Name changing
 

I have just read Richard's latest blog,in it he tells us that Nattawud has changed his name to Phanrit.
Changing ones name in Thailand seems to be quite common,my sister in law changed her name after a Monk told her it would bring her good luck.
A few weeks ago when I was last in Thailand,my wife asked"sadet mair"if her sons name was a "good" name or should he change his name to bring him good luck.She was told no,however if the answer would have been yes he would have changed his name.

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Hi Mat.

Talking about names. When I was in Samui I think every Thai I met and spent any time with had a nickname which was used in place of their real name. Is this standard for Thai's or was it just the group I met on Samui?

Thanks

Most of the Thai people I know use nicknames (don't use their legal names). It's pretty common -- I think. There's a post somewhere that gives several reasons why.

I didn't know that Thais like to changed their names to bring them good luck (and more than once). Learn something new on this forum everyday.

BTW, it's great having this forum!!!
http://www.thailandguidebook.com/iB_...cons/smile.gif

Yes most Thai people have either a nickname or people will call them by a shorter version of their full name,eg my brother in law is called Chalor and is often called Lor.The same happens to English names eg Michael is shortened to Mike.

Most Thais have a nickname.
This comes about cause unlike in English where we use the pronouns to the likes of: I, you, he, she etc... in spoken Thai the pronoun is often replaced by the nickname ie. "steve will go to see noi tomorrow". you will notice that 'most' nicknames have only one syllable thus making the job a lot easier. Just as in Mat instead of the drudged out version of Matthew.

Well I changed my name, as I did not like my original name, That was just my choice.

I still have my same nickname. I have only changed my official name to Panrit. It is taking a little to get used to it. I had to sign something today and without thinking I signed it "Nattawud"! Actually, I will be changing my title too soon. At the moment I am Nai Phanrit Daoruang. This means Mr. Nattawud. But I will be doing something soon that will change that. I think Richard will write about thisnews in the blogs soon.

Actually, we are not too sure how to spell my new name in English. Offocially it should be "ph". But sometimes people don't use the "h". Like Pantip Plaza and not Phantip Plaza.

What do you think? - Phanrit or Panrit?

For people from the UK when a word that starts with Ph it is pronounced as an F.An example of this is the name "Philip",which we pronounce "Filip",another example is"Photograph",which is pronounced "fotograph".Many people in the UK laugh at the spelling of "Phuket" because when pronounced with an F it becomes an English swear word.
From an English persons point of view Panrit would be closer and less confusing as it would be pronounced with a P instead of an F.

Personally there Gor, i prefer 'Phanrit' as that is the traditional transliteration.

As Mat pointed out though since you are a bit of an international name you could try the more modern version of 'Panrit'.
Over the years Phattaya has changed to Pattaya and Khorat to Korat etc... just to make it easier for the foreigners to read it but the likes of Phuket to Puket and Thailand to Tailand! well perpas they will never be changed.

Go for Panrit i'd say, it suits your international readers better, Phanrit reads a bit like ones dad's name.

I'm wondering, whether Gor has to change all his official papers (i.e. birth certificate, passport, certificates - school, ownership of property/vehicle, etc.) to his new name? And if yes, would that not be too much trouble for him when he need to applying visa/entering a foreign country which has been visited using his old name.

I prefer to spell a word in English the way it frenetically sounds, So I think you should write your name as Panrit.

Yes, i have to change all my official papers and everything else. it's a bit annoying actually but i think it works out for the best. who knows? i might happen to be a millionaire over night:p

and about the visa applying thing, i don't think it's that big of deal. I am pretty sure that I just need to give them the name-changing document (of course from the government) and it shouldn't be a problem. http://www.thailandguidebook.com/iB_...ns/biggrin.gif

by the way, i decided to go for "Panrit" as i kind of like it better than the other one.

Ok. If that is how you like it, its your choice. Phanrit! http://www.thailandguidebook.com/iB_...ns/biggrin.gif

I have a question, if a name has the power of effecting good/bad luck to a person, does it also apply to nickname? Because most of the time in the daily life, people are more calling/using their nicknames compare to the real name.

Maybe he has. Unless you know him personally, you probably won't know what he has been doing for the past 8 months since he stopped writing the Gor's World column.

BTW, he has chosen to spell his name Panrit as you can see from his username.

Yes. It is Panrit!

It seems like Phanrit should have changed his behavior along with his name. Making merit and good luck, go along with doing good deeds. I realize in Thailand there are only Thai ways, so I will reserve the rest of my comment and wish him good sense for the New Year! http://www.thailandguidebook.com/iB_...s/banghead.gif