Thai language is based
on tones. A slight change
in tone changes the meaning.
A common word
kau means
rice, white, mountain
or even news depending
on the tone used. Tapes
can be purchased which
will help as difficult
to catch the tone from
words. Some phrases that
might help are shown
below and Thais will
appreciate your efforts.
Some phrases showing
the tones:
Hello (male) Sawadee
- krup
Hello (female) Sawadee
-ka
My name is (male) Pom
che (make the
o and
the
e with a
falling tone)
My name is (female)
Dee – chan che
( second
e low
tone; last
e and
the
a falling
tone)
Thank you (male) Khop
khun krap (
o with
a low tone)
Thank you (female)
Khop khun ka
Where is the toilet
Hong suam yu tee nai
(falling tones except
second
u a low
tone)
Please call the police
Chway riak tam-ruat duay
(falling tones except
first
u a low
tone)
Never mind Mai pen
rai (a falling tone on
the first
a)
I want to go Dee-chan
yak pai (low tone on
first
e and
second
a; falling
tone on first
a)
Where is the... Yu
tee nai (first
u low
tone; first
e and
on the
a use
falling tone)
Some words:
no may ao
airport sanam bin
bank tanakan
coffee ca-fee
tea naam-cha
bottled water nam kwat
water naam
rice kao
chicken kai
beef nua
how much tao rai
help chuay-duay
paeng expensive
how many? gii
how long? naan thao
rai
I am a vegetarian gin
jae
shop raan
go pai
stop yut
turn right liaw-khwaa
turn left liaw-saai
bus rot-meh
enough phaw-laew
Days of the week:
Sunday wan-aa-thit
Monday wan-jan
Tuesday wan-ang-khaan
Wednesday wan-phut
Thursday wan-pha-reu-hat
Friday wan-suk
Saturday wan-sao
Numbers:
0 soon
1 neung
2 sorng
3 sarm
4 sii
5 har
6 hok
7 jet
8 peht
9 gow
10 sip
100 roy
200 sorng roy
300 sarm roy
