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A TG asked me the other day, why she understands me perfectly when I speak English with her but when she speaks to other farangs, she barely understands a single word. This got me thinking about the vagaries of Thaiglish and I realized I have become quite fluent in this colorful dialect.
When you speak Thai as eloquently as I do, a strange thing often happens during a conversation. Frequently I end up speaking Thai and the Thai person ends up responding in English. The reason for this is that I know the Thai I know very well and she knows the English she knows very well. Should she start responding in Thai it€™s easy to get lost as she will insist on using words I have not yet learned and vice versa. So there we are both speaking a foreign language to each other and communicating quite well.
Listening carefully it becomes clear that Thaiglish has quite specific rules and that if you want to communicate with a Thai in English, you will be far more successful if you stick to these (until now) unwritten rules. Speaking Thaiglish is a great solution to the communication barrier. It is relatively easy to learn. Can convey most ideas adequately and doesn€™t require too much brain strain.
Most farangs are never going to learn Thai to even a basic level. It just seems to be beyond even most expats let alone the twice a year holiday maker. Learning to speak Thai is a fine thing if you can do it but if you can€™t, a bit of effort learning the rules of Thaiglish will rocket your communication skills to a new level.
As the Thaiglish dialect appears to be completely undocumented I have set myself the task of writing down the basics. As I am pioneering this field of study I could use some help, so if you have your own experiences. Please feel free to add them below.
The basic rules of Thaiglish.
Do not use prepositions. (across, after, at, before, by, during, from, in, into, of, on, to, under, with, without ) Generally they are unnecessary to make the meaning clear and cause a lot of confusion. Stay can often replace at, in, from.
English: I am at home.
Thaiglish I stay home
English. I am going to the bar.
Thaiglish I go bar.
English: I am here for lunch.
Thaiglish: I here eat.
English: I am in Pattaya
Thaiglish: I stay Pattaya.
Do not use the verb to be ( I am, you are, he is etc.) Irregular English verbs cause a lot of confusion and none more so than the verb to be. Generally you can just drop it.
English: You are beautiful.
Thaiglish You beautiful.
English: He is stupid.
Thaiglish: He stupid.
Verbs do not have tenses.
Use only the present tense for verbs. If the tense is not clear from the sentence then it is implied by using tense indicator words. Thai actually works this way and by applying the same rules to English you will improve the communication level considerably. Although you can use English words to do this, using the Thai words is better and makes the meaning clearer. Leau for past, ja for future.
Example
English. I went to the shop.
Thaiglish. I go shop already.
Thaiglish with Thai tense word. I go shop leau.
English: I will go to the shop.
Thaiglish; I go shop soon.
Thaiglish with Thai tense word: I ja go shop.
Indefinite Articles (a and the). There is no Thai equivalent and they should always be dropped
English: Here is the bathroom.
Thaiglish: Here bathroom.
English: I have a drink.
Thaiglish: I have drink.
Questions should be phrased as statements and the word mai added to the end. The phrasing of questions in English really complicates a sentence but by making a statement and using the Thai question word mai the sentence becomes simple.
English: Do you want to go to the movies?
Thaiglish: Go movies mai?
English: Do you have any condoms?
Thaiglish. Have condom mai?
Plurals. Do not use plurals. All nouns should be singular and the number is implied by the meaning or often is not needed anyway.
English: He gave be 50 dollars.
Thaiglish: He give 50 dollar leau..
English: Give me three books.
Thaiglish Give me three book.
Politeness. Get rid of all the flowery English politeness words and replace with Khrup. (Ka if you are female). This includes please, thank you, you are welcome, excuse me, if it€™s not too much bother etc.
English:. Please give me the bread.
Thaiglish: Give me bread, khrup.
English. Excuse me, can you please pass the ashtray.
Thaiglish: Give me ashtray, khrup.
Personal pronouns (I, you, he, we, they) should be dropped except where they are needed to make the meaning clear.
English: I am horny.
Thaiglish: Horny.
English: Are you hungry?
Thaiglish: Hungry mai?
Adjectives go after the noun.
English. I want a cold beer.
Thaiglish: Want beer cold.
