เพื่อนกิน

เพื่อน (pʉ̂ʉan, “friend”) +‎ กิน (gin, “to eat”); literally "friend that eats" or "eating friend", referring to a friend who is only present during meals; probably from or influenced by the 403rd stanza of the 19th century poetic series Khlong Lokkanit ("Law of the World") by Prince Mang (1793–1859), inscribed on the corridor walls of Wat Pho:

pʉ̂ʉan-gin sîn sáp lɛ́ɛo · nɛ̌ɛng-nǐi

hǎa ngâai lǎai mʉ̀ʉn mii · mâak lón

pʉ̂ʉan-dtaai tàai tɛɛn chii · waa àat

hǎa yâak fàak-pǐi-kâi · yâak tɛ́ɛ jàk hǎa

A friend that eats leaves you when you have no more wealth.

They are easy to find, for they exist in abundance, in ten thousands of thousands, in countless numbers.

But a friend that dies for you and substitutes himself for you for the sake of your life and limb

is not easy to find. Hard indeed is to find someone you can depend upon in the time of illness or following your death.

เพื่อนกิน • (pʉ̂ʉan-gin) (classifier คน)

1. (idiomatic) fair-weather friend.

• ประชุมโคลงโลกนิติ. (2000). กรุงเทพฯ: สถาบันภาษาไทย กรมวิชาการ กระทรวงศึกษาธิการ. →ISBN page 396.