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 usual, 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.
It is a good idea to bookmark this page for your next holiday. That way you can call it up in the browser of your phone when out and about. You can also print it out if you like.
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 Talk – 25 Essential Thai Phrases For Beginners
Before we begin, please note that you will see khrup/ka written after each sentence. These are politeness particles placed at the end of a sentence.
“Khrup”, sometimes written as krup, is spoken by a male speaker, and “ka” by a female speaker. Please choose the appropriate one for your gender.
For a more detailed explanation please see my krup/ka post here.
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 phut phasa Thai mai dai khrup/ka: ผมฉันพูดภาษาไทยไม่ได้ – ครับ / ค่ะ
10. Please speak slowly
Ga-ru-na phut cha cha khrup/ka: กรุณาพูดช้าๆ– 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 yu 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 rakha 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
Ga-ru-na gep dang duay khrup/ka – กรุณาเก็บตังค์ด้วย – ครับ / ค่ะ
18. Goodbye
By gon khrup/ka: ไปก่อน ครับ / ค่ะ
See you later/ bye! – Leow jer gan 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. โชคดี – ครับ / ค่ะ
20. Sorry/excuse me
Khor thoad khrup/ka: ขอโทษ – ครับ / ค่ะ
21. I need a doctor
Phom dong gan 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 nathi khrup/ka: เดี๋ยวผมจะกลับมาภายในห้านาที – ครับ / ค่ะ
24. Do you like football?
Khun chorp futbol mai khrup/ka?: คุณชอบฟุตบอลไหม – ครับ / ค่ะ
25. Which team do you support?
Khun chorp fai nai khrup/ka: คุณชอบฝ่ายไหน – ครับ / ค่ะ
Update: I should have included this additional question too:
26. Nice to meet you
Yin dee thi dai roojak: ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก – ครับ / ค่ะ
Helpful Notes
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 have combined this online course with my school learning and it has worked 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.
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!
Last Updated on
Reyna B. Barona says
Apr 06, 2022 at 3:38 pm
lorraine says
Sep 05, 2021 at 11:05 am
Douglas says
Jun 14, 2021 at 10:31 am
TheThailandLife says
Jun 14, 2021 at 4:47 pm
@k_nn says
Feb 09, 2021 at 10:20 pm
TheThailandLife says
Feb 10, 2021 at 1:49 am
Anna says
as a learner 💜😊.
Dec 21, 2020 at 6:58 pm
KC says
Nice feature...To impress my girlfriend
But....do we say "swadeeka" and get answered by "swadeekap" ?
Do we say "khop khun ka" or "khon khup kap" ?
Thanks for claryfying
Karl
Oct 06, 2020 at 9:09 pm
TheThailandLife says
Oct 06, 2020 at 9:31 pm
Jamie watt says
Apr 30, 2022 at 6:04 am
Shalini Gangwar says
My name is shalini Gangwar.
Jul 21, 2020 at 3:30 pm
Noa says
thank you
Jun 19, 2020 at 3:36 pm
Camila says
May 11, 2020 at 5:51 pm
TheThailandLife says
May 11, 2020 at 5:57 pm
Camila da Silva de Andrade says
May 11, 2020 at 11:46 pm
Son Vu says
Mar 09, 2020 at 1:22 pm
TheThailandLife says
Mar 09, 2020 at 4:52 pm
Bernaida ahajan says
Feb 25, 2020 at 9:31 pm
Manoher says
My name is manoher
Jan 30, 2020 at 2:47 am
Stephen says
Jan 17, 2020 at 11:51 pm
Mel Rose Zonio says
Feb 08, 2019 at 8:22 am
Lavern says
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.
Apr 16, 2018 at 8:25 am
TheThailandLife says
Apr 17, 2018 at 4:38 pm
Pete Miller says
Jul 02, 2018 at 3:02 pm
Oner Punita says
Nov 03, 2018 at 1:24 pm
Stuart says
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.
