Cha-Am blog by onlychaam

Welcome to the first edition of Language Corner, your monthly guide to speaking Thai, brought to you by Insight English Cha-Am and Onlychaam.com.

Today’s edition looks at “Greetings” and Kha and Khrap. Kha and Khrap are used at the end of sentences and questions and show you are being polite. Kha is used by females and Khrap is used by males.

In formal situations males use the more formal Khrap and in informal situations the simplified Khap is used. They can also be used to show acknowledgment of what someone is saying, and can often be used to replace “Yes”.

GREETINGS

Often the first thing a foreigner hears in Thai is Sawasdee kha/khrap meaning hello. The next question is inevitably “Khun chue a-rai kha/khrap?” or What is your name? and this is closely followed with “Khun ma-jak tee nai kha/khrap?” or Where are you from?

Practice the following dialogue between Parichat and David:

Parichat: Sawasdee kha. (Hello)
David: Sawasdee khap. (Hello)
Parichat: Khun chue a-rai kha? (What is your name?)
David: Phom chue David khap. (I am David/My name is David)
Parichat: Khun David ma-jak tee nai kha? (Where are you from?)
David: Phom ma-jak Angkrit khap. (I am from England)

Vocabulary:
A-rai = What?
Ma = Come
Jak = From
Tee nai = Where?
Angkrit = England
Phom = “I” used by males
Dii Chan = “I” used by females

Language corner is brought to you by Insight English Cha-am.

For Thai Classes contact 032 - 470 681 and for on-line study visit www.insightenglish.com

The driver of the train which derailed in Hua Hin said he fainted (”pen lom” in Thai) before approaching Khao Tao station. The investigation is still going on and the driver will have to take a medical exam to confirm his claim (source). A lot of people “pen lom”, like this old man in my neighbourhood who died after he fainted, and was found lying under a tree. Was it a heart attack? Did he fall and hurt himself? Nobody knows. He just… pen lom!

I went to Hua Hin yesterday and didn’t notice anything particular concerning the upcoming ASEAN meeting. But when I got back home I found the soldiers were at my house! Only two of them, from the “Soldiers police and civil association in Bangkok”. They were here to raise money for hospitals who take care of soldiers in the South. I sponsored half a wheelchair (boy these things are expensive!) and got an official receipt. I will keep it in my car, it migh come handy some day if I get stopped at a checkpoint…

As I’m writing these lines the weather is beautiful over Cha-Am, but it rained a lot yesterday and I almost lost control of my car on entering the bridge over the railway. When it rains, all the water falls down and stays at the bottom of the flyover. When you leave Cha-Am in the direction of Bangkok, you have to pass through a big pool of water, but the road is straight so it’s not much of a problem. When coming into Cha-Am, though, the road is still bending. I was not driving fast but I went aquaplaning for maybe one second, while I was still taking the curve, and in a split moment I saw myself hitting the rail. I almost pen lom!!! Fortunately I got the car back on the track. Then I remembered seeing a car which had crashed and spinned round at that same spot. At the time I didn’t understand how it had managed to do that, as no other vehicle was involved. Today I took a closer look and I saw that the kerb was bearing the marks of many accidents, and there was still broken glass and pieces of bumpers on the ground. There are plenty of watersports available in Cha-Am already, aquaplaning we can do without!

ประเพณีวันลอยกระทงในปีนี้ตรงกับวันที่ 2 พฤศจิกายน 2552 อำเภอชะอำได้จัดงานวันลอยกระทงเป็นประจำทุกปี ซึ่งสถานที่จัดงานคือวัดเนรัญชราราม เป็นวัดเก่าแก่ของชะอำที่มีการจัดประเพณีลอยกระทงมายาวนาน ภายในงานมีการกิจกรรมมากมาย อาทิเช่น การประกวดนางนพมาศ การละเล่นพื้นบ้านรำวงย้อนยุค การแสดงดนตรี และมีการออกร้านขายของอีกมากมาย และทางวัดก็ได้เตรียมสถานที่ไว้สำหรับให้นักท่องเที่ยวได้ลอยกระทง บรรยากาศภายนอกวัดที่ริมหาดชะอำ ก็ได้มีการลอยกระทงลงสู่ทะเล การปล่อยโคมไฟขึ้นสู่ท้องฟ้า และการจุดพลุไฟที่สวยงาม ซึ่งเป็นที่ชื่นชอบของนักท่องเที่ยว ทำให้บรรยากาศบริเวณริมหาดชะอำสวยงาม และคึกคักเป็นอย่างมาก

ชาวชะอำจะมีการจัดเตรียมกระทงที่หาง่ายตามธรรมชาติ  เช่น  หยวกกล้วยและดอกไม้นำมาประดิษฐ์กระทงสวยงาม  ปักธูปเทียนและดอกไม้เครื่องสักการบูชา  ก่อนทำการลอยในแม่น้ำก็จะอธิษฐานในสิ่งที่มุ่งหวัง  พร้อมขอขมาต่อพระแม่คงคา เพื่อรู้ถึงคุณค่าของแม่น้ำลำคลองอันเป็นสิ่งจำเป็นสำหรับการดำรงชีวิต 

The leaders of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) will meet in Cha-Am and Hua Hin from October 23 to 25, for the 15th ASEAN Summit. To ensure that things will go smoothly and to avoid the chaos we saw in Pattaya last April, the government will impose the Internal Security Act, which is likely to come into effect on October 12. Unauthorised gatherings will be prohibited, and 10,000 military and police officers will be deployed.

If you live in Cha-Am or Hua Hin, maybe the “poo-yai ban” paid you a visit to gather information about your vehicles (brand, colour, registration number). It’s because local residents (Thai and foreigners) will be issued passes (stickers to put on vehicles) to ease the passing of checkpoints.

As a tourist you shouldn’t notice anything special, apart from the military presence along the main roads. As you may know, the country is divided between two political currents who distinguish themselves by wearing red shirts (pro-Thaksin and anti-government) or yellow shirts (anti-Thaksin, to state things simply). Wearing a red tee-shirt won’t get you into trouble, but let’s say it is preferable to avoid showing off two much of these coulours these days, especially red.

There was a train accident early this morning, near Hua Hin. Train #84, coming from Trang and due to arrive in Bangkok around 8.30am, derailed in Khao Tao, 13 kilometers south of Hua Hin, under a heavy rain. At least seven people were killed and many others were injured. The train is always praised as the safest means of transportation, but this reminds us that accidents do happen. Let’s hope the driver will be able to shed some light on the circumstances of the accident (provided we don’t have another typical ‘Somchay fled the scene’ case).