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Thai texting phrases: 555, ka, na and what they mean
Updated
Even when every message is translated, a few Thai habits come through untouched, because they are numbers, particles or set phrases rather than words a translator knows what to do with. Knowing them makes her messages read warmer, and using two or three of them yourself is noticed.
Romanised Thai has no single spelling. The same word turns up as krub, krap and khrap, so the spellings below are the common ones rather than the correct ones. The Thai script is given where it helps.
555: laughing
The number five in Thai is "ha" (ห้า). So 555 reads "ha ha ha", and it is how Thai people laugh in text. More fives is more laughter, and 555+ is laughing a lot. A translator will sometimes leave it as a number and sometimes drop it, so if a reply has a stray 555 in it, she found something funny. You can write it back. It is one of the few things that needs no translation in either direction.
Ka and krub: the polite ending
Thai adds a small word to the end of a sentence to make it polite. Women say ka (ค่ะ, or คะ in a question) and men say krub (ครับ). "Thank you ka", "okay ka", "sleep now ka". It carries no meaning of its own. It is the difference between a curt answer and a friendly one, which is why a reply that ends in ka is warm even when it is three words long.
The mistake to avoid: ka is what women say. If you want to add a Thai ending to your own messages, yours is krub. A man writing "ka" reads the way a woman signing off "cheers mate" would read to you. It is not rude, and she will probably find it funny, but krub is right.
You will also see ja or jaa (จ้ะ, จ๊ะ), a softer, more familiar version, used with friends and people she is close to. If her ka turns into ja over a few weeks, that is not nothing.
Na: the softener
Na (นะ) goes at the end of a sentence to soften it, a little like "okay?" or "yeah?" or a gentle "please". "Sleep well na." "Don't work too hard na." "Wait for me na." It turns an instruction into something said with a smile. A translator usually drops it, which is one reason translated Thai can read as blunter than she meant.
"Have you eaten yet?"
Gin khao reu yang? (กินข้าวหรือยัง) means "have you eaten rice yet?", and it is one of the most common things one Thai person says to another. It is not really about food. It is closer to "how are you, I am thinking of you", the way "you alright?" works in English. Translated literally, it can seem an odd thing to be asked three times a week. It is affection.
The answer is gin laew (กินแล้ว, "eaten already") or yang (ยัง, "not yet"). Asking it back is one of the easiest ways to sound like somebody who understands her.
Other words that turn up a lot
- Kit teung (คิดถึง): I miss you, or I am thinking of you. Very common, and meant.
- Tee rak (ที่รัก): darling, dear. A word for someone close.
- Mai pen rai (ไม่เป็นไร): never mind, it is fine, do not worry. Said about everything from a late reply to a spilled drink.
- Sabai dee mai? (สบายดีไหม): are you well? The answer is sabai dee (fine).
- Tam arai yoo? (ทำอะไรอยู่): what are you doing? Usually just a hello.
- Nuay (เหนื่อย): tired. Nguang (ง่วง): sleepy. Both are frequent, especially at the end of a shift.
- Fun dee (ฝันดี): sweet dreams. A goodnight message.
- Jai yen yen (ใจเย็นๆ): calm down, take it easy. Literally "cool heart". If she sends it, you may have been writing a lot.
- Mai kao jai (ไม่เข้าใจ): I do not understand.
- Chai (ใช่): yes, that is right. Mai chai (ไม่ใช่): no, that is not it.
Phi and nong
Thai people often address each other by relative age rather than by name. Phi (พี่) is someone older, nong (น้อง) someone younger. She may call you phi, or use it with her nickname for herself ("nong Nok"). It is ordinary, friendly and respectful, and a translator will often turn it into "brother" or "sister", which is not what she meant.
Stickers
LINE is built around stickers and Thai users send a great many of them. A sticker instead of words is not a brush-off. It is often the whole reply: a bear waving, a cat bowing, a flower. If a message reads oddly short, she may simply be someone who says a lot with very little.
Using them yourself
Pick two or three and use them where they fit: krub at the end of a thank you, na on a goodnight, gin khao reu yang when you have not heard from her in a day. Do not pepper every message with Thai. A few words, used right, show you listened. A paragraph of phrasebook Thai shows you found a phrasebook.
If you are writing through this site, you can turn on her original Thai under each reply, and a line that spells out how it sounds, in your Account. Leave both on for a few weeks and you start to recognise these words in her own script.
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