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Learning about the Tallest Waterfall: Ti Law Su in Tak Province

Posted by Stuart at 07:19 PM on December 08, 2004

Almost two months ago, I realized that was making some progress by studying my Thai Language flashcards alone, but I was not really sure how to link all the words together into understandable sentences. Not to mention I could never be sure if I was pronouncing the words correctly. So I hired my friend Ekk to help me.

He has turned out to be a great teacher. He has been able to explain Thai grammar rules to me better than anyone else, and we have had a lot of sanook (fun) in the process. Unfortunately, though, tonight was the last night of lessons for a while. He has started a new job and is spending most of his time training. Plus, I leave for America next week. So, we are taking a break until the new year.

Tonight he told me a story (in Thai) about his trip to Tak province. I was very excited that I was able to understand about 80% of the story. I'm sure that he is speaking very slowly with very simple words and very simple grammar, but hey, it's a step in the right direction. I was amazed that I actually understood him when he said, nam-dtok ti-law-suu bpen nam-tok yai ti-sook ni pratet tai lae yai bpen ti hok kawng loke (The Ti Law Su waterfall is the tallest waterfall in Thailand and the sixth tallest in the world.)

Not only was I excited to be able to understand the story, I was excited to hear that Thailand has the 6th largest waterfall in the world. I had no idea. According to Ekk, getting to the waterfall is not very easy. From Bangkok you have to drive north to Tak province, and then take an amazingly curvy road several hours south through virgin bamboo forested mountains.

It sounds like nam-dtok ti-law-suu is a must-see adventure waiting for me.