ศาลาชุมนุม

[rundmw]

Greetings!

My daughter is two and a half and my wife's two teenage children are visiting us here in Phuket during school break. As you can imagine, much of my time is spent tidying up, putting away toys, trying to bring some order to the chaos.

Every day, one of them will ask "Where are the keys to the motorbike?", "Where are the pens?", "Where is my shirt?", or spend minutes looking for writing paper, for trash bags, for shoes, for TV/DVD remotes, ad infinitum...

Is there some Thai analogue for the English language principle "A place for everything and everything in its place"? What would a Thai parent say to his/her children in order to teach this principle?

[David and Bui]

Here is what my wife suggests:

"หยิบก็ง่าย หายก็รู้ ดูก็งาม"

Easy to gather;
Tough to lose;
Looks so neat.

[rundmw]

So I'm guessing from the use of งาม that this is an Isaan saying? All the better, as my wife and her teenagers are from Isaan.

I just tried it on the 14 year old and she got it, though she still believes that the lesson is intended for someone else... Teanagers! ;-)

Is this something that you would guess to be commonly known by non-Isaan Thais, in general?

Thanks!

[David and Bui]

No, I don't this that this expression is a regional thing. My wife is from the South. I think the work "ngam" instead of "suay" is used poetically to contrast with "ngai" in the first phrase.

[Nan]

"หยิบก็ง่าย หายก็รู้ ดูก็งาม"

This saying is used after telling the kids to keep things in order. It's not Isaan saying. It's a saying for Thai people in every regions.

For myself, I would tell my teenage kids "รู้จักเก็บของให้เป็นที่เป็นทางหน่อย เวลาหยิบก็ง่าย หายก็รู้ ดูก็งามตา"