Quantifying questions can generally be replaced with a statement and the Thai word toearai.
English. How long have you worked here?
Thaiglish. Work here, toearai.?
English. How much does this vibrator cost?.
Thaiglish. Vibrator toearai?
English: How old are you?
Thaiglish. Age toearai?
Replace the English words have, here and where with the Thai words mi, tenee and tenai. Have can be used to mean many different possessive type words.
English. Do you have some fruit?
Thaiglish: Mi fruit mai?
English: I am happy.
Thaiglish Mi happy. (have happiness)
English: Here is the screwdriver.
Thaiglish: Screwdriver tenee.
English: Where is the camera?.
Thaiglish: Camera teenai?
Use the thai words mack mack to replace very, a lot, and to provide emphasis.
English: I like you a lot.
Thaiglish: Like you mack mack.
English: I am very cold today.
Thaiglish: Cold mack mack today.
English; He is very, very rich.
Thaiglish: He rich mack mack.
The best Thaiglish consists of short sentences often just three or four words. The sentences will almost always be declaratives without politeness and using Thai words to indicate questions, politeness and quantification.
Here€™s a sample conversation between Noi and Ian.
English
Noi: What are you doing today?
Ian: Well. I thought I might go for a walk and then maybe check out a few bars.
Noi: Isn€™t that what you did yesterday.
Ian: Yes, I like doing these activities.
Noi: Have you seen Nit today?
Ian: I saw her earlier. She is looking very sexy at the moment.
Noi. I can tell you like her more than me.
Ian. I like her but I like you much more.
Noi: You are a flatterer.
Noi: How many beers have you had to drink today.
Ian: I have only had 17.
Thaiglish
Noi: Do what today.
Ian: I walk and then I go bar.
Noi. Same same yesterday.
Ian: Yes, I like.
Noi: See Nit leau mai?
Ian: See leau. She look sexy mack mack.
Noi; You like her more me.
Ian: Like her but like you mack mack.
Noi: sweet mouth
Noi: Drink beer today toearai?
Ian: Drink 17.
A TG asked me the other day, why she understands me perfectly when I speak English with her but when she speaks to other farangs, she barely understands a single word. This got me thinking about the vagaries of Thaiglish and I realized I have become quite fluent in this colorful dialect.
When you speak Thai as eloquently as I do, a strange thing often happens during a conversation. Frequently I end up speaking Thai and the Thai person ends up responding in English. The reason for this is that I know the Thai I know very well and she knows the English she knows very well. Should she start responding in Thai it€™s easy to get lost as she will insist on using words I have not yet learned and vice versa. So there we are both speaking a foreign language to each other and communicating quite well.
Listening carefully it becomes clear that Thaiglish has quite specific rules and that if you want to communicate with a Thai in English, you will be far more successful if you stick to these (until now) unwritten rules. Speaking Thaiglish is a great solution to the communication barrier. It is relatively easy to learn. Can convey most ideas adequately and doesn€™t require too much brain strain.
Most farangs are never going to learn Thai to even a basic level. It just seems to be beyond even most expats let alone the twice a year holiday maker. Learning to speak Thai is a fine thing if you can do it but if you can€™t, a bit of effort learning the rules of Thaiglish will rocket your communication skills to a new level.
As the Thaiglish dialect appears to be completely undocumented I have set myself the task of writing down the basics. As I am pioneering this field of study I could use some help, so if you have your own experiences. Please feel free to add them below.
The basic rules of Thaiglish.
Do not use prepositions. (across, after, at, before, by, during, from, in, into, of, on, to, under, with, without ) Generally they are unnecessary to make the meaning clear and cause a lot of confusion. Stay can often replace at, in, from.
English: I am at home.
Thaiglish I stay home
English. I am going to the bar.
Thaiglish I go bar.
English: I am here for lunch.
Thaiglish: I here eat.
English: I am in Pattaya
Thaiglish: I stay Pattaya.
Do not use the verb to be ( I am, you are, he is etc.) Irregular English verbs cause a lot of confusion and none more so than the verb to be. Generally you can just drop it.
English: You are beautiful.
Thaiglish You beautiful.
English: He is stupid.
