Buppesannivas: a love bond from a past life

Buppesannivas, บุพเพสันนิวาสbùp-pee-sǎn-ní-wâat, is a love bond from a past life: two people who were together before and are meant to meet again.

บุพเพสันนิวาส bùp-pee-sǎn-ní-wâat

a love bond from a past life noun

bùp low
pee mid
sǎn rising
ní high
wâat falling

Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”

Parts: บุพเพbùp-pee in the past, in a former life สันนิวาสsǎn-ní-wâat living together

You'll hear it in Love Destiny (บุพเพสันนิวาส).

How to use it

The word comes from Pali, "living together in the past". Many Thais believe that two people who click at once shared a former life, and คงเป็นบุพเพสันนิวาสkong bpen bùp-pee-sǎn-ní-wâat, "it must be buppesannivas", is said with a smile when two people keep running into each other.

It's also the title of the 2018 TV drama known in English as Love Destiny, in which a modern young woman wakes up in the Ayutthaya period. It was a nationwide hit, and crowds in traditional dress came to visit Ayutthaya's temples. Destiny in love is also พรหมลิขิตprom-lí-kìt, and the partner it brings is your เนื้อคู่núea-kûu, soulmate.