dashiling Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'm always trying to understand a little more Thai, but i am a stubborn ox... anyway security at my condo always acknowledges me with "kaphom" I gather this is a more polite form of "krap". If that is so, My question is how i might use this myself, such as wanting to show respect to immigration officers, rich aquaintances, etc. Thanks, Dashi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 Hi, I guess you would use this where you would use 'Yes, sir' in English. If you want to go even more polite you can go all the way and say: 'na kraphom'. Most likely overkill though BTW, while kraphom can be used at the end of a sentence it is mostly used by itself I think. Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 I'd say it's the military influence, and security guards like as not did their two years in uniform. Khap pohm is the response to a commissioned officer, like saying "yes, sir" or "aye aye, sir". I've also heard it from police - the sergeant major I talked to when he was investigating my house break in. He knew I was an archan and the neighbour who also was robbed is a lt colonel. Thus we got addressed as superiors. A lot of ordinary Thai guys probably picked it up when they took high school ROTC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous God Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 One of the first thai words i used regularly, before i learnt any thai. Working with the thai army on a project a few senior guys used it. Lowest rank using it was a colonel. Then at the factory the no 2 person in a huge and at the time most advanced factory in thailand, great guy, also used it often. I doubt he was ever in the army. So my impression till now it was used by high ranking people? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pom Michael Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 All my male staff use it all the time - don't think it has anything to do with the military at all. Just asked the SO - For men - Khrup / Khrupom - both mean YES - with more formal on the Khrupom (yes, I know it is pronounced Kaphom). For ladies - they have the same - just the same word (Ka or Khaa) - the longer tone is more polite. Learn something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 I've been using it for years, usually in response to taxi drivers conversations about what route to take! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted December 21, 2010 Report Share Posted December 21, 2010 I read somewhere that phom, hair/first person pronoun, originated as an expression of respect....'my hair to your feet'. But I've never been able to confirm it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 It's just a more formal / polite way of saying "khrup"... same as "Dii-Chan" is a more formal / polite way of saying "I" for females (instead of "Chan"). And remember, it's really "kRaphom" (with an "r") - same as "Khrup" has an "r" ... not really "khup". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coss Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 Arrrr... I was told that it meant "yes sir" but as an adjunct, "of course" or "that's right" now I know, thanks gents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizardKing Posted December 22, 2010 Report Share Posted December 22, 2010 I think the formal meaning is still "yes sir" as described, tho' the full military version is à ¸‚à ¸Âà ¸£à ¸±à ¸šà ¸Âà ¸£à ¸°à ¸œà ¸¡ (kor rap gra-pom). The similar sounding krap pom (à ¸„à ¸£à ¸±à ¸šà ¸œà ¸¡) is used colloquially, but I have to believe that there is some kind of usage relationship between the two, as Flash pointed out the military connection (even tho' the similiar sounding à ¸Âà ¸£à ¸°à ¸œà ¸¡/gra-pom in the above case is a personal pronoun). So IMHO, à ¸„à ¸£à ¸±à ¸šà ¸œà ¸¡ is still is a more formal/respectful way of saying yes. Hence my opinion of it still be more equivalent to "yes sir" than anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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