Ho Mok Huak (ห่อหมกฮวกไปฝากป้า): meaning and key lines
Lumplern Wongsakorn ft. Tae Trakultorลำเพลิน วงศกร ft. เต๊ะ ตระกูลตอ
What the song is about
ห่อหมกฮวกไปฝากป้าhàw-mòk hûak bpai fàak bpâa, “Ho Mok Huak (Tadpoles in Banana Leaves for Auntie)”, is a mor lam song by Lumplern Wongsakorn ft. Tae Trakultor (2018). A comic Isan hit with more than 370 million views across its two official videos: a boy's family catches tadpoles in the rice fields, his mother cooks them in banana leaves and sends him, hungry and grumbling, to take some to his aunt, and everything goes wrong. The song piles up as many h sounds as it can, so it doubles as a lesson in how Isan turns Central Thai r into h, and in Isan food, family words and village life.
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Song facts
- Artist
- Lumplern Wongsakorn ft. Tae Trakultor
- Released
- 2018
- Style
- Mor lam
- Level
- B2 (upper intermediate)
- Mood
- comic, cheeky, rustic
- Views
- about 237M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Lumplern Wongsakorn OFFICIAL (official artist channel)
- 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.
- ลง longท่ง tôngหา hǎaหอย hǎwyหา hǎaเห็ด hètและ láeหา hǎaปลา bplaa
They went down to the fields to look for snails, mushrooms and fish.
Isan ท่งtông = ทุ่งtûng, open fields, rice fields (ทุ่งนาtûng-naa). ลงlong = to go down: you go 'down' to the fields from the village. หาhǎa = to look for, to go and find: หาปลาhǎa bplaa = to catch fish to eat. หอยhǎwy = snails, shellfish: in the rains the paddies are full of edible snails. เห็ดhèt = mushrooms. และláe = and, before the last thing on a list. - มื้อนี้ múue-níiเฮียน hianข่อย kàwyประมาณ bprà-maanหก hòkโมง moongแลง laeng
At my house today, around six in the evening…
Isan → Central: มื้อนี้múue-níi = วันนี้wan-níi, today; เฮียนhian = บ้านbâan, home (a local form of เฮือนhuean, Central เรือนruean); ข่อยkàwy = I, me, so เฮียนข่อยhian kàwy = my house, with no word for 'of'. ประมาณbprà-maan = about. Thai counts the evening hours as โมงเย็นmoong yen, so 6 p.m. is หกโมงเย็นhòk moong yen; Isan says แลงlaeng, evening, for เย็นyen. - มี miiตำบักหุ่ง dtam bàk-hùngหมก mòkฮวก hûakและ láeกุ้งห่าง gûng hàang
There's papaya salad, tadpole mok and shrimp from the trap.
Dinner. Isan ตำบักหุ่งdtam bàk-hùng = ส้มตำsôm-dtam, green papaya salad (บักหุ่งbàk-hùng = papaya, มะละกอmá-lá-gaw; ตำdtam = to pound in a mortar). ฮวกhûak = tadpoles, Central ลูกอ๊อดlûuk-áwt, and หมกmòk = to cook something wrapped in banana leaves: หมกฮวกmòk hûak = tadpoles cooked in banana leaves. Isan ห่างhàang is a trap, so กุ้งห่างgûng hàang are small shrimp caught in one. - เพิ่น pôenบอก bàwkข่อย kàwyฮิฟ้าวไป hí fáao bpaiเอา aoห่อหมก hàw-mòkฮวก hûakให้ hâiป้า bpâaสา sǎaก่อน gàwn
Mum told me to hurry over and take the tadpole ho mok to Auntie first.
