Translating newspaper English to Thai

John:	wannii pai len songkraan thii nai dii
	วันนี้ไปเล่นสงกรานต์ที่ไหนดี	Today where should we go to get drenched?
Jop:	pai trawk khaosaan kan mai
	ไปตรอกข้าวสารกันไหม	Let’s go to Khao San Road.
John:	phom pai laew muea pii thii laew phom jueng songsai waa
	ผมไปแล้วเมื่อปีที่แล้ว ผมจึงสงสัยว่า...	I did last year, and I wonder…
	… tham mai jueng saat nam kan nai wan songkraan la
	...ทำไมจึงสาดน้ำกันในวันสงกรานต์ล่ะ	… why do people come to throw water on Songkran days?
Jop:	athibai yaak maak
	อธิบายยากมาก	It’s very difficult to explain.
	ruu tae waa nam kiewkhawng nai phithii taang taang khawng thai maa naan laew
	รู้แต่ว่าน้ำเกี่ยวข้องในพิธีต่างๆ ของไทยมานานแล้ว	We know that water has been involved in many Thai rituals for a long time
	nai wan songkraan rao songnam* phra*
	ในวันสงกรานต์เราสรงพระน้ำ	Yes. We sprinkle Buddha images with scented water
	lae rotnam* khawpawn phuuyai*
	ใและรดน้ำขอพรผู้ใหญ่	We drizzle water on our (respected) older relatives asking for their blessing
John:	tae nan maichai kaansaatnam kan
	แต่นั่นไม่ใช่การสาดน้ำกัน	But that’s not the splashing of water.
Jop:	nan pen kitjakam nai tawnchao
	นั่นเป็นกิจกรรมในตอนเช้า	That’s the practices in the morning.
	tawnbaai num sao jueng* ja sanuk kan*
	ตอนบ่ายหนุ่มสาวจึงจะสนุกกัน	Later in the afternoon, young people then start having fun.
	kaw saatnam* kan*
	ก็สาดน้ำกัน	That’s when we really start throwing water!
	muakawn maichai pen kaan saat nam
	เมื่อก่อน ไม่ใช่เป็นการสาดน้ำ	In the old days, there wasn’t any water throwing.
	tae ja khoi khai rot nam long bon lai lae lang
	แต่จะค่อยๆ รดน้ำลงบนไหล่และหลัง	There was just the gentle pouring of water on the shoulders and down the back.
John:	saat kan baep tawnnii naa sanuk dii
	สาดกันแบบตอนนี้น่าสนุกดี	It must be a lot of fun throwing the water the modern way.
Jop:	phom kaw waa yaang nan lae
	ผมก็ว่าอย่างนั้นแหละ	Yeh, I agree. But, you’ll see!

This lesson was prepared by Acharn Sunee Siidao, Educational Specialist.

Back to our home page

Read our other phuut phaasaa Thai columns here.

| Comments to Ajaan Sunee at suneec@bangkokpost.co.th |
| © The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd.
All rights reserved 2004
Last modified: April 12, 2004 |

Language check:

In the conversation there are three verbs used for what we do with water on Songkran — songnam, rotnam and saatnam.

Songnam is used when we sprinkle Buddha images or drizzle Buddhist monks with scented water.

We rotnam older relatives or respected elder people by drizzling scented or perfumed water on their hands. The syllable saat in saatnam means ‘to splash’ or ‘to throw’.We saatnam among friends and passers-by in a fun way.

The word trawk as in — tawng pai trawk khaosaan jueng ja sanuk — means subsoi. We call Khao San Road trawk khao saan as it is a small short soi.

The word jueng can be used as a conjunction meaning ‘and’, ‘so’, ‘and so’, ‘then’ as in:

tham mai jueng saat nam kan nai wan songkraan la;

tawnbaai num sao jueng ja sanuk kan;

Vocabulary check:

to drizzle = …………………………….

to sprinkle = …………………………….

to splash = …………………………….

to explain = …………………………….

older relatives = …………………………….

shoulders = …………………………….

I agree. = …………………………….

Phuut Phaasaa Thai gives you useful topical and seasonal Thai words and phrases used in daily-life conversations. The column will give you some instant Thai language to help you out in common situations.

๑๓ meysaayon ๒๕๔๗ ( 13 April 2004)

pai lennam thiinai dii
Do you feel you’re in the peak of the hot season at the moment? Like to cool off by getting drenched? Then join the water festival somewhere.

According to tradition, the Songkran activities involving water include cleansing Buddha images, and pouring perfumed water on older people as a show of respect and for blessing. Later in the afternoon, it’s the well-known joyful time among friends, pouring water over the shoulders gently and down one another’s backs to cool friends off in the summer heat.

To keep pace with the quickly changing lifestyle, the third joyful traditional water activity might have easily turned into the water hurling, splashing or throwing seen nowadays on the streets.