There is no word in English to describe what a Gig (กิ๊ก tone 4) is, although culturally westerners have gigs as much as Thais do. It’s a word that comes up often, and important for you to learn and understand.

If you look up the word, or have heard of it before, you’ve probably *incorrectly* understood it as ‘friends with benefits’ or ‘sex buddy’. But that’s not exactly what a gig is.

A gig is anyone that’s ‘more than a friend’ มากกว่าเพื่อน, but ‘less than a girlfriend/boyfriend’ หน่อยกว่าแฟน. The meaning of the word can vary a bit from person to person, but a gig can be someone who you occasionally flirt with, or occasionally hold hands with, or have invited out to dinner once or twice, perhaps someone you’ve never met in person before but flirt with over MSN, or even an all out ‘sexy buddy’. A gig is anyone within that transition. If a girl says that she has ‘many gigs’ มีกิ๊กเยอะ, it could just mean guys like to flirt with her. If a guy says it, it could mean he is a ‘player’ . . . or maybe hiding the embarrassing fact from his buddies that he can’t get a girlfriend.

Is this word polite? I find it often used in jokes, and it’s not rude to say. However, suppose there is someone who is very interested in you, and both of you are in some way romantically involved. He/she asks ‘what am I to you?’, and you answer ‘you’re my gig’. Depending on how you feel, that can hurt! It’s almost like saying, ‘oh, you’re just a friend’ in English.

So, how many gigs do you have?