ท่า น้ำ
“ท่า น้ำ” (тха нам) — pier; water landing in Thai. Noun, level A1, topic — buildings and premises. Literally "water pier": tha ruea, "port", you know, and the smaller pier is tha nam. The boat pulls up there, and it waits for the passenger. In a live sentence: “เรือ มา ถึง ท่า น้ำ ตอน เช้า” — The boat arrives at the pier in the morning. Written with the characters ท, ่, า, น, ้, ำ.
In short
| Written in Thai | ท่า น้ำ |
| Read in Latin letters | тха нам |
| Translation | pier; water landing |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
Literally "water pier": tha ruea, "port", you know, and the smaller pier is tha nam. The boat pulls up there, and it waits for the passenger
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.
- เรือ มา ถึง ท่า น้ำ ตอน เช้าрыа ма тхынг тха нам тон чаоThe boat arrives at the pier in the morning
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- ร้าน อาหารран аханrestaurantLiterally "shop of food". Words are butted together: raan, "shop", plus ahaan, "food". Half of all Thai place names are assembled this way
- ร้าน กาแฟран кафэcoffeehouseThe same "shop" as the restaurant's, only with coffee. There is no separate word for a European-style cafe — the big coffee place and the corner with plastic stools share the name
- ลานланsquare; plazaLiterally "a glade, an open space": the city square is named with a village word. From it lan kwang — "a wide square"
- ร้าน ค้าран кхаshop; storeThe same raan, "shop", as in the restaurant and coffeehouse, plus khaa, "to trade". The little shop by the house Thais call exactly this — raan lung, "uncle's shop"
- ตลาดталатmarketThe word comes from an ancient "place of trade", and it lives in street names too. The morning market lives until noon, the night one from sunset — two different talats
- ร้าน ขาย ยาран кхай йаpharmacyThree words in one: "shop selling medicine". The pharmacy in Thailand is first aid and a consultant: the pharmacist will suggest what one would otherwise see a doctor about
- ธนาคารтханакханbankA bookish word wholly from Pali: "money place". The first letter is the low-class th; in live speech the word is often squeezed to thanakhaan
- สถานีсатханиstation; terminal"Station": the railway terminal, the bus one, and the police station — the prefix will say whose it is. Rot fai sathanii — "train station"
- แผงпхэнгstall; counterA separate trading stall at the market — a phaeng. It argues by ear with phaeng, "expensive": only the tone tells them apart, and the stall's rises
- ร้าน ชำран чамgrocery shopA little shop of "a bit of everything": grain, sauces, soap. The word cham means "loose" — there things are sold not in packs
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “pier; water landing” in Thai?
Literally "water pier": tha ruea, "port", you know, and the smaller pier is tha nam. The boat pulls up there, and it waits for the passenger
- How do you say “bank” in Thai?
A bookish word wholly from Pali: "money place". The first letter is the low-class th; in live speech the word is often squeezed to thanakhaan
- How do you say “square; plaza” in Thai?
Literally "a glade, an open space": the city square is named with a village word. From it lan kwang — "a wide square"
- How do you say “grocery shop” in Thai?
A little shop of "a bit of everything": grain, sauces, soap. The word cham means "loose" — there things are sold not in packs
- How do you say “pharmacy” in Thai?
Three words in one: "shop selling medicine". The pharmacy in Thailand is first aid and a consultant: the pharmacist will suggest what one would otherwise see a doctor about
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 “pier; water landing” in Thai?
«ท่า น้ำ», read “тха нам”. In a live sentence: “เรือ มา ถึง ท่า น้ำ ตอน เช้า” — The boat arrives at the pier in the morning. Noun, level A1, from the set “buildings and premises”; written with the characters ท, ่, า, น, ้, ำ.
How is “ท่า น้ำ” written in Latin letters?
тха нам. 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 "water pier": tha ruea, "port", you know, and the smaller pier is tha nam. The boat pulls up there, and it waits for the passenger. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.