I learned a new Thai word today:
I was sitting at the barber today getting a haircut and was talking in my limited Thai to him. I asked him where he's from, how long he's been in Chiang Mai, how old he was.... He tells me he's 34, I said I'm 29. He says "ahh I gay". I said "arai? Gay?" Chai, gay, gay, me gay" with a slight smile visible from behind his mask.
SLightly uncomfortable, I pulled out my phone and put "gay" into translator, he goes no no no 5555. He put the clippers down and pulled out his phone. He plugged "แก่" into his translator, "older" is "gae แก่" in Thai. Phonetically (at least from my POV) is sounds exactly the same as "gay". Hahaha.
TLDR : Answer Summary
A humorous conversation unfolded between an expat and a barber in Chiang Mai when the barber mistakenly thought the word "แก่" (gae), meaning "older," sounded like the English word "gay." The expat's confusion led to laughter as they navigated the language barrier, highlighting the funny nuances of language learning in a foreign country.
