Culture and festivalskarma; (bad) fate noun
- gam mid
- Mid: level, in your normal speaking voice.
กรรมเก่าgam gào = karma from a past life.
You'll hear it in Lao Duang Duean (ลาวดวงเดือน).
How to use it
กรรมgam, from the Pali kamma, is karma: the Buddhist idea that every action, good or bad, comes back to the person who did it. In everyday talk it often means bad luck you can't explain, and Thais sigh เวรกรรมween-gam, "oh, karma!", at a run of misfortune. The good side is บุญbun, merit, which you make with ทำบุญtam-bun.
Other spellings you'll see
There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:
- kam
- karma
More culture and festivals in Thai
All culture and festivals- เพลงชาติ pleeng-châat National anthem
Learn Thai with the free course
A complete course from your first phrase to real conversations, with audio for every word and AI speaking practice. Free, no sign-up needed.
Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones