Useful Thai words
As you know, Thailand
is a land of smiles. The Thai people are easy to approach and will be all
smiling when you try to speak to them in Thai and that will add to your
pleasure during your stay in Thailand.
There is one important thing you should remember in learning to speak
Thai, that is the Thai language has five tones with four tonal marks. They
are the mid tone, low tone, falling tone, high tone and rising tone. There
are many groups of words which have the same sound but with different
tones and meanings. For example, the word suai can mean bad luck
(suai), bribe (suai1) or beautiful (suai4), depending on the tone.
To prevent you from pronouncing with the wrong tone and
unintentionally cause misunderstanding to the listeners, here we will use
four numbers to represent four tones: 1 = low tone, 2 = falling tone, 3 =
high tone and 4 = rising tone. The mid-level tone syllable will be
unmarked.
(Note : Thais use the word 'khrap' (for men) and
'kha' (for women) to end the sentence or phrase spoken to show
politeness. For example, when you want to say 'hello' in Thai, if you are
a man, you say 'sawatdi khrap' and if a woman, 'sawatdi
kha'.)
| General |
 |
suai4 mak2 |
very beautiful |
 |
mai2 suai4 |
not beautiful |
 |
chop2 mak2 |
like a lot |
 |
mai2 chop2 |
not like |
 |
na2 rak3 |
lovely, nice |
 |
sa1 nuk1 (mak2) |
It's (great) fun. |
 |
mai2 sa1 nuk1 |
no fun |
 |
di (mak2) |
(very) good |
 |
mai2 di |
not good, bad |
 |
a kat1 ron3 |
The weather is hot. |
 |
a kat1 nao4 |
The weather is cold. |
 |
a kat1 yen |
The weather is cool. |
 |
fon4 tok1 |
It rains. |
 |
phoum4 rak3 khun |
I love you.(used by men) |
 |
chan4 rak3 khun |
I love you.(used by women) |
 |
phoum4 chop3 khun |
I like you.(used by men) |
 |
chan4 chop3 khun |
I like you.(used by women) |
| |
|
|
| Getting around |
 |
khun ja1 pai nai4 |
Where are you going? |
 |
chan4 yak1 ja1 pai |
I want to go to….. |
 |
sa1 nam4 bin |
airport |
 |
sa1 tha4 ni rot3 fai |
railway station |
 |
rot3 mei |
bus |
 |
rot3 yon |
car |
 |
rot3 fai |
train |
 |
khrueng2 bin |
airplane |
 |
pai2 rot3 mei |
bus stop |
 |
tha1 non4 |
road, street |
 |
soi |
lane |
 |
trong pai |
go straight ahead |
 |
leo3 sai3 |
turn left |
 |
leo3 khua4 |
turn right |
 |
kham2 tha1 non4 |
cross the road |
| |
|
|
| Accommodation & Places |
 |
rong raem |
hotel |
 |
hong2 phak3 (hong2) |
room |
 |
mi hong2 wang2 mai4 |
Any room available? |
 |
khuen la3 thao2 rai1 |
How much per night? |
 |
hong2 nam3 |
bathroom |
 |
hong2 suam2 |
toilet |
 |
hong2 (ran3) a han4 |
restaurant |
 |
prai sa1 ni |
post office |
 |
ta1 lat1 |
market |
 |
tha3 na khan |
bank |
 |
rong pha3 ya ban |
hospital |
| |
|
|
| Shopping |
