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I Flew from Bangkok to Chiang Mai during Covid-19

May 12, 2020 by

After a month of accommodation problems in Hua Hin and Cha Am due to provincial governors trying their best to make it really hard for covid wildcards (foreigners and to some extent non-residents) to stay in their respective provinces,  I finally gave up on the beach for a bit and decided I’d fly back to Chiang Mai this past Saturday (May 10th) to see what’s happening.  

While I certainly spent a lot of time trying to dig through Thai provincial announcements, it can be difficult to find accurate, up-to-date information.  This post that went up a few days before I flew at least gave me the feeling that I could fly in without TOO much hassle.

At Don Muang Airport

I wasn’t sure what to expect so I arrived at Don Muang Airport maybe 3.5 hours before my flight.  There was a bunch of people, but much quieter than usual.  There was no check in line so once I got to the airline counter I was able to check in immediately.  There wasn’t anything different than usual other than we were both wearing masks and there was hand sanitizer on the counter.  

Airport Security

no lines at airport security

สะดวก ง่าย เร็ว

Security was also quick and easy.  There weren’t any lines to get through.  There was only one security line open and there were a couple people going in before me, but it only took a moment to get through.  Once past security, it was a lot more striking how quiet everything was.  To the left, the hallway was dark.  To the right, there were a handful of things open including Starbucks, but not much.  I walked to the lounge area and the Miracle lounge was open while the Coral lounge was closed.  I didn’t go inside.    

Just past security, it was super quiet.

เงียบเลย

Starbucks for the Win

Starbucks was open, but not much else so I sat there and worked for a while.  Actually, if everything was open, I’d still probably would have sat there a bit and then gone to the lounge.

starbucks don muang during covid

Boarding the Plane

ใส่หน้ากาก

At the gate people were sitting spaced apart.  When they announced boarding they told everyone to keep their distance, but it didn’t work very well. 

On the plane, middle seats were blocked off as expected.   My flight still had a fair number of people on it.  As far as I could tell, almost everyone was Thai.  I only noticed a handful of foreigners besides myself.   

There was some seat drama where an old person just sat in the row behind me, but it was someone else’s seat.  So the flight attendant just put them in my row.  There was a guy with a very unpleasant sounding cough in the row behind me which made me wince a few times.  

Not long after take off, a flight attendant came by to talk to the other guy in my row and said that as he was a ข้าราชการ [khaa-ratcha-gaan] (government employee), and normally entitled to a free meal, they couldn’t serve food on the flight so they gave him a voucher so he could get some food at the airport after landing.  I assume the government has deals with all the airlines so ข้าราชการ can get free food.  

On the plane, they passed out a form to fill out.  It asked where for the following information:

  • Flight + Seat Number
  • Flying to/from
  • Name / Date / Age 
  • Accommodation with a note in Thai with a pretty amusing mistake.
    • What they meant to write was; (โปรดระบุให้ชัดเจน) please specify (the address) clearly
      • โปรด [pprod] please (formal/written only You never need to say this ever)
      • ระบุ [ra-bu] indicate; specify 
      • ชัดเจน [chat-jen] clearly
    • What they wrote was โปรดระบุให้ จัดเจน 
      • จัดเจน [jat-jen] to be experienced or skilled at something (I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Thai person say this so don’t worry much about this word.)

Upon landing, they asked everyone to stay seated so they could control the exit flow rate and add in some social distancing.  They let everyone in the C seats exit first which kind of defeats the purpose of paying more to sit up front so you can deplane faster.  If you do book a seat on Nok, just make sure to choose a C seat in case they do that every time.  Most people adhered to it at least for a minute or so and then most people just stood up.  I don’t think there really was any more distance than usual. 

After exiting the plane, there were 2 people at the top of the escalator to slow down the line and keep people a metre apart.  

Arriving at Chiang Mai International Airport

Once you get to the bottom, there’s a sign which just says “foreigner” pointing off to the side.  I think if you looked Thai enough, you might be able to slip by this, but I’m not sure.   They didn’t ask me any questions, my appearance was enough to get me sent off to the side.  In the farang corner, there was a gaggle of immigration officers buzzing around. 

They wanted to confirm that the address I wrote was correct, they asked for my phone number and that of a Thai person and also asked where I was coming from.  She also looked at my entry stamp which expired a few weeks ago.  

