Songkran Day

Get ready for Songkran, the Thai New Year, in this Easy Thai lesson! Celebrated every year on 13–15 April, Songkran is famous for its water festivities. Learn how to wish everyone a happy Thai New Year, then explore the items you’ll see during the celebrations, from flowery shirts and traditional Thai outfits to water guns, buckets, bowls and hoses.

Along the way, you’ll practise asking and answering whether you have something and how many you have, using the correct classifier for each item. You’ll also learn how to politely ask to put powder on someone’s face, and the verbs for scooping, splashing and spraying water.

Thai Vocabulary:
สวัสดีปีใหม่ไทย (sà-wàt-dii bpii mài thai) – Happy Thai New Year
ปืนฉีดน้ำ (bpʉʉn chìit náam) – Water gun
ขัน (khǎn) – Water bowl
ดินสอพอง (din-sɔ̌ɔ-phɔɔng) – White clay paste
ขอทาแป้งหน่อยนะคะ (khɔ̌ɔ thaa bpɛ̂ɛng nɔ̀i ná khá) – May I put some powder on you?
สาดน้ำ (sàat náam) – To splash water

Absolute Beginner Classifiers Clothes Counting Culture Festival Greetings Holiday New Year Numbers Objects Polite Requests Questions Songkran Water

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The 3 Bats

In this Easy Thai story, three male vampire bats live together in a cave and take turns flying out to find food. When the youngest bat comes back hungry and empty-handed, the young adult bat sets off, but he doesn’t return. Then the old bat flies out and is back in no time, with blood around his mouth. How did he find food so quickly? Listen to the end, then share your guess about what really happened! Thai Vocabulary: ค้างคาว (kháang-khaao) – Bat ถ้ำ (thâm) – Cave ดูดเลือด (dùut lʉ̂at) – To suck blood หิว (hǐu) – Hungry ข้า (khâa) – I / me (old-fashioned, used in folk tales) Along the way, you’ll practise counting animals with ตัว (dtuua), describing different ages, and talking about going out and coming back.

Songkran Day

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