These might come in handy if you're in a bar in Thailand with hookers in it -- that is, most of them.

Note: Pronounciation is using the Sounds About Right(tm) system

farang: foriegner (YOU.)
koewai: water buffalo (used as a derogetory remark for fat, old, stupid rich farang)
pom pom: have sex
fahwee: bullshit
nom yai: large breasts
meng da: boyfriend (usually Thai boyfriend who leeches money from the bargirl to sustain his lifestyle)
narak: cute
pak waan: flatterer (literally, "sweet lips")
tae kon mai piaw: my ass is not sour (used in response to being called a cheapskate)
shan shob khun: I like you
baa klang / ting tong / baa baa bo bo: crazy
khee mao: drunkard
khee kiat: lazy
khee choo: butterfly (a guy who dates more than one bargirl from the same bar)
khee gho: habitual liar
Additions and errata

First, my pedigree. I am a Thai linguist who lived in Thailand for many years and can reasonably make the corrections that I am about to make. I don't condone going to bar girls, though, because they generally will take you for every cent you have and then leave you to jump out of a hotel window or rot in a Thai prison. That said, I don't have much personal experience with the following:


koewai: water buffalo (used as a derogatory remark for fat, old, stupid rich farang)
Actually pronounced "Kwai," with one syllable, it means stupid. Off-color Thais love to make foreigners say this word, because when slightly mispronounced as "Kui," it means penis.


pom pom: have sex
Add: "eub eub" (nicer than pom pom), and "tam gan" (do it).


fahwee: bullshit
I have NEVER heard this, and I thought I knew them all. Maybe I just can't make out the pronunciation... (Isarn dialect, maybe?)


meng da: boyfriend (usually Thai boyfriend who leeches money from the bargirl to sustain his lifestyle)
This term actually means approximately "pimp," so don't ask to be someone's "maeng da." Instead, be her "faen" or "fan"(as in fan club)


shan shob khun: I like you
Pronounce with a soft "ch" instead of "sh". "Chan chob khun." To be more intimate, use an intimate pronoun: "Chan chob tuh."


Baa!: crazy

baa! klang: certifiably nuts (the exclamation mark creates the right tone)


ting tong: silly

baa baa bo bo: crazy (it's the sound a crazy person makes)

Khee in the following literally means "shit," as in "khee muk" (nose shit, snot), "khee hu?" (ear shit, ear wax), and "khee ta" (eye shit, sleep in your eye). Also used to talk about a habitual action:


khee mao: habitually drunk (mao means drunk)

khon khee mao: drunkard

khee choo: Chuu means to cheat (on someone, not at something), so it doesn't mean butterfly, though "butterfly" is used by the girls because "Pi? Seua!" (butterfly) has the same meaning.


khee ghohok (you dropped a syllable: to lie habitually

khon khee gohok: a liar

If I might add some others:

Gong (long O): To take advantage or cheat someone else

Khee gong: to cheat habitually

Khon Khee gong: A cheater
Lor: handsome (don't believe them!)

Suay?: beautiful

Na! rak: Rak mean love, so this is literally worthy of love. Approximately, it means "cute" as in the personality trait.

Na! gliet: Worthy of hate, but really "disgusting." Often used teasingly when something impolite is done.

Barfine: The price paid by you to the bar for the lost income of the girl while she's outside. Paid even if it's two minutes until closing.


Ka! Taxi taurai: (lit. How much is the taxi fare) how much do you want for a tip AFTER I've paid your bar fine.

Ji? (politely, Ji, very short and high): the pussy

Ju? (for children, jiew?): the penis

Jub jub: kiss

Hom?: The Thai version of a kiss, really more of a sniff-kiss on the cheek (or a long slow smell near the nape of the neck if you're hot).


ja set: I'm coming

set yang: are you finished? Have you come yet?

sai luy: put it in!

sai see: I said, put it in, already

sai laew yang: Have you put it in yet?

mai aow thoot: Not in the ass!

Really, the most important words will be money related, and they speak that already. Keep yours in a safe place and don't drink anything that you didn't pour yourself, unless you like waking up in a hotel room with no passport or money, ready for Thai prison.

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