# Thailand pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541 "2020-08-07T23:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/61 "2020-08-16T13:53:19Z")
I have to agree. I literally can’t remember ever hearing anyone pronounce it as “thigh.” Maybe a child when they first were trying to read the word, but otherwise, it’s so rare as to be prett much non existent in my experience. Look, I defend pronunciations like nuke-u-lar and lie-berry, but thigh-land I cant justify with popular usage or even occasional usage. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/62 "2020-08-16T19:56:03Z")
Indeed. Unlike most Westerners, I have 25 years in Thailand under my belt – well, 24 years and seven months – and while I admit it would be extra odd to hear “Thigh-land” seriously while in country, I have been attuned to all matters Thai since the 1980s, and not once have I ever encountered it anywhere – in person, in the media, not nowhere – outside of a joking context. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/63 "2020-08-16T21:02:54Z")
Looks like it’s time to say Phuket and end this discussion. . I know Phuket is not pronounced the same as “fuck it”. [Foghorn leghorn voice] It’s a joke, son, it’s a joke! [/flv] ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2020, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/64 "2020-08-16T23:02:21Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > Looks like it’s time to say Phuket and end this discussion. This may be apocryphal, but I have heard that NYC once denied a restaurant license to a proposed Thai eatery with that name. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/65 "2020-08-17T00:44:21Z")
There are a number of Vietnamese restaurants in the U.S. named “Pho King” - “Pho” is pronounced fə (roughly, “fuh”), so “Pho King” would be pronounced fə-kiŋ (roughly, well…). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/66 "2020-08-17T04:17:39Z")
There’s one in Seattle, I believe, called Pho King Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/67 "2020-08-17T04:21:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > There’s one in Seattle, I believe, called Pho King Awesome Not in Seattle, that I can find. There’s one in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Tacoma has a Pho King, but it’s not awesome. There’s a Hot as Pho in Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/68 "2020-08-18T11:56:00Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > On the contrary, it is a rare mistake. I guess working in an elementary school district with a thousand kids in it aged 5 to 13 has somewhat skewed my perspective. LOL [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541.md?page=3)