Hugo introduces himself
ฮิวโก้แนะนำตัว
Hugo has just moved into a Bangkok soi. He meets his neighbor.
Thai stories for beginners
Kru May has 90 short illustrated stories in Thai, graded across 30 levels from complete beginner to Expert level (CEFR B2+). Together they introduce 658 words, each met in context.
The stories follow Hugo, a Frenchman who has just moved to Bangkok, his neighbour Mali, her grandmother Yai, Lek the tuk-tuk driver and Som the cat. Each level has three stories, and each story takes a few minutes to read.
How the stories work
- Every page has an illustration, a sentence in Thai script and its translation.
- Every word can be tapped for its transliteration, tone and meaning.
- Every sentence is read aloud at natural speed and slowed down.
- New grammar patterns are explained in a small badge the first time they appear.
Starter (Complete beginner)
I only know a few words
Level 1
The cat in the soi
แมวชื่อส้ม
A ginger cat hangs around outside Mali’s place. Hugo gets to know him.
Yai’s soup
ข้าวต้มของยาย
Mali’s grandmother runs a khao tom stall at the corner of the soi. Hugo is hungry.
Level 2
In a tuk-tuk with Lek
นั่งตุ๊กตุ๊กกับเล็ก
Hugo wants to go to the temple. Lek, a chatty tuk-tuk driver, names his price.
Level 3
Morning coffee
กาแฟตอนเช้า
To each their own coffee: Hugo takes it piping hot, Mali with ice. Yai finds it too sweet.
The neighbor’s dog
หมาของเพื่อนบ้าน
A big dog moves in next door. Som has a very firm opinion about it.
Level 4
At the restaurant
ที่ร้านอาหาร
Hugo’s first pad thai. He tries “not spicy” — and discovers it’s relative.
Songkran
สงกรานต์
Thai New Year is celebrated with buckets of water. Hugo doesn’t stay dry for long.
At the 7-Eleven
ที่เซเว่น
The corner 7-Eleven is open day and night. Hugo discovers Thai snacks there.
Level 5
Mali’s family
ครอบครัวมะลิ
Hugo is invited next door and meets everyone at once. There are a lot of them.
Sunday at Yai’s
วันอาทิตย์ที่บ้านยาย
The whole family eats at Yai’s on Sunday. Hugo gets a seat at the table.
Level 6
Shopping for a shirt
ซื้อเสื้อ
Two hundred baht for a shirt? Hugo has learned to bargain. Now he has to find his size.
Beginner (A1)
Simple sentences, basic vocabulary
Level 7
Monday morning
เช้าวันจันทร์
Hugo starts Thai lessons with Kru May. Today’s topic: the days of the week.
Hugo’s week
สัปดาห์ของฮิวโก้
Work, market, Thai class, restaurant… and a Sunday spent entirely asleep. Som approves.
Yai’s day off
วันหยุดของยาย
Six days a week Yai is up before dawn. On Sunday, she reads. Or she would, if Som let her.
Level 8
The rainy season
ฤดูฝน
Three months of rain every afternoon. Hugo buys a red umbrella and learns to love it.
The cool wind
ลมเย็น
December: the one month Bangkok is cool. Yai puts on a sweater. Hugo can’t believe it.
Level 9
The skytrain
นั่งรถไฟฟ้า
Hugo takes the skytrain into the city alone for the first time. Getting there is easy. Getting out of Siam station is another matter.
Lost in Bangkok
หลงทางในกรุงเทพ
A map, a wrong road, and a familiar tuk-tuk turning the corner just in time.
The canal boat
เรือในคลอง
The fastest way across Bangkok is a long boat on the khlong. Hugo gets splashed and loves it.
Level 10
Breakfast
อาหารเช้า
Pork khao tom with two eggs, fried dough sticks and soy milk. Hugo tries to pay. Yai has other ideas.
At the doctor’s
ไปหาหมอ
Mali’s stomach hurts. Lek drives everyone to the hospital. The diagnosis: too much som tam.
Muay thai
มวยไทย
Hugo joins a boxing gym through a friend of Lek. Day one: he can’t kick. Month one: he can. His legs disagree.
Level 11
Good news
ข่าวดี
Mali has a new job. Everyone is thrilled, until they hear where it is. Hugo has an opinion. So does Yai.
Mali’s birthday
วันเกิดมะลิ
Hugo organises a surprise party. Yai cooks all day, Lek fetches the guest of honour, and Mali won’t say how old she is.
Back to France?
กลับฝรั่งเศสไหม
After a year in Bangkok, Hugo’s mum asks the question. Yai says choose with your heart. Som sits on the suitcase.
Level 12
Som tam
ส้มตำ
Mali’s friend Nok introduces Hugo to green papaya salad. He asks for “a little spicy”. Nok does not.
No coriander
ไม่ใส่ผักชี
Hugo orders fried rice and asks, very politely, for no coriander. The fried rice has opinions.
At the mall
ไปห้าง
Air conditioning, escalators and shoes at fixed prices. Hugo tries to bargain anyway.
