Hello everyone, I’m having a hard time with translating from Thai to English. I’m using Google translate with my boyfriend who is Thai and although the basic meaning of things will be there when we are having important conversations or trying to express ourselves there is a indirect undercurrent in his words that seems to have a deeper meaning that I’m not aware of. I am British so not completely foreign to being in direct and sugarcoating things or talking around the houses before getting to the point. I really want to understand him better and be able to navigate conversations more easily so I can communicate better in a cultural sensitivity sense….if that makes any sense at all. I have a good friend who is married to a Thai man and she has just enlightened me about this today but I feel like I’m driving her crazy with all the questions. I sent her screenshots of our conversations and she is saying how sweet he is being and Google Translate is translating it very basically and I am not sensing any sweetness whatsoever in what he’s writing. Is there any way to figure this out? For example, when he writes, I understand you, my friend is suggesting that he is saying that he understands me in a really deep level that it’s not just a basic flippant yes I understand what you just said. He is from south Thailand if that makes any difference. I have tried learning Thai and know incredibly basic vocabulary and sentences. I’m usually good at critical thinking and reading between the lines and decoding metaphors but this seems absolutely impossible and it’s driving me mad.

I feel that I’m asking a really abstract question and there’s probably not one answer to it but those of you who are non-natives who learnt about this can you please help me? Is there an atypical sentences or phrases that can be interpreted for a deeper meaning that I’m not aware of? I have looked online and found nothing, also this is my first Reddit post as I couldn’t find anything on Reddit about this either. I hope someone knows what on earth I’m talking about. Thanks so much.

Edit: we’ve been together for a year and a half and I feel terrible that I’ve essentially not “understood” him this entire time.

My husband will send me money with mobile banking. Western Union is my first idea, I'm currently in Lat Krabang area and in google maps or the WU apps itself i can't find any agent nearby. Has anyone else know any WU agent in Lat Krabang or know how to withdraw cash in 7/11 (cuz I see WU is affiliated with it in the app) please give me advices as I just lost my physical bank card and mobile banking access. Or did anyone use alipay here?

I am a 32/M on an educational visa for training and I will be living in Thailand for 6 months. I am from the Philippines and have visited Thailand once.

I am residing in an apartment near Victory Monument Station. I have exhanged money in Superrich Thailand and also withdrew money from Bangkok bank. I have a commuter card as well as an AIS sim card. Any other insights that can be useful?

I do not know anyone here and have no family. I will be getting to know those who I will be working with in my training and I will be asking them as well but I fear that they will not able to fully communicate their intentions. Also, I would like to know those with similar experience from me.

Thank you to all who could provide insights.

สวัสดีครับ. So I was raised in Bangkok at young age so I do have decent Prathom level Thai language. However, I pretty much only use them in casual, friendly, or family conversation. But pretty much live the remaining of my whole life abroad. So I really need some help on how to use Thai language professionally at work, without sounding too formal (if that even exist).

Now I am applying for a role for an MNC in Thailand, who are majority American, but my potential boss is Thai. Recently, we had a coffee and things were casual, we had convo in English, and I just addressed her by her name. For example, "Hi Pornthip (not her name), nice meeting you in person".

Then towards the end, she asked if I could speak Thai, after which I said Yes, but not too good. So she 'tested' me by having a little convo in Thai. Things were okay, but the whole time, I was struggling to use the right vocab, and the biggest dilemma in my head was "How do I address her?", so I just kinda intentionally skipped that thing while talking to her, so it was sorta an incomplete sentence lol.

I am 30, she's about late 50s -- so much older than I am. She addressed herself as "Chan: ฉัน" and dropped "Pii: พี่" here and there. So next time, should I be calling her "Khun Pii: คุณพี่ (Her name)" or "Pii - (Her name)" or "either of those alone, without her name"?

What are the other professional etiquettes in the use of language I should be aware of?

THANK YOU SO MUCH! ขอบคุณครับผม.

Hi,

I work in thailand in community development. I spend a lot of time meeting thais and sitting in meetings. I have an assistant translator and have been using google translate to live transcribe and translate conversations.

Anyone know of a better app? Google translate is barely ok when it comes to thai.

Thanks

I met a man with this surname the other day. It seemed very phonetically similar to me to other Southeast Asian names I have seen before - and the online name origin sites, notoriously unreliable, seem to give hits in that region - but I could not place it anywhere exactly (it only occurred to me after so I couldn't ask him). Would anyone here recognize it as Thai?

(His first name was George so that's not any great hint)

As a graduate with a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering currently residing in the Philippines, I am eager to find an engineering job in Bangkok, a city that has felt like home since my visit. could you suggest where I might look for job opportunities in Bangkok and whether it’s generally easy to find a position there?

