The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist… Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood...

The Common Koel & Why I'd Make a Lousy Buddhist

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet… My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story...

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Stephen Thomas “ไกร” Nationality: British Age range: 40-50...

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

FREE Online Resources at Everyday Thai Language School

Free Thai learning materials… I’m a Thai language resource junkie so was chuffed when Remi pointed me to the Thai...

FREE Online Resources at Everyday Thai Language School
The Common Koel & Why I'd Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist… Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood bird community, the Common Koel (lovingly known for his stealth gliding through the trees), transformed his pleasant warbling into an incessant, high-pitched shrill. Right outside my bedroom window. All of my windows actually. And [...]

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet… My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story this weekend and I just had to share it with you. Here you go… (and may there be many more). A tourist in Bangkok stops at a fruit stall along a crowded footpath. Wanting to [...]

Review: A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

Review: A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

A Guide to Thai Grammar Books… Presented here are short introductions to Thai grammar books, both in the English language for foreign learners and Thai language books for Thai school and university students which are also useful for foreign learners with a good Thai reading ability. As these are reference books, not tutorials, they are [...]

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station… School: Thai Language Station (TLS) Bangkok Telephone Number: 02-632-9440 Address: Thai Language Station, 62 Thaniya Building 11th floor, Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok Thailand 10500 How to get there on foot: BTS (Sky Train) Sala Daeng Station Gate No.1 or the MRT (Subway) Silom Station Basic Info: Thai Language [...]

The Common Koel & Why I'd Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist… Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood bird community, the Common Koel (lovingly known for his stealth gliding through the trees), transformed his pleasant warbling into an incessant, high-pitched shrill. Right outside my bedroom window. All of my windows actually. And [...]

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet… My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story this weekend and I just had to share it with you. Here you go… (and may there be many more). A tourist in Bangkok stops at a fruit stall along a crowded footpath. Wanting to [...]

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: Stephen Thomas “ไกร” Nationality: British Age range: 40-50 Sex: Male Location: Bangkok Profession: Actor Web presence: Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels What is your Thai level? Intermediate. Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai? Probably more street Thai. Professional Thai [...]

Successful Thai Language Learner: James Higbie

Successful Thai Language Learner: James Higbie

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners… Name: James Higbie Nationality: American Age range: 60+ Sex: Male Location: Sierra Leone Profession: Work for NGO in Education Development Thai level: Intermediate to Advanced Website: Thai Language / Lao Language Books: From Orchid Press: Thai Reference Grammar, Essential Thai, Let’s Speak Thai, Let’s Speak Lao; From Hippocrene Books: Dictionary [...]

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series: Jan-Feb 2012

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series: Jan-Feb 2012

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series… Last year was my first chance to attend the lectures about Thailand, Thai history, and culture arranged by the National Museum Volunteers. Along with many events, their Annual Lecture Series was postponed due to the Thai floods. But, now that the new year is upon us, the series has [...]

The Charity Cat Party: A Success!

The Charity Cat Party: A Success!

Did you make it to the Charity Cat Party?… I wasn’t in town for @freakingcat’s wonderful Charity Cat Party but I didn’t miss out. I watched the concert online via ustream.tv. What talent! A huge round of applause goes to @freakingcat for arranging the party and to the fabulous performers: Trisdee, Somtow, Siam Sinfionetta and [...]

Keep Moving (เดินต่อไป): The Thai Flood Set to Music

Keep Moving (เดินต่อไป): The Thai Flood Set to Music

The Thai flood set to music: เดินต่อไป…. For those of you who top up your language studies by listening to music, here’s a sobering Thai flood song, เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ (Keep Moving). Written by: Mike Agana Sawatsewi, Sutthiphong Sombatjinda and Jaree Thanapura Produced and arranged by: Jaree Thanapura and Michael Sawatsewi Mixed by: Jeremiah P. [...]

Thai Scam Artists vrs the Heroes of Thailand's Floods

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Scams of the Thai Floods… Thailand is infamous for its scams. To warn their countrymen about the ongoing problem, the New Zealand Embassy felt obligated to create a dedicated page to Scams in Thailand. And due to the (repeatedly) ignored scams targeting tourists, the Australian Embassy warned Phuket’s Governor about Jet-Ski and Tuk-Tuk scams. Yeah. [...]

Remembering Tsunami 2004: And Then One Morning

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Remembering the Tsunami of 2004… What happened on Boxing Day 2004 was horrific. Even though I wasn’t on the ground, it marked my life. And because of that, every year I’ve put aside time to honour those caught up in the events. This year I made a point to read And Then One Morning, an [...]

Chicky Net Relaunches

Chicky Net Relaunches

Expat women in Thailand… If you are an expat women in Thailand, you might feel a bit overwhelmed by the overabundance of expat maleness. When I first arrived, I was. A bit. For a female focus, at that time there was BNOW (Bangkok Network for Women), your bog-standard womens’ groups (but early coffee mornings are [...]

The Common Koel & Why I’d Make a Lousy Buddhist

The Common Koel & Why I'd Make a Lousy Buddhist.

The Common Koel and why I’d make a lousy Buddhist…

Around November of last year a longtime member of my neighbourhood bird community, the Common Koel (lovingly known for his stealth gliding through the trees), transformed his pleasant warbling into an incessant, high-pitched shrill. Right outside my bedroom window. All of my windows actually. And all day and all night.

Throughout the day and 11pm, 12pm, 1am, 2am, 3am (especially 3am), this is what I hear:

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The Koel’s mating calls started in November, ran through the month of December, and now here we are at the end of January. That’s stamina. It’s also crazy making (for insomniacs especially).

Earphones didn’t work to cut the noise so drugs (of some sort) were up next. And Nootropics are said to fit the bill. Remember those?

I first tried Melatonin. A mistake. I now know that Melatonin is great for switching timezones but if you are too enthusiastic, you’ll start waking up in the early hours. And stay up. My up lasted two weeks plus.

I then dipped into even more Nootropics and found a (hopefully) permanent fix. So if you too are the recipient of the Common Koel’s randy call, here’s my personal mix:

At around 9pm I quiet my body and mind with Bacopa Extract. Three to four pills does it for me. Around 10-11pm I down 500 mgs of L-Tryptophan. After the L-Tryptophan, sleep comes fast.

Once I got my sleep sorted I went looking for information about the Common Koel in Thailand. My Thai friends all professed a love for the blasted thing (as I once did and will again) but after three months of radically disturbed sleep I was ready to kill. Or at the very least, singe his feathers with one of those super duper lazer pens easily acquired in Thailand.

So there you have it. The proof that I’ll never ever make anything but a lousy Buddhist. Because yeah, it’s not over ’till it’s over and it’s clearly not over yet.

Anywaaaaay, in a nutshell, the Common Koel is an oversized member of the Cuckoo family. Brood parasites, the momma Koels turf eggs from the nests of black birds and others, laying their own eggs in place. Once the Koel chicks have been nurtured by the host parents and are ready to fly, the Koel(s) come back and off they go (this last point I’m not 100% sure of).

The Common Koel & Why I'd Make a Lousy Buddhist

Thai Poetry: The Common Koel, the Black Crow, and motherhood…

Not ready to give up on knowing more about the Common Koel and Thailand, I found an old Thai lullaby that briefly touches on the Koel’s attributes. The poem (with translation and transliteration) is below. As is a YouTube video. Note: the singing style is not to my taste but it has to be someone’s. Enjoy.

Except for knowing what type of Thai poem this is (อาขยาน /aa-kà-yaan/ – a narration of sorts) I know little else. I do know that in Thai poetry words are added to make the words flow. Personally, I found that the unnecessary words made translation difficult so only the gist of the poem is below. And yes yes yes, I had to yell, scream, and holler for help.

Overview of the poem: A Common Koel lays an egg in a crow’s nest. The crow hatches the egg, taking care of the baby bird as her own. The momma crow feeds the baby and then takes it for an outing along a river. After eating, the crow and the baby fly back, landing on a nearby tree. A hunter spots the birds, bagging the mother crow for dinner. End of story.

The Common Koel …
กาเหว่า เอย
gaa-hăy-wâa oie

leaves an egg for the mother crow to hatch.
ไข่ ไว้ ให้ แม่ กา ฟัก
kài wái hâi mâe gaa fák

The mother crow falls in love (with the chick).
แม่ กา ก็ หลงรัก
mâe gaa gôr lŏng rák

She believes the egg came from her belly.
คิดว่า ลูก ใน อุทร
kít-wâa look nai u-ton

Carries food in her mouth.
คาบ เอา ข้าว มา เผื่อ
kâap ao kâao maa pèua

Carries food to feed (the chick).
ไป คาบ เอา เหยื่อ มา ป้อน
bpai kâap ao yèua maa bpôn

Takes care of the baby in the nest.
ถนอม ไว้ ใน รัง นอน
tà-nŏm wái nai rang non

Works hard getting food.
ซ่อน เหยื่อ มา ให้ กิน
sôn yèua maa hâi gin

The chick’s wings are still weak.
ปีก เจ้า ยัง อ่อน คลอ แคล
bpèek jâo yang òn klor kaen

It’s not time to teach the chick to fly.
ท้อแท้ จะ สอน บิน
tór-táe jà sŏn bin

Mother takes the chick to look for food.
แม่ กา พาไป กิน
mâe gaa paa-bpai gin

At the mouth of the river …
ที่ ปากน้ำ พระ คงคา
têe bpàak-náam prá kong-kaa

the baby steps on algae.
ตีน เจ้า เหยียบ สาหร่าย
dteen jâo yìap săa-ràai

The crow uses her mouth to catch fish.
ปาก ก็ ไซ้ หาปลา
bpàak gôr sái hăa-bplaa

Eats shrimp and mantis shrimp.
กิน กุ้ง แล กิน กั้ง
gin gung lae gin gâng

Eats shellfish and horseshoe crab.
กิน หอย กระ พั้ง แมงดา
gin hŏi grà pang maeng-daa

After eating they fly to …
กิน แล้วก็ โผ มา
gin láew-gôr pŏh maa

a black plum tree.
จับ ที่ ต้นหว้า โพธิ์ทอง
jàp têe dtôn-wâa poh-tong

Yet there is a hunter.
ยัง มี นายพราน
yang mee naai-praan

He’s out looking, stalking.
เที่ยว เยี่ยม เยี่ยม มอง มอง
tîeow yîam yîam mong mong

He lifts his rifle.
ยก เอา ปืน ขึ้น ส่อง
yók ao bpeun kêun sòng

Aims at the mother crow.
จ้อง เอา แม่ กาดำ
jông ao mâe gaa dam

He’s thinking of boiling one of them.
ตัว หนึ่ง ว่า จะ ต้ม
dtua nèung wâa jà dtôm

The other to make into a salad.
อีก ตัว ว่า จะ ยำ
èek dtua wâa jà yam

Eat the mother crow …
กิน นาง แม่ กาดำ
gin naang mâe gaa-dam

tonight.
ค่ำ วันนี้ อุ แม่ นา
kâm wan-née u mâe naa

There are a few iffy spots in the translation so please don’t be shy; go ahead and share corrections in the comments below. Also, as per usual, there’s a moral to this lullaby. Do you know what it is?

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet

Thai Tales: Mango’s, Mangosteen and Angry Thai Feet…

My good friend Khun Phairoh, giggling away, told me a cute story this weekend and I just had to share it with you. Here you go… (and may there be many more).

A tourist in Bangkok stops at a fruit stall along a crowded footpath. Wanting to try out his limited Thai skills, he asks the female fruit seller about one of the items.

Tourist: What is this?
นี่ อะไร ครับ /nêe a-rai kráp/

Fruit seller: It’s called mangosteen.
เรียกว่า มังคุด /rîak-wâa mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: No it’s not… this is mangosteen!
ไม่ใช่… นี่ มังคุด! /mâi-châi… nêe mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: I said mangosteen!!
บอก ว่า มังคุด!! /bòk wâa mang-kút/

Tourist: Mango?

Fruit seller: Mango, Mango… feet!
Mango, Mango… ส้นตีน!!! /sôn-dteen/

Tourist: Oh! I see! Mangosteen!

So, what’s this feet thing?…

As you might know, I don’t make a habit of sharing cuss words in Thai. But as the story made me laugh I went to Hugh Leong for advice.

The word ส้นตีน /sôn-dteen/ is not a curse word as we think of it – four letter words, f-words, etc – but it is quite vulgar. It is a really gross way of referring to the foot, especially when used with a person, like, “I stick my foot at you, you uncouth character”.

If we were referring to an animal the word ตีน /dteen/ is used for foot. ตีนเป็ด /dteen bpèt/ means duck foot but can also mean webbed foot (as used with frogs).

