìi kon) 
= How many students in total in the class?

B: มีนักเรียนสามสิบคน (mii nák-riian sǎam sìb kon)
= There are 30 students.

Shopping Day วันแห่งการช้อปปิ้งของคนไทยและต่างชาติ - Garage Park

A: วันนี้อยากซื้ออะไร (wan-níi yàak séu à-rai) 
= What do you want to buy today?

B: อยากซื้อของหลายอย่าง (yàak séu kǒorng lǎi yàang)
= I want to buy many things.   

Summary

Learning classifiers or units of nouns is the must in order to speak Thai naturally. Even though this concept might not exist in your mother’s language, however it can be learned and you can master it with ease and use in your daily life. 

If you want to learn more about Classifiers or any fundamental topics of conversational Thai and foundation. Check out the Intensive Thai course. It’s the best online Thai course to get started. 

Categories
Thai Cultural Explained

Thai Traditional Activities During Songkran Festival (Besides splashing water)

Songkran activity

April is approaching. Many of you are getting excited about the Songkran Festival ประเพณีสงกรานต์ that is celebrated throughout 13-15 of April each year. It’s the biggest water festival on earth where people gather and have fun by splashing water and shooting water guns in the hottest summertime in Thailand.

Besides, the water party, Songkran is indeed full of traditional activities that reflect Thai values and cultures behind it. In this blog post, I will introduce you to Thai traditional activities celebrated during Songkran Festival.

Read a blog post to learn more about Songkran here:
All you need to know about Songkran Festival

Table of Contents


Flower-printed shirts

If you’re are in Thailand during Songkran, you will realize that many local Thai are wearing colorful flower-printed shirts. It looks similar to a Hawai shirt but full of flowers. These colorful printed shirts give a meaning of vibrance and positivity. 

Family Gathering

As Songkran days were announced as Thailand’s national public holiday as “the Thai New Year”, many people take this opportunity to return to their hometown and spend time with their family members in different generations. 

My family, for example, always meet on the 13th at our great grandparents’ house to cook, eat and meet together. It’s when we catch up and share our life stories. 

Pouring water on Buddha 

Thai people believe in cleaning and purifying lives with water. So we usually pour jasmine water on Buddha statues. This action will clean away bad luck for the coming year. Besides, Thai people believe that the element of water is cold and fresh. It’s a symbolic way of starting their new year with peace.

Pouring water palms of seniors to ask for a blessing

In some families, companies, or schools, we invite seniors of the community to sit down in a roll so we can pour the water on their palms and ask for a blessing. The activity is call รดน้ำดำหัวผู้ใหญ่ (ród-náam dam hǔa pûu-yài).This reflects the Thai value of respecting seniority. 

Paste the natural talc power on faces

As April is one of the hottest months of the year in Thailand, we use natural talc powder mixed with water to put on others’ faces softly with respect. This talc work as sunscreen to protect the sun UV. 

Temple fair 

If you live in a village or a smaller community, the center of the community is a temple wherein it held a religious ceremony, lessons as a school, as well as important meetings.

Temple fair is full of food vendors, games, as well as public Thai traditional dance or รำวง where folk music is played and everyone dances in a circle. 

Sand donation 

As mentioned above, Temple is the center of the community. People always come and go. We visit the temple a couple of times each year and surely we took some dirt and sand with our shoes. This period is the time we bring back the sand we took.

Many people brought a bag full of sand to the temple as a donation. This sand is used to carve different shapes and forms of pagodas by different organizations. Later on, the temple will use this sand to build and renovate construction in the temple. 

Beauty pageant contest

The last but not least, there is beauty content hosted during Songkran. We are looking for a Songkran pageant that is full of beauty and talents.

This tradition comes from the belief of folk story of 7 Songkran ladies or นางสงกรานต์ that will rotate each year to come in which each Songkran lady provides a prediction of the country’s situation and fortune. 

Now you already knew 6 traditional activities Thai people celebrate during the Songkran holidays. I hope I can show you that Songkran is not only about water fights and parties, there many other interesting and beautiful parts that come along.

