The Wisdom of a Thai Love Proverb
ETimes.in / Updated: Jun 15, 2026, 11:44 IST
1/6 Thai love proverb: "Yaam rák náam dtôm pàk gâw wâa wăan, yaam chang náam-dtaan gâw wâa kŏm." Translation: "When in love, even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet; when hating, even sugar tastes bitter."
This Thai love proverb is simple, yet it contains a truth that runs through every relationship we have ever had. It does not talk about grand gestures or perfect moments. Instead, it reminds us that love and hate alter how we experience everything.
When you are in love, even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet. It is not that the broth changed. It is that your heart changed. You are happy. You are connected. You are filled with warmth. And that warmth makes everything taste better. Even something simple, something ordinary, something that should be bland becomes sweet because you are in love.
But when you are hating, even sugar tastes bitter. Sugar should be sweet. It is the definition of sweet. But when you are filled with anger, resentment, or hate, even the sweetest thing tastes bitter. Your heart is closed. Your mind is negative. And that negativity makes everything taste wrong.
That is what this proverb says about love and hate. They do not just change how you feel. They change how you experience the world.
Why This Proverb Feels So True
2/6 When we are in love, everything feels better. Small things become meaningful. Ordinary moments become special. We are happy and connected. But when we are hating, everything feels worse. Even the sweetest things taste bitter. The smallest inconvenience becomes a problem. The smallest complaint becomes a fight. We are angry. We are closed off. We are filled with negativity.
That is the truth this proverb is telling us. Love and hate do not just change our emotions. They change our entire experience of life.
The Power of Love
3/6 When you are in love, even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet. The broth did not change. The recipe did not change. The ingredients did not change. But your experience changed. You are happy. You are open. You are filled with love. And that love makes everything taste better.
Love does not just make you feel good. It makes everything feel good. It changes how you see the world. It changes how you experience life. It changes how you taste even the simplest things. That is the power of love. It transforms everything.
The Power of Hate
4/6 But when you are hating, even sugar tastes bitter. The sugar did not change. It is still sweet. But your experience changed. You are angry. You are closed off. You are filled with negativity. And that negativity makes everything taste wrong.
Hate does not just make you feel bad. It makes everything feel bad. It changes how you see the world. It changes how you experience life. It changes how you taste even the sweetest things. That is the power of hate. It corrupts everything.
Why This Proverb Still Matters
5/6 In a world where we often focus on the big things, like money, success, status, this Thai proverb reminds us that love and hate change the small things too. They change how we taste food. They change how we experience moments. They change how we see the world.
This proverb is a reminder to choose love. To open your heart. To be positive. Because when you are in love, even the simplest things become sweet. And when you are hating, even the sweetest things become bitter.
It is also a reminder that love and hate are choices. You can choose to be open. You can choose to be positive. You can choose to love. And when you do, everything tastes better.
The Truth This Proverb Holds
6/6 "When in love, even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet; when hating, even sugar tastes bitter" is not just about food. It is about how our emotions shape our experience.
The Thai people have lived through generations of relationships, heartbreak, and joy. And through all of it, they learned that love transforms everything. They learned that hate corrupts everything. This proverb does not need to be complicated. It just needs to be felt. And when you feel it, you will understand why it has been passed down through generations. Because love, real love, changes everything. Even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet.
When in love, even boiled vegetable broth tastes sweet. When hating, even sugar tastes bitter. That is the truth. That is the power. And that is why love matters.
