Though it's not really necessary to get by, you will undoubtedly have an easier and more enjoyable experience in Thailand from any time you spend learning Thai. Most Thais don't expect a foreigner to be able to speak any of their language, and are often visibly surprised if you can string a few sentences together. It's also encouraging how many people will tell you that you poot tai geng (speak Thai well), no matter how limited your command of the language really is. Even with only a fairly small vocabulary, you will find it a lot easier to get discounted prices at shops and markets - rah kah poot tai dai, (Thai speaker prices) and to make friends amongst the locals. In major tourist destinations like Koh Samui, Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai. etc you are more likely to find people who speak good english than in Cha Am, but fortunately most places that are catering to tourists have English speaking staff.

This article will give you some basics on speaking Thai, and also, if you scroll to the bottom you will find some buttons to click on where you can find some phrases that may help you in certain situations.

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Being a tonal language

Thai, like Chinese and Vietnamese, is a tonal language meaning that the same word can have a completely different meaning depending on it is pronounced. In total, there are 5 tones: Mid tone, high tone, low tone, rising tone and falling tone. A common example of the difficulty of tones in Thai is the word mai, whose meanings include "wood", "not", "silk", "burn", and "new" depending on what tone is used to pronounce it.

It's not always this bad though, and the context means you will often be understood even if the tone is wrong. In some cases though, the context is unlikely to help very much and you will have to get the pronunciation correct in order to be understood - glai (mid tone, meaning "far away") and glâi (falling tone, meaning "near") is a good example. It takes a long time to learn how to pronounce the tones correctly, and it's all too easy to make an embarrassing faux pas or inadvertently offend simply by getting the tone wrong on one word. Luckily most Thais realize how difficult it is for foreigners to speak their language, and are generally quite tolerant of any mistakes - which is just as well really. For this reason we are keeping it simple for you here and not focusing on tone with every word.

Though there's no real way to know how to pronounce the tones except by listening to a native speaker, the rising and falling tones tend to be the easiest ones to pick up. The rising tone is approximately similar to the inflection used in English to indicate a question, the falling tone roughly like calling someone's name from far away. The low and high tones are respectively pronounced near the relative bottom and top of your vocal range.

Try to avoid speaking slowly and hesitantly, as this will distort the tone on the word and make you much more difficult to understand than if you spoke confidently. When speaking fairly quickly even the Thais routinely don't pronounce each and every tone, as there's simply not enough time to do so. If your tones aren't perfect, you stand a much chance of being understood by talking at the same normal speed, rather than hesitantly. You'll know you're well on the way to getting it right if you start being told that you poot tai chat (speak Thai clearly) rather than simply geng (well). 

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When first learning Thai, it can seem as if the Thais don't care for much politeness. The words a Thai dictionary would translate as 'please' (such as ga-ru-nah and bproht) are rarely heard in normal speech, while the 'softer' phrasing sometimes used in English to be polite is also normally dispensed with (e.g. where an English speaker might say 'I would like to have...please', a Thai would simply say ao, meaning 'I want', instead). 

This is somewhat deceptive though. Thai uses a complex system which ensures that just the right amount of politeness can be used in any situation, mainly done through a variety of 'particles' that are added on to the end of sentences.

 

POLITE PARTICLES

The most important ones to know of these are kráp (for men) or kâ (for women), which should be said at the end of almost every sentence in order to be polite. For instance, if you bump into someone on the street it would be slightly rude to just say kor toht ('sorry/excuse me') on it's own, while saying kor toht kráp/kâ would be perfectly polite. The same goes when saying sawat-dee ('hello/hi'), korp khun ('thank you'), mâi bpen rai ('never mind / you're welcome') and pretty much anything else. If you get into conversation, you can usually drop the kráp/kâ at after a few sentences and just use it occasionally. However, if you are talking with someone important (an immigration official, say) you are probably best to keep saying it frequently. If you're not sure, take your cue from how often the Thai person you're talking to do is saying kráp/kâ and do likewise yourself. It is generally not too difficult, and most people find that it becomes second nature very quickly.

In everyday speech, the 'r' sound is kráp is very often dropped so it sounds more like káp. It's not uncommon either to hear the short 'a' sound in kâ dragged out to a longer 'kaa' sound, or even changed to sound like hâ. Both kráp/kâ are used frequently on their on own as a polite way of saying 'yes'.

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WORDS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR STAY EASIER

These are given in English and an approximate pronunciation of the Thai. 

 

English word - Thai word

• Yes  -  Chai/Krap/Kaa *

• No  -  Mai Chai *

• Please  -  Ga-ru-na

• Thankyou  -  Khorp-khun

• Thank you very much  -  Khorp-Kun-Maak

• You're welcome/never mind/no problem  -  Mai-Bpen-Rai

• I/Me  -  Pom/Chan **

• You  -  Khun (Note that while this means you, it is also used to make a person's name more polite. So a Thai person may address Tony as Mr. Tony  -  Khun Tony)

• He/She  -  Kao

• It  -  Man

• We (you and I)  -  Rao

• We (all of us  -  Phuak-rao

• They  -  Puak-kao
   

* "Yes" and "no" are often also indicated by simply repeating the verb in a question. So if the question was "Do you want to go ?", it would be answered by saying "want" or "don't want", rather than "yes" or "no". Chai is an general word for "yes", but it's less used than it's English equivalent. More typically, when a Thai says Chai they are saying 'right'. Men can also use krap, and women kaa, to indicate agreement. These are the same words used at the end of sentences to be polite. If you can remember to always use these words (Krap and Kaa) at the end of a sentence, this will indicate to the Thai person that you are making an effort to be polite and civil. They will appreciate this and be much more responsive.

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** Pom and Chan is the polite way of saying "I / me" for a man and woman respectively. You're never likely to offend anyone by using either of these words, but there are also a lot of other words for 'I/Me' that can be used depending on the situation. 

There's a similarly large amount of words for "you". Khun is the most common, and is a safe word to use when speaking to just about anybody. Tan is a very respectful word, used when talking to someone of markedly higher status than you in Thailand (e.g. a high court judge, or a Buddhist monk). Ter is more informal than Khun, it's used when talking to friends. 

• Hello (and also Goodbye)  -  Sa-wat-dee (although what you're more likely to hear is Sawadee)

• See you later  -  Pop-gan-mai (or Jer-gan-mai if you know the person well)

• Nice to meet you  -  Yin-dee-tee-dai-roo-jak

• How are you?  -  Sabai-dee-mai or Sabai-dee-reu

• I'm fine (thanks)  -  Sabai-dee (khorp-khun) 

• And you?  -   laew-khun-la (or just Khun-La)

• pardon?  -  arai na (na is also a polite particle, which you can use in conjunction with Krup and Kaa - so na-krup or na-kaa would be expressing a higher level of politeness. Often used when explaining how to do something).

• Sorry / excuse me  -  khor-toad

 

Sa-wàt dee is the general all purpose greeting in Thailand, the English distinctions of "Good morning", "Good afternoon" etc.. do exist but are almost never used. It's also almost always followed by kráp (for a man) or kâa (for a woman) to be polite.

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If you want to delight a Thai person, when they ask you if you speak Thai (Poot-tai-dai-mai?) Answer with these four words ngoo-ngoo-bplah-bplah which transliterates to snake, snake, fish, fish but is a slang term that means "I speak about as well as a snake or fish'. When you say this the Thai person will laugh out loud and your conversation is off to a jolly start.

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QUESTIONS

One important distinction about the Thai language is that a question is normally formed using a statement which is then turned into a question using the word mái. It's a bit like saying we go, yes? (Rao Bpai mái)

• Where?  -  Tee-nai

• How?  -  Yang nai

• When  -  Meua-rai

• What?  -  arai

• Why?  -  Tam-mai

• Which?  -  An-nai

• Where is/are...  -  ...Yu-ti-nai (e.g. Where is Alice?  -  Khun Alice Yu-ti-nai)

• Is it far?  -  glai-mai (falling tone very important on this question!) ****

• How much / How many  -  Tao-rai

• How much is this  -  an-nee-tao-rai

• what is this called in Thai?  -  nee-paa-saa-tai-riak-waa-arai

• what does that mean?  -  nan-bplae-waa-arai

• Do you understand?  -  kao-jai-mai (I understand  -  Kao-jai, I don't understand  -  Mai-kao-jai)

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OTHER USEFUL WORDS

• It's important  -  Man-sam-kan

• It's urgent  -  Man-duan-maak

• I'm hungry  -  Pom/Chan Hiu

• I'm thirsty  -  Pom/Chan hiu-naam

• I'm tired  -  Pom/Chan neuay

• I'm lost  -  Pom/Chan long-taang

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USEFUL ADJECTIVES

• Beautiful/Ugly  -  suay/naa-gliat

• Good/Bad  -  dee/laeo

• better/worse/best/worst  -  dee-gwaa/laeo-gwah/dee-tee-soot/laeo-tee-soot

• Big/Small  -  yai/lek

• Cheap/Expensive  -  took/pairng

• Early/Late  -  chao/sai

• Easy/Difficult  -  ngai/yaak

• Fast/Slow  -  laeo/chaa

• Free/Occupied  -  waang/mai-waang

• full/empty  -  dtem/waang

• Better/Best  -  dee-gwaa/dee-ti-soot

• Heavy/light  -  nak/bao

• Here/there (close)/there (far)  - tee-nee/tee-nan/tee-noon

• Hot/cold  -  rorn/yen

• Near/far  -  glai/glai ****

• Next/last  -  nah/tee-laeo

• Old/new  -  gal/mai

• Old/young  - gair/dek

• Open/shut  -  bpert/bpit

• Right/wrong  -  took/pit (note that when someone makes a statement, a Thai may reply "Mai Chai" meaning not right)

• A little/a little bit  -  Noi/Nit-Noi

• A lot/much/very  -  Maak (for example sai-maak means very late)

• Enough/too much  -  por/gern-bpai

• more than/less than  -  maak-gwaa/noi-gwaa

****It seems particularly challenging that two words with completely opposite meanings sound almost exactly the same, with only the tone differentiating them, but that's the way it is. It's made easier by the fact that "near" glâi is almost always said twice, while "far" glai never is. 

 

MORE USEFUL PHRASES

• I would like...  -  pom/chan yaak...

• Can I have...  -  pom/chan kor...dai mai?

• I'll have...  -  pom/chan ao...

• Can you give me...  -  hai...pom/chan dai mai?

• Could you show me...  -  chuai bork pom/chan noi...

• Do you speak English?  -  Khun poot pa-sa angrid dai mai?

• Is there someone here who speaks English?  -  tee-nee see krai poot pa-sa angrid dai baang

• I cannot speak Thai  -  pom/chan poot Tai mai-dai.

• I can speak a little Thai  -  pom/chan poot Tai dai nit-noi

• Can you speak a little slower please?  -  poot cha-cha noi dai mai?

• Can you say that again?  -  poot-eek-tee dai mai? 

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Click on the buttons below for some useful conversational phrases for the various situations you may find yourself in during your holiday.

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