Basic Thai phrases for visitors: polite, practical and easy to say

Basic Thai phrases will not make you fluent, but two dozen of them change how a trip feels: taxi drivers relax, vendors smile, and a waiter braced for English suddenly has time for you. The phrases a visitor needs are short and forgiving in context. Here they are in simple romanisation, with Thai script for showing someone your phone.

The short version

End almost everything with khrap or kha. Men say khrap, women say kha; it makes any word polite.
Tones matter, but context rescues you. Miss one in a taxi and the driver will usually still understand.
Numbers one to ten, plus roi and phan, read any price. Twelve words cover every menu and meter.
Mai pen rai and khop khun do half the daily work. "Never mind" and "thank you" smooth most small moments.
A smile beats grammar. Friendly and imperfect lands better than correct and impatient.

What's in this guide

The ten phrases that do most of the work
Tones, polite particles and the wai
Greetings, numbers and prices
Taxis, food and bars
Saying no politely
Emergency phrases and staying safe

The ten phrases that do most of the work

If you learn nothing else, learn these, and add khrap or kha to the end of each.

English	Thai	Say it like
Hello / goodbye	สวัสดี	sa-wat-dee
Thank you	ขอบคุณ	khop khun
Sorry / excuse me	ขอโทษ	kho thot
Never mind, no problem	ไม่เป็นไร	mai pen rai
How much?	เท่าไหร่	tao-rai
Too expensive	แพงไป	phaeng pai
I don't want it	ไม่เอา	mai ao
I don't understand	ไม่เข้าใจ	mai khao jai
Where is the toilet?	ห้องน้ำอยู่ที่ไหน	hong nam yoo tee nai
Delicious	อร่อย	a-roi

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About the prices. Baht (฿) figures here are indicative ranges that show scale and give you real numbers to practise on. Check current fares and menus locally.

Why a little Thai goes a long way

English is common in hotels, malls and the main nightlife streets and thins out quickly beyond them. Taxi drivers, street cooks and market vendors are the people you deal with most, and the least likely to share a language with you.

Effort also buys goodwill: a visitor who tries, even clumsily, comes across as respectful. Grammar helps too. Verbs never change form and there are no plurals or articles, so short phrases snap together like building blocks.

Tones, without a music degree

Thai has five tones: mid, low, falling, high and rising. The tongue-twister ไม้ใหม่ไม่ไหม้ไหม (mái mài mâi mâi mǎi, "new wood doesn't burn, does it?") builds a whole sentence out of one syllable. Nobody expects you to master that before landing.

Speak in a calm, level voice rather than with English question intonation, and learn the few contrasts that bite. Glâi, falling, means near; glai, flat, means far. Sǔay, rising, means beautiful; said flat, it means unlucky. In our romanisation, kh, ph and th are simply breathy k, p and t, so Phuket is "poo-ket".

Khrap, kha and the wai

Men end sentences with khrap (ครับ), women with kha: sawatdee khrap, khop khun kha. The particle adds no meaning, only politeness, a little like "please" and a smile at once; in casual speech khrap often shrinks to "khap".

Women say ค่ะ (falling kha) for statements and คะ (high kha) for questions. Men call themselves phom (ผม), women chan (ฉัน), and khun (คุณ) means you or works as a title before a first name. Skipping the particles is fine among friends but sounds curt with strangers and staff.

The wai

The wai is palms pressed together at chest height with a slight bow of the head; higher hands and a deeper bow show more respect. Return one from a hotel manager or an older host with a wai of your own and a sawatdee.

When shop or bar staff wai you, a smile and a nod is the natural reply, and greeting service staff with an elaborate wai first can leave them unsure how to respond. Never touch anyone's head or point with your feet, and in temples cover shoulders and knees and take your shoes off.

Tip: when unsure, copy the person in front of you. Thais forgive visitors who get etiquette slightly wrong, and are much less patient with those who clearly do not care.

Greetings and small talk

Sawatdee is hello and goodbye at any hour. "Sabai dee mai?" (how are you?) is friendly rather than probing, and "sabai dee" (fine) is the standard reply.

Thais often ask where you are from and whether you like Thai food; a cheerful answer, even one Thai word, goes far. People go by first names or nicknames, so khun plus a first name is always polite.

English	Thai	Say it like
How are you?	สบายดีไหม	sa-bai dee mai
I'm fine	สบายดี	sa-bai dee
What's your name?	คุณชื่ออะไร	khun chue a-rai
My name is …	ผมชื่อ… / ฉันชื่อ…	phom chue … / chan chue …
I'm from …	ผมมาจาก… / ฉันมาจาก…	phom ma jak … / chan ma jak …
Do you speak English?	พูดภาษาอังกฤษได้ไหม	phoot pha-sa ang-grit dai mai
Please speak slowly	พูดช้าๆ หน่อย	phoot cha cha noi

Numbers and prices

Numbers let you read a meter, follow a price and understand a vendor quoting in Thai. Learn one to ten, then combine: sip-song is twelve, sam-sip is thirty and song-roi ha-sip is 250.

Two quirks catch everyone. Eleven, twenty-one and so on end in "et" (sip-et, yee-sip-et), and twenty is yee-sip rather than song-sip. Baht simply follows the number, so ha-sip baht is ฿50.