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Uncategorized

20 common words and phrases that includes รัก (rák) “love” in Thai

Blog Image_Thai words with Love รัก

Let’s expand Thai vocabulary from learning 20 compound words and phrases that include the word รัก (rák) or to love in Thai.

Tips to learn Thai

Every time I want to look for a word or translation of a word in Thai, I normally visit the website http://thai-language.com.  To make more of this, I like to search Thai words to find synonyms and words that are related or contained the word you put in.

Many of these 20 words are also from the result of my search. I handpicked these phrases to teach you. So you can be sure that they are up-to-date and commonly used. 

Word and phrase list

 

1. รักแรก rák râek = first love

2. รักแรกพบ rák râek pób = love at frist sight

3. รักคุณเท่าฟ้า rák kun tâo fáa = My love for you is as big as the sky.

4. รักชาติ rák châad = to be patriotic

5. รักเดียวใจเดียว rák diiaw jai diiaw = to be faithful to one’s spouse or lover

6. รักแท้ rák-táe = true love

7. รักนวลสงวนตัว rák-nuan sà-ngǔan-dtua = to be reserved; shy; modest (traditional Thai value for ladies)

8. รักพี่เสียดายน้อง rák-pîi sǐa-daai nóorng = to be unable to make a choice; to be in two minds 

9. รักร่วมเพศ rák-rûam-pêd = homosexual

10. รักวัวให้ผูก รักลูกให้ตี râk wua hâi pùuk, râk lûuk hâi dtii = “Spare the rod, and spoil the child.” (Thai idoim)

11. รักสามเส้า rák sǎam sâo = triangle love 

12. รักสนุก rák sà-nùk = pleasure-loving

13. รักสบาย rák sà-baai = lazy

14. รักหลับ rák làb = to caress (someone) to sleep or while (he or she is) sleeping

15. รักใคร่สามัคคี rák-krâi sǎ-mâk-kii = to be united

16. รักแท้แพ้ระยะทาง rák-táe páe rá-yá-taang = Distance deteats true love

17. เรื่องราวความรัก rûeng-raaw kwaam-rák = Love story

18. รักร้าว rák-ráaw = broken love

19. ตกหลุมรัก dtòk lum rák = to fall in love

20. ความรักบังตา kwaam-rák bang-dtaa = to be blinded by love\

Categories
How to say this in Thai Situational Thai Uncategorized

Common New Year Wishes in Thai คำอวยพรวันปีใหม่

Cover Blog _ New Year Wishes
Cover Blog _ New Year Wishes

As many of you are celebrating the New Year and spending quality time with family and loved ones in Thailand, I would love to teach you how to say “Happy New Year!” in Thai. You will also learn some common phrases to wish your Thai friends, colleagues, and family during this joyful time.

Continue reading "Common New Year Wishes in Thai คำอวยพรวันปีใหม่"
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Uncategorized

The most common gift ideas for Thai people – What to buy for Thais?

gifts for Thai people

Christmas and New Year are coming. You might wonder what to buy for your Thai friends, colleagues, and family. Here are the tips with the 5 common gift ideas for New Year that Thai people enjoy.

Continue reading "The most common gift ideas for Thai people – What to buy for Thais?"
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Special Guests Thai Podcasts

Talk Thai with Dr.Donna Robinson from MedConsult

Great news! I am launching a new podcast series “Farangs Talk Thai” and The special guest for October is Dr.Donna Robinson from MedConsult. She will share her experiences of living in Thailand for more than 30 years, as well as the experience of learning Thai in order to pass Thai exams for a medical license. Let’s get to know her.

Continue reading "Talk Thai with Dr.Donna Robinson from MedConsult"
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Situational Thai

Extra polite Thai phrases used with a service staff

speak thai polite hotel

I am now Traveling in Phuket for 2 weeks and it’s been an amazing time here. The city started to feel more alive. I also enjoyed the beaches, hiking, coconut, and of course, the hotel I am staying in.

One thing I recognized is that the staffs are so well trained and polite. They speak such a nice and polite Thai here, even though it’s might be too polite to talk to friends. In this post, I would like to give you example sentences of extra polite Thai.

Continue reading "Extra polite Thai phrases used with a service staff"