If you live in Thailand or have Thai friends, you might wonder how to say ‘Happy Birthday’ in Thai and how Thais celebrate their birthday.
Whether there is a big party, chocolate cake or many presents, what else do Thai people do to celebrate a birthday?
This blog post will teach you how to say ‘happy birthday!’ as well as various birthday wishes in Thai language. Besides, you will also learn the cultural part of how a Thai birthday party looks like.
Overview
How to say ‘Happy Birthday’ in Thai
You can actually say ‘Happy Birthday’ like in English but it comes with a Thai accent, so it sounds like แฮปปี้เบิร์ธเดย์ (hap-pi-berd-day). Well, that was not that fun. You should also learn how to say it in Thai:- สุขสันต์วันเกิด /suk-san wan-gued/ = Happy Birthday!
- สุขสันต์ /suk-san/ = Peace, Happiness
- วันเกิด /wan-gued/ = Birthday
Birthday Wishes
The most common wish is มีความสุขมากๆนะ /mii kwaam-suk maak-maak na/ which means ‘I wish you happiness.’
Oftentimes, we would use the word ขอให้ /khoor-hai/ as ‘I wish you’ and followed by specific wishes.
There are many different ways to wish Thais ‘Happy Birthday’. These wishes below are categorized according to the ages and the relationships between you and them.
Common wishes for friends
- รวยๆ /ruay-ruay/
= Wealth / Get rich! - สมหวัง /som-wang/
= Get what you wish, or dream for - โชคดี /chook-dii/
= Good luck! - กิจการรุ่งเรือง /gid-ja-gaan rung-rueng/
= Business goes well! - ประสพความสำเร็จ /bpra-sob-kwaam-sam-red/
= succeed - ได้แฟนสวย /dai faen suay/
= Get a beautiful girlfriend (finally) - ได้แฟนหล่อ /dai faen lor/
= Get a handsome boyfriend (finally)
Common wishes for children
- โตไวๆ /dtoo wai-wai/
= Grow up fast (and get smarter hopefully) - เป็นเด็กดี /bpen dek-dii/
= Be a good kid - เรียนหนังสือเก่งๆ /rian nang-sue geng-geang/
= Be good at school!
Common wishes for elderly people
- สุขภาพแข็งแรง /suk-ka-paab kaeng-raeng/
= Be healthy! - อายุมั่นขวัญยืน /aa-yu-man kwan-yuen/
= Live long!
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Thai Happy Birthday Song
How can I be so easy to sing the Thai Happy Birthday song! Because it’s actually in English. Again, it comes with the Thai accent.
Watch the video below to see how the two little kids sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in the Thai way. How cute!
How Thai people celebrate a birthday
Like in the western world, we do celebrate a birthday with a cake. We adopted the western cultures to sing Happy Birthday Song, blow candles, receive presents as well as throwing a party.
Some people also received a surprised birthday cake or cakes at work by colleagues, by family or by their partner. However, not everyone hosts a birthday party every year.
Thai way to celebrate a birthday
As you know the majority of Thais are Buddhists. We usually go to a temple in the morning to make merit or ทำบุญ /tam-bun/ by donating money, food, light bulbs, or anything that is useful for the temple as well as freeing fish and birds (give freedom) in order to start a new age with good karma.
Besides, gratitude toward parents is one of the biggest values in Thai culture. We would thank our parents to give life to us. So I normally took my parents for a nice dinner on my birthday. If I cannot really spend my birthday with my family, I always call them and tell them how I’m thankful to be their daughter.
Summary
Birthday is one of the most important days for Thai people to celebrate. we adopted the western way to celebrate a birthday with a happy birthday song, cake, and party. Not to mention, we even say ‘Happy Birthday’ in English as a common thing.
Nevertheless, there are many people who don’t really host a party at the same time, still being thankful and show gratitude toward their parents. I think it is a beauty of Thai value that family comes first.
I hope you learned how to wish your Thai friends Happy Birthday in Thai language as well as know a bit of the cultural part to celebrate a birthday in Thailand.
