Crazy Thai Language

Randomly today I was having a self-discussion about this topic, so I decided to go ahead and write a bit on it. As the title explains, Thai language is very unique. Most of you can probably guess this to be so since it’s a foreign language. However, having spent the last, maybe, 8 or so months learning it (I started to study it three months before I left for Thailand), I have come to the conclusion it is still weird. You’d think if you’re used to speaking it you’d be okay will all the weird rules, but nope. So here’s a list of the things Thai language has that are quite weird.

TONES

Anybody who has even attempted to learn Thai will tell you the tones are the bane of your existence. Let me explain. In English we all talk at generally the same pitch, Sure, sometimes we might be excited and talk with a really high voice, or be depressed and talk lower, but overall it’s the same. For Thai though, these changes in pitch are called tones. And every single word has them. This means even if you generally pronounce something correct, you can screw up and make it an entirely different word. A classic example is the word for “dog” and “horse”. Both of these are pronounced “maa”, however to say horse you have to have a higher pitch than you would for dog. And if you’re thinking this is just a minor inconvenience, allow me to tell you about the words for “near” and “far”. Guess what? They’re both “glaai”! Just different tones! Ay!

WORDS WITH NO ENGLISH MEANING

If you look up any Thai word in a translator, it will give you a general English word to compare it with. However, having experienced Thai from the locals, I kind of think some of these words are incorrect. One example is with the word “hong-nam”. If you put this in any translator it will tell you it means “bathroom”. The word itself though is made up of two separate words meaning “room” and “water”. In a sense, when talking about the bathroom, you’re really talking about the water room. How is there not an English meaning? Well you first have to step inside this said hong-nam. In Thailand the bathrooms are pretty much like American ones, except that room is rarely ever perfectly dry. This is because the way Thais clean their bathrooms is by washing all the dirt down the shower drain. Hence the reason it’s called the water room. I think personally these words are just my feeling, so it’s not really a Thai language thing, heh.

LAZY WORDS

I don’t think I really have to explain what I mean by this. Basically, Thai has some words that are so simple that it’s kind of lazy. You have the word for “to cook”, which is just the two words “make food” put together. The word for “ice” is literally “hard water”. And then you have “kind” that is just “good heart” Oh! But my favorite has to be the word for “parents”! It’s just “mom-dad”…

MULTIPLE USES

Then you have these words… These words are written and said the same way, yet mean two completely different things. In know we have a lot of these in English, but just figure I should let you know the Thais have them too. Now, when people are first learning Thai they probably think nearly all the words are identical. However, you have to remember the tones. Once you move these out of the way, there really aren’t too many words that are completely the same. The example that I can think of right now though is the word “bpen”. It means “to be” (for people), “to live”, “alive”, and “to be able”. Thankfully you can usually tell from the context which one it is. Although it gets a little tricky from the “to be” and “to be able”.

JAPANESE AND THAI DO NOT GET ALONG

At least their languages don’t. I took Japanese for two years in American school, so I am able to speak and understand a good bit. However, the meanings are so opposite it’s kind of scary! You have the Japanese word “blood”, but in Thai it means “pee”. Then there’s the word in Japanese for wonderful, but in Thai is means…well I don’t think I can say it on here. To top it all off, my Japanese friend’s name is Atsushi. I forever will feel bad for him since his name means…eh…well…I don’t think you need to know, haha!

Why do Thai People do This?

This post is not a rant nor an insult to Thai people. In fact, it's exactly what the title entails. Simply put, there are some things the Thais do here that I can't seem to find a reason for. In most cases I get a pretty good idea of what went through a Thai person's mind when deciding to do something one way and not another. To bring up an example, Thai women do not use tampons. Absolutely none of them. You go to the Thai grocery stores and find all the menstrual care products nothing except pads. Tampons don't exist! Hah! For those of you scratching your heads as to how anyone can justify this, allow me to let you in on Asian sexual culture. Put simply, most Asian people, Thai included, believe a woman can loose her virginity by using tampons. Unlike in the states, virginity here is seen as more sacred so women do not even want to risk losing it accidentally to such things as a tampon.

But today I'm here to talk about the things Thais do that I cannot seem to find a good reason for. If you happen to know the reason for these actions, by all means let me know and I will edit it into the post. Let me make myself clear though. I am not complaining about these actions, only stating they exist. By now I have gotten used to these things and just accept them with no hassle, so I really don't mind that this is Thai culture. So with that out of the way, let's begin!

Why do Thais - Think Your Stomach is Endless?

It happens all the time. I've just eaten the biggest dinner of my life and am so stuffed I am struggling against puking. When all of a sudden here comes a Thai friend handing me a huge slice of cake. And it's not like this friend didn't just see me eat 30 plates of rice. No, they are fully aware of how much I eat, yet they always insist I eat what they offer right then and there.

At first, this was hard for me to accept. However the trick I learned to get around it is to eat less at big meals to prepare for extra snacks. I only fill my stomach up about halfway and then say I'm full. That way if someone does give me food, I'll be able to eat it. And if they don't then I get to loose a bit of weight, heh.

