Golf, Moo and Boss: Thailand's Two-Name System — Epoche B1
Golf, Moo and Boss: Thailand's everyday names Ask a Thai colleague her name and you will get the short answer: Nok, or Ploy, or Beer. The name on her identity card may be Chayanisa Thongsuwan, and colleagues who have sat beside her for years may never once have used it. In Thailand nearly everyone carries two names: a long formal name for documents, school registers and the bank, and a nickname of one or two syllables, given in the first days of life, that does all the daily work. The nicknames fall into three rough families. The old protective kind. Moo means pig, Lek means little, Daeng means red. A plain, homely name was supposed to keep jealous spirits from taking an interest in a new baby, and grandparents still choose names like these. The pleasant kind. Nok is a bird, Ploy is a gem, Fon is the rain. No magic here; the word is simply light, and easy to call across a room. The imported kind. Golf, Beer, Bank, Boss and even Benz are now common. These are foreign words chosen for their shine — and for what a family hoped a life would hold. The formal name, meanwhile, is long for a reason. Surnames only came to Thailand by law in 1913, and a new surname could not copy one already registered, so families built long, unique constructions from Pali and Sanskrit parts. I once asked a Thai friend which of her two names felt like her own, and she looked at me as if the question made no sense. When someone in Bangkok says, "Call me Golf," that is not informality for the visitor's benefit. Golf is the working name. The one on the passport is for the government. References Lonely Planet (2018). Southeast Asia on a shoestring. Lonely Planet Publications.