So don’t refer to your foot as ตีน /dteen/ but use the regular เท้า /táo/.

Oh, and when we do talk about our feet (or shoes or socks, etc) we usually ask forgiveness first, as in ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/ (excuse me) followed by the reason.

Sample: ขอโทษเท้าเจ็บ /kŏr-tôht táo jèp/
Excuse me, my feet hurt.

KP also reminded me that in polite Thai, if you need to touch someone’s head for any reason, you would first say ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/ then state the reason (or not).

Sample: ขอโทษค่ะ มีใบไม้บนหัวคุณ /kŏr-tôht kâ mee bai-máai bon hŭa kun/
Excuse me, you have a leaf on your head.

Useful vocabulary to know…

ตีน feet, foot (rude)
เท้า /táo/ feet, foot (polite)
ส้น heel

footpath: ทางเท้า /taang táo/
stall: แผง /păeng/
fruit: ผลไม้: /pŏn-lá-máai/
female fruit seller: แม่ ค้า ขาย ผลไม้ /mâe káa kăai pŏn-lá-máai/

this: นี่ /nêe/
what: อะไร /a-rai/
it’s called: เรียกว่า /rîak-wâa/
mangosteen: มังคุด /mang-kút/
no (it’s not): ไม่ใช่ /mâi-châi/
I said: บอก ว่า /bòk wâa/

duck feet: ตีนเป็ด /dteen bpèt/
excuse me: ขอโทษ /kŏr-tôht/
have: มี /mee/
leaf: ใบไม้ /bai-máai/
on: บน /bon/
head: หัว /hŭa/
you: คุณ /kun/

polite particle (m): ครับ /kráp/
polite particle (f): ค่ะ /kâ/

A megga thanks goes from me to Khun Phairoh and Hugh!

Successful Thai Language Learner: Stephen Thomas

Successful Thai Language Learner: James Higbie

Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

Name: Stephen Thomas “ไกร”
Nationality: British
Age range: 40-50
Sex: Male
Location: Bangkok
Profession: Actor
Web presence: Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels

What is your Thai level?

Intermediate.

Do you speak more street Thai, Issan Thai, or professional Thai?

Probably more street Thai. Professional Thai has a lot more complicated and redundant grammar, though it can be useful if I am having trouble getting my point across. It’s important to know the proper rules of any language I think. I see and hear grammatical catastrophes in English all the time which people have just come to accept and don’t even know they are wrong. I don’t really want to sound like that in Thai but of course I’m late out of the gate and racing to catch up.

I do use some Isaan language. I have several Isaan friends and a lot of the vendors I go to regularly are Isaan or Lao. It’s also a good way to show that I’m not just a tourist who learned a few phrases, especially when going into touristy areas. It’s a fun and friendly dialect, and whenever people call me “Farang” I tell them I’m “Bak Seeda.”

What were your reasons for learning Thai?

At first, communication, obviously. The first time I visited Thailand in 2006 I was going to be staying with a friend who I knew couldn’t speak English, though she could read and write English. We’d been friends for a few years through instant messaging and e-mail and she offered me a place to stay. I picked up a book and CD set from Teach Yourself and began getting a basic foundation. Good thing, too! It turned out she lived in Ormnoi in Samut Sakhon where practically nobody spoke English. That was a great way to really learn the Thai way of life and to quickly hone language skills.

Do you live in Thailand? If so, when did you arrive?

Yes, I came here in September 2009, ostensibly for another holiday after a particularly hard year. I’d been wanting to return since spending 3 months in Thailand in 2006, and I finally decided I wasn’t going to wait any longer. I planned to be here for 3 – 5 months, and a year later I realised I was still here!

I’d met and become friends with an up-and-coming film director named Pakphum Wongjinda in 2006, and when I came back I got in touch with him. He was starting work on a film for Baa-Ram-Ewe and invited me to visit the set. One day he called me up and asked if I would be interested in doing one scene for the film. I said yes and it turned out to be a scene with one of Thailand’s top actresses Sinjai Plengphanich. He then asked me to play in a short film for Channel 3 with Bank Pavarit that would be shown on Boxing Day 2006.

In February the first film reached #1 opening week and my scene was well received by audiences and critics. He then invited me to be in the first movie in a new series of Sunday afternoon films for Channel 3. It wasn’t until I showed photos of the shoot to a friend of mine that I realised how big this production was. It was a huge hit and we’ve done a sequel already and a third one is planned. I’ve continued to do films for him in the series as well as branch out into other films, a huge stage musical (Rak Ther Samer) and even opera!

How long have you been a student of the Thai language?

Officially for 14 months. Before that I was picking it up in the street and off of friends, that started in 2006, but when I returned to New York I didn’t really continue until over a year later when I began to meet a group of Thai friends who were working in the states. I was still chatting with friends in Thailand over the internet and meeting more and more through Myspace which I was using to promote my music. Once I began blogging about my experiences in Thailand I became friends with more Thais who were interested in what I was saying. I probably picked up a few more words during that time as well, but it wasn’t until I came back that I really started learning again.

Did you learn Thai right away, or was it a many-pronged approach?

Many prongs, many starts… The very first Thai words I learned were from a guy I used to work with in an office in Hackensack. I actually had no idea Thailand would play a part in my future at that time, though my cousins had told me I should visit. I learned hello, goodbye, thank you and monkey which I always think are important words to know in any language.

The next was start was in preparation for my first trip to Thailand in February 2006. That was with the book and CD set from Teach Yourself which I got less than half-way through. A great advantage to that lesson set is that it taught you how to read and write Thai as well. When I arrived in Bangkok my friend wanted to show off my skill. She’d point at a sign and say, “Read!” and I’d stumble through it. Then another one, a little harder. Finally she pointed at a sign with a simplified font and I simply could not make head or tail of it. Every day I would watch store signs and billboards with various fonts go by on the bus, and after about 3 weeks I was finally able to decipher them. It made me aware of how varied the same set of letters can really be. And if you consider the Latin alphabet has uppercase, lowercase, and both cursive and block writing, then all the various fonts… It’s quite amazing how our brains recognise letters.

During that trip my friend arranged for another friend to stay with us as well. She was studying English and would show me around Bangkok while my other friend was at work. I learned a lot of Thai words from her, probably asking for the same word more than once on some occasions, but every day my vocabulary built up bit by bit. I tried to speak as much Thai as I could and use words I’d learned to make them stick. The way a child babbles when they’re learning to speak, I’m sure!

By the evening I would usually be exhausted by the time my friend got off work so I would barely be able to communicate with her. I did, however listen to them talking and started picking up repeated words and phrases.

We would also watch Ching Roy Ching Lan and Mum Show on TV and I can remember suddenly be able to understand something being said, so I used to tell people I learned Thai from watching Mum Jokmok!

I began exploring Thailand on my own and anywhere I stayed I would talk to the staff. I don’t mean the people at the desk, I mean the cleaners, the gardeners… It was during the emergency elections when protesters were gathering in Sanam Luang so everyone was discussing politics. I couldn’t get into deep conversation, but people enjoyed telling me their opinions and asking me what I felt about it, and each day I think I learned another word.

As soon as I got back to New York I knew I would return to Thailand and meant to study Thai language. That didn’t happen, and for about a year I really didn’t expand at all on the small foundation I had.

In 2008 I became friends with a group of Thais working in Westchester County in New York and soon began spending considerable time with them. Most of them were Isaan and I began picking up a couple of Lao words. I would try to speak Thai when I could, and other than the cold weather I would often forget what continent we were actually on. That was when I realised that my heart really wasn’t where I was. I was working in video and film production and as soon as the projects I was working on were finished I came back to Thailand.

Right away I began talking with the vendors and people in my neighbourhood and picking up language from them. I also began visiting the set of a film my friend was making for Baa-Ram-Ewe Studio. A film set being like a second home to me I was able to connect what people were saying to a meaning I already knew. I also began acting for this director and with each script I would learn more words.

I was given one script with very formal dialogue, not like I’d had to speak before. I spent a lot of time learning it, reading it over and over, getting the meaning of each word. Unfortunately when I got in front of the camera I realised that my brain knew the words, but my tongue did not. Reading and speaking are two very different tricks. It was miserable. Afterwards I vowed to never let that happen again.

I enrolled at Walen School in Times Square near Asok. While it’s not an intensive course, its schedule is such that I can have time to go off and do films or plays, though when I’m not working I do wish I could spend more time studying.

I’ve also resumed the Teach Yourself book, though I find I’ve since learnt most of the words that were remaining. It is good to get a mix of grammar though as one book may teach this way to say something and another book will teach another way. There’s also the tried and true method that we all hated as school kids, writing down vocabulary words 10 or 20 times. I’ve been doing that recently for the words that just haven’t been sticking, and it actually does work.

There’s a fun and informative series on Youtube by BonOnstage called Learn Thai The Bon Way. I found out about her from friends watching her character based comedy bits, but she created a series of short Thai language lessons that’s really quite helpful.

Another method was working as an acting coach. Sometimes we had classes or else were performing workshops in schools, where the students didn’t speak English. We had an interpreter with us and I learned just as much from that as anything else. And of course continued total immersion. It is the ONLY way to develop listening skills and is important for pronunciation.

14 months after that disastrous day on the film set I got a phone call from Grammy, completely in Thai, asking me to go in and meet with them about playing a small part in a lakorn on Channel 5. I went down there and they gave me a script with 2 scenes to read, and I passed the audition. That really made me feel like I’d accomplished something.

Did you stick to a regular study schedule?

Once I started classes, yes, I have a regular schedule of 2 nights a week, which really isn’t enough, but it allows me to go off and do films or plays, then come back. The class continues through the book until you’re ready to move onto the next level.

What Thai language learning methods did you try?

The first method I used was the book and CD set Teach Yourself which I think does a very good job, though I’ve been told some of what I learned is “old fashioned”. One thing I think is invaluable in that book is that it teaches you to read and write Thai which is vital for correct pronunciation.

The next method was picking it up in the streets or at work which will give you listening skills, teach you which words people actually use, rather than the overly formal words you often find in phrase books, and you’ll learn words they wouldn’t necessarily print in language books. :) However, a pitfall here is that you can pick up the wrong pronunciation or else use a rude word in the wrong setting.

Finally I went to Walen School which uses Thai script and teaches vocabulary with question and answer exercises. The teachers are entertaining and will stray from the book to show other uses of the word or to teach other words that could mean the same thing. Conversation is best way to learn a language, and I often converse with the teachers outside of class also.

Did one method stand out over all others?

Once I started taking classes at Walen my friends told me my Thai was improving drastically.

How soon did you tackle reading and writing Thai?

Right away. The Teach Yourself system has it’s own Romanisation (which actually makes more sense than most) but encourages you to learn to read Thai and prints the dialogues side by side in both formats.

The reading/writing lessons in Teach Yourself broke the alphabet down into about 10 characters per lesson, between consonants and vowels. The method was to write each character while saying the sound, “Dor… Dor… Dor…” over and over. Once they’d taught enough letters they began building up short sentences one word at a time to get you used to the lack of spaces between words. Then the book showed you some of the more complicated spelling rules, like those for words borrowed from Khmer.

The two things I didn’t like about Teach Yourself’s method is that it didn’t give you the names of the letters, which I have since learned at Walen, and it didn’t teach the alphabetical order, which I still don’t know and would really like to. Walen has an alphabet class that all students start out in, but I went straight into Book 2 when I enrolled.

Did you find learning to read and write Thai difficult?

I seem to remember it being fairly quick to learn, though I’ve always been fond of alphabets anyway. It took me a few weeks before I started recognising Thai letters in different fonts and longer before I could read handwritten Thai.

I’ve built up my reading speed by trying to read the signs on buses to see where they go. Now sometimes when I’m at the movies my eyes will pick up the Thai subtitles. On a slower song I can sometimes read along the Thai words on a karaoke machine, but I wouldn’t put bets on it!

What was your first ‘ah hah!’ moment?

There have been a few. The first I recall was when I was watching Mum on TV and understood something he said. I don’t remember what it was now, but that was definitely a moment comparable to waving a bone in front of The Monolith.

I also recall going into the Omyai market to buy some fruit one morning and the vendor eyeing me with trepidation. When I asked for papaya in Thai she called out to someone, “Hey, this farang speaks Thai!” I responded and she said even more surprised, “He understands Thai too!”

More recently and on a higher level we were rehearsing a show to perform in front of hundreds of very young school kids. We came up with the idea of a kind of choose-it-yourself adventure where we’d let the kids decide between 2 possible routes during each scene. One outcome led to a wizard who would then transform us into animals of the children’s choosing. During rehearsal someone called out, “Maa” which depending on the tone could mean horse or dog. My partner in this endeavour was luk kreung and has much more experience with Thai than I do, so when I saw him act like a dog I thought, “Damn, I was sure he said horse.” The actor playing the wizard watched us prancing about, barking an yapping, and said casually, “Actually, I said horse.” That was a breakthrough moment for me.

