werd up!

Thai is based on the Khmer script which is similar to Sanskrit. When the language is transliterated into the Roman script, the phonetics of the words could result in different spellings, such as Chatuchak or Jatujak market. My friend pointed out that by overlapping that with the English language, this results in some interesting/vulgar uses of certain words. Intermix that with the Thai culture, where most are Buddhist and place higher value on tolerance - hence, the acceptance of ladyboys and openness of the red light district.

With that context, it becomes quite easy to turn innocent words into something that English speaking cultures would find humor in - Wat That Thong (temple), Mo Chit (transit stop), Phuket (city), Bangkok (city), Krabi (city), Asok (transit stop), etc. In addition, many Thais have 'porn' somewhere in their names. Names tend to be long since surnames are required to be unique to a family. I was told that one can distinguish old Thai families from relative recent and/or blended families based on the length of the surnames. Short ones are usually indicative of families that can trace their ancestry fairly far back, as the newer ones would have to add to the surnames to have unique family names. Depending on the context, 'porn' could mean powder, fruit, mix, or beads, to name a few.

Initially I got confused by the spellings as I got a number of recommendations from friends of shopping malls and markets to hit during my trip. For the life of me, I couldn't seem to find the transit stops or neighborhoods that they mentioned, until I realized that the spelling could vary. I finally found the Chatachuck/Jatajuk weekend market, which is a complete maze. I only knew to pay attention to how to get out because a friend had made a point of having me pay attention when I was here two years ago. Despite that, there were times that I still felt as if I was a mouse trying to find the cheese with tons of options as to which paths to take. After stalls upon stalls, I still was able to turn on my sweet tooth radar and found one of my favorite Thai desserts - sticky rice and sweet mango. Great way to end a lovely weekend trip in Bangkok.