Some Basic Thai Phrases

I am continuing to take Thai lessons each week and thought I’d share a few useful phrases – in case you ever find yourself in Thailand. In some ways, Thai is a very simple language and in some ways it is very complex. On the simple side, there are no articles – no “a, an, or the.” And there is no verb for “to be.” So, if you want to say “The car is red” you just say “rot si-daang,” which is literally “car red.” It is assumed that the listener will fill in the rest and turn those two words into a sentence that makes sense.

And you don’t need to conjugate verbs – the verb stays the same regardless of who is doing the action, how many, or when. For example, “Pom gin kaow” means “I eat rice.” “Gin” is the verb for “eat” and it doesn’t change regardless of who is eating, or how many are eating, or when they are eating. To change the tense, “gin” stays the same but you add some words around it to indicate the time. So…

Pom gin kaow = I eat rice.
Rao gin kaow = We eat rice.
Pom gamlang gin kaow = I am eating rice.
Pom ja gin kaow = I will eat rice.
Meuan-nee pom gin kaow = Yesterday I ate rice. (Meuan-nee is the word for “yesterday”.)

So, once you learn the verb for “eat,” you’re all set and can use that one word over and over. (Unlike French, which seems to have 14 different verb tenses.)

On the complex side, Thai is a tonal language. And there are five tones. So the same word can mean very different things depending on the tone. For example, “som” can mean “orange” or “fork,” depending on the tone. And, “seua” can mean shirt, tiger, or mat. If Noon, my Thai instructor, speaks slowly I can hear the difference in some of the tones, but I’m still not good at reproducing those tones.

But here are a few useful phrases, just in case you need a new party trick --

“Sawadee krap”
This is the basic greeting and can be used at anytime of day – “good morning, good afternoon, or good evening.” But there is a wrinkle – of course. I say “krap” at the end of the phrase because I am a man. Women say “ka” rather than “krap.” These two words – krap and ka – don’t actually have meanings – they are just meant as “softeners.” Thais avoid saying anything too direct or too blunt, so they add these “softeners” to the ends of most sentences. (Frankly, I don’t really see the need to soften “Good morning” but whatever. They do.)

“Sabaidee mai?”
How is it going? No “krap” or “ka” at the end of this one, for some reason. In response, you just say “Sabaidee” – meaning, everything is fine.

“Kuhn shuu arai?”
What is your name? Literally, this translates as “You name what?” In response, I would say, “Pom (I) shuu (name) Douglas.” (I do not say “Doug” since Thais have a hard time with words that end in “G” – they end up calling me “Duk” instead.)

“Korp kuhn krap/ka”
Thank you (Again, add “krap” or “ka” depending on whether you’re a man or a woman.)

“Mai bpen rai”
You’re welcome

Which brings up one of the many challenges in actually saying some of these words. Thai has a number of double consonants (dipthongs?) that are difficult to say. For example, they have a sound that is somewhere between a “B” and a “P.” (The word for eight is “bpat.”) Also, a sound that is a blend of “D” and “T” (“Dtao rai” means “How much?”) and one that is a blend of “J” and “CH.” (The popular Chatuchak Market is commonly referred to as “JJ Market.”) But the worst one, by far, is “NG” – it is just not a sound that Westerners can make. And it comes up often – for example, the word for “one” is “neung” and the word for tomorrow is “prung nee.” Anytime Noon asks me to say a word with an “ng” in it, I ask her if there is a synonym I can say instead.

And one last important phase –

“Pom ao sap-arot, krap”
I want some pineapple, please.

I realize this phrase is not high on the list of the average tourist, but it’s useful for me and I asked Noon to teach it to me last night. There is a street vendor outside our building at work and he sells fresh fruit. A few times this week, I have bought fruit from him and just pointed at what I wanted. Simple enough and it’s been successful, but I thought I ought to at least try to learn how to say it in Thai. And I did this afternoon – and he smiled and gave me some pineapple, so I guess I was clear enough.

(And the process is very interesting. His cart is filled with ice, with large chunks of fresh fruit stacked up on the ice. You ask for what you want – pineapple or melon or guava. He takes the chunk of fruit, puts it in a plastic bag, and then, holding the bag in the palm of his hand, uses a small cleaver to cut the fruit into bite-size cubes. I don’t know how he manages to do this without cutting his hand or the bag, but he does. Then, he puts the first bag into a second bag – one that has handles so you can carry it – and throws in a wooden skewer for you to use to eat the fruit. Then, he asks if you want a packet of sugar (nam taang) to go with it. Finally, he says, “Sip baht” – “10 baht” – and for about 30 cents, you walk away with some very tasty fresh pineapple.)