Colloquial Thai Terms and Expressions…

My name is Yuki Tachaya. I am a native Thai speaker (and a professional private Thai teacher). I’d like to share my knowledge of colloquial Thai with everyone here as I am well aware that Thai learners have difficult times learning colloquial terms and expressions because Thai textbooks hardly ever mention them, if they do at all. So these are some of the commonly and frequently used idioms and expressions in colloquial Thai that you have probably heard but never understood or have never heard before. Enjoy!

1. แบบ
Thai people use the word “แบบ” or sometimes “แบบว่า” as a filler word in pretty much the same way that English speakers use the word “like”. If you pay attention, you would probably hear Thai people say this every day. Example: เขาบอกฉันตรงๆว่าฉันอ้วน ฉันก็แบบ..ไม่ต้องบอกก็ได้มั๊ง (He told me flat out that I was fat so I was like.. he doesn’t really need to tell me this, does he?)

2. บ่นเก่ง
a verb followed by เก่ง is quite often used in colloquial language. It literally means to be good at doing something. “บ่นเก่ง“ means “good at complaining.” However, Thai people use this idiom far more often and with more things than English speakers use “to be good at“. Sometimes, it means “do something all the time” rather than “good at doing something”. For example, พ่อสูบบุหรี่เก่ง ส่วนลูกก็ช้อปปิ้งเก่ง The father is a chain-smoker while the daughter is a shopaholic.

3. เนียน
“เนียน” is a popular slang word among teenagers and young adults. It gets used in various contexts and the meaning keeps changing. It could mean anything from “to fit perfectly” to “to pretend nothing happened” or “to act innocent” to “to pretend one doesn’t know something”, depending on the context. “เนียน“ is very similar to the action of “camouflaging”, where you don’t get noticed and just blend with the environment.

For example:

เขาโกหกได้เนียนมาก
He could fool everyone with his lies.
(Nobody could notice there was something wrong)

อย่ามา(ทำ)เนียน ฉันไม่โง่นะ
Don’t act like nothing happened. I’m not stupid.

ไม่รู้ก็ไม่เป็นไร ทำเนียนๆไปไม่มีใครรู้หรอก
It’s OK if you don’t know. Just pretend you do, nobody would notice.

4. ตรงไหน
“ตรงไหน“ literally means “where”. If you say “ชอบตรงไหน”, it means “What do you like about it?” (What aspect of it do you like?) We think of aspects as spots so we ask where referring to which spots. Moreover, we also use “ตรงไหน” in phrases like “สวยตรงไหน” meaning “How is she beautiful?” and that suggests that the speaker does not think she is beautiful. Another example, “แก่ตรงไหน” How am I old? (I’m not old!)

5. ไม่เห็น
“ไม่เห็น“ followed by an adjective, a verb or an adverb is commonly used among people of all ages. The literal meaning of ไม่เห็น is “to not see”. For example, “ไม่เห็นสวย” means “It’s not beautiful” or “I don’t see how it is beautiful.” You use “ไม่เห็น“ to give an opinion that is different from what other people or most people think or that turns out to be different than expected. You can even use both “ไม่เห็น” and “ตรงไหน” together, such as “ไม่เห็นสวยตรงไหน”.

6. เก่งออก
An adjective followed by ออก is another idiom that is frequently used in colloquial language. Literally, “ออก” means “out” but we often use “ออก“ in this context when you want to contradict other people’s opinions. For example, if you say “เขาเก่งออก”, it means “I think he’s quite good!” implying that other people or someone else doesn’t think the same. Usually you use it after someone has already given his opinion first. For example, A: ร้านนี้ไม่เห็นอร่อยเลย (The food here doesn’t taste good like I thought!) B: ฉันว่าอร่อยออก (I think it’s pretty good!)