How do you learn languages?

In English we have different words that mean the same thing which you might use in different circumstances. Learning a language is just learning another word for the same thing. Though I know that’s not physically true. I think they’ve done EEGs that show multi-linguists use different parts of their brains for different languages, unless I’m mistaken about that.

I know a little Burmese girl about 2 or 3 years old in the market and she has been picking up Thai language by imitating people around. Sometimes she’ll say things and this one Burmese friend of mine says she doesn’t know what language she’s speaking, but I can hear that she’s mixing the two languages. I think that’s normal at that age for children growing up around multiple languages, but at some point they do separate them and speak wholly in one or the other. I had a friend in the states whose wife was French and he’d learnt French as well. His son wouldn’t speak English to him, though if anyone came to visit he would speak English fluently.

Language is very complex because it’s an important part of human evolution. Our brains are largely built for that purpose and we use so much of our senses and utilities in order to communicate. How often do we have miscommunication on the telephone because we can’t see the person who is talking. And how often do you see people gesturing and nodding their head when talking on the telephone? We use our eyes and ears and then process that through deep analytical functions to make sense of it all at an alarmingly fast pace!

I saw a programme about 3 different species of monkeys who lived in the same area. Not only did they have their own calls for different types of threats, they knew the calls of the other monkeys as well. They also discovered grammar syntax in the calls so that by stringing calls together in a different order they would convey a different meaning.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I used to dread having to speak Thai on the telephone. It’s still more difficult, though not as bad as before. I have a hard time with telephones in general. After all this time you’d think they would improve the sound. I know it’s possible because when people talk on Viber it’s 1,000 times clearer. Even in English you can’t discern between S and Th or V and F on the telephone. You only know because of you know what the words are supposed to be, same as speaking to someone with a lisp or speaking in spoonerisms.

The lackadaisical habit of substituting ล for ร or dropping ล after ก has led to my confusion on more than one occasion. I love Joey Cheuancheun’s routine about Ror Reua is Ror Reua and Lor Ling is Lor Ling. But it’s the same as americans substituting D for T or the New York and London use of glottal stops or substituting N for Ng at the end of verbs. That’s why learning in the street is so important.

I hate forgetting vocabulary that I don’t use as often, but again this happens in English too, only you usually have another word to fall back on in that case.

As for strengths, the only strength I can really say is that I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I’ll try out a new way to say something or make a joke, and if it works great, if not then I learn from that.

What is the biggest misconception for students learning Thai?

That you can get by using Romanisation. There are consonant and vowel sounds that appear in Thai that we simply don’t have in English. Plus the vowels we use pull double and triple duty. In Thai a vowel is that vowel sound only, with the exception of a few vowel combinations which are considered separate diphthongs in their own right. The letter A on its own is used to represent 4 different Thai vowels. In English I can substitute one A sound for another in a word and you recognise that it’s the same letter, but to a Thai person you’ve completely changed the spelling. Also some vowels in Thai are held longer than others but we don’t have a way of noting that in The Latin Alphabet which leads to putting the stress on the wrong syllable which again results in a completely different spelling.

Whenever I see a name or a place written in Roman letters I look for the Thai in order to see how it’s really pronounced. Some assistant directors have offered me “karaoke” scripts and I tell them no.

Can you make your way around any other languages?

Not to the extent that I can Thai. I took Latin in high school and that along with having a large English vocabulary to begin with, I can often make some sense out of reading bits of French. Our languages are so closely related. Probably Italians and Spaniards make jokes about English and French being one and the same!

I began to learn Cantonese in the mid-1990s but didn’t have anyone to practice with so I gave up on it. That wound up being helpful to Thai because it introduced me to tones and also some of the vowel and consonant sounds, in particular the initial Ng sound which westerners have such a hard time with.

I’ve always enjoyed learning words in other languages and have made it a point to be able to say hello and thank you. Growing up around New York City you naturally know a few words of Spanish, but not enough to have conversation.

Are you a computer programmer, or do you have programming experience?

I used to do Basic computer programming in the 1980s. During the Myspace era I was using css to customise my page. I started using the internet back when you had to type some Unix in order to get anywhere, this was before graphical browsers, but I never got deeply into coding.

Do you have a passion for music?

“Absolutely. I have 2 albums on iTunes and various other online outlets,” he said taking the opportunity to shamelessly promote himself. “Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels: The Story So Far, and Stephen Thomas & The Reptiles: INANUTSHELL. I also co-produced an album with Incomplete Denial called Our Existence Is An Accident and used to have a band with my brother Paul Damon Thomas and friend Doug Freed, called Sigmund Boo. I’ve been talking to some people in Thailand about recording songs in Thai which could become the next very exciting project for me.”

I’ve performed with Opera Siam, and last September we took our production of Mae Naak to London. I have friends ranging from pop singers to jazz musicians to classical Thai musicians. One of the things I love about living in Bangkok is the great cultural diversity. There really is a lot going on in this city, though it’s not always easy to find out about.

Were you learning another language at the same time as Thai?

No, not really. Some Lao/Isaan words, but not to the point that I would say I’m studying Lao. One comedian I’ve worked with wanted me to learn Northern Thai, but I told him one language at a time!

What advice would you give to students of the Thai language?

Find people who don’t speak English and talk to them. I hear foreigners say in Bangkok they don’t have to use Thai. I’m not sure where they go, but I can easily go outside and find many people who can’t speak a word of English. Start out by buying your morning coffee from a street vendor instead of Starbucks. Strike up a simple conversation. It will be slow at first but after a month you’ll realise how much you improved and you will have met other people in the neighbourhood who will want to talk to you too.

Learning songs is also a great way to learn, and one that I haven’t been doing to be honest. The couple of times I have learned a song I’ve seen how much faster it sinks in. Again I think it’s to do with the evolutionary mechanisms of our brain. That’s why songs are so important to us and why you can still remember songs from your childhood from historical lessons to toy commercials!

Stephen Thomas “ไกร”
Facebook: Stephen Thomas | Stephen Thomas and People On Wheels

The Series: Interviewing Successful Thai Language Learners…

My personal thanks for this series goes to: Stephen Thomas, James (Jim) Higbie, Mark Hollow, Marc Spiegel, Adam Bradshaw, Fabian Blandford, Luke Cassady-Dorion, Nils Bastedo, Grace Robinson, Ryan Zander, Joe Cummings, Hamish Chalmers, Andrew Biggs, Ian Fereday, Doug, Gareth Marshall, Martin Clutterbuck, Stuart (Stu) Jay Raj, Herb Purnell, Celia Chessin-Yudin, Stickman, Thomas Lamosse, Vern Lovic, Colin Cotterill, Jonathan Thames, Hardie Karges, Peter Montalbano, Jonas Anderson and Christy Gibson, Daniel T. Murphy, Paul Garrigan, Marcel Barang, Chris Baker, Hugh Leong, Terry Fredrickson, Glenn Slayden, Rikker Dockum, David Smyth, Tom Parker, David Long, Aaron Handel, and Chris Pirazzi.

If you are a successful Thai language learner and would like to share your experiences, please contact me. I’d love to hear from you.

FREE Online Resources at Everyday Thai Language School

A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

Free Thai learning materials…

I’m a Thai language resource junkie so was chuffed when Remi pointed me to the Thai language resources at Everyday Thai Language School. Thanks Remi! I owe.

Everyday Thai Language School’s FREE online resources…

Everyday Thai Language School’s Free Thai language study aids are in four main groups covering beginner to advanced levels.

1) Language exercises, Thai flashcards, and listening quizzes. Developed from the course books used at Everyday Thai Language School. Audio included.

Speaking Everyday Thai: Thai Learning aids for Beginner level 1 and 2
Speaking Everyday Thai: Thai Learning aids for Intermediate level 1 and 2
Speaking Everyday Thai: Thai Learning aids for High-intermediate

2) Self-study materials created from the FSI (Foreign Service Institute) Thai language course. These materials are for reading practice. Thai script only (no English transliteration). No audio.

Self-study: Basic Thai language reader

3) Short stories to improve listening and reading. Includes flashcards, quizzes, games and audio files. Created from the materials at VOA (Voice of America).

Self-study: Advanced Thai language reader

4) A decent selection of YouTube music videos dubbed with Thai lyrics, English translation, and Thai transliteration.

Self-study: Learn Thai through music

Everyday Thai Language School put a fair amount of work into making these Thai resources available to the public. And while I haven’t had a chance to go through all the sections, this looks to be a valuable addition to the online Thai learning community. Well done ETL!

These resources have now been added to WLT’s FREE Thai language learning resources page. And if you are sitting on any other free Thai language resources, please contact me.

Review: A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

A Guide to Thai Grammar Books

A Guide to Thai Grammar Books…

Presented here are short introductions to Thai grammar books, both in the English language for foreign learners and Thai language books for Thai school and university students which are also useful for foreign learners with a good Thai reading ability. As these are reference books, not tutorials, they are not intended to be read from cover-to-cover, but instead used to support continued studies.

Each book overview here covers the general structure and content together with comments about any specific, notable features. However, no opinion or rating is given about their suitability for any particular learning approach which is, of course, very subjective to each learner.

The books listed here are not the only books available. I welcome comments and further suggestions on this topic which would assist us all with our continued studies.

English Language Grammar Books…

The in-print books listed here can usually be found at all large book shops in Thailand which stock foreign language books. Many online shops (both Thai and foreign) sell them too. Google Books has free previews of some and, where relevant, a link is provided.

The Fundamentals of the Thai LanguageThe Fundamentals of the Thai Language (5th edition)
Author: Stuart Campbell and Chuan Shaweevongs
Format: out-of-print but available online (free)
Language: English with examples in Thai script and transliteration.
Website: Fundamentals of the Thai Language

While this is more of a language course than a grammar book, it does have a strong emphasis on basic grammar and outlines some key differences from English which is useful for beginners. Each topic is presented with basic vocabulary lists and example conversations. The first edition was printed in 1956 so some of the vocabulary is showing its age but the clear explanations and well structured content make this a useful book.

Thai: Essential GrammarThai: An Essential Grammar
Author: David Smyth
Formats: paperback, hardback, eBook (Kindle, PDF, ePub, Microsoft Reader)
ISBN: 978-0415226134 (paperback)
Language: English with examples in Thai script and transliteration.
Google Preview: Thai: Essential Grammar

Thai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken ThaiThai Reference Grammar: The Structure of Spoken Thai
Authors: James Higbie and Snea Thinsan
Format: paperback
ISBN: 978-9748304960
Language: English with examples in Thai script and transliteration.

These two books are perhaps the most commonly available grammar books for foreign learners. They’re good introductions to Thai grammar and language patterns and useful for beginners as well as advanced learners. Both are written for general learners and only use basic grammatical terminology (eg. nouns, verbs, conjunctions etc) and therefore are straight forward to read and very approachable.

Different styles of transliteration are used in each book. Smyth’s system is not too different from that developed by Mary Haas and is easy to learn for readers familiar with Haas’ works or the system used in the Thai for Beginners book. Higbie’s transliteration style is unique, using under- and over-scoring representing tones, but after the initial “what is that?” reaction, it’s quick to learn and intuitive.

Given the rising popularity of eBook readers and tablet computers, Smyth’s publisher (Routledge) deserves praise for making his work available in digital formats. However, the Kindle and ePub editions use miniature graphics files for the Thai text and some transliteration symbols so resizing the layout doesn’t work properly on all readers (the graphic files don’t resize along with the normal text). The PDF version does not have this problem. (I’ve not seen the Microsoft Reader version so can’t comment about it.)

Thai Reference GrammarThai Reference Grammar
Author: Richard B. Noss
Formats: PDF (free online), paperback
ISBN: 978-1456503307 (paperback)
Language: English with transliteration (no Thai script)
Website: FSI: Thai Reference Grammar (PDF link near the end of the page)

Obviously written at a time when people didn’t worry about the health effects of smoking, this book introduces the topic of classifiers with a demonstration of how to buy cigarettes as “the yellow pack”, “those five packs”, “the big pack” etc. – not something found in modern books! Printed in 1964, this is an updated version of the author’s PhD dissertation so academic linguistic terminology is heavily used throughout eg. nouns are defined as “any substantive which occurs as the head of an endocentric expression”, but there are plenty of examples which help if the lingo is hard to understand. It’s perhaps unfortunate that only transliteration is used – no Thai script at all – but this is a book about spoken Thai.

