Name a price (2)

"My name is Gai, which is Thai for chicken. Nurse, my daughter, is 10," he said.

My new friend at the sit-down eatery then pointed to his aunt, and her son.

"His name is Dey," he said.

I turned to the boy, who is older than Nurse.

"What does that name come from?"

"It comes from Dewar's [Dey-wars] whisky," he said proudly.

"Back in those days, we used to drink a lot," said Gai sheepishly.

Gai's wife is called Tew. I don't know where the word comes from - I must ask. It is probably part of a compound. Depending on what word accompanies it, she could be a mountain range, a panoramic view, a row of trees.

Sometimes Thais are at a loss to know what to call their children.

At my office, I know a Thai man who has three sons. He called them after the Thai words for One, Two, and Three, presumably because he couldn't think of any better name when the first boy was born. When the other ones arrived, he carried on the same way he started.

Earlier the same day, I went for a massage, where I had encountered other unusual Thai names.

The massage shop, about 15 minutes' walk from my home, is run by a large family. A big girl from Esan, in the Northeast, worked on my back.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, as soon as we started. "I ask, because I need a mate."

A woman in her 50s turned up. She brought a small boy with her. The boy's name was Leo, after the Thai beer.

"You have a delicious sounding name," the Esan woman joked. "Come here and give me a taste."

"My mother's name is Beer," said the boy.

"Is your Dad's name Lao Khao [home-brewed alcohol]?" the Esan woman asked him.

now, see part 3