Did any of your Thai friends mention that you use old fashioned Thai terms? Sometimes relying too much on the textbook can make you sound like coming from a hundreds-year-ago era. But wait, don’t blame me for criticizing Thai language textbooks! Let me explain a little bit more in this post!
Many textbooks were written a long time ago or based on older ones. For example, when textbooks were first released long ago, they taught pronouns ดิฉัน (dì chǎn) for females and กระผม (grà pǒm) for males. But in fact, locals use ฉัน (chǎn) for Thai women and ผม (pǒm) for Thai men. Using the terms from the book during formal occasions would be considered correct, but let’s be real; it sounds pretty old-fashioned.
So, if I, as a Thai person, heard a man refer to himself as กระผม (grà pǒm) without seeing him, I would picture a polite man wearing a formal male national outfit. I think either the speaker is exceptionally polite, or maybe they’re a time-traveling Thai person.
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Anyway, learning old-fashioned Thai terms can also help you improve your Thai skills. Whether you’re trying to avoid sounding like someone in traditional Thai dresses or just want to use the right words in a formal setting, let’s learn some new words together!
How To Say Old Fashioned In Thai?
Let’s start by learning the Thai term “old-fashioned” and how it is used in a phrase.
- Ancient/old-fashioned – โบราณ (boo raan), เชย (chəəi)
Both of these Thai terms are often used in everyday conversation. Let’s look at the phrase to see how they work.
- This is such an old-fashioned skirt. – กระโปรงตัวนี้เชยมากเลย (grà bproong dtua níi chəəi mâak ləəi)
- This ancient town is beautiful. – หมู่บ้านโบราณนี้สวยจัง (mùu bâan boo raan níi sǔai jang)
Old Fashioned Thai Terms You Need To Know
Have you ever watched a Thai period drama and noticed how elegant and luxurious the traditional attire looks on the characters? It’s as if they were born into a high-class society, and their language differs from today’s era!
Remember those Thai pronouns I talked about earlier? Well, those words are ดิฉัน (dì chǎn) and กระผม (grà pǒm). They’re typically old-fashioned words or used in very formal situations. Here, I’ve got some old-fashioned terms for you that you surely won’t hear in any case, except for period dramas.
Alright, let’s check out an old Thai word together!
| English | Thai | Romanized | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bad | เส็งเคร็ง | Sěng kreng | |
| Old บุโรทั่ง | บุโรทั่ง | Bù roo tâng | |
| If you lie… | ผิปดสัจจาคำ | Pì bpòt sàt jaa kam | |
| Strange, unusual | วิปลาส | Wíp bpà lâat | |
| Many | อึดตะปือ | ʉ̀t dtà bpʉʉ | |
| Glance sideways | ชม้อย | Chá mɔ́ɔi | |
| Cheerful | เหิมหื่น | Hə̌əm hʉ̀ʉn | |
| Lose | พ่าย | Pâai | |
| Dawdle | แชเชือน | Chɛɛ chʉan | |
| Thank you | ขอบน้ำใจ | Kɔ̀ɔp náam jai | |
| Miss (you) | คำนึงถึง | Kam nʉng tʉ̌ng | |
| Lazy | คร้าน | Kráan | |
| Oh, my goodness! | คุณพระช่วย | Kun prá chûai | |
| Mirror | คันฉ่อง | Kan chɔ̀ɔng |
Thai Gen Z Won’t Get These Thai Old Fashioned Slangs
Have you heard about the Thai slang word “กิ๊ก (gík)” that Thai people use to refer to a person’s casual lover? People have been using this slang for a long time, and it’s still going strong! It’s pretty cool how people of all ages can understand it.
However, there are also plenty of Thai slang words that are no longer in use. Simply put, if you hear locals using old-fashioned Thai slang words mentioned in this section, chances are they’re in their middle age.
So, once you learn these words, you’ll be able to understand Thai and even guess the age of the person speaking.
| English | Thai | Romanized | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cool | จ๊าบ | Jáap | |
| Excellent | เจ๋งเป้ง | Jěng bpêng | |
| Not a big deal | จิ๊บจ๊อย | Jíp jɔ́ɔi | |
| So cool | เลิศสะแมนแตน | Lə̂ət sà mɛɛn dtɛɛn | |
| Excited | กระตู้วู้ | Grà dtûu wúu | |
| So clear | แจ๋วแหวว | Jɛ̌ɛo wɛ̌ɛo | |
| Brag (Thai slang verb) | ซุย | Sui | |
| Dead | เด๊ดสะมอเร่ | Dét sà mɔɔ rê | |
| Cute like Japanese | คิกขุอาโนเนะ | Kík kù à noo né | |
| Afraid of something (chicken out) | ป๊อด | Bpɔ́ɔt | |
| Nice, chill, easy | สบายบรื๋อ สะดือโบ๋ว | Sabaai Bue Sa Due Bo | |
| Confused | งงเต๊ก | Ngong dték | |
| It’s terrible | ซังกะบ๊วย | Sang gà búai | |
| It’s beautiful/It’s cool | กิ๊บเก๋ยูเรก้า | Gíp gě yuu ree gâa | |
| Innocent | หน่อมแน้ม | Nɔ̀ɔm nɛ́ɛm |
In Summary
A broad vocabulary is good for chatting with Thai people from different age groups and in various situations. Using old-fashioned terms can make you sound outdated, even if you didn’t mean to. But making mistakes is part of the learning process. You can actually learn a lot from your mistakes!
Yeah, even if you use old-fashioned Thai terms, people can still understand you, and you can communicate effectively. So, you shouldn’t rely on simple English words to explain locals anymore; instead, you should use Thai words more. Trust me, you’ll surely impress Thai natives!
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