[Schmeen]

There is actually a very precise waty of transliterating Thai as laid out by Phrabat Somdet Phra Chulachomklaochaoyuhua. It is used for examples on road signes etc, though you'll still see variations of it.

There are some main rules that are worth remembering

a 'h' after the initial consenant has the opposite effect that it does in English....it hardens the sound rather than softens it....eg Phuket

a 'k' without a h is a g sound, there is no words starting with 'g' in official transliteration (now prove that one wrong, but I cannot think of any when done correctly)

there are some other good rules to remember I'll add them as I think of them and have more time.

and yes - the insanity of near and far...even now i have a problem...i know the difference in the pronounciation, but for the life of me I can never remember which is which, as a result I always leave the conversation, when forced to use them, as fast as possible