· 7 min read
Thai Phrases for Travel: 18 That Matter
By Language Lab editorial team
18 Thai phrases for travel with pronunciation and meaning, plus the polite endings for men and women and how the five tones work. From the BBC's guide to Thai.
Thai for travellers starts with one greeting and one polite ending. Hello and goodbye are the same phrase, sa-wùt dee, followed by krúp if you are a man or kà if you are a woman. Thank you is kòrp-kOOn, yes is châi and no is mâi. You're welcome is mâi bpen rai, worth learning as a set phrase. To ask how someone is, say sa-bai dee mái? If you need help, chôo-ay nòy, again with krúp or kà. Thai is a tonal language with five tones, so the marks over the vowels matter: they show the pitch of each word. The 18 phrases below use the BBC's spelling system from its guide to Thai, where they come with audio.
The polite ending
The BBC's guide explains that Thai has polite words that cannot be translated; they go at the end of a sentence to convey politeness. Male speakers add krúp at the end of a statement or question. Female speakers use kâh at the end of a statement and ká at the end of a question. Wherever a phrase below shows krúp/kà, choose the one that fits you. The words for I also come as a pair in the BBC's list, pǒm and di-chún, in the same order.
Greetings and courtesy
| Thai | Meaning |
|---|---|
| sa-wùt dee krúp/kà | Hello; also goodbye |
| wùt dee | Hi! or Bye! |
| kòrp-kOOn | Thank you |
| mâi bpen rai | You're welcome |
| ga-rOO-nah | Please |
| kǒr-toht krúp/kà | I'm sorry |
| láir-o jer gun ná | See you later! |
Yes, no and how are you
| Thai | Meaning |
|---|---|
| châi | Yes |
| mâi | No |
| sa-bai dee mái? | How are you? |
| sa-bai dee kòrp-kOOn | I'm fine, thank you |
| pǒm/di-chún mâi sa-bai | I'm not well |
| yôrt | Great! |
Meeting people and getting help
| Thai | Meaning |
|---|---|
| pǒm/ di-chún chêu … | My name is ... |
| yin dee têe dâi róo-jùk kOOn | Pleased to meet you |
| kOOn pôot pah-sǎh ung-grìt bpen mái? | Do you speak English? |
| pǒm/ di-chún mâi kâo jai | I don't understand |
| chôo-ay nòy krúp/kà | I need help, please |
Tones: why the marks matter
The BBC's guide says Thai is a tonal language, so the learner has to get used to recognising the pitch of a word, and it has five tones. Its example uses one syllable five ways.
| Tone | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Mid | mai | mile |
| Low | mài | new |
| High | mái | wood |
| Falling | mâi | not |
| Rising | mǎi | silk |
You have already met two of these spellings: mâi, with the falling tone, is the no in the list above, and mái appears at the end of sa-bai dee mái?, how are you. The guide adds that hearing and producing tones comes easily to some learners and takes others more time and practice.
What makes Thai approachable
- Word order is similar to English, the BBC's guide says.
- There are no verb or noun endings. One sentence, literally I-go-with-friend, can mean I am going or I went, with a friend or with friends; context or an added time word makes it clear.
- Many English words have been borrowed and adapted, such as e-may for e-mail.
- The script is new to learn, but the guide says most learners find it easier than they expect.
Manners worth knowing
- Use khun, which works like Mr, Mrs or Miss, in front of a person's name.
- The head is regarded as sacred and the feet as dirty, the guide notes.
- Romanised Thai can mislead: Phuket is pronounced Poo-get, not Foo-get.
How to learn these phrases
- Learn them by ear. With five tones, the audio matters more than the spelling.
- Pick your polite ending, krúp or kà, and use it every time.
- Test yourself from English to Thai, aloud.
- Practise over several days. A 2013 review of learning research rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility, and rereading as low.
- If you go further, expect a long course: the US State Department lists Thai in Category III, at about 44 weeks or 1,012 class hours.
Language Lab's Thai course is built around voiced real-life scenarios with an AI tutor, so you can hear the tones and practise them in conversation.
Frequently asked
How do you say hello in Thai?
Sa-wùt dee, followed by krúp if you are male or kà if you are female. The same phrase is used for goodbye.
How do you say thank you in Thai?
Kòrp-kOOn. You're welcome is mâi bpen rai.
What do krúp and kà mean?
They are polite words added at the end of a sentence. Male speakers use krúp; female speakers use kâh for statements and ká for questions, as the BBC's guide explains.
How many tones does Thai have?
Five: mid, low, high, falling and rising.
How do you say yes and no in Thai?
Yes is châi and no is mâi.
Is Thai hard to learn?
The tones and the script are the challenges, the BBC's guide says, while the grammar poses fewer problems than European languages because there are no verb or noun endings. The US State Department places Thai in Category III.
Sources: BBC Languages, A Guide to Thai: Key phrases and 10 facts about the Thai language (archived pages); US Department of State, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Foreign Language Training; Dunlosky et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013. Checked on 13 October 2026. Photo: Guardian figures on Wat Arun, Bangkok, Jakub Hałun / CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons).
