Nicks

The first time I heard a Thai nickname, I nearly spurted the coffee I was drinking. It was Plip. Was his real name Philip? Nope. It was Somchai Sriwattana Ramkamhaeng. OK. I made that up. But my point is Thai nicks need not to be remotely close to the original name.

I am very used to people adopting Chris for Christopher, Haslina to Lina, Muniandy to Andy. So I find it very amusing how a local Thai would choose their child's nick. Come on, choosing the real name is tough enough. Then again, the temple monks do the job. So perhaps that's how the parents have all the time to ponder on the nick. Perhaps again they wait till the labour moment and stick the head out of the window to check the weather. That's how my friend has the name, Fon (rain). I am not sure what Porn's parents were thinking though. Another friend is named Pop (Popeye) and her brother, X (X men). Obviously the father watched too much cartoon. But never call X - x.. it's Ek. After Ek, I met A. I suppose his siblings are the rest of the alphabet.

Other equally amusing nicks I came across include Bang, Bong, Ya, Jeap and Tuk. Take note that most names are mono-syllabic.I have met two syllabus - Kenya but rarely you find them because they can name two kids with Kenya, Ken and Ya.

You will never really run out of nicks in Thailand because any audibles can be made into names. I once asked if the teachers call them by their real names or nicks. The latter of course.

So the question is when do they ever use their real name? Well, it's only for National Identity Card, passport and of course, when you appear in the newspaper.

Crap, no?