I Want to Stop Time (อยากหยุดเวลา): meaning and key lines
Palmyปาล์มมี่
What the song is about
อยากหยุดเวลาyàak yùt wee-laa is a T-pop song by Palmy (2013). The love song of Pee Mak (2013), the romantic comedy that retold the old Thai ghost legend of Mae Nak: Saranya Songsermsawad's 1989 ballad, sung for the film by Palmy. A lover dreads the dawn that will part them and begs time to slow down. Its slow, clear lines teach to begin to, I want something to happen, to stop, to ask for time, and a very Thai feeling, jai haai, the heart that suddenly sinks.
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Song facts
- Artist
- Palmy (a cover of Saranya Songsermsawad's 1989 original; from the film Pee Mak)
- Released
- 2013
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- B1 (intermediate)
- Mood
- aching, tender, haunting
- Views
- about 39M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- GTHchannel (GTH, the studio that made Pee Mak)
- 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.
- ฉัน chǎnเริ่ม rôemจะ jàใจหาย jai-hǎaiเมื่อ mûeaมอง mawngฟ้า fáaไกล glai
My heart begins to sink as I look at the distant sky.
The first line, as the night ends: the next one says dawn is near and the first light is showing. เริ่มจะrôem jà + verb = to begin to. ใจหายjai-hǎai, 'the heart disappears', is the sudden sinking feeling of losing something or someone: Thais say it when a close friend moves away, a place they love closes down or the year is almost over. เมื่อmûea = when, as. มองmawng = to look, to gaze; ฟ้าไกลfáa glai = the faraway sky. - อยาก yàakให้ hâiเวลา wee-laaเดิน doenช้าๆ cháa-cháa
I want time to walk slowly.
From the chorus. อยากให้yàak hâi + someone or something + verb = to want someone to do something, or something to happen: อยากให้เธออยู่yàak hâi toe yùu = I want you to stay. In Thai, time and clocks walk: เวลาเดินwee-laa doen = time goes by, นาฬิกาเดินnaa-lí-gaa doen = the clock is running. ช้าๆcháa-cháa = slowly, nice and slow. - อยาก yàakหยุด yùtวันเวลา wan-wee-laaนี้ níiไว้ wái
I want to stop this moment and keep it.
The title line. หยุดyùt = to stop. วันเวลาwan-wee-laa, 'days and time', is time itself, the hours you live through, and นี้níi after it = this. Verb + ไว้wái = and keep it that way: หยุดไว้yùt wái = to hold it still, เก็บไว้gèp wái = to keep it, จำไว้jam wái = remember it. - ขอ kǎwเพียง piangให้ hâiเวลา wee-laaพูดจา pûut-jaaสักคำ sàk kam
All I ask is the time to say a single word.
Verse two. ขอkǎw = to ask for, and ขอเพียงkǎw piang = all I ask is (เพียงpiang = only, just, a written word). ให้เวลาhâi wee-laa = to give time: ขอเวลาคิดก่อนkǎw wee-laa kít gàwn = give me some time to think. พูดจาpûut-jaa = to speak, to talk, and often how someone talks: พูดจาดีpûut-jaa dii = to speak nicely. Palmy sings its jaa with a darker vowel, so it can sound like pûut-joe. สักคำsàk kam = a single word (สักsàk = just one, คำkam = word). She promises to remember it from this day until she dies.
Words you'll learn
- ใจหาย jai-hǎai
to feel your heart sink
At a loss or a sad goodbye: ใจหายเลยjai-hǎai loei = oh, that makes me sad.
- มอง mawng
to look (at), to gaze; to view
- เดิน doen
to walk
- ช้าๆ cháa-cháa
slowly
The mark at the end means 'say it twice': ช้าcháa ('slow') two times.
- หยุด yùt
to stop; to have a day off
Also for days off and closing days: วันนี้หยุดwan-níi yùt I'm off today.
- วันเวลา wan-wee-laa
the days, time (gone by)
- ขอ kǎw
may I have…, I'd like… (asking for something)
The polite way to ask for anything: ขอkǎw + the thing. Add หน่อยnàwy at the end to make it softer.
- พูดจา pûut-jaa
to talk, to speak (the way you say things)
- เริ่ม rôem
to start, to begin
Falling tone, with the vowel oe of เจอjoe.
- ฟ้า fáa
sky
- ไกล glai
far
Mid tone: keep it flat and level.
- เพียง piang
only, just (written)
- สักคำ sàk kam
a single word
Grammar in this song
Wanting something to happen: อยากให้yàak hâi. อยากyàak + verb = I want to (do it myself): อยากหยุดเวลาyàak yùt wee-laa. อยากให้yàak hâi + someone or something + verb = I want them to do it: อยากให้เวลาเดินช้าๆyàak hâi wee-laa doen cháa-cháa, อยากให้เธอมาyàak hâi toe maa (I want you to come).
Asking with ขอkǎw. ขอkǎw + a thing = may I have: ขอน้ำหน่อยkǎw náam nàwy (some water, please). ขอเวลาkǎw wee-laa = give me time; ขอเพียงkǎw piang… = all I ask is…
Verb + ไว้wái: and keep it. หยุดไว้yùt wái (hold it still), เก็บไว้gèp wái (keep it), จำไว้jam wái (remember it).
The culture behind it
Pee Mak (2013), directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun for the studio GTH, retells an old Thai ghost legend as a romantic comedy. In the legend of แม่นาคmâe-nâak of Phra Khanong, Nak dies giving birth while her husband Mak is away at war, and waits for him as a ghost; he comes home and lives with her, not knowing she is dead. Mario Maurer and Davika Hoorne played Mak and Nak, and the film earned more than a billion baht worldwide, the most any Thai film had ever made.
Banjong searched a long time for a song for the couple's love scenes, until the acting coach Rossukon Kongket told him to listen to this one: "อยากหยุดเวลาyàak yùt wee-laa", the hit from Saranya Songsermsawad's first album with GMM Grammy (1989), with words by the lyricist Seefah and music by Somchai Kritsanasaranee, which won her the Music Association of Thailand's award for best female singer. He played it on set during every love scene, and it made Davika cry. For the film he asked Palmy (Eve Pancharoen) to sing it, the first song she had ever covered, in a new arrangement by Vichaya Vatanasapt. The video, out on 5 March 2013, mixes the song with scenes from the film. In its last one Nak, already a ghost, asks Mak whether he could go on living if she died, and they talk like a Bangkok couple of today: ตัวเองdtua-eeng for 'you' and เขาkǎo (said káo) for 'I'.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones