Thai texting and chat words

Most Thais chat on LINE, and chat Thai has its own spelling. The famous one is 555: the Thai word for five is ห้าhâa, so 555 reads "ha ha ha". The longer the string, the funnier the joke.

Particles get playful in text. ครับkráp becomes คับkáp or ค้าบkáap, ค่ะkâ becomes ค่าkâa, and นะná stretches to น้าnáa to sound cute. Words are spelled the way they're said in fast speech: อะไรà-rai turns into ไรrai, เปล่าbplàao into ป่าวbpàao and ไม่mâi into ม่ายmâai. You'll also see อิอิì-ì (hee hee) and a sticker for every mood.

The everyday messages are about care: กินข้าวยังgin kâao yang (eaten yet?), ถึงบ้านแล้วtǔeng bâan láew (home now), คิดถึงkít-tǔeng (miss you) and ฝันดีfǎn-dii (sweet dreams). Learn to read them and you'll understand half of Thai social life.