Controversial Thai TV Ad: Skin Whitening Drink

Let's do something a bit different for today's Thai lesson. A few days ago, a television advertisement for a skin whitening drink, L-Gluta Berry Plus, by the company, Verena, caused some controversy in Thailand as it was deemed racist (specifically towards Africans and African-Americans). I thought I'd go through the script so you could understand what's going on in the clip.

First, here's the ad so you can watch it. See how much you can pick up in the first listen.

Now, here's the Thai script so you can practice your reading. After you've gone through each word, watch the video again and see how much more you understand. 

Bear: เค้าเคยเป็นหมีดำมาก่อน จริงเหรอ

Nurse:  ใช่ เค้าอ่ะ แค่คอยหลบแดด อยู่แต่ที่เย็นๆ จนค่อยๆขาวขึ้นอย่างเป็นธรรมชาติ ในสิบจุดสีล้านสัปดาห์

Bear: จะขาว (x3)
Doctor: ทุกอย่าง OK มั้ยลูก
Voiceover: ยินดีด้วยที่คุณเกิดเป็นมนุษย์ Verena L-Gluta Berry Plus มีกลูต้าไธโอน 250 มิลลิกรัม

You can probably guess what's going on in this clip from the images. With regards to the doctor, his Thai isn't very clear at all. At first, I thought he was speaking another dialect but then I've been told he's actually speaking Central Thai following the subtitle given. This is a good example of why you should work on your pronunciation so others can understand you!

For your information, here's the English translation to clear things up 100% for you.

Bear: He was a black bear before. Really?

Nurse: Yes. He avoided the sunlight, only staying in cool places. He slowly became whiter in a natural way in about 10.4 million weeks.

Bear: I will be white! (x3)

Doctor: Is everything OK, child?

Voiceover: Be glad you're born human. Verena L-Gluta Berry Plus with 250mg of Glutathione.

There are a few points to make about the Thai script above:

• The form เคย_______มาก่อน means 'to have been ________ before'. It's used when you're talking about something that used to happen in the past, i.e. "I used to be a teacher" = ผมเคยเป็นครูมาก่อน
• The words แต่ and แค่ both mean 'only' or 'just'. They have slightly different meanings though. แต่ refers to a specific object. He only drinks water = เค้าตื่มแต่น้ำ. Compare this to แค่ which refers to a small amount. I only have 10 Baht = ผมมีแค่ 10 บาท.
• ค่อยๆ means to change something gradually.
• สัปดาห์ means 'week'. It's quite formal and most people say อาทิตย์ instead.
• The word มั้ย is the spoken form of ไหม, the question particle. It has the same meaning and same vowel sound. The tone is different though (มั้ย is high while ไหม is rising).

I hope this has been an interesting foray into Thai beauty culture. If you've learned something new too, that would be fantastic! I didn't split the script above into its individual Thai words though simply because it's best if you train your mind to do that automatically. Finally, if you have any questions about anything in particular, I'll be happy to answer them in the comment section below.