7. ทิ้ง
Most people probably know the expression “บอกรัก” which means to confess one’s love. When you break up, the person who breaks up is the person who “บอกเลิก” and the other party is the person who “ถูกบอกเลิก”. “ถูก” followed by a verb is a passive voice structure. In colloquial language, we say “ทิ้ง” which means “to throw away” in the context of relationships. “ทิ้ง” (to dump) is a more informal version of “บอกเลิก” while “ถูกทิ้ง” (to be dumped) is also the same as “ถูกบอกเลิก” in meaning but more informal. It also sounds more emotional as well. People usually empathize with the person who “ถูกทิ้ง”.

8. แถม
Generally, แถม means to “give away something for free” usually after someone has already made a purchase of something else. “ของแจกฟรี” means a freebie or a give-away and “ของแถม’ means a gift or a premium. You get “ของแถม” for free in additional to what you buy. However, in colloquial language, “แถม” has another meaning, that is “moreover” or “plus”. For example, ผู้ชายคนนี้โคตรหล่อแถมยังใจดีอีก, This guy is super hot, plus he’s also a kind person too! (implying that the second quality comes as a gift.)

If you wish to learn more colloquial terms and expressions, please visit my website Pick Up Thai where I devote to teach Thai learners what textbooks don’t usually teach and post everything I know that I believe to be useful for Thai learners from my perspective as a language learner myself. See my Youtube video on colloquial expressions. There’s even more on my YouTube Channel: pickupthai :)

Yuki Tachaya
Pick Up Thai | YouTube: pickupthai | twitter: @PickupThai

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Harlan Wolff
Nationality: British
Age range: 50-60
Sex: Male
Location: Bangkok
Profession: Private Investigation and Author
Website/blog: Harlan Wolff

What is your Thai level?

Fluent spoken Thai.

Are you Intermediate/Advanced/Fluent or a combo?

Fluent.

Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai?

Professional Thai.

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

The need to survive.

Do you live in Thailand? If so, when did you arrive?

I have lived here since 1977.

How long have you been a student of the Thai language?

From my arrival in 1977.

Did you learn Thai right away, or was it a many-pronged approach?

During the periods I lived and worked amongst Thais it came quickly. When I was living like a foreigner it stalled.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

No. My learning was not planned in that way. It was more about circumstances and need.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

I jumped in.

Did one method stand out over all others?

Having a thick skin. Thais love to ridicule the beginner.

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

I didn’t.

Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?

I didn’t try.

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

When I turned the tables on somebody trying to laugh at me speaking Thai and everybody laughed at him instead.

How do you learn languages?

Like a small child. Hearing words and repeating them.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

My strength was I mixed with senior people/my weakness is the older I get the less I seem to use it.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

That the tones are a problem. Thai people don’t consciously label the tone they are using they just know whether it sounds right or not.

Can you make your way around any other languages?

No.

Were you learning another language at the same time as Thai?

No.

What advice would you give to students of the Thai language?

Just dive in and don’t be embarrassed.

How did you get into the PI trade?

Serendipity. People came to me when they had a problem and one day I printed a name card and started charging for it.

Besides learning the local lingo, what other skills did you need to learn as an expat PI?

It is essential to understand the society that you are operating within. Most people that attempted to do what I did didn’t last long.

What was your Thai ability when you first started working as a PI in Thailand?

Fluent already.

As a PI, what specialised Thai vocabulary and phrases did you acquire?

Police and lawyer jargon and topical jokes.

What is your most memorable Thai language moment as a PI?

Being asked to help police on cases that were multi-cultural.

I am described as a PI because business requires a name. In reality I invented a role for myself. Cross-cultural troubleshooter is probably closer to the truth. There was some old fashioned gumshoe stuff over the years but not enough to give me sunburn.

Harlan Wolff
Harlan Wolff | Facebook: Author Harlan Wolff | twitter: @HarlanWolffBKK

