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Thai Talk – Thai For Beginners Lesson 1

My previous Thai talk post on dating and Thai love phrases proved pretty popular, so I thought I would create a useful set of “Thai for beginners” phrases that will be useful for travelers and those just starting to learn.

As always, I've written the phonetic English translation, and given you the Thai script.  The entire lesson is also in video format at the bottom of the page.

I hope you find this useful, and If there is a particular phrase or question you would like to know how to say, please feel free to hit me up in the comments section and I will reply with the correct translation:

thai for beginners

Thai Talk – 25 Essential Thai Phrases For Beginners:

1. Hello

Sawadee khrup/ka: สวัสดี – ครับ / ค่ะ

2. How are you?

Sa bai dee mai khrup/ka: สบายดีไหม – ครับ / ค่ะ

3. Fine, thank you

Sa bai dee khrup/ka: สบายดี – ครับ / ค่ะ

4. Thank you

khop khun khrup/ka: ขอบคุณ  – ครับ / ค่ะ

5. Yes

Chai khrup/ka: ใช่ – ครับ / ค่ะ

6. No

Mai khrup/ka: ไม่ – ครับ / ค่ะ

7. Maybe

Aa ja khrup/ka: อาจจะ – ครับ / ค่ะ

8. Never mind/it's okay/no problem

Mai ben rai khrup/ka: ไม่เป็นไร – ครับ / ค่ะ

9. I cannot speak Thai

Phom/chan puut passa Thai mai dai khrup/ka: ผมฉันพูดภาษาไทยไม่ได้ – ครับ / ค่ะ

10. Please speak slowly

Ga ru na phuut cha cha khrup/ka: กรุณาพูดช้าช้า – ครับ / ค่ะ

11. I don't understand

Phom/chan Mai kao jai khrup/ka: ผมฉันไม่เข้าใจ – ครับ / ค่ะ

12. Where is the rest room?

Hong nam yoo tee nai khrup/ka?: ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน – ครับ / ค่ะ

13. How much does this cost?

Ra ka tao rai khrup/ka?: ราคาเท่าไหร่ – ครับ / ค่ะ

14. Can you give me a discount please?

Ga ru na lot ra ka hai noi dai mai khrup/ka?: กรุณาลดราคาให้หน่อยได้ไหม- ครับ / ค่ะ

15. What is this?

Nee ku arai khrup/ka:  นี่คืออะไร – ครับ / ค่ะ

16. That’s expensive!

Paeng mak khrup/ka! –  แพงมาก – ครับ / ค่ะ

17. Can I have the bill please

Cor gep dang khrup/ka – ขอเก็บตังค์ครับ / ค่ะ . Or, even politer: เช็คบิลด้วยนะ -ครับ / ค่ะ – check bin duay na krap/ka

18. Goodbye

When you won't see the person again, or for a while – La gorn khrup/ka: ลาก่อน – ครับ / ค่ะ 

See you later/ bye! – Leow jer gaan na khrup/ka: แล้วเจอกันนะ – ครับ / ค่ะ

19. Good luck!

Khor hai khun chock dee khrup/ka: ขอให้คุณโชคดี – ครับ / ค่ะ

You can leave out the “khor hai khun” and just say “chock dee khrup/ka” if you like. 

20. Sorry/excuse me

Khor thoad khrup/ka:   ขอโทษ – ครับ / ค่ะ

21. I need a doctor 

Phom dong gaan pop khun mor khrup/ka: ผมต้องการพบคุณหมอ – ครับ / ค่ะ

22. Wait a moment please

Ror sak cruu khrup/ka: รอสักครู่  – ครับ / ค่ะ

23. I will come back in 5 minutes

Phom ja glap maa pai nai haa natie khrup/ka: ผมจะกลับมาภายในห้านาที – ครับ / ค่ะ
            
24. Do you like football?

Khun chorp footborn mai khrup/ka?:   คุณชอบฟุตบอลไหม – ครับ / ค่ะ

25. Which team do you support?

Khun chorp fai nai khrup/ka: คุณชอบฝ่ายไหน – ครับ / ค่ะ

* Please note that the phonetic translations don't have the tone marks required for a completely accurate pronunciation.

