Welcome to YOLO, an ongoing series written by Jess Smith and guest contributors. Here, we’ll emphasize living life to the fullest through new experiences and not dwelling on the silly moments!

Jess Smith, 136 YinD

With many days spent at the government office at the start of my service, I took advantage of the time and tried to learn more Thai. I want to share with you something I came up with! This is my comprehensive guide to memorizing the months with connections and silly phrases (my personal favorite of those I came up with is August). 

I hope this inspires some of you to study Thai and helps others to learn the months!

Note: “kom” = 31 days
“pan” = February
“yon” = 30 days

1. January or mok-ga-raa-kom
   mok-ga sounds like mocha, January is the 1st month
   “I drink a mok-ga when it 1st gets cold.”
2. February or goom-par-pan
   Valentines=goom (sounds like groom) and bride
   “Pan” means tied in Thai, “tie the knot.”
3. March or mee-naa-kom 
   “mee”=have “naa”=rice (as in “tung-naa”=rice field)
   “Have rice in March (and every other month), yum!”
4. April or may-saa-yon
   April+1=may
   Simple as that.
5. May or prut-sa-par-kom
   The waiter at Olive Garden forgets to ask you if you want parmesan with your meal!
   “prut-sa” reminds me of “pretty”
   “May I have parmesan prut-sa please”
6. June or mee-tu-naa-yon
   Picture this: it’s June, you’re out on a boat fishin’, life is good.
   “mee”=have 
   “Have tuna in June.”
7. July or ga-rak-ga-daa-kom
   “Lady Gaga sings rak-daa in July”
   We all know that one song… ra ra rak daa…right?
8. August or sing-ha-kom
   Singha=beer=Leo=August  
   I mean, come on, this was meant to be.
9. September or gun-yaa-yon
   When September ends…don’t jump the “gun”
10. October or dtu-laa-kom
    “Dtu-laa” sounds like “glua” (which means scared in Thai)
    Halloween is in October…you connect the dots.
11. November or prut-sa-ji-ghar-yon
    November is close to the end of the year. 
    “Close but no ji-ghar.”
    You know, like “cigar”
    **Not to be confused with May! Remember 11>5, so the name of the month is longer.**
12. December or tan-waa-kom
    “Tan-waa” sounds like Kwanzaa (kinda).
    Kwanzaa is in December.

You only live once… learn something new.

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Read Jess’s previous articles and contributions.