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Friday , July 3 , 2009

Have you ever been "Tob Salob Salai"?

Posted by Kornchanok , Reader : 545 , 21:16:29

"Tob Salob Salai" is not a Thai phrase you can hear in daily life. Overhearing it then drew my attention to a girl next to me at a restaurant few days ago. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but the speaker's repetition and laughters drew my attention. She said her teacher said the phrase, and she asked him where he learned it (suggesting her teacher is a foreigner) . Yes, I also wonder where he (or she) learned it. "Tob Salob Salai" means slapped until you are unconscious. (tob = slap, salob salai = unconscious) And it came into my mind when I was during a trip to Germany. My friend and I asked a German man for direction. Out of nowhere, he asked whether we were Thai. He said he guessed from the language we were using. Then he said, "Sawasdee" and then"Tob Salob Salai." We did ask him where he got that phrase from. He said ... from female massagers in Pattaya. It must be really co-incident if the girl's teacher is the same German I met... But maybe the massagers in Pattaya still teach this phrase to their customers. :)

"Tob Salob Salai" is not a Thai phrase you can hear in daily life.

Overhearing it then drew my attention to a girl next to me at a restaurant few days ago. I did not mean to eavesdrop, but the speaker's repetition and laughters drew my attention.

She said her teacher said the phrase, and she asked him where he learned it (suggesting her teacher is a foreigner) .

Yes, I also wonder where he (or she) learned it.

"Tob Salob Salai" means slapped until you are unconscious. (tob = slap, salob salai = unconscious)

And it came into my mind when I was during a trip to Germany. My friend and I asked a German man for direction. Out of nowhere, he asked whether we were Thai. He said he guessed from the language we were using.

Then he said, "Sawasdee" and then"Tob Salob Salai."

We did ask him where he got that phrase from.

He said ... from female massagers in Pattaya.

It must be really co-incident if the girl's teacher is the same German I met...

But maybe the massagers in Pattaya still teach this phrase to their customers. :)

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comment 15
Kornchanok date : 06/07/2009 time : 19.31
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/kornchanok

Alien:

comment 14
Kornchanok date : 06/07/2009 time : 19.28
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/kornchanok

Wow,... we've got many theories for this phrase, haven't we?

Thanks for all comments na ka. I begin to feel unsure if I really know what the phrase means.

A merit from this: sometimes foreigners can better understand a phrase in Thai language.

comment 13
Alien date : 06/07/2009 time : 13.02
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/alien

I think it started when a bar-girl forgot her knock-out drugs when she was with a falang. She called the bar, explained her problem and they told her "Tob Salob Salai." Other bar-girls realized that using "Tob Salob Salai" would save the expense of buying the knock-out pills all the time. It's part of the "self-sufficiency" program run by the government.

comment 12
happyjack date : 05/07/2009 time : 21.33

Some kids say Ping Con when an Oldie is Cremated,there's many new sayings, the Young are not to popular with the Old Blowhards.One youngster told me all this phony respects is stupid, like a Wai when you cant stand someone.All the other kids aggreed.

comment 11
Pomjuk date : 05/07/2009 time : 19.15
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/pomjuk

Salob Salai is usually used with the word “sleep”; in the same sense as “sleeping like a log”

When used with the word “Tob” (slap) it is just give a new slang that sound funny and cute for most. It’s not a bad language.

comment 10
wch date : 04/07/2009 time : 20.25

Isan language has been developed from the bottom society where sweats and tears are padded. Self-denial produces liguistic overturn. They use Bangkok-tonal mark as a laughing stuff, such as 'siap si ! '. This ordinary Thai form turns in Isan to a sexual action, the most vulgaric expression.

While Isan shemales inflow enmasse in Bangkok and Pattaya nocturnal venues, the language permeates quickly in Bangkok population.
Much Isan vocables are appeared in evening comics or soap opera.

Thai language gets rich day by day.

comment 9
Hermano_Lobo date : 04/07/2009 time : 19.30
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/yurivelasquez

It's the way Thai men treat their women.

Very wise they are too !

comment 8
happyjack date : 04/07/2009 time : 13.08

There are many expressions wch you use in context. Some as used by Farmers in reference to Animal Breeding.For example Bum Sing,as in Mating of Pigs , Cattle etc.Needles to say, Bar Girls carry them to Sex City and beyond.There are so many one can misconstrue if you like,i could list them.I am supprised the subject has arisen.Mi Supab.

comment 7
yabua date : 04/07/2009 time : 11.03
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/yabua

HaHa, it´s not Esaan dialect. I thought you were Thai.

GG, the words have been widely used by people in a special occupation with their clients for ages, so far I know.

comment 6
GGrass date : 04/07/2009 time : 10.39
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/GGrass

I don't get it.

The phrase seem to describe a very effective way of slapping someone.

What's the formal occupation got to do with this phrase?

comment 5
wch date : 04/07/2009 time : 10.16

Hj,
I think you are one, the nearest.555
I will refrain myself as the author looks too young to
be. She will pioneer by herself in future.

comment 4
HA_HA date : 04/07/2009 time : 10.15

Yes, I heard this before. I was funny for me. I thought it is a modern slang, didn't know it's Isaan.

Also the word 'PumPui'. I heard some Farangs refer themselves as Pumpui (chubby). It's cute. I thought the word come from a brand of canned sardine fish. Just realize it's also Isaan word. They learnt from girls in Pattaya.

comment 3
Ian date : 04/07/2009 time : 01.29
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/anterian36

It does not sound a desireable condition if the meaning is literal, I will refrain from asking where you learnt it

comment 2
happyjack date : 04/07/2009 time : 00.30

Isan Songs use it.

comment 1
yabua date : 04/07/2009 time : 00.26
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/yabua

I heard this phrase once when I was waiting to board KLM from Amsterdam to Bangkok 10 years ago. As a Thai, I could guess the former occupation of the woman who said it.

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