LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S2 #23

Is Everyone in Thailand a Buddhist?

CONTENTS
2 Thai
2 English
3 Romanization
4 Vocabulary
5 Sample Sentences
6 Vocabulary Phrase Usage
8 Grammar
10 Cultural Insight

# 23
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 THAI

1. เล็ก: ทานข้ าวเลยครับ

2. น้ อย: คุณแดนเป็ นคนอเมริ กนั ใช่ไหมคะ

แล้ วที�นั�นทุกคนเป็ นคนคริ สต์หรื อเปล่า

3. แดน: เปล่าครับ คนอเมริ กนั นับถือทุกศาสนา

แต่จริ งๆแล้ วผมไม่นับถือศาสนาอะไรเลย

4. เล็ก: จริ งเหรอครับ เราเป็ นชาวพุทธ แต่ที�ภเู ก็ตมีชาวมุสลิมเยอะนะครับ

5. น้ อย: แล้ วก็ ในสมัยก่อนคนจีนมาตังรกรากที

� �ภเู ก็ตเป็ นจํานวนมาก

6. แดน: น่าสนใจครับ นี�อร่อย ผมชอบอาหารทะเลของภูเก็ต

7. เล็ก: ใช่ครับ นี�อร่อยดี แต่จริ งๆแล้ วน้ อยทํากับข้ าวอร่อยกว่านะครับ

พรุ่งนี �คุณแดนมาทานข้ าวกันที�บ้านเราดีไหมครับ

8. แดน: จะดีเหรอครับ

9. เล็ก: ดีสคิ รับ

10. แดน: งันได้

� เลยครับ ขอบคุณนะครับ

ENGLISH

1. LEK: Go ahead and eat.

CONT'D OVER

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2. NOI: So you're from America, right, Dan? Is everyone there Christian?

3. DAN: No, they aren't. America has people of every religion. But actually, I
don't believe in any religion myself.

4. LEK: Really? We're Buddhist. But in Phuket, there are many Muslims.

5. NOI: Also, in olden times, many Chinese people came to settle in Phuket.

6. DAN: That's very interesting. This is really delicious. I like Phuket's

seafood.

7. LEK: Yes, this is pretty good. But actually, Noi cooks food better. How
about tomorrow you come to our house to eat?

8. DAN: I can? Really?

9. LEK: Yes, of course.

10. DAN: Then sure, I can come. Thank you.

ROMANIZATION

1. LÉK: thaan khâao looei khráp.

2. NÁAWY: khun daaen bpen khon-à-mee-rí-gan châi mǎi khá. láaeo thîi-nân
thúk-khon bpen khon-khrít rǔue bplàao.

3. DAAEN: bplàao khráp. khon-à-mee-rí-gan náp-thǔue thúk sàat-sà-nǎa.

dtàae jing-jing láaeo phǒm mâi náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa à-rai looei.

CONT'D OVER

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4. LÉK: jing rǒoe khráp. rao bpen chaao-phút. dtàae thîi phuu-gèt mii chaao-
mú-sà-lim yóe ná khráp.

5. NÁAWY: láao gâaw nai sà-mǎi-gàawn khon-jiin maa dtâng-rók-râak thîi

phuu-gèt bpen jam-nuuan mâak.

6. DAAEN: nâa-sǒn-jai khráp. nîi à-ràwy. phǒm châawp aa-hǎan-thá-lee

khǎawng phuu-gèt.

7. LÉK: châi khráp. nîi à-ràwy dii. dtàae jing-jing láaeo náawy tham gàp-
khâao à-ràwy gwàa ná khráp. phrûng-níi khun daaen maa thaan
khâao gan thîi bâan rao dii mǎi khráp.

8. DAAEN: jà dii rǒoe khráp.

9. LÉK: dii sì khráp.

10. DAAEN: ngán dâai looei khráp. khàawp khun ná khráp.

VOCABULARY

Thai R omanization English C lass

to believe in, to
นับถือ náp-thǔue uphold, to worship verb

คนคริ สต์ khon-khrít Christian (person) noun

ที�นั�น thîi-nân there adverb, noun

ชาวพุทธ chaao-phút Buddhist (person) noun

ตังรกราก
� dtâng-rók-râak to settle, to colonize verb

ชาวมุสลิม chaao-mú-sà-lim Muslim (person) noun

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 ศาสนา sàat-sà-nǎa religion Noun

อาหารทะเล aa-hǎan-thá-lee seafood Noun

จํานวน jam-nuuan number, amount noun

cooked food dish to

กับข้ าว gàp-khâao eat with rice noun

SAMPLE SENTENCES

ผมนับถือศาสนาพุทธ เขาไม่ใช่คนคริ สต์

phǒm náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-phút khǎo mâi châi khon-khrít

"I follow Buddhism." "He's not a Christian."