One feature that stands out is the focus on stress, rhythm and intonation in spoken Thai and the transliteration (also based on Mary Haas’ system) includes symbols to represent these features. Other grammar books generally give less focus on this topic so its inclusion here is welcome.

The PDF version at the above website is free and is a scan of the original print edition. It’s mostly of good quality although there are a few faint or illegible words to be found. There are “new” editions of this book being sold online, but they seem to be identical to this PDF except for the front cover.

A Reference Grammar of ThaiThai Reference Grammar A Reference Grammar of Thai
Authors: Shoichi Iwasaki and Preeya Ingkaphirom
Formats: paperback, hardback
ISBN: 978-0521108676 (paperback)
Language: English with examples in Thai script, transliteration and part-of-speech analysis.
Google Preview: A Reference Grammar of Thai

This book is also for a more academic audience. The terminology used is somewhat difficult at first if the reader is not familiar with technical linguistic terms (eg. chapter titles such as “Deontic Modal Auxiliaries”, “The Periphrastic Causative” etc), although each chapter has a short, less-technical introduction but not totally jargon free. Reading the chapter summaries first will give a clearer overview of the content and the terminology is arguably easier to understand than that used in Noss’ book.

The academic approach used to compile this book is clear from the conversational data: transcriptions of real conversations between teachers & parents, parents & children, business meetings etc. Even hesitations and repetition of words are transcribed, transliterated and analysed into parts of speech as spoken. Top marks for the analysis of real-life speech as this is something that’s not evident in the other books presented here.

The part-of-speech analysis is a feature not found in the other books in this article, although it’s common in many academic papers. For example:

นัดคงไม่มาแล้ว
nát khoŋ mây maa lɛ́ɛw
(name) may NEG come ASP
“Nat may not come any more.”

Lines 1, 2 and 4 are the Thai script, transliteration and translation respectively. Line 3 is the part-of-speech analysis showing how each word fits in the sentence: (name) denotes a persons name, NEG is a “negative marker” (“not”) and ASP is an “aspect auxiliary” (for time/tense).

However, there are a few mistakes: a few transliterations and translations are incomplete, and some incorrect spellings can be found too. But don’t let these minor negatives put you off though as this is otherwise a detailed, insightful (albeit expensive) book. The Smyth and Higbie books are great quick references for learning language structures but this one is more detailed and will often better answer the question “how does that word really work?”

Thai Language Grammar Books…

These grammar books are primarily for native Thai speakers so the focus is very different from those above. The foreign language books are about second language acquisition and understanding whereas books for native speakers explain the workings of the reader’s own native language which they already use fluently in daily life.

The first two books can be found in Thai university bookshops and larger general bookshops. The บรรทัดฐานภาษาไทย books are limited in availability and details are provided separately below.

หลักภาษาไทยหลักภาษาไทย [The Fundamentals of the Thai Language]
Author: กำชัย ทองหล่อ
Formats: paperback, hardback
ISBN: 978-9742466350
Language: Thai

Previews: Two chapters with partial translations can be found on the thai-language.com website:

Modifiers
Parts of Speech

This book is the standard reference book of the Thai language, first printed about 60 years ago. It’s a very detailed, academic tome (540 pages) covering the evolution of the Thai script, alphabet, tones, types of words, their use (including royal vocabulary or “ratchasap”), clauses, sentences, loan words (mainly Pali and Sanskrit with limited discussion of Khmer, Chinese and English), prose and poetry.

This book has no index but the table of contents is very detailed (spanning 11 pages) and lists all chapters, sections and subsections making it quick and easy to find the right page.

This reference manual is the definitive reference book for the Thai language.

ไวยากรณ์ไทยไวยากรณ์ไทย [Thai Grammar]
Author: นววรรณ พันธุเมธา
Formats: paperback, hardback
ISBN: 974-9993276
Language: Thai

This book covers all the essentials and isn’t overly technical. It’s less detailed than หลักภาษาไทยand perhaps easier to understand while being organised in a similar manner. It starts with chapters covering word types (verbs, nouns, conjunctions etc) and then phrase and sentence construction. The book only discusses the modern Thai language as used in normal daily life so there’s limited discussion of royal vocabulary, and nothing on the language history or traditional forms of verse that are covered in หลักภาษาไทย. Plenty of examples are given throughout and there are also exercises at the end of each chapter.

Unfortunately, finding information in this book can be slow as there’s no index and the table of contents is short (one page) which lists only the chapter titles, not subsections. Also, the page headers only contain the author’s name, book title and page numbers (no chapter or section titles) so the reader must scan the pages for section headings instead.

However, this book does have a logical organisation and its non-technical approach makes it useful as both a tutorial and reference guide.

บรรทัดฐานภาษาไทย เล่ม ๑-๖บรรทัดฐานภาษาไทย เล่ม ๑-๖ [Standard Thai, Books 1-6]
Author: Thai Language Institute, Office of Academic and Educational Standards, Office of the Basic Education Commission, Ministry of Education
Format: paperback
Language: Thai

Availability generally limited to ศึกษาภัณฑ์พาณิชย์ (Suksapan Phaanit) shops.
Branch locations can be found at suksapan.or.th and an online ordering service is available.

เล่ม ๑ ระบบเสียง อักษรไทย การอ่านคำและการเขียนสะกดคำ
Book 1 Phonology, Thai alphabet, Reading and Spelling Words

เล่ม ๒ คำ การสร้างคำและการยืมคำ
Book 2 Words, Word Construction and Loan Words

เล่ม ๓ ชนิดของคำ วลี ประโยคและสัมพันธสาร
Book 3 Types of Words, Clauses, Sentences and Discourse

เล่ม ๔ วัฒนธรรมการใช้ภาษาไทย
Book 4 Cultural use of the Thai Language

เล่ม ๕ กระบวนการคิดและการเขียนร้อยแก้ว
Book 5 The Art of Writing Prose

เล่ม ๖ ฉันทลักษณ์และขนบการเขียนร้อยกรอง
Book 6 Prosody and Patterns for Writing Verse

Notes:
1. Book 1 of the current print-run has sold out (as of November 2011)
2. Books 5 and 6 have not yet been published (as of November 2011)
3. This review is based on books 2, 3 and 4

These recent books, published in 2009 and 2010, present a modern approach to understanding Thai for “teachers of Thai, students at secondary school level or higher and anyone interested in the Thai language”. They are written by “contemporary academic researchers and experts in the Thai language” which is evident from the bibliographies referencing many modern academic papers (from both Thai and foreign universities). By using a modern, broad base of linguistic research, the authors have developed a series of books that explain the Thai language clearly and concisely.

The vocabulary in these books is relatively straightforward and good use is made of charts and tables where appropriate. Some technical terminology has come from English and translated into Thai (eg. “socio-cultural information” translated to “ข้อมูลด้านสังคมและวัฒนธรรม”) but the English terms/phrases are also given on first use, which is helpful for foreign readers.

Footnotes are used to highlight where deviations have been made from older books such as หลักภาษาไทย (above) and its predecessor, the almost century-old work of พระยาอุปกิตศิลปสาร (not included here because it’s out-of-print). Such deviations are primarily where different terminology is used eg. the new books use คำนามวิสามัญ (proper noun) instead of วิสามานยนาม as used in the older books.

The up-to-date nature of these texts can be clearly seen in the second book (Words, Word Construction and Loan Words). The loan words chapters in the older books focus on Pali, Sanskrit and Khmer with a little Chinese and English but these newer books have extensive chapters for Pali, Sanskrit, Khmer, Chinese, Java-Malaya, and English. Likewise, in book 4 (Cultural use of the Thai Language) there are chapters on regional dialects in Thailand and modern language use in business, advertising, media, legal, religion, ceremonies, and word play/humour too.

In summary, these are well-thought out, up-to-date books with clear explanations, ample examples and a broad scope. They are likely to satisfy the most inquisitive students of the Thai language.

The in-print books listed here can usually be found at all large book shops in Thailand which stock foreign language books. Many online shops (both Thai and foreign) sell them too. Google Books has free previews of some and, where relevant, a link is provided.

Mark Hollow

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station

Thai Language School Review: Thai Language Station…

School: Thai Language Station (TLS) Bangkok
Telephone Number: 02-632-9440
Address: Thai Language Station, 62 Thaniya Building 11th floor, Silom Road, Bangrak, Bangkok Thailand 10500

How to get there on foot: BTS (Sky Train) Sala Daeng Station Gate No.1 or the MRT (Subway) Silom Station

Basic Info: Thai Language Station belongs to a chain of schools founded by a half Thai, half Japanese guy named Fuji. Fuji has 2 schools in Japan and 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Thai Language Station’s main location is in the Times Square Building, BUT, here’s the thing. At that site they don’t teach Thai to English speakers. They only teach Thai to Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese. In fact, they don’t even have English language Thai textbooks at Times Square, and not a piece of advertising inside their office is in English either. So, if you’re not one of the nationalities mentioned (Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese), don’t even bother going to the Times Square Building. Native (or second language) English speakers are taught at the Thaniya Building on Silom.

When I entered Thai Language Station in the Thaniya Building I thought I’d mistakenly walked into the Times Square building. That’s how close the schools are to being carbon copies! The only difference is at Thaniya, the signage is also in English.

Materials: Thai Language Station has 8 different levels of material. The first 4 levels start out like most other phonemic based transcription systems. You are introduced to the phonetics used to represent Thai sounds and corresponding Thai characters. Next up is conversation-based text such as: greetings, information gathering (name, age, etc).

The conversations are very straightforward, although there is NO corresponding Thai in the book to start exposing you to the Thai writing system. You’ll only see phonetics and English (and their phonetic system is more than a little squirrelly). In fact, it’s downright confusing! If I hadn’t known the Thai vocabulary beforehand their system would have been totally impossible to understand without taking the time to learn it first. As it worked out, I ended up asking the teacher to write the sentences in Thai script.

However, due to a massive re-write, their quirky phonetic system is about to change. I was informed that it’s going to include Thai script and incorporate a universally understood phonetic system (Benjawan Becker’s Paiboon Plus, to be exact).

Method: The method is conversation based. After the first book of basic Thai it progresses into longer, more difficult, yet still high frequency conversations which are useful in day-to-day Thai living.

The first 2 books on reading and writing have karaoke Thai, real Thai, and English. Once you get thru 4 levels of conversation you’re then exposed to writing and reading Thai. The last 2 books are ONLY in Thai and English.

Aside from the squirrelly phonemic transcription (karaoke Thai) the methodology is pretty good. It has a lot of high value, high usage phrases, sentence constructs, etc.

Out of class homework is assigned for people learning to write Thai. The final 2 books are in a short story format with questions. The materials have been upgraded to a more “current events” based reading class. The teacher takes articles out of the newspaper, magazines, etc., or the students bring an article of interest.

One other thing you don’t see all that often is that Thai Language Station WILL sell their text books to any Tom, Dick and Somchai who walks thru the door. This is total departure from other schools where you hafta enroll before you can purchase the books, and even then you can only buy the books for the level you’re attending.

Then again, with the quirky phonetics and no written Thai in the first 4 levels, unless you know which characters make up which corresponding Thai sounds, the books are of little value as self study material.

Teachers: I spoke to several teachers and they seemed more than qualified to teach Thai to foreigners. They also have an entire contingent of teachers who ONLY teach to a specific demographic (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese) and don’t teach ANY of the English speaking classes. Sadly, the teacher who taught the class I sat had to go to a private lesson right after so I couldn’t talk to her. Fortunately a Thai teacher of mine from 3 years ago teaches at Thai Language Station part time so I called her to get the low-down on the qualifications and quality of the teachers. She said ALL the teachers who teach Thai to native English speakers are required to pass an “in house” test, so yes, they are indeed qualified to teach.

Classes: At Thai Language Station classes run for 45 intense minutes of learning Thai. The books are not taught in a format which repeats endlessly (like some un-named schools) where you can just jump in when ever you enroll. No matter the level, the entire class starts on page 1 of what ever book you’re learning. Given that fact, you might need to wait until a sufficient number of students enroll in a particular level before a class will start.

From what I’ve heard the classes at Thai Language Station are well attended, and some have as many as 10-15 students. This can be a double-edged sword. Big classes can get side-tracked quite easily as new learners of the language question the minutia of Thai. The class I sat only had 5 students so moved along quite well.

There is a HIGH emphasis on getting both the tones and vowel length correct and the teachers hammer students to get it right (even if she makes him say it 15 times). While this may seem frustrating to early learners of the Thai language, in reality it is a blessing as those 2 things are the most problematic areas for foreign speakers of Thai.

ED Visa: Thai Language Station offers the cheapest price I’ve EVER encountered for the yearly ED visa. They have the most lessons for students who sign up for a year (a mind-wobbling 210 lessons!) They offer a 6 month visa program (105 lessons) if students don’t want a full year. And if you don’t need an ED visa, the price for group lessons drops to the lowest price I’ve ever seen offered in Bangkok (60 lessons at just 75 baht a lesson)!

Interestingly enough, Thai Language Station has an innovative “intern program”. This is where someone works at the Thai Language Station office, answering correspondence, speaking to people interested in studying Thai, and various other office tasks. In return the school provides an ED visa, extensions of stay free, and the freedom to study Thai when ever.

I spoke to a Chinese girl who’d just graduated Uni and was enrolled in the program. Now, to my foreign ears, it sure sounded like she spoke Thai pretty darned close to a Thai national already.

Bang-4-The-Baht: I give Thai Language Station a very high “bang-4-the-baht”, based on their methodology, the teachers, and their incredibly low price point. I wouldn’t deduct ANY points for anything but their quirky phonetic system. As I mentioned earlier, that is changing with the new material (supposed to be rolled out sometime after the New Year).

Hope this helps,
Tod Daniels | toddaniels at gmail dot com | Reviewing Thai Language Schools in Bangkok
Your man on the ground, in the trenches, errr, I mean, in classrooms at Thai language schools in Bangkok.

NOTE: Tod is NOT affiliated with any Thai language school.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series: Jan-Feb 2012

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series…

Last year was my first chance to attend the lectures about Thailand, Thai history, and culture arranged by the National Museum Volunteers. Along with many events, their Annual Lecture Series was postponed due to the Thai floods. But, now that the new year is upon us, the series has been rescheduled.

Lectures from Jan 19th through to Feb 9th, 2012…

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesThe Thai Hybrid: 19 January 9.30am
Philip Cornwel-Smith
(author of bestseller ‘Very Thai’)

Thai popular culture brims with quirky hybrids of handmade and hi-tech, indigenous and import. Some traditionalists worry that today’s adoption of foreign novelty dilutes Thainess, yet Thai history has been distinguished throughout by cultural fusion. Appropriation seen in popular culture reveals Thainess as a process that is eclectic, creative and relentlessly hybrid.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesIntroduction to Thai Ceremonies & Observances: 19 January 11.00am
Venerable Kantasilo

A talk by American born Buddhist monk, Venerable Kantasilo, will aim to explain national Buddhist observances and ceremonies that take place over a one year period, providing answers to the many questions foreigners are likely to have pertaining to the significance of such practices in Thailand.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesContemporary Thai Politics: Six Realities We Cannot Duck: 26 January 9.30
Michael J. Montesano

Michael J. Montesano, a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, will tell the audience how keeping track of Thailand’s confusing politics is easy as long as one remembers six basic truths. He will also talk about how these “truths” conceal paradoxes and ironies that must also be grasped if one really wants to make sense of where Thailand is heading.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesOn the Floral Road to Siam: 26 January, 11.00am
Sakul Intakul, floral artist

The talk will be given by renowned floral artist Sakul Intakul, an engineer turned floral artist who is well known for interpreting spiritual ideas through sculptural plant installations. His portfolio includes Royal commissions for the HM the Queen and total floral conceptual design for Bvlgari Hotels and Resorts in Bali; he is also the author of several books on floral art.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesRoyal Thai Cremation Ceremonies: 2 February, 9.30am
Mr Chakrarot Chitrabongs, NMV patron

This lecture will trace the origins of the royal cremation practice since the founding of Bangkok as a new capital city during the reign of King Rama I, whose mission was to revive the old Siamese traditions of the former capital city of Ayudhya that had been utterly devastated by warfare. In their turn, the Kings of Chakri have developed this ancient tradition, introducing changes and technological innovations until it appears as it does today. The purpose of the lecture is to describe to the audience the background information for a thorough understanding of the symbolism linked to traditional beliefs and practices, so that they can follow and understand the ongoing preparations of the ceremony in the various stages up to the actual event. The lecture will be illustrated with photographs that date back to the period that photography itself had been introduced into Siam.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesRamakien – Introduction: 2 February, 11.00am
Stephanie Strasser

Stephanie Strasser, an NMV member who spent her early childhood in Bangkok and who returned to Thailand recently, sought to find out more about the famous Wat Phra Kaew rubbings, eventually finding herself immersed in the world of the Ramakien. Her lecture is a summary of a wonderful story of love and war where gods are reborn on earth to battle demons and where flying monkeys have magical powers.

National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture SeriesLet’s go Wat Hopping: 9 February, 9.30am
Joyce Meer & Bill Lipsey

NMV members Joyce Meer and Bill Lipsey will be going Wat Hopping, sharing with the audience their passion and insights on What’s a Wat after having explored more than 100 Buddhist temples throughout Thailand, some relatively unknown.

Invoking the Land Gods; Understanding the Thai Spirit House: 9 February, 11.00am
Marisa Cranfill

Marisa Cranfill, one of Thailand’s foremost (non-Thai) experts on Thai spirit houses will give a fascinating talk entitled Invoking the Land Gods; Understanding the Thai Spirit House. Cranfill will explain that the Thais’ relationship with the land god is a very personal one because it affects their daily life. “You give the land god what it likes and it will give back good things. It is like a bargain.”

Note: All lectures are to be held in the auditorium of the National Museum, Bangkok.

Bangkok National Museum
Na Phrathat Rd,
Phra Nakorn District,
Bangkok 10200

My schedule continues to be crazy but if I’m in Bangkok I’ll be attending a few talks listed in the National Museum Volunteers Annual Lecture Series.

Thai Language Thai Culture: Thai Golf Vocabulary Words and Their Stories

Thai Language

Thai golf vocabulary words and their stories…

I have always been active in sports. I’ve played college basketball, was on a championship softball team, ran marathons, climbed mountains and got a black belt in karate. And I have never done anything so difficult as to play golf. The game of golf is difficult enough to play in one language, Why try to do it in another?

Hey, if it were easy, why do it in the first place? So, just to give yourself another challenge, and to make your time on a Thai golf course just a little more fun, here are some basic Thai golf vocabulary words, with a bit of annotation to help with remembering them.

Enjoy your walk in the sun.

Thai Language

Thai golf vocabulary words…

Golf: กอล์ฟ /góf/
The Thais use the borrowed word for golf (borrowed from Scottish, just like the English language does) although it is pronounced with a final “p” sound as there are no final “f” sounds in Thai. The “l” can be dropped also. And for some reason it is given a high tone.

Play golf: ตีกอล์ฟ /dtee góf/
In Thai, the term is “to hit golf” (ตี /dtee/ – to hit). You can also say “play golf” เล่น /lên/ as is used in other sports. I’ve heard it used both ways.

Golfer: นักตีกอล์ฟ /nákdteegóf/ or ตีกอล์ฟ /dtee góf/
The term นัก /nák/ usually is a prefix meaning “a person who…” In this case it is pretty clear in Thai that a golfer is “a person who plays golf”.

Golf course: สนามกอล์ฟ /sà-năam góf/
The term สนาม /sà-năam/ basically means “field”. It is used with many Thai words such as:

Airport: สนามบิน /sà-năam bin/ (the flying field)
Football pitch: สนามฟุตบอล /sà-năam fút bon/ (football field)
Stadium: สนามกีฬา /sà-năam gee-laa/ (sports field)

Golf club (the stick): ไม้กอล์ฟ /máai góf/ or ไม้ตีกอล์ฟ /máai dtee góf/
The word ไม้ /máai/ means “tree” or “wood” or “stick”. For example ไม้กวาด /máai gwàat/ means “broom” or literally the stick used for sweeping. So ไม้ตีกอล์ฟ /máai dtee góf/ literally means “The stick used for hitting (playing) golf”.

Golf club (organization): ชมรมนักตีกอล์ฟ /chom-rom nák dtee góf/ or นักตีกอล์ฟ /nák dtee góf/
The word ชมรม /chom-rom/ means organization or association. The first syllable of the word is ชม /chom/ which means “to admire” or “to look at with pleasure”.

Irons: เหล็ก /lèk/
This word is usually followed by a number, as in “Nine iron” เหล็กเก้า /lèk gâo/ or “Five iron” เหล็กห้า /lèk hâa/. For a long time I got this word confused with the similar sounding เลข /lâyk/ which means “number”. I thought people were saying “number nine”. They sound very similar although the correct term “iron” is said with a low tone and the incorrect one, “number” is said with a falling tone. Who said tones in Thai aren’t important?

Woods: ไม้ /máai/
As with “irons” the Thai word for “wood” is also usually followed by a number, as in ไม้สาม /máai săam/ “3 wood”. The exception to this is the Thai word for “driver” (normally a “1 wood”). As is so often heard in Thai, we use a loan word here. The Thai word for “driver” is ไม้ดรายเวอร์ /mai drai-wer/ or simply ดรายเวอร์ /drai-wer/ (not sure of the spelling on this one but the “v” always changes to a “w” sound).

Rescue club (sometime called a hybrid club): ไม้กะเทย /máai gà-toie/
The term กะเทย /gà-toie/ literally means “gay” or “homosexual”. So this term means “homosexual or gay golf club”. In the west the term homosexual can often be derogatory but in Thailand it is simply just another way of being. The “gay golf club” describes this club quite colorfully as being neither one nor the other. Neither male nor female and neither wood nor iron. I always think the caddie is going to laugh when I ask for the ไม้กะเทย /máai gà-toie/ (gay golf club), but they just act like I am asking for any other club. Wish the rest of the world saw things so clearly.

Round (of golf): รอบ /rôp/
The word รอบ /rôp/ literally means “around” as in “go around”. Here is one thing that might be different on a Thai golf course. Many courses are only nine holes. Because it is so hot here many people limit a “round” of golf to only nine holes. On a short course like this, 18 holes would then be “2 rounds” or สองรอบ /sŏng rôp/. You might think playing only nine holes is for wimps, but wait until you’re playing in 40 degree Celsius heat. See how you feel then. One round, or หนึ่งรอบ /nèung rôp/ will probably be more than enough.

Stroke: แต้ม /dtâem/
The word แต้ม /dtâem/ in Thai is usually used to mean a “point” in a sports contest. In golf, a “stroke” is the equivalent to a “point” except, unlike in other sports, the person with the fewest “points” in golf is the winner. If it were the other way around I would be lots more successful in this game.

Hole: หลุม /lŭm/
หลุม /lŭm/ literally means “hole” as in “hole in the ground”. Rounds of golf in Thailand are usually either 9 Holes เก้าหลุม /gâo lŭm/ or 18 Holes สิบแปด /sìp bpàet/.

Water (hazard): น้ำ /nám/
น้ำ /nám/ is simply the Thai word for “water”. To be more descriptive you can say ตกน้ำ /dtòk náam/ to “fall into the water”. When said in Thai it sounds more like it is the ball’s fault because it “fell” in the water, and not because someone hit it there.

Flag (pin): ธง /tong/
ธง /tong/ is the Thai word for flag as in ธงชาติ /tong châat/, “national flag”.

Provisional (stroke): ลูกเช็ค /lôok chék/
This word probably comes from the English for “to check”. After hitting a ball so badly that you aren’t sure if you’ll ever find it, you have to hit a provisional ball, a ลูกเช็ค /lôok chék/, before you can go “check” to see if you can find your first ball.

Handicap: แต้มต่อ /dtâem dtòr/
My handicap is “the game of golf” itself.

Lay up: วาง /waang/
The term วาง /waang/ is usually translated as “put down” or “lay down” something, as in to lay something down on a table. Strangely, in Thai golfing vocabulary it means “lay UP”.

Go for it: สู้ /sôo/
When I am 200 yards from the pin and something (idiotic) in me tells me to “go for it” Thai uses the word สู้ /sôo/. สู้ /sôo/ also means “to fight” and, more appropriately, for my game, “to struggle”.

Putting ball: ลูกพัด /lôok pát/
A western golfer might ask what this is. In Thailand many golfers use a special ball for putting. Once you hit your ball onto the green you exchange it with your ลูกพัด /lôok pát/. Putting balls can be distinguished from a normal ball by their iridescent colors. Your caddie will often ask you for your ลูกพัด /lôok pát/. Just tell her you don’t use one. That is, unless you really get attached to those bright colors.

Borrowed words…

The word “golf” in Thai is a borrowed word of course but you‟ll hear many other borrowed words on the golf course. Like so many other borrowed words (English to Thai), once the word is borrowed it takes on Thai characteristics – usually in the form of tones and Thai pronunciations. Below are some approximations of the, Thai not English, golfing terms.

Putt: pat
Quite often you will hear “sŏng pat” (2 putt), or “săam pat” (3 putt). Any more than that and I don’t want to hear about it. (see สองพาร์ /sŏng paa/ – “2 pars” below).

