Transliteration and phonetics.

   Traffic signs in Thailand are in Thai with English below the Thai,  That is very helpful in navigation.  However, the transliteration does not correspond with normal English pronunciation,  For example take the city of On Nut.  I've been seeing that sign for years because it's at one end of the Skytrain...do I take the train toward National Stadium or On Nut.
   Driving back from Pattaya on Sunday we went by On Nut.  I said "On Nut" as most English speakers would.  The family said "huh?"  It turns our that the real pronunciation via Thai is closer to "Awn Newt."  This creates much difficulty when Thai people try to understand English speakers,  Another example is the city of Saphanburi.  I'd say something like "Saphanbury."   Not the Thai. They say "Saphanbureee' with heavy emphasis on "eee".
   Poe, the 30 year old daughter here gave birth to a baby boy in May. It's the custom in Thailand for mothers to give their child a nickname at birth,  It's a good idea because the given name is usually several syllables  Poe nicknamed her son "Nice" because she wants him to be nice.  However, while she understands the concept of "nice" she pronounces it "Nye".  This is typical because when Thai speak they often drop the final syllable.
   A little footnote on nicknames; Poe, which she spells Poo but pronounces Poe, means crab...like the sea critter.  Her mother's nickname is pronounced Met but spelled Max and means stapler.

Max (Met) and Nice.