Why do Thais - Always Say They're Fat?

This mostly applies to Thai girls, but I've seen guys pick out each other by saying one is fat...even when that person is the closest thing to skeleton. At lunch, my friends sometimes say they're not going to eat lunch because they are too fat. And if any of you have seen Thai girls lately, you'll see some of them are the skinniest human beings who could ever walk the Earth.

My friend, Jill's and my theory is that it's a way to fish for compliments. When someone says they think they're fat, everyone's initial reaction is to tell them they are not and to say how beautiful they are instead. Of course, that's just a theory. This still perplexes me each day...

Why do Thais - Not Learn Anything in School?

Before anyone gets angry, allow me to speak first. I am not saying Thais do not care about school. No, they certainly want those good test grades and such. However, the problem seems that they don't learn anything in school. Seriously, all Thai students (who have wealthy families) have extra tutoring, including my host sister. When I asked her why she goes to so much tutoring, she told me it's because the studies in school are not enough to pass the tests. Which means all the studying they do at school is completely useless. So...then what is the point of going to school?

Furthermore, I often see students on their phones during class as well as copying each others' tests and homework. Yet the teachers never do anything about it even when it's done in plain view. I can see why Thai students don't learn much in school. I just think my main question is why do they care about tests, but don't put in much effort? I really hope someone knows the answer to this one, hah.

Why do Thais - Start to Work so Late in Life?

Maybe I'm a little biased since I started my first job at just 14-years-old, but the Thais here don't even begin to work until they're like 25. One could argue that it's because of all the college they have to go through before they can get a decent job. However, in the states teenagers are still expected to get some sort of job, no matter how small, even when they're in college. Unless of course their parents are absolutely rich.

A theory for this I have is that Thai parents highly believe in supporting their children for as long as possible, no matter the cost. In the U.S. though we tend to think that making your child get a job to earn their own money and such helps to teach them independence, slowly. I can only imagine being 25, having your first job, and looking at moving out of your parents' home all at once. Would be some scary stuff there.

Why do Thais - Communicate Indirectly?

Say you forget to do the dishes one day and instead of telling you so, your mom chooses to tell your next door neighbor about your behavior. This is how Thai communication works. And personally, I don't quite see how it's effective. I understand it's all part of the culture and I am quite used to it by now. However, I don't see how one can think it's an effective way to communicate. Half of my problems could be solved instantly if the one offended just told me right away, but nope I gotta play the guessing game.

One thing I've done to get around this is to instead be the one who talks directly. Instead of waiting for my host parents to tell me what to do, I ask them first what I should do. By at least showing initiative, I make them happy and it works out fine. So if you ever go on an exchange to a culture with this kind of communication, just remember to be the direct one because your host family will likely not be.

Why do Thais - Worry so Much About Their Reputation?

Perhaps I'm a bit of a rebel, but I never knew anyone in my life that seriously cared about their reputation as much as the Thais. It's like here if you do one little thing wrong everyone expects you to care about it like you just committed murder. Which being a foreigner, I usually can't bring myself to care if everyone knows I draw doodles in my notebook.

I think I know why this is though. Thais LOVE to gossip. It's one of the side affects of indirect communication. The smallest of things are passed around to all different kinds of people. Things that most Americans wouldn't really think of as a great act of horror. So I guess for this one I kind of do understand not wanting to loose your reputation. But I have a feeling there's another reason I haven't found quite yet.

Why do Thais - Point Out the Obvious?

It's not secret. I'm not the skinniest person in existence. Yet for some reason Thai people seem to think I am not already aware of this myself. It doesn't really bother me, but whenever someone says, "Hey Miki, you should loose weight." I feel like saying, "Um, really? You think I haven't figure that out?"

I am really lost on this one. Especially because Thais normally choose to gossip about such things, so it's weird when they actually do point something out it's so obvious even a fly would know so, haha.

Why do Thais - Get so Jealous?

This might only be the case for a few people, but it's only ever occurred in Thailand so I'm calling it a Thai thing. So here's an instance. You just won a million dollars. Your friend is jealous so she proceeds to make your life horrible as much as she can. She tells everyone you're evil, steals your stuff, and in general makes sure to let you know she no longer likes you. In the states, sure people feel jealous. But we tend to not let it take over our own minds and try to ruin someone's existence for our own benefit.

However, this is what some Thai people do. Maybe it's just a personality thing...

Six Months!

It's September! Which means I've been here for about six months now, yay! So remember that "Back to School" thing I had planned? Well now it turns out I only have one week of school left on this semester before mid-way holidays (six weeks of freedom). I think if I wrote it now, it would be weird. So I will wait till next semester to start that up.

However, since this is when the holidays start, I'll be sure to post more about my new family and everyday life. My family also plans on traveling a lot so I'll blog about those things too. Don't expect the posts to be published at first. I'll probably get around to more blogging when the holidays officially get started. So until then just kind of chill, heh.

Will be back soon~