It was all pretty friendly and there were the usual questions like “How is it that you can speak Thai like this?”  in addition to covid related questions like “What country were you in before coming here?’  I told her all the details and I also told my story of getting essentially pushed from province to province due to accommodation problems.   It took less than 10 minutes.  

After she walked me over to the door where i had to go through the entire spiel with a doctor who had a table setup at the exit doors from the baggage claim.  That took a little longer as I had to convince the doctor that I had a place to hide out in for a while (at least 2 weeks) and that I wasn’t going to run around spreading the disease.  She said that I should self-quarantine.  I should point out that of all the people on the plane (maybe 50 or so?), it seems a little silly to only ask me to self quarantine.   Anyways, I’m hiding in my room as I write this so don’t worry, internet shamers.

If you are thinking of flying to Chiang Mai, I would make sure you have all of your bases covered.  I don’t know how this would have gone for someone who doesn’t speak Thai.  

  • Have accommodation booked and paid for (at least 2 weeks!).  If you keep an apartment here or are staying with a Thai person, that will likely win you some points as it will make them more comfortable.  
  • They asked me to give them contact info for a Thai person and I did, but another East Asian foreigner who was standing next to me did not have to do this.  It’s entirely possible that if you don’t have a Thai person’s contact that they would still let you through eventually.  

Here’s the handout they gave everyone:

What happens when Thai people fly to CM?  

I was pulled aside immediately, but from what I could see, Thai people were able to collect their luggage and then had to line up on their way out.  I assume that their information was collected, but the line seemed more like a lecture gauntlet where a few people were telling them all the things they needed to do to stay extra safe.  They also passed out a form with all the measures that they should follow.   I was given this form as well.  It’s all in Thai and doesn’t mention self-quarantining.  

 

Thai Language Notes:

The word ข้าราชการ [khaa-ratcha-gaan] mentioned above is pretty useful.  It’s used to refer to any government full-time employee/official.   The kind of job where a person works for the government and has all the accompanying benefits like pensions and health insurance.  

 

Filed Under: Non-language Stuff

Knee Pain

September 24, 2019 by

เจ็บเข่า


 

In this short Thai reading exercise, the writer tells us about how they injured their knee at the gym the other day.  Below the text is a rough translation of each sentence to help you work through it.  Start reading Thai!

เมื่อวานไปออกกำลังกายที่ฟิตเนส ช่วงนี้เพิ่งมาลองเล่นเวทดูบ้างแล้วรู้สึกว่าแข็งแรงขึ้น เริ่มคิดว่าถ้าตั้งใจเล่นน่าจะมีซิกแพคได้เหมือนกัน สควอทไปเสร็จสามเซ็ต เทรนเนอร์มาบอกให้ลองสควอทแล้วกระโดดด้วย รู้สึกว่ายากกว่าเดิมนิดหน่อยแล้วก็เหนื่อยมากแต่ก็ทำจนครบสามเซ็ต ยังไม่ทันหายเหนื่อยเทรนเนอร์สั่งให้ทำแพลงกิ้งต่ออีกสามเซ็ต เซ็ตละหนึ่งนาที พอครบก็ลงไปนอนกับพื้นแทบลุกไม่ขึ้นเลย ตอนลุกขึ้นมาน่าจะรีบไปหน่อยอยู่ดีๆก็เจ็บแปล๊บที่หัวเข่า ตอนนั้นรู้ตัวว่าเล่นไม่ไหวแล้วต้องพักก่อน เวลาบาดเจ็บที่เข่าปกติต้องพักนานกว่าจะหาย เดือนนี้ทั้งเดือนอาจจะต้องเล่นอะไรเบาๆหรือว่ายน้ำไปก่อน เซ็งเลยเพราะตั้งใจจะฟิตหุ่นไปใส่บิกินีที่ทะเลเดือนหน้า

Line by Line Breakdown:

เมื่อวานไปออกกำลังกายที่ฟิตเนส  

  • Yesterday, I went and exercised at the gym/fitness center.

ช่วงนี้เพิ่งมาลองเล่นเวทดูบ้าง

  • I just recently started trying out lifting weights

แล้วรู้สึกว่าแข็งแรงขึ้น 

  • And I feel like I’m getting stronger.