Isan เพิ่นpôen = he, she, said with respect: here his mother. บอกbàwk someone ให้hâi + verb = to tell them to do it; the song sings that ให้hâi short, as ฮิhí, and Isan ฟ้าวfáao = รีบrîip, to hurry. เอาao + thing + ให้hâi + person = to take something to someone. ป้าbpâa = aunt, an older woman. Isan สาsǎa softens a request, like Central เสียsǐa here: ให้ป้าสาก่อนhâi bpâa sǎa gàwn = to Auntie first. - ห่อหมก hàw-mòkฮวก hûakเอา aoไป bpaiฝาก fàakป้า bpâaป้า bpâaไป bpaiนา naaเลย loeiห้อยไว้ hâwy wáiหน้า nâaฮั้ว húa
The tadpole ho mok I took for Auntie? She'd gone to the rice fields, so I hung it on her front fence.
The title line. ฝากfàak = to leave something with someone, and เอาไปฝากao bpai fàak = to take something to someone as a gift. ไปนาbpai naa = to go to the rice field, to go and work there. Here เลยloei = so, as a result. ห้อยhâwy = to hang something up, to let it dangle, and ไว้wái after a verb = and leave it there: ห้อยไว้hâwy wái = to hang it up and leave it. Isan ฮั้วhúa = รั้วrúa, fence: หน้าฮั้วnâa húa = on the front fence. - ฮ่วย hûayป้าลาว bpâa laaoฮู้บ่ฮู้ húu bàw húuว่า wâaเฮา haoห่อหมก hàw-mòkฮวก hûakไป bpaiฝาก fàakป้า bpâa
Oh no, does Auntie even know we brought her tadpole ho mok?
The punchline: the parcel is still hanging on the fence in the rain. Isan ฮ่วยhûay is a cry when something goes wrong: oh no! Isan ลาวlaao = he, she, like Central แกgae, so ป้าลาวbpâa laao = Auntie, she; here it is not the word for Lao. ฮู้บ่ฮู้húu bàw húu = รู้ไม่รู้rúu mâi rúu, does she know or not? Isan เฮาhao = เราrao, we, us: here, I.
Words you'll learn
- หอย hǎwy
shellfish; snail
หอยทอดhǎwy tâwt = fried mussels or oysters, a street-food classic.
- เห็ด hèt
mushroom
- แลง laeng
evening (Isan)
Central Thai: เย็นyen. กินแลงgin laeng = to have dinner.
- ฮวก hûak
tadpole (Isan)
Central Thai: ลูกอ๊อดlûuk-áwt.
- หมก mòk
to cook wrapped in banana leaves
หมกปลาmòk bplaa = fish cooked in banana leaves.
- ห่อหมก hàw-mòk
ho mok (steamed in banana leaves)
ห่อhàw = to wrap. In Bangkok ห่อหมกปลาhàw-mòk bplaa is a fish curry custard steamed in banana leaves.
- เฮียน hian
house, home (Isan)
A local form of เฮือนhuean. Central Thai: บ้านbâan or เรือนruean.
- ข่อย kàwy
I, me (Lao/Isan)
Also written ข้อยkâwy. Central Thai: ผมpǒm or ฉันchǎn.
- เพิ่น pôen
he, she (Isan, respectful)
Said of an older person you respect, a parent or a monk. Central Thai: ท่านtâan.
- ห้อยไว้ hâwy wái
to hang (something) up and leave it
ห้อยhâwy = to hang, to dangle: ห้อยพระhâwy prá = to wear an amulet on a chain. Hanging clothes on a hook is แขวนkwǎen.
Slang and casual Thai
- ท่ง tông
fields, rice fields (Isan)
Central Thai: ทุ่งtûng, ทุ่งนาtûng-naa.
- ตำบักหุ่ง dtam bàk-hùng
papaya salad, som tam (Isan)
Isan บักหุ่งbàk-hùng = papaya. Central Thai: ส้มตำsôm-dtam.
- กุ้งห่าง gûng hàang
small shrimp caught in a trap (Isan)
Isan ห่างhàang = to trap, a trap: ห่างนกhàang nók = to trap birds (in Central Thai ห่างhàang means far apart).
- ฮิฟ้าวไป hí fáao bpai
(told me) to hurry over there (Isan)
ฮิhí, sung for ให้hâi (to), + Isan ฟ้าวfáao = รีบrîip, to hurry, + ไปbpai, to go. Central Thai: ให้รีบไปhâi rîip bpai.
