Thread: Would the language be diminished if they dropped the krab ka stuff

Originally Posted by Mandaloopy

In Myanmar we say 'ba' to make a sentence polite. Crazy,eh?

Nice play on words.

I like the whole krab/ka thing- good manners seem to be lacking around the world of late. Started to take learning Myanmar a bit more seriously this year and have learned more in a week of lessons than I did last year. Compared to Thai reading and writing is considerably easier. Speaking much less so, the tones seem so more subtle to my ear for some reason.

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Originally Posted by taxexile

undeveloped and barbaric = medieval

What an odd definition of medieval. I certainly wouldn't consider Chartres Cathedral or Geoffrey Chaucer as either undeveloped or barbaric. How sad that you are so divorced from history, lacking any cultural moorings it's no wonder you are so bitter.

does the presence of skyscrapers in riyadh equate with saudi arabia being a modern developed society?

Originally Posted by Mandaloopy

In Myanmar we say 'ba' to make a sentence polite. Crazy,eh?

With exactly the same function as krab and ka?

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Originally Posted by armstrong

my wife told me to fuck off today but put kha on the end. kinda softened the blow a tad.

It was probably this one ฆ่า, or this one ข้า

That's funny.

Although this thread is rather an old one I read it with much interest. I see that Dr.Bob says that “krap” and “ka” were introduced by Plaek Phibunsonkram. I must confess that this statement came as a surprise to me.

I see from dictionaries that ครับ is a corrupted form of ขอรับ.

For instance, in the time of Rama V, a male person speaking to an equal of higher person would add ขอรับ or sometimes use ขอรับผม.
And in McFarlands Thai-English dictionary we find that when speaking to somebody with the rank of a Mom Chao you had to add ขอรับกระหม่อม, and when speaking to a “Royal Highness” (Somdet Chao Phaya or higher) you had to add ขอรับใส่เกล้าใส่กระหม่อม.

I would like to understand what Plaek Phibunsongkram exactly did. Did he really invent the word “krab” (and “ka”)? Or was there a situation that before Phibunsonkhram only people of higher rank spoke politely by using these phrases and Phibunsonkram advised the normal people to use these expression(s) too? In order to get civilized?

If anybody knows please tell me. Thank you.

Originally Posted by EMB

I see that Dr.Bob says that “krap” and “ka” were introduced by Plaek Phibunsonkram. I must confess that this statement came as a surprise to me.

He didn't invent it but he did make it universal.

Originally Posted by EMB

I would like to understand what Plaek Phibunsongkram exactly did

Search up on Plaek's "Cultural Mandates", fascinating stuff and the foundation of much of modern Thailand, particularly the parts that people think are ancient Thailand /Siam.

There seems to be many cultural similarities between India and Thailand such as wyeing and different positions of the hands according to status. I wonder if some of these differentiations are the Thai equivalent of or were influenced by the Indian caste system. Has anyone yet done a thread on this? My knowledge of both systems is insufficient to start one.

Thats true. Indeed, there would be many more headaches in Thailand as people try to think of how to speak or be polite or give simple affirmations without using kaa/krap etc.