At birth Thai babies are named, much the same as in Australia, however, there is a difference. Thai's usually don't have a middle name (I've never met one yet that does). Therefore the birth certificate is issued with the child's given name and the father's surname. The parents then choose a nickname by which the child will be known by. The nickname is not recorded in any official document, however, will stay with the child throughout their life, unless the child decides to change it at some later date. Virtually nobody outside of the child's direct family will ever know or refer to them by their given name.
In Wannida's case, her nickname is Oil. A bizarre choice I know, however, easy to remember and at least it's English spelt. Popular nicknames for Thai's include Pu, pronounced 'Poo', Daeng 'Dang', Taen 'Ten', Si 'Sea' and so on, thus Oil ain't that bad. That said, if I refer to Wannida as Oil in future posts you will know who I'm talking about.
Bangkok Time
Sunday, August 24, 2008
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