Level 13
The night market
ตลาดกลางคืน
Where bargaining works. Hugo gets two bags for four hundred baht and a free bow. One bag is for Mali.
A gift for Yai
ของขวัญให้ยาย
Yai turns seventy tomorrow. Yellow flowers, a new shirt, and the whole soi at her door.
Hugo is sick
ฮิวโก้ไม่สบาย
A headache, a fever, a cold. Mali brings medicine, Yai brings khao tom, Som brings himself.
Intermediate (A2)
Everyday Thai
Level 14
Thai massage
นวดไทย
Hugo’s back hurts. Nok knows exactly what to do about it. It hurts a little more first.
Football in the soi
ฟุตบอลในซอย
Every evening the kids play football in the lane. Hugo joins Ton’s opponents and loses. Then Som steals the ball.
Nok’s song
เพลงของนก
Nok sings at a friend’s bar on Saturday night. Hugo doesn’t understand the words, but he sings along anyway.
Level 15
Thai school
โรงเรียนภาษาไทย
Forty-four letters. Hugo writes his own name for the first time. It isn’t pretty, but it’s correct.
Kru May
ครูเมย์
The teacher who speaks French, loves teaching, and explains the most important Thai word of all: sanuk.
Mali’s office
ออฟฟิศของมะลิ
A day in Mali’s working life: skytrain, a three-hour meeting, a boss who talks a lot, and dinner at Yai’s to recover.
Level 16
Chiang Mai
ไปเชียงใหม่
Twelve hours by train to the mountains of the north. Cool air, temples everywhere, and Mali’s verdict: the most beautiful place there is.
The island
ไปเกาะ
Nok books a hotel on an island. Plane, boat, blue water, and a sunset that nobody wants to leave.
The night train
รถไฟกลางคืน
Back to Bangkok in a sleeper carriage. The beds are small, the train is loud, and the stars are the best part.
Level 17
Loy Krathong
ลอยกระทง
On the night of the full moon, everyone floats a little boat of flowers and a candle on the river, and makes a wish. Hugo knows exactly what to wish for.
Morning alms
ตักบาตรตอนเช้า
At dawn the monks walk the soi with their bowls. Yai shows Hugo how to make merit, shoes off, and what it feels like afterwards.
Chinese New Year
ตรุษจีน
Mali’s family celebrates Chinese New Year: red shirts, a table full of duck, and red envelopes for the children. Hugo asks if he counts as a child.
Level 18
The elephant
ช้าง
A day at an elephant sanctuary. Hugo feeds a fifty-year-old elephant a banana and watches her go for a swim.
The fish market
ตลาดปลา
Yai buys fish, shrimp and squid straight off the boats. That evening she grills the squid, and Som gets his share.
The forest
ในป่า
A hike to a waterfall: giant trees, a monkey with a taste for hats, cold water and hungry mosquitoes.
Level 19
Level 20
The message
ข้อความ
Mali texts Hugo in Thai. He can’t read it, so he asks Kru May, and learns the most Thai question there is.
The photo
รูปของส้ม
Nok takes a hundred photos of Som. One of them, with Hugo’s hat, is going to follow him around forever.
See you, Bangkok
เจอกันใหม่
Hugo flies to France for a month. The whole soi comes to the airport, except Som. It isn’t goodbye.
Advanced (B1)
Getting fluent
Level 21
Gifts from France
ของฝากจากฝรั่งเศส
Hugo is back from France with a suitcase full of gifts for the whole soi. Yai’s cheese smells terrible, and Som only cares about the box.
Ton goes to school
ต้นไปโรงเรียน
While Hugo was in France, Ton started school. On the first day he cried; now he’s the one giving Hugo a lesson.
The haircut
ตัดผม
Hugo hasn’t had a haircut since before France. He asks for “a little shorter”, then falls asleep in the chair. Som no longer recognises him.
Level 22
Apartment Hunting
หาห้องเช่า
Since coming back with all his books, Hugo’s room is too small and too hot. Mali takes him flat-hunting: a beautiful condo that costs a fortune, a cheap room with a rat in the bed… and Yai, who knew all along.
No pets
ห้ามเลี้ยงสัตว์
The perfect condo, the big window, the lease ready to sign… and one rule: no pets. Hugo has no pet. Officially. Every night, though, Som sleeps on his bed.
Moving day
ย้ายบ้าน
Twenty boxes of books, one tuk-tuk that’s too small, a wardrobe stuck on the stairs. And Som has vanished.
Level 23
The broken air conditioner
แอร์เสีย
In the middle of the hot season, Hugo’s old air conditioner breaks down at night. Mali calls a technician, and she finds a very unexpected culprit inside.
The tailor
ร้านตัดสูท
Nok is getting married and Hugo’s only suit dates from his student days. In a tiny shop with no name, an old tailor measures him, and Nok wants yellow. Ten days of Yai’s khao tom later, the trousers no longer fit.
A Parcel for Mum
พัสดุถึงแม่
Hugo is sending a birthday parcel to his mother in France. The whole soi wants to add something, and the box gets very heavy. At the post office, Hugo finds out why.