Thaiglish: He stupid.
Verbs do not have tenses.
Use only the present tense for verbs. If the tense is not clear from the sentence then it is implied by using tense indicator words. Thai actually works this way and by applying the same rules to English you will improve the communication level considerably. Although you can use English words to do this, using the Thai words is better and makes the meaning clearer. Leau for past, ja for future.
Example
English. I went to the shop.
Thaiglish. I go shop already.
Thaiglish with Thai tense word. I go shop leau.
English: I will go to the shop.
Thaiglish; I go shop soon.
Thaiglish with Thai tense word: I ja go shop.
Indefinite Articles (a and the). There is no Thai equivalent and they should always be dropped
English: Here is the bathroom.
Thaiglish: Here bathroom.
English: I have a drink.
Thaiglish: I have drink.
Questions should be phrased as statements and the word mai added to the end. The phrasing of questions in English really complicates a sentence but by making a statement and using the Thai question word mai the sentence becomes simple.
English: Do you want to go to the movies?
Thaiglish: Go movies mai?
English: Do you have any condoms?
Thaiglish. Have condom mai?
Plurals. Do not use plurals. All nouns should be singular and the number is implied by the meaning or often is not needed anyway.
English: He gave be 50 dollars.
Thaiglish: He give 50 dollar leau..
English: Give me three books.
Thaiglish Give me three book.
Politeness. Get rid of all the flowery English politeness words and replace with Khrup. (Ka if you are female). This includes please, thank you, you are welcome, excuse me, if it€™s not too much bother etc.
English:. Please give me the bread.
Thaiglish: Give me bread, khrup.
English. Excuse me, can you please pass the ashtray.
Thaiglish: Give me ashtray, khrup.
Personal pronouns (I, you, he, we, they) should be dropped except where they are needed to make the meaning clear.
English: I am horny.
Thaiglish: Horny.
English: Are you hungry?
Thaiglish: Hungry mai?
Adjectives go after the noun.
English. I want a cold beer.
Thaiglish: Want beer cold.
Quantifying questions can generally be replaced with a statement and the Thai word toearai.
English. How long have you worked here?
Thaiglish. Work here, toearai.?
English. How much does this vibrator cost?.
Thaiglish. Vibrator toearai?
English: How old are you?
Thaiglish. Age toearai?
Replace the English words have, here and where with the Thai words mi, tenee and tenai. Have can be used to mean many different possessive type words.
English. Do you have some fruit?
Thaiglish: Mi fruit mai?
English: I am happy.
Thaiglish Mi happy. (have happiness)
English: Here is the screwdriver.
Thaiglish: Screwdriver tenee.
English: Where is the camera?.
Thaiglish: Camera teenai?
Use the thai words mack mack to replace very, a lot, and to provide emphasis.
English: I like you a lot.
Thaiglish: Like you mack mack.
English: I am very cold today.
Thaiglish: Cold mack mack today.
English; He is very, very rich.
Thaiglish: He rich mack mack.
The best Thaiglish consists of short sentences often just three or four words. The sentences will almost always be declaratives without politeness and using Thai words to indicate questions, politeness and quantification.
Here€™s a sample conversation between Noi and Ian.
English
Noi: What are you doing today?
Ian: Well. I thought I might go for a walk and then maybe check out a few bars.
Noi: Isn€™t that what you did yesterday.
Ian: Yes, I like doing these activities.
Noi: Have you seen Nit today?
Ian: I saw her earlier. She is looking very sexy at the moment.
Noi. I can tell you like her more than me.
Ian. I like her but I like you much more.
Noi: You are a flatterer.
Noi: How many beers have you had to drink today.
Ian: I have only had 17.
Thaiglish
Noi: Do what today.
Ian: I walk and then I go bar.
Noi. Same same yesterday.
Ian: Yes, I like.
Noi: See Nit leau mai?
Ian: See leau. She look sexy mack mack.
Noi; You like her more me.
Ian: Like her but like you mack mack.
Noi: sweet mouth
Noi: Drink beer today toearai?
Ian: Drink 17.
on a Footy trip , if he has 17 beers 
before he goes to check out the bars .
but then again im English.
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