Thai six-hour clock
Encyclopedia
The six-hour clock is a traditional timekeeping system used in Thai
and Lao language
alongside the official 24-hour clock
. Like the other common systems, it counts twenty-four hour
s in a day, but divides the day into four quarters, counting six hours in each. The hours in each quarter (with the exception of the sixth) are told with period-designating words or phrases, which are:
These terms are believed to have originated from the sounds of traditional timekeeping devices. The gong
was used to announce the hours in daytime, and the drum at night. Hence the terms mong, an onomatopoeia of the sound of the gong, and thum, that of the sound of the drum. Ti is a verb meaning to hit or strike, and is presumed to have originated from the act of striking the timekeeping device itself. Chao and bai translate as morning and afternoon respectively, and help to differentiate the two daytime quarters.
The sixth hours of each quarter are told by a different set of terms. The sixth hour at dawn is called yam rung , and the sixth hour at dusk is called yam kham , both references to the act of striking the gong or drum in succession to announce the turning of day (yam), where rung and kham, meaning dawn and dusk, denote the time of these occurrences. The midday and midnight hours are respectively known as thiang and thiang khuen , both of which literally translate as midday and midnight.
Midnight is also called song yam , a reference to the end of the second three-hour period of the night watch (song translates as the number two). In addition, hok (6) thum and ti hok may also be used to refer to the hours of midnight and dawn, following general usage for the other hours, although more rarely, and the fourth to sixth hours of the second daytime half may also be told as ... mong yen , yen meaning evening.
The system has been used in some form since the days of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
, but was only codified similarly to its present form in 1901 by King Chulalongkorn
in Royal Gazette 17:206. Nowadays, it is used only in colloquial speech. However, a corrupted form of the six-hour clock is more frequently encountered, where usually the first half of daytime (including the sixth hour of the preceding quarter) is counted as in the twelve-hour clock, i.e. hok (6) mong chao, chet (7) mong, etc. up to sip et (11) mong.
A comparison of the systems is as follows:
Thai language
Thai , also known as Central Thai and Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand and the native language of the Thai people, Thailand's dominant ethnic group. Thai is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Historical linguists have been unable to definitively...
and Lao language
Lao language
Lao or Laotian is a tonal language of the Tai–Kadai language family. It is the official language of Laos, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Being the primary language of the Lao people, Lao is also an important second language for...
alongside the official 24-hour clock
24-hour clock
The 24-hour clock is a convention of time keeping in which the day runs from midnight to midnight and is divided into 24 hours, indicated by the hours passed since midnight, from 0 to 23. This system is the most commonly used time notation in the world today...
. Like the other common systems, it counts twenty-four hour
Hour
The hour is a unit of measurement of time. In modern usage, an hour comprises 60 minutes, or 3,600 seconds...
s in a day, but divides the day into four quarters, counting six hours in each. The hours in each quarter (with the exception of the sixth) are told with period-designating words or phrases, which are:
- ... mong chao for the first half of daytime (07:00 to 12:59)
- Bai ... mong for the latter half of daytime (13:00 to 18:59)
- ... thum for the first half of nighttime (19:00 to 00:59)
- Ti ... for the latter half of nighttime (01:00 to 06:59)
These terms are believed to have originated from the sounds of traditional timekeeping devices. The gong
Gong
A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....
was used to announce the hours in daytime, and the drum at night. Hence the terms mong, an onomatopoeia of the sound of the gong, and thum, that of the sound of the drum. Ti is a verb meaning to hit or strike, and is presumed to have originated from the act of striking the timekeeping device itself. Chao and bai translate as morning and afternoon respectively, and help to differentiate the two daytime quarters.
The sixth hours of each quarter are told by a different set of terms. The sixth hour at dawn is called yam rung , and the sixth hour at dusk is called yam kham , both references to the act of striking the gong or drum in succession to announce the turning of day (yam), where rung and kham, meaning dawn and dusk, denote the time of these occurrences. The midday and midnight hours are respectively known as thiang and thiang khuen , both of which literally translate as midday and midnight.
Midnight is also called song yam , a reference to the end of the second three-hour period of the night watch (song translates as the number two). In addition, hok (6) thum and ti hok may also be used to refer to the hours of midnight and dawn, following general usage for the other hours, although more rarely, and the fourth to sixth hours of the second daytime half may also be told as ... mong yen , yen meaning evening.
The system has been used in some form since the days of the Ayutthaya Kingdom
Ayutthaya kingdom
Ayutthaya was a Siamese kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767. Ayutthaya was friendly towards foreign traders, including the Chinese, Vietnamese , Indians, Japanese and Persians, and later the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and French, permitting them to set up villages outside the walls of the...
, but was only codified similarly to its present form in 1901 by King Chulalongkorn
Chulalongkorn
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramintharamaha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama V was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri. He was known to the Siamese of his time as Phra Phuttha Chao Luang . He is considered one of the greatest kings of Siam...
in Royal Gazette 17:206. Nowadays, it is used only in colloquial speech. However, a corrupted form of the six-hour clock is more frequently encountered, where usually the first half of daytime (including the sixth hour of the preceding quarter) is counted as in the twelve-hour clock, i.e. hok (6) mong chao, chet (7) mong, etc. up to sip et (11) mong.
A comparison of the systems is as follows:
| Meaning | 6-hour | Modified 6-hour | 24-hour | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai | RTGS Royal Thai General System of Transcription The Royal Thai General System of Transcription is the official system for rendering Thai language words in the Latin alphabet, published by the Royal Institute of Thailand... |
Thai | RTGS | ||
| 1 early morning | ตีหนึ่ง | ti nueng | ตีหนึ่ง | ti nueng | 01:00 |
| 2 early morning | ตีสอง | ti song | ตีสอง | ti song | 02:00 |
| 3 early morning | ตีสาม | ti sam | ตีสาม | ti sam | 03:00 |
| 4 early morning | ตีสี่ | ti si | ตีสี่ | ti si | 04:00 |
| 5 early morning | ตีห้า | ti ha | ตีห้า | ti ha | 05:00 |
| 6 in the morning | ตีหก, ย่ำรุ่ง |
ti hok, yam rung |
หกโมงเช้า | hok mong chao | 06:00 |
| 1 in the morning | โมงเช้า | mong chao | เจ็ดโมง (เช้า)* | chet mong (chao)* | 07:00 |
| 2 in the morning | สองโมงเช้า | song mong chao | แปดโมง (เช้า)* | paet mong (chao)* | 08:00 |
| 3 in the morning | สามโมงเช้า | sam mong chao | เก้าโมง (เช้า)* | kao mong (chao)* | 09:00 |
| 4 in the morning | สีโมงเช้า | si mong chao | สิบโมง (เช้า)* | sip mong (chao)* | 10:00 |
| 5 in the morning | ห้าโมงเช้า | ha mong chao | สิบเอ็ดโมง (เช้า)* | sip et mong (chao)* | 11:00 |
| midday | เที่ยงวัน | thiang wan | เที่ยงวัน | thiang wan | 12:00 |
| 1 in the afternoon | บ่ายโมง | bai mong | บ่ายโมง | bai mong | 13:00 |
| 2 in the afternoon | บ่ายสองโมง | bai song mong | บ่ายสองโมง | bai song mong | 14:00 |
| 3 in the afternoon | บ่ายสามโมง | bai sam mong | บ่ายสามโมง | bai sam mong | 15:00 |
| 4 in the afternoon | บ่ายสี่โมง | bai si mong | บ่ายสี่โมง** | bai si mong** | 16:00 |
| 5 in the afternoon | บ่ายห้าโมง | bai ha mong | บ่ายห้าโมง** | bai ha mong** | 17:00 |
| 6 in the evening | หกโมงเย็น, ย่ำค่ำ |
hok mong yen, yam kham |
หกโมงเย็น | hok mong yen | 18:00 |
| 1 at night | หนึ่งทุ่ม | nueng thum | หนึ่งทุ่ม | nueng thum | 19:00 |
| 2 at night | สองทุ่ม | song thum | สองทุ่ม | song thum | 20:00 |
| 3 at night | สามทุ่ม | sam thum | สามทุ่ม | sam thum | 21:00 |
| 4 at night | สี่ทุ่ม | si thum | สี่ทุ่ม | si thum | 22:00 |
| 5 at night | ห้าทุ่ม | ha thum | ห้าทุ่ม | ha thum | 23:00 |
| midnight | เที่ยงคืน, หกทุ่ม, สองยาม |
thiang khuen, hok thum, song yam |
เที่ยงคืน, หกทุ่ม |
thiang khuen, hok thum |
24:00, 00:00 |
- * The word chao (เช้า) is optional here since the numbers 7 to 11 are not used elsewhere
- ** Conversationally, si mong yen (สี่โมงเย็น) and ha mong yen (ห้าโมงเย็น) are also spoken if considered as evening