I’m Not Fine, Thank You…
From my years of teaching English I have learned that there is a two-line dialog that is ingrained in every student of English, probably in the world. It goes like this:
Hello, how are you?
Fine thank you, and you?
As native speakers of English, we know that there are lots of other ways to answer the question in the first line of the dialog. But “Fine, thank you” is about as far as the lesson usually goes. What if you aren’t fine?
Well, we have almost the exact same problem when we study Thai. I am going to bet that you have heard this dialog before.
สวัสดีค่ะ สบายดีหรือ
sà~wàt-dee kâ sà~baai-dee rěu
Hello, how are you?
สบายดีค่ะ
sà~baai-dee kâ
Fine.
Now usually we don’t really want to discuss our major medical problems with everyone we meet. That is why a “How are you?” is rarely answered with a list of our physical complaints. “Fine thank you.” is much easier. The same goes for สบายดีหรือ /sà~baai-dee rěu/. You may occasionally hear a ชั้นไม่สบายค่ะ /chán mâi sà~baai kâ/ (I’m not well). But more likely they will tell you they are just fine, thank you.
But what if your doctor is the person you are talking to? And let’s say you do want to discuss your medical situation with him/her. First of all, your doctor would probably not ask สบายดีหรือ /sà~baai-dee rěu/. The question would more probably be เป็นยังไง /bpen yang-ngai/, literally “How are you?” but here it is more the equivalent of “What’s up?” or “What brings you here today?”
In English we usually answer this question with “I feel…” (I feel sick), “I have…” (I have a bad cold.), “I am…” (I’m depressed.), or using a body part (my feet are killing me). Likewise, when we talk about our health in Thai we can also break our complaints into various compartments. Remember that talking about our health is a pretty popular past time and there are lots of variations. These are just some of the basics. Let’s look at a few below.
Feeling…
The Thai word for “feel” is รู้สึก /róo-sèuk/. It is used with certain symptoms just as the word “feel” is in English. As with many forms, the word รู้สึก /róo-sèuk/ can often be dropped without changing the meaning.
- (ชั้นรู้สึก) ไม่สบาย
(chán róo-sèuk) mâi sà~baai
(I feel) sick - (ชั้นรู้สึก) เวียนหัว
(chán róo-sèuk) wian hŭa
(I feel) dizzy
- (ชั้นรู้สึก) อ่อนเพลีย
(chán róo-sèuk) òn plia
(I feel) weak - (ชั้นรู้สึก) กังวล
(chán róo-sèuk) gang-won
(I feel) anxious - (ชั้นรู้สึก) เหนื่อย
(chán róo-sèuk) nèuay
(I feel) tired
___________________
To BE sick or to HAVE an illness…
English uses “be” and “have” with lots of symptoms and diseases. Thai also uses a “be’ word with some of these but note that the Thai word for “have” มี /mee/ is not used with symptoms and diseases (except pregnancy).
- เป็นไข้
bpen-kâi
to have a fever - เป็น เอช ไอ วี
bpen-H-I-V
to have HIV - เป็นไข้หวัดใหญ่
bpen- kâi wàt yài
to have the flu - เป็นมะเร็ง
bpen-má-reng
to have cancer - เป็นโรค
bpen-rôhk
to have a disease - เป็นลม
bpen-lom
to be faint, to pass out
- เป็นหมัน
bpen-mǎn
to be barren, sterile - เป็นหวัด
bpen-wàt
to have a cold - เป็นอักเสบ
bpen-àk-sàyp
to have an infection - เป็นอัมพาต
bpen-am-má~pâat
to be paralyzed - เป็นเอดส์
bpen-AIDS
to have AIDS - เป็นเบาหวาน
bpen-bao-wǎan
to have diabetes
to be diabetic
___________________
Hurt and Ache…
Then there is the difference between เจ็บ /jèp/ and ปวด /bpùat/. These two are not used in the same way just as the English words “hurt” and “ache” are used differently. They are usually used with body parts.
เจ็บ /jèp/- hurt (pain: short-term, acute)
ปวด /bpùat/ – ache (suffer a continuous dull pain)
Examples:
- ชั้นเจ็บหัว
chán jèp hǔa
Someone kicked you in the head and it hurts. - ชั้นปวดหัว
chán bpùat hǔa
You have a headache. - ชั้นเจ็บขา
chán jèp kǎa
You were playing football and twisted your leg and it hurts. - ชั้นปวดขา
chán bpùat kǎa
You have arthritis and your leg aches from it.
- ชั้นเจ็บตา
chán jèp dtaa
You were poked in the eye with a stick and it hurts. - ชั้นปวดตา
chán bpùat dtaa
You have an infection in your eye and it aches. - ชั้นเจ็บหู
chán jèp hǒo
You are listening to loud music and your ears hurt. - ชั้นปวดหู
chán bpùat hǒo
You have an earache.
___________________
Miscellaneous words used with body parts…
- (มี)ท้อง
(mee) tóng
pregnant - แขนหัก
kǎen hàk
broken arm - คันตา
kan dtaa
itchy eyes - เจ็บคอ
jèp kor
sore throat - ตาบอด
dtaa-bòt
blind - ท้องเดิน
tóng dern
diarrhea
- เท้าบวม
táao buam
swollen foot - ปวดท้อง
bpùat tóng
stomach ache - ปวดฟัน
bpùat-fan
toothache - มือชา
meu chaa
numb hands - หัวใจวาย
hǔa-jai-waai
heart attack - หูหนวก
hǒo-nùak
deaf
___________________
Hopefully you’ll be fine. In that case, when everything is great and you have no problems to report you can use this great English loan word that is quite popular in Thailand.
ฟิต /fít/ – to be fit, in good shape
When your doctor asks:
คุณเป็นยังไง
kun bpen yang-ngai
How are you doing?
You can answer:
ชั้นไม่เป็นอะไร ชั้นฟิตมาก
chán mâi bpen à~rai chán fít mâak
No problem. I’m fit as a fiddle.
Hugh Leong
Retire 2 Thailand
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