เริ่มคิดว่าถ้าตั้งใจเล่นน่าจะมีซิกแพคได้เหมือนกัน 

  • I’m beginning to think that if I really set my mind to exercising, I’ll probably be able to get a 6 pack.
  • ตั้งใจ – to intend; to intentionally (do something)

สควอทไปเสร็จสามเซ็ต 

  • I did 3 sets of squats

เทรนเนอร์มาบอกให้ลองสควอทแล้วกระโดดด้วย 

  • The trainer came over and told me to try a squat jump.

รู้สึกว่ายากกว่าเดิมนิดหน่อยแล้วก็เหนื่อยมากแต่ก็ทำจนครบสามเซ็ต 

  • I felt like it was a bit harder than before (reg squat) and I was really tired, butI still finished 3 sets.
  • Do A จน B = do something until B

ยังไม่ทันหายเหนื่อยเทรนเนอร์สั่งให้ทำแพลงกิ้งต่ออีกสามเซ็ต เซ็ตละหนึ่งนาที 

  • Before I could even recover, the trainer got me planking 3 more sets of 1 set per minute.

พอครบก็ลงไปนอนกับพื้นแทบลุกไม่ขึ้นเลย 

  • As soon as I finished all (the sets), I laid down on  the floor and almost couldn’t get up.

ตอนลุกขึ้นมาน่าจะรีบไปหน่อยอยู่ดีๆก็เจ็บแปล๊บที่หัวเข่า 

  • When I got up, I was probably hurrying a bit too much and I hurt my knee.
  • เจ็บ = pain
    • แปล๊บ – a sharp blast of pain 

ตอนนั้นรู้ตัวว่าเล่นไม่ไหวแล้วต้องพักก่อน 

  • I knew then that I couldn’t handle anymore so I took a break

เวลาบาดเจ็บที่เข่าปกติต้องพักนานกว่าจะหาย 

  • Usually, when you hurt your knee, you need to rest for for a while until it’s healed.

เดือนนี้ทั้งเดือนอาจจะต้องเล่นอะไรเบาๆหรือว่ายน้ำไปก่อน 

  • For all this month, (i’ll) probably need to take it easy(workout lightly) or swim in the meantime.

เซ็งเลยเพราะตั้งใจจะฟิตหุ่นไปใส่บิกินีที่ทะเลเดือนหน้า

  • It sucks because I’m really set on getting in bikini shape for the beach next month.

 

Filed Under: Intermediate, LTfaWG: Diaries, Reading Tagged With: , ,

Paintball

July 5, 2019 by

In this short Thai reading exercise, the writer tells briefly about her experiences playing paintball in Hua Hin.  Some of the meaning of the sentences have been translated below.  You can use the linked google doc to see a more thorough breakdown of the vocabulary that appears in this text.

เมื่ออาทิตย์ที่แล้วได้ไปเล่นเพนท์บอลที่หัวหินกับเพื่อนๆ เราแบ่งคนออกเป็นสองทีม แต่ละทีมต้องพยายามบุกไปชิงธงของฝั่งตรงข้าม และต้องระวังตัวไม่ให้ถูกยิงด้วยเพราะถ้าถูกยิงจะถือว่าตายแล้วต้องออกจากสนามเลย ที่สนามมีชุดหมี เสื้อเกราะ หน้ากาก ถุงมือ และปืนให้ยืม

วันนั้นสนามแฉะและลื่นมากเพราะฝนเพิ่งตก ตอนเริ่มเกมเราไปแอบอยู่หลังบังเกอร์แล้วได้ยินเสียงคนยิงมาโดนถังที่ตั้งอยู่ข้างๆหลายนัด กลัวเหมือนกันแต่ก็คิดว่าต้องสู้บ้างจะมัวแต่แอบไม่ได้ พอได้จังหวะก็เลยวิ่งไปหลบข้างหลังถังใบใหญ่อีกใบนึง ตรงนี้ตำแหน่งดีมาก เห็นคนนึงโผล่หัวมาจากที่ซ่อนแล้วเขาไม่ทันระวังตัวก็เลยยิงโดนสบายๆ ตอนกำลังคิดว่าจะวิ่งไปหลบตรงไหนต่อดีก็มีเสียง “ตุบ!” แล้วก็เจ็บที่เอว เลยรู้ตัวว่าโดนยิงแล้วต้องยกมือเดินออกจากสนาม วันต่อมาก็เห็นว่าตรงเอวเป็นรอยช้ำสีเขียว กว่าจะหายเจ็บคงอีกหลายวัน

