passa thai: lesson #4

so as a farang you might make a lot of mistakes and insult people and the like because you don't really know the culture. for example in america it's alright if you step on a coin to stop it rolling or toss money on the table to give it to someone or even point at something with your foot if your hands are full but here all those thing will cause people to stare (or maybe even mutter under their breath). not to worry, i'm here to teach you how to say that you are sorry in thai. it goes like this khaw toht [polite particle] (spoken example: male female).

Kawtot

i was told this literally means something like "please give me punishment" and it's used like "excuse me" or "pardon me". this means it is also commonly used to interrupt or get someones attention. so if you really screw up you might want to say more than just excuse me you can say chan (or dechan for girls and pom for guys) sia jai. chan is the genderless "i" and sia i think means something like damaged and jai is heart. so "i damaged-heart" might be a better way of saying sorry if the offense is a serious one. remember the thais are very friendly and for the most part very forgiving of foreigners mistakes. well i hope you learned something and next week i'll tell you one response you are likely to hear when you say khaw toht.