[catarleriarly]

Sawatdee Khrab All.

I was wondering what do Thai people call older people who are not related to them?

For example, filipinos, which I am, call their non-related elders by "auntie" or "uncle" even if they are not really their aunt OR uncle.

Basically, I have a Thai friend. What do I address her mother and father by?

khaawp khoon khrap na khwaam gaao naa! (was that right? )

[Snitiendumurn]

I think it depends on how well you know them. Often, other people's parents are also referred to as mother - mae (áÁè) and father - paw (¾èÍ). I think if it is a more formal relationship you might add a polite prefix of Khun (...¤Ø³áÁè....¤Ø³¾èÍ)
If the adult is not in a parental relationship, you can refer to them as being an elder with the simple word pee (¾Õè)

Sorry if my transliterations aren't very clear.

[Tjfyojlg]

What you call them depends on your age and the difference between their age and the age of your parents. It is not uncommon for people to refer to older people as "uncle" and "aunt". Teachers at my school do it all the time for older teachers. For someone a little bit older you might just call them "pee". For all these examples you should add their first name at the end. For my friend's grandmother, I call her "khun yai". I think the best thing for you to do is to ask your friend.

[Knillagrarp]

My wife's siblings call me por nai (honorable father?) and other younger friends and relatives call me loong (uncle). I call my wife's mother mae (mom) and her grandmother yai. It gets confusing, but clears up as you use things and get corrected. I used to try to speak Thai to my stepson and he asked my wife why I was speaking so formally (i.e., lots of khuns and khrups, etc.)

[Peretool]

I have a close male Thai friend who has a young son, and that boy calls me "Pha Marie", meaning, "Aunt Marie from the father's side" ( and I am older than the father). I understand it will be another term if I am an aunt from the mother side, and it also matters if I am younger or older than the mother. ( I have forgotten the term, though. Can somebody please refresh my memory?)

[Caursedus]

My former Thai Girlfriends father, called me Son, and my former Thai Girlfriend, called her cousin, her sister, because they were very close. I just called every one by there name.

[Peretool]

DnaliathBackwards

I have just been reminded by a Thai friend: For aunt "the term is "Pha or paa", when you're older than the parents. And "naa" when you're younger. It doesn't matter which side you're related to.

[Peretool]

DnaliathBackwards,
Sorry to give you this info on installment basis. Haha But I forgot about the term "uncle", which you were also asking about. Ok, to recapitulate:

You may call someone Paa (AUNT)- if she is older than your parents
Naa -if she is younger than your parents
Luk (UNCLE)-if he is older than your parents
Ahh -if he is younger than your parents

I know in Filipino language the honorary titles "Tito" and "Tita" can be used loosely for that purpose regardless of ages. But I suppose you could also do the same for the Thai aunt and uncle titles. I do not want to imagine anyone having to interview the aunt and uncle conerned about their exact ages for the intention of using the appropriate title. Haha!

[Soassesaisp]

Most of the time, calling someone by an 'elder' title because of age in Thailand is the normality, but there are irregularities.

A women working, as say as a 'production supervisor' in a factory is only 28 years old, her sub-ordinates are slightly older. It is normal however for her sub-ordinates to call her 'pee' as in elder even though she is younger.

Calling someone 'pee' even though they are younger than you is a respect of hierarchy in regards to working positions.

When on talking to a monk too, it is normal when speaking to a monk who is around the same age or younger for you too call him 'Luang Pee'.

[RokeIdeadioke]

There have been times when I have been glad to hear ''Hey You!''

Never felt the need to use it................yet!

[trilochana.nejman]

i believe the addressing of every member is very important.. and it's freaking me out to learn them all..

is there a "standard" name to call every single "ranking"? or different families have different names to call their elders?

[DownloadMan]

believe the addressing of every member is very important.. and it's freaking me out to learn them all I call em all either Bro or Dude, seems to work alright.

But due to the fact that I have no "Elders" I just treat everyone with respect and show all the same consideration that I expect and it just works so well for me..

[Caursedus]

Well In Australia, you usually call your father, "The Old Man" I suppose saying that in Thailand would be a form of respect, the way Thai's put old people on a pedestal, something that has been lost in the west.

[trilochana.nejman]

interesting. do thais address their elders like what is mentioned in the previous post??

[Tjfyojlg]

"Hey you" is of course the Thai polite phrase for attracting someone's attention that you don't have a "relationship" with. In Thai it is "khun" which is used before names and also job positions and also means "you". So, to Mr. Somchai you will say "Khun Somchai" which is polite and formal. To Mrs. Malee you would say "Khun Malee". For someone you don't know you can say "khun khun" which is polite but when translated into English ("you, you") it doesn't quite come out the same.