"Bangkok Thai" to "Esaan Thai"

[Goldfishpie]

Try to avoid talking Thai in bars because when you do they all change to Esaan which ticks me off. I'd love to know what they're saying. I know a lot of words are the same, but I get lost easily. Also got to pop upto Esaan next week and want to arm myself with more words. So these are a few that I know. Please add any more that you know

 

 

English = Bangkok = Esaan

 

where go = Bpy nii = Bpy Sii / Bpy silo

 

Delicious = alloy = sep

 

No/Can't = Mai di = Bor dai / Bor Chai / Bor Man

 

House = Ban = huen

Edited February 23, 2009 by Goldfishpie

[chuckrivera]

Sep Sep, with the first one drawn with a rising tone will get you a laugh. As in, "boh pet, boh sep. Pet pet, sep sep."

[kiekske]

bo pen jang = mai pen rai

[Jeremia]

Try to avoid talking Thai in bars because when you do they all change to Esaan which ticks me off. I'd love to know what they're saying. I know a lot of words are the same, but I get lost easily. Also got to pop upto Esaan next week and want to arm myself with more words. So these are a few that I know. Please add any more that you know

 

 

English = Bangkok = Esaan

 

where go = Bpy nii = Bpy Sii / Bpy silo

 

Delicious = alloy = sep

 

No/Can't = Mai di = Bor dai / Bor Chai / Bor Man

 

House = Ban = huen

 

Where in Issan are you going to? Your examples are Laos Issan....If you go to Surin it is Suay ( Issan Kmer)

 

It has been more than 5 years since I lived there but here are a few..

 

 

Where go?...Doh Nat?

Delicious...Chengeng darun darun teh.

Can't..Man bang teh!

Don't want... Man yuen teh.

Don't understand..Man Ding teh.

Spicy..herrr teh

 

and one for Pattaya Beach..Man yuen doh helteu teh..I don't want to go swimming!!

 

One I used all the time. Meen beer saket bru darun darun teh den man cam teh..I have two dogs they bark alot but they don't bite ( I was lying!!)

Edited February 23, 2009 by Jeremia

[MickyBangBang]

It's not "Isaan Thai" that they are speaking but it's Lao. The Thai people living in Isaan are ethnic Lao, and they share the same language. Both the Lao and Isaan languages are 99% similar when spoken, but in the schools of Isaan it is thought using Thai script. My Mrs is from Laos and she always says that the only real difference between Isaan and Lao is how people greet each other and in Isaan they use Krap and Ka same as is Bangkok Thai and a few other small differences.

 

I was like everyone else before trying to learn Thai, it always bugged me that I couldn't understand what the BGs were saying. My Thai was fairly basic but I could only hold a conversation with only Thai people who knew me and knew my level, I would kind of practice on the same people and they would understand what I was saying.

 

But I was talking to a girl in the Atlantic bar one night and she was from Bangkok, she told me that when the other girls spoke to each other she couldn't understand what they were saying, then when they spoke to her they would switch to Thai. I asked more people and I did a little research on the net and I couldn't believe that it was a different language, it was very frustrating realizing that I had been wasting my time learning Thai, the penny dropped so to speak. I never spend much time in Bangkok and all I want to do is understand BGs in Pattaya so I'm convinced that learning Lao was the way for me to go.

 

I have been learning Lao for a few months now and it feels like one step forward two steps back but I'll get there. Sorry to thread fuck but your gonna need more that a few words to help you in Isaan, you need a whole new language.

[Goldfishpie]

Heading up to Sakhon Nakhon, which is where I heard the expressions I mentioned. I knew on the borders between Thailand and Lao they spoke Lao but didn't really think that it would stretch as far in as Sakhon Nakhon. Also didn't think about the other provinces further south where it's bound to have a Cambodian influence on it. So would it be safe in assuming that there are two main types od dialects in the region mainly Laos and Cambodian?

 

From what I gather with regard to Esaan Lao it's mainly the same except for Wh- questions, Negatives and a few other words. Learning Laos however sounds like a bloody good idea. Will try and find some books on that. I only go up there once/twice a year so mainly concentrate on my "Thai".

 

Even so I would like to keep this thread going to see how many different words we can get.

 

This is turning into a right head F....k.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Goldfishpie

[Ajay75]

Tones are different as well for some of the same words as my teacher from BBK frequently used to take joy in telling me I sounded like an old uncle from Issan when I was speaking Thai with her.

 

Like in the UK being able to tell where someones from because of their accent.

[caltexman]

Yeah the girls in the massage places in bkk used to do this alot, if they thought you could understand any thai at all.

 

But then 99% of the girls were from issan so i guess it's only natural that they chat away amongst themselves in issan.

 

They are very similar in appearance to Lao ladys well at least in my limited experience.

 

As i LT a lao lady in bkk, ...............white as white but very beautiful!!!!!

[kirlian]

It's not "Isaan Thai" that they are speaking but it's Lao. The Thai people living in Isaan are ethnic Lao, and they share the same language. Both the Lao and Isaan languages are 99% similar when spoken, but in the schools of Isaan it is thought using Thai script.

There's a lot of different dialects spoken in Isaan and they vary on where you stay. Not to mention about Khmer related dialects. There also is no Isaan teaching or writing in schools, and there is no dictionaries or other such material about the language. On the border areas people could speak 99% similar to Laotians but it's definetely not the case elsewhere.

[herds]

As i LT a lao lady in bkk, ...............white as white but very beautiful!!!!!

 

white asians are the best

 

 

Never really understood this impulse of learning isaan/laos before thai (unless you're fluent in Thai), if you go to isaan they can speak thai and if you go to laos (in my experience) you can speak thai to them and they will understand. To me it's along the same lines a as a foreigner moving to england and learning Welsh before English.

 

If you want to wind some isaan girls up get them to say ร (r in thai), they all say 'lor lura' and can't roll their r's.. make sure you can though first, heh.

Edited February 24, 2009 by herds

[Goldfishpie]

From surfing around a bit my conclusion in a broad sense would be that:

 

Buriram, Surin, Sisaket and some of Ubon Ratchasima speak mainly a Khmer Thai

 

Mukdahan, Nakom Phanom, Nong Khai, Loei speak Laos

 

The other provinces I guess speak Lao/Isaan. Pretty much consisting mainly of the same words but with different pronounciation/ accents of the words. Think there's something like 19 different varieties.

 

So thinking best off to try and learn some Laos and see how it goes given that I'm assuming a higher proportion up that way speak more of this dialect.

Anyway, gonna give it next week over some Lao Khao and beer and raw buffalo or some S...t and see how I do.

[operator33]

arai=iann

[Goldfishpie]

when = dorn dai

[Loong]

I'm not exactly going to contradict as I realise that there are regional variations

 

bo pen jang = mai pen rai

 

 

bo pen jang - I have never heard this and not sure if it's a typo or not - a j instead of a y?

bo pen yang, or how I prefer to write baw bpen yiung often followed by dawk

 

arai=iann

 

What I have heard ends with the "ng" sound eeyiung

 

As I say, there may be many different versions in different dialects, so I'm not going to say that you are wrong. I hope that you can get back and clarify for me.

[keeneauw]

Just say "koi wao Lao" and you see them scatter in all directions!

[barney]

What I have heard ends with the "ng" sound eeyiung

 

Definitely eeyang

[barney]

if you go to isaan they can speak thai and if you go to laos (in my experience) you can speak thai to them and they will understand.

But what good is that if you can't understand them? For sure everyone around you will be speaking Lao. Having spent a bit of time in the village up there my Lao is coming on a bit, and people are stunned when you can converse (however basically) in Lao.

[jaha]

arai=iann

 

I agree with the geographical area where Kmer is spoken, but I have never heard the expression "Khmer Thai". I would have thought it is an entirely different language, brought to Thailand by people who have a Khmer origin, and it bears little if any resemblance with Thai or Isaan dialects. It has a lot of hard "r" sounds and the average Thai, whether from Bangkok or Isaan, does not speak or understand it. Surin is probably the town where this language is most common.

 

I also agree that the people on the border areas with Laos speak the same, if not identical, language as people from Laos. But try to say that to a girl from Sakhon Nakhon or Nakhon Sakhon and you will get an instant rebuffal. "No, I do not speak Lao, I speak Isaan". This response has nothing to do with similarities or differences as they most likiely would not have an indepth knowledge of this, but it is their way to identify themselves as Thais, not Laotians. My girlfriend is from one of these towns and I get told right off if I suggest she speaks Lao.

 

I am intrigued by Thai history and am trying to learn from where people in different areas of Thailand originated. I am reading "Popular History of Thailand" by M.L. Manich Jumsel who states that the "thai" people originally came from Mongolia and different people moved into current day Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand from China. (the word Thai originates from Chinese and means "free") I would like to know more about as their origins clearly differ, with very light skinned people in the northern border areas with Laos and very much darker skinned people around the Buri Ram area. Then you have the Khmer speaking people scattered amongst them. If anyone can recommend a book more easily digested than the one I referred I would appreciate the information.

 

My only contribution to Isaan/Laos

Where are you in Thai: "yoo nai", in Isaan "sai nai".

[barney]

Quote - "yoo nai", in Isaan "sai nai[".- I don't think that's right.

 

It's "yoo sai", same as it's "pai sai" instead of "pai nai"

 

 

 

Couple of useful ones "meuh euhn" instead of "prung nee"

"sao" instead of "yeesip"

"kit hawt" instead of "kit tung"

Edited April 15, 2009 by barney

[jaha]

Quote - "yoo nai", in Isaan "sai nai[".- I don't think that's right.

 

It's "yoo sai", same as it's "pai sai" instead of "pai nai"

 

 

 

Couple of useful ones "meuh euhn" instead of "prung nee"

"sao" instead of "yeesip"

"kit hawt" instead of "kit tung"

 

You may be right, Barney. The border towns I mentioned should also be Nakhon Phanom. Asked my GF today who comes from Nakhon Phanom if her Isaan is different from somebody from, say Buri Ram. She said it is not, only minor regional differences in expressions.

 

From what we have claimed on this thread this would mean that the Lao people and the Isaan people all speak the same language, with no regional differences. Somehow, I am not convinced this is true, but I am no expert. I have enough trouble with the Thai language.

[careski]

Money : tang or satang (thai): ngoen (esaan,lao)

Edited April 16, 2009 by careski

[careski]

I don't have money: mai mi tang (thai): bo mi ngoen (esaan, lao)

[kirlian]

I don't have money: mai mi tang (thai): bo mi ngoen (esaan, lao)

Actually "ngoen" is a Thai word used by everybody, just a different tone compared to isaan dialect (thai = mid tone, isaan = high falling tone)

 

http://www.thai-language.com/id/131302

[kirlian]

http://www.phrasebook.thai-isan-lao.com/

[The Dark Lord]

One girl from Mukdahan once told me: "koi yat zee chow"

 

Anyone know what it means? Though after she said it, I had one of the best nights ever. Since said it to a few other ladies here and got a similar response.