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English
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Part 1 of Info for writer in Thai fandom , Part 4 of All Radish writes
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Anonymous
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Published:
2022-05-10
Updated:
2024-12-13
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21/22
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Thai language and culture

Anonymous

Summary:

Information on Thai language and culture.

Disclaimer:I'm just one person, and this will contain my opinions and biases. My experience may be inconsistent with the others. I'm not and can not speak for Thai society as a whole.

Notes:

My English was not very good, so bear with me

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: How Thai names work

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

This is going to be the very basis of how Thai names work. And I must say that this is what I know from what I experience in my day-to-day life and not some linguistics lesson.

First, all your favorite characters were likely called by their nick names, not their legal names.

Secondly, their nick names were likely to have had nothing in common with their legal names.

So if you want accuracy, don't use that nickname on a legal document like a citizenship ID or something that they would have to formally register their name at, like a school, workplace, or hospital. 

I'm aware that throughout the show you might not ever hear anyone say their legal names, so you don't have anything to use. In that case, I would like to suggest you guys make the situation a bit more natural to use nicknames. If you want the teacher to call them, then make the teacher know them already and not read their names on roll call or make the doctor ask how they want to be called instead of reading it from the record.

But if you want to use their nickname like it's a legal name, it's not a big deal either! After all, writing fanfic is a hobby, and nobody should stress over a hobby.

 

Next, let me tell you how we Thai say each other's name.

Most Thais have a first name, a last name, and a nickname, and as we know, the nickname is what is used the most in the show, and yes, that is what happens in real life too. So you guys have tons of examples of how to use nicknames already. Let's skip that.

In Thai, we say first name and then last name when referring to someone's full name. We usually say our full name just once (if situation require) when introducing ourselves and usually with a nickname to accompany it if we want to be friendly and ok to let those we talk with use our nickname, but if it was a formal setting, then it would be "khun+first name" pattern people use to call each other. I think khun might be equal to mr. or miss, so you could just use "mr. first name"

What about when you want to use their full name in a teasing way? Or a mom yells their kid full name angrily?

Then it would be first name and last name without a nickname. I notice that sometimes people tend to write it like a nickname, first name, and last name when characters say a full name, which is fine, but it's not actually how it is normally said in a conversation, you know?

To make it easier to remember, just don't mix nicknames and full names, and if you use a nickname to call one character when describing a scene, then it's probably a good idea to use a nickname for all of the others too.

At least in day-to-day conversation. People wouldn't say their friend's name as nickname + last name and only say nickname + first name combination if the nicknames of the people they were referring to were the same as someone else they knew. But if they talked about celebrities, then nickname + first name would get used a lot, similar to using a singer's stage name or nickname + their band's name or company's name to refer to them.

  • In kindergarten, things are usually marked with a nickname, and when we grow up, they will be marked with a legal name and surname and/or class number, student ID.

Notes:

And that's it! I hope you find this helpful. If you have any questions or criticism, feel free to leave me a comment. And as this is my attempt to contribute something to the Thai Bl fandom, if you want me to find some information you, as a non-Thai spearker, can't find for your fic, I would be happy to do it. Think of it as a thank you from your reader!