สมัย ก่อน
“สมัย ก่อน” (самай кон) — in the old days; former times in Thai. Noun, level B1, topic — time, days and hours. Literally "era before": former times. No separate word for "the old days" is kept — it is said just like "in old times". In a live sentence: “ชีวิต สมัย ก่อน ยาก กว่า ตอน นี้” — Life in the old days was harder than now. Written with the characters ส, ม, ย, ก, ่, อ, น.
In short
| Written in Thai | สมัย ก่อน |
| Read in Latin letters | самай кон |
| Translation | in the old days; former times |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | B1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "era before": former times. No separate word for "the old days" is kept — it is said just like "in old times"
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- ชีวิต สมัย ก่อน ยาก กว่า ตอน นี้чивит самай кон йаак кваа тон нийLife in the old days was harder than now
Nearby words: time, days and hours
Today, tomorrow, in the morning, at six. You cannot arrange to meet without these — let alone understand the answer.
- โมงмонгo'clock; hourThe hours are counted in bell strikes: saam mong — "three o'clock", literally "three strikes". The unit of time here is not "an hour" but a strike
- วันванdayThe day, the twenty-four hours, and the first half of every weekday: wan chan — "moon day", Monday. "All day" is thang wan
- วัน นี้ван нийtodayLiterally "day this". Time in Thai is assembled from nouns, not conjugation: yesterday is "the past day", tomorrow "the coming day"
- พรุ่ง นี้пхрунг нийtomorrowLiterally "morning this": tomorrow begins in the morning. Meetings are set with it too: phrung nii joe gan — "see you tomorrow"
- เมื่อ วานмыа ванyesterdayLiterally "once at daytime". The verb does not change at all: "yesterday I go to the market" is correct Thai — the time is named by the word
- เช้าчаоmorningDo not confuse with chai, "yes", and chaa, "tea" — three chao-syllables told apart by tone and length. "In the morning" is ton chao, "at the morning period"
- เย็นйенeveningThe same word means "cool" and "cooled": Thai feels its evening as the coolness. Iced coffee is kafae yen — "cooled coffee"
- คืนкхуэнnightThe night as "this night": khuen nii. There is no separate "overnight" here — Thai names time by events, not by clock hours
- อาหาร เช้าахан чаоbreakfastLiterally "food of the morning": familiar words in a pair. The hotel sign says the same — breakfast included
- อาหาร เที่ยงахан тиангlunchLiterally "food of noon". It sounds like tiang, "bed" — the first consonant and the tone tell them apart, a pair from the furniture lesson
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “time, days and hours”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “in the old days; former times” in Thai?
Literally "era before": former times. No separate word for "the old days" is kept — it is said just like "in old times"
- How do you say “evening” in Thai?
The same word means "cool" and "cooled": Thai feels its evening as the coolness. Iced coffee is kafae yen — "cooled coffee"
- How do you say “today” in Thai?
Literally "day this". Time in Thai is assembled from nouns, not conjugation: yesterday is "the past day", tomorrow "the coming day"
- How do you say “lunch” in Thai?
Literally "food of noon". It sounds like tiang, "bed" — the first consonant and the tone tell them apart, a pair from the furniture lesson
- How do you say “morning” in Thai?
Do not confuse with chai, "yes", and chaa, "tea" — three chao-syllables told apart by tone and length. "In the morning" is ton chao, "at the morning period"
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “in the old days; former times” in Thai?
«สมัย ก่อน», read “самай кон”. In a live sentence: “ชีวิต สมัย ก่อน ยาก กว่า ตอน นี้” — Life in the old days was harder than now. Noun, level B1, from the set “time, days and hours”; written with the characters ส, ม, ย, ก, ่, อ, น.
How is “สมัย ก่อน” written in Latin letters?
самай кон. This is a practical spelling — you need it to read aloud and be understood, not to meet an academic standard.
Why does this word look the way it does?
Literally "era before": former times. No separate word for "the old days" is kept — it is said just like "in old times". A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.