The Basics of Speaking Thai


Learn a few words in Thai.

Occasionally, women and men use different words to be polite. Add ‘kha’ at the end of sentence for Women. For men, add ‘krub’ at the end of your sentence. It’s a little word that goes a long ways.

English Thai Tips
Let’s Eat! Gin Kow literally means eat rice – a phrase used in many Asian languages.
Hello Swad-dee kha for women and
swad-dee krub for men
Good-bye Swad-dee kha for women and
swad-dee krub for men
where is it? (for objects) you te nai Unlike with English, you put the object first:
Where is the chicken? Gai you te nai?
I Pom For men
I Chan or Di- chan For women
want ow Depending on how you use it, it can be very crude. But probably OK for non-Thais.
Do not want Mai ow Don’t want chicken: Mai ow gai.
Foreigner Fa-rang It is not derogatory term. It just means any Caucasian.
Hungry. hue
Full. im
Spicy hot ped
Hot (temperature) ron
Sweet wahn
Water nam Many liquids are referred to with the word ‘nam’ something ie. Mae-nam means river, nam-jim is a generic term for sauce.
Chicken gai
egg kai
Pork moo
beef nua
Shrimp goong
Pla fish
Vegetables pug
Dessert kong wahn
Restaurant rahn-ah-haan
Delicious. Aroy-dee.
Thank you very much. Kop-khun-maag.
Let’s go. Pai.
Bathroom hong-nam Literally means water room.