MRTA Notice, Part 1

 

For today's lesson, I'm going to look at a sign I spotted in the motorcycle parking area at Ladprao MRT station. Since this is a relatively large block of text, I'll first translate each sentence including the transliterated words for your information.

ประกาศ

bpra-gaat

Notice

รฟม. จัดพื้นที่บริเวณนี้ไว้เป็นที่จอดรถสำหรับ รถจักรยานยนต์

raw-faw-maw jat peeun-tii bo-ri-ween nii waai bpen tii-jawt-rot sam-rap / rot-jak-gra-yaan-yon

The MRTA has set aside this area as a parking lot for motorcycles

เพื่ออำนวยความสะดวกในการเข้าใช้บริการระบบรถไฟ้ฟ้า มิได้

peeua am-nuuay-kwaam-sa-duuak naai gaan-kao chaai bo-ri-gaan ra-bop rot-faai-faa / mi-daai

to improve convenience in using our railway system. It is not

ให้บริการรับฝากรถจัดรยานยบต์หรือทรัพย์สินใดๆ ดังนั้นขอให้

haai bo-ri-gaan rap-faak rot-jak-gra-yaan-yon reeu sap-sin daai-daai / dang-nan kaw-hai

for depositing motorcycles or any other property. Therefore, we would like to ask

ผู้ใช้บริการทุกท่านล๊อครถจักรยานยนต์ของท่านให้เรียบร้อย หาก

puu-chaai bo-ri-gaan tuk taan lok rot-jak-gra-yaan-yon kawng taan haai riiap-rooi / haak

all customers to lock their motorcycles in the proper manner. If

เกิดการสูญหายหรือได้รับความเสียหาย รฟม. จะไม่รับผิดชอบใดๆ

geert gaan-suun-haai reeu daai-rap kwaam-siia-haai / raw-faw-maw ja maai rap-pit-chawp daai-daai

you experience losses or damages, the MRTA will not take any responsibility

ทั้งสิ้น

tang-sin

whatsoever.

การรถไฟฟ้าขนส่งมวลชนแห่งประเทศไทย

gaan-rot-faai-faa kon-song muuan-chon haaeng bpra-teet-taai

Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand

Vocabulary

As you can see, this is rather complicated when it comes to some of the language used. To help you, here are the definitions of the sign's more difficult words.

รฟม. (raw-faw-maw):  Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand (MRTA)
ที่จอดรถ (tii-jawt-rot): parking lot
รถจักรยานยนต์ (rot-jak-gra-yaan-yon): motorcycle
อำนวยความสะดวก (am-nuuay-kwaam-sa-duuak): to make it more convenient for
การเข้า (gaan-kao): the process of entering
ระบบ (ra-bop): system
มิได้ (mi-daai): cannot, do not, etc.
รับฝาก (rap-faak): to leave something to be picked up later
ทรัพย์สิน (sap-sin): property, assets
ใดๆ (daai-daai): anything, everything
ดังนั้น (dang-nan): therefore, as a consequence of
ท่าน (taan): you, he, she, person (classifier)
ล๊อค (lok): to lock
เรียบร้อย (riiap-rooi): completely, orderly
หาก (haak): if
สูญหาย (suun-haai): to lose
เสียหาย (siia-haai): to be damaged
รับผิดชอบ (rap-pit-chawp): to take responsibility
ทั้งสิ้น (tang-sin): completely
ขนส่ง (kon-song): to transport
มวลชน (muuan-chon): the masses
แห่ง (haaeng): of

Notes

1. รถจักรยานยนต์ is the formal word for motorcycle. When speaking though, simply say มอร์เตอร์ไซค์ (maw-dteer-saai) however.
2. As you can see, formal Thai includes a lot of extra words not necessary in English. For example, การเข้าใช้บริการระบบรถไฟ้ฟ้า literally translates as "the process of entering the service of the railway system". This sounds odd in written English, so we omit some of the extra words as I've done above. (You'll also note that there's a spelling mistake in this sentence. I've left that on purpose as the MRTA has written it in this way on the sign).
3. มิได้ basically negates the phrase following it. It's only found in written Thai, however, so you'll never hear this spoken aloud (unless possibly if you're speaking to a lawyer).
4. ฝาก means 'to deposit'. You can use this word in a variety of situations. For example, you ฝากเงิน or deposit money at the bank. It is also used when leaving something somewhere to pick up later, e.g. ไปฝากของที่บ้านเพื่อน (I'll go leave this at my friend's place). If you're at the bus or train station, you'll also notice the ห้องฝาก which is the baggage storage room.
5. ใด is the written way of saying 'which' or 'what'. When repeated, i.e. ใดๆ, it can mean anything or everything, and refers to a complete collection of a particular object. In the above notice, it refers to all types of property and all responsibilities.
6. ท่าน is the formal, written way of saying 'you', 'he' or 'she'. It can also be used as a classifier for people. Note that we use คน (kon) instead when we speak.
7. หาก is the formal way of writing 'if' in Thai. When speaking, we simply say ถ้า (taa) instead.
8. ทั้งสิ้น represents the entirety of something. In the notice above, it refers to the complete group of responsibilities. In this case though, the MRTA doesn't take any responsibility at all.
9. แห่ง is simply the formal way of writing 'of' in Thai. When speaking, we'll usually say ของ (kawng) or omit the word entirely. For example, บ้านของเพื่อน or บ้านเพื่อน (my friend's house).

This has been a relatively lengthy lesson so I'll stop it there for today. You'll notice that there's a smaller sign stuck to the big one. I'll go through that next time however, as I feel we've got plenty to digest for now. If you have any questions about the vocabulary or sentences above, please leave them in the comments below. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!