This article was originally posted on WomenLearnThai.com.
History of the Thai Alphabet Cartoon…
Working as an animator at Idiom Co.,Ltd., Pairach became friends with Prapaporn Gonchouratana, an administrator of the company. In one of their many chats, Prapaporn talked about a story idea she had. Problem was, she didn’t know how to make it so.
Pairach did. Taking a rough outline that included the Thai Alphabet and a chicken, Pairach used his lively sense of humour to create a script, story board and animation for the saucy video now known on YouTube as the Thai Alphabet Cartoon ( ก เอ๋ย ก ไก่ ). Later came the toned down commercial version (as a money-maker, it’s a given the commercial version can’t be posted here).
Attention: เนื้อ หา ไม่ เหมาะ สม สำหรับ เด็ก content not suitable for children.
Warning: This cartoon includes words you will hear around Thailand, but not all are used in every social setting. Some words are considered impolite under certain circumstances, but polite with close friends. If you are sensitive, please skip the cartoon.
Tips: If you find the Thai script too small to read, adjust your browser by clicking on Command + to enlarge (Mac) and Control + (PC). Using the – key in place of the + takes it back down. To find out the translation for a word or sentence, paste it into thai2english.com.
The letters in the Thai alphabet, with their corresponding transliteration and translation, are in bold…
Characters making an appearance this round: ข.ไข่ (eggs), ฃ.ฃวด (bottle), ค.ควาย (buffalo) and a ก.ไก่ (chicken).
The Thai Alphabet Cartoon begins…
Thai Alphabet Cartoon translated and transliterated…
ครอบ ครัว พ่อ ก.ไก่ กับ แม่ ก.ไก่ กำลัง มี ความ สุข 
krôp krua pôr gor gài gàp mâe gor gài gam-lang mee kwaam sòok
The father and mother of the chicken family are happy.
พวก เขา กำลัง เฝ้า รอ สมาชิก ตัว น้อยๆ 
pûak kăo gam-lang fâo ror sà-măa-chík dtua nói nói
They are waiting for their new babies…
ที่ กำลัง จะ ฝัก ออก มา จาก ข.ไข่ ทันใด นั้น 
têe gam-lang jà fàk òk maa jàak kor kài tan-dai nán…
…the eggs that are going to hatch. Suddenly…
ลูก เจี๊ยบ ตัว น้อยๆ พา กัน วิ่ง ซุกซน จน ไป ชน กับ ฃ.ฃวด 
lôok jíap dtua nói nói paa gan wîng sóok-son jon bpai chon gàp kor kuat
The naughty chicks are running around, then bump into a bottle.
(ค.ควาย) “ช่วย ระวัง กัน หน่อย สิ ครับ” 
(kor kwaai) “chûay rá-wang gan nòi si kráp”
Mr. Buffalo says, “Please all of you, be careful!”
(พ่อ ก.ไก่) “ขอโ ทษ ครับ คุณ ค.ควาย 
(pôr gor gài) “kŏr-tôht kráp koon kor kwaai
Father Chicken says, “I’m sorry Mr. Buffalo…
ตอน นี้ ครอบครัว ของ เรา เพิ่ง มี สมาชิก ตัว น้อยๆ เพิ่ม ขึ้น มา น่ะ ครับ
dton née krôp-krua kŏng rao pêrng mee sà-măa-chík dtua nói nói pêrm kêun maa ná kráp.
Baby chicks were just added to our family…
พวก เขา อาจจะ ซน ไป ซัก หน่อย
pûak kăo àat-jà son bpai sák nòi
They might misbehave…
“ถ้า ยังไง พรุ่งนี้ เช้า
tâa yang-ngai prôong-née cháo
Anyway, tomorrow morning…
ผม จะ พา พวก เด็กๆ ออก ไป เดิน รับ แสง แดด
pŏm jà paa pûak dèk dèk òk bpai dern ráp săeng dàet
…I’ll take the baby chicks out for a walk to get some sunshine…
ทันที ที่ พระ อาทิตย์ ขึ้น เลย นะ ครับ
tan-tee têe prá aa-tít kêun loie ná kráp
…right after the sun is up…
จะ ได้ ไม่ เล่น ซน รบกวน คุณ ค.ควาย อีก”
jà dâai mâi lên son róp-guan koon kor kwaai èek”
…so they won’t disturb you again, Mr Buffalo”.
