• ต่อมอยากรู้ จัง!
DTÀWM-YÀHK róo jung
I just gotta know.
Stuck On, Addicted To or Obsessed With
The phrase มัวแต่ [mua-dtàe] in Thai get rights to the point. It can be translated as stuck on, addicted to or obsessed with and just sounds cool to use.
• ทำไม คนไทย มัวแต่ เรียนภาษา อังกฤษทั้งๆ ที่ พวกเค้าเรียน ไม่เป็นชะที เลย
tam-mai kohn-tai MUA-DTÀE rian pah-sǎh ’ung-grìht túng-túngtêe pûak-kâo rian mâi bpehn sá-tee leri
Why are Thai so obsessed with learning English if they can’t learn it for shit?
• แบบว่าแก มัวแต่ มี ปัญหากะ ทุกคน
bàep-wâh gae MUA-DTÀE mee bpun-hǎh gà took kohn
It’s like he’s addicted to having problem with everybody.
I Don’t Get Why...
The phrase ไม่เห็นต้อง [mâi hěhn dtâwng] can be translated as I don’t get why... or I don’t see why... This is good for showing your displeasure with someone’s actions without having to sound whiny.
• ไม่เห็นต้อง เสียมรรยาท เลย
MÂI-HĚHN-DTÂWNG sǐa má-rá-yâht
I don’t get why ya gotta be so impolite.
• ไม่เห็นต้อง เข้ามา ทำ ตัวงี่เง่าจัง
MÂI-HĚHN-DTÂWNG kâo mah tam-dtua ngêe-ngâo jung
I don’t see why ya gotta come round here startin shit!
Well..., Uhhhh..., Ummm..., So...
The most basic of all utterances are those Ummm or Uhhh sounds that can escape our mouths when our brains haven’t quite caught up to what it is that we want to say. When you don’t know what to say, or you reach a point in a sentence where you can’t think of what to say, the slang meaning of ก็ [gâw] or ก้อ [gâw] has an effect similar to Ummmm... or Well... in English.
• ถ้าเค้าไม่ ไป ชั้น ก้อ ไม่ ไป เหมือนกัน
tâh káo mâi bpai chún GÂW mâi bpai mǔean-gun
If he’s not going, then uhhh... I’m not gonna go either.
• ก้อออ ไม่ รู้ อ๊ะ
GÂW mâi róo ’á
Well, uhhh...I dunno.
• ในที่สุด ก็ ตัดสินใจปิดเว็บบอร์ด
nai-têe-sòot gâw dtùt-sǐn-jai bpìht wéhp-bàwt
In the end I... ummm... decided to shutdown the web-board.
Like...
To use the word like in Thai take a crack at แบบว่า [bàep wâh], or use it in conjunction with ก้อ [gâw] from above.
• แบบว่า อยาก โชว์ ให้ นะ
BÀEP-WÂH yàhk choe hâi ná
I just wanna like show it off.
• คือว่า... แบบว่าแบบว่... ไม่ มี ปัญหาค๊ราบ
kue wâh BÀEP-WÂH BÀEP-WÂH mâi mee bpun-hah kráhp
Well, ya see... like, uhhhh.... I don’t have problem.
Just
The word just as in just do it! can best be represented by the Thai word เลย [leri]. As you get better in Thai you’ll realize that there are a lot of different ways to use เลย [leri], but for our purposes here I want to stress the colloquial use of just.
• ไม่ เป็นไร ถ้าเรา ไม่ มา ก็ ไป เลย ก็ ได้
mâi-bpehn-rai tâh rao mâi mah gâw bpai LERI gâw dâi
Don’t worry about it! If I don’t come then you can just go.
• ไม่ เห็นต้องขอ น่ะเอา ไป เลย
mâi hěhn dtâwng kǎw nâ ’ao bpai LERI
I don’t see why ya hafta ask— just take it!
All Those Weird Endings
There’s a ton of different ending particles that you can throw to the end of any Thai sentence or phrase and the meaning of the sentence will totally change. The two most common ones for beginners of the Thai language are the super polite ครับ [krúp] and ค่ะ [kà] for guys and girls, respectively. While these are incredibly useful they are also incredibly boring. Nothing—and I mean nothing—will make you sound more like a dweeb then to continue using these for every situation. The Thais will tell you that, “Oh, you’re so polite,” or “Wow, how cute!” and will discourage you from using what I’m about to teach you, but don’t give in! The truth is that they simply don’t want you to know too much. The more of these you learn the more Thais will be wary of you in general. But the flip side to that is that they won’t see you as a pushover. I want to help you succeed in the latter.
Since there isn’t room in a book like this to go into all the various endings, I want to stress the most important and most slangy. These will help to get Thais to start taking you seriously. The most common particles after ครับ [krúp] and ค่ะ [kâ] are นะ [ná] with a high tone and น่ะ [nâ] with a falling tone. The first one is used to soften a phrase, while the second is used to mildly strengthen a phrase. Sometimes they are also pronounced as long vowels for extra effect as นา [nah] and น่า [nâh]. If you don’t already use these regularly, start now! There’s no excuse to not have an ending particle of some sort for every phrase you utter. The sooner you start to use these, the sooner you’ll start to sound more natural. When you can’t think of any others to
