('Well, it's starting to look like it wasn't just a nasty rumour after all - according to reports pop star Lydia really is former prime minister Thaksin's 'kik' after all")

Geez almighty, as a foreigner in Thailand, just how many times have you heard the locals talking about their so-called 'kiks'? Things you can have, regardless to whether or not you are already in a proper relationship. Ask a few Thai buddies about the actual meaning of this new trendy word and you are more than likely to listen to two completely different meanings. Well, that's simply because there is no established definition of the thing.

For many, 'their' definition of 'kik' (pronounced 'gik') is simply someone who is 'more than a friend', a person you can go alone to have a nice meal with, watch a movie with or gossip whole-heartedly about your lover with. For Westerners this person is nothing more than a good pal, something that is generally socially accepted. Culturally however, since 'friends' of the opposite sex do not do such things together with in Thailand (at least not alone) the urbanites have invented, only very recently, their own word for it. And I use the word urbanites, as folk in rural villages, couldn't get away with having a 'kik', for as you will know what is your business is also that of the whole village's. Believe it or not, but historically, a present day 'kik', in this sense of the matter, would be the equivalent of the person you were planning on marrying – you could call it a fianc้e.

For others though, it is nothing of the kind, a 'kik' is someone you are having a casual fling with – a once a fortnight naughty scenario at some flimsy short-time motel. Differing in meaning to the word 'choo' (someone you are having an affair with) as a 'kik' is not to be taken seriously, and of course it doesn't necessarily mean that you are cheating someone. But like a 'choo' it is free, and doesn't cost 10,000 baht a month, unlike a 'mia noi' (mistress) or even a 'pua noi' (male equivalent of a mistress).

So, there you have it – there are chances you have a 'kik' or two of your own (hopefully in regards to the first meaning!) and you didn't even know it!