Why not khun or pee to a farang

[harmonyudon]

Can someone explain me why a Thai hardly say Khun or Pee to a farang??

Even to a tuk-tuk driver a younger Thai normally say Pee (older brother/sister)

BUT

to for example a retired (or not retired) farang ceo or chief cook or a proffessor the
younger thais greet those farangs just with their christian names,for example 'hi bill,how are you?'

[fdimike]

Harmony

I get a mix of both. Most of my cycling Thai friends all refer to me as Khun Mike. One or two who speak English well will just use Mike. All my relatives use Khun or Loong to address me. The worst offenders I've encountered are the young teens who make sitting in front of an internet game room screen as their life profession. I would characterize them as "young smart assed teens" who have no manners, poor upbringing and no respect for anyone. i've encountered my fair share of these "low lifes" while touring on my bicycle. I now avoid internet cafes for that reason and just carry my own netbook.

[Jello]

I've been addresses as Khun (and Mister) but never Nong (younger brother/sister) or Pee (older brother/sister).
I'm not sure but I think these are very informal ways of addressing a person and Thais may feel uncomfortable using them with a foreigner. I do use Nong and Pee when trying to get someones attention. Works well.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

My ex-wife's family always referred to me as Pi Bob; however, my new friend's family usually call me loong (uncle) or they use a Filipino word, 'lo lo', which means grandfather or old man. My friend picked up this word when she was working in Canada from a Filipina.

I usually reserve 'nong nong' to get the attention of a waitress in a restaurant when I want the bill. Others I call by their name because there are too many nong's in the families I know to just attract the attention of one person.

Four or five friends in Khorat call me Khun Bob. No-one in Udonthani, Sukhothai or Chiang Mai ever did that.

[harmonyudon]

Four or five friends in Khorat call me Khun Bob. No-one in Udonthani, Sukhothai or Chiang Mai ever did that.

You hit the jackpot here Laan Yaa Mo!!....refering to my OP.....

[trubrit]

Never really thought about it, but all my Thai family members call me Papa, as do our close friends , male and female. I, in turn always use their title, Ma& Pa to my wife's parents. As for the rest, easy really , as I am older than all of them, its Nong. In stricter social circles. If the speaker knows my name it's Khun Val, if not it's Khun Nai , sometimes even Khun Farang.As for teenagers, I find when visiting the local schools they are the politest of them all, not only using Khun but often with a small curtsy from the girls and a lowering of the head from the boys .
But really does it matter what we are called as long as that Thai smile is present.

[harmonyudon]

But really does it matter what we are called as long as that Thai smile is present.

How about if you with your wife meet a younger thai and he/she calls you only Val and your wife Pee or Khun??

I once saw a Thai lady talking to a farang and a thai. The farang talks reasonable thai.
It amazed me that she adressed the thai 'Khun xxxx' and the farang only by his name although 3 of them
were duscussing in thai. All three are, I think, well educated and she was not involved in any way with that
farang.

Is it more respect to the Thai??

[trubrit]

But really does it matter what we are called as long as that Thai smile is present.

How about if you with your wife meet a younger thai and he/she calls you only Val and your wife Pee or Khun??



Is it more respect to the Thai??[/i]

The circumstances you envisage has never happened and I can't foresee it happening .The thing I think you forget is that respect has to earned. With the Thai they will automatically show it first but will soon change if they think for any reason you don't deserve it .

[harmonyudon]

..... and I can't foresee it happening

If it happend you care or not care??
Just curious.

trubrit wrote:
But really does it matter what we are called as long as that Thai smile is present

[parrot]

If it's a Thai who speaks better English, I'll ask him/her to just call me John.....and tell them that friends in the US address each other simply by their first name/nickname. Newbies can call me pee/khun/loong John.....but if anyone calls me Mr. John, I usually correct them (politely) and tell them that no one in the US would call someone Mr. along with their first name.

As for caring if someone makes a mistake (unless of course someone called me ***** John).......why? I doubt there are many falangs who are fluent in the wide variety of ways to address Thais (khun, pee, loong, yai, ya, da, baae, na, ba...among others)....and I'd guess not many care if you make a mistake in addressing them. I call all my Thai friends by their name....no pees, khuns, loongs....just their first name. As best I know, they're still my friends.

[maaka]

well I get called Khun Maaka, Khunpee, Khonpee, peechai, tirak, and a handful of others, and I refer to Thai's with Khun, in formal situations...maybe some Thais dont use it because they think its abit like a honky calling a black fella, Bro..

[KB_Texas]

Newbies can call me pee/khun/loong John.....but if anyone calls me Mr. John, I usually correct them (politely) and tell them that no one in the US would call someone Mr. along with their first name.

