Julian2 Posted March 27, 2006 Report Share Posted March 27, 2006 I?ll start by apologising if this is a previously used thread but I am a new forum member. When I came to Asia I lived in Lao for a year and learnt a little Lao. Later I spent time in Isaan and noticed a few basic differences. I sat in a bar in Pattaya once and reduced two Udon bargirls to hysterics with my Lao. No way did they admit to speaking Lao and they mimicked the accent in a derogatory manner, much the way that the English will with American and Irish Accents. Many trips to Bangkok caused me to pick up a little of what I call TV Thai and finally a move to the North exposed me to what I have heard called the Thai of the Principalities. Now I live in Chiang Rai province and it is different again! I have just about given up but after careful listening I?ve worked out it?s similar to Lao with a funny accent. I mean as far as I?m concerned when they put Boh after a question they?re speaking Lao. Of course they would deny it with their dying breath. There?s plenty of Lisu and a bit of Shan floating around too just to complicate things. I?d welcome any comments on this. What is the correct form of address for one?s mother in law? I?m not comfortable with her first name, and I?m not calling the old battle axe Mair. She?s finally started talking to me after two years so I?d better think of something. Finally, I picked up Benjawan Poomsan Becker?s ?Thai for Beginners? in a second hand shop and was quite pleased with the format but my wife has pointed out a number of basic errors in it; even the months of the year are mixed up. Could any one recommend a similar book please? (Similar in format, not errors) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Hi, "What is the correct form of address for one?s mother in law? I?m not comfortable with her first name, and I?m not calling the old battle axe Mair." Mae (or Mair ) is what I call my mother-in-law. I know there is a word for mother-in-law (forgot it though), but you wouldn't use mother-in-law to address you mother-in-law in the West either, would you? Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elef Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 mother-in-law, my swedish-thai dictionary give mae-yai or mae-sami Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.. Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Not heard mae sami, but I suppose. Mae yai = wife's mother Mae pua = husband's mother I just called my MiL "Yai", (sometimes Mae) as did everyone else. But Yai was also her nickname. Cheers, SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted March 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 OK, thanks guys, mair or mae it is, up here they pronounce it mare, as in the female horse. Also wife is mia, and all my male in laws have mia noi as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preahko Posted March 28, 2006 Report Share Posted March 28, 2006 Lao has a number of different dialects. the Lao spoken in much of Isaan--which the speakers themselves often won't call Lao because they've been brainwashed by the colonial government--er, I mean the Central Thais--is most closely related to the southern dialects of Lao. that's because millions of people in Isaan are the descendants of Lao from those areas that the Thais dragged across and forced to live in Isaan in the mid 1800s, after they burned Vientiane to the ground--destroying every Buddhist temple except one--and displayed the Lao king in a cage in Bangkok before killing him. ah, the gentle, smiling Thais. The northern dialects of Lao are closely related to what's called Lanna (also the name of another kingdom, centered around Chiang Mai, that the Central Thais conquered and colonized), so that's where you're hearing the similarities. I speak Lao and have spent no time in northern Thailand, but when I hear Lanna in movie dialogue I can sort of follow it. Of course, it all comes down to politics in terms of what gets called a "dialect" versus what gets called a "language". thus Lanna is said to be a dialect of Thai and not Lao, and "southern Thai" for that matter is said to be a dialect of Thai when historically those people--especially the ones in the farthest southern provinces--had nothing in common with the Thais really until the Thais conquered them too. Of course, Thai and Lao and Lanna are all closely related, and along with Shan and a multitude of other "minority languages" are part of the same language family (Tai-Kadai). preahko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Shit Preako... For a "newbie" that's some pretty detailed and knowledgable information there! Really interesting stuff! Nice one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Thanks Preahko, that is good stuff as little piggy says. Not sure all the Lao were dragged into Isaan by the Thais though, heard that a few wandered over during and after the unpleasantries of the 60's and 70's when the Americans (sorry, and the Australians) decided that it was all too hard and went home. We may be newbies to the forum MooNoi, with me it was the lack of a home based internet connection that kept me out before, but some of us still may have something to contribute. I must admit it's a great site and you long term members are a great help to every one. Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preahko Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 oh, of course they didn't drag all 20 million over back in the 1800s, haha! there were some living there already then, as the lao kingdoms included some of what's now isaan (mostly the northern part) in the area they influenced/controlled. the thais didn't care much about it--for instance, they didn't even make the people there learn thai--until the 1930's, to an extent, and didn't really pick up their direct control until the 1960's. but the fact remains that most of isaan is substandard land for farming, certainly not "meant" to support the numbers that are there today. which is of course why so many of them make the journey down to bangkok for work so they can survive. and you're right, a bunch came over during/after the war, and of course all those original tens of thousands of forced immigrants from the 1800s and their descendants have been having kids for a looooong time now, haha... preahko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Thanks mate, I finally gave Lao away after too many hassles trying to live there on a tourist visa; the final straw was being arrested at 2am by an Army patrol, half a dozen coppers and two civilians with machine guns. (I hate civilians with machine guns.) It was all to do with my girl friend refusing to let the Nai Barn bang her regularly in return for allowing me to live in his village. The "village" consisted of a large slab of Vientiane. I agree that the Lao and their kings have had a tough time; there will always be a place in my heart for the Lao, possibly more so than the Thaïs I live among now; Lao was my first Asian home and a Lao girl my first Asian lover. Well, if we don?t count one-nighters. Do you have any information on the last Thai-Lao border war? I think it was in 1989, I?d like to read up on it but the Thais don?t say too much about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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