Not Just You and Me - Getting past Khun คุณ Phom ผม and ดิฉัน DiChan in Thai

Have you ever wanted to know how to swear or insult someone in Thai?
Have you ever wondered why you never hear Thais really use 'Khun' คุณ and 'Phom' ผม or 'DiChan' ดิฉัน when they're talking amongst themselves?
In this clip we go into what people actually call each other and call themselves in family, normal social situations and even with enemies! Learn how to use language that will pay the utmost respect to someone, or could insult them so much you'll be running for cover.
I should note that as I record these clips pretty much on the fly after a little bit of mental structuring first, as I was editing the clip, I realised some mistakes I made when presenting the information regarding the meaning and use of น้า 'na' and ป้า.
น้า Na - 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' - MATERNAL younger brother or sister
อา A - 'Uncle' or 'Uncle' - PATERNAL younger brother or sister
ป้า Pa - 'Aunt' Elder sister of either parent
ลุง Lung - 'Uncle' - Elder brother of either parent
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[@StuartJayRaj]

Exactly. Indonesian society is also the same - especially in Javanese society as the whole vocabulary sets that you use change according to the person you're talking to and even the person you're talking about. In Thai, all you have to worry is about the actual personal pronouns are - unless you're using Rachasap (Royal Language). My Cracking Thai Fundamentals 2 day course goes right into the tones etc. I might do a video version soon.

[@StuartJayRaj]

I would really love to - I even looked at getting myself a whole portable green screen setup so that I could run them out of hotel rooms when I'm traveling etc, but I did some tests and the bandwidth was terrible. That was about 18months ago though - maybe now there are better options.

[@shaneoz5997]

you impress me

[@mannnapat]

This is very informative. Even I'm a pure Thai, I still learn more from your cool video. Thank you. Keep doing pls.

[@StuartJayRaj]

When you do, take a look at the notes I put below the youtube clip - I made a couple of errors during the presentation that I've corrected in the supplementary notes. There are actually a lot more terms, but the ones I mentioned are the main ones. I haven't gotten into terms like มัน ข้าพเจ้า ตัวเอง etc

[@frazerhainsworth08]

cheers

[@StuartJayRaj]

Thanks... just call me เจ :) You hear ยัยa lot especially when women are speaking about other women. ...and yes, it should be อี not อี้.. oops!

[@112ddd211]

this video and the entire series is outstanding - I assume this is why questions regarding age, marital status, kids, income ... are common and not considered rude in order to establish the 'social positioning.' I'd also like to see videos about Thai on: tone, classifiers (measure words) and tense markers great work!

[@kpp28]

"คุณ" have one exception for family members; it's what a wife calls her husband, usually in an older, more traditional couple.

[@StuartJayRaj]

YES!... Actually, I really should have put those in this clip... but it was getting too long. I think I'll do another one this weekend on เรา เธอ แก มัน ตัวเอง ข้าพเจ้า ท่าน ... and I'm sure there will be more. Thanks!

[@zhanhuang4921]

We Zhuang people壮族人 use “gu" for "I", and "meung" for "you" in our daily conversations. I think it might be used in the same way in ancient Thai.

[@donmongbann2815]

now in​ ​thai​ we use for​ friend.(age equal)(close​ FRIEND)​

[@Boulotaur2025]

This is interesting. Some Thai people recently posted a video explaining the usage of these 2 pronouns. Overall, don't bother with those because it has very limited use. The way I understood it, you should use "gu" for "I" and "meung" for "you" but only if you're either : - The best friends in the world (like brothers and sisters) - You're very angry against someone (car accident - emotional anger) See here : kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3SnpWqlbrOab6s

[@aguy1888]

Thanks , stujaystujay . Most kind of you to reply so soon. If my thai improves , then much credit must be given to you . Have a pleasant week . )

[@toddaniels]

Great video really!! I think you shoulda touched on the ability to use เรา (normally thought of as "we" by foreigners but a good informal first person pronoun). Perhaps แก and maybe เธอ as well when referring women too (obviously in the correct social context). Still great videos, very useful vocab, and more importantly VERY useful context on when to use what word. I've found in Thai "context" or when what word is appropriate is way more important. Keep up the great work!!

[@athinagesmundo2928]

Oooooh thats why my cousin's wife, who is thai, is always referring to my cousin as my brother. She would always says "your brother....."

[@StuartJayRaj]

I agree with you ... within limited circumstances. It depends what family member is speaking with whom. It would sound very strange and almost cold in many family situations to use คุณ .. I'm trying to think of a situation in our family where it would be used. Yes - in conjunction with คุณพ่อ คุณแม่ - 'khun pho, khun mae', it would be used as a respectful particle, but not really by itself. As far as ผม and ฉัน, could be used - depending on the family.

[@StuartJayRaj]

The important point remains however that for learners of Thai, คุณ and ผม are not interchangeable with 'you' and 'me' as they would be learnt in English. Understanding power relationships with anyone you interact with is essential so that you can choose the correct pronoun IF you want to be able to use Thai as Thais do and not sound like a Farang.

[@StuartJayRaj]

Thanks. I would be up to doing a workshop in Sydney if I could get the numbers there. I'm on the Gold Coast right now. I'll be traveling at the end of the week but should be back in a month or so. Maybe I could arrange something down there. It's a short flight.

[@StuartJayRaj]

You wouldn't use 'na' to address an older lady. If as old as your mum's age, you'd say 'ป้า' pa (falling tone). If old as your grandma, you'd say ยาย yai.

