Basic Thai phrases for travellers

The Thai you will actually use on a trip: greetings, getting a taxi, ordering food that is not too spicy, haggling at a market and asking for help. Each phrase is in Thai script with a pronunciation you can read straight off the screen.

Before you start

End almost every sentence with khrap if you are a man or kha if you are a woman. It turns a bare phrase into a polite one, and it is the single thing that makes Thai people smile at a visitor.

Thai has five tones, and the spelling on this page does not show them. You will still be understood in a shop or a taxi, because the situation does most of the work. If someone looks puzzled, point at the Thai script.

Learn mai pen rai early. It means never mind, no problem, it is fine, and you will hear it every day.

The pronunciation is a simple English spelling, not an exact transcription. It gets you understood; a native speaker will still hear an accent.

Basics and politeness

Getting around

Food and drink

Shopping and money

Help and health

Numbers

Other phrase lists

• Vietnamese phrases (46)
• Indonesian phrases (50)