I want to add these letters to my windows laptop keyboard. Like in this photo: How do I do it?

https://preview.redd.it/kmkyfjks2wxd1.png?width=679&format=png&auto=webp&s=7a9708d132b92794bd05b9b34386dd4501b29625

Do you like Thai food,such as Northern Thai food?
I am Thai, can you please answer my question? Because I want to collect information and want to communicate with everyone and exchange knowledge and feelings about Thai food tastes.

I got to Thailand last year and was taught to play Salaf (Slave). The version I was taught didn’t have the Joker involved, but when I went back to Thailand recently, my friends added Joker to it as a wild card. And there was another rule called revolution: when you played 4 cards with the same number, you can change the rank from 3,4,5,...,2, Joker to 2,A,K,Q,J,...,4,3, Joker. Is it an official rule in Thailand?

I honestly don't mean to be sleezy or vulgar. But like in America there are very vulgar terms for white woman that go with black men, mudshark and coalburner, etc. I'm not racist and do not condone the usage of the above terms, I'm asking for educational purposes.

I

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For Thai and international audiences interested in viewing their Majesties the King and Queen lead the Grand Royal Barge Procession for the Royal Kathin Ceremony at Wat Arun on October 27, starting at 2:30 p.m., or reading more about it, please find the following useful links:

📣 Broadcast Channels

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English Language Broadcast: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nbtworld OTT Platform: https://prdee.prd.go.th/

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#RoyalCeremony #BargeProcession #ThaiMonarchy #WatArun #NBTWorld

I recently learnt about the genre of Yok-Lor. From my understanding it's some sort of bass boosted thai edm, but I can't really find any Yok-Lor music. I'm very curious as i love Molam and Luk Thung, and heard about Yok-Lor through an interview of Thaiboy Digital, an artist who grew up with Molam.

Please send any recommendations

I don’t understand all I see is eek saan, no gaa. And also can someone explain if there is a rule for when ห is silent?

I learn most of my Thai vocabulary through nicknames. So far, certain pronunciations and most tones are beyond me.

Anyone have a tip for pronouncing ngu correctly? I can nail rat every time I try for snake. Once in a great while I get snake right, but that's only by accident.

I hear new so I say new. I'm just not getting it. My partner and her friends just repeat new over and over while puckering their lips out and tell me I'm saying it wrong. For 10 years now.

Has anyone had any luck getting a farang to say snake correctly?

How about hearing tones? Muay as in fighting or as in the hair below the waistline sound exactly the same to me, same with nam (water or shed), or any of the same words with different tones. It's extremely frustrating.

I'm starting to think I'm mentally defective or tone deaf, but after almost 50 years of life, I figure I would've learned I had either of these issues long before now. Since no other farang I ask to try and say snake or hear tones can either, I don't think the issue is me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Tony

Hi,

Wanted some info. I have an account in Bangkok Bank which I have been using since 2023. I want to change the registered number to another local Thai number. Is it posible to do it through net banking or I need to visit the branch? The problem is that I am not currently in Thailand.

Can anyone advise?

I'm looking for a good textbook to learn Thai, not something like easy thai, or teach yourself Thai

Something serious

Do you have any idea?

Hello I plan on moving to Thailand in som years and would like to start my language learning now but am finding resources lacking. Does anyone know any good places for learning the language be that writing sheets, an app, or a tutor? Any and everything helps, thank you.

Can anyone recommend me some Thai garage rock bands , current or past ??

E-Extension

My e-extended visa expires on the 23rd, this coming Wednesday(which I heard is a public holiday) and Apparently i can’t find any available dates for the appointment on the vfs website. Can I go to the Government Complex on the 22nd? But then again, I can’t find any slots. Appreciate the help Khrub 🙏

Im thai myself, I've been searching for some political rock bands in thai, i've listened to ไททศมิตร and คาราบาว But they never really struck out i guess? (Im a big fan of bands like RATM, SOAD, Green day, RTJ Public Enemy etc) Any recommendations?

Did my handwriting exercise from a workbook. I just started learning Thai 2 weeks ago, so I don't know what this means yet (haha). I think if I needed to correct my handwriting then I should do so early. My natural handwritting in English is as bad as a doctor's note, so I don't plan to have a perfect Thai textbook handwriting. I'm open to feedback here please.

In a show I heard that some1 said บอกว่าสบายดีไง and I learned today that ไง can be used as like a "don't you see" or "don't you know" like อยู่นี้ไง and the teacher said it's like "here it is don't you see" so what does ไง mean in the sentence บอกว่าสบายดีไง and can you please give maybe more examples to like explain or to show how to use it

This is a food story about Nam prik Ong. It’s a popular food and where does it come from ?