Oh, My Dear (ออเจ้าเอย): meaning and key lines
Pete Polพีท พล
What the song is about
ออเจ้าเอยaw-jâo oei, “Oh, My Dear (Or Jao Oei)”, is a T-pop song by Pete Pol (2018). A love song from Love Destiny (2018), the Ayutthaya-era drama that had all of Thailand saying aw-jao (or jao), the old word for 'you' this song is built around. A man longs for the woman he loves and fears losing her, in the courtly Thai of a period drama. Learn the catchword, a formal way to ask a question, and everyday words like afraid, far, smile and sad.
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Song facts
- Artist
- Pete Pol
- Released
- 2018
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- B2 (upper intermediate)
- Mood
- longing, tender, old-world
- Views
- about 74M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Ch3Thailand Music (Channel 3, which aired Love Destiny)
- 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.
- ออเจ้า aw-jâoเอย oeiเคย koeiรู้ rúuหรือไม่ rǔue mâi
Oh, my dear, did you ever know…
The song's first words, sung slowly. ออเจ้าaw-jâo = you, a word from old Ayutthaya: in Love Destiny the hero calls the heroine ออเจ้าaw-jâo, and the whole country picked it up. เอยoei after a name or a "you" calls out to them, like "oh, …" in a poem; you'll hear it in old songs and rhymes. เคยkoei + verb = have ever…: เคยรู้หรือไม่koei rúu rǔue mâi = did you ever know? หรือไม่rǔue mâi at the end makes a yes/no question, the written and formal ไหมmǎi: เคยไปไหมkoei bpai mǎi = have you ever been? - กลัว gluaฉัน chǎnกลัว gluaออเจ้า aw-jâoจะ jàไกล glaiไม่ mâiเห็น hěnหน้า nâa
I fear, I fear you'll be far away, where I can't see your face.
Three lines of the chorus begin กลัวฉันกลัวglua chǎn glua, "afraid, I'm afraid", a sung way of saying ฉันกลัวchǎn glua (men sing ฉันchǎn too). กลัวglua + what might happen = to be afraid that…: กลัวฝนจะตกglua fǒn jà dtòk = I'm afraid it'll rain. ไกลglai = far. เห็นหน้าhěn nâa = to see (someone's) face, to see them: ไม่เห็นหน้านานแล้วmâi hěn nâa naan láew = I haven't seen you in ages. And the catchword again: ออเจ้าaw-jâo, you. - เพียง piangยิ้ม yímมา maaหัวใจ hǔa-jaiเบิกบาน bòek-baanคลาย klaaiทุกข์ túkเศร้า sâo
Just one smile from you, and my heart blooms and my sorrow fades.
From the last chorus. The two lines before it are about how hard it is to be apart. เพียงpiang = just, only, the written and sung แค่kâe: เพียงยิ้มมาpiang yím maa = just (you) smiling at me; มาmaa after a verb points at the speaker. เบิกบานbòek-baan = to bloom, to be joyful, of a flower or of a happy heart. คลายklaai = to loosen, to ease: คลายเครียดklaai krîat = to unwind. ทุกข์túk = suffering, a word from Buddhism, and เศร้าsâo = sad, so คลายทุกข์เศร้าklaai túk sâo = sorrow eases.
Words you'll learn
- ออเจ้า aw-jâo
you (old word, Ayutthaya era)
Said today mostly for fun, to tease or in period costume; everyday Thai uses คุณkun or, to someone close, เธอtoe.
- กลัว glua
to be afraid (of), scared
What you're afraid of comes straight after it, with no word for of: กลัวทะเลglua tá-lee (scared of the sea).
- ไกล glai
far
Mid tone: keep it flat and level.
- ยิ้ม yím
to smile
- เศร้า sâo
sad, sorrowful, gloomy
- เคย koei
have ever (done); used to
It goes before the verb: เคยไปkoei bpai have been; ไม่เคยmâi koei never.
- เบิกบาน bòek-baan
joyful, cheerful; to bloom
- คลาย klaai
to ease, to loosen
Slang and casual Thai
- เอย oei
oh … (calling to someone, in songs and poems)
Old-fashioned and poetic: in speech you just say the name. The alphabet rhyme กเอ๋ยกไก่gaw ǒei gaw gài uses its cousin เอ๋ยǒei.
Grammar in this song
Old words, new life. Period dramas use words from the past, and Love Destiny made some of them part of everyday joking. Recognise them, and use their everyday twins: ออเจ้าaw-jâo = คุณkun or เธอtoe (you), หรือไม่rǔue mâi = ไหมmǎi (asks a yes/no question), เพียงpiang = แค่kâe (only).
Afraid that…: กลัวglua + what might happen. กลัวว่าglua wâa adds "that", and the ว่าwâa is often dropped: กลัวจะสายglua jà sǎai = I'm afraid I'll be late, กลัวเขาจะโกรธglua kǎo jà gròot = I'm afraid he'll be angry. With a noun it's plain fear: กลัวหมาglua mǎa = to be afraid of dogs.
Towards me: verb + มาmaa. มาmaa (to come) after a verb says the action comes towards the speaker: ยิ้มมาyím maa = to smile at me, โทรมาtoo maa = to call (me), ส่งมาsòng maa = to send (to me). ไปbpai (to go) points the other way: ส่งไปsòng bpai = to send off, away.
The culture behind it
Love Destiny (บุพเพสันนิวาสbùp-pee-sǎn-ní-wâat, 2018), Channel 3's drama about a modern archaeologist who wakes up in 17th-century Ayutthaya in the body of the noblewoman Karaket, was a national craze; its theme song, Ice Saranyu's "Love Destiny", is in this library too. Pete Pol sings this one, words and music by Wichian Tantiphimonphan; its video came out on 8 March 2018, while the drama was on air. Pete, real name Phon Nopwichai, was the second runner-up of the singing contest The Star in 2004. He told Daradaily that Broadcast Thai, the drama's producer, asked him to sing it, and that as he recorded it he imagined the scene where the lovers sit in a boat; he hadn't been watching the drama, he said, but got hooked after the session.
ออเจ้าaw-jâo is an old word for "you", said to someone of the same rank or lower. It appears in the account of La Loubère, a French envoy at King Narai's court, and in the classic poem Khun Chang Khun Phaen, a Fine Arts Department expert explained at a seminar on the drama in 2018. In Love Destiny, Dech calls Karaket ออเจ้าaw-jâo, and soon people all over the country were calling each other ออเจ้าaw-jâo for fun, and brands put it in their ads. Broadcast Thai even posted a "word of the day" explaining the drama's old words, this one among them.
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