Heh, obviously not a Southern boy, are you? In the South, it is often used as a sign of respect to someone who is older, but around a lot...e.g. step fathers or mothers. My kids always called my second wife (now 2nd ex) Ms Jodi for example, and her kids called me Mr. Ken. The thinking is that they are not 'mom' or 'dad', they are around a lot, so always being formal would be a pita, but simply calling them by their first name is disrespectful. Dunno about other places in the South, but definitely was used in Georgia and Texas.

KB

[parrot]

KB TX said "Heh, obviously not a Southern boy, are you?"
Yankee. Connecticut.

Trubrit said: "Ma&Pa". KB TX said 'mom or dad'.
In the US, we'd never say a white and black TV or a white, blue, and red flag. And in Thailand, my teachers have corrected me on many occasions when I say "maae/phaaw (แม่ พ่อ). They tell me it's always 'phaaw/maae'. I've grown so accustomed to their corrections that I do it just to annoy them.

[Frankie 1]

I've heard that close relatives won't say pee or nong, because they speak Lao. They use different words. As far as I've heard, for pee they use the word (sounds like) aay, and (sounds like) uey.

In central Thailand people are more likely to refer to you with: khun + first name, not so much in Isaan.

I've also noticed that Isaan (Lao) language/dialect doesn't have as much formality in the use of the language as there is in Central Thai.

"phaawmaae" is a fixed phrase and is used as one word, it means parents, just like "peenong" as a fixed phrase means siblings.

[Jello]

maybe some Thais dont use it because they think its abit like a honky calling a black fella, Bro..

I think you got it right Maaka. Good analogy. =D>

[Dr. James]

In the Middle East and Africa, it is very common for people to address you by a Mr. or Dr. then the first name. I found this difficult at first when I arrived in the middle east as all the students addressed me as Dr. James, not using my last name. After I realized this was a cultural issue, there was no problem. Reminded me of the days when I was growing up in Mississippi and many people were referred to as Mr. John or Mrs. Sally. Last names were not used. It showed a sign of respect but also a degree of familiarity.

[harmonyudon]

In the Middle East and Africa, it is very common for people to address you by a Mr. or Dr. then the first name. I found this difficult at first when I arrived in the middle east as all the students addressed me as Dr. James, not using my last name. After I realized this was a cultural issue, there was no problem. Reminded me of the days when I was growing up in Mississippi and many people were referred to as Mr. John or Mrs. Sally. Last names were not used. It showed a sign of respect but also a degree of familiarity.

In the muslim world for example the telephone book is sorted by the 1st name...there is no family name.
For example: the son of ex-president Suharto official name is 'Hutomo Mandala Putra',nickname Tommy.

So, if for example Bill Clinton lives in Indonesia and his telefoonumber is pulished in the telephone book you
will find him under Bill and not under Clinton.

You hardly use family names in such countries. I agree if someone adress another with Mr or Dr, It shows a sign of respect .

[Frankie 1]

In the muslim world for example the telephone book is sorted by the 1st name...there is no family name.
For example: the son of ex-president Suharto official name is 'Hutomo Mandala Putra',nickname Tommy.

So, if for example Bill Clinton lives in Indonesia and his telefoonumber is pulished in the telephone book you
will find him under Bill and not under Clinton.

You hardly use family names in such countries. I agree if someone adress another with Mr or Dr, It shows a sign of respect .

Strange, most of them have Muhammed as their first name, and then a small percentage is called either Yussouf, Samir or Ali. How many Muhammeds would appear in the phone book then? And how would you know who is who?

I used to work in a place with several muslims as co-workers. Three out of five were called Mohammed. So we started calling them by nicknames, by their family name or as Mo number 1 or Mo number 2

Family names depend on the country. In most countries people do have family names, in Morocco even quite long ones.

[harmonyudon]

Strange, most of them have Muhammed as their first name, and then a small percentage is called either Yussouf, Samir or Ali. How many Muhammeds would appear in the phone book then? And how would you know who is who?

I used to work in a place with several muslims as co-workers. Three out of five were called Mohammed. So we started calling them by nicknames, by their family name or as Mo number 1 or Mo number 2

You are from holland right??
How many Christian Jan's,Peter's en Henk's are there?? You called them also Jan1,Jan2...etc... :-" :-"

[Frankie 1]

Strange, most of them have Muhammed as their first name, and then a small percentage is called either Yussouf, Samir or Ali. How many Muhammeds would appear in the phone book then? And how would you know who is who?

I used to work in a place with several muslims as co-workers. Three out of five were called Mohammed. So we started calling them by nicknames, by their family name or as Mo number 1 or Mo number 2

You are from holland right??
How many Christian Jan's,Peter's en Henk's are there?? You called them also Jan1,Jan2...etc... :-" :-"

At least there is some variety and they have a family name, unlike in muslim countries where most people are called Mohammed.

But your point was that, according to you, muslims don't have a family name, then how would you classify a couple of million Mohammeds in a phonebook? :-" :-"