Learning How to Say The UK in Thai
How does one say The UK in Thai? I am 71 and have been travelling abroad since I was 14. The first foreign soil I walked on was in Helsinki followed by Leningrad a day later in 1968.
Throughout my travels, people have asked me where I am from, and I always corrected them if they guessed England. Often even after saying ‘Wales’, they would reply ‘England’?
I am Welsh, and proud of it. I bear no ill will to any nation not even the English, but I simply am a Welshman, not an Englishman, Scotsman or Irishman, although the Welsh, Scots and Irish (and Cornish) are related as Celts, whereas most English are Anglo-Saxons or of Germanic descent..
As a point of interest, in those days, the only country whose people had heard of Wales on a grand scale was Russia. People often replied earnestly that they knew of our struggle against the rich English coalmine owners who exploited us, which they did – like it or not. They also did the same to the miners among their own people.
UK in Thailand
So, now, 50 years on, and I live in Thailand, and people are just as curious about where I come from. As usual, I reply ‘Wales’. Usually, they reply Ankit. Because of previous experience and my inability to speak Thai, I assumed for my first 15 years here that Ankit meant England, so I would say, ‘No, no, Wales’. After all those years, it ‘suddenly’ dawned on me that Ankit means UK in Thai – An (or UN) – Kit !
You might be able to imagine how embarrassed I am that I made such a fuss about this minor distinction for so long. I am a linguist after all!
I would never have done it consciously.