Apr 20, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Carol says
Jul 22, 2018 at 8:25 am
Lynn says
Nov 22, 2018 at 5:03 pm
Markus says
Apr 17, 2019 at 2:25 pm
Onna says
Mar 21, 2018 at 9:15 pm
chloe says
Feb 04, 2018 at 8:48 am
TheThailandLife says
Feb 04, 2018 at 5:22 pm
Odom says
Sep 19, 2017 at 1:50 pm
Johon Mark says
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
Jun 02, 2017 at 4:12 pm
TheThailandLife says
Jun 02, 2017 at 4:23 pm
James says
Jun 02, 2017 at 10:15 pm
Surasawadee says
Mar 12, 2017 at 10:33 pm
Bruno Locatelli says
Mar 31, 2017 at 11:22 am
Anna says
Apr 09, 2017 at 8:52 am
Saeful Anam says
Khob khun krab....
Aug 09, 2017 at 6:52 pm
zai says
Jun 18, 2018 at 11:05 pm
Makimendoza says
Jan 28, 2017 at 7:28 pm
Bill windmill says
Dec 17, 2016 at 11:35 pm
TheThailandLife says
Dec 18, 2016 at 12:40 am
Makimendoza says
Jan 28, 2017 at 7:29 pm
TheThailandLife says
Jan 29, 2017 at 1:04 am
Duane Maxim Geli says
Mar 28, 2017 at 9:34 pm
Junior says
Nov 28, 2016 at 8:11 am
Darron says
Jun 11, 2016 at 9:54 pm
TheThailandLife says
Dec 05, 2016 at 11:48 pm
jodie says
May 04, 2016 at 5:08 pm
jodie says
May 04, 2016 at 5:12 pm
Andrea says
Jan 12, 2017 at 11:58 am
Ozzie Polinburana says
Sep 25, 2015 at 9:07 am
TheThailandLife says
Sep 25, 2015 at 12:31 pm
brad says
May 08, 2015 at 11:16 pm
TheThailandLife says
May 08, 2015 at 11:42 pm
kent says
Check it up. I am correct.
Jun 17, 2016 at 10:21 am
Ajit Kumar says
I am Ajit Kumar, wants to learn Thai Language. I have started to learn Online but it is easy to learn to speak Thai but difficult to read and write. I want to start from the alphabet which I am not able to find it on website.
My Email Id is: ajitanjuman@gmail.com
Thanking you,
Ajit Kumar
Mar 23, 2015 at 11:01 pm
TheThailandLife says
Mar 23, 2015 at 11:07 pm
Dawn Marie says
Dec 08, 2014 at 2:18 am
TheThailandLife says
Dec 08, 2014 at 10:12 am
TheThailandLife says
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!
Aug 17, 2014 at 10:55 am
Trevor says
Aug 16, 2014 at 10:37 pm
TheThailandLife says
Aug 16, 2014 at 11:28 pm
Trevor says
Aug 17, 2014 at 12:40 am
iAn says
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?
Nov 16, 2013 at 2:41 am
TheThailandLife says
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:01 am
iAn says
Those commonly used statements/expressions will help me a lot during our visit to Bangkok.
Nov 16, 2013 at 10:23 am
elly says
Apr 15, 2012 at 8:13 pm
TheThailandLife says
Apr 16, 2012 at 7:20 pm
Ryan says
Mar 09, 2016 at 6:56 am
Keith Tyler says
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".
Apr 13, 2012 at 6:56 am
TheThailandLife says
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.
Apr 14, 2012 at 12:45 pm
savanit minglahong says
May 07, 2011 at 5:13 pm
TheThailandLife says
May 07, 2011 at 8:16 pm
khean bunchhoeun says
Jul 20, 2015 at 11:46 am
TheThailandLife says
Jul 20, 2015 at 12:56 pm
ken says
Apr 21, 2011 at 7:33 pm
TheThailandLife says
Apr 21, 2011 at 11:46 pm