tea money en · NOUN
Etymology
Calque of Burmese လက်ဖက်ရည်ဖိုး (lakhpak-ranyhpui:, “tea money”) likely.
Meanings
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(Myanmar, Thailand, regional, slang, uncountable) A bribe, especially for facilitating a business dealing.
Low-ranking officers in Thailand’s 200,000-strong police force are poorly paid and are infamous for topping up salaries with "tea money" for everything from minor driving offences to serious crimes.
2021 August 25, SCMP Reporter, “Death of Thai man after police extortion attempt captured on viral video, sparks public anger”, in This Week in Asia, South China Morning Post, retrieved 25 Aug 2021:
Relateds
Translations (4)
cmn 茶錢 /茶钱 (bribe) · sw chai (bribe) · my လက်ဖက်ရည်ဖိုး (bribe) · th ค่าน้ำร้อนน้ำชา (bribe)