Thai Vocab
I realise that some who’s new to lakorn might find it a bit hard to understand some of the thai terms, vocabs and honorifics that I’m using in my subbing. And it have become a hassle to explain it on the line of the subs as sometimes the explanation will tend to cover the whole screen!
There’s also situation where some of these words are just too hard to translate it into english. Even if I’ve managed to translate it I find that the meaning or gist is kinda lost. Especially with the honorifics. And I usually ended up leaving it as it is.
So I’ve decided to keep a compilation of words that I frequently use for easy references. And maybe some of the popular proverbs, saying and idioms too.
As for thai honorifics, please read this (http://www.kudalakorn.com/thai-honorifics-vocabs/). Kudalakorn did a great job in writing this piece!
| A | |
|---|---|
| Aa/A’ | Aunt/Uncle (younger brother/sister of father) |
| Ai- | Derogatory title used before the names of men or when referring to men |
| B | |
| C | |
| D | |
| Dara | Superstar; Celebrity |
| E | |
| E- | prefix used before the names of women or when referring to women ; very offensive |
| F | |
| Fan | Boyfriend/Girlfriend |
| G | |
| Gik | Casual boyfriend/girlfriend ; intimate friend. |
| H | |
| Hia | Elder brother. Borrowed words from Teochew dialect. |
| Hi-so | People from rich/high society |
| I | |
| IG | Acronym for Instagram. An online photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking app . Widely use in Thailand. |
| J | |
| Jae | Elder sister. Borrowed words from Teochew dialect. |
| ~Ja | particle used at the end of sentences to make them sound more friendly or polite |
| Jao Sua | Chinese rich person / Business Tycoon |
| K | |
| Khun | Mr; Mrs; Miss; Ms. Is a standard polite and relatively formal title used before the names of both men and women in Thai Also use to refer to someone as in “you” |
| ~Ka | particle used by female speakers at the end of sentences to make them more polite |
| ~Krub | particle used by male speakers at the end of sentences to make them more polite |
| Ku | Impolite reference to I; me; myself Also use among close friends |
| Koo Jin | Fantasy couple or ship couple |
| L | |
| Lung | uncle (older brother of parents) also use in addressing elderly man |
| Lakorn | Thai drama series |
| Line | A very popular communication app in Thailand which allows you to make FREE voice calls and send FREE messages |
| Luang Por | Venerable monk ; priest |
| M | |
| Mae | Mother Sometimes friend use to address mother of a close friend |
| Mae’Kaa | (Female) Hawker; Vendor; Shopkeeper |
| Mae’Baan | Housekeeper; Maid; Servant |
| Mia | Wife. Also used for referring to a long-term girlfriend as. Mia is a colloquial and mildly impolite term; although it’s widely used by men when talking amongst themselves, some women may object to it being used to refer to them in their presence. Formal term is Parayaa. |
| Meung | Rude, insulting 2nd person pronoun to you; yourself Also use among close friends |
| N | |
| Nang’ek | Main actress; Heroine |
| Nang’rai | Female villain. Usually it’s the second lead of a lakorn. |
| ~Na | particle used to make a sentence seem softer, more persuasive or less abrupt |
| Nai | Mister; Mr. You (used when talking a male informally) |
| Naa/Na’ | Aunt/Uncle (younger brother/sister of mother) |
| Nong | Younger brother or younger sister despite whether they are related or not Use to address someone younger. |
| O | |
| P | |
| Por | Father Sometimes friend use to address father of a close friend |
| P’ | Elder brother or elder sister despite whether they are related or not Use to address someone older. |
| Pu | Grandfather (father’s father) |
| Pa’ | Aunt (older sister of parents) also use in addressing elderly woman |
| Pua | Husband. However is colloquial and impolite term whereas Samee is formal term. |
| Parayaa | Wife – formal term. |
| Pra’ek | Main actor; Hero |
| Q | |
| R | |
| S | |
| Sia | Rich Chinese merchant. Borrowed words from Teochew dialect. Example : Sia’Udon |
| Samee | Husband – formal term. |
| Sadhu/Sadthu | Similar meaning to “Amen”. Normally say after the monks finish chanting or blessings. |
