Good, Pretty, Spicy, Delicious

I only know four Thai adjectives. This means everything in my world is either good, pretty, spicy or delicious.* Luckily I can also negate the adjectives, mai or add a superlative, mak.

Geng- Good

My ajaan, teacher, Nopparat feeds my appetite for praise when she says, "Geng mak," after all attempts at speaking Thai. I must be very good because she says it a lot ;)

Suay- Pretty

My host mother is training the neighborhood two-year-old to call me suay. When I'm introduced to a family friend usually the only word I can pick out is suay. This was very flattering until I showed my host mother I picture of my now-deceased Great Aunt Pat (referred to by a cousin as Grandma Lipstick), "Suay, suay, she is beautiful." Now I realize suay is thrown around a lot.

Arroi- Delicious

Everytime I say arroi (aloi in the local accent) at dinner I make a mental note to look up a new word for deicious- maybe something akin to tasty or even yumster. Then I forget and point to all of the following night's dishes and say, "aloi mak."

Pet- Spicy

My Thai chuu-len, nickname is Nong Prik, roughly, Sister Chili. My host family knows that this farang likes her food pet. 


*Note, sexy and wow are generally understood.