Street Signs, Part 3

This is a sign from one of the MRT (subway) stations in Bangkok. While written in Thai, this offers important information for English speakers as well. Let's go through each of the Thai words and sentences to see what it says.

If you're having trouble reading the text, I've written everything for you in the standard font below. I've put spaces between the words and included a slash between sentences.

คมนาคม ก้าว ไกล / ความปลอดภัย ต้อง มา ก่อน

พบ เหตุ ไม่ ปลอดภัย / แจ้ง ศูนย์ ปลอดภัย คมนาคม / โทร. 1356

ด้วย ความปรารถนา ดี จาก โบลีเด้น / SMF แบต ไม่ มี รู

For those still having trouble with the Thai characters, here's the transliterated version into English letters. This follows the standard rules I've created.

ka-ma-naa-kom gaao glai / kwaam-bplawt-pai dtawng maa gawn

pop heet mai bplawt-pai / jaaeng suun bplawt-pai ka-ma-naa-kom / too 1356

duuay kwaam-bpraat-ta-naa-dii jaak boo-lii-deen / SMF baet mai mii ruu

Here are some of the Thai words translated into English:

คมนาคม (ka-ma-naa-kom): transportation
ก้าว (gaao): to step
ไกล (glai): far
ปลอดภัย (bplawt-pai): safe (adj)
ความปลอดภัย (kwaam-bplawt-pai): safety
พบ (pop): to meet/to experience
เหตุ (heet): situation
แจ้ง (jaaeng): to contact
ศูนย์ (suun): centre
โทร (too): to phone
ปรารถนา (bpraat-ta-naa): to wish for
ความปรารถนาดี (kwaam-braat-ta-naa-dii): good wishes
แบต (baaet): battery
รู (ruu): small hole

NOTES:

1. Although the word ก้าว means 'step', it can also refer to something advancing forward. In this case, ก้าวไกล means leaps in progress (i.e. large steps).
2. The prefix, ความ, changes an adjective or verb into a noun. Thus, safe (ปลอดภัย) becomes safety (ความปลอดภัย). This pattern also holds for a host of other Thai words.
3. The abbreviation, โทร, comes from โทรศัพท์ (too-ra-sap). In the shortened form, the ร is silent.
4. The second ร in the word ปรารถนา is also silent. This exception is found in other words, i.e. สามารถ (saa-maat) meaning 'to be able'. As there's no rule here, these unusual spellings will just have to be remembered on their own.
5. โบลีเด้น is just the name of the company sponsoring this service, Boliden.
6. แบต is a shortened form of the Thai word for battery, แบตเตอรี่
7. Here, แบตไม่มีรู (literally, battery without holes) means a dry car battery. The acronym, SMF, means sealed maintenance-free, referring to a particular type of automotive battery. It doesn't have the small lids on top and doesn't require topping up with distilled water.

We're now ready to take a look at the English translation. With a little tweaking to make the English sound better, we get the following:

For progress in transportation, safety should come first.

In dangerous situations, contact the Transport Safety Centre. Tel: 1356

With best wishes from Boliden SMF Dry Batteries

That's it! So now you know, if you happen to see something dangerous on the MRT, you can simply call 1356 and hopefully someone will come to assist. If anyone actually uses this phone number, please leave a comment below letting us know if the Transport Safety Centre works efficiently or not. Of course, any other comments, questions and observations about the Thai language will also be appreciated. Until next time, good luck with both your Bangkok travels and your studies.