ฉันไปตลาดนํ �าดําเนินสะดวกมาตอนไปทัวร์ เราเป็ นชาวพุทธ

rao bpen chaao-phút
วันเดียว แล้ วก็ซื �อผลไม้ สดที�นั�นด้ วย
chǎn bpai dtà-làat-náam dam-nooen sà-dùuak "We are Buddhists."
maa dtaawn bpai thuua wan diiao. láaeo gâaw
súue phǒn-lá-máai sòt thîi-nân dûuai.

"I went to the floating market on a one-day

tour. And I also bought some fresh fruit
there."

ครอบครัวของฉันย้ ายมาตังรกรากที
� �เชียงให ชาวมุสลิมส่วนใหญ่อาศัยอยูภ่ าคใต้
chaao-mú-sà-lim sùuan yài aa-sǎi yùu phâak-dtâi
ม่
khrâawp-khruua khǎawng chǎn yáai maa dtâng- "Most Muslims live in the South."
rók-râak thîi chiiang-mài

"My family came and settled in Chiang

Mai."

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ผมนับถือศาสนาพุทธ ประเทศญี�ปนมี ุ่ ชื�อเสียงในเรื� องของอาหารท
phǒm náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-phút
ะเลสด
"I follow Buddhism." bprà-thêet-yîi-bpùn mii chûue-sǐiang nai rûueang
khǎawng aa-hǎan-tá-lee sòt

"Japan is famous for fresh seafood."

คนจํานวนมากออกมาเล่นนํ �าสงกรานต์ พวกเขากินกับข้ าวสิบอย่าง

khon jam-nuuan mâak àawk maa lên náam sǒng- phûuak-khǎo kin gàp-khâao sìp yàang.
graan
"They ate ten different kinds of food."
"A large number of people came out to
play with water on Songkran."

VOCABULARY PHRASE USAGE

1. ในสมัยกอน (nai sà-mǎi-gàawn)

This phrase means "in ancient times." ใน (nai) is the preposition "in." สมัย (sà-mǎi) means
"era" or "period," and กอน (gàawn) is "before" or "earlier." So สมัย กอน (sà-mǎi-gàawn)
means "ancient times" or "past era."

For Example:

1. ในสมัยกอนอยุธยาเปนเมืองใหญที่สุดของประเทศไทย
nai sà-mǎi-gàawn à-yút-thá-yaa bpen muueang yài thîi sùt khǎawng bprà-thêet-thai.
"In ancient times, Ayutthaya was the largest city in Thailand."

2. นับถือศาสนา ... (náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa...)

This phrase means "to believe in (some religion)." นับถือ (náp-thǔue) is a verb meaning "to
believe in," "to uphold," or "to worship." ศาสนา (sàat-sà-nǎa) is a word from Pali that
originally meant the "dissemination" of the Buddha's teaching. In the Thai language, it has
come to take the more general meaning of "religion." We use it as a prefix to form the names
of individual religions, much like we use ภาษา (phaa-sǎa) as a prefix to form the names of
languages. Here are some examples with different religions.

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For Example:

1. ผมนับถือศาสนาพุทธ
phǒm náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-phút.
"I follow Buddhism."

2. เขานับถือศาสนาคริสต
khǎo náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-khrít.
"He believes in Christianity."

3. ดิฉันนับถือศาสนาฮินดู
dì-chǎn náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-hin-duu.
"I believe in Hinduism."

4. เรานับถือศาสนายิว
rao náp-thǔue sàat-sà-nǎa-yiu.
"We are followers of Judaism."

3. ...อะไร (...à-rai)
อะไร (à-rai) usually means "what." However, it can also mean "any." If there is a noun right
before อะไร (à-rai), then it means "any (of that noun)." Otherwise, it can also stand by itself.
Here are some examples.

For Example:

1. ไมมีอะไรเลย
mâi mii à-rai looei.
"There isn't anything at all."

2. ไมมีเรื่องอะไรที่นาดู
mâi mii rûueang à-rai thîi nâa-duu.
"There aren't any movies that are worth watching."

4. ดีไหม (dii mǎi)

We use this phrase as a way to extend an invitation to someone. First, you'd say what the
activity or event is and then follow with ดีไหม (dii mǎi). The literal meaning would be "Is (that

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activity) good?" But it is closer in actual meaning to "Would you like to (do this activity)?" We
had an example in the conversation.

For Example:

1. มาทานขาวกันที่บานเราดีไหมครับ
maa thaan khâao gan thîi bâan rao dii mǎi khráp.
"How about you come to our house to eat?"

GRAMMAR

The Focus of This Lesson Is คน (khon) + Adjectives or Verbs and ชาว (Chaao) +
Adjectives or Nouns to Make Words that Describe Types of People.
คุณแดนเปนคนอเมริกันใชไหมคะ
khun daaen bpen khon-à-mee-rí-gan châi mǎi khá.
"So you're from America, right, Dan?"

In the previous lesson, we learned that we can put the prefix นัก (nák) in front of verbs or
some nouns to make a noun meaning a "person who does (that action)." There are two other
words that mean "person" that we can also put in front of different words to make new nouns
that describe a certain type of person.