- ฮั้ว húa
fence (Isan)
Central Thai: รั้วrúa, with r.
- ฮ่วย hûay
oh no!, oops! (Isan)
A cry when something goes wrong; Central Thai อุ๊ยúi or โอ๊ยóoi.
- ป้าลาว bpâa laao
Auntie, she (Isan)
Isan ลาวlaao = he, she, like Central แกgae; it is also the word for Lao and Laos.
- ฮู้บ่ฮู้ húu bàw húu
does (she) know or not? (Isan)
Central Thai: รู้ไม่รู้rúu mâi rúu or รู้หรือเปล่าrúu rǔue bplàao.
Grammar in this song
The song of h. Isan says h where Central Thai has r: ฮั้วhúa = รั้วrúa (fence), ฮู้húu = รู้rúu (to know), เฮาhao = เราrao (we), เฮียนhian and เฮือนhuean = เรือนruean (house). Tae Trakultor built the whole song on it, choosing words that start with h wherever he could: ฮวกhûak (tadpoles), ห่อหมกhàw-mòk, ห้อยhâwy (to hang), ฮ่วยhûay (oh no), and he even sings ให้hâi as ฮิhí. The romanization reads these words as their spelling would sound in Central Thai; real Isan tones differ, so copy the singers.
Taking things to people. Thai builds 'take to' from verbs in a row: เอาao (take) + thing + ไปbpai (go) or มาmaa (come) + ให้hâi (give) + person: เอาห่อหมกไปให้ป้าao hàw-mòk bpai hâi bpâa = take the ho mok to Auntie. For a gift that you leave for someone, use ฝากfàak: เอาขนมไปฝากยายao kà-nǒm bpai fàak yaai = to take some sweets to Grandma. ของฝากkǎwng-fàak is a present you bring back from a trip.
Who, in Isan. ข่อยkàwy = I, เฮาhao = we (often 'I'), เพิ่นpôen = he or she, with respect, and ลาวlaao = he or she, casual. Put the owner after the thing, with or without ของkǎwng: เฮียนข่อยhian kàwy = my house.
The culture behind it
The dish. หมกmòk means cooking food wrapped in banana leaves, over embers or in a steamer, and หมกฮวกmòk hûak is tadpoles mixed with herbs such as lemongrass, shallots, chillies and lemon basil, seasoned with fish sauce or ปลาร้าbplaa-ráa (fermented fish), then wrapped and cooked. The food magazine Krua.co notes that in Isan you can only find tadpoles in the rainy season, in places wet enough for frogs to spawn, and reads the song as a picture of village life, where good food is shared with the people you love. In Bangkok, ห่อหมกhàw-mòk is best known as a fish curry custard, ห่อหมกปลาhàw-mòk bplaa.
The joke. The songwriter, Tae Trakultor, sings it with Lumplern Wongsakorn (born in 1994 in Ban Kruat, Buriram), and together they tell the boy's whole bad day. Thai PBS says Tae wrote it to use as many h sounds as he could, and the Isan is so thick with village words that Thai websites publish line-by-line translations into Central Thai. The family goes out to catch tadpoles, his mother cooks and sends him off hungry to his aunt's, the dog howls, Auntie is out in the rice fields, he hangs the parcel on her fence, and on the way back his tyre goes flat, he comes off the road and wrecks his bike, and he gets soaked in a downpour (one line in the chorus jokes, crudely, about exactly how far the rain soaked him: that line is why the song is marked explicit). It ends with him wondering whether Auntie even knows the ho mok is hanging there.
Released in March 2018 by Sing Music with Grammy Gold, it was one of the year's hits: at the end of 2018, when Khon Kaen University's E-Saan Poll asked people all over Isan for the song of the year, it came second, after Jintara Poonlarp's Tao Ngoi (Krungthep Turakij). This lyric video on Lumplern's own channel shows every line in big Thai letters, good for reading along; Sing Music's music video has another 140 million views.
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