Par: paa
The final “r” is usually dropped. A big joke on the course, when I play that is, is when I get an 8 on a Par 4 hole. The caddie will then say, “You did good. You got 2 pars (สองพาร์ /sŏng paa/) on that hole.”

Thai LanguagePitching wedge: pi-ching
Leaves out the superfluous word “wedge”.

Caddie: ca-dee
Most courses require a golfer to hire a caddie and will not let you carry your own clubs. Even when you rent a golf cart the caddie will often do the driving. It is customary to give the caddie a nice tip no matter how terribly you played. It probably wasn’t their fault anyway. For various “Thai” reasons, almost all caddies are young females.

Birdie: bir-dee, bir-dêe
The second syllable is often given a falling tone especially when you are really excited when you are saying it. I hear this word so infrequently that it has almost fallen out of my vocabulary. But when I say it I am usually pretty excited.

Bogie: bo-gee, bo-gêe
Another falling tone on the second syllable, but this time is it usually caused by you being somewhat annoyed, with stress in your voice. But a bogie for me is “par for the course” and I am usually happy to get one.

Double bogie: da-bŭn
An oft heard term during my rounds. Make it simple and just say “double”. With a Thai pronunciation of course.

Eagle: e-gun
No final “l” sounds in Thai. They are usually changed to a final “n” sound. I have never said nor heard this word during any of my rounds.

Hole in one: ho-lin-won
I’ll have more to say about this word if it ever comes up in a conversation on the course.

Out of bounds: OB
Simple. There are lots of signs with these 2 letters on the course. And my golf balls seem to be attracted to all of them.

Green: green
Hard to forget this one.

Bunker: bun-kêr
All I can say is that bunkers are better than water.

Sand trap: san
A sand trap is also a “bunker”, and this word is used interchangeable in Thai with the loanword /san/ for “sand”. Sometimes a caddie will also use the Thai word for sand which is ทราย /saai/. Whichever word is used it doesn’t make it any more fun to play out of. But it is still better than water.

On (the green): awn
This term is usually used with the number of strokes it took you to get on the green, as in “2 on” /sŏng awn/, although the number in front when I play is more like “4 on” /sèe awn/ or “5 on” /hâa awn/.

Fore: fow
For some reasons the caddies call out this word with a “w” sound on the end. It would sound cute if I didn’t hear it so often after I hit.

Mark (ball): mát
This word is used as a noun for the “ball marker”, and as a verb “to mark” a ball. In Thailand the caddies are told that it is their job to mark the ball. If you want to mark it yourself you have to let them know in advance. It is also customary in Thailand, if a ball is right on the edge of the green, to mark it one putter head onto the green away from the edge, making the putt much easier. If you want to play by the rules of golf you must let the caddie know to mark the ball where it lies.

Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
Retire 2 Thailand: Blog

Happy New Year 2012! Here’s My Thai Language Wish List

My Thai Language Wishlist

Happy New Year 2012!…

Happy New Year everyone! 2012. Wow. That went fast. Are you ready for a new year? I’m not. Not really. And forget about the backlog of posts from the pre-flood days, when you scan through the holes in my longstanding Thai language wish list, you’ll agree that I’m running terribly behind.

You see, I’ve been watching the language learning market for the past several years. And every so often I’ll come across a product not available for Thai learners. And if it’s interesting enough, I’ll add it to my Thai language wish list.

All along my intentions were to create some of the products you’ll see listed below. But each year I’ve been too much of a busy bee. And each year time runs out. And now it’s coming on 2012 already.

Yes, I still have good intentions. But, as it’s been awhile, I’ve decided to share the list with you. And (hint) (hint) hopefully someone will help generate what’s needed for learning Thai. Something like that.

My Thai language wish list for 2012…

My Thai Language WishlistThai vocabulary stickers: Putting vocabulary stickers all through your house might be an old-fashioned method of learning languages. But it works. And yes! I do have a Thai vocabulary list on the way. It’s a basic affair. You download the file, print the list on sticky back paper, cut along the dotted lines, and then apply the Thai vocabulary to walls, windows, where ever.

Last month I discovered a language company with a better idea: Lingibli. Lingibli’s printable vocabulary sheets (more on this later) are linked to an iPhone app with sound. Sweet, yes? And way over my programming capabilities.

My Thai Language WishlistThai 100/300/500/1000 top vocabulary list: The search for this darn top Thai vocabulary list has been going on since the dawn of time. I already took a stab at the top 100 Thai words one must know. And I’m not done yet (surprise). And Learn Thai Podcast generously created a top 300 course on offer for free. But there’s still a ways to go before we get the entire list compiled. So again, help is needed.

Note: Lingibli has shown an interest in creating a top 100 Thai app from my list. Now all we [cough] [cough] need to do is convince Lingibli to go whole hog with the entire Thai vocabulary list. Yeah. I wish!

My Thai Language WishlistThai place names: Even though street names in Bangkok have an English equivalent – the awful transliteration – newbies to Thailand still have a difficult time getting around. So until they get the Thai tones into their ears, a simple printable list of place names (streets, parts of town, hotels, stores and shopping centres even) in Thai script and the dreaded transliteration would come in handy for presenting to taxi drivers, locals, and knowledgeable expats. Any takers?

My Thai Language WishlistThai visual vocabulary: Language learners are not just audial but visual as well. Makes sense? And when their site isn’t down WeboWord sends out roughly drawn graphics with phrases to explain words. Obviously, it’s not a new idea, but with the addition of sound it’d be brilliant for learning Thai vocabulary and phrases. I have this project in the works as well but it’s a shabby ways away. Help?

My Thai Language WishlistThai word a day via email: Last time I checked, there are word a day iPhone apps but no email lists. Also, from what I remember, none of the word a day apps have been created around beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. The words are random so you get rare words along with entry level words. Frustrating.

The closest vocabulary product for iPhone with sensible levels is the ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer (reviewed here: Increase Your Thai Vocabulary: Word Brain & ClickThai Vocabulary Trainer). Do you think ClickThai would be interested in offering their list via email too?

My Thai Language WishlistThai online grammar checker: Paperrater is a free, online proofreader and grammar checker for the English language. Does anyone know if a decent product is available for Thai? I have heard that there’s a Thai spell checker for MS Word – such as it is – but it’s not free.

My Thai Language WishlistThai audio books: Members of Librivox record chapters of books for audio download. For free. I’m sure you’d have to be careful about copyright laws, but even so, wouldn’t it be sweet for Thai? Ok, there is Rinospike but it’s not quite the same concept.

My Thai Language WishlistThai language ebooks: After being contacted by a reader I went in search for available ebooks in Thai. I found a few resources (to be shared in a following post) but the pickings are mighty slim. We can download, for free, thousands upon thousands of ebooks in English, French, German, etc., to read on our computers, iPhones and smart phones. So why not in Thai?

My Thai Language WishlistThai keyboard with sound: One difficulty with learning Thai is that it’s a tonal language. And one of the best ways to get the tones down is to learn how to read Thai. So I’m thinking that a Thai keyboard that sounds out the Thai alphabet would come in handy. Yes? And wouldn’t coding the ability into aTypeTrainer4Mac be fabulous? Sure.

My Thai Language WishlistThai teachers: I have a section to locate Thai language teachers, as does Glenn at Thai-language.com. But what’s really needed is site similar to Find a Teacher, but dedicated to Thai teachers.

My Thai Language WishlistThai tone test for Smartphones/iPhones: For online there’s a great Thai Tone Test. You can always access it with Safari on your iPhone but an iPhone / Smartphone version with all the bells and whistles would be totally grand.

My Thai Language WishlistOnline speed reading: Spreeder is a free product geared to improve your reading. But could you imagine one for Thai? With sound? Whooh. I’d faint with happiness. Try me.

My Thai Language WishlistWord and phrases calendar: During the Xmas holidays I came across a set of language learning calendars for German, French, and Italian. The product has a word of the day with a phrase showing how to use each word. The tear off sheets are simple, easy to use.

I bought the Italian version (more on that later too) and right away I noticed a problem. The phrases are all willy-nilly. Instead, what’s needed are phrases and vocabulary from basic to advanced – OR – create several calendars to fit the different needs of students. And in Thai.

My Thai Language WishlistVerb cheat sheet: Nowhere is a quick cheet sheet for Thai verbs. I’ve looked online. I’ve looked in course books. I’ve asked around. Nope. And yup, this is another project I’m working on. As it’s a tedious job, I just might post it totally raw to get your views. We’ll see.

There’s one more Thai language project but as I’m working on it (and don’t want to get preempted) I’ll save it for another day.

To finish, if you know of any products still needed for Thai, or if I’ve listed one already available, please let me know. I’m listening. I’m always listening.

Nootropics: Smart Drugs and Language Learning

Smart Drugs and Language Learning

Smart Drugs and Language Learning…

Smart Drugs. Yes. And with the recent news about Thailand clamping down on rock star Sek Loso’s drug habit, DRUGS being supported on a Thai language site might come as a surprise.

But here’s the thing. It’s no secret that my main aim is to find the best methods and materials to learn Thai. Whatever they are.

To do this, over the years I’ve shared many posts on how to increase your chances of success with learning the Thai language.

The basics? Use good materials, eat healthy, get lots of sleep, study daily, surround yourself with all things Thai language, and never ever give up.

Learning languages is a lengthily process. Sure, you can get a jump into a foreign language with a mere 100 top words and an understanding of the basic sentence structure, but there is no quick fix to real fluency. You must do the time.

And here’s a second ‘but’. Many expats learning Thai these days are of the retirement age. And a sizable chunk of those have never successfully learned a second language.

Right away we have older, sluggish brains struggling to learn a tonal language. So even with their best efforts, the often slow to zilch progress sometimes results in a lack of confidence, leading to the eventual waning of the motivation to study Thai.

And if that’s where you are right now, you might want to look into the benefits of Nootropics. Yeah. The D word. Drugs.

Smart drugs and learning Thai…

Always on the lookout for anything to help with memory and motivation, when I came across Nootropics (Smart Drugs) I immediately thought of language learning.

Just what are Nootropics? I’m not going to go into the nitty-gritty details of Nootropics in this post, but in a nutshell (and some wiki scraping)…

In 1964, Dr. Corneliu Giurgea synthetised Piracetam, labeling it as a Nootropic. Nootropics are also known as smart drugs, memory enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers.

Now, I’m a lightweight with drugs. I can barely handle mild painkillers without passing out. Regardless, I do try to keep an open mind on anything that’ll help with my Thai studies. Okokok… I do draw the line at a sleeping dictionary (but never say never).

Dr. Giurgea’s much touted ‘basic characteristics of Nootropics’ eased my mind:

  • They should enhance learning and memory.
  • They should enhance the resistance of learned behaviors/memories to conditions which tend to disrupt them (e.g. electroconvulsive shock, hypoxia).
  • They should protect the brain against various physical or chemical injuries (e.g. barbiturates, scopalamine).
  • They should increase the efficacy of the tonic cortical/subcortical control mechanisms.
  • They should lack the usual pharmacology of other psychotropic drugs (e.g. sedation, motor stimulation) and possess very few side effects and extremely low toxicity.

Sweet. Now curious to try Smart Drugs, I discovered that due to Nootropics being relatively safe they are legal most everywhere. Most specifically, Thailand. And like many drugs in Thailand, Nootropics are easily purchased over the counter.

Finding Nootropics in my area was not easy but I was eventually able to locate a needed stash by phone.

Note: Not all Nootropics are available in Thailand, but enough.

I jumped right in with Piracetam, which is apparently the best documented Nootropic around. After more googling I added Letchin, L-Carnitine, Hydergine, a range of vitamins, and Melatonin to help me sleep.

Wow.

I experienced an improvement in focus, my motivation revved, and a increase in my short-term memory was noticeable. A plus, I felt sense of euphoria, I became less of an introvert/hermit, and the world around me brightened. Brilliant.

And then I had two glasses of wine. Thunk. The bright colours dulled as did my brain.

Good to know.

Apparently there are differing opinions on consuming alcohol and Nootropics. Some say it’s ok, others say no.

The combination of alcohol and Piracetam didn’t work for me so I’m taking a Nootropics break while on holiday. But, I’ll be back in the Smart Drug saddle after the new year. And that’s a promise.

And sure, I’ll write about my experiences with learning languages while on Nootropics. In vivid detail. I’ll also expand on the safety as well as the cautions of Smart Drugs too (so please don’t worry about the D word – too much).

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a quote from a knowledgeable Nootropics tester:

Your capacity for attention is largely dependent on you. Self-discipline still plays a role in the larger scheme of things. Yes. Caffeine, Piracetam and ALCAR will help you stay focused – by staving off lethargy and fatigue. But none of that will matter if you lack the discipline to stay off Facebook.

Nootropics: Smart drugs, memory enhancers, cognitive enhancers, and intelligence enhancers. Mighty fine.

The Charity Cat Party: A Success!

Cat's Charity Cat Party

Did you make it to the Charity Cat Party?…

I wasn’t in town for @freakingcat’s wonderful Charity Cat Party but I didn’t miss out. I watched the concert online via ustream.tv.

What talent! A huge round of applause goes to @freakingcat for arranging the party and to the fabulous performers: Trisdee, Somtow, Siam Sinfionetta and Paye.

If you missed the Charity Cat Party you can catch up via Facebook or YouTube:

Facebook: Charity Cat Party video
Facebook: Charity Cat Party photos
YouTube: Cat Charity Party with Trisdee, Somtow, Siam Sinfionetta and Paye

As mentioned in the invite post, donations collected at the Charity Cat Party went to support my favourite all-time Thai charity, the SET Foundation. Also included were the deserving soi dog and cat charity, SCAD Bangkok.

But if you weren’t able to donate at the party, it’s not too late. You can still go direct to your charity of choice.

The SET Foundation…

It’s no secret that the recent floods in Thailand hit already struggling Thai students hard. So please consider sending a donation to the SET Foundation this holiday. To see how little it takes, read through the itemized list at What does it cost to make the difference?

My Xmas donation went straight to the SET Foundation, as does all revenue from WLT. That’s right, it might look like I have paying ads in my sidebar but it isn’t technically so.

Benjawan and Chris (Paiboon Publishing), Achim and Busakorn (L-lingo), Jay and Jo (Learn Thai Podcast), all donate direct to the SET Foundation. Readers of WLT donate to the SET Foundation too. And I’m proud they do. Thanks all!

The SET Foundation on WLT…

The SET Foundation: A Season for Giving Back
Inciting Acts of Kindness: The SET Foundation
Feel Like Donating? Give to the SET Foundation Instead

Ho ho ho everyone! Happy holiday and I’ll see you next year :-)

Thai Language Thai Culture: Thai Verb Wrappers

Thai Language

Patterns showing verb tenses in Thai…

Verb wrappers (aka verb patterns) show how Thai verbs can be used in different tenses. The verbs themselves don’t change, but their ‘wrappers’ do.

In the following patterns the verb can be substituted with the Thai verbs listed. The subject can be most nouns, names, and personal pronouns.

These patterns can be used for practice. Later, to produce new sentences, substitute your own subjects, verbs, and time words using the same basic patterns.

Nouns, pronouns, and verbs used in this exercise…

For simplicity, the same subjects and verbs have been used throughout the patterns.

Subjects (nouns/pronouns) used in the patterns:

I [masculine]: ผม /pǒm/
I [feminine]: ดิฉัน /dì-chǎn/
I [feminine]: ฉัน /chǎn/
He, she, they: เขา /kǎo/
Her: เธอ /ter/

Verbs used in the patterns:

Go: ไป /bpai/
Come: มา /maa/
Eat: กิน /gin/
Study: เรียน /rian/
Work: ทำงาน /tam-ngaan/

Simple Present Tense patterns…

Thai Language

Sentence pattern: Subject + verb + present time word

Present time words:

Everyday: ทุกวัน /túk-wan/
Every month: ทุกเดือน /túk-deuan/
All day: ตลอดวัน /dtà-lòt-wan/
All the time/always: ตลอดเวลา /dtà-lòt-way-laa/

Possible combinations:

Note: Since context is very important when using Thai verbs, and the simple present time words can be ambiguous, these sentences could be simple present as well as simple past or future tenses or even other tenses.

ผม ไป ทุกวัน /pǒm bpai túk-wan/
I go everyday.
I went everyday.

เขา กิน ตลอดวัน /kǎo gin dtà-lòt-wan/
He eats all day.
He ate all day.

เธอ เรียน ตลอดเวลา /ter rian dta-lòt-way-laa/
She always studies.
She always studied.
She is always studying.
She was always studying.

Simple Past Tense patterns…

Thai Language

Sentence pattern: Subject + verb + simple past time word.

Past time words:

Yesterday: เมื่อวานนี้ /mêua-waan-née/
The day before (yesterday): วันก่อน /wan-gòn/
Last week: สัปดาห์ที่แล้ว /sàp-daa-têe-láew/
Last week: อาทิตย์ที่แล้ว /aa-tít-têe-láew/
Last year: ปีที่แล้ว /bpee-têe-láew/
Two years ago: สองปีก่อน /sǒng bpee gòn/
Last month: เดือนที่แล้ว /deuan-têe-láew/
This morning: เมื่อเช้านี้ /mêua cháao née/

Some possible combinations:

Note: Past tense time words are pretty specific so we can be fairly sure when these things occurred.

ผม ไป เมื่อวานนี้ /pǒm bpai mêua-waan-née /
I went yesterday.

ดิฉัน กิน เมื่อ เช้า นี้ /dì-chǎn gin mêua cháao née /
I ate this morning.

เธอ เรียน อาทิตย์ที่แล้ว /ter rian aa-tít-têe-láew/
She studied last week.
She was studying last week.

Present Perfect Tense pattern (also ‘used to’)…

Thai Language

Sentence pattern: Subject + เคย + verb

Time word: เคย /koie/

Possible combinations:

ผม เคย เรียน… /pǒm koie rian…/
I have studied…
I used to study…

เขา เคย ไป… /kǎo koie bpai…/
He’s gone…
He used to go…

เธอ เคย ทำงาน /ter koie tam-ngaan/
She has worked…
She used to work…

Future Tense pattern…

Thai Language

Sentence pattern: Subject + จะ + verb

Time word: จะ /jà/

Possible combinations:

ผม จะ เรียน … /pǒm jà rian…/
I will study…
I am going to study…

เขา จะ ไป… /kǎo jà bpai…/
He will go…
He is going to go…

เธอ จะ ทำงาน /ter jà tam-ngaan/
She will work…
She is going to work.

Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
Retire 2 Thailand: Blog

Keep Moving (เดินต่อไป): The Thai Flood Set to Music

Music of the Thai Flood 2011

The Thai flood set to music: เดินต่อไป….

For those of you who top up your language studies by listening to music, here’s a sobering Thai flood song, เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ (Keep Moving).

Written by: Mike Agana Sawatsewi, Sutthiphong Sombatjinda and Jaree Thanapura
Produced and arranged by: Jaree Thanapura and Michael Sawatsewi
Mixed by: Jeremiah P. Lipatapanlop

Thai flood photography by: Stephen Thomas, Bree Korkanok, Hedda Joy Tady-Tan, Jeremiah P. Lipatapanlop, Komol Boonpienpol, Leena Chanvirach, Ming Chartmeteekul, Pradon Sirakovit, Saran Singchoovong, Jill Brockelman, Pattricia Lipatapanlop, Mhong Puttharuk Putthiprechapong, Aoffy Vimolkiatkhajorn.

First up is the video with Thai subtitles, followed by an English version. The Thai-English lyrics come at the end.

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ with Thai subtitles….

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ with English subtitles….

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ lyrics…

Audio: เดินต่อไป (“Keep Moving”) (ไมเคิล สวัสดิ์เสวี) (acoustic/ballad version)

เดินต่อไป /dern dtòr-bpai/ (acoustic/ballad version)
KEEP MOVING (acoustic/ballad version)

VERSE 1

เมื่อ วันพรุ่งนี้ เดิน เข้ามา
mêua wan-prûng-née dern kâo-maa
As tomorrow looms closer

มา กับ ปัญหา ที่ ท้าทาย
maa gàp bpan-hăa têe táa-taai
With its hardships and challenges

เส้นทาง ชีวิต ไม่ ง่ายดาย
sên-taang chee-wít mâi ngâai-daai
Navigating life’s road won’t be easy

ไม่เคย มี ใคร อาจ คาดเดา
mâi-koie mee krai àat kâat-dao
With so much that no one could have foreseen

PRE-CHORUS

มัน อาจจะ ล้ม มัน อาจจะ แพ้
man àat-jà lóm man àat-jà páe
Though you might fall and feel defeat

ถ้าหาก ไม่ ท้อ ทุกอย่าง ก็แค่ พิสูจน์ ตัวเรา
tâa-hàak mâi tór túk-yàang gôr-kâe pí-sòot dtua-rao
Don’t lose hope–in strife, we only prove ourselves

จังหวะ ชีวิต ที่ มัน เร่งเร้า
jang-wà chee-wít têe man râyng-ráo
The beat of life, moving us along

บอก ให้ เรา เข้าใจ ตราบใดที่
bòk hâi rao kâo-jai dtràap-dai-têe
Helps us understand and keeps reminding us that

CHORUS

เสียงเพลง ยัง ดัง อยู่
sĭang-playng yang dang yòo
When the music’s playing

จง รู้ว่า เท้า เรา ต้อง เต้น ไป
jong róo wâa táo rao dtông dtên bpai
Remember to keep your feet moving

เมื่อ หัวใจ ยัง เต้น อยู่
mêua hŭa jai yang dtên yòo
As long as your heart’s still beating

จง คิด ชีวิต ต้อง เดิน ต่อไป
jong kít chee-wít dtông dern dtòr-bpai
Know that life needs to keep on moving

VERSE 2

ไม่เคย ไป ไหน ก็ ไม่รู้
mâi-koie bpai năi gôr mâi-róo
Never going anywhere, you never see

ไม่มี ประตู ให้ เข้าไป
mâi-mee bprà-dtoo hâi kâo-bpai
If there lies a door for you to enter

ผิด ถูก อย่างน้อย ได้ จำไว้
pìt tòok yàang-nói dâai jam-wái
Whether wrong or right, at least you learn

ไม่อยู่ ที่ ใคร อยู่ที่ เรา
mâi-yòo têe krai yòo-têe rao
That it isn’t up to anyone else, but you

REPEAT PRE-CHORUS & CHORUS

CODA/BRIDGE

ไป… ไป เถอะ ไป …
bpai… bpai tùh bpai …
Go… go on and keep on moving

มัน จะ เจอ อะไร
man jà jer a-rai
Whatever it is you face

มัน จะ ร้าย จะ ดี แค่ไหน ต้อง ไป
man jà ráai jà dee kâe-năi dtông bpai
Whether good or bad, you need to keep on

เรา จะเป็น
rao jà-bpen
“What will become of us?”

เรา จะ ทำได้ ไหม
rao jà tam-dâai măi
“Will we make it through this?”

คน ที่ รู้ คนหนึ่งเท่านั้น คือ เรา…
kon têe róo kon-nèung-tâo-nán keu rao…
The only one who can answer is you…

REPEAT CHORUS

เดิน ต่อไป…
dern dtòr-bpai…
Keep on moving

เดิน… ต่อ… ไป…
dern… dtòr… bpai…
Keep… on… going…

A special thanks goes to Mike Sawatsewi for sending over the English and Thai lyrics.

WLT’s 2011 Thai Flood posts…

I guess it ain’t over ’till it’s over.

Ayutthaya Underwater: Bangkok Now Bracing for Floods
Bangkok is STILL Bracing for the Thai Floods. Barely.
Thai Language Thai Culture: Primer on Thai Disaster Words
Thai Language Thai Culture: Basic Thai Flood Phrases
Bangkok Flood Info: Preparing for Floods in Bangkok
Thailand’s 50 Million Blue Whales Flood Bangkok
Karn.TV Cartoons: Flooding in Thailand
Thai Floods: FROC’s Highway to…
Thai Floods: 1000 Boats? Nope. Just 6 Boats Pushing Flood Water
Thai Floods: Returning to Flooded Ayutthaya
You are Invited to the Charity Cat Party!
Thai Scam Artists vrs the Heroes of Thailand’s Floodss over.

Thai Scam Artists vrs the Heroes of Thailand’s Floods

Thai Scam Artists vrs Heroes of Thailand's Floods

Scams of the Thai Floods…

Thailand is infamous for its scams. To warn their countrymen about the ongoing problem, the New Zealand Embassy felt obligated to create a dedicated page to Scams in Thailand. And due to the (repeatedly) ignored scams targeting tourists, the Australian Embassy warned Phuket’s Governor about Jet-Ski and Tuk-Tuk scams. Yeah. As if the governor (or Mayor for that matter) didn’t already know.

On my first visit to Thailand I was introduced to the jewelry scam (the bracelet fits fine thank-you-very-much). And my first introduction to Thai disaster scammers happened after I moved to Thailand, during the aftermath of the Tsunami.

So when the Thai floods hit the country hard, I was prepared for another round of scams. I didn’t have to wait long: Donations siphoned off, MWA warns of water bill scam, Con men target disaster victims, Flood Donation Fraudsters Arrested, and Phuket MP Anchalee accused of using flood relief to ‘buy’ support are just a few.

