Translation please?

[Traveler1]

Can anyone translate the following phrase? I was thinking about getting a tattoo in Thai...
"Contemplate impermanence. Be compassionate."
Thank you in advance!

[Mahindrasarath]

"คิดละเอียดละออ สักครั้ง but i don't know compassionate mean,perhaps จงมีเมตา"
Make sense? if not perfect maybe someone else could help!!!!

[Eric67]

Have a look at the translation here:

http://www.thai-language.com/id/227657

[Traveler1]

Thank you both for your help, However I have typed both translations into other websites and come up with different things. As best as I can tell, Mai has several meanings depending on tone. And thiaang seems to mean "certain" and "noon". And there seems to be different ways to write mai, more than the 5 tones that I was under the impression there are. And there also seems to be other ways to say the entire phrase. Any other ideas? Also need "be compassionate" or "Have compassion".
Thanks!

[Tod-Daniels]

Not to rain on your parade, but it would appear you don't read a lick of Thai. I'm not downing ANY posters but take ANY "ad hoc" or “off the cuff” translations from people with a grain of salt unless you can get matching hits in Thai from Google to corroborate their efforts.

That link offered out by "Eric67" which says เราจักพิจารณาเห็นความไม่เที่ยง is something EVERY Thai will know the meaning of. They will understand it to be very close to what that site says it means in English. Most of the phrase came up in buddhist stuff when I Googled it, especially the พิจารณาเห็นความไม่เที่ยง part.

Realize "on-line" translation sites going from Thai to English for the most part totally suck, so that you didn't get what you think it should say is no surprise there. Also going from English into Thai and vice versa isn't as straightforward as you'd think it is. There's a LOT of creative license taken and there's usually NO word for word translation. Now with buddhism being a pretty widespread religion (even the Theravada sect which is practiced here) you should have no problem finding something written in Thai which "fits the bill" as far as a tattoo. Still, in all my years here I've never seen a single Thai walkin' around with a catchy buddhist phrase tattooed on 'em and these people are buddhist.

Now if you're just wantin' a Thai script tattoo for the "kewl-ness factor" like most foreigners who get them, I wouldn't put too much thought to what it says really. Most foreigners I've seen here in Bangkok have Thai gibberish tattooed on themselves. Some are so nonsensical even the Thais don't know what it means. It's my experience that a tattoo which takes 10 minutes to explain loses a lot of "kewl-ness factor" value. Then again most foreigners get Thai tattoos so they can show them off when they go back to where ever they're from. ..

Please realize I mean no disrespect to the O/P, to any of the people who answered this post, to the Thais or to buddhism.

Still I wish I had a baht for every nonsensical Thai tattoo I've seen foreigners parading around with here. I'd easily have enough baht to eat a nice meal at the Sheraton or some other hi-so hotel.. ..

Good Luck.

P/S: posting the same post in two different areas of the forum is unlikely to yield better results, but it does show you’re puttin’ due diligence into the thought. Kudos on that. ..

[Traveler1]

Well that is correct, Tod-Daniels, I don't read a lick of Thai, obviously why I am asking for help here, as well as the fact that I don't want a gibberish tattoo like all of those foreigners in for the "kewlness" factor to show it off at home. If that were the case I would have the tattoo by now and never have posted a blog. I am not a Buddhist and I don't care what Buddhists have as far as tattoos. The phrase I asked for help with actually means something to me, believe it or not, and I would like it tattooed on me for a reason and I was unsure if it was beginner or intermediate. So thank you for the effort you have put forth in answering my question. Some people have steered me in the wrong direction as well as translation websites, which is what, no offense, Erik67 directed me to.

[djaidee]

So if you can't read Thai and you are not Buddhist and like you yourself stated

I don't want a gibberish tattoo like all of those foreigners in for the "kewlness" factor to show it off at home.

why you want to have a Tattoo in Thai Script anyway - I don't quite get it and I think there is no use at all to do so.

I believe most of the people getting something in another Script they can't read themselves it's only for the purpose because it looks fancy and they indeed want to show off at home.

And if the Phrase means so much to you you should get it inked in English - at least then you can be sure that the right meaning is transported and that others including you surely understand what it means.

The difficulty is that in other Languages it might have no significance meaning at all and could be misinterpretated - I think that is something you don't want to have inked on you for the rest of your Life; so come on do it in English.

