The Duck Song (เป็ด ก้าบ ก้าบ ก้าบ): meaning and key lines
Unknown author
What the song is about
เป็ด ก้าบ ก้าบ ก้าบbpèt gâap gâap gâap, “The Duck Song (Quack Quack Quack)”, is a Thai children's song by an unknown author. A kindergarten classic that Thai parents sang as kids and now sing to their own: a duck takes a bath in the canal and keeps an eye out for its lunch. Its key lines are pure A1 Thai, with the duck and its quack, taking a bath, a canal and a ditch, and this one video has over half a billion views.
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Song facts
- Words
- Unknown author (sung here by Nong Namo Kids' Songs)
- Style
- Children's song
- Level
- A1 (beginner)
- Mood
- playful, sing-along
- Views
- about 539M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- Nong Namo Kids' Songs (verified kids' 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.
- ก๊าบ gáapก๊าบ gáapก๊าบ gáapเป็ด bpètอาบน้ำ àap-náamใน naiคลอง klawng
Quack, quack, quack! The duck takes a bath in the canal.
เป็ดbpèt = duck. อาบน้ำàap-náam = to take a bath or a shower (อาบàap = to bathe, น้ำnáam = water). ในnai = in, and คลองklawng = a canal: Bangkok was once crossed by so many canals that it was called the Venice of the East. The quack is spelled two ways: the dictionary writes ก้าบgâap, with a falling tone, as in the title, but people say it high, as the channel's own lyrics write it: ก๊าบgáap. - ก๊าบ gáapก๊าบ gáapก๊าบ gáapเป็ด bpètอาบน้ำ àap-náamใน naiคู kuu
Quack, quack, quack! The duck takes a bath in the ditch.
The second verse starts the same way and moves the duck from the canal to a ditch: คูkuu = a ditch, a moat. Chiang Mai's old city is ringed by one, the คูเมืองkuu-mueang, the city moat. Mind the tone: with a falling tone, คู่kûu means a pair or a couple. Children's songs teach this way, with the same words again and one new one.
Words you'll learn
- เป็ด bpèt
duck
- คลอง klawng
canal
- คู kuu
ditch, moat
- อาบน้ำ àap-náam
to shower, to take a bath
In the heat most Thais shower twice a day, morning and evening.
- ใน nai
in, inside
- ก๊าบ gáap
quack (a duck's call)
Grammar in this song
ในnai = in. Thai puts the place after the action, with ในnai before it: เป็ดอาบน้ำในคลองbpèt àap-náam nai klawng (the duck takes a bath in the canal), ปลาอยู่ในน้ำbplaa yùu nai náam (the fish is in the water).
Words built with น้ำnáam, water. อาบน้ำàap-náam (to bathe: bathe + water), ห้องน้ำhâwng-náam (bathroom, toilet: room + water), น้ำแข็งnáam-kǎeng (ice: hard water).
Animal sounds. Thai spells them with tone marks, and children learn them in songs like this one: a duck says ก๊าบgáap, a cat เหมียวmǐaw, a frog อ๊บóp, and a dog barks โฮ่งhôong.
The culture behind it
This is a kindergarten favourite, sung with actions, and one of those children's songs that parents who sang it as kids now sing to their own. Who wrote it isn't known. The whole song is just two short verses: the duck bathes in a canal, then in a ditch, and its eyes stay on the shellfish, fish and crabs in the water, its lunch. Kids' channels have since made many new versions, with dances and extra verses.
The song paints a scene of the central plains: canals, คลองklawng, ducks and fish. Bangkok grew up on canals, which carried boats, markets and daily life, and some still run through the city today, with long-tail boats and floating markets on the outskirts.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones