Translating newspaper English to Thai

Amorn:

Phawn wannnii tit rot phom pai duay kan si

พอล วันนี้ติดรถผมไปด้วยกันซิ

Paul, can I give you a ride today?

Paul:

rao pai khon la thaang maichai roe

เราไปคนละทางกันไม่ใช่เหรอ

We don’t go the same way, do we?

Amorn:

chai tae wannii phom pai rat faen phom thaang nan phawdii

ใช่ แต่วันนี้ผมไปรับแฟนทางนั้นพอดี

Right, but today I’m going to pick up my wife on your route.

Paul:

ngan phom kaw chookdii sii khun nii pen saamii thii dii na

งั้นผมก็โชคดีสิ คุณนี่เป็นสามีที่ดีนะ

I’m lucky then. You are a good husband.

Amorn:

khun ruu dai ngai

คุณรู้ได้ไง

How do you know?

Paul:

saamii thii dii tawng pai rap pai song faen

สามีที่ดีต้องไปรับไปส่งแฟน

A good husband takes his wife to work and back every day.

Amorn:

ngan phom phoeng pen saamii thii dii wannii eng phom pai rap pai song thoe wannii thaonan

งั้นผมเพิ่งเป็นสามีที่ดีวันนี้เอง ผมไปส่งและไปรับเธอวันนี้เท่านั้น

Then I’m just a good husband today. I’m only doing that today.

Paul:

aao laew thunkwan la

อ้าว แล้วทุกวันล่ะ

Eh? What about every other day?

Amorn:

thoe khap rot pai eng wannii rot thoe sia

เธอขับรถไปเอง วันนี้รถเธอเสีย

She drives to work. Today her car broke down.

Paul:

laew khrai pen khon pai rap pai song luuk la

แล้วใครเป็นคนไปรับไปส่งลูกล่ะ

And who takes your children to school and back?

Amorn:

faen phom khao pai rap pai song eng thukwan

แฟนผมเขาไปรับไปส่งเองทุกวัน

My wife does that every day.

Paul:

aao thaa yaangnan phom khaw phuut mai dai mai

อ้าว ถ้าอย่างนั้นผมขอพูดใหม่ได้ไหม

In that case, can I make a new comment?

Amorn:

phom ruu laew la khun ja phuut waa phom pen saamii thii maidii chaimai la

ผมรู้แล้ว คุณจะพูดว่าผมเป็นสามีที่ไม่ดี ใช่ไหมล่ะ

I know what you’re going to say. I’m a bad husband, right?

Paul:

thuuktawng

ถูกต้อง

Right!

Language check:

Note that we can pai rap pai song many other things — for ample, in the job of courier. Besides
pai rap pai song, there are a few more colloquial expressions worth noting.

The first one is tit rot (to take a ride in somebody's car). Besides the first sentence in the conversation, some other common sentences are:

khaw tit rot pai duay khon na — (Will you give me a ride?)
wannii phom tit rot phuuean maa — (Today a friend gave me a lift.)

Please notice that tit rot and rot tit have completely different meanings — rot tit (as a noun) means "a traffic jam". — For example: chan kliat rot tit jang loey (I really hate traffic jams.)

These two words can be a sentence with rot as the subject and tit as the verb; for example, wannii rot tit maak chan mai yaak pai nai — Today the traffic is so congested that I don't want to go anywhere.)

And if we're lucky some day because there is no traffic jam, we say — chookdii wannii rot mai tit.

The second set of expressions is formed with thaang. These are:

khon la thaang (different direction, way)
thaang diew kan (on the same direction, way)
pai thaang (to go via, to go pass, through)
thaang khao (an entrance)
khao thaang nai (Which way shall we go in?)
thaang awk (an exit)
awk thaang nai (Which way shall we go out?)
thaang thao (a footpath, a sidewalk, a pavement)

Answer key:
1. thiew, thii 2. thii 3. thii

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

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