INTERVIEWEE - WAITRESS 1 | Thais In Hong Kong

Name: Sukanya
Chinese name: Kwok An Kei 郭安琪
(She acquired her Chinese name in HK out of the need to have one)

Migrated to Hong Kong at 1985 (28 years)
Mother tongue: Thai
Languages spoken: Cantonese, Thai, English
(ranked by usage in everyday life, left as the most frequently use language)
Marital status: Married to a local Hong Konger
No. of children: 2

Linguistic Profile
Sukanya is a Thai born Chinese. She learnt simple Cantonese phrases from her parents at home but seldom used it as her parents seldom talk in Thai too. Like many other Thais, she learnt English since primary school but have limited chance to use it in her daily life.

When she grew up, she noticed the vibrant economy in Hong Kong thus had the incentive to learn Cantonese to gain competitiveness. Are there any other reasons? "Mainly it was because I have met my husband and wanted to come to Hong Kong, therefore I have to learn Cantonese." She said. "It is a really hard language to learn, but once you know the basics of the language, it is easier."

She is now a full speaker of Cantonese and have no difficulty understanding slangs and idioms of Cantonese. She can also read Chinese. Therefore when we asked whether she thinks it is hard to talk to customers, she firmly replies no. She now tends to code-mix between Cantonese and Thai with her Thai colleagues. Usually starting the sentence in Cantonese, then end with Thai phrases. Or inserting Thai vocabularies into a Cantonese sentence.

Interview with a Thai Restaurant Waitress, Sukanya

Life as a Thai in Hong Kong
In order to survive in HK, Sukanya said the most important thing is to know Cantonese, she said "I think my life would be very hard if I only knew Thai and English at HK, good that I took up language courses before coming." Talking about buying Thai commodities, she believes that only Kowloon City has Thai stores that sell newspapers and authentic food, however she finds it very accessible and convenient as she works nearby.

In the religion aspect, there are several Thai temples in HK, however none is around Kowloon City. So Sukanya and her friends usually go during weekends and Thai festivals.

Interestingly, Sukanya would pray to the Thai god in Cantonese rather than Thai. She finds this more comfortable for her to pray in.

Identity and Second-generation

Sukanya regarded herself as a Hong Kong people now as she has already lived here for 28 years, moreover her husband is from HK so she identifies herself with a new identity.

"Then what about your 2 children?" we asked.

"My children are now attending local schools, one in primary and another in secondary education. Both know very limited Thai that only includes greetings to their seniors, Thai food names and funny phrases such as 水晶晶 (sui ching ching) (literal translation to Cantonese is glimmering water) & 破柴 (po cai) (literal translation to Cantonese is to break the wood). 水晶晶 in Thai means pretty and 破柴 means men. So it is funny for them as these words have the same pronunciation as Cantonese but different meaning. Besides, I think they only know they are a mix between Thai and Chinese, but would not regard themselves as a Thai also."

"Do you think your children knowing no Thai language is a sign of loss of cultural roots?"
Sukanya smiled and said: "No, they are Hong Kong people, I think knowing those Thai vocabularies I have mentioned are already enough for them".