Mahalai Wua Chon (มหาลัยวัวชน): meaning and key lines
Phatthalung Bandวงพัทลุง
What the song is about
มหาลัยวัวชนmá-hǎa-lai wua-chon, “Mahalai Wua Chon (Bullfighting University)”, is a Thai rock song by Phatthalung Band (2014). A shy country boy who raises fighting bulls loves a girl but never dares to tell her: the only university he ever went to is raising fighting bulls. Village teenagers from Phatthalung sang it in Southern Thai, it went from their village to the whole country, and Thailand's school television uses it to teach the Southern dialect. Its lines teach everyday Southern words: how, when, to look, secretly, shy and 'all'.
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Song facts
- Artist
- Phatthalung Band
- Released
- 2014
- Style
- Thai rock
- Level
- B2 (upper intermediate)
- Mood
- shy, sweet, down-to-earth
- Views
- about 304M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Spacebar Studio Official (the studio that made the video)
- 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.
- ไม่ mâiรู้ rúuอิ ìทำ tamพรือ pruueได้ dâiแค่ kâeหยบ yòpแล lae
I don't know what to do; all I can do is watch you in secret.
Southern Thai → Central: อิì = จะjà, will; ทำพรือtam pruue = ทำอย่างไรtam yàang-rai, how to do it, what to do; หยบyòp = แอบàep, secretly; and แลlae = ดูduu or มองmawng, to look. In Central Thai the line is ไม่รู้จะทำอย่างไรได้แค่แอบมองmâi rúu jà tam yàang-rai dâi kâe àep mawng. ได้แค่dâi kâe + verb = can only…, all I can do is… Southern speech changes some sounds too: ไม่mâi is often said หม้ายmâai, with a long vowel, and รู้rúu is said โร้róo, as you'll hear in the next line. - ไม่ mâiรู้ rúuตอใด dtaw-daiได้ dâiบอก bàwkให้ hâiฟัง fang
I don't know when I'll ever get to tell you…
He sings รู้rúu the Southern way here, โร้róo, as DLTV's worksheet spells it. Southern ตอใดdtaw-dai = Central เมื่อไหร่mûea-rài, when. ได้dâi before a verb = to get to, to get the chance to: ได้ไปdâi bpai = to get to go. บอกให้ฟังbàwk hâi fang, literally 'tell so that (you) hear', is a warm way to say 'to tell you'. What he wants to tell her comes in the next line. - มหาลัย má-hǎa-laiวัวชน wua-chon
Bullfighting University.
The title. มหาลัยmá-hǎa-lai is the everyday short form of มหาวิทยาลัยmá-hǎa-wít-tá-yaa-lai, university. วัวชนwua-chon = a fighting bull: วัวwua (cattle) + ชนchon (to butt, to crash into). Just before this, he compares himself with students: he never went to university, and raising bulls is his education. - ตื่น dtùuenเช้า cháaoเดิน doenตาม dtaamยาว yaaoหนน nǒnจูง juungวัวชน wua-chonคน konกับ gàpวัว wua
Up early, I walk along the road leading my fighting bull: a man and his bull.
ตื่นเช้าdtùuen cháao = to get up early. เดินตามdoen dtaam + place = to walk along; ตามยาวdtaam yaao adds 'all along its length'. Southern หนนnǒn = Central ถนนtà-nǒn, road: the South often drops the first syllable of a two-syllable word. จูงjuung = to lead by the hand or on a rope: จูงมือjuung muue = to lead someone by the hand. คนกับวัวkon gàp wua = a man and his bull, literally 'person and cow'. - ทำ tamพี่ pîiบัดสี bàt-sǐiก้มหน้า gôm-nâaเร็ว rewไว wai
It makes me so shy I look down at once.
Every time she looks his way, this happens. ทำtam + person + feeling = to make someone feel…: ทำพี่บัดสีtam pîi bàt-sǐi = it makes me shy. He calls himself พี่pîi, older brother, as a man does to a younger woman he likes. Careful with บัดสีbàt-sǐi: in the South it means shy, embarrassed, but in Central Thai it means shameful, disgraceful. ก้มหน้าgôm-nâa = to look down, to bow your head, and เร็วไวrew wai = quick and fast, at once. - สากลัว sǎa gluaเธอ toeไม่ mâiสนใจ sǒn-jai
I'm scared you won't be interested.
Southern สาsǎa means to feel, so สากลัวsǎa glua = to feel scared, to be afraid (กลัวglua = to be afraid). สนใจsǒn-jai = to be interested (in): สนใจไหมsǒn-jai mǎi = are you interested? He has just called himself a plain country kid who raises cattle, and fears she'll prefer a boy from town. - พอ pawรู้ตัว rúu-dtuaก็ gâwรัก rákเธอ toeเหม็ด mètใจ jai
By the time I knew it, I loved you with all my heart.
พอpaw … ก็gâw … = as soon as …, (then) …; by the time …: พอถึงบ้านก็หลับpaw tǔeng bâan gâw làp = as soon as I got home I fell asleep. รู้ตัวrúu-dtua = to realise, to notice what is happening to you. Southern เหม็ดmèt = Central หมดmòt, all, completely, so รักเธอเหม็ดใจrák toe mèt jai = รักเธอหมดใจrák toe mòt jai, to love you with all my heart.
