12 replies to this topic

[Gene]

"Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday's morning arrived at Khon Kaen as part of his trip to visit sacred places across the country. Some 2,000 residents rallied to welcome him.

Thaksin paid his respects to the Khon Kaen City Pillar before proceeding to attend merit-making ceremonies at two Buddhist temples. He made a rest stop to have breakfast at a popular restaurant in the municipality fresh market

He was accompanied by his son, Panthongtae, and allies, including banned party executive Newin Chidchob and House Speaker Yongyuth Tiyapairat."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingne...newsid=30071174

[Haloi]

"Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Monday's morning arrived at Khon Kaen as part of his trip to visit sacred places across the country. Some 2,000 residents rallied to welcome him

If you read the book you can't buy here, those are the kind of trips that the royals used to take all over Thailand to cultivate their image. I wonder if Khun Thaksin has been doing some reading lately.

[Snowy]

If you read the book you can't buy here, those are the kind of trips that the royals used to take all over Thailand to cultivate their image. I wonder if Khun Thaksin has been doing some reading lately.

No, it's just that he considers himself to be above Royalty (and the law as well!)!!

[Snowy]

How long before a statue of thaksin is erected?

There's already one outside City Hall in Pattaya!

[J.Bell]

There's already one outside City Hall in Pattaya!

Since when ? where ?

[Snowy]

Since when ? where ?

I was correct when I thought that someone would fall into the trap!

See third article in: http://www.pattayamail.com/545/news.shtml

[UncleSam]

I was correct when I thought that someone would fall into the trap!

Not quite the trap you thought. The statue is of King TAKSIN, which is not spelled the same as the former prime minister's name, THAKSIN.

Hehehe......

[Snowy]

Not quite the trap you thought. The statue is of King TAKSIN, which is not spelled the same as the former prime minister's name, THAKSIN.

And yet another caught in the trap!

Maybe the trap was just a bit too sophisticated for these poor guys to comprehend.

[Bob]

The northern Thai pronounce Taksin (as in the great king) and Thaksin (most used English version of the recently deposed prime minister) the same. I used to pronounce the former prime minister's name Thaksin (clearly sounding the "th" portion) but I noticed that everybody I heard use the name around Chiangmai or Chiangrai pronounced it as if the "h" wasn't there.
I'm wondering if the names are spelled the same in Thai. Anybody know?

[Hedda]

According to Wikipedia:
Taksin the Great is spelled: ตากสินมหาราช
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin

Thaksin is spelled: ทักษิณ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

The two names "THAKSIN" and "TAKSIN" are pronounced differently in Thai.

King Taksin the Great is very popular among Thai-Chinese because his father was Chinese; his mother was Thai. King Taksin was deposed by a coup in March, 1782, and executed a month later, when King Rama I ascended the throne to commence the Chakri dynasty.

Some versions of Thai history suggest that Taksin was actually banished to a Buddhist monastery where he died a natural death years later, while an imposter was executed in his place by being sealed in a velvet sack and beaten to death with a scented sandalwood club, so that no royal blood was ever be spilled and touched the ground.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin

[Bob]

According to Wikipedia:
Taksin the Great is spelled: ตากสินมหาราช
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin

Thaksin is spelled: ทักษิณ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thaksin_Shinawatra

The two names "THAKSIN" and "TAKSIN" are pronounced differently in Thai.

Sorry, have to disagree. Presuming you can read Thai, the Shinawatra "Thaksin" has no "h" sound in that spelling, it'd be pronounced "Tak -sin". I've asked Thais to repeat it when I hear it said without the h (which is how I usually pronounced it) and, unless my ears are deceiving me, they are saying "tak-sin."
Looking at the King's spelling, it'd be pronounced the same - "Tak-sin."
I don't know how you'd possibly get a different pronounciation out of those spellings (the Thai ones). By the way, "Tak" would be pronounced as if a "short a" in English and the "sin" would be pronounced almost identical to the English word "sin."

Now, maybe (hell if I know) they pronounce it different in Bangkok or some other places but I'm fairly certain about how they say it in the north.

[Gene]

don't know how you'd possibly get a different pronounciation out of those spellings (the Thai ones).

I am sitting here with my Thai boyfriend, looking at the two different Thai names for Thaksin and Taksin on the monitor, and he tells me that they are "NO same, NO same." The way he pronounces former PM 's name "Thaksin" sounds much like the way we say it in English, but the pronounciation of the King's name "Taksin" has a distinctly different and softer sounding, much less English-like, even to my uneducated ear. My bf is from Korat.

[Bob]

When I'm back in Chiangmai, I'll ask again (although I've already done that as I was trying to correct my mispronunciation). And, other than possible tonal differences, I don't see any different pronunciations possible from those two spellings. But, like I said, I'll ask again when I'm there.

Maybe (not sure) it is a regional difference. The word we often spell as "krap" or "krab" sounds quite different in the south versus the north. In the south, you can hear the "r" (sometimes something halfway between an "l" and an "r") whereas you're hard pressed to hear anything other than "kap" in the north.