However, if once you start using the phrases out and about, Thai people will happily help you with the correct tones. Practice makes perfect, and the only way to get better is to converse with native speakers.

If you want to learn Thai at home or enhance your school lessons, I highly recommend the Thaipod101 online course. I am currently combining this online course with my school learning and it's working well for me.

I find it gives me a lift between classes and doesn't allow me to solely rely on the two lessons a week. It also gives me some diversity away from the generic learning structure of the school syllabus.

The video files for the learning program are iPod/iPad and Android compatible, which is cool because I can learn on the go while in cafes and on the train. You can register a free basic account here and start learning now.

Anyway, it's time to move onto lesson 2 – to further expand your vocabulary!

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  1. I recently started to date a Thai lady(she is 53) here in the USA
    and she is frequently asking me for money so she can pay bills($3300) for her mother(she is 88) and for her daughter(she is 24) and who live in Thailand. She tells me it is Thai custom for adult children to pay back to parents for their kindness for bringing them into this world.
    She also asked me for money to help pay for land she purchased($13,000) in Thailand and to pay off her pawn shop bill($2700) for jewelry she pawned a few years ago.
    She always insists I give her cash. I like to help people in need but it is now up to $19,000 and I think this is a bit much at this point.
    Am I being scammed or is this a Thai custom….which she says it is? I feel I am being taken advantage of but I want to know if this is normal Thai behavior.
    Thank you for any advise and guidance you can give me.

    Reply

    • In the working classes it is normal culture for children to take care of their parents and send money home to support their parents as they age. there is generally no social security system, so for poorer families the children become a source of income. However, the amounts that you are talking about are ridiculous. In rural Thailand living costs are very low, and most people live in houses that are family homes which do not have a mortgage or require rent to be paid on each month. The average wage in rural Thailand somewhere between seven and $10 a day, so supplementing your parents income or sending them some money each month would not need to exceed a hundred or so dollars, and with careful management of this money and any other money they are earning from their work, this would be fine. Of course if they are not working and have no other income, then 200-300 dollars would be a reasonable amount to support everything they need.

      Those from wealthier families do not have the same burden because their parents do not need financial support. So as I said, this culture is generally prevalent in the lower working classes. Disregarding this, it does not fall on you as someone she is dating to contribute to these expenses. And if she can’t afford to buy this land Keep up this lifestyle for her mother then she shouldn’t be doing. I assume she is working in the US? So like every other person she needs to manage her money better.there is absolutely no way her mother needs $3000 a month for her expenses in Thailand. She would be living like a queen in rural Thailand on that money. .

      One cultural aspect that you should be aware of is the concept of keeping face, which is basically keeping up appearances, often beyond the means of one’s financial capability. There are many facets to this culture, but one in particular would be the fact that this daughter is living in America and would be perceived by her family to be doing really well for herself and having lots of money because she lives in our perceived rich western country. So it may be the case that many of her family members are leaning on her for money. In some cases there are problematic family members who are gambling, or have alcohol addiction, or who are just simply stupid with money and get into debt from loan sharks and through trying to live above their means. I’m speculating here, but it may be that she is sending money home and is being squandered by other individuals aside from her mother. She may have siblings, she has a child too, and she may have cousins and uncles and auntie’s who have their hands out.

      And yes, you should also be aware that there are some women, not just from Thailand, but from other countries around Southeast Asia, Africa, and indeed from Western countries who seek men with a high disposable income and sell them sob stories in order to deceive them into giving them money so that they can fund the material lifestyle.

      You might want to read this post and the comments below it to get a better idea of how Thai society functions and the problems that men have with women and money. this relates to the marriage dowry but will give you an idea of expectations and problems that you might run into. https://www.thethailandlife.com/sin-sod

      Reply

    • I come to Thailand quite often and have a great friend here,
      If I asked her what her thoughts are on your lady friend
      She would tell you to “be careful”.

      But I am sure your eyes are wide open.

      Anyway good luck and I hope you dont get turned over.

