Some Thai Language Temple Signs

If you're living in Thailand, chances are that you'll visit a temple or two throughout the year. While there, you'll notice plenty of Thai language signs for you to practise with. To help you out, I'll go through three that I saw at Don Muang Temple. First, we'll look at the red sign above. Since it's written in the standard Thai font already, I'll just skip straight to the new vocabulary.

ตู้ (dtuu): box

บริจาค (bo-ri-jaak): to donate

ร่วม (ruuam): to share, participate, partake in

เจ้าภาพ: (jao-paap): host, hostess

ถวาย (ta-waai): to give, present

กระเบื้อง (gra-beeung): tile

ศาลา (saa-laa): pavilion

ทรง (song): design, style

ตาม (dtaam): to follow

ศรัทธา (sat-taa): faith

Here are the full sentences with translation so you can see how everything fits together.

ตู้รับบริจาค

Donation Box

ร่วมเป็นเจ้าภาพ  ถวายกระเบื้อง ศาลาทรงไทย (ศาลา ๒) ตามศรัทธา

Please lead others in offering up tiles for our Thai pavilion (No. 2). Donate as you wish.

A few important points here. First, the term เจ้าภาพ typically means host or hostess, someone who invites guests to their home. On this sign though, it refers to someone inviting others to come and donate. You're effectively "hosting" a group who's making merit at the temple.

Second, the phrase ตามศรัทธา means 'give as much or as little as you'd like'. Following your faith, it's up to you to decide how much money you want to give for the roof tiles.

This second sign is connected with these pavilion tiles (กระเบื้อง). It introduces the following pieces of new vocabulary:

เขียน (kiian): to write

ชื่อ (cheeu): name

นามสกุล (naam sa-gun): surname

นำไป (nam bpaai): to bring

ติด (dtit): to stick

By putting all of that together, we have the following translation:

เขียนชี่อ / นามสกุล นำไปติดที่กระเบื้อง

Write your name and surname, and stick it to the tile.

As this is a short notice, there's not much else to say about it.

Finally, we have another temple sign to look at. This one has nothing to do with the tile donation scheme above. Instead, it focuses on a different charity, utilising the following new words:

ทำบุญ (tam bun): to make merit

ทุนการศึกษา (tun gaan seuk-saa): academic scholarship

แผนก (pa-naaek): department

ธรรม (tam): dharma (Buddhist religious teachings)

บาลี (baa-lii): the Pali language

พระปริยัติธรรม (pra-ba-ri-yat-dti-tam): The Tripitaka (Buddhist Scriptures)

พระภิกษุ (pra-pik-su): monk

สามเณร (saam-ma-neen): novice monk

As you can see, there are many words here which aren't really used outside of the temple. Nonetheless, it is important to know these new phrases as you may hear or see them during your life in Thailand. For your information, here's the complete translation for the sign above:

ร่วมทำบุญ

Join in making merit.

ทุนการศึกษา

Academic scholarships

แผนกธรรม - บาลี

Dharma & Pali Language Departments

(พระปริยัติธรรม)

(The Tripitaka)

พระภิกษุ - สามเณร

Monks & Novices

วัดดอนเมือง

Don Muang Temple

So the next time you're at the temple, try and keep an eye out for these new words. You'll have a better idea of what each notice is for and may even want to donate and make merit yourself! Now that you can spot the different causes, maybe you can put your money to good use.

Thanks for reading. As usual, if you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the box below. And if you haven't liked my Facebook page yet, please do so. Good luck with the Thai studies and I hope to see you soon!