[Traveler1]

Yes, djaidee, I realize that it is easy to misinterpret other languages. That is exactly why I have taken the time at all to seek help with this phrase. I have also realized that many people seem to be very opinionated about my tattoo. Not that its anyone's business, but I have thought of getting it written in English. I just think thai letters are more beautiful and it would remind me of a happy time in my life when I was in Thailand. Anyway, I should have known that this forum would be filled with travelers who think they are cooler than other travelers and would rather take the time to spread negative energy and criticize my ideas that be helpful. Thank you Erik67 for actually being the only one to attempt to help.

[Tod-Daniels]

Hey, "gear down big shifter", no need to get your "knickers knotted" over this.

I don't think it was the intent of ANY poster on here (myself included, no matter how blunt I write) to "spread negative energy" or criticize your ideas.

While this forum has its share of "travelers", myself and many others don't fall into that "transient" category. Suggestions and questions were offered out in an honest attempt to see "what" it was you're tryin' to accomplish with this undertaking. I doubt highly any disrespect was intended or implied. Even in my post I didn't mean any disrespect, only pointed out the problems you're likely to face.

I was also pointing out that of the many foreigners I've seen walkin' around with Thai script tattoos out there very few "conceptual ones" make sense on the first read thru, even to native Thai readers. Being a curious person, I've even stopped foreigners here, and asked if I can read their Thai script tattoos, especially if I can't work it out at first glance. You'd be really surprised how different what they say it's supposed to mean is from what it reads as and what I take the meaning to be as a foreigner who can read Thai.

The part I quoted in my post came up with plenty of Google hits for the exact quote. Seeing as last time I checked, Thais are buddhist and impermanence is a buddhist concept; that quote carried most of the "implied meaning" you were looking for. It also worked within the restrictions of goin' from English to Thai. Just an FYI: the concept of impermanence has been around a LOT longer than the Engrish language, so there you go. ..

I doubt you're gonna get better results, no matter what forum about Thailand you post on. In fact you may get far worse results than the suggestions offered out here.

Thai letters might "be beautiful" in your eyes but what they aren't is an alphabetic system which can easily render complex thoughts from English into succinct Thai phrases. Maybe by getting a tattoo which wraps around your arm, but straight English into Thai working within the limitations of character count which tattoos have, I'd say unlikely. . .

Forums about Thailand are littered with translation requests, and that people weigh in with caution or question your reasoning should neither surprise you nor offend you. If you're so think skinned about people asking "why" in regards to your tattoo, what are you gonna do when you have a tattoo in Thai that you can't read and people (who also can't read it) ask about it?

I'm sorry you got your "feathers ruffled" over the posts on your topic, you certainly have enough information to make some leap in logic as to your next step in this endeavor. I see by your profile you've listed Alaska as your location. I'm sure there're some Thais in Alaska; although possibly they're thin on the ground up there. Still, there's gotta be some, perhaps you can track 'em down and see what they say.

Good luck. . .

[djaidee]

And it wasn't my intention as well.

In many other Threads I already pointed out that if you like the fanciness of Thai Script combined with a useful Message like a Proverb/Saying or whatever, you should look for something that already exists in Thai.

There are many Thai Proverbs/Sayings which already exist and might have a similar meaning in English - what I wanted to say is that you can't come up with something translated from English-to-Thai which might have a significant meaning for Thais as well, because due to different Cultures, Religion etc. Thais might use something completely different and would shake their heads when reading your Tattoo and think "Just another crazy Farang" - and that surely is something you don't want.

Tod once wrote in a THread that he showed something in English to different Thais and everybody of them, when translating it into Thai, came up with something completely different, which also has completely different meaning.
So just having something rechecked by Thais, which you think might be the best Translation already, doesn't prevent you from getting totally rubish which has no meaning in Thai at all.

So why don't you just search for Thai Proverbs/Sayings, there might be something equivalent close to English which will suit you.

To get more Results I suggest that you also search Google with the right Terms in Thai Script, which would be something like

สุภาษิต = Proverb, Saying

สำนวน = Idiom, Phrase, Expression

คำพังเพย = Aphorism, Proverb

พุทธภาษิต = Buddhist Proverb

Good Luck to you anyway.

And don't get us wrong, being very straight in our Opinion might save you from a big mistake - when inked already it stays there for your whole Life.

There are many negative cases where Tattoos went wrong, even cases where the Thai Artist wrote something like:

"This is a crazy Farang who asked for a Tattoo in Thai Script" (written in Thai Script).

So always be very careful.