Thai Language: What Travellers Need to Know, With Phrases to Use

The Thai language is the official language of Thailand, spoken by over 70 million people in total. Travellers don't need much of it: a greeting, a thank you and the polite endings khrap (men) and kha (women) go a long way. This guide covers how Thai works and 31 phrases to use.

A few words make a trip to Thailand easier, and they do something else too. Thai culture rests on politeness, kindness