สู้ๆ (su su), Thai’s encouragement expression literally meaning “fight fight,” parallels Korean “fighting”/hwaiting as Asian language’s verb-as-encouragement phenomenon. In Thai K-pop fandom culture, su su and hwaiting coexisted—Thai fans understanding both through shared parasocial vocabulary despite different origins.
Thai Cultural Context
สู้ means “to fight/resist/endure”—doubling it (สู้ๆ) softens to encouraging “keep fighting/hang in there.” Thais use it before exams, during illness, through hardships, or supporting friends’ challenges. The phrase balances acknowledgment of difficulty with belief in persistence—you’re in battle, but you’ll prevail.
K-pop Fandom Overlap
Thailand’s massive K-pop fan culture (2010s+) created interesting linguistic mixing—Thai fans used both #สู้ๆ and #화이팅 interchangeably in concert tweets and fan cafe posts. The parallel concepts (encouragement through fighting metaphor) made them natural equivalents, though Thai su su felt more gentle, Korean hwaiting more intense. Multilingual fans code-switched based on emotional need.
Political Protest Adoption
During Thailand’s 2020 youth-led pro-democracy protests, #สู้ๆ took on resistance meaning—protesters encouraging each other to “keep fighting” against monarchy/military power. The phrase’s dual meaning (personal encouragement + political resistance) made it useful—ambiguous enough to avoid prosecution while clearly supporting movement. “Su su na” (keep fighting, okay?) became solidarity greeting.
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