Number	Thai	Say it like
1 / 2 / 3	หนึ่ง / สอง / สาม	neung / song / sam
4 / 5 / 6	สี่ / ห้า / หก	see / ha / hok
7 / 8 / 9	เจ็ด / แปด / เก้า	jet / paet / kao
10 / 11 / 20	สิบ / สิบเอ็ด / ยี่สิบ	sip / sip-et / yee-sip
100 / 1,000	ร้อย / พัน	roi / phan

Bargaining without friction

Bargain in markets and with tuk-tuks, never in malls, convenience stores or restaurants. Ask "tao-rai khrap?", then "lot dai mai?" (a little less?) with a smile. A 10–20% drop is a good result; haggling hard over ฿20 reads as mean.

Name a number you are happy with and mean it, because once the vendor agrees, you buy. Practice figures: water in a convenience store costs ฿10–20, a street-food plate ฿50–100, and a Bangkok metered taxi starts at ฿35.

Tip: a few older signs and menus use Thai digits, such as ๑, ๒ and ๓ for 1, 2 and 3. If a price looks unreadable, ask tao-rai and let the vendor say it.

Taxis and directions

In a taxi, the words that matter are the destination and the meter: "pai" plus the place, then "poet mee-ter duay khrap". If the driver quotes a flat price instead, a friendly "mai pen rai, khop khun" and the next taxi solve it. Our guide to getting from Bangkok airport to the city covers the first ride.

Place names are the hard part, since Thai pronunciation can sound nothing like the English spelling. Keep your hotel's address in Thai script on your phone and show it rather than say it.

English	Thai	Say it like
To …, please	ไป…ครับ / ไป…ค่ะ	pai … khrap / kha
Meter on, please	เปิดมิเตอร์ด้วย	poet mee-ter duay
Straight on	ตรงไป	trong pai
Turn left / right	เลี้ยวซ้าย / เลี้ยวขวา	liao sai / liao khwa
Stop here	จอดตรงนี้	jot trong nee
Is it far?	ไกลไหม	glai mai
Please drive slowly	ขับช้าๆ หน่อย	khap cha cha noi

Safety: late at night, a ride-hailing app that shows the fare and records the route beats any phrase. Screenshot the plate before you get in.

Food, bars and restaurants

Ordering follows one pattern: kho (may I have) plus the thing plus khrap or kha. "Kho bia neung khuat" brings one bottle of beer. To catch a server's attention, raise a hand and say "kho thot khrap"; waving or clicking fingers does not go down well.

Food is often spicy by default, so say "mai phet" if you want none at all, and state allergies clearly. For the bill, "kep ngoen duay" or "chek bin" both work, and in bars it is normal to check the slips in your cup before paying. For where to drink, see Bangkok bars for a date or our Bangkok nightlife guide.

English	Thai	Say it like
The menu, please	ขอเมนูหน่อย	kho me-nu noi
One more, please	ขออีกหนึ่ง	kho eek neung
Not spicy / a little spicy	ไม่เผ็ด / เผ็ดนิดหน่อย	mai phet / phet nit noi
No ice	ไม่ใส่น้ำแข็ง	mai sai nam khaeng
Plain water	น้ำเปล่า	nam plao
I'm allergic to nuts	แพ้ถั่ว	phae thua
Cheers!	ชนแก้ว	chon gaeo
The bill, please	เก็บเงินด้วย	kep ngoen duay

Saying no politely

Touts, tailors, tuk-tuk drivers and second helpings will all need a no. Thais rarely refuse flatly; the art is to decline warmly and keep moving. "Mai pen rai, khop khun khrap" (it's alright, thank you) is the softest version, and "mai ao khrap" (I don't want it) is fine with a smile.

"Wai gon na" means "maybe later", a face-saving exit nobody takes literally, and "im laeo" (I'm full) ends any food offer. In a bar, "mai pen rai" also covers a round you do not want. What never helps is irritation: a raised voice makes a stranger lose face in public.

Emergency phrases and staying safe

Learn these before you need them. The key numbers are 1155 for the English-speaking Tourist Police, 191 for the police and 1669 for an ambulance.

English	Thai	Say it like
Help!	ช่วยด้วย	chuay duay
Call the police	เรียกตำรวจ	riak tam-ruat
Where is the hospital?	โรงพยาบาลอยู่ที่ไหน	rong pha-ya-ban yoo tee nai
I'm lost	ผมหลงทาง / ฉันหลงทาง	phom / chan long thang

Language is only one layer of staying safe, and a few habits matter more than any phrase:

Agree the price before any ride or purchase, or use the meter or an app.
Check the bill and count your change.
Carry little: one card, the day's cash and a passport copy.
Tell a friend where you are going at night and keep your phone charged.
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FAQ

Do I need to learn to read Thai script?

No. Romanised phrases are plenty for a trip. The script is here so you can show a driver an address, and many Bangkok street signs also appear in English.

Is it rude if I forget khrap or kha?

Not really, since Thais know visitors are learning. Adding it makes you sound noticeably warmer, and within a day or two the habit sticks.

What does farang mean?

Farang is the everyday Thai word for a Western foreigner. It is descriptive rather than insulting and is usually said without any edge at all.

What's the single most useful phrase?

Probably mai pen rai: never mind, no problem, it's fine. It captures an attitude Thais value, letting small things go without fuss.

In short

Learn the ten core phrases, the numbers and khrap or kha, keep your hotel address in Thai on your phone, and say no with a smile rather than a frown. Tones will come slowly, and that is fine. Thailand rewards visitors who try, and a few dozen words are enough to feel the difference.