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"bpai Ha" Or "ma Ha" ?


gawguy

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I guess this is all part of “come here†or “go to there†confusion. I’ve never quite sorted it.

 

As it applies to telephone calls… I’m in my room and I receive a text from someone across town. In my reply I want to say, “I will wait for you to call me.â€

“Pom raw khun toa ma ha pom†or “Pom raw khun toa bpai ha pom†? What is the logic to how this is commonly phrased?

 

Is it the same way if I want to say “I wait for you to come see me� Is it the same logic? Does the same person say it one way sometimes and the other way sometimes, or is there only one way?

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Years ago a Thai teacher got fired from International School Bangkok over the word FAK THONG (pumpkin). Some of the students said it at home, and their parents indignantly protested to the school. Trink even wrote it up in his columns as an example of idiocy in today's schools. The woman teacher had taught there a number of years and was well liked, but the parents didn't like her FAK-ing with their children. :p

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in terms of phone conversation (and really, all conversation) in Thai or Lao, you can only discuss yourself or someone else "bpai"-ing to where you are currently NOT located, and you can only speak of yourself or others "maa"-ing to your CURRENT location...apply accordingly!

 

in other words, in English, if I'm in Bangkok and you're in Pattaya and you call me, you can say "when do you want me to come over"? that question in Thai or Lao *must" instead be "when do you want me to GO (bpai) over"...otherwise it makes no sense, since you can't "come" to somewhere that you're not already located at. if you're in Pattaya, you can only GO to Bangkok, not come there (from your perspective). from my perspective, since I'm in Bangkok, you can only COME to Bangkok, since you're currently not there. make sense?

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Years ago a Thai teacher got fired from International School Bangkok over the word FAK THONG (pumpkin). Some of the students said it at home, and their parents indignantly protested to the school. Trink even wrote it up in his columns as an example of idiocy in today's schools. The woman teacher had taught there a number of years and was well liked, but the parents didn't like her FAK-ing with their children. :p

 

Good thing that she never got into: "Shower Head" in thai.

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Yep. Your call is "going" from you, but it is "coming" to her.

This is funny -- after this discussion in which you guys were all in agreement, and me too, today I got a txt from a girl who is visiting her village for a week or so:

"Now I am at home. On the 6th I will COME to Pattaya." (Chan ja ma Pattaya)

 

She's quite intelligent too, so I'm a little confused. I mean we the farangs are right of course, so what's wrong with her. I'll ask her about this when I see her.

 

Gaw Guy

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