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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 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 phrases

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!



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  9. Lavern says

    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

    • TheThailandLife says

      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

    • Stuart says

      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

    • Carol says

      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

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