Okay, now this was hard for me to learn. Two years later and I still screw it up.
In English, a day is divided into two equal parts. In Thai, the day is divided into several unequal parts.
Let me tell you the parts first:
Tee: early morning hours; the time after midnight and before 6 a.m.
Chow: the morning; between 6 a.m. and noon
Tiang: noon or midnight
Bai: the afternoon; after 12 noon and before 5 p.m.
Yen: evening; starts at 5 p.m. and ends before 7 p.m.
Tuum: night; between 7 p.m. and midnight.
(For a review of Thai numbers click here)
So, let’s look at the 24 hours of the clock:
1:00 a.m. = tee neung
2:00 a.m. = tee sawng
3:00 a.m. = tee sahm
4:00 a.m. = tee see
5:00 a.m. = tee hah
6:00 a.m. = hok mohng chow
7:00 a.m. = jet mohng chow
8:00 a.m. = bat mohng chow
9:00 a.m. = gow mohng chow
10:00 a.m. = sip mohng chow
11:00 a.m. = sip-et mohng chow
12:00 noon = tiang wan (wan means day)
1:00 p.m. = bai mohng
2:00 p.m. = bai sawng mohng
3:00 p.m. = bai sahm mohng
4:00 p.m. = bai see mohng
5:00 p.m. = hah mohng yen
6:00 p.m. = hok mohng yen
7:00 p.m. = neung (1) tuum
8:00 p.m. = sawng (2) tuum
9:00 p.m. = sahm (3) tuum
10:00 p.m. = see (4) tuum
11:00 p.m. = hah (5) tuum
12:00 midnight = tiang keun (keun = night)
Some other time words:
Kreung = half, so
11:30 p.m. = hah tuum kreung
12:30 p.m. = tiang wan kreung
Naatee = minutes; so
10:18 p.m. = see tuum sip-bat natee
9:45 a.m. = gow mohng chow see-sip-hah naatee
Chemohng = hour; so
one hour = neung chemohng
4 1/2 hours = see chemohng kreung
10 hours and 20 minutes = sip chemohng yee-sip naatee
Question word for time: Gee (with a ‘hard-G’)
What time is it? = Gee mohng krab
How many hours? = Gee chemohng krab
How many minutes? = Gee naatee krab
(note: the question word for how many is usually ‘towrai‘, so we use towrai if talking about apples or books, but we use Gee for time)
Okay, good luck. It’s tough to get used to a different system for time.
This may help you understand your bar girl though. You’re eating dinner and she says she has to hurry to work. You look at your watch and see that it’s 7:15 p.m. You ask her what time she needs to be at work and she states confidently “Two o’clock!” You’re dazed and confused. Of course, she means 8 p.m., but she’s translating sawng (2) tuum.
It’s sunset (about 6:30 p.m.) and she says that she’s going to see a friend, but she’ll be back. You ask when, and she says “four o’clock thirty” or possibly “four o’clock half”. She means 10:30 p.m.
Anyway, you get the idea. Telling time is Thailand is tough, and Thais often don’t understand a.m. and p.m. If it’s too confusing, just use military time. Tell your girl you’ll meet her at nineteen o’clock and she’ll understand that you want to see her at 7 p.m. (or neung tuum).
Good luck!
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Right, that explains a lot. And I thought Thai’s just liked to keep you waiting! I shall continue following your lessons!