Thai temple

In Thai, when you want to express that
you’re looking or watching at something or someone
you can use the Thai verb duu (ดู)
which means to look, to see or to watch.

Using the Thai verb duu (ดู) is really easy,
all you have to do is to place a noun
(something or someone that you’re looking at)
right after the Thai verb duu (ดู).

Using duu (ดู) to express “to look” and “to watch”

Note: Be sure to practise writing the Thai script
of each examples below on a piece of paper
to strengthen your understanding and
recognition speed of the Thai script.

Here are some examples that show
you how to use the Thai verb duu:

ขอ ดู รูป หน่อย ได้ ไหม
Kor duu roop noi daai mai
May I see the picture?

Kor is a Thai verb that is used for asking or making
a polite request which sounds something like
“May/can I…”. Roop means picture. Noi is
actually Thai particle that is used to soften
a request.

ตอนนี้ ฉัน กำลัง ดู หนัง อยู่
Dton nee chan gam-lang duu nang yuu.
I’m watching movie right now.

Dton nee means now, right now or at this moment.
Gam-lang is a Thai auxiliary verb for indicating
the present participle. Gam-lang is actually very
similar to the English suffix “-ing” which means
“in the act of”.

Nang means movie. Yuu is a Thai
adverb for indicating the progressive tense
or perfect tense.

คุณ ดู อะไร อยู่
Koon duu arai yuu?
What are you looking at?

คลิ้ก ที่ นี่ เพื่อ ดู ราย ละเอียด
Khlik tee nee peua duu raay-la-iiat
Click here for details.

Khlik means “click”. :-p It can be either a verb or a noun.
Tee means at. Peua means for the purpose of or
simply “for”. Raay-la-iiat means detail, price list or brochure.

Raay is actually a Thai noun meaning list of items,
record, story, case or statement. La-iiat is a Thai adjective that
describes something as detailed, exact, fine, meticulous,
careful or thorough. Literally translated, it would mean
“thorough record” which means details.

ดู นั้น ผู้หญิง
Duu nan poo ying
Look at that lady.

Poo ying means female, lady or woman in Thai.

You can view the original article here at
(http://MyThaiSensei.com)

RippaSama is a passionate Thai language lover who just can’t
stop learning Thai when he is on fire. If you want to read
and learn more about his Thai language lessons and tips,
you can visit (http://MyThaiSensei.com)

Copyright 2006 - RippaSama. You are free to reproduce this
article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name
is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Tags: bangkok, learn thai, Pattaya, phuket, thai, thailandbangkok, learn thai, Pattaya, phuket, thai, thailand

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The world politic condemns any country that is not “democratic.” Yet, when
faced with acts that embody the true essence of democracy: a political
system in which the supreme power lies with the citizens, the world simply
cannot recognize it.

On Sept. 19th a military coup overthrew the Thai government, while the
Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra landed in New York City to give a speech at a
UN assembly. The coup was fast to act, and soon the nations capital was
filled with Tanks and military soldiers. Thailand’s issues with the Prime
Minister stemming the past two plus years have been slow to enter major
newspapers around the world, but add a few tanks and a coup and we have
headline news. At first glance by those who have simply not followed this
conflict, this would seem violent and undemocratic and simply put “scary.”
Enter US Government. The US was the first country to be “disappointed with
the Coup, who supports the corrupt Thaksin Shinawatra leader, and threatened
to review its relationship with all of Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, Thaksin,
who was denied his speaking time at the UN assembly, tried to declare a
state of emergency in his own country, only to have the military cut the
phone lines 10 seconds later. Exiled by his own nation, Thaksin flew to
London where his daughter lived in his one of his mansions, and was forced
to watch his country via the western news stations and newspaper headlines.
Back in Thailand, the people rejoiced and welcomed the soldiers who wore
yellow ribbons symbolizing that the take-over was supported by the revered
King. Thai’s were found handing roses to the soldiers and posing in photo
ops as if the military were pop star celebrities.

