208 Basic Thai Phrases For Travel You NEED To Know

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Whatever the reason for your visit to the Land of Smiles, you should come prepared with at least some knowledge of the Thai language. Use this comprehensive phrase guide to learn the most essential Thai phrases for travel and you’re guaranteed to win over the locals.

Thailand is one of the most visited countries in the world, and it is easy to see why. The landscape is incredibly diverse, the beaches are legendary and the food is fantastic. The tropical weather makes for a great getaway from the colder climates of Europe, the US and further afield. Thai culture is also unique, shaped by its long history. 

Just like all my other travel phrase cheat-sheets, this Thai language guide includes practical phrases and vocabulary which will help you better understand its speakers and have more meaningful conversations and interactions with the locals.  To help me create this guide, I asked Ling App to provide the translations and insights into Thai cultural to make the learning process easier.

Before we dive into the which Thai phrases you should learn, let’s delve deeper into the beautiful Thai language, learn about its interesting origins and where it is used.

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Let’s take a closer look at the Thai language. Here’s what we’ll cover:

Table of Contents

• A Quick History of Thai
• Where is Thai spoken?
• How many people speak Thai?
• Thai Alphabet
• Thai Grammar
• Thai Pronunciation
• Thai Culture
• 208 Basic Thai Phrases for Travel
  • • Common Greetings
    • How to be Polite
    • How to ask Questions
    • Ordering Food & Eating Out
    • Getting Around
    • Telling the Time
    • Numbers
    • Days of the Week
    • Emergencies
    • Shopping
• 208 Basic Thai Phrases for Travel [Infographic]

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A Quick History of Thai

The Thai language is part of the Southwestern language family, which it shares with many languages in the Southeast Asian peninsula such as Lao and Shan. In terms of vocabulary, many words in the Thai language derive from Pali and Sanskrit, two historical Indic languages. Likewise, Thai has also borrowed heavily from Mon (an indigenous language of Thailand and Myanmar) and Khmer (the official language of Cambodia).

Modern Thai has been shaped across several eras, starting with Old Thai. Over time, the language morphed due to numerous influences, population changes and territorial changes. The first Thai script appeared during the thirteenth century, and would also see significant changes as it evolved into the Thai script used today.

Where is Thai Spoken?

Now that we know the history, we can have a look at where Thai is actually spoken. As you would imagine, Thai is the official language of Thailand. While that may be obvious, there is plenty of diversity even within the Thai language. For example, there are many different dialects of Thai.

The most common dialect would be Central Thai, spoken natively in Bangkok, the country’s capital and in the central region. There are also distinct dialects to the south, east and north of Thailand. The most notable of which are the Southern dialect and the Isaan (Northeastern) dialect of Thai, which shares many similarities with the language of neighbouring Laos.

Speaking of Laos, many people, especially those in the Northeastern region of Thai, are able to speak or at least understand the language due to their similarities. A lot of the media in Laos comes from Thai, so it is understood by a good portion of the population. Many people from Laos also come to work in Thailand, making it quite common as you get closer to the border.

The same is true for Khmer, Malay and Burmese. Thai is also a recognised language in some areas of its neighbouring countries. Not to mention that there are numerous minority languages spoken around Thailand by the minority groups too.

Ultimately, almost everyone in Thailand speaks Thai. It may be spoken in other countries where Thai people have moved to work, but it isn’t spoken officially anywhere else.

How Many People Speak Thai?

The total number of Thai speakers is estimated to be around 60 million, placing it 22nd in the list of most spoken languages in the world. This includes both native speakers and second language speakers.

Thai Alphabet

The Thai language has its own alphabet. It is made up of 44 consonants and 28 vowels. Below is a chart that shows the consonants written with acrophonics, which means they are written together with words that start with that consonant’s sound. This is the typical way the Thai alphabet is presented.

Note: Some consonants and vowels in the Thai alphabet are obsolete, such as ฃ= k  kɔ̌ɔ-kùuat bottle and ฅ= k  kɔɔ-kon person. So, Thai people don’t use them anymore in their new writing.  However, Thai learners might see these obsolete characters somewhere in Thailand such as an old store board or old books. The reason is because these writings haven’t been updated. 

