A Tale of Thousand Stars (นิทานพันดาว): meaning and key lines
Gun Napatกัน นภัทร
What the song is about
นิทานพันดาวní-taan pan daao, “A Tale of Thousand Stars (Nithan Phan Dao)”, is a T-pop song by Gun Napat (2021). The theme of A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021), the GMMTV series about a young man who receives a volunteer teacher's heart and goes to finish her work at a village school in the northern mountains. A soft ballad with a Thai flute, about a love that stays the same however many times its story is told. Its lines teach a heart that beats, near, between, a tale, however many times, stars and to make a wish.
Free, no sign-up: learn the key lines and words with audio, then sing along.
Song facts
- Artist
- Gun Napat
- Released
- 2021
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Mood
- wistful, wondering, gentle
- Views
- about 30M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- GMMTV RECORDS (GMMTV's music label)
- Lyrics
- Key lines quoted; the full song is in the video
Key lines, explained
Tap a line to hear it. Once the video is playing, lines jump to their moment in the song.
- หัวใจ hǔa-jaiฉัน chǎnเต้น dtênไม่ mâiเหมือนเดิม mǔean-doemเมื่อ mûeaใกล้ glâiเธอ toe
My heart beats differently when I'm near you.
เต้นdtên = to beat, of a heart, and also to dance: หัวใจเต้นแรงhǔa-jai dtên raeng = my heart is pounding; ไปเต้นกันbpai dtên gan = let's go dancing. ไม่เหมือนเดิมmâi mǔean-doem = not the same as before. เมื่อmûea = when, a little formal; in speech, ตอนที่dtawn tîi. Mind the tone: ใกล้glâi (falling) is near, ไกลglai (mid) is far. Men sing ฉันchǎn for "I" too (a tap says "female speaker"); in conversation a man says ผมpǒm. - ทุก túkเรื่อง rûeangระหว่าง rá-wàangเรา raoนั้น nánมัน manคือ kuueอะไร à-rai
Everything between us, what is it?
ระหว่างrá-wàang = between: ระหว่างเราrá-wàang rao = between us; ระหว่างทางrá-wàang taang = on the way. ทุกเรื่องtúk rûeang = every matter, everything (เรื่องrûeang = a matter, a story). นั้นnán closes the long subject and มันman (it) picks it up again, as speech often does: ร้านนั้นมันไกลráan nán man glai = that shop, it's far. มันคืออะไรman kuue à-rai = what is it? - ดัง dangนิทาน ní-taanที่ tîiเล่า lâoกี่ gìiครั้ง krángก็ gâwยัง yangเหมือนเดิม mǔean-doem
Like a tale that stays the same however many times it's told.
The chorus, with the title word นิทานní-taan = a tale, a fairy tale, a fable; a bedtime story is นิทานก่อนนอนní-taan gàwn nawn. ดังdang here is the old, poetic "like, as" (the one in ดังนั้นdang-nán, therefore), not the everyday ดังdang = loud, famous, which is what a tap shows; poems often spell it ดั่งdàng. เล่าlâo = to tell (a story). กี่ครั้งgìi kráng = how many times; with ก็gâw after it, however many times: กี่ครั้งก็ยังเหมือนเดิมgìi kráng gâw yang mǔean-doem = however many times, still the same. - หาก hàakดาว daaoได้ยิน dâi-yinคำ kamอธิษฐาน à-tít-tǎan
If the stars could hear the wish…
หากhàak = if, the written and sung twin of ถ้าtâa. ดาวdaao = a star: ดาวตกdaao dtòk = a shooting star. อธิษฐานà-tít-tǎan = to make a wish, silently, like a prayer, and คำอธิษฐานkam à-tít-tǎan = the words of a wish. Thais make one at the temple, over birthday candles and when they see a shooting star.
Words you'll learn
- เต้น dtên
to beat (a heart); to dance
- ใกล้ glâi
near, close
Falling tone, while ไกลglai (far) is mid: get the tone wrong and near becomes far! Doubled, ใกล้ๆglâi-glâi means 'close by'.
- ระหว่าง rá-wàang
between; during
- นิทาน ní-taan
tale, fairy tale, fable
- เล่า lâo
to tell (a story), recount
Ask for the story with เล่าให้ฟังหน่อยlâo hâi fang nàwy: literally 'tell it so I can listen'.
- ดาว daao
star
- อธิษฐาน à-tít-tǎan
to make a wish (silently, like a prayer)
Hold the krathong, close your eyes and wish in silence: for health, for love, or just to say sorry to the water.
Grammar in this song
However many times: กี่ครั้งgìi kráng … ก็gâw. กี่gìi asks how many (กี่คนgìi kon = how many people?); followed by ก็gâw it means however many: ฟังกี่ครั้งก็ไม่เบื่อfang gìi kráng gâw mâi bùea = however many times I hear it, I don't get bored.
Near and far: ใกล้glâi and ไกลglai. The same sounds, two tones, opposite meanings: บ้านอยู่ใกล้bâan yùu glâi = I live nearby; บ้านอยู่ไกลbâan yùu glai = I live far away. Practise them as a pair.
Song words and speech words. Ballads borrow from written Thai: หากhàak = ถ้าtâa (if), เมื่อmûea = ตอนที่dtawn tîi (when), ดังdang = เหมือนmǔean (like). Recognise them, and use the everyday words yourself.
The culture behind it
A Tale of Thousand Stars (นิทานพันดาวní-taan pan daao, 2021), from the novel by Bacteria, was directed by Aof Noppharnach for GMMTV. Tian (Mix Sahaphap), a young man from Bangkok, receives the heart of Torfun, a volunteer teacher who died in an accident. From her diary he learns that she hoped to count a thousand stars with Phupha (Earth Pirapat), the head of the local forest rangers, so he goes to teach in her place at a school in a mountain village in the north. The crew built the teacher's house from scratch and turned a disused pavilion into the school, in Chiang Rai. The series ran in 10 episodes on GMM 25 and LINE TV from 29 January to 2 April 2021 and won the ContentAsia Award for best LGBTQ+ programme made in Asia.
The song is sung by Gun Napat (Napat Injaiuea), who won the talent show The Star 6, with words and melody by Achariya Dulyapaiboon and a Thai bamboo flute, the ขลุ่ยklùi. Torfun, Phupha and Tian each got their own version later, sung by the actors. NUM KALA's Wind plays in the last episode.
Learn “A Tale of Thousand Stars” in about 6 minutes
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones