In this simple User’s Guide, I would like to introduce you some basic Thai that can make it easier for you to get along on your next holiday in Thailand. The Thai alphabet is not related to any roman language so it will be spelled out in roman letters in order to make it readable for everyone without the need of using phonetics.

 

**Disclaimer**

 

I’m not a native Thai speaker nor am I a Thai language teacher, but I’ve been living in Thailand for two years now and I’ve been learning the language for the same amount time, while teaching English in Chiang Mai. I summarized my knowledge and my experience in this article and hope it will help you to not feel completely helpless and overwhelmed upon your arrival.

 

This article is outlined in five parts.

 

  1. Definition
  2. Introduction
  3. Conversation
  4. Table
  5. Conclusion

 

 

Imagine

 

If you ever find yourself having just landed at the airport somewhere in a tropical country, tired after the discomfort of a long and exhausting trip, try to take it easy. It’s your holiday!
As you’re stumbling out of the plane, exhaustedly waiting for your luggage to arrive you’ll try not to panic. Your bag will most likely arrive in the next 30 minutes.

 

You are standing near the luggage belt now. Dehydrated from too much coffee on the plane and all you want to do is to stretch out and arrive at the hotel. You can’t wait to throw your bags in a corner and put your feet up. The hardest part is almost over.

 

Taking your first step out of the air condition powered airport is next. The electric door slides apart and the humidity swallows you instantaneously. A crowd of taxi drivers wearing pilot sunglasses welcomes you and begs for your attention…

 

Huge double decker tourist busses hauling through the heat, never getting tired of picking up tourist flocks armed with camera gear and camping hats. What is your location? Bangkok, Thailand? At this point you may ask yourself how on earth are you going to get along.

 

 

What is the Thai Language?

 

 

Thai or Siamese, is the national and official language of Thailand. It is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family. Over half of its words are borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon, and Old Khmer. It is a tonal language with five different tones. You read right. Five different tones make words differ from another.

 

The tones are: 

 

Mid: 

Low: \

Falling: ^

High: /

Rising: v

 

 

Thai also has a complex orthography and system of relational markers. Spoken Thai is very similar with Laotian, the language of Laos; the two languages are written with little differing scripts but are linguistically very similar.

 

In the Thai Language, female and male speakers use different pronouns and articles. The subject pronoun “I” is “ฉัน - Chan” for female speakers and “ผม – Pom” for male speakers. Add “ค่ะ - Ka” for female speakers and “ครับ - Krap” for males as a polite particle at the end of a sentence.

 

 

Example Scenario

 

You are at Survanabhumi Airport Bangkok and you want to go to Khao San Road. You [A (female)] are bargaining with [B a taxi driver (male)] and having a general conversation.

 

  • A: คุณว่างไหมค่ะ Sa-wat-dee ka. Khun wang mai ka? [Hello, are you free?]
    • B: สวัสดีครับจะไปไหนครับ Sa-wat-dee krap, ja pai nai krap? [Hi, where would you like to go?]
  • A: สวัสดีคะไปถนนข้าวสารค่ะ Pai thanon Khao San ka. [To Khao San road, please.]
    • B: ไปเลยครับประมาณหนึ่งพันบาทครับ Pai ley krap. Bra’man nueng pan baht krap. [Let’s go! That’s about 1000 THB.]
  • A: แพงมากช่วยเปิดมิเตอร์ด้วยนะ Paeng mak! Chuay bpert meter dwuay na! [That’s very expensive! Please turn on the meter.]
    • B: ก็ได้เปิดมิเตอร์ได้ครับ dai krap. Bpert meter dai krap. [Alright. I will turn on the meter.]
  • A: วันนี้รถติดไหมค่ะ Wạn nee rot dit mai ka? [Is the traffic bad today?]
    • B: รถติดมากครับ Rot dit maak, krap. [Very bad traffic, indeed.]
  • B: มาแล้วครับ Ma leaw krap. [We just arrived.]
    • A: ขอบคุณค่ะ Khop khun ka. [Thank you.]

 

 

Vocabulary Used

  

ENGLISH:

THAI LETTERS:

LATIN LETTERS:

Survanaphumi Airport

สนามบินสุวรรณภูมิ

Sanam Bin Suvarnaphum

Khao San Road

ถนนข้าวสาร

Thanon Khao San

Ka  - Polite particle female

ค่ะ

Ka

Krap  - Polite particle male

ครับ

Krap

Na (Ka/Krap) polite article

นะ

Na

Hello / Bye (Ka/Krap)

สวัสดี

Sa-wat-dee Ka/Krap

I (Male)

ผม

Pom

I (Female)

ฉัน

Chan

Will go

จะไป

Ja pbai

Go

ไป

Pbai

Totally / at all / all

เลย

leey

Approximately / About

ประมาณ

Bra’man

Baht - THB

บาท

Baht

Expensive

แพง

Paeng

A lot / very / much

มาก

Mak

Also do/help

ช่วยด้วย

Chuay dwuay

Open / Start / Turn on

เปิด

Pbert

Can not

ไม่ได้

Mai Dai

Not

ไม่

Mai

Can

ได้

Dai

Today

วันนี้

Wan nee

Day

วัน

Wan

This

นี้

Nee

Car

รถ

Rot

Traffic Jam

รถติด

Rot didt

Arrived

มาแล้ว

Ma laew

Thank you

ขอบคุณ

Khob Khun (Ka/Krap)

 

 

Execution


Now, I can understand that you may still feel insecure about what to say and how to confidently communicate your ideas to others when English is not primarily spoken by the people around you.

 

Nevertheless, I define luck as preparation meets opportunity and skill is learning and repeated execution. Whenever you are ready to go out and take action to execute you will learn the most.

 

I hope this simple travel guide gave you some insights into the Thai language and I hope it will help you to find your way in Thailand. Hope you all enjoy your holiday plans in Thailand!

 

Sa-wat-dee krap.
สวัสดีครับ

 

Hero image by Florian Wehde on Unsplash