Product Description

Thailand is the Land of Smiles. A grin shows companionship. A laugh shows forgiveness. But what if you need a second-class train ticket from Bangkok to Chiang Mai? Keep smiling - this phrasebook will show you the way.

DID YOU KNOW?
When people talk about the Thai language they are really referring to a Central Thai dialect that has succeeded in becoming the standard official language for the whole country. For this reason Thai is only spoken as a first language in the central provinces of the nation. As Thai is the official language of education, government and media it's basically understood from North to South although recent estimates suggest that less than half the population of Thailand speak and understand Thai fluently.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #488770 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Review
"...Lonely Planet phrase books have long taken a hip, streetwise approach." -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 27, 2004

"Lonely Planet Phrasebooks. Portable, pocket-size, cheap, and available for almost any country you might want to visit..." -- National Geographic Traveler, September 2006

National Geographic Traveler, September 2006
'Lonely Planet Phrasebooks. Portable, pocket-size, cheap, and available for almost any country you might want to visit...'

From the Publisher
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Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Cradled between Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar, the Kingdom of Thailand is something of a Tower of Babel, with numerous dialects spken from north to south. What has come to be known as Standard Thai is actually a dialect spoken in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces. Standard Thai is the official language of administration, education and the media, and most Thais understand it even if they speak another dialect. For this reason all the words and phrases in this book are translated into Standard Thai.

Thai belongs to the Tai language group meaning that it is closely related to a number of languages spoken outside the borders of present-day Thailand. Some of these are Lao (Laos), Khampti (India) and Lue (China). The Isaan dialect, spoken in the northeast of Thailand, is linguistically identical to Lao. Thai has borrowed a number of words from languages such as Mon (Myanmar) and Khmer (Cambodia). Ancient languages also continue to influence Thai. Just as English relies on Latin and ancient Greek for coining new words or formalizing rules of grammar, Thai has adopted Sanskrit and Pali as linguistic models. More recently, English has become a major influence on Thai, particularly in words related to technology or business.

The elegant characters of the Thai script are a source of fascination for those experiencing the language for the first time. The curved symbols seem to run together but they are all divisible into distinct alphabetical units. There are 44 consonants which are classified into three categories depending on the kinds of vowels they are associated with. Vowels are indicated by symbols, or combinations of symbols, that may appear before, after or even around the consonant. The Thai government has instituted the Royal Thai General Transcription System (or RTGS) as a standard method of writing Thai using a Roman 26-letter alphabet. You'll notice its use in official documents, road signs and on maps. The system is convenient for writing but not comprehensive enough to account for all the sounds in Thai. In this book we have devised a phonetic system based on how the language sounds when it's spoken.

The social structure of Thai society demands different registers of speech depending on who you're talking to. To make things simple we've chosen the correct form of speech appropriate to the context of each phrase. Thai is a logical language and despite some challenges, rattling off a meaningful phrase is easier than you might think. This phrasebook includes the script next to the pronunciation so that when all else fails you can open the book and point at what you want to say.

This book contains the useful words you'll need to get by as well as fun, spontaneous phrases that lead to a better understanding of Thailand and its people. The contact you make using Thai will make your travels unique. Local knowledge, new relationships and a sense of satisfaction are on the tip of your tongue, so don't just stand there - say something!

Customer Reviews

Fun Book
Just got back from Thailand. This book is fun and easy to use. Best of all it has english, thai, and pronunciation all on the same page. This enables you to let the Thai people read what you just mispronounced. I left my copy with a Thai friend and am ordering me another copy.

Will help you learn much more than the basics
I've been to Thailand twice now and am planning to live there for a few years. This book has taught me the basics and beyond. I recommend it because the tone marks and pronunciations are easy to understand and the book teaches you the rules so that you can figure out different variations of a word. There is also an English/Thai, Thai/English dictionary in the back and the book is small enough to fit in your pocket. Thai script plus phonetic thai is included. The only downside I can see is that the words are so tiny that it's sometimes hard to see thai script vowels and tonal marks.

Excellent!
The best part about this book is the pronunciation guide. Thai can be tricky with all the tones, this book made it very simple to understand. If anything the sex and drug sections can just be for entertainment. I tried out these phrases just for fun, never seriously used them. Good for a laugh. Several Thai people have asked me to send them a copy.