Words you'll learn
- แล lae
to look, to watch (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: ดูduu or มองmawng. หยบแลyòp lae = to watch someone secretly.
- พรือ pruue
how; what (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: อย่างไรyàang-rai. ว่าพรือwâa pruue = what do you say, what's up?, and ทำพรือtam pruue = what to do, how.
- ตอใด dtaw-dai
when (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: เมื่อไหร่mûea-rài.
- วัวชน wua-chon
fighting bull
From วัวwua (cattle) and ชนchon (to butt, to crash into). Bullfighting itself is ชนวัวchon wua.
- จูง juung
to lead (by the hand or on a rope)
จูงมือjuung muue = to lead someone by the hand; จูงหมาjuung mǎa = to walk a dog.
- ก้มหน้า gôm-nâa
to look down, to bow your head
- สนใจ sǒn-jai
to be interested (in)
- รู้ตัว rúu-dtua
to realise, to be aware (of yourself)
- อิ ì
will, going to (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: จะjà. Also spelled อีii.
- หยบ yòp
secretly, in hiding (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: แอบàep; also ลักหยบlák yòp.
- หนน nǒn
road (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: ถนนtà-nǒn.
- บัดสี bàt-sǐi
shy, embarrassed (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: อายaai or เขินkǒen. In Central Thai บัดสีbàt-sǐi means shameful, disgraceful, so use it this way only in the South.
- สากลัว sǎa glua
to feel scared, to be afraid (Southern Thai)
Southern สาsǎa = to feel, Central รู้สึกrúu-sùek; กลัวglua = to be afraid.
- เหม็ด mèt
all, completely (Southern Thai)
Central Thai: หมดmòt.
- มหาลัย má-hǎa-lai
university (everyday)
- ไว wai
quick, fast; quickly
ไวๆwai-wai = quickly! มาไวmaa wai = to come fast.
Grammar in this song
Southern Thai in a few swaps. Like Isan and Northern Thai, the Southern dialect keeps Central Thai word order and swaps some words: อิì = จะjà (will), พรือpruue = อย่างไรyàang-rai (how), ตอใดdtaw-dai = เมื่อไหร่mûea-rài (when), แลlae = ดูduu (to look), หยบyòp = แอบàep (secretly), สาsǎa = รู้สึกrúu-sùek (to feel), เหม็ดmèt = หมดmòt (all), and หวาwǎa = กว่าgwàa (than), which the chorus uses too. Many words lose their first syllable: ถนนtà-nǒn → หนนnǒn (road), ตลาดdtà-làat → หลาดlàat (market), อร่อยà-ràwy → หรอยrǎwy (delicious). The romanization reads Southern words as their spelling would sound in Central Thai; real Southern tones differ (most Southern dialects have five tones, and Nakhon Si Thammarat's has seven), so copy the singer.
As soon as: พอpaw … ก็gâw …. พอรู้ตัวก็รักเธอpaw rúu-dtua gâw rák toe = by the time I knew it, I loved you; พอฝนหยุดก็ออกไปpaw fǒn yùt gâw àwk bpai = as soon as the rain stopped, we went out. All I can do is: ได้แค่dâi kâe + verb: ได้แค่รอdâi kâe raw = all I can do is wait. To make someone feel: ทำtam + person + feeling: ทำพี่บัดสีtam pîi bàt-sǐi (it makes me shy), as in Central ทำให้tam hâi + person + feeling.
The culture behind it
The band and the song. The Phatthalung Band (วงพัทลุงwong pát-tá-lung) are six friends from one village in Phatthalung who started playing together in high school (MGR Online, 2016). Their mentor, the Southern singer O Para (Thiwakorn Kaewboonsong), had set up a little label, Para Hut Music, in a hut in a rubber plantation in Pa Bon district, wrote this song for them, as he wrote all their songs, and named the band after their home province, which they call the birthplace of the South's shadow puppetry and nora dance drama. They borrowed money from their parents to record it, and the bulls in the video belonged to neighbours. The video went up in January 2014, and the song is on their album Siang Phleng Chak Suan Yang ('Songs from the Rubber Plantation'). A month later it still had fewer than a hundred thousand views and was known only around their home; in its third month it took off on Facebook and YouTube, and from there it spread across the South and the whole country (MGR Online, 2016). A film named after the song began shooting in 2016.
Bullfighting in the South. Southern Thai bullfighting, ชนวัวchon wua, has no matador: two bulls are let into a ring and push head to head with their horns, and the one that turns away and won't fight on loses (Prince of Songkla University's Southern Thailand database). It is legal with a licence: under the 1935 Gambling Act, a provincial governor can license an arena, which in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Phatthalung may hold one fight day a month, and fans bet on the bulls (Bangkok Biz News, February 2023). Raising a fighting bull means walking it every morning and cutting grass for it, the life the song describes.
Southern Thai (ภาษาใต้paa-sǎa dtâi) is spoken by about five million people, from the south of Prachuap Khiri Khan down to the Malaysian border (Wikipedia). In a Grade 9 Thai worksheet from DLTV, Thailand's school-television foundation, students list the Southern words of this song and work out what they mean. The chorus compares the singer with the town boys of Hat Yai, the South's big commercial city.
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