Greeting a Thai monk requires showing high respect through a specific wai (wai-ing) (pressing palms together) and keeping your head lower than theirs. Perform a high wai—thumbs to the eyebrow level—while bowing slightly. Common greetings include saying “Satu” (meaning "may it be so" or "amen") or “Namatsagaan”.
The hands are held palm-to-palm in front of the heart and are sometimes raised to the lowered forehead. It is a gesture of respect that can be used as a greeting, a goodbye, a thank-you or when speaking with one of the monastics. The traditional way of paying respect to a shrine or to a senior monk is to bow.
In most cases, monk chat activity takes place in a small corner with a table and some chairs. Some temples have a meditation center and arrange their monk chat program more systematically, including a regular schedule and online pre-registration. Chiang Mai has been the epitome of the monk chat movement.
You can use the word 'phra' (meaning monk) or 'tahn' – both equally valid and usable. 'Tahn' is rather like 'khun' but higher status, and is sometimes used with high ranking officials or important people. E.g. “Tahn Pasanno came yesterday”, or “Phra Gary are you ready to go?”
Kru means teacher, ajarn means senior teacher and master means master teacher. Thai doesn't directly translate to English though ajarn can also be translated to 'master teacher.'
Day 92: Bhante Pannakara Says: Monks Hand You The Key, But Only You Can Unlock Your Own Peace
Is it ka or kap in Thai?
Women should end their sentences with 'ka', while men use 'khap'. For men, you might also hear 'khrap', though in casual conversation, it's often shortened to 'khap'. While there is a Thai word for 'please' (karunaa), it's not commonly used like in English.
You shouldn't speak the typical Thai greeting, “Sawat Dee Khrap/Kha”. Instead, you should say hello to the monk with the word: “Satu” (สาธุ), which is pronounced “sah-too”. Satu is an ancient Pali/Sanskrit word that means “pay respect to,” and it's a greeting specifically reserved for monks.
"Jub jub" (จุ๊บจุ๊บ) in Thai is an onomatopoeia for a kiss, like "mwah mwah" or "smooch," used playfully to mean "kiss, kiss," and is a cute way to express affection, similar to a peck on the cheek or a sweet little smooch, often sent in messages. The actual word for a longer kiss is จูบ (joob), while จุ๊บ (jub) is for a quick peck, making "jub jub" a sweet, repeated expression.
Honorifics: Thais typically address someone by stating the first name preceded by 'Khun' (e.g. Khun Simon). However, if the people conversing are close friends or familiar with each other, they will omit khun.
Don't sit on the platform or chairs reserved for monks. Monks are prohibited from touching women and women should never hand anything directly to a monk. Keep your voice down in and around the temple and smoking, vaping, and alcohol are not allowed inside temple grounds.
For more than two millennia, one of the appeals of Buddhism has been that happiness and freedom from suffering can be achieved by anyone, regardless of race, class, or gender. But we must remember that all convert practitioners are embodied beings who come to dharma study from somewhere.
You should not be higher than a monk, so if you are passing a seated monk, lower your body by crouching or move past on your knees. When you wai to a monk, you should be most reverential – bow your head and raise your hands in prayer position to your forehead.
We suggest a simple and respectful way: placing your palms together and bowing to the Venerable Monks. We thank Dominique Teasley for demonstrating this beautiful and respectful gesture in the video he sent us! May you and all beings be happy and at peace.
Namaste (Sanskrit pronunciation: [nɐmɐsteː], Devanagari: नमस्ते), sometimes called namaskār and namaskāram, is a customary Hindu manner of respectfully greeting and honouring a person or group, used at any time of day. It is used worldwide among the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain traditions.
In Thai, เบาๆ (bao bao) literally means: light, soft, gentle. The idea they say, started practical: old Thai houses had wooden floors, and if you didn't tread softly you'd wake everyone up. 'Bao bao'.
"Kap kun kap" (or khop khun krap) is the polite Thai way for a male speaker to say "thank you," with khop khun meaning "thank you," and krap (or kap) being the polite particle added at the end for male speakers to show respect. A female speaker would say khop khun ka (ka being the female polite particle).
Yes, it is necessary to add krub or ka. These words are very polite, similar to saying “please”. Without them, your words may sound too direct or even rude (without meaning to)
Women say 'kha' and men say 'khap' at the end of greetings, phrases, and sentences. You can think of them as polite words, used to show respect. Since there is no English equivalent to kha and khap, it took us a while to understand their usage. In the beginning, both Mona and I only used kha.