 |
thou2 rai1 |
How much? |
 |
phaeng pai |
Too expensive |
 |
lot3 dai2 mai4 |
Any discount? |
 |
kho4 du an nan3 noi1 |
Let me see that. |
 |
kho4 long an ni3 noi1 |
Let me try this. |
 |
man lek3 pai |
It's too small. |
 |
man yai1 pai |
It's too big. |
 |
chan4 mai2 chop2 si4 ni3 |
I don't like this colour. |
 |
mi si4 uen1 mai4 |
Do you have other colours? |
| |
|
|
| Numbers |
1
|
nueng1 |
one |
2
|
song4 |
two |
3
|
sam4 |
three |
4
|
si1 |
four |
5
|
ha2 |
five |
6
|
hok1 |
six |
7
|
jet1 |
seven |
8
|
paet1 |
eight |
9
|
kao2 |
nine |
10
|
sip1 |
ten |
11
|
sip1 et1 |
eleven |
12
|
sip1 song4 |
twelve |
13
|
sip1 sam4 |
thirteen |
20
|
yi2 sip1 |
twenty |
21
|
yi2 sip1 et1 |
twenty one |
22
|
yi2 sip1 song4 |
twenty two |
30
|
sam4 sip1 |
thirty |
| 40 |
si1 sip1
|
forty |
100
|
nueng1 roi3 |
one hundred |
200
|
song4 roi3 |
two hundred |
1,000
|
nueng1 phan |
one thousand |
10,000
|
nueng1 muen1 |
ten thousand |
100,000
|
nueng1 saen4 |
hundred thousand |
| 1,000,000 |
nueng1 lan3
|
one million |
10,000,000
|
sip1 lan3 |
ten million |
100,000,000
|
nueng1 roi3 lan3 |
hundred million |
| 1,000,000,000 |
nueng1 phan lan3 |
one billion |
| |
|
|
| Time & Days |
 |
ki1 mong laeo3 |
What time is it now? |
 |
wan ni3 |
today |
 |
phrung2 ni3 |
tomorrow |
 |
muea2 wan ni3 |
yesterday |
 |
ton chao3 |
in the morning |
 |
ton thiang2 |
at noon |
 |
ton bai1 |
in the afternoon |
 |
ton yen |
in the evening |
 |
ton klang khuen |
at night |
 |
wan a thit3 |
Sunday |
 |
wan jan |
Monday |
 |
wan ang khan |
Tuesday |
 |
wan phut3 |
Wednesday |
 |
wan pha3 ru3 hat1 (sa1 bo di) |
Thursday |
 |
wan suk1 |
Friday |
 |
wan sao4 |
Saturday |
| |
|
|
| Food & Eating |
 |
a han4 chao3 |
breakfast |
 |
a han4 klang wan |
lunch |
 |
a han4 yen |
dinner |
 |
khao2 plao1 |
plain rice |
 |
khao2 phat1 |
fried rice |
 |
khao2 phat1 mu4 |
fried rice with pork |
 |
khao2 tom2 |
rice gruel |
 |
kuai3 tiao4 (nam3) |
noodle (soup) |
 |
tom2 yam kung2 |
spicy shrimp soup |
 |
som2 tam |
spicy papaya salad |
 |
kha1 nom4 pang |
bread |
 |
mu4 |
pork |
 |
nuea3 |
beef |
 |
pla |
fish |
 |
kai1 |
chicken |
 |
kai1 yang2 |
roasted chicken |
 |
kung2 |
shrimp, prawn |
 |
pla muek1 |
squid |
 |
pu |
crab |
 |
khai1 |
egg |
 |
khai1 dao |
fried egg |
 |
khai1 tom2 |
boiled egg |
 |
khai1 jiao |
omelette |
 |
phon4 la3 mai3 |
fruit |
 |
phak1 |
vegetable |
 |
nam3 yen |
cold water |
 |
nam3 khaeng4 |
ice |
 |
nam3 ron3 |
hot water |
 |
ka fae ron3 (yen) |
hot (cold) coffee |
 |
cha ron3 (yen) |
hot (cold) tea |
 |
nam3 som2 khan3 |
orange juice |
 |
a roi1 (mak2) |
(very) delicious, tasty |
 |
phet1 koen pai |
too spicy |
 |
wan4 koen pai |
too sweet |
 |
khem koen pai |
too salty |