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Harlan Wolff, Philip Lattimore, Antonio Graceffo, Mark Kent, Dr. Larry Dinkins, Don Sena, Scott Earle, John Boegehold, Justin Travis Mair, Stephen Thomas, James (Jim) Higbie, Mark Hollow, Marc Spiegel, Daniel B Fraser, Rick Bradford, Adam Bradshaw, Fabian Blandford, Luke Cassady-Dorion, Nils Bastedo, Grace Robinson, Aaron Le Boutillier, Ryan Zander, Joe Cummings, Hamish Chalmers, Andrew Biggs, Ian Fereday, Doug, Gareth Marshall, Martin Clutterbuck, Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj, Herb Purnell, Celia Chessin-Yudin, Stickman, Thomas Lamosse, Vern Lovic, Colin Cotterill, Jonathan Thames, Hardie Karges, Peter Montalbano, Jonas Anderson and Christy Gibson, Paul Garrigan, Marcel Barang, Larry Daks, Chris Baker, Hugh Leong, Terry Fredrickson, Glenn Slayden, Rikker Dockum, David Smyth, Tom Parker, David Long, Aaron Handel, and Chris Pirazzi.

If you are a successful Thai language learner and would like to share your experiences, please contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

Thank You for Voting: Top 25 Language Lovers of 2013…

This year WLT came 14th in the Top 25 Language Learning Blogs of 2013. Not too shabby, considering all the wonderful blogs entered in the competition this year. With many upping their game, I figured it was going to be tough – and it was!

A huge thanks from me goes to the hardworking team at bab.la and Lexiophiles for arranging this quality competition, to all my friends who showed their support with tweets and FB likes and comments, and to everyone who voted.

I also want to thank WLT’s guest writers, especially Hugh and Tod. Their posts are what makes WLT what it is, a true Thai language blog.

Hugh Leong writes the popular Thai Language Thai Culture. Hugh can also be found at Retire 2 Thailand and Retire 2 Thailand: Blog.

Tod Daniels reviews Thai Language Schools in Bangkok. His new section, Tod’s Thai has been a hit too.

This year Hugh and I are teaming up to give you an exciting new series: Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary. Other Thai speakers are being invited to write select posts in the series as well, so please stay tuned!

Introduction: Using High Frequency Thai Vocabulary…

I’m proud to announce the High Frequency Thai Vocabulary series! After spending months sorting out a manageable vocabulary list, we are finally ready to launch.

In a nutshell, once a month, using a Top 3000 Thai Vocabulary List, we’ll share patterns created via category. Hugh Leong (retirement blogger and Thai phrasemaker extraordinaire) will tackle the more complicated Thai patterns. As Hugh is megga busy, I’ll jump in with the simpler arrangements. And as this is going to be quite a large project, those who are knowledgeable are more than welcome to contribute.

In the comments of each post you’ll be invited to share the phrases you created from the patterns and vocabulary. A follow-up post will include the usable phrases with free audio downloads. So please, don’t be shy! If you want to take advantage of getting your phrases spoken by a natural Thai speaker (not google translate) then this is your opportunity.

Note: There will be no transliteration included in this series. If you do desire transliteration, feel free to add the transliteration of your choice to the free pdf downloads offered in each post.

A recap on the top 3000+ Thai vocabulary list…

As explained previously, to create the list I started with Thai Frequency Lists.

Combining choice lists in a spreadsheet, I handed it over to programmer Mark Hollow, who then collated 17,000++ words down to 6000 (give or take). After adding the vocabulary from Essential Thai as a quality marker (thanks Jim!) a Thai teacher and I trimmed the list down to 3000 and a bit.

You can download the spreadsheet here: High Frequency Thai Vocabulary list

Note: As we work through the series the Thai vocabulary list will be tweaked - words added and deleted, categories refined - so expect updates in each new post.

Curious about how others gathered vocabulary used in their Thai courses, I went to Jim Higbie (Essential Thai) and Benjawan Becker (Paiboon Publishing).

James (Jim) Higbie: When I chose the basic vocabulary for the first part of Essential Thai I took an “organic” approach, that is I took words that Thais used in basic conversation – the words you would most often hear Thais saying. This is a good way to approach Thai because the language is very much attached to Thai culture and their discourse.

Benjawan Becker: I design the subject for each lesson first and then come up with vocabulary and sentences.

Good to hear! Just like Jim, we chose the most common words out of the tens of thousands found in the Thai frequency lists. And similar to Benjawan, each post will focus on an individual subject.

Please stay tuned for Hugh’s first post: The Thai Double อยู่