Thai language forum

In response to Tilapia’s post above, here are siome essentials for use while you are two-wheeling it around the Land of Smiles.


First, the bits on your bike:


Bicycle จักรยาน jàk-grà yaan
Wheel ล้อ lór
Tire ยาง yaang
Spoke ซี่ล้อ sêe lór
Pedal บันไดจักรยาน ban-dai jàk-grà yaan
Headlight ไฟหน้า fai nâa
Tail light ไฟท้าย fai táai
Brake เบรก bràyk
Brake cable สายเบรก săai bràyk
Brake pad ผ้าเบรก pâa bràyk
Chain โซ่ sôh
Gear เกียร์ gia
Gear system ระบบ เกียร์ rá-bòp gia
Saddle อาน aan
Pump ที่สูบลม têe sòop lom
Axle แกน gaen
Handlebar แฮนด์ haen
Bike lock ที่ล็อกจักรยาน têe lók jàk-grà yaan
Bell กระดิ่ง grà-dìng

Problems you might encounter on the road:
แตก dtàek: This means, more or less, ‘crack’. You might use it with the casing for your lights for example: ไฟแตก fai dtàek My light is cracked.

หัก hàk: This is more like break as in broken arm, or something which has broken in half. You might need it for a broken spoke: ซี่ล้อหัก sêe lór hàk The spoke is broken.

เสีย sĭa: This means broken more generally, as is having stopped functioning. So, if your gears are up the spout or your brakes aren’t working you can say something like: ระบบเกียร์เสีย rá-bòp gia sĭa The gear system is broken.

ไม่ทำการ mâi tam gaan is a way to say ‘does not work’. This might be useful for when you’ve got a problem but you’re not sure of the reason. For example เบรกไม่ทำการ bràyk mâi tam gaan: the brakes don’t work.

I guess the most common problem a cyclist might encounter is a punctured tire. You’ll probably have your own puncture repair kit, but just in case you need it here’s the relevant vocab:

Puncture ยางรั่ว yang rûa (lit. leaky tire). If you want to tell someone you have a flat, you can simply say “Yang rûa krap/ka."

Repair a puncture ปะยาง bpà yang. Likewise if you go into the mechanic shop or bike centre needing a puncture repaired you can say “bpà yang krap/ka.”

You’ll see no end of workshops on the roadside with signs with big red writing saying ปะยาง so you should be alright with this one.

And to finish up on Tilapia’s direct questions:

Strange noise เสียงแปลก sĭang bplàek

For example you could say: There’s a strange noise coming from the gear system: Mee sĭang bplàek maa jàak rá-bòp gia มีเสียงแปลกมาจากระบบเกียร์

And, the air inside your tire is actually known as wind in Thai: lom ลม. So to re-inflate your tires is to เติมลม dterm lom Literally, to ‘fill the wind’.

Happy cycling all.


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@AjarnPasa

Excellent! Thanks a lot, Ajarn Pasa. I'll print off the ones I'd likely forget and will stick them into my diary and then hope I never need to use them. Crack is definitely a good one to know.

Exacto ... I always wondered what that meant. I could read it, but those words weren't part of my vocab. They are now!

Cheers!