[@StuartJayRaj]

What country are you in? At the moment I'm spending my time pretty evenly between Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. I want to run some workshops in Thailand in June 2012

[@aguy1888]

Thanks again. I used to frequent a pub in Msia . and the thai waitress who always take care of my drinks will always introduced her new' 'sis-the' to me whenever a new girl arrived . I know now how ignorant i was when i asked : How come every girl working here is your sister ? ) BTW , could i use naa to address an older lady in public ? Thanks for all the comprehensive explainations in your videos -most enlightening .

[@StuartJayRaj]

Yeah - I realised that when I was editing along with a few others - if you look at the written definition, I corrected it up on screen. There are a few other things that got muddled up delivering on the fly- I've added in some notes below the video to clarify. Thanks Mangkon

[@cnpiamnn5063]

May I correct your spelling It is อี not อี้

[@Anya_Boo]

holy crap. what a mess. how i supposed to remember all of this?! And now one more "khao" which is "I". Sound like "you", but no. It is "I". I surrender. Got 9 different "khao" in my copybook, barely can distinguish 2 or 3 of them.

[@StuartJayRaj]

Thanks adam. Ur teaching English through Thai in the clips is fantastic too. Very refreshing.

[@MyNazlee]

It's almost the same system of addressing people in Malay. Your video is one of the most helpful for me to learn Thai. Thank you

[@StuartJayRaj]

Glad it was helpful!

[@billyboyles]

Thank you very muchfor this lesson. I really need to know this stuff when I visit my relatives in Thai. I see now that they have been very patient with me. Is there any special pronoun for husbands and wife? Like sah-mee or pan-rah-yah Or do we just use our names

[@StuartJayRaj]

Yup - EVERYONE'S a sister ... even many of the guys! 5555.

[@thanawatyossungnoen5868]

ผมทึ่งในตัวคุณมากๆครับ คุณอยู่เหนือคำว่า สุดยอด ไปสองขั้น เลยทีเดียว ขอโทษที่มาเม้นท์ในคลิปเก่ามากๆ เพราะผมพยายามหาว่า คนที่สุดยอดอย่างคุณ มีที่มาอย่างไรสุดท้ายแล้ว ผมอยากบอกคุณว่า. . . .คุณมาไกลกว่าคำว่าสุดยอด มา 2 ขั้นแล้ว จริงๆ ขอบคุณครับที่เปิดโลกกทรรศของผม🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@damned1313]

Another awesome video. You are really filling in a lot of gaps for me. Keep all these great lessons coming. We all really appreciate them.

[@TohPhimmasenh]

I've been thinking the whole time that native english would get easier to learn thai than I learn english. after watching this video, It has changed my thoughts

[@StuartJayRaj]

Would be great to do a collaboration with you sometime

[@StuartJayRaj]

Where's the centre? I wish you luck!

[@Isaack92]

cual es tu trabajo? stu raj, eres mejor que muchos políglotas en internet, deberías estar en wikipedia.

[@laurentbettinelli]

Derogatory just one r but very interesting video, thanks a lot

[@SeintDirk]

May İ fill up these words is... Note: These words, u can use with your closed friend. But if he/she is not your closed friend, u shouldn't to use it. Because of these is bad words. Such as: "กู (Goo/Koo)" means İ. "มึง (Meung/Mueng)" means u(you). "ไอ้ (Âi)" means he. "อี (Ee/İi)" means she. ; Not "อี้" "มัน (Mahn)" means he/she/it.

[@takforalt]

There is enough here for me to chew on for a while. Perhaps I will make a tree diagram to show all these relationships. I noticed that even as a youngish 58 year old I am called Pa-Pa in places like the market where they know my face but not my name. Even my landlord, who is maybe 10 years older than I calls me Pa-Pa. Is this sort of a fond way to address a farang who is getting on in years? I must say at first I was a little taken back by someone clearly older than me calling me Pa-Pa!

[@joshyam4026]

Jehovah's Witnesses published their own Thai bible translation, abolishing honorific way of addressing, while the Bible has God, Kings, great sages, great teachers etc. I don't think such a European "foreign" taste of translation can be acceptable by Thai people. What do you think? "Translated literature" can be exceptional?

[@AcD15]

It would be useful to clarify the use of the isaan (Lao dialect) personal pronouns. They can sound vulgar to central Thai speakers but they're perfectly acceptable in dialect context. Please could you confirm spellings of ไอ้ etc. (I'm dyslexic so I have enough trouble with English thank you predictive text!) I'm a lapsed former upper intermediate learner of Thai and I used to be able to speak some Isaan Lao and Isaan upper Khmer too. Unfortunately I never learned the tone rules properly; however your videos have rekindled my interest and there has been something of a revelation/penny drop moment with regard to what tones actually are. Although I have trouble remembering language sequencing rules other things come more naturally; it's particularly fascinating to draw the links between Thai, Lao and Khmer. Do you think a simultaneous approach is feasible to learning these languages in parallel.

[@mitchconquer]

Wow that was such a helpful video. I just have one part I'm not clear on. If I'm a guy going around Thailand, is there ever a time I would use เคัา to refer to myself or would it usually just be ผม?

[@niceleeuk]

I hear แก alot aswell, again I think its not so polite but used between friends or an enemy, especially in the thai dramas on tele

[@cyber1991]

Phom and Khun are Indian words in origin. Nothing Tai about these.