Two Months in Thailand Posted by sasha on Sep 3, 2014
สวัสดี! Hello again to all of our readers, The Thai Language & Culture blog has been on a bit of a hiatus as of late, but we’re happy to get things going again this fall. I’m Sasha, and I’ll be taking you on an epic tour of Thailand over the next several months with in-depth…
How to use Peua and Sumrap Posted by palmisano on Mar 24, 2014
In Thai there are two different words which mean ‘for’, but they are used in slightly different ways. The first is peuaF เพื่อ, and the second is sumRrapL สำหรับ.
Why does Thailand have Three Different New Years? Posted by palmisano on Mar 13, 2014
Thailand is the only country I am aware of that has three national New Year’s celebrations per year. 1) The traditional Thai New Years is called Songkran (songR graanM สงกรานต์), the famous three day nationwide water fight. This is always mid-April. Thais will flock out of Bangkok to see family in the provinces, causing massive traffic…
The Next King of Thailand Posted by palmisano on Feb 19, 2014
I’ll talk about the extremely taboo and very much illegal topic of royal succession. Who will be the next King? No Thai will publicly talk about the next King, as they are extremely emotional over the subject and it could result in years of imprisonment without trial (the infamous Article 112). Ask a Thai on…
The Many Sub-Languages of Thai Posted by palmisano on Feb 10, 2014
Thai is not just one language universally spoken in Thailand, but in fact there are many regional and local dialects, and yet more special manners of speaking given the situation. This article will list all the forms of Thai …
Introduction to Thai Politics, in 700 words Posted by palmisano on Dec 1, 2013
The story of modern Thai politics starts with the Siamese revolution of 1932, where republicans overthrew the monarchy and installed Thailands very first democracy. But although losing absolute power, the monarchy has always retained powerful supporters. Pridi Panomyong, the man who led the first uprising and founder of Thammasat University. He was exiled to France…
The Thai word for ‘to be’ Posted by palmisano on Nov 30, 2013
The Thai word เป็น bpenM is one of the most common words you’ll use in the language, and so is imperative that you understand it early on. It roughly translates to mean ‘to be’, similar to the Spanish word ‘ser’ for those who speak Spanish. เป็น describes a state of being, saying ‘this is the…