The Striped Spider (แมงมุมลายตัวนั้น): meaning and key lines
Unknown author
What the song is about
แมงมุมลายตัวนั้นmaeng-mum laai dtua nán, “The Striped Spider (Itsy Bitsy Spider in Thai)”, is a Thai children's song by an unknown author. Thailand's own Itsy Bitsy Spider, sung in kindergartens for generations: a striped spider is washed off the roof by the rain and, once the sun has dried everything up, climbs straight back up. Its slow, simple lines teach a spider, stripes, the counting word for animals, one day, the rain and the roof, and Thai children sing it with hand actions.
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Song facts
- Words
- Unknown author (sung here by KidsMeSong)
- Style
- Children's song
- Level
- A1 (beginner)
- Mood
- playful, sing-along
- Views
- about 15M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- KidsMeSong (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.
- แมงมุม maeng-mumลาย laaiตัว dtuaนั้น nán
That striped spider…
แมงมุมmaeng-mum = spider, and ลายlaai = stripes, a pattern: แมงมุมลายmaeng-mum laai = a striped spider, with the describing word after the noun, as always in Thai. ตัวdtua is the counting word for animals, and Thai says 'that' with it: แมงมุมตัวนั้นmaeng-mum dtua nán = that spider, หมาตัวนี้mǎa dtua níi = this dog. The rest of the line is about the singer watching it. - วัน wanหนึ่ง nùengมัน manถูกฝน tùuk fǒnไหล lǎiลง longจาก jàakบน bonหลังคา lǎng-kaa
One day it got caught in the rain and was washed down off the roof.
วันหนึ่งwan nùeng = one day, the way stories start (in speech, วันนึงwan nueng). มันman = it, for animals and things. ถูกฝนtùuk fǒn = to get caught in the rain (ฝนfǒn = rain); in everyday talk, โดนฝนdoon fǒn. ไหลlǎi = to flow, to be carried along by water, so ไหลลงlǎi long = to be washed down. จากบนหลังคาjàak bon lǎng-kaa = from up on the roof: จากjàak = from, บนbon = on, หลังคาlǎng-kaa = roof.
Words you'll learn
- แมงมุม maeng-mum
spider
- หลังคา lǎng-kaa
roof
- ลาย laai
pattern, design; stripes
เสื้อลายsûea laai = a patterned shirt; ม้าลายmáa laai, a 'striped horse', is a zebra.
- ถูกฝน tùuk fǒn
to get caught in the rain
Everyday Thai also says โดนฝนdoon fǒn: ระวังโดนฝนnárá-wang doon fǒn ná = mind you don't get caught in the rain.
- ไหล lǎi
to flow, to run (water, tears)
- ตัว dtua
counting word for animals, clothes, tables and chairs
Literally 'body'. Mid tone: ตั๋วdtǔa (ticket) rises.
- ลง long
to go down; to get off, to get out (of a vehicle)
- บน bon
on; up on, upstairs
- จาก jàak
from
You know it from มาจากmaa jàak (to come from). จากjàak A ถึงtǔeng B is 'from A to B'.
- วัน wan
day
- นั้น nán
that (after a noun or classifier)
High tone, after a noun: ร้านนั้นráan nán that shop. Falling นั่นnân stands alone: นั่นอะไรnân à-rai What's that?
Grammar in this song
This one, that one: noun + counting word + นี้níi or นั้นnán. Thai puts 'this' and 'that' after a counting word: แมงมุมตัวนั้นmaeng-mum dtua nán (that spider), แมวตัวนี้maew dtua níi (this cat), บ้านหลังนั้นbâan lǎng nán (that house). A describing word goes straight after the noun, before the counting word: แมงมุมลายตัวนั้นmaeng-mum laai dtua nán = that striped spider.
Up and down, from and on. ลงlong = down and ขึ้นkûen = up, after a verb of moving: ไหลลงlǎi long (to wash down), เดินขึ้นdoen kûen (to walk up). จากjàak = from and บนbon = on, and together จากบนjàak bon = from on top of: ตกจากบนโต๊ะdtòk jàak bon dtó = to fall off the table.
The culture behind it
Itsy Bitsy, the Thai way. This is a Thai version of the English nursery rhyme 'Itsy Bitsy Spider', whose words go back to at least 1910. Nobody knows who wrote the Thai words; Thai Wikipedia says kindergarten teachers were already teaching it in the mid-1970s. The story is the same: rain washes the spider down, the sun comes out and dries it all up, and it climbs right back. Thai children sing it with hand actions too: when a researcher asked 91 music teachers from 76 provinces which children's songs are best known and which are sung with actions, only two songs came up in both answers, this one and Chang (Journal of Education Studies, Chulalongkorn University).
Thai words vary from singer to singer: in KidsMeSong's version the spider climbs up to the sky, ฟ้าfáa, where many people sing up the wall, ฝาfǎa, which sounds almost the same. KidsMeSong, a verified channel with over seven million subscribers, is one of Thailand's biggest children's channels; it also has our Thai alphabet song.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
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