In this article, I will explain how to talk about north, south, east, west in Thai language.
Cardinal Directions
If you are talking about the cardinal / compass directions like in a map then you would say the following:
- North: āļāļīāļĻāđāļŦāļāļ·āļ tÃt nÄua (literally: direction north)
- South: āļāļīāļĻāđāļāđ tÃt dtÃĒi (literally: direction south)
- East: āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāļ tÃt dtà -wan Ãēk (literally: direction sun exits)
- West: āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļ tÃt dtà -wan dtÃēk (literally: direction sun falls)
In the above directions, the first word āļāļīāļĻ tÃt means direction and the word that follows is the direction. To make it short, you can just remove āļāļīāļĻ tÃt.
āļāļ°āļ§āļąāļ (dtà -wan) in the words for east and west means sun. āļāļāļ (Ãēk means to exit and āļāļ (dtÃēk) means to fall. So east (āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāļ tÃt dtà -wan Ãēk) is literally âdirection the sun exitsâ. West is literally (āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļ tÃt dtà -wan dtÃēk) the âdirection the sun fallsâ (sunset).
Another way to say the cardinal directions in Thai language is the following. Keep in mind, the below way is not really used.
- North: āļāļļāļāļĢ Ãđ-don
- South: āļāļąāļāļĐāļīāļ tÃĄk-sÄn
- East: āļāļđāļĢāļāļē boo-rÃĄ-paa
- West: āļāļĢāļ°āļāļīāļĄ bprà -jim
Intercardinal / Ordinal Directions
- Northeast āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāļāđāļāļĩāļĒāļāđāļŦāļāļ·āļ tÃt dtà -wan Ãēk chÄang nÄua
or āļāļĩāļŠāļēāļ ee-sÄan - Northwest āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāđāļāļĩāļĒāļāđāļŦāļāļ·āļ tÃt dtà -wan dtÃēk chÄang nÄua
or āļāļēāļĒāļąāļ paa-yÃĄp - Southeast āļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāļāđāļāļĩāļĒāļāđāļāđ dtà -wan Ãēk chÄang dtÃĒi
or āļāļēāļāđāļāļĒāđ aa-kÃĄ-nay - Southwest āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāđāļāļĩāļĒāļāđāļāđ tÃt dtà -wan dtÃēk chÄang dtÃĒi
or āļŦāļĢāļāļĩ hÅr-rÃĄ-dee
Notice how in Thai, itâs like saying âEastnorthâ, âEastsouthâ, âWestnorthâ, âWesteastâ. āđāļāļĩāļĒāļ chÄang means to be askew/slanted.
So as an example, Northeast (āļāļīāļĻāļāļ°āļ§āļąāļāļāļāļāđāļāļĩāļĒāļāđāļŦāļāļ·āļ tÃt dtà -wan Ãēk chÄang nÄua) in Thai language is literally like saying âdirection east slanted northâ.
Regions in Thailand
An important thing to note is that (although it can be done scientifically), Thais donât split Thailand into North, South, East, West sections. Instead, they divide Thailand into the Northern region, Northeast Region, Central Region, and Southern Region.
- Northern Region: āļ āļēāļāđāļŦāļāļ·āļ pÃĒak nÄua (literally: region north)
- Northeast Region: āļ āļēāļāļāļĩāļŠāļēāļ pÃĒak ee-sÄan (literally: region Isan)
- Central Region: āļ āļēāļāļāļĨāļēāļ pÃĒak glaang (literally: region center)
- Southern Region: āļ āļēāļāđāļāđ pÃĒak dtÃĒi (literally: region south)
The word āļ āļēāļ (pÃĒak) in all these words means region/part.
āļāļĩāļŠāļēāļ (ee-sÄan) is just the way Thai people call the north-eastern region of Thailand.
āļāļĨāļēāļ (glaang) by itself means central/middle.
I hope you now know how to talk about north, south, east, west in Thai and also learned how to say the different regions in Thailand.