      Reply

    • I’ve lived in Thailand for over 15 years. This is definitely a scam! She’s taking advantage of your good nature. Some women only see one thing in a Farang “ ATM” machine. Get rid of her, and tell her to support her own family.

      Reply

  5. am crazy learning of Thai but hardly I have couple of words in my head..
    how to push in more words and deal with four tones is killing me any one can help me to give me idea over tonal improvement… I like to also know what is the best way to learn Thai… any techniques

    Reply

    • It definitely helps to develop a daily learning plan. Two of my personal tips are:

      1.Learn one word or phrase a day. Do not overload yourself to start with. In time you will be able to manage more learning in one day, but start with one. Just keep saying it over and over again, until you have mastered it. 1 word a day is 365 words a year. By 1-2 months you will be learning 2-3 words a day, easily.

      2. When learning to write Thai, get a small notepad that fits in your pocket. Draw the letter or vowel of the day on the note pad. Then close your eyes and keep drawing it over and over in your head. You can do this in the gym, on the train, at work, wherever. If you forget the shape, look back at the notepad. This is one technique that helped me learn the alphabet.

      Reply

    • Hi Johon,

      TTL is right. It really helps to do just a little each day but EVERY day. Learning the alphabet is a great help in learning correct pronunciation. Also, have several different sources for learning. I use mem rise.com – a game-like website that allows you to focus on a single task for however long it takes you to master it (I use this for the alphabet), I also have a handy reference book (Thai for Beginners from Paiboon Publishing) to look things up when I have a specific question, and also have a more formal lesson system (a Skype teacher, ThaiPod101, or Learn-Thai-Podcast).

      TTL’s notebook idea is good too. Once you start learning the letters you’ll find that there really are patterns and then it becomes much easier to learn. Most of all stay with it, you’ll reach a tipping point and it’ll all start making sense.

      Reply

  8. My girlfriend is thai, but I don’t speak thai, I read this article out loud and she said I pronounced everything right. The good bye one is for if you have no idea when you will see them again. If said to your girlfriend it is like your breaking up with them. Good to know, hahaha (or as my gf says 555) This was brilliantly written. Khop khun khrup!

    Reply

  11. i learned to read and write Thai before i could really speak and golly gosh it made everything so much easier to understand… the learning process was mind torture but once i understood its just memorizing the words now! just think how you learned English in school, you start off with the alphabet.

    Reply

  13. I’m struggling with the pronounciation guide here. For example ‘kao’ is really pronounced ‘cow’. As an English speaker when I see kao I would read this as ka-o (a double vowel sound) which is nothing like cow. I get my Thai wife to pronounce the word in Thai otherwise I’m right off track.

    Reply

    • Yes, some of the transliterations are hard to grasp which is why I provide the video lesson too. I try to stick to the accepted standard when writing the words in English, but occasionally it can be hard to work out for the reader because there are different tones and similar sounding words involved. In this case, this is “mai kao (high tone) jai”, as in “I don’t understand”, as opposed to “gin (pronounced as a ger not a jer like the drink) khao (high tone also but different word – means rice) ruu yang?” Have you eaten yet. It is a different “khao” and therefore the transliteration spelling differs for that reason. The word that sounds like ‘cow’ is the word for the colour white (pronounced ‘cowww’. Confusing because they all sound similar but have differentiate in Thai spelling and tone. It’s not easy 🙂

      It is always best when reading a transliteration to then go and practice and adjust the correct tones with a Thai speaker or by using the videos provided.

      Reply

      • I’m not sure if you should be trying to teach people Thai when you teaching things that are incorrect. Both the kao in kao jai and khao for rice are said with a falling tone. The kao in kao jai by itself translates to the word ‘enter’ in English.

        Check it up. I am correct.

        Reply

  16. Yes, there’s plenty more examples like that to come 🙂 A friend of mine bought me some flash cards which are pretty cool. Not sure where he got them from but you could make them yourself.

    It ‘s just like a pack of card but each has a consonant or vowel on it, with the symbol, tone, class and phonetic translation. Great for learning on the go through memorisation and visualisation.

    All the best!

    Reply

  17. Hi, an excellent site! Have you any advice where to start learning Thai script. I have a friend who speaks good English but only reads script (except perhaps numbers). So when I text her its a long job using Google and back-checking – and still riddled with poor translations. Always defaults to ka, not krup for example. Script looks horrendous to learn.

    Reply

  18. Hi, I am little confused with khrup/ka.

    I have two things in mind and let me know which is correct?
    1 . When you’re a guy, address people with khrup (or ka if otherwise)?
    2. Use khrup when you’re talking to a gentleman or ka when you’re speaking to a lady?

    Reply

    • Hi Ian. As a man, always address everyone with “khrup”. Whether you are talking to a man or a woman, use “khrup”.

      You will rarely hear a man use “ka”, as this is the polite feminine form. The exceptions, however, are gay men, and occasionally guys will reply to their girlfriends using “ka” when playing around or being sweet. This isn’t common though, and as a foreigner stick solely with “khrup” for everything.

      You may also hear women use “ja”. This is usually used between friends and people who know each other, and by older women when speaking with younger women. You also hear this up county a lot. “Ja” can also be used by men, but until your level of Thai is good enough to know the situations when “Ja” is appropriate, don’t worry about this term.

      Reply

  19. I’m going to Phuket on a holiday very soon. I dislike chilli and coriander in my food. Can you please tell me how to say to the waiter/chef, No coriander please! and No chilli please! thank you! cheers, elly

    Reply

    • Hi Elly,

      I will try to simplify this as much as possible for you.

      You can say, “Cor Mai sai pik, mai sai pak chi, ka, khop khun ka.” Or you could say, “Mai ow pik, mai ow pak chi, kop khun ka.” (Literally I don’t want chili, I don’t want coriander, thank you”.

      A few notes that might help:

      Mai in this instance sounds like “may”
      Ow sounds like “oww” i hurt my foot
      Pik sounds like “pick”
      Pak sound like “pack”

      To say I don’t like chilli and coriander, you can say “Mai chop gin pik, mai chop gin pak chi”

      As you may have guessed, “mai” means no and chop means “like”.

      Add “ka” to be polite at the end of everything. This is the female form.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply

  20. I am looking for a good Thai language school in Bangkok. I have plans to leave in November 2012. And would like to stay with a ED Visa a year at a time.
    Any suggestions of a good school that is not a scam?
    A good school will help with the ministry of Education to get the ED Visa in order. But I believe you have to pay for tuition first before application goes to MED. “Ministry of Education”.

    Reply

    • Keith,

      Thanks for your message. Sorry for the late reply I am away for Songkran. In terms of a great language learning school in Bangkok you should try Language Express. They do an affordable ED visa for about 20,000 I believe. I studied there last year and really enjoyed it. You can read more about my experience of the school here: https://thethailandlife.com/learning-thai-in-bangkok

      They are a reputable outfit and all is above board.

      I am currently using Thaipod101 to improve my Thai from home. I really love the program and it’s pretty cheap too. I wrote about this software here: https://thethailandlife.com/thaipod101-review

      I wish you all the best in your move to Thailand and hope you continue to enjoy the blog.

      Reply

  22. I think all beginning speakers should know that the two languages do not always translate in a word for word fashion and dictionaries are often wrong – it’s good to see you using phrases as that cuts down on the inevitable errors of tone and makes you easier to understand. It can be frustrating at times but ultimately very rewarding as Thai people can be very funny and love to joke – for me, it will surely be a lifetime experience as I never stop learning and hopefully improving.

    one example of above – We “put on” clothing – we “put on” cream. Thai “sai seua pah” and “tah cream” – they use a different word entirely for the different usage. I am entirely street learned but I imagine there is nothing better than a good teacher.

    Reply

    • Totally agree, there are a number of words I have come across that they simply don’t have in Thai. I also bought a dictionary here and was told that a large portion of the words didn’t correspond correctly. I didn’t want to get into the tones thing just yet…that really is a difficult area I am yet to anywhere near master….a lifetime of learning indeed. Interesting about the cream…will quiz my Thai teacher about that:)

      Reply

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