(ค.ควาย) “เออ ก็ หวัง จะ เป็น อย่าง นั้น นะ พ่อ ก.ไก่” 
(kor kwaai) “er gôr wăng jà bpen yàang nán ná pôr gor gài”
Mr. Buffalo says, “Alright! I hope so, Father Chicken”.
(พ่อ ก.ไก่) “ทำไม เหรอ ครับ”
(pôr gor gài) “tam-mai rŏr kráp”
Father Chicken says, “Excuse me! What’s wrong?”
Until tomorrow, when we find out what’s wrong…
A huge thanks goes to… the talented Khun Pairach, who graciously responded to my requests for permission, information and graphics. Prapaporn and Idiom Co.,Ltd, who were instrumental in making this happen. The sweet Khun Jessi Cotterill, who helped with the translations, cut apart the sound files (bless her), and answered a scattered array of questions via email and im. My long suffering Thai teacher Khun Phairoa, who explained each and every sentence so that we could work with the nuances. Khun Niwat and Khun Belle, who painstakingly transcribed the entire cartoon. thai2english.com for their wonderful resource. And my buddy Khun Lynn, who put up with my antics throughout.
Next up is Thai Alphabet Cartoon: Part Two
Absolutely 🙂
Very very funny movie.
I love it so much.If you have new movie plase let me no.
Thank you.
Yes, and he’s such a gentleman, he won’t tell us what we just said wrong. Fair really.
So now looks like I should source out your English-Thai dictionary, just out of curiosity!
I can see how your studies would drive you bonkers and bored at the same time. The subject can be so limiting.
Well, unless history is in the mix. I’m a sucker for history. Take any subject and tie it in with what happened centuries ago and I’m interested. But modern culture on its own, I’m not so driven.
ha ha… poor Khun Niwat, being teased by 2 farang women.
I have an English-Thai-English dictionary of vulgar or rude words. Don’t get me wrong! I bought it when I had to do a paper for my translation course in my graduate school (I finished the coursework , but at the end I didn’t get the degree. I have a reason for it and I’ll share it later.) In this dictionary, almost all of them are about sexual organs or intercourse, which is kind of boring. Even some normal expressions can turn out to be vulgar, for example, “The main thing” means having sex without marriage(???) or “Get some action” means looking for sex. I know it depends on the context and the person you’re talking to. But if I say “Hey Cat, I need to find my passion and I need to get some action soon”, in what way would you understand me? (LOL)
Studying too much of this or reading too much of this kind of dictionary can turn you crazy for whatever you say you’ll think of the second meaning. It’s like a sin in your mind.
Anyway, knowing-without-using still works in this case ’cause nobody wants to be naive, I guess.
p.s. looks like words in my last comment are not in the right order…I don’t know how that happened…
“Hollywood films kids can access to have much more vulgar words.”…
I meant to say “Hollywood films have much more vulgar words kids can access.”
There’s an interesting conversation in the Learning Language forums about learning curse words in your second language (or in their case, third and fourth and…)
Knowledge of curse words.
Reading through, the consensus is that it’s important to know cuss words, even if you never intend to use them.
I don’t cuss in my day to day life (unless a hammer situation is involved). But I do know the basics of English cuss words (although I’m aware there’s a lot I don’t know… and don’t want to know)
Whenever Lynn and I are running around with Niwat, we often notice him turn bright red because we’ve taken a stab at a word and used the wrong tone, making it into a very bad word.
Until we know what they are (and our vocab improves), these situations will continue to happen. And while Niwat is kind and forgiving, others might not be.
Nah…it’s not so rude and there’s no porn in it. Hollywood films kids can access to have much more vulgar words.
There’re much more rude words in Thai, but rude words in this cartoon are in mild level that Thai people use them in real life when talking with friends. You don’t have to use them, but it’s good to know them. 🙂
Hey Amy. Yes, that’s the commercial version (which I’d love to show, but cannot). But, you can purchase it for your son. I’ve seen it and it’s so cute!
In the commercial version they have alphabet characters fly in where ever they appear, which helps youngsters (and us oldsters) to remember the alphabet.
Stay tuned for more each day as the story unfolds…
Well done, Cat! 🙂 As soon as I saw this I thought about showing it to my son, Aidan. But upon further reading, it turns out that’s not such a good idea! 🙂
I think so too. The majority went WHOOOOSHHHH! right over my head in the beginning. And thanks to your hard work, it’s live today instead of in a weeks time.
this should be a very good and fun way of learning Thai!!