Most would ponder at the thought of a ‘perceived’ hostile takeover with
military tanks flooding the streets being a peaceful movement, but in order
to regain control of a country dominated by a “democratic” leader who
refused to step down from power after several huge protests this past April,
it should not be so surprising. After studying and watching the Thai
society over the past few years, I am confident in knowing that these
citizens understand their rights to make decisions for their country. This
is a population that is not afraid to protest, whether it is violent or
peaceful, they will march in the streets for days on end, and they will
continue to voice their concerns until they, as the majority, have won.

The protests began in April shortly after Prime Minister Thaksin sold his
Thai telecom company, Shincorp to Singapore and decided to not tax himself,
making him an obscene amount of money. Thaksin was already the richest man
in Thailand and one of the richest men in Asia. Although Thaksin had made
several big errors including: making huge mistakes in his policies in
Thailand’s Muslim South that has resulted in a huge rise in violence and a
death toll of over 3000 people in the past 3 years, as well as hiding bird flu
epidemics to avoid trade barriers and protect Thai exports, it was not until
the middle class felt betrayed by Thaksin’s tax-free wealth that protests
really began. In April, after over a month of protests, Thaksin decided to
hold another election. He claimed that if less than 50% of the population
voted for him he would step down from power. This enraged the people of
Thailand, who believed his unfair actions were reason enough for him to step
down and be tried without an election. Thai’s filled the streets dressed in
black and yellow and refused to vote. In the end, most major parties in
Thailand as well as 40% of the population boycotted the vote. Although
Thaksin had won the election wining 51% of the votes, he chose to step down
temporality to avoid any further conflict. Months later he returned just in
time to declare another election.

The people have retained their power. The military has fulfilled their duty
to protect the people from harm (Thaksin), and the country is currently
peaceful. This is simply a ’silk’ revolution that clearly follows the
democratic doctrine. It is we Westerners who should be scrutinized. Could
this type of revolution happen in the US? Would our will and morale evoke us
to seize our democratic rights? If a leader was corrupt, the product of
mass death tolls, and hid the truth from its people, would the people bind
together to demand a change? Not Likely. Yet we continuously claim that
these ‘uncivilized’ people do not understand the meaning of democracy. Shame
on us.

Note:
I decided to write this article after reading a popular forum on the internet. The forum had a thread entitled “Breaking: Thailand Coup?” The comments from several posters where as follows, ” I wonder how many Muslim clerics were involved”; Not to Demean this, but aren’t Coups common in the 3rd world?”; and finally ” Muslims (most likely) have seized Thailand.” This is the type of response that fuels me. People, can we be this naive? Our media and governments and now even the Pope has out lashed on the Muslim population blaming them for everything. Soon we will be blaming the Muslims for our wives and husbands leaving us, and for our bikes being stolen. Thailand is also NOT a 3rd World country and Muslims di not take over Thailand! We should be ashamed of ourselves and of our neighbors as this is 2006 and we still have not moved past an era of extreme discrimination.

Nicole Sorochan is an aspiring Film Maker. She has an Asian Studies and Film Degree from the University of Victoria and has a strong interest in Asian Relations, Religion, and Politics. She is attempting to use Film as a form of social movement and awareness. For more information about her and her current projects please go to her website: http://www.nicolesorochan.com

Tags: coup, Democracy, discrimination, election, muslim, protest, revolution, sea, thai, thailand, Thaksincoup, Democracy, discrimination, election, muslim, protest, revolution, sea, thai, thailand, Thaksin

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In order to compare things or to make
a comparison in Thai, you can use
the Thai conjuction gwaa (กว่า).

To use the Thai conjunctin gwaa, you need to place
it right after a Thai adjective. Here are
some simple examples to illustrate
the proper usage of gwaa (than).

Using gwaa (กว่า) to express “than” in Thai

เครื่อง บิน เร็ว กว่า รถ
Kreuung bin reo gwaa rot.
An aeroplane is faster than a car.

ใคร แก กว่า อา หรือ พ่อ
Krai gae gwaa, aa reuu por?
Who is older, uncle or father?

พ่อ แก กว่า อา
Por gae gwaa aa.
Father is older than uncle.

