Learning these most common everyday Thai words & phrases will make your life so much easier, and will boost your Thai fast! You should have also learned the numbers in Thai as outlined in our guide.
This guide is practical. You will learn how to speak what is most important in day-to-day life.
GemsOfTravel will walk through the steps of what you need to know and how to remember it, adding in complexity along the way. It teaches things not in logical order, but in order of importance starting with the most common words first. There is a lot to remember in a new foreign language, so start at the top first and work towards the bottom as you progress.
About The Language
In Thailand, the language of the country is spoken as “Thai”.
Thai is a tonal language, so your pronunciation may not be 100% perfect. However, do not worry about perfect tonal pronunciation. They will understand you within the context of the situation. After all, they do want to understand so that they can sell you something!
The tones are considered soft compared to languages such as Vietnamese and Chinese. Therefore, the word tones may be hard to notice, yet not as critical to get them correct for a begginner.
GemsOfTravel will get your pronunciation “close enough”.
You will become better over time with real world experience. Real-world experience is needed for you to hear, speak, and practice the language.
Thai Words: Most Common Everyday Words
Ka / Krup
This is a word to used (1) to be polite, or (2) to acknowledge something or agree on something, similar to saying “yea, okay”.
Men say “Krub”. Women say “Ka”.
| Thai | Pronunciation | Alternate Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Krub | Men say this | K-l-ub | This one is kind of hard to pronounce – it takes practice! K as in ‘kite’ + softly rolled “L” + “ub” sounding similar to ‘up’ but with a ‘b’ sound. The sound is a bit tricky, but do not worry, you will be understood and you will improve your pronunciation with time. |
| Ka | Women say this | K-ah | K as in ‘kite’ + “ah” as in ‘ahhh, okay, I understand’) |
How Much Does It Cost?
We cover this in the Thai Numbers Guide. However, we will also include it here.
Q: -> “How much does this cost?”
✅ Typically, people will just say “how much” (Tao Rai)
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| How much? | Tao Rai | T-ou Lie (“ou” as in ‘ouch’ + “lie” as in ‘telling a lie.’ A better explanation: say “Town” but do not speak the ‘n’ part + “lie” as in ‘telling a lie.’) |
| Price | Ra Ka | L-ah K-ah (as in saying “ahhh” when the doctor instructs your to open your mouth and say “ahhh” to check your tonsils.) |
| Price is how much? | Ra Ka Tao Rai | L-ah K-ah T-ou Lie |
A: -> Now, they will reply with a number in Thai!
Tip
*In Thai, when using English spelling the ‘R’ is actually pronounced as an ‘L’.
Sometimes people will pronounce it as a rolling “R” sound depending on where they are from.
Note
You can add a “ka” or “krub” at the end for politeness (Tao Rai, Ka/Krub).
We will skip that for now. They are forgiving since they know you do not speak Thai.
P.S. Men say “Krub” and Women say “Ka”.
Eat Here & Take-away
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Here (Eat here) | Ti Nhi | Pronounced the exact same as “Tea Knee“. |
| Take away/to go (boxed up) | Sai Glong | S-eye G-l-oh-ng Sai: “sigh” Glong: “g” sound as in “gift” + “long” but with a “oh” sound instead of the “ah” sound of the ‘o’. |
| Take home | Kulb Bahn | Kulb: “Cub” “K” sound + “ub” as in ‘bear cub’, ignoring the “L” Bahn: “B-ah-n” as in ‘b’ sound, ‘ah’ sound, ‘n’ sound all together. |
This one
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| This [one here] (while pointing at something) | An Nhi | “Ah Knee”. |
Spiciness Of Food
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Spicy🌶️ (I want it spicy) | Ped | Ped Pronounced as “Ped” as in a bicycle “peddal (ped-dal)” |
| No/Not | Mai | Mai: May (sometimes “My”) Pronounced as “May” as in the month of May. Sometimes it is pronounces “My” as in “My Thai is getting good thanks to GemsOfTravel!” |
| Not spicy (I do not want it spicy) | Mai Ped | May Ped |
| Spicy no? (Do you want it spicy or not?) | Ped Mai? | Ped May? |
No problem – do not worry about it.
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| No problem – do not worry about it. | Mai Pen Rai | |
| No/Not | Mai | Mai: May (sometimes spoken as “My”) Pronounced as “May” as in the month of May. Sometimes it is pronounces “My” as in “My Thai is getting good thanks to GemsOfTravel!” |
| Problem | Pen Rai | Pen: As using a “pen” to write with. Rai: As in “Lie” (L-eye). |
Hello
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Sawat Dee Krub (men) Sawat Dee Ka (women) | |
| Sawat | “S-ah-w-ah-t” (the “t” is nearly silent) | |
| Dee | “Dee” as in “deep” but without speaking the ‘p’ sound | |
| Ka/Krup | *see above |
Thank-you
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Thank-you | Khop Khun Krub (men) Khop Khun Ka (women) | |
| Thank | Khop | “Cop” (like a police officer). |
| You | Khun | “K-oo-ugh-n” (“K” sound + “oo” as in ‘cartoon’ + “ugh” + “n” sound) |
| politeness particle | Ka/Krup | *see above |
Delicious (It tastes good, I like it)
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Delicious (It tastes good, I like it) | Aroy | Ah-loy Similar pronunciation to “alloy” (as in a metal aluminum alloy, but with a slight variantion —-> It is pronounced “ah-loy”. Instead of “a” as in ‘apple’ you pronounce it as “ah” as in ‘ahhh, okay, I understand’. |
Note
Again, “R” = “L”
“R” in Thai is usually always pronounced as an “L”.
