Just for fun, I’ve decided to add a new category to my blog titled “Thai language”. In here I’ll put some short items designed for the casual visitor to Thailand who’d like to have a few words or phrases in the local language to impress the girls with.
These items will be short, and focused on simple, easy to learn-easy to remember language.
These items are NOT intended to assist people who know the language or live here full time. They are also NOT intended to teach anyone to speak or read Thai. If you want to learn the language, buy a book, a CD or take a class.
I’m simply trying to entertain, and provide some simple vocabulary that people can retain and use on their next trip to Thialand.
So, for the first offering in the new “Thai Language” category, I offer you the opportunity to learn a few simple words that can be grouped to add over three dozen words to your Thai vocabulary. Have a look at the list below:
Lom (rhymes with ‘home‘) means wind or breeze
Lom yen = cool breeze
Pad lom = fan (for circulating air)
Lom toot = passing wind; flatulence; a fart
Yen means cool or cold
Yen sabai = comfortably cool
Doo Yen = refrigerator
Paa yen = a cool wet towel for wiping your hands or face
Jai means heart
Jai yen = “cool heart”; someone who is patient; unexcitable
Jai lawn = “hot heart”; impatient; angry
Nam jai = “water from the heart”; generous; unselfish; other-centered
Jai dam = “black hearted”; evil; bad intentioned
Nom (rhymes with ‘home’) means milk and is also the common term for a woman’s breasts
Nom yai = large breasts
Nom lek = small breasts
Nom lek lek = very small breasts
Nom su-waay = beautiful breasts
Naam means water (also liquid, juice or sauce)
Naam plaow = plain (clear) drinking water
Naam kaeng = ice
Naam Polamai = fruit juice
Naam Som = orange juice
Naam minaow = lime or lemon juice
Naam tangmo = watermelon juice (and so on…)
Naam chaa = brewed tea
Chaa minaow = lemon tea
Chaa yen = cold tea; iced tea
Chaa yen minaow = cold lemon tea
Chaa Nom yen = cold tea with milk
Hawng naam = toilet (hawng means room so this is ‘water room’ or ‘water closet’)
ab naam = shower or bathe (‘ab dat’ means sun-bathing or tanning)
Naam fon = rainwater
Dtok means fall or falling
Naam dtok = waterfall
Fon dtok = rain
Rot (rhymes with ‘boat’) means car or vehicle
Rot = car
Rot taxi = meter taxi
Rot fai = train
Rot fai faa = electric train
Rot fai tai din = underground train; subway
Rot tua (tour) = intercity bus
Rot mae = local bus or van
Rot air = air conditioned van or car
Rot dit = traffic jam (dit means ’stuck’)
If you didn’t figure out already:
toot = your bum; your butt; your ass (also called gohn — rhymes with ‘moan’ — in Thai)
sabai doesn’t translate as a single word in English, but it means comfortable, positive, satisfactory, copasetic
Paa = cloth or fabric
lawn = hot
dam (rhymes with mom or bomb if you’re American) = black (see dam is black colour; see daeng is red; see kiaow is green; see som is orange)
yai = large or big
lek = small
su-waay = beautiful (pu ying su-waay is beautiful girl; naa su-way is beautiful face, dtaa su-waay is beautiful eyes, pom su-waay is beautiful hair)
Polamai = fruit (som is orange; minaow is lime or lemon; tangmo is watermelon; saparot is pineapple)
tai / din = under / ground (or land)
