AB Level 1.10: Business in Thai

We use the conjunction ว่า (wâa) to link a verb such as "to speak," "to think," or "to know" with what was said, thought, or known.
We would usually translate it in English as "that." It comes directly after the verb.
  * ผมคิดว่า… (phǒm khít wâa…) ➤ "I think that…"
  * คุณทราบว่า... (khun sâap wâa…) ➤ "You know that…"
  * สตีฟพูดว่า... (sà-dtíip phûut wâa…) ➤ "Steve said that…"
The clause that follows ว่า (wâa) acts as the object of the verb. Here are some examples of whole sentences.
* ผมคิดว่าผัดไทยอร่อย (phǒm khít wâa phàt-thai à-ràwy)

➤ "I think that pad Thai is delicious."
* คุณทราบว่าผมไม่มีเวลา (khun sâap wâa phǒm mâi mii wee-laa)

➤ "You know that I don't have any time."
* สตีฟพูดว่าจะไปประเทศไทย (sà-dtíip phûut wâa jà bpai bprà-thêet-thai)

➤ "Steve said that he's going to Thailand."

We can also pair ว่า (wâa) with the verb "to call," เรียก (rîiak). Together, เรียกว่า (rîiak wâa) means "to be called."
  * นี่เรียกว่าอะไร (nîi rîiak wâa à-rai) ➤ "What is this called?"
  * นี่เรียกว่าขวด (nîi rîiak wâa khùuat) ➤ "This is called khùuat."
  * ขวดในภาษาอังกฤษเรียกว่าอะไร (khùuat nai phaa-sǎa-ang-grìt rîiak wâa à-rai)

➤ "What is khùuat called in English?"

<<ไม่ได้เจอกันตั้งนาน (mâi dâi jooe-gan dtâng naan)<<
  * This phrase literally means "We haven't met each other in a long time."
  * We could translate it more naturally in English as "Long time, no see."
  * เจอ (jooe) is the verb "to meet."
<<ไม่ทราบว่า…(mâi sâap wâa…)<<
  * This phrase literally means "I don't know that…"
  * ทราบ (sâap) is the polite form of the verb "to know."
  * However, what is really being said is "What is …?"
  * This is just a very polite way to begin a question.

Gift-giving is an important aspect of Thai culture.
It is common to give people gifts when you come back from a trip or when meeting someone you haven't seen in a long time.
Thais like to give gifts that are edible.
Often it will be some type of snack food that is a specialty of the area you were visiting.
It is also common to give fresh fruit, particularly if there is a certain fruit in season that isn't normally available other times of the year.
It is also quite common for students (or their parents) to give small gifts to teachers and for employees of a company to bring snack food to work to share with all of their coworkers.

The second form of "to be" is คือ (khuue).
* We use it when stating that two things are equivalent to each other.
* It is a little more forceful, and it indicates that X, by its very nature, is Y.
In contrast, we use เป็น (bpen) when giving information that describes something. Let's look at some examples.
* อากาศของวันนี้เป็นอากาศร้อน (aa-gàat khǎawng wan-níi bpen aa-gàat ráawn)

➤ "Today's weather is hot weather."
* อากาศไม่ดีคืออากาศร้อน (aa-gàat mâi dii khuue aa-gàat ráawn)

➤ "Bad weather is [when it's] hot weather."
* นี่คือคุณสตีฟ (nîi khuue khun sà-dtíip)

➤ "This is Mr. Steve."
* คุณสตีฟเป็นวิศวกร (khun sà-dtíip bpen wít-sà-wá-gaawn)

➤ "Mr. Steve is an engineer."

In Thai, we do not need the verb "to be," and we just connect the adjective to the noun, as in "weather hot," อากาศร้อน (aa-gàat ráawn).

<<นี่คือ… (nîi khuue…)<<
  * We can use this phrase when introducing something or someone or when pointing out what something is.
  * It is made up of the pronoun "this" and one form of the verb "to be," คือ (khuue).
  * The name or title of the person or object you are identifying will follow the verb in the sentence.
<<มีนัดกับ… (mii nát gàp…)<<
* This phrase means "to have an appointment with…"
* It is made up of the verb "to have," มี (mii), + the verb "to make an appointment," $นัด (<em>nát</em>), + "with," กับ (<em>gàp</em>)$ , and then the name of the person you are scheduled to meet with.
<<ทานอาหารกลางวัน (thaan aa-hǎan-glaang-wan)<<
  * This phrase is a polite way to say "eat lunch."
  * ทาน (thaan) is a polite form of the verb "to eat."
  * อาหาร (aa-hǎan) ➤ "food,"
  * กลาง (glaang) ➤ "middle," and
  * วัน (wan) ➤ "day."
  * So together, the three make "food of the middle of the day" or "lunch."

When attending business meetings in Thailand, one important thing to remember is to not cause anyone to lose face.
* We should not directly criticize someone in front of others. In addition, it is common for groups working on a business deal to loosen up afterward with dinner and drinks together.
Many businesses in Thailand are controlled by powerful families whose influence goes back many generations.
* Many other businesses, especially gold shops, are controlled by Chinese-Thai families.
Companies registered in Thailand must have majority ownership by Thai citizens, and foreigners are also not allowed to own any land according to Thai law.
* Because of this, many foreigners start small businesses and either register the company in their spouse's name or who get together a number of Thai acquaintances to act as shareholders to technically own fifty-one percent of the company in their names.