Full (full stomach, full gas tank)
“Full” in the context of feeling full after eating.
… or …
“Full” as in “I want my gas/petrol tank to be filled, completely full.”
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Full | Em | “A”-m Sounds very similar tp the letter “M” as in “M&M” candy. However, it’s more like saying “A” (the letter A) + the “m” sound. |
When at the gas station to fill up your motorbike gas tank, say “Em” for full to the employee at the pump and they will fill your tank full.
Tip
Alternatively, you can tell them how much gas you want by telling them the amount of money in Thai and they will pump that much.
-> Say “30 baht” (“Sam See-b Baht”) and they’ll pump that much.
Fun Fact
Btw, you are not allowed to pump your own gasoline/petrol in Southeast Asia. The gas stations have several uniform-wearing employees at the pumps ready to assist you.
Drinks
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Nam | N-ah-m “N” sound + “ah” + “m” |
| Ice | Nam Kaeng | N-ah-m Kaeng See above for “Nam” pronunciation. “Kaeng” is pronounced “k” sound + “ang” as in ‘hang’. This pronunciation is not perfect, but close enough. Thai is a tonal language, but they will understand you within context. |
| Cold (implies ice when ordering an iced coffee) | Yen | Y-en Similar to ‘when’ but with a “y” sound (as in ‘yea’) instead of the “wh”. |
| Hot | Lon | L-oh-n Similar to “lone” but, the “o” sound is an “ohhh” sound. |
| Coffee | Gafé | G-afé Similar to ‘Café’ but with a “G” sound instead of a “C” sound. |
Tip
When ordering drinks, such as iced coffee, say “cold” instead of “iced”
✅ Thais will say “coffee cold” instead of “iced coffee“.
✅ So, they will say “Café Yen” (coffee cold).
Similarly, you can order “Café Lon” (coffee hot). Makes sense – coffee is either hot or cold, not hot or iced.
Sizes
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Little | Noi | N-oy Pronounced same as “soy” but with an “n” sound instead of the “s” sound at the beginning. |
| Small | Lek | Lake Pronounced “lake” but without saying the ending “k” sound, just the beginning part of the “k” sound. |
| Big | Yai | Y-eye Pronounced “y” sound + “eye”. So, instead of saying “yay” say “y-eye”, both have that bouncy sound to them. |
Drinks are either Lek (small) or Yai (big). The word little is for other things. You’ll have to experiment to see which one is used where.
If you ever go to Krabi, you’ll see 2 small islands nearby called “Ko Yao Yai” and “Ko Yao Noi“. “Ko” means island and “Yai” means big, “Noi” small. There’s an example of “Noi” and “Yai” being used.
Island
| Thai | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| Island | Ko | G-oh-w Pronounced almost the exact same as “Go” as in “Go to Thailand and speak Thai!”. The “K” (ก) is actually a “G” when written in Thai. Writing Thai with English alphabet does not make sense sometimes. |
Examples – Putting The Words To Use
You will notice that Thai can be a very simple language.
Do not think that this example is simple baby talk, it is just how the language is structured – without the need for all the extra words.
Thais use the just words needed to get the point across.
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : “Sawat Dee Krub” (Hello)
You (female)👩🦰 : “Sawat Dee Ka” (Hello)
You (female)👩🦰 : point to some food “An Nhi Thao Rai, Ka?” (This [one]. How much [does it cost]?)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : “Sam Sip Baht” (30 baht)
Note
Tipping & hidden fees do not exist in Thailand, or within SE Asia for that matter.
Tipping is not part of the culture, they do not understand it, so do not worry with it.
Yes, it may feel uncomfortable, but tipping is a very foreign concept. Within tourist areas you may come accross tipping, but that is only because it is a highly tourist area with Westerners.
You (female)👩🦰 : “Ka” (Ok … you are acknowledging the price)
You (female)👩🦰 : “Neung” (One … I will take 1 of these)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : “Krub” (Ok … he is acknowledging your order)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : “Ped Mai?” (Spicy no? … Do you want it spicy or not?)
Tip
In response, you do not say “yes”.
Rather, to respond you simply repeat the word as confirmation of your choice.
*This applies to all responses, throughout this conversation. This is how Thai is spoken.
You (female)👩🦰 : (1) “Mai Ped” (Not spicy … I do not want it spicy) OR (2) “Ped” (Spicy … I want it spicy)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : (1) Ti Nhi? (Eat here?) OR (2) Sai Glong (Take away/to go (in a box)?) OR (3) Kulb Bahn (Take home?)
You (female)👩🦰 : “Ti Nhi” (Here … I want to ear here)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : “Krub” (Ok .. he is acknowledging your choice)
You (female)👩🦰 : (1) “Khop Khun Ka” (Thank-you) OR (2) “Ka” (OK … a simpler way to say okay)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : *after you ate … “Aroy mai?” (Delicious no? … Did you like the food?)
You (female)👩🦰 : “Aroy!” (Delicious! … Yea, I liked the food!)
Thai seller (male) 🇹🇭🍴 : *after you ate … “Em mai?” (Full no? … Are you feeling full now [after eating]?)
You (female)👩🦰 : “Em” (Full … I am feeling full now [after eating]. That meal filled me up!)