Date Format

You may have noticed that when Thais write dates they are a several hundred years ahead of the rest of us. Can be quite confusing. Basically the Thais use the Eastern version of the Buddhist era which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calender that we know and love today.

Other than this the Thai date format is fairly comprehensive to us Brits, as we see below its in DD/MM/YY format:

วันที่ 29 มิถุนายน พ.ศ. 2552
Day:29 June Year: 2552
29th June 2552.


Or alternatively you may see the day written instead of 'wan tee'

วันจันทร์ที่ 29 มิถุนายน พ.ศ.2552
Monday 29th June 2552

For websites you may see this format posted below articles:

29 มิถุนายน 2552, 11:20 น.

The N standing for naligar (meaning watch/time). If you listen to the newsreaders they'll always say this when they're doing their news items.

Idioms and Expressions

Often I find with Thai that many everyday English expressions get lost in translation and Thais just dont get what you're trying to say. Of course sense of humours are different, and this is most notable when watching any Thai TV comedy show.
Anyway thought I'd start off with some expressions I like in English and get the closest Thai equivalent:

แข็งขัน kaeng kahn - to try one's hardest
หุบปาก hup pak - close your mouth *impolite and should only be used with people who know you
ปากหวาน pak wan - sweet talker (sweet mouth)
ทะลึ่ง taleung - cheeky or someone who has dirty thoughts or a perv
ฝรั่งขี้นก farang kee nok - stingy foreigners (literally bird shit foreigners -- nice!)
นอนไม่อิ่ม norn mai im - someone who is sleep deprived, hasn't had enough sleep
ชั่งหัวมัน chang hua man - never mind/dont worry. makes a nice change from the common:
ไม่เป็นไร
เดินหน้าไม่ต้องไปเหลี่ยวหลัง doern na mai dong pai laew lang - don't look back in anger

Back in Thailand......

Returned to LOS last week, after a short hiatus back home. The rain is making me feel less homesick though. Just a quick post, before i go and eat some delicious ส้มตำ. On the subejct of food, I'd thought it be helpful to post a typical menu you would see at a roadside restaurant, where there isn't always english translations accompanying the thai. Keeping on the subject of som tam menus, here's something fairly common to see when it comes to papaya salad menus:

ส้มตำไทย - Som Tam Thai - Thai green papaya salad. This has some variations on it according to where you buy it from, and doesn't usually contain crab or pickled fish unless you specifically ask for it. I find this the most appetizing som tam, containing papaya, nuts, sliced tomatoes, dried shrimp, sliced long beans, chillies, garlic and of course to get that sweet sour mix balanced right the correct amount of fish sauce, palm sugar and lime juice.

ส้มตำปู- Som Tam Pu. This papaya salad contains much of the same ingredients, and is up to personal preference if both dried shrimp and crab are added.

ส้มตำไข่เค็ม - Som Tam Kai Khem. As the name suggests this is a more salty eggier( is that even a word?) salad.

ส้มตำปลาร้า- Som Tam Pliao. This is a very sour salad with more lime juice added than normally.

ส้มตำตำโคราช- Som Tam Korat. I'm never had this one myself, but having googled it i gather it's very much like som tam thai, and a nice mixture between saltiness and sourness. It's usually added with pickled fish and shrimp.

ส้มตำป่า - Som Tam Pla. Known for it's distinctive smell, this one with pickled fish is definitely an acquired taste.

Remember if you don't like spicy som tam to order: ไม่เผ็ดนะคร้บ/ไม่เผ็ดนะค่ะ่