  • เล่นเพนท์บอล – to play paintball
  • แบ่งออกเป็นสองทีม – to break up into 2 teams
  • แต่ละทีม – each team
  • ต้องพยายามบุกไปชิงธงของฝั่งตรงข้าม – must try to capture the opposite (team’s) flag
  • ถ้าถูกยิงจะถือว่าตายแล้วต้องออกจากสนามเลย – if you get shot, you are considered dead and must leave the field
  • ที่สนามมีชุดหมี เสื้อเกราะ หน้ากาก ถุงมือ และปืนให้ยืม – at the field, there was bear suits, armor, masks, gloves and guns you could borrow
  • วันนั้นสนามแฉะและลื่นมากเพราะฝนเพิ่งตก – that day, the field was wet and slippery because it had just rained
  • ตอนเริ่มเกมเราไปแอบอยู่หลังบังเกอร์แล้วได้ยินเสียงคนยิงมาโดนถังที่ตั้งอยู่ข้างๆหลายนัด – when the game started, I hid behind the bunker and heard many shots hit a barrel beside me
  • พอได้จังหวะก็เลยวิ่งไปหลบข้างหลังถังใบใหญ่อีกใบนึง – as soon as I saw the right moment, I ran and hid behind a large barrel
  • ตรงนี้ตำแหน่งดีมาก here is a good position
  • เห็นคนนึงโผล่หัวมาจากที่ซ่อนแล้วเขาไม่ทันระวังตัวก็เลยยิงโดนสบายๆ ​- I saw someone poke their head up from whether they were hiding and they didn’t get back down in time and were easily taken out
  • ตอนกำลังคิดว่าจะวิ่งไปหลบตรงไหนต่อดีก็มีเสียง “ตุบ!”- as I was thinking where to go hide next I heard a “blam”
  • แล้วก็เจ็บที่เอว  – and felt pain at my waist.
  • เลยรู้ตัวว่าโดนยิงแล้วต้องยกมือเดินออกจากสนาม – I knew I had been shot so I raised my hands up and left the field
  • วันต่อมาก็เห็นว่าตรงเอวเป็นรอยช้ำสีเขียว – the next day I saw a green bruise on my waist
  • กว่าจะหายเจ็บคงอีกหลายวัน – It’ll probably be a few days before it goes away

 

Vocabulary and sentences notes.

 

Can’t read the Thai alphabet yet?

My foundation course, Read Thai in 2 Weeks, is just the first of 4 courses in the program designed to help you learn to speak Thai as fast as possible. Learning the script and sounds first is the most important step for learning Thai and requires just a short time investment of part-time study of for a very big payoff.  Ready to learn how to speak and read Thai language?  Try my 4 online course program.

Click Here to Learn More

 

Filed Under: Articles, Intermediate, learn to read thai, LTfaWG: Diaries, Reading Tagged With: ,

Top 5 Thai Phrases You Need to Know

April 1, 2019 by
Bangkok

อยู่ไหนเนี่ย

Top 5 Thai Phrases

If I were to start learning Thai from the beginning all over again, these are the most useful 5 Thai phrases that I wish my first phrase book taught me. You can use all 5 of these phrases every single day and you’ll hear Thai people say them all the time.  Start with these super useful Thai phrases.

How to Say Hello in Thai

You probably have heard of sawasdee (สวัสดี), but in real life you don’t usually use this word with you friends. It’s much more common to ask them if they’ve eaten yet. If you see them out, you’d ask them where they are going or where they are coming back from. So the next time you run into one of your Thai friends, try one of these:

ไปไหน ppai nai Where are you going?
ไปไหนมา ppai nai maa Where are you coming (back) from?
กินข้าวรึยัง gin khaao ru yang Did you eat yet?

 

How to Say “What are you doing?” in Thai

This is another short, simple and super useful Thai phrase that you should learn right away.

ทำอะไรอยู่ (thum a-rai yuu) – What are you doing?

**Notes:

How to Say “Where are you?” in Thai

Whether or not you are planning to meet up with someone, it’s pretty common to ask where people are in any language. In Thai, you’ll hear it all the time and it’s a super easy phrase.

If you are speaking to a friend online/phone you just say:

อยู่ไหน (yuu nai) – where are you? / Where is it?

If you need to be more polite, such as if you are speaking to someone older or someone you don’t know well, you should add the polite gender particle at the end.

