A Thai Primer
The official language is Thai, which is spoken
in several different dialects, depending on the region. Although
English is widely understood around resort areas, speaking
a bit of Thai can prove very useful during your travels, especially "up
country". Aside from the practical aspects, speaking even a
few words of Thai is very much appreciated by the locals, and
will create lots of good will. Don’t be discouraged if
your attempts are met with laughter; this is meant as a good-natured
expression of appreciation, not ridicule.
Thai is a tonal language, which means that one
word may have up to five different meanings, depending on whether
it is pronounced with a rising, falling, low, mid or high tone.
It also has long and short vowels, making pronunciation difficult
at best. The good news is that the grammar is easy as there
is no conjugation of verbs. While the problems with tones means
that Thai is not the easiest of languages to master, don’t
let that stop you from trying–any attempt at all is better
than none. And, the worst that will happen is that you'll get
a smile in return.
When the speaker wishes to be polite, the sentence
should end with khrap (for men) or kha (for women), depending
on the gender of the speaker, not the listener. These words
are also used to show agreement or answer "yes". |
