Thai Language Blog

Languages naturally develop shortcuts to speech. Any word thats spoken really often, involves too many syllables, and/or perhaps is difficult to say will likely be shortened in every day speech. And of course, slang used long enough becomes part of normal discourse.

In this case, language shortcuts in reference to nationalities. For example, in English, we often refer to the British as ‘Brits’ or the Vietnamese as ‘Viets’. There are much less polite (and possibly racist) terms to refer to Chinese (chinks), Ethiopians (skinnies), Vietnamese (Charlie), Japanese (Japs), etc.

Yes, Thai has rude racist terms to refer to other nationalities, too. But I’m not going to teach you that . . . at least not today.

Americans

So let’s start with Americans. More specifically, the United States’icans. Or whatever. Anyway, Thais refer to the North American continent as ‘America’ aa2meh1ri4gaa1 อาเมริกา. But that’s just too complicated with way too many syllables and tones, so they are much more likely to just say meh1ga1 เมกะ. In other words, Americans are called kon1 meh1gaa1 คนเมกา. I guess that makes me a Megaman!

Indonesians

Another exception is with Indonesians. While it’s perfectly ok to say kon1 in1do1nee1siia1 คนอิโดนีเซีย, that’s too many letters and syllables. Often times it’s abbreviated as คนอินโดฯ, and so this results in people simply saying kon1 in1do1 คนอินโด.

Vietnamese

Now, things get a bit more complicated with the Vietnamese as they have three different ways to be referred to. One is racist and rarely used so I won’t teach that. The second, and easiest, way is kon1 weit3naam1 คนเวียดนาม. Although perfectly correct, it’s mostly reserved for only written Thai. The most used for spoken Thai is kon1 yuan1 คนญวน.

Africans

Africa is that type of continent where most people think of it as just one big country. It’s that hot dry blob of mass far over there with nothing but starving people and civil wars. The average person – of any western or Asian country – likely couldn’t name more than two or three countries within Africa. And likely couldn’t find any on a map. Thai’s are no exception. Now, it’s not to say the average person isn’t intelligent, it’s just Africa doesn’t play much of a part in the international world, ie out of site out of mind. So what do you do if you’re from Africa and a Thai asks you your nationality? For a short answer, suck up your national pride and just answer kon1 aae2fri4gaa1 คนแอฟริกา. If you have plenty of conversation time, feel free to be more specific and tell them about your country.

Or maybe say something complicated like, ‘I’m from Ghana, a country located in western Africa’. But that’s beyond beginner level, so I won’t teach that here today.

South Americans

If you’re from South America, to the Thais your continent is just one more big blob of mass that doesn’t do anything. Just take my advice for Africa above and say you’re from aa2meh1ri4gaa1 dtai3 อาเมริกาใต้.

Arabs

With the exception of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the Arab world is also fairly unknown to Thais. The [polite] way to say you’re from the Arabic region is kon1 aa1rab2 คนอาหรับ.

Others

There are two more regions of the world that Thais generally aren’t even aware that exist. One is the entirety of Central America (with the exception of Mexico), and the other is the eastern European block.

One last note: I am of course stereotyping with my above statements. Any well educated person, Thai or any other nationality, will of course be much more geographically aware of the world. Those involved with the tourist industry will also know much more than the average Thai as well. Use your best judgment.

If someone asks what your nationality is, how would you answer? Most nationalities are easy to say in Thai. You just say ‘person’ followed by the country name.

The word for person in Thai is kon1 คน. The word for China is jeen1 จีน. So for example, to say ‘Chinese’, you’d say kon1 jeen1 คนจีน.

Now, if you wanted to make it a complete sentence, you will need to add ‘I am…’. The word for ‘I’ is pom5 ผม for guys and chan5 ฉัน for women. The word for ‘am’ or ‘to be’ is bpen1 เป็น. So ‘I am’ translates to pom5 bpen1 ผมเป็น.

I am Chinese.

pom5 bpen1 kon1 jeen1

ผมเป็นคนจีน

I am Canadian.

Chan5 bpen1 kon1 caa1naa1daa1

ฉันเป็นคนคานาดา

Test yourself by saying what your nationality is out loud. There are a few optional exceptions to this rule, of which I’ll cover in a later post.

Asking a person’s nationality follows the same basic grammar structure. The word for ‘you’ is khun1 คุณ. The word for nationality is chaat3 ชาติ. The word for ‘which’ is nai5 ไหน, and goes at the end of the sentence to form a question.

What is your nationality?

khun1 bpen1 kon1 chaat3 nai5?

คุณเป็นคนชาติไหน?

Instead of the word ‘nationality’, you can also use the word ‘country’. This is the more common way to ask a person’s nationality.

What is your [birth] country?

khun1 bpen1 kon1 bpra2tet3 nai5?

คุณเป็นคนประเทศไหน?

If you noticed above, I used the word ‘what’ in English but ‘which’ in Thai. You can also use the word ‘what’ (a1rai1 อะไร) if you really wanted to, but it can come off as a little harsh if you aren’t careful.

What is your [birth] country?

khun1 bpen1 kon1 bpra2tet3 a1rai1?

คุณเป็นคนประเทศอะไร?

Instead of directly asking for nationality, you can also use the words ‘come from’, or maa1 jaak2 มาจาก. This isn’t so common, but still occasionally said.

What country did you come from?

khun1 maa1 jaak2 bpra2tet3 a1rai1?

คุณมาจากประเทศอะไร?

A final note . . . if the person asking is looking at you when asking this question, it’s assumed they mean ‘you’. As such with the Thai language, anything assumed can be deleted from the sentence.

What is your nationality?

bpen1 kon1 chaat3 nai5?

เป็นคนชาติไหน?

There are approximately 150 countries in the world. The average person probably couldn’t name more than half from memory, and point to likely even less on a map. This isn’t necessarily to say they are ‘uneducated’, it’s just we only learn what we are exposed to. For example, in Thailand, Thais are exposed to the countries that border it – such as Burma, Laos, Cambodia, and to a lesser extent Malaysia. They are also exposed to cultures from other countries that are important to them – especially Korean, Japanese, and American export culture. They are exposed to culture due to historical influences, such as immigration from China, Buddhism from India and Nepal, and American influences from the Vietnam War era. And more recently, Thailand has been influenced by tourists from around the world that decided to make Thailand their home away from home.

As such, I’m not going to list all 150 countries in Thai. I don’t want you to spend weeks memorizing something you’ll never even use until you’ve long forgotten it. Instead, I’ll list the countries that will most likely come up in conversations while speaking Thai.

Before we start, the Thai word for country is bpra2tet3 ประเทศ. As for the tones, ~80% of all syllables in the country names will use the mid-tone. If you cannot remember the tone while in conversation, just use the mid tone.