If you want to ask where something is or in cases where you need to specify a person, you put it/them before the phrase above:

How to Say OK in Thai

There are a few options in Thai for saying ok. You can always just say OK like we do in English, but using Thai pronunciation โอเค (ohh-kay), the main difference being that the Ohh sound tends to be longer than how you might say it in English. While this works fine in many situations, there’s a special phrase you should definitely learn.

ก็ได้ (gaw dai) – ok; I’m ok with that; that works; sounds good to me

A: วันนี้กินอะไรดี (wan nee gin a-rai dee) – What should we eat today?
B: อยากกินพิซซ่า (yaak gin pit-saa) – I want to eat pizza.
A: พิซซ่าเหรอ กินก็ได้ (pit-saa raw … gin gaw dai) – Pizza huh? Yea, I could eat (pizza) / that works

It doesn’t always translate exactly as “ok,” but it express that you are satisfied with or accepting of whatever is being talked about.

How to Say “I don’t understand” in Thai

You may have heard of mai khao jai ไม่เข้าใจ which means “I don’t understand,” but I’m going to give you a more fun phrase that you can use when you REALLY have no idea what’s happening. If you can pronounce that เอือ vowel correctly, you can get some good laughs with this one.

Thai Pronunciation Tip:

The secret to being able to say เอือ is to first conquer the อือ vowel.  

How to Say “I have no idea” or “I don’t understand at all”

ไม่รู้เรื่อง (mai ruu rueang) – I have no idea what you are talking about / I have no clue / I don’t understand at all

You use this phrase when you didn’t understand a word of what was just said, or in cases where you have no idea what someone is going on about.

Now get out there and practice these phrases. You can use them all the time forever.

Filed Under: Beginner Tagged With: , ,

How to Say Cute in Thai

March 11, 2019 by
how to say cute in Thai

น่ารักอ่ะ

Want to know how to say “cute” in Thai? Just like in English, the Thai word for cute can be used both with people you find attractive as things, animals and children.

The Thai Word for Cute

The word for “cute” in Thai is น่ารัก (naa rak) and it consists of two parts.

น่ารัก naa rak cute

The 2nd part: รัก (rak) means “to love.”  If, you want to go deep on Thai love phrases, read “How to Say I Love You in Thai.”

The 1st part: น่า – is placed in front of certain words to express that the target is worthy of or looks good to (eat, drink, watch, etc). Have a quick look at the examples below to get an idea how it works:

  • น่าไป (naa ppai)- looks like it’d be worth going to (if someone shows you a picture from a trip they took you might say this)
  • น่ากิน (naa gin) – looks good (for food)
  • น่าดู (naa duu) – looks like it would be worth watching or fun to watch

If you follow the above pattern, then น่ารัก (naa rak) ends up meaning something like “worthy of loving/love.”

how to say cute in Thai

น่ารักจัง

How to Say Someone/Something is Cute in Thai

Examples:

how to say cute in thai

สวยหรือน่ารัก

Cute vs Beautiful in Thai – น่ารัก vs สวย (naa rak vs soo+ay)

This is tough to answer in any language as everyone has a different idea of how these two concepts differ. “Cute,” tends to be used with young or seemingly young people and big-eyed, round-faced, puffy-cheeked and/or fluffy people, animals or things.

People will use น่ารัก to describe attractive men or boys, but not สวย.

น่ารัก can also be used to describe someone’s actions. For example, if a man buys a woman flowers for Valentine’s Day, or surprises a girl with a birthday gift, girls might respond with ขอบคุณนะ น่ารักจัง “thanks, that’s so cute.” Here they are referring to the act rather than the person.

Cute Items and Objects in Thai

Objects can both be called น่ารัก or สวย. Clothing, shoes, bags and the like can all be described using these words.

If you are talking about views, nature and most large naturally occurring things, you need to use สวย. A mountain, a view or an ocean can be สวย, but not น่ารัก. There are exceptions, of course. If someone drew a face on a small rock, for example, that could be น่ารัก.

Should You Learn to Read the Thai Script?

Learning to read the Thai script is the fastest and easiest way to understand the fairly complex sound system that the Thai language uses. It is the single most important part of learning to speak Thai well. It requires a 10-20 hour time investment to grasp everything you need to know and a fair bit of practice afterwards to master it, but until you learn those core skills, your Thai will forever be severely handicapped.  We strongly recommend learning the Thai alphabet.  It’s easier than it looks and it is definitely worth the small time investment if you want to be able to speak Thai well.

Filed Under: Beginner Tagged With: , , ,
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