Thai Phrases for Travelers: 50 Essentials, from Hello to Help

The essential Thai phrases for travelers fit on one page: สวัสดี sà-wàt-dii (hello), ขอบคุณ kɔ̀ɔp-kun (thank you), ขอโทษ kɔ̌ɔ-tôot (sorry), เท่าไหร่ tâo-rài (how much?), ไม่เข้าใจ mâi kâo-jai (I don’t understand) and …อยู่ที่ไหน yùu tîi-nǎi (where is…?). End each one with ครับ kráp if you are a man or ค่ะ kâ if you are a woman, and you already sound polite.

Below are 50 phrases grouped by situation, each with Thai script, transliteration and meaning. They are short on purpose: in Thai, a two- or three-word phrase with the right tone and a polite particle is perfectly natural. Each section links to a more detailed article when the topic deserves one.

Before you start: polite particles and pronunciation

Thai has no single word for “please”. Politeness comes mostly from a small word at the end of the sentence:

• ครับ kráp: said by men, in every kind of sentence.
• ค่ะ kâ: said by women at the end of a statement.
• คะ ká: said by women at the end of a question.

The tables below leave the particle out to keep them readable. Add it every time you speak to a stranger, a driver, a vendor or anyone older than you. The full explanation is in the guide to Thai polite particles.

Five pronunciation tips will make you far easier to understand:

1. Follow the tone marks in the transliteration. No accent is a mid tone, à low, â falling, á high, ǎ rising. ใกล้ glâi (near) and ไกล glai (far) differ only by their tone. The Thai tones guide has audio for all five.
2. Hold the long vowels. A doubled vowel (aa, ii, uu) is long: bàat (baht) is longer than bàt (card).
3. bp and dt are not b, p, d or t. ป bp and ต dt are unaspirated, like the p in spin and the t in stop. ไป bpai (go) is not “bye” or “pie”.
4. Do not release final consonants. The t of bàat or the k of dèk is stopped, not exploded: your mouth closes and nothing comes out.
5. No h after k, t, p. The transliteration used here writes kɔ̀ɔp-kun and pûut, but those sounds are aspirated, with a puff of air, as at the start of English cat and pot.

Greetings and politeness

สวัสดี sà-wàt-dii works for hello and goodbye, at any time of day. People often accompany it with a wai, palms together; if someone wais you, a wai back or a smile and a slight nod is the right answer. ขอโทษ kɔ̌ɔ-tôot is also what you say to get past someone in a crowded BTS carriage or to call a waiter. More basic words are in the list of basic Thai words.

Understanding each other

…ได้ไหม dâai mǎi at the end of a sentence means “can you…?” or “is it possible…?”. It is the most useful structure for a traveler: add it to any verb and you have a polite request. The sign ๆ repeats the word before it, so ช้า ๆ is read cháa-cháa.

At the hotel

คืนละ kʉʉn lá means “per night”: ละ lá is the same “per” that you hear at the market in กิโลละ… (“… a kilo”). In the story “The island”, Nok books a hotel on an island, which is a good way to hear jɔɔng and roong-rɛɛm in context.

Eating and drinking

ขอ kɔ̌ɔ (“may I have”) + the thing + หน่อย nɔ̀i is the standard way to ask for something: ขอน้ำเปล่าหน่อย kɔ̌ɔ náam-bplàao nɔ̀i, “some water, please”. If you have an allergy, say it clearly and early; แพ้ pɛ́ɛ + the food works for any allergen. Dishes, spice levels and street food are covered in detail in ordering food in Thai.

Shopping and paying

Bargaining is normal at markets and with some tuk-tuks, much less so in shops with marked prices, in malls or at a 7-Eleven. Keep it friendly: a smile and ลดได้ไหม lót dâai mǎi go further than an argument. To understand the answer, you need the numbers, which you can learn in an evening with our guide to Thai numbers; market vocabulary is in Thai market phrases.

Getting around

Tickets are counted with the classifier ใบ bai: dtǔa sɔ̌ɔng bai is “two tickets”. Taxis, tuk-tuks, motorbike taxis, the BTS and boats each have their own little vocabulary, explained in getting around in Thai. If you plan to travel by train, the stories “Chiang Mai” (twelve hours north by train) and “The night train” (back to Bangkok in a sleeper carriage) use exactly this vocabulary.

Emergencies and health

Note the difference between ไม่สบาย mâi sà-baai (“not well”, the polite way to say you are ill) and ปวด bpùat + a body part, which says exactly where it hurts. Pharmacists in tourist areas often speak some English, and pharmacies are a common first stop for minor problems. The useful numbers in Thailand are 1155 (tourist police, with English-speaking operators), 191 (police) and 1669 (medical emergencies).

Phrases that work everywhere

If you remember only four structures, make it these. They turn the words above into dozens of sentences:

ขอ… หน่อย kɔ̌ɔ… nɔ̀i: may I have…, please

…ได้ไหม …dâai mǎi: can you… / is it possible to…?

…อยู่ที่ไหน …yùu tîi-nǎi: where is…?

ไม่… mâi…: not… (ไม่เผ็ด, ไม่เอา, ไม่เข้าใจ)

Common mistakes travelers make

• Choosing the particle by the listener. ครับ kráp and ค่ะ kâ depend on who is speaking, not on who you are talking to. A man says kráp to a woman, and a woman says kâ to a man.
• Worrying about the r. In everyday speech, many Thais pronounce ครับ closer to káp, and the r of many words is softened to an l or dropped. You will be understood either way; what matters more is the high tone.
• Raising your voice. When you are not understood, speaking louder rarely helps and can come across as anger, which is badly perceived in Thailand. Repeat more slowly, point, or show the word written in Thai.
• Translating “no” too directly. A flat ไม่ mâi on its own sounds abrupt. To turn something down, ไม่เป็นไร mâi-bpen-rai or ไม่เอา ขอบคุณ mâi ao, kɔ̀ɔp-kun with a smile is how Thais do it. Why this phrase does so much work is explained in our article on Thai cultural expressions.

How to practise before you go

Travel phrases stick when you have heard them in a situation, not just read them in a list. Say each phrase out loud with its particle, copying the melody from a recording rather than reading the transliteration word by word. Kru May follows Hugo through exactly these situations in 90 illustrated stories, from his first สวัสดี to the train ride to Chiang Mai, with every sentence recorded at natural and slow speed and every word tappable for its meaning and tone.