Like many, I wanted to help victims of the Thai floods but I didn’t want to be scammed. And while the SET Foundation is my Thai charity of choice I also wanted to help actual people in need. So I did. My way. Silly me.

But months into receiving my help, a con was rigged. The result? They received a whopping 1,700 baht (peanuts compared to previous assistance) and lost my trust and my support. Finish.

And before you say it, I totally know that the west is no stranger to scams. Just check out this bit of Christmas cheer: Thieves steal children’s charity donation bucket. Sick, yes? But the thing is, I don’t live in the west. I live here. In Thailand.

Westerners grew up with the saying, “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. I did anyway. And when asked a Thai friend, I was told the Thai equivalent is, “Don’t break your own rice pot”.

Don’t break your own rice pot.
อย่า ทุบ หม้อข้าว ตัวเอง
yàa túp môr-kâao dtua-ayng

I prefer the Thai twist. You?

One side of me is pissed off about being scammed. Another side is mystified why someone already getting generous assistance would take a chance at being caught (especially when it was so blatantly obvious). But the practical side of me just shrugs because face it, scams are a regular part of Thailand’s landscape.

Anyway, instead of allowing the frustration to smolder, I decided to share the true heroes of the Thai flood crisis. The ongoing Thai flood crisis. Because it’s not over yet.

Heroes of the Thai floods: Lillian Suwanrumpha…

Like many expats in Thailand, when a crisis hits I stay glued to twitter. Twitter is also where a smattering of heroes like Lillian Suwanrumpha are found.

Lillian, @TheLilyfish on twitter, is an American-Thai journalist and photographer.

For these past months (and remember, it’s not over yet) Lillian has spent countless hours in crisis shelters, wading through rotting water, and boating far into flooded areas. Reading Lilli’s tweets, I’ve been impressed by her energy and stamina. And spunk (I totally like her spunk!)

Daily, I’d read Lillian’s calls for flood volunteers and donations. And when asked, she also gave great advice for rotting feet. And when frustrated, she’d bite the heads off fools.

@TheLilyfish: Looking for committed volunteers, 10 days minimum to help at animal shelter Cha Am. Please email leonard@soidog.org

@TheLilyfish: @WomenLearnThai @elgrodo @vaitor Check out why your feet are peeling first, if it’s fungal, don’t use Betnovate! Only for inflammation.

@TheLilyfish: Dear wannabe #ThaifloodEng donors, if u want to know where money goes, pls follow up group, not nag me about their political “affiliations”

@TheLilyfish: Instead of bitching and moaning about FROC/Puea Thai/ or whatever, go and #### help, you morons.

When I contacted Lillian about my planned post on the heroes of the Thai floods, she replied:

I’d hardly call myself a hero…there are so many others doing what I do, and besides I don’t do a full 9 to 5 job. But thanks!

Taking a different tack, I asked about other Thai flood heroes. Lillian tweeted back:

Red Cyber are the group who manage the donations tent at Victory Monument and do daily missions to Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi. Cyber have been great – they do missions every day, even night shifts. They sleep in their tents at Victory Monument in case there is a call.

@GlobalMouthful has been working with lots of small groups and buying donations daily.

SiamArsa and Thai Flood Eng have been great at coordinating donations, translating relief calls and organising their own.

Due to Lillian’s dedication, she’s been in a prime position to write and photograph what’s going on. Here are four of her Thai flood articles, featured at Asian Correspondent.

Thai flood: Giving and receiving in a time of crisis – A photo essay
A day after Yingluck Shinawatra’s administration implemented the Flood-Relief Operation Command at Don Muang Airport in an effort to alleviate Thailand’s worst natural disaster in 50 years, a call to action was sounded through media outlets for volunteers to help sort and pack supplies on the ground floor below the “war room”.

Since then, thousands of schoolkids, university students, local NGO groups, government underlings, army recruits, families and the occasional celebrity or two have crammed into Terminal 3 on a furious mission to prepare water, food, clothing and basic medical supplies for those in need.

Thai flood relief: Civilians lead the way – A photo essay
Despite rigourous attempts by the Puea Thai government and the Royal Thai Army to alleviate Thailand’s worst flooding in 50 years, most recently with the implementation of the Flood-Relief Operation Command at Don Muang Airport, it is civilian operations that are leading the way with donations distribution in the hardest-hit areas in Thailand during the nation’s worst flooding in 50 years.

Thai Floods: Relief for our furry friends – A photo essay
In the midst of Thailand’s worst flooding in over 50 years, last week the cabinet announced an official holiday from Octobe 27-31 for those in 21 flood-hit provinces.

Many took the opportunity to escape to unscathed areas in the country or abroad to cope with the crisis, leaving the centre of Bangkok a ghost town.

Others, however, opted to stay either to continue working or to use their days off to help others in need – including those of the four-legged kind.

Thai Floods: Life beyond the ‘Big Bag’ barrier – A photo essay
As rumours filter in regarding the possibility of 400 Rangsit locals descending upon the “Big Bag” barrier with destruction in mind, many beyond the great divide attempt to carry on with life as normal – if ‘normal’ could in any way be applied to navigating one’s neighbourhood in up to two metres of water.

You can see more samples of Lillian’s work at: Lillian Suwanrumpha

Heroes of the Thai floods: Ramin Assemi and Pi Wit…

Ramin Assemi is another Thai flood hero. And the same as Lillian, when I approached him about this post, his main focus was on others working to help those in need.

Thai Scam Artists vrs Heroes of Thailand's Floods

His name is Pi Wit. He is a government official working for the Royal Irrigation Department in Mahasarakham as an electrical engineer. A couple of weeks ago he came to Bangkok with his own pickup and 3 boats to help Thai flood victims.

He repeatedly went out to deliver relief items and help flood victims in other ways with his own boat and car, even though his boats and car had to been fixed 3 times now (and the boats even more often). Gasoline has been paid by donations (there’s a group that’s making small concerts and going around with donation boxes), and part of the costs for fixing has been paid by these donations too, but he paid a lot of the fixing costs out of his own pocket too.

I’ve been on the boat with him a couple of times, and was very impressed for several reasons. He’s taking good care of the volunteers who help on the boats and was always willing to jump in where help is needed, risking both his health and his boats. He went to great lengths to reach people who didn’t receive any other help, sometimes driving around in his small boat at night in a completely darkened area with just a little flashlight to reach one family after a very long day when all of us where tired, hungry, aching, covered from top to toe in mosquito bites – he being the guy on the boat must have been the most tired, especially because most volunteers circulate (going one day on a relief trip, then resting another day), while he went several days in a row.

It’s a guy who helps more than he talks, which is a rare quality.

There are others, but when I asked them they preferred not to be mentioned. I’ve met so many people who do very little but push their smiling faces in front on every pic they can, taking credit for other people’s hard work.

When we went out with the boats, we sometimes encountered people who refused to accept relief packs because they said that there are others further down some soi where no boat has gone for days, and they requested that the boats go there first to help them because they needed it more, even though they themselves actually did need the bags too.

As for me I’m very grateful to my friends who donated so much money. I originally set out to raise 20,000 baht in donations, and now we already have more than 190,000, pretty sure that by next week will be more than 200,000. I think for people who want to help, a very powerful way is to call up and email friends, and tap into their social networks and get busy asking for donations, and telling them that they’ll make sure donations are used the right way and using the Internet to make it all as transparent as possible. When people see how their donations benefit those whom they actually want to help, and there’s a trusted friend, they become a lot more generous and helpful than you’d expect them.

At the same time, when someone does this, they really have to get busy checking what happens with the donations and if possible follow it until it reaches those who need help. There is so much abuse of donations and sometimes very stupid and wasteful inefficiency it can be very disappointing and upsetting, but then you focus on the good peeps and find it’s worth all the trouble.

Right now the group at Wat Duang Khae needs donations of chicken and eggs. And the Camillian Home for the Disabled in Lad Krabang needs donations to take care of the kids – it’s not really flood relief (they did a flood relief in their local community, but the flood has pretty much receeded around there except for some sois where there’s just a bit of standing water) but seems to me very well worth supporting.

Baanarsa Jaidee is also a good place to help from what I can tell.

My impression is that many of the smaller groups don’t really need donations for flood relief packs anymore because relief efforts are by now so well organized and gaps by the army and large relief organizations have mostly been closed, but if you come across a small team you think is worth supporting where small donations can help please let me know about it and I’ll check it out.

Also it makes sense to keep some of the money you want to donate for the time when people still will need help, but the media has already moved on and people focus on other things.

Ramin gave tips on how you can get money or donations to the smaller groups, but, as not everyone has the time, I asked how people could get money to his flood efforts. He came back with several options: Preference 1. Bankwire (BKK Bank), 2. Cash (can pick up in BKK & do life post during transaction to keep accountable) or 3. Paypal.

So if you are strapped for time yet still want to help a grassroots effort, please make contact with Ramin through his Facebook (Ramin Assemi) or twitter (@ramin).

Worthwhile Thai flood charities…

There are many charities set up to help the flood efforts. Some are good. Some are great. Some are iffy. The charities listed below have been vouched for.

Camillian Home for The Disabled

Flood Situation: The medical and social workers at Camillian Home have been involved in supporting disabled people living in the community; providing food, medicine, training, adaptive equipment, and very importantly, establishing a deep personal link so they know and feel that they are not alone. Our teams do this work 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Baanarsa Jaidee

The Thai Health Promotion Foundation, an autonomous government agency, in collaboration with civil society–ArsaDusit Volunteers, Thaiflood, and others–opened Baan Arsa Jaidee on October 14th, 2011. It has quickly proved itself an aggressive and responsive flood relief effort because it helps to coordinate dozens of existing civil society groups.

Baan Arsa Jaidee and its partners: mobilize volunteers; coordinate aid; deliver timely flood information; and deliver survival bags, food, medicine, camp toilets, life jackets and other assistance to the flood-affected communities.

Soi Dog Foundation

Large scale evacuations of people are currently occurring in the worst affected areas of the Bangkok area. People being evacuated are typically not allowed to take their pets and these dogs and cats as well as thousands of strays left behind need your help now.

Soi Dog is working with groups in the Bangkok area to rescue these animals. These groups are working around the clock to save the dogs and cats before it is to late. Time is running out and they need your help.

Thai Red Cross

2500 units of blood required daily: The National Blood Center of the Thai Red Cross requires 2500 units of blood per day as reserve to ensure there is enough blood to meet requirements during the ongoing flooding.

… Since 1 October, with the ongoing flooding affecting thirty provinces and the situation still critical, blood collection has been difficult. The Center’s regional blood centers in Lopburi and Pisanuloke provinces are sent 400 units of blood each daily to supply hospitals in the central and lower central regions.

Volunteering…

Thai Flood Team

There are many ways to help about the Thai flood. You can volunteer (packing flood relief items, filling and carrying sandbags, teach and entertain kids in flood shelters, go out in flooded districts to deliver relief bags and so on) or donate (either money or things like rice, canned fish, instant noodles, baby diapers, and many other things that are urgently needed to help those most heavily affected by the Thai flood).

SiamArsa (Thai)

Coordinates donations and organises volunteers. In Thai.

Thai Flood (Eng)

Coordinates donations and organises volunteers. In English.

Wipe the Tide

Wipe the Tide is a fundraising campaign whereby a massive “flashmob” invades Bangkok’s major traffic intersections to clean the windshields of cars in order to raise funds for flood victims and to help rebuilding devastated areas, when ever severe floods in Thailand occur.

We are NOT going to donate cash to a random organization and say: “do what you want with it!” but rather invest in things that are needed.

Other heroes of the Thai floods…

As I mentioned, the Thai flood crisis is not over yet. To keep this fact in the public eye I’d like to continue to share the real heroes of the Thai flood. If you know of any, please give me a holler via my contact form.

In the meantime, here are a few handy flood crisis articles from Matt Crook (Lost Boy).

How to help those affected by the Thailand floods and So where is your money going? and To Ayutthaya and Back…

Thai Floods: 2011…

Ayutthaya Underwater: Bangkok Now Bracing for Floods
Bangkok is STILL Bracing for the Thai Floods. Barely.
Thai Language Thai Culture: Primer on Thai Disaster Words
Thai Language Thai Culture: Basic Thai Flood Phrases
Bangkok Flood Info: Preparing for Floods in Bangkok
Thailand’s 50 Million Blue Whales Flood Bangkok
Karn.TV Cartoons: Flooding in Thailand
Thai Floods: FROC’s Highway to…
Thai Floods: 1000 Boats? Nope. Just 6 Boats Pushing Flood Water
Thai Floods: Returning to Flooded Ayutthaya
You are Invited to the Charity Cat Party!