The Basics of Speaking Thai

Learn a few words in Thai. Click on the Thai word to hear it spoken.

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.	Kop-khun.	Kop-khun-kha for women and kop-khun-krub for men
Thank you very much.	Kop-khun-maag.
Let's go.	Pai.
Bathroom	hong-nam	Literally means water room.