Culture shock! American PhD explains how to swear in Thai

It could be the grey-ponytailed professor’s poker-faced delivery that’s caught so many people’s fancy, of course, but more likely it’s the way he can swear like a truck driver in Thai. Howe begins, as farang are wont to do, by mentioning that Thais are very nice and friendly. “I didn’t get cursed for the first two years I was there.”

But the “first time” came soon enough: “I was running late and couldn’t get a taxi,” so he jumped in front of a Thai man who was also looking for a cab. “This guy knew what I was doing. He came up to me and said, ‘Your father died!’ I was stunned and asked him, ‘How do you know?’” Howe eventually learned the depth of respect that Thais have for their parents (“We didn’t have that in America”), so declaring that someone’s father is dead is certainly no cursory curse.

While teaching at a Bangkok school, Howe also discovered that kids rattle classmates by addressing them by their parents’ names. But it was the Thai equivalent to that most English of English words, f**k, that really caught his attention. Its convenience and the many creative ways of using it amazed him. “You can f**k anything, including a duck, a monitor lizard, an alligator and even a mortar!” (As in mortar and pestle.)

Howe ends the video with a plug for Episode 2, about a Thai ghost, and a book titled “New York First Time” being released at the upcoming National Book Fair. “It’s written by Ben Thanachart, the motherf**cker who made this video,” he says.

 

 

Hong Kong abducts our Poy

Fans of Miss Tiffany’s Universe/Miss International Queen Treechada “Poy” Petcharat have a little wait ahead before they see her on TV in Thailand again now that Hong Kong’s Universal Artist Management is handling the bookings for Asia’s top transgender entertainer. Poy signed a five-year contract with the agency three months ago and already has two feature films lined up, one to be shot on the mainland and the other in Hong Kong itself. 

With movies and their potentially mammoth audience lined up, Poy probably didn’t dither long over an offer to star in a Thai TV series. “It’s a pity I had to turn down the offer to appear in ‘Chai Mai Jing, Ying Tae’,” she says. The title of the series translates to something like “Not a real man but a real woman”. “I loved the script but I |couldn’t squeeze it into my schedule.”

Poy’s contract with Universal dictates at least two films a year and a string of public appearances, so it all sounds quite promising. “I have a lead role in the Hong Kong movie. It’s a big challenge and I need to take extra acting classes,” she says. Add to that the fact that she has a fan club in Hong Kong whose members interact with her like she’s a natural-born woman rather than transgender. 

Working hard and committed to more of it, Poy has rewarded herself by buying a sports car that’s she’s “identified” only by the letter “P”. We’re guessing it’s a Porsche but, regardless, she’s smart to take the credit for the purchase before someone cooks up a rumour about a rich guy buying her gifts.