Let’s look at the 1st example first.
Kreuung bin means aeroplane. The
Thai word kreuung itself means machine
or apparatus and bin means fly.
Literally translated it would be “flying machine”
which is actually an aeroplane.

Reo means fast. By placing the Thai conjuction
gwaa right after it you will get “reo gwaa” which means
“faster than”. Rot means car in Thai.

Did you know that reo reo means
“hurry up” in Thai? In Thai, certain adjectives
when repeated twice will have nearly the same
but different meaning. For example, jing jing (really?)
actually came from the word jing which means true.

In the 2nd example, the Thai adjective gae
means old and the Thai conjunction reuu means or.
Aa means uncle (younger brother of father) and por
means father.

More examples on gwaa (than)

อัน ไหน ดี กว่า
An nai dee gwaa?
Which one is better?

อัน นี้ ดี กว่า
An nee dee gwaa.
This one is better.

วัน นี้ ดี กว่า พรุ่ง นี้
Wan nee dee gwaa proong nee.
Today is better than tomorrow.

รถ ของ เขา วิ่ง เร็ว กว่า รถ ของ ผม
Rot kong kao wing reo gwaa rot kong pom.
His car is faster than mine.

เขา ร้อง เพลง ดี กว่า ผม
Kao rong pleng dee gwaa pom.
She sings better than me.

In the 1st example, an means one and nai
means which, where or when. Thus, an nai
as a word would mean which one.
Dee means good in Thai.

In the 3rd example, there’s a new Thai
noun, proong nee means tomorrow. The
noun proong itself means tomorrow so
literally translated it would mean “this tomorrow”
which is tomorrow anyway.

In the 4th example, the Thai verb wing means
run. Let’s take a little detour and recap
what we had just learned in previous lessons, shall we?

How do you say “You should run!” in Thai?

คุณ ควร วิ่ง
Koon kuan wing!
You should run!

Do you still remember the Thai words kuan (should)
and dtong (must)? Now, try saying “I must run!”
using dtong.

ผม จะ ต้อง วิ่ง
Pom ja dtong wing!
I must run!

Okay, now back to… where was I again?
Ah yes, the Thai conjuction gwaa…
Here are two more longer examples for you:

Longer examples using gwaa (than)

หนัง สือ เล่ม นี้ สน ใจ กว่า หนัง สือ เล่ม นั้น
Nang seu lehm nee sohn jai gwaa nang seu lem nan.
This book is more interesting than that one.

พลัง ของ ฉัน แข็ง แรง กว่า พลัง ของ เขา
Palang kong chan kheng rang gwaa palang kong kao.
My force is stronger that his.

In the 1st example, nang seu means book and
sohn jai means interesting. Lehm is actually
a Thai classifier for books. So
nang seu lehm nee actually means “This book”.

Similarly, to say “I have read this book” in Thai, you would
say “Pom aan nang seu lehm nee laew khrap”.
Aan is “to read” by they way.

In the 2nd example, you will notice the cool Thai
word palang, which means “the Force”. Kheng rang
means strong in Thai.

Okay, last example using gwaa…

Before I wrap this lesson up, let’s recap
and reinforce what we had just learned by creating
a lovely Thai sentence…

Try expressing “Nobody is more beautiful than you”
in Thai. You can use the Thai word mai mee krai
which means nobody and suay ngaam meaning beautiful.

ไม่ มี ใคร สวย งาม กว่า คุณ
Mai mee krai suay ngaam gwaa koon.
Nobody is more beautiful than you.

You can view the original article here at
(http://mythaisensei.com/thai_phrases/learn_thai_than.html)

RippaSama is a passionate Thai language lover who just can’t
stop learning Thai when he is on fire. If you want to read
and learn more about his Thai language lessons and tips,
you can visit (http://MyThaiSensei.com)

Copyright 2006 - RippaSama. You are free to reproduce this
article as long as no changes are made, the author’s name
is retained and the link to our site URL remains active.

Tags: bangkok, learn thai, Pattaya, phuket, thai, thailandbangkok, learn thai, Pattaya, phuket, thai, thailand

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