Learning Thai the Easy Way!

It is possible, while you are in Thailand, you might visit a Thai family. On this page I have prepared for you some useful vocabulary about family members. It might seem confusing to you at first as we have more than one word for uncle/aunt and grandfather/grandmother. We have one word for people on our father's side and another for our mother's side. The word also tells you whether they are older or younger than your parents.

Father's side:
	Grandfather pu
	Grandmother ya
	Uncle (elder brother of father) lung
	Aunt (elder sister of father) pa
	Father phor
	Uncle, Aunt (younger brother or sister of father) are

Mother's side:
	Grandfather dta
	Grandmother yai
	Uncle (elder brother of mother) lung
	Aunt (elder sister of mother) pa
	Mother mae
	Uncle, Aunt (younger brother or sister of mother) na

If you have ever been to Thailand you might have heard the words "pee" and "nong" being used. These mean "older" and "younger". My brother is younger than me so he calls me "Pee Gor". If you don't know, Gor is my nickname. I would then call him "Nong Guy". My mother is younger than my father so she calls him "Pee Goong". But, he doesn't call her "nong", he just uses her first name. Actually, I don't often say "Nong Guy". More often I would say "Guy". But, younger people will always address an older person as "pee".

Husband sa-mee	Wife pan ra ya

Son luk chai	Daughter luk sao	Baby dek tar rok	Cousin luk pee luk nong

Brother (older) pee chai	Brother (younger) nong chai	Sister (older) pee sao	Sister (younger) nong sao