Level 24
The wallet
กระเป๋าสตางค์หาย
Hugo can’t find his wallet anywhere, and he’s certain it was stolen. Off he goes to the police with Mali, to report a thief nobody ever saw.
The flood
น้ำท่วม
After a huge storm, the soi wakes up under water. Yai’s stand nearly floats away, everyone carries things up high, Ton splashes about, and Som watches it all from above. Hugo loses a shoe, but the flood has a surprise in store.
The Scooter Lesson
เรียนขี่มอเตอร์ไซค์
Nok teaches Hugo to ride a scooter in the soi. He forgets his helmet, nearly crashes into Yai’s stall and meets a policeman. By evening, he has learned his lesson a little too well.
Level 25
Nok’s wedding
งานแต่งงานของนก
Nok is getting married, all in yellow, to a very kind and very shy groom. Hugo pours too much water at the blessing, eats five plates in his widened suit and dances badly to keep the groom company. Then Nok throws her flowers, and Yai catches them.
Yai’s recipe
สูตรของยาย
After fifty years at her stall, Yai finally teaches Hugo her khao tom recipe. Hugo wants to write everything down; Yai cooks by nose and by taste. And she has her own reasons for passing the secret on.
Karaoke night
คืนคาราโอเกะ
Nok takes the whole gang to karaoke: whoever doesn’t sing can’t go home. Lek sings terribly and scores a hundred. Then it’s Hugo’s turn, with a Thai song he knows by heart, and a score that makes no sense.
Level 26
The vegetarian festival
เทศกาลกินเจ
The soi is covered in yellow flags: it’s the vegetarian festival. Mali and Nok eat jay for nine days, dressed all in white, and Hugo, who eats Yai’s pork rice soup every day, decides to join them. Soy chicken, soy shrimp… he holds out. Almost.
Som on a diet
ส้มลดน้ำหนัก
Som has got so round he can no longer jump onto the bed. The vet’s verdict: two kilos to lose. Hugo holds firm, even when Som meows all night… but the scales won’t budge. Someone in the soi is cheating. In fact, everyone is.
The cooking duel
แข่งทำขนม
Hugo claims French desserts beat Thai ones. Yai accepts the challenge: his mother’s crêpes against her mango sticky rice, Mali, Nok and Ton on the jury, and the loser does the washing-up. Ton has his own idea.
Level 27
The interview
วันสัมภาษณ์
Kru May’s school needs a French teacher, and Kru May has someone in mind. The interview is in Thai, Hugo is a bundle of nerves, and one small word slips out at the worst possible moment.
Mali’s café
ร้านกาแฟของมะลิ
Mali dreams of leaving her office to open a little café in the soi. She is afraid, Yai fears for her khao tom, and the whole soi pitches in. Hugo promises to be her very first customer. Someone beats him to it.
One Year in Bangkok
หนึ่งปีที่กรุงเทพ
Hugo finds his very first Thai notebook. One year ago, he could say five words. The soi hasn’t forgotten the date.
Expert (B2+)
Comfortable almost everywhere
Level 28
First class
สอนครั้งแรก
Hugo is teaching his very first French class. His three adult students can’t manage a single word, not even “rue”, just three letters. Now it’s Hugo’s turn to be patient, and the director chooses the worst possible moment to walk past.
The parents’ meeting
ประชุมผู้ปกครอง
Kru May’s school is starting a French class for teenagers, and first comes the parents’ meeting, in very proper Thai. Hugo has learned his speech by heart, word for word. A little too word for word.
The critic
นักวิจารณ์
Word goes round that a famous food critic is coming to Mali’s café in disguise. Mali stays calm; the rest of the soi, not so much. On the big day, everyone waits on a mysterious man in sunglasses hand and foot. Was it really him?
Level 29
The Rumour
ข่าวลือ
Lek sees Hugo leaving the French embassy with a suitcase. By the afternoon, the whole soi “knows” everything. Except the truth.
The Temple Fair
งานวัด
Ton has fallen for a giant plush elephant at the darts stall, and Hugo swears he’ll win it. The more he loses, the more he wants to play. Yai only needs three darts.
Yai turns 80
ยายอายุแปดสิบ
Word in the soi is that Yai is turning eighty. Odd: last year she said she was seventy. Monks at dawn, relatives by the hundred, a formal speech Hugo has rehearsed all week… and the one gift Yai really wants.
Level 30
Mum in Bangkok
แม่มากรุงเทพ
Hugo’s mum is visiting Bangkok for the first time. She doesn’t speak a word of Thai, Hugo plays interpreter, and the whole soi wants to feed her. With Yai, though, no translation is needed.
The Visa
วีซ่า
Hugo goes to apply for his one-year visa with a suitcase full of papers. He has brought absolutely everything. Well, almost.
Home
บ้าน
On the eve of his mum’s departure, the whole soi celebrates Hugo’s visa. A speech with no notes, a lot of tears, and one last word of Thai.
Start with the first story
Hugo has just arrived in Bangkok. Meet him on page one.
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