Confusing Thai Time-Counting Method: Why "2" Means 8 PM in Thailand
If you’ve ever had a conversation with a Thai person, you might have encountered our unique way of telling time.
For example, we might say, "Let’s get dinner at 2!" leaving you confused for a moment until we realise our mistake and say, "Oh, I meant 8 PM." Even if a Thai person speaks fluent English, growing up in a Thai household means this slip-up happens all the time.
This happens because Thai people have a completely different time-counting method in spoken language. We do use the standard 24-hour clock, but typically only for formal situations like news broadcasts or official documents. For instance, for 1:00 PM (13:00), a news anchor would say "Sip-sam na-ri-ka" (na-ri-ka meaning "o'clock").
In everyday conversation, however, we basically count from 1 to 6. We divide the day into four distinct blocks using words based on the sounds of traditional instruments: Mong, Baai, Toom, and Tee. Back before modern clocks, watchmen told time by striking different instruments for each part of the day to announce the hour to the town.
The Morning: The "Mong" or “Mong-Chao” Cycle
From 7 AM to 11 AM, the watchmen would strike a giant gong 1 to 5 times. The echoing ring sounded like "mong," which became our daytime unit of time.
Historically, a new cycle starts at 7 AM, making it Nueng-Mong (1 Mong). 8 AM becomes Song-Mong (2 Mong), and so on until 11 AM (Haa-Mong). We sometimes add Chao (morning) at the end to clarify that it's the morning.
At 12 PM (noon), we simply say Tieng-Wan. Tieng means "straight" (because the clock hands point straight up) and Wan means "daytime."
A quick note on modern usage: Today, many Thais have modernised this old-school system. While the traditional 1-to-5 morning cycle is still used by the elderly or in rural areas, you can also just read the number on the clock face. For instance, for 8 AM, you can simply say Paet-Mong-Chao (literally "8 in the morning")
The Afternoon: The "Baai" & "Mong-Yen" Cycle
The afternoon is pretty straightforward, as it generally follows the numbers on the clock face. We use the word Baai, meaning the sun has declined, in front of the numbers from 1 PM to 3 PM (e.g., Baai-Mong for 1 PM, Baai-Song for 2 PM).
For the late afternoon (4 PM to 6 PM), we switch back to Mong but add Yen (evening) to indicate the time of day. For example, 5 PM is Haa-Mong-Yen. Similar to the morning, 6 PM used to be referred to simply as dusk or sundown (Roong-Saang), but today it is modernised as Hok-Mong-Yen (6 Mong Evening).
The Night: The "Toom" Cycle
The night cycle is usually the most confusing for foreigners because it is still heavily used in daily life (unlike the morning Mong, which has modern alternatives). When the sun went down, the watchmen switched instruments. They beat a large drum that made a deep "toom" sound.
The cycle restarts at 7 PM as 1. Therefore, 7 PM is Nueng-Toom (1 Toom), 8 PM is Song-Toom (2 Toom), up until 11 PM (Haa-Toom). For midnight, we say Tieng-Kuen (Tieng meaning straight, and Kuen meaning nighttime).
The after midnight: The "Tee" Cycle
Finally, from 1 AM to 5 AM, the method changed again. Unlike Mong and Toom, which mimic the sounds of the instruments, the word Tee (ตี) literally translates to "strike" or "hit" in Thai. During these quiet, late-night hours, watchmen would strike a metal plate or a wooden block to announce the time. So, 1 AM is Tee-Nueng (strike one), 2 AM is Tee-Song (strike two), and so on until 5 AM (Tee-Haa). For 6 AM, we used to refer to it in the past as Tee-Hok (strike six) or Rung-Chao (daybreak), but these days we just call it Hok-Mong-Chao (6 Mong Morning).
