French boxer shows off ‘Muay Thai’ tattoo


Those who have lived in Thailand for a while – especially boxers from abroad – commonly get tattoos on their bodies. Meaningful Thai words or phrases are popular choices for such tattoos.

In the same vein, this French boxer who showed off his ‘Muay Thai’ tattoo on his forearm on his IG was probably pretty mortified to find out that it wasn’t what he thought.

The tattoo is written in Thai but contains an unfortunate misspelling; making it sound like ‘Thai dick’ instead.

After his post had gone viral, many netizens went to comment on his IG picture in good humour. Keep on reading to see how this amusing story unfolded.

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French boxer showed off misspelt ‘Muay Thai’ tattoo


Image credit: @jimmy_vienot

On 7th June 2022, an IG post of a French boxer, Jimmy Vienot, showing off his “Muay Thai” tattoo written in Thai has reportedly gone viral due to its misspelling. The misspelt word, “Kuay Thai” also amusingly sounds like the phrase for ‘Thai dick” instead of the intended term, according to Komchadluek.

Image credit: @jimmy_vienot

Jimmy Vienot is reportedly a 26-year-old French boxer in Thailand who has won many boxing titles. On his Instagram account, he posted a photo of himself showing a tattoo of the Thai word ‘Muay Thai’ on his forearm, but it’s misspelt with the letter ‘ฆ’ instead of ‘ม’; consequently, the word’s pronunciation is changed and so is the meaning.

After the post had been shared widely on social media, many Instagram users couldn’t help but chime in to inform him about the tattoo.


Netizens humorously commented on his misspelt tattoo on his IG


When the news about his misspelt tattoo spread, plenty of netizens flocked to his post to comment on it.

Screenshot: @jimmy_vienot

One woman enlightened him with her explanation in English about the Thai letters and their pronunciations.

Screenshot: @jimmy_vienot

Translation: Where did you get it from? I feel bad for you. It’s ม not ฆ man!!!!

Another IG user asked where he got the tattoo, as he felt pity for the boxer.

Screenshot: @jimmy_vienot

Translation: Damn! Go get it fixed now.

One netizen advised him to go have it “fixed” right away.

Screenshot: @jimmy_vienot

Translation: Did the tattoo artist prank you?

Finally, this IG user wondered if the artist had misspelt the word intentionally.


A tiny mistake can change the meaning


Well, there are many, many consonants and vowels in the Thai language. Even we, as Thais ourselves, can get confused with our own letters sometimes, so it’s not surprising to see errors like this.

Nevertheless, a tiny spelling mistake can lead to a meaning change in a word. Anyway, we feel sorry for the French boxer and hope he can have it fixed soon.


Cover images adapted from (Clockwise from Top Left): @jimmy_vienot, @jimmy_vienot

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