ศาลาชุมนุม

[baker]

I was reading a story in Thai Rath about the Rolls Royce corruption case which they described as งามหน้า. This threw me because the components are 'beauty' and 'face' but it actually means disgraceful. Anyone got any ideas about the origins of the word or an explanation of how those two words came to be combined to give such a counterintuitive meaning?

[David and Bui]

From the Royal Institute Dictionary:

งามหน้า ว. น่าขายหน้า, ใช้เป็นคำประชด เช่น เขาทำงามหน้าละคราวนี้.

". . . (modifier) shameful; disgraceful. [used in a mocking or sarcastic manner]. Sample sentence, He acted in a disgraceful manner this time."

Anther sentence:

"ลูกสาวบ้านนี้ทำงามหน้าโดยหนีตามผู้ชายไป"
A young woman in this house acted shamefully by running away with a man.

I think that the answer to your question is reflected in the RID definition, "used in a mocking or sarcastic manner."

[baker]

It's notoriously difficult to understand irony in a foreign language and Thai is no different. It does seem like the best explanation for how that word came to have that meaning. I find it very odd.