Food plays an integral part in Thai culture and one way this is demonstrated is in the question used in everyday life, ‘kin khao reu yang?’ The phrase translates as ‘have you eaten yet?’ It’s a social pleasantry used between friends and acquaintances along the same lines as saying ‘how are you?’ or ‘how’s it going?’ A person may respond, ‘kin laew’ (‘eaten already’) or ‘yang’ (‘not yet’). The phrase ‘than khao laew reu yang’ is another way of asking ‘have you eaten yet?’, but if the reply is ‘not yet’ (‘yang’) there is every chance the two friends will end up eating together even if it’s just a quick snack. As well as showing the significance of food in Thai culture, the phrase gives an indication of the important status of rice in Thailand because ‘khao’ means ‘rice’ so the question being asked is literally, ‘have you eaten rice yet?’