The Thai Vowels

The vowels can be categorised into short and long vowels, which can be identified by the character used. Essentially, it dictates whether you say the syllable for a longer or shorter period of time.

Thai Short Vowels

Thai Long Vowels

Thai Grammar

The basic word order of Thai is SVO – that is to say, the Subject comes first in the sentence, followed by the Verb and then the Object. This is a good guide for building basic sentences, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.

The omission of the subject is not uncommon in Thai. If the subject is obvious from the context, then the pronouns can be left out. The object can also be left out in some cases. This can make things rather ambiguous, which again makes the context important.

Other ways that Thai word order differs from English include the fact that, for questions, the question particles are added to the end of the sentence. Adjectives come after the verb, too. As for nouns, when they are pluralised, a classifier needs to be used. Classifiers are also used in English for some words, but in Thai, they are much more prevalent.

Thai Pronunciation

Just like Norwegian, Swedish and Vietnamese, Thai is a tonal language on top of which, it also has its own unique alphabet. This combination can make it quite difficult to learn Thai for English speakers, where tones are a foreign concept. There are five tones in total: Low, Mid, High, Falling and Rising. These will impact the pitch you use when pronouncing the word. You will know which tone to use based on the tone markers of the written word.

There are some sounds in the Thai language that are not seen in the English language. In Thai, they differentiate between aspirated and unaspirated consonants. This means that some consonants are said with a puff of air while others are not. Then there are some combinations that are different: the ‘bp’ sound is unique to Thai.

While the Thai consonants all have at least some resemblance or equivalents in English, Thai vowels are a bit more complicated. As well as the aforementioned vowel length distinctions, there are some sounds that are just not present in the English language. It is a case of learning and practising their pronunciation.

Thai Culture

Thai culture has been heavily influenced by Buddhism, the predominant religion of the country. Temples, monks and ceremonies are common sights across Thailand. It has also shaped society in a number of different ways. For example, there are different ways of speaking when it comes to religion and religious texts. You will see many people wearing amulets (a kind of good luck charm believed to protect its possessor) too, or even tattoos that are said to have magical powers.

Family and status are held in high regard in Thai culture. When it comes to the age and position of a person (i.e. your boss), you would speak differently compared to if you were talking with someone equal to you. For families, it is not unusual for them to be close. Many children send money back to their parents every month to support them. If they don’t need to move away for work, then they likely live with or very close to their extended families too.

Another feature of Thai culture is the slower, less stressful outlook on life. Whether due to the heat or the relaxing atmosphere, people will avoid any strong emotions or reactions, instead having a calm demeanour. This is a way of saving face, or avoiding others looking down on them. They may not make it seem like a big deal, but you should know their outward appearance in public may not reflect what they feel inside.

208 Basic Thai Phrases For Travel

Want the infographic to take with you? Scroll to the bottom of the page and save it or pin it for later!.

Common Greetings

How to be Polite

Questions

Eating out & Ordering Food

Getting Around

Directions

Sightseeing

Numbers

Telling the time

Days of the Week

Emergencies

Shopping

Want to have fun whilst learning Thai? Struggling to find decent Thai language resources? I recommend getting uTalk. Available as a desktop site and app, uTalk is awesome for learning key words and phrases in Thai, especially if you want to use it for travel purposes.  It’s great for beginners getting started in a language and invaluable for intermediates looking to fill in gaps in their vocabulary and pronunciation. 

What I love most about uTalk is that you can jump around their extensive library of topics and choose what you want to learn, when you want, and at your own pace.  Because I believe in uTalk so much, I reached out to them and we’ve teamed up to offer you an exclusive 30% OFF reader discount across all of uTalk’s 140 languages! This offer isn’t available anywhere else! Click here to claim your exclusive 30% discount.

Basic Thai Phrases Essential for Travel [Infographic]

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Sources / A big thanks to Ling-App for the translations 

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Over to you!

Which of these Thai phrases did you find the most useful? Let me know in the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.
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