At a few local Thai joints, I can only seem to muster up lame crushed red pepper when I ask for pepper. My old college professor, who spent 15 years in Thailand, was always able to get them to bring Thai peppers and/or pepper sauce/paste.
He used to say ''peppers" in Thai, so I guess they figured the real hot stuff was okay to bring.
Are any of these the right words and, if so, what is the proper pronunciation?
prík tai
náam prík
rót pèt rón
Say: phrik phet.
Phrik, pronounced almost exactly like the English word “prick” (it has a high tone), which always brings about some giggling in language classes, means “pepper.” Phet, pronounced almost exactly like the English word “pet,” means “hot” as in spicy. (“Hot” as in temperature is rawn, or ron as you’ve written.)
Doubling the adjective increases its intensity: phrik phet means “spicy-hot peppers”; phrik phet phet means “VERY spicy hot peppers.”
Naam phrik would specifically be some sort of spicy liquid condiment. (Be aware there is a difference between tai (which can mean south, kidney or die, depending on tone) and thai, which means Thai.)