Pae Thang (แพ้ทาง): meaning and key lines
LABANOONลาบานูน
What the song is about
แพ้ทางpáe taang, “Pae Thang (Weak Spot)”, is a Thai rock song by LABANOON (2016). LABANOON's cheerful follow-up to Magic Rope: a shy guy is helpless every time a girl smiles at him and has no idea what to do with his heart. Its lines teach why do you have to…, every time, someone like you, to be helpless against someone, what should I do?, and an old idiom about a flower of the sky and a temple dog.
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Song facts
- Artist
- LABANOON
- Released
- 2016
- Style
- Thai rock
- Level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Mood
- smitten, playful, helpless
- Views
- about 479M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Genierock (Genie Records, the band's 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.
- ทำไม tam-maiเธอ toeต้อง dtâwngยิ้ม yímทุกที túk tiiที่ tîiเดิน doenสวนกัน sǔan gan
Why do you have to smile every time we pass each other?
The song's first words. ทำไมtam-mai (why) + ต้องdtâwng (must) + verb = why do you have to…?, half a question and half a complaint: ทำไมต้องรีบtam-mai dtâwng rîip = why the rush? ทุกทีที่túk tii tîi = every time (that): ทุกทีที่ฝนตกtúk tii tîi fǒn dtòk = every time it rains. สวนกันsǔan gan = to pass each other going opposite ways, like two people in a corridor or two cars on a narrow soi: เดินสวนกันdoen sǔan gan = to walk past each other. - ฉัน chǎnแพ้ทาง páe taangคน konอย่าง yàangเธอ toe
I'm helpless against someone like you
The title line. แพ้páe = to lose (a match), and ทางtaang = way, style. In sport a team or a boxer that แพ้ทางpáe taang another keeps losing to the way it plays; in love, someone you แพ้ทางpáe taang is your weak spot, the type you can't resist. คนอย่างเธอkon yàang toe = someone like you (อย่างyàang = like, such as): คนอย่างฉันkon yàang chǎn = someone like me. ฉันchǎn is written rising but usually said high, chán. - อยาก yàakจะ jàให้ hâiดอกฟ้า dàwk-fáaเอ็นดู en-duuหมาวัด mǎa-wátสัก sàkตัว dtua
I wish the flower of the sky would take a liking to a temple dog
An old idiom, ดอกฟ้ากับหมาวัดdàwk-fáa gàp mǎa-wát: a ดอกฟ้าdàwk-fáa, 'a flower of the sky', is a woman far above the man who wants her, and a หมาวัดmǎa-wát, a stray that lives off a temple, is the lowly man. อยากจะให้yàak jà hâi + someone + verb = to wish someone would…: อยากให้เธอมาyàak hâi toe maa = I wish you'd come. เอ็นดูen-duu = to feel fond of, the tender way you look at a child or a puppy. สักsàk + counting word = just one: สักตัวsàk dtua = (just) one, ตัวdtua being the word that counts animals. - เอาไง ao ngaiกัน ganดี diiล่ะ lâกับ gàpหัวใจ hǔa-jai
What am I going to do with my heart?
เอาไงao ngai = what now?, how do we play it?, short for เอายังไงao yang-ngai. Add ดีdii (good) and it asks what would be best: เอาไงดีao ngai dii = what should I do?; กันgan makes it 'we': เอาไงกันดีao ngai gan dii = what shall we do? ล่ะlâ adds a sigh: so what now? กับgàp = with: what to do with my heart. You'll hear เอาไงดีao ngai dii every time friends can't decide where to eat. - ใจ jaiมัน manตะโกน dtà-goonว่า wâaมัน manชอบ châwpเธอ toe
My heart shouts that it likes you
ใจjai = heart, mind, and มันman (it) points back at it: my heart, it… ตะโกนdtà-goon = to shout, and ตะโกนว่าdtà-goon wâa = to shout that… (ว่าwâa = that, after say, think or shout). ชอบchâwp = to like, and in love talk to have a crush on: ชอบเธอchâwp toe = I like you, the simplest Thai confession.
Words you'll learn
- ยิ้ม yím
to smile
- สวนกัน sǔan gan
to pass each other (in opposite ways)
รถสวนกันrót sǔan gan = cars passing each other. Not the สวนsǔan of a garden.
- แพ้ทาง páe taang
to be helpless against; to keep losing to
From แพ้páe, to lose, and ทางtaang, way, style.
- ดอกฟ้า dàwk-fáa
a woman out of your league
Literally 'a flower of the sky', from the idiom ดอกฟ้ากับหมาวัดdàwk-fáa gàp mǎa-wát: a woman far above the man who loves her.
- เอ็นดู en-duu
to feel fond of; to dote on (a child, a pet)
- หมาวัด mǎa-wát
a temple dog; a lowly nobody
- เอาไง ao ngai
what now?, what should I do? (casual)
เอาไงดีao ngai dii = what should I do?; จะเอาไงต่อjà ao ngai dtàw = what next?
- หัวใจ hǔa-jai
heart
- ตะโกน dtà-goon
to shout, to yell
- ทุกที túk tii
every time
Grammar in this song
ทำไมtam-mai + ต้องdtâwng + verb = why do you have to…?, why must…?: ทำไมต้องยิ้มtam-mai dtâwng yím, ทำไมต้องไปtam-mai dtâwng bpai (why do you have to go?). Said with a sigh, it is a complaint more than a question. ทุกทีที่túk tii tîi + clause = every time…: ทุกทีที่เจอเธอtúk tii tîi joe toe = every time I see you.
คนอย่างkon yàang + person = someone like…: คนอย่างเธอkon yàang toe, คนอย่างฉันkon yàang chǎn. อยากให้yàak hâi + person + verb = to want someone to…, to wish they would: อยากให้เธอยิ้มyàak hâi toe yím = I want you to smile. And when you can't decide: เอาไงดีao ngai dii? = what should I do?
The culture behind it
LABANOON (ลาบานูนlaa-baa-nuun) is a rock trio that started out at the Islamic College of Thailand in Bangkok; the name is Arabic for fresh milk, which they wanted their music to be: simple, with just three instruments (Thai Wikipedia). "แพ้ทางpáe taang" was their fourth single on Genie Records, after Magic Rope, and its video, released in February 2016, celebrated Magic Rope passing 200 million views on YouTube: six young actresses get the better of a shy boy at one sport after another (Thai Wikipedia). It went past 100 million views too, and in October 2026 it was number 10 on kworb's list of the most-viewed YouTube music videos by Thai artists. Kob of Big Ass wrote the words again and the singer, Metee Arun, the music; it is on the album N.E.W.S. (August 2016).
The temple dog and the flower of the sky are a famous pair: the Royal Society's dictionary defines ดอกฟ้าdàwk-fáa as a woman of higher standing than the man who courts her. Kob used the same theme, loving above your station, for Big Ass's Len Khong Sung, and Zack Chumphae's Kham Phaeng turns the idiom round.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones