Thailand is a very tourist-friendly country to travel to, with English being spoken widely in popular tourist areas. Even though you can certainly get around without speaking any Thai, learning a bit of the language will help and may be considered more respectful. The Thai language is similar to Lao, and it is pretty easy to pick up a few phrases to get around. This guide will cover useful phrases for travelling in Thailand, such as how to say thank you and order food.
The most important thing to remember about the Thai language is that there are different word endings you use depending on your gender. The different phrase endings depend on whichever gender you most closely identify with. Whether the person you are talking to is male or female makes no difference to which ending you use. For males, you end every sentence with the word Khrup (pronounced Khrap). For females, you end every sentence with Ka (pronounced Kaa). This rule is applicable to everything you say in the Thai language. So, for example, hello is Sa Wa Dee. If you are female, you would say “Sa Wa Dee Ka”. If you are male, you would say “Sa Wa Dee Khrup”.
Thank you- khop khun (pronounced Kawp Koon)
Thank you is the most important phrase to learn in any language when you are travelling Thailand! Being able to say thank you in the native language while travelling in Thailand is polite and shows respect for their culture. If you only learn one phrase in Thai, let it be this one. Also, make sure you add Ka or Khrap to the end of the sentence, depending on your gender.
Hello/Goodbye- SaWasDee (pronounced Sa-Wa-Dee)
Another important phrase while travelling is learning to say “hello”. Hello in Thai is pronounced Sa-Wa-Dee, and it is the same word for Goodbye.
No- Mai/ Yes- Chai (pronounced My and Chai)
While most Thai speakers understand enough English to know what “yes” and “no” means, it is also easy to learn these phrases in Thai. The word for yes is Chai and is pronounced like Chai tea. The word for no is Mai, which is pronounced like the word My.
Excuse me- kotot (pronounced Kor-tot)
Excuse me is a very useful phrase to learn in Thai, as it can be used in so many different scenarios. You could use “excuse me” to get a waiter, taxi driver or shop attendant’s attention. The other common way you could use it is when you are moving through a crowd and want someone to move out of your way.
Bill please- chek bin (pronounced chick-bin)
Probably one of the funniest phrases to say and easy to remember! You can always do the universal hand sign asking for the bill (a scribble in the air) if you forget. In order to ask for the bill politely, you would say Excuse me, ask for the bill, then add the sentence ending corresponding to your gender. So this would sound like “Kortot, chick-bin, Kaa”.
Menu please- Mi Menu Mai (pronounced Mee Menu My)
Asking for the menu in restaurants is another phrase you will use endlessly while travelling in Thailand. While many Thai speakers will understand if you just say “menu”, saying it in its full form is more polite.
No sugar- Mai Sai Nam Tam (pronounced My-Sigh-Nam-Tam)
You will use this sentence A LOT when ordering coffee if you don’t want it to be super sweet. Thai people love putting heaps of sugar in everything, so you will need to ask for less or no sugar if you don’t like your coffee or juice sweet.
I like it a little spicy- Chawp Pet Noi (pronounced chop-pet-noy)
Depending on your spice tolerance, you may need to modify this phrase slightly. Thai food can be incredibly spicy, but usually, restaurants and street food vendors will automatically use less or no spice if they know you are not Thai. If you want no spice at all, you can say “My Ped” when ordering.
Delicious- Arroy (pronounced Ah-Roy)
Not exactly a necessary phrase, but a polite phrase, which will make whoever cooked your food very happy. Being able to compliment the food in the local language is a really wholesome thing to do after every meal.
Too expensive- Phaeng Mark Pai (feng-mack-pie)
This is a super important phrase to learn when haggling in South East Asia. Being able to say too expensive will allow you to haggle over the price of an item. I personally find being able to say it in Thai is even more powerful, and usually, I get a better price than if I haggled purely in English.
Want to learn more than just the basics of saying hello and thank you while travelling Thailand? Duolingo is my favourite language learning app due to its user-friendly and enjoyable use! Alternatively, there are many language exchange programs in Thailand (due to the high expat numbers), and some hostels run casual language classes or events.
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