| Su su | It’s a word of encouragement. Similar to “Gambatte Kudasai” in Japanese and “Fighting” in Korean |
| Strawberry | Thai slang for calling someone a liar. Because of the similar sound to “dtor lae” which means lie or fib |
| Somtam | Papaya salad |
| T | |
| Ta’ | Grandfather (mother’s father) also use in addressing old man of Grandfather’s age |
| Taukeh | Rich chinese boss/owner. Borrowed words from Teochew dialect. Example: Taukeh Wang Fei |
| U | |
| V | |
| W | |
| Wai | is a prayer like gesture which is perfomed with a slight bow. Use as a standard greeting, apologising, saying thanks and to show respect. It is usually the junior or ‘lower status’ person who will wai first. For example, subordinate will wai to Boss first and not the other way around. |
| X | |
| Y | |
| Yaa | Grandmother (father’s mother) |
| Yai | Grandmother (mother’s mother) also use in addressing old woman of Grandmother’s age |
| Z | |
Last Updated : 06/22/2017
24 Comments on “Thai Vocab”
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You’re amazing! You even have the consideration to provide some Thai vocab for us. Thank you!
thank you for introducing thai drama. And also thank you very much for your effort.
Thank you so much for all your hard work. On the vocab and subs. Wonderful job, thank you again 🙏
Thank you for this additional feature which is helpful for us non-thai readers. As I’m starting to learn your language thruyou tube, I find it quite strange in the pronounciation versus the spell words like how do you pronounce words jae, gin, jing jing. Please include how they are pronounced. Thank you.
Thank you for doing this. I have been a fan of lakorns since 2013. I can understand a little bit of Thai so I still need some subtitles. There were a lot of lakorns with eng subs on VIKI but they took it down. I hope you would not get tired of doing this. You make a lot of people happy for sure because of this. Thank you again
Thank you so much for the list and for all the wonderful subbing🙏
Hi! I am from Indonesia. Yesterday I am watching my secret bride (Kao Waan Hai Nu Bpen” until Episode 13. But now I want to continue watching Episode 14 but the website can’t access (502 bad gateway). Please I want to continue watch this drama, could you fix it or tell me what happened with the website?
There’s problem with one of the plugin. It’s fix now!
Thank you for information and thank you so much for uploading Pachara Montra with English sub. Love you guys!
Thank you very much.Happy new year
thank u <3 pls add more words , it's great to learn ^^
Thank you so much!!!
Now many words are clear for me 😁. Greetings from Colombia! 😘
Thank you so much for this list! 😀
I just updated this list. Let me know if you think there’s anything missing…. 😉
Hi i have some doubts about the word wife.
I heard two words that mean that: mia and playah(or something like that)
Whats the difference,
Thanks for ur effort!
Mia is used for referring to a long-term girlfriend as well a wife. Mia is a colloquial and mildly impolite term; although it’s widely used by men when talking amongst themselves, some women may object to it being used to refer to them in their presence.
This is also the same for husband – Pua is colloquial and impolite term whereas Samee is formal term.
Thank you
I have a question as well about the term “hand phone”, I know it is a cellular phone but does it directly translate from Thai to English as “hand phone”?
To be exact in thai it’s called “meu tĕu” Literally translate to meu = hand tĕu = carry
Thank you! 😀 Have a safe and successful business trip.
Question, if there is a second male lead who is evil, does he have a title? Would it be Pra’rai, something else, or is it just not a thing? haha Sorry if I’m not making any sense. xD
LOL! I haven’t heard of that! Good one! I’ll add into the list if I come across it! XD
Evil male is phu rai. I remember once, a Thai told me few years ago. He is not called phra rai because ‘phra’ also means monk. So if you add ‘rai’ it will be taken as bad monk. I just can’t imagine a monk who is an evil one. LOL.
Ahh I see. That makes more sense. haha Thanks for the info! 🙂