The phrases you'll actually use for greetings, street food, markets and taxis, each with Thai script, tone-marked romanisation and what it means.
The short answer: Start with hello (สวัสดีครับ sà-wàt-dii khráp or สวัสดีค่ะ sà-wàt-dii khâ), thank you (ขอบคุณ khòp-khun), how much (เท่าไหร่ thâo-rài) and I don't understand (ไม่เข้าใจ mâi khâo-jai). The ending is the polite word for your gender, and you add it to most sentences: ครับ khráp if you're a man, ค่ะ khâ if you're a woman. That alone covers a surprising amount of a trip.
Thai softens sentences with a small word at the end. Men say ครับ khráp. Women say ค่ะ khâ.
The part travellers get wrong: it depends on who is speaking, not who you're speaking to. A man thanking a woman still says khráp. A woman greeting a man still says khâ. Pick yours and use it everywhere: after hello, after thank you, after a question. It's the quickest way to sound considerate, even with only a handful of words.
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| สวัสดีครับ | sà-wàt-dii khráp | hello (man speaking) |
| สวัสดีค่ะ | sà-wàt-dii khâ | hello (woman speaking) |
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ขอบคุณ | khòp-khun | thank you |
| ขอบคุณค่ะ | khòp-khun khâ | thank you (woman) |
| ขอโทษ | khǒr-thôot | sorry |
| ไม่เป็นไร | mâi bpen rai | no worries |
| ใช่ | châi | yes |
| ไม่ใช่ | mâi châi | no |
| ชื่ออะไร | chêu a-rai | what's your name |
Mâi bpen rai is worth learning early. You'll hear it constantly, as "no problem", "never mind" and "it's fine", and saying it back when someone apologises goes down well.
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ไม่เผ็ด | mâi phèt | not spicy |
| เผ็ด | phèt | spicy |
| อร่อยมาก | à-ròi mâak | very tasty |
| ขอน้ำ | khǒr nám | water, please |
| กาแฟ | kaa-fae | coffee |
| เช็คบิล | chék bin | the bill |
At a street food stall, mâi phèt is the phrase that saves your evening. And à-ròi mâak to the cook on your way out costs nothing and usually earns a smile.
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| เท่าไหร่ | thâo-rài | how much |
| แพงไป | phaeng bpai | too expensive |
| ลดได้ไหม | lót dâai mǎi | can you lower it? |
| ได้ | dâai | can |
| ไม่ได้ | mâi dâai | cannot |
At a market, keep it light. Ask thâo-rài, and if the price feels high, a smiling lót dâai mǎi is friendlier than a flat phaeng bpai. If the answer is mâi dâai, that's the price.
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ไปที่นี่ | bpai thîi-nîi | go here |
| ตรงไป | dtrong bpai | go straight |
| เลี้ยวซ้าย | líaw sáai | turn left |
| เลี้ยวขวา | líaw khwǎa | turn right |
| จอดที่นี่ | jòt thîi-nîi | stop here |
| ที่ไหน | thîi-nǎi | where |
| กี่โมง | kìi-mong | what time |
Bpai thîi-nîi while pointing at a map on your phone gets you most places. Jòt thîi-nîi gets you out exactly where you want.
| Thai | Romanisation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ไม่เข้าใจ | mâi khâo-jai | I don't understand |
| พูดช้าๆ | phûut cháa-cháa | speak slowly |
| ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน | hông-nám yùu thîi-nǎi | where's the bathroom |
| ภาษาไทย | phaa-sǎa thai | Thai language |
| ช่วยด้วย | chûay-dûay | help! |
Every syllable above carries its tone. The marks tell you what your pitch does:
Doubled vowels are long. aa, ii and uu are held for longer than a, i and u, and length changes meaning: เข้า khâo means enter, ข้าว khâaw means rice. The Thai pronunciation guide covers vowel length and the consonants English doesn't have. The Thai tones guide explains each tone in detail.
It's tempting to skip tones for a holiday. The trouble is that tone is part of the word, so a wrong one doesn't just sound foreign. It can be a different word.
Asking a driver whether somewhere is near or far comes down to that one fall in your voice. Thai people are generous listeners and context rescues you often, but not every time. A few minutes on tones before you fly means far fewer blank looks.
Hello is sà-wàt-dii, thank you is khòp-khun. Add your polite ending: สวัสดีครับ sà-wàt-dii khráp for a man, สวัสดีค่ะ sà-wàt-dii khâ for a woman.
Whichever matches your gender. Men say khráp, women say khâ, whoever they're talking to.
They make a real difference. klâi (near) and klai (far) differ only by tone.
A small set of phrases gets you through greetings, food, shopping and taxis. The free Traveller's Survival Pack covers it in 15 short spoken lessons.
Look for spoken Thai, tones marked on every syllable, and audio for every phrase. Duolingo has no Thai course. Ravela Thai offers the free Survival Pack and a free tone checker so you can try it before committing to anything.
Free Traveller's Survival Pack: 15 lessons, spoken only, Thai audio on every phrase.
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