คน (khon) is the most basic word for a "person," and we also use it as a classifier when
counting people. We can use คน (khon) as a prefix attached to the front of adjectives and
verbs to make nouns that mean a "person who does (that action)" or a "person who is like
(that adjective)." For example, in the conversation, we had คนอเมริกัน (khon-à-mee-rí-gan).
คน (khon) is the prefix that means "person," and อเมริกัน (à-mee-rí-gan) is an adjective
meaning "American." So คนอเมริกัน (khon-à-mee-rí-gan) is an "American person" or just an
"American." We also had the word คนคริสต (khon-khrít). Again, คน (khon) is the prefix that
means "person," and คริสต (khrít) is an adjective meaning "Christian." So คนคริสต (khon-
khrít) is a "Christian person" or just a "Christian." One example of a compound word formed by
คน (khon) plus a verb is คนขับรถ (khon-khàp-rót). ขับรถ (khàp-rót) is a verb meaning "drive
a car." So a คนขับรถ khon-khàp-rót is a "person who drives a car" or just a "driver."

ชาว (chaao) is another word that can mean "people" in general. We also use it as a prefix

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before adjectives or nouns to make new nouns that describe a type of person based either on
the adjective or the association with the noun. For example, in the conversation, we had the
word ชาวพุทธ (chaao-phút). ชาว (chaao) is the prefix that means "person," and พุทธ (phút) is
an adjective meaning "Buddhist." So a ชาวพุทธ (chaao-phút) is a "Buddhist person" or just a
"Buddhist." We also had the word ชาวมุสลิม (chaao-mú-sà-lim). Here again, ชาว (chaao) is
the prefix that means "person," and มุสลิม (mú-sà-lim) is an adjective meaning "Muslim." So a
ชาวมุสลิม (chaao-mú-sà-lim) is a "Muslim person" or just a "Muslim." One example of a
compound word that we form with ชาว (chaao) plus a noun is the word ชาวนา (chaao-naa).
นา (naa) is a word that means "rice field." So a ชาวนา (chaao-naa) is a "rice field person" or
in other words a "farmer."

We can form many words by adding either คน (khon) or ชาว (chaao) to the same adjective.
For example, คนไทย (khon-thai) and ชาวไทย (chaao-thai) both mean "Thai person."
Likewise, คนพุทธ (khon-phút) and ชาวพุทธ (chaao-phút) both mean "Buddhist person."
Here is a list of some more nouns for types of people that we can form by adding the prefixes
คน (khon) or ชาว (chaao).

Thai Romanization "English"

คนเก็บเงิน khon-gèp-ngoen "cashier"

khon-khàp-r
คนขับเรือ uea "boatman"

คนขาย khon-khǎai "merchant," "seller"

คนฆา khon-khâa "killer," "murderer"

คนซื้อ khon-súue "buyer," "shopper"

คนดู khon-duu "audience"

ชาวบาน chaao-bâan "villager"

ชาวเกาะ chaao-gàw "islander"

ชาวเขา chaao-khǎo "hill-tribesman"

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ชาวตางชาติ chaao-dtàang-châat "foreigner"

ชาวทะเล chaao-thá-lee "seaman"

ชาวยุโรป chaao-yú-ròop "European"

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Common Religions in Thailand

About ninety-five percent of Thai people follow the Theravada school of Buddhism. It is
considered to be the older, more orthodox form of Buddhism. It spread to Southeast Asia from
South India and Sri Lanka. Theravada Buddhism has been the dominant religion in Thailand
since the Sukhothai period. The Mahayana branch of Buddhism is also practiced by a small
minority in Thailand, mostly among some members of the ethnic Chinese community.

The next largest religion in Thailand is Islam. Muslims make up around four percent of the
population. The majority of Thai Muslims live in the south, where they make up about a third
of the local population. They are a mix of Thais and ethnic Malays. There are also small
pockets of ethnic Chinese Muslims in parts of the north.

Christians account for less than one percent of the population. Foreign Christian missionaries
have been active in Thailand for hundreds of years. A large number of them continue their
work in the country today. But unlike in some other Asian countries, such as Vietnam and
Korea, Christian missionaries in Thailand have not had much success in converting the local
people.

Additionally, there are small numbers of Hindus and Sikhs whose families immigrated from
India. Certain Hindu gods are also revered by many Thai Buddhists. There is a famous shrine
to Brahma in the center of Bangkok that receives a flood of worshippers daily. The elephant-
headed Ganesha is also quite popular. Hinduism was at one time a dominant religious force
in Southeast Asia. After Buddhism rose to prominence, the myths of the Hindu gods continued
to play a strong cultural role, particularly with regard to the monarchy. To this day, the Thai
court maintains a number of Brahman priests in order to perform certain ancient rituals.

In addition to organized religions, there are also the native Thai practices of animism and

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spirit worship that have never disappeared. You will see small spirit houses all over the
country, where homeowners and business owners alike offer flowers garlands, food, and
drink daily to ensure the local spirits are content.

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