Daily Thai Confidence — Using เหยื่อ (hyèua)

Noun: เหยื่อ (^hyèua)
Meaning: a victim / a prey

In this Thai lesson, we learn how to use the noun เหยื่อ (^hyèua), which means ‘a victim’ or ‘a prey’. It refers to someone or something that suffers harm, either physically (like an animal being hunted) or emotionally or socially (like someone harmed by crime, deception, or abuse).

For examples (ตัวอย่างเช่น — dtūa-^awyàang chên)

t^hēr dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng gāan-^hlàwk-lūang
Literal: She fall to be victim of the action of deceiving.
She was a victim of deception.

The verb phrase ตกเป็นเหยื่อของ… (dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng…) means ‘to become a victim of…’ or ‘to fall victim to…’, and it is followed by a noun — ตกเป็นเหยื่อของ… (dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng…) + noun. For example: เขาตกเป็นเหยื่อของมิจฉาชีพ (k^hǎo dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng míd-chǎa-chêeb = He became a victim of scammers.); เธอตกเป็นเหยื่อของความรุนแรงในครอบครัว (t^hēr dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng k^hwāam-rūn-rāeng nāi k^hrâwb-k^hrūa = She was a victim of domestic violence.); หลายคนตกเป็นเหยื่อของการโฆษณาเกินจริง (^hlǎai k^hōn dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng gāan-k^hōo-sà-nāa gēun jīng = Many people fall victim to exaggerated advertising claims.), etc.

sǐng-dtōo gām-lāng lâa ^hyèua
Literal: Lion in the process of hunting prey.
The lion is hunting its prey.

The helping verb กำลัง (gām-lāng) is often placed before the main verb to show that the action is happening right now, similar to the English present continuous tense. It is like saying ‘in process of’ doing the verb that followed — subject + กำลัง (gām-lāng) + main verb. For example: เขากำลังทำอาหารเย็นอยู่ข้างหลังบ้าน (k^hǎo gām-lāng t^hām āa-hǎan-yēn ^awyùu k^hâang-^hlǎng bâan = He is making dinner at the back of the house.); คุณกำลังทำอะไร (k^hūn gām-lāng t^hām à-rāi? = What are you doing?), etc.

nák-lōng-t^hūn bāang k^hōn dtòk bpēn ^hyèua k^hǎwng chāe-lûuk-sôo
Literal: Investor some person fall victim to pyramid scheme.
Some investors fall victim to pyramid schemes.

The quantifier บาง (bāang) means ‘some’ and is usually follow by a noun — บาง (bāang) + noun / classifier. For example: บางคน (bāang k^hōn = some people); บางวัน (bāang wān = some days); บางครั้ง (bāang-k^hráng = sometimes / some occasions); บางที (bāang-t^hēe = sometimes / maybe / perhaps), etc.

Practise putting your newly learned Thai word into a sentence by translating the following sentences below.

1. That child is a victim of bullying.
2. That elderly man was a victim of fraud.
3. Many people became victims of fake news.
4. Foreigners became victims of being deceived into buying land.
5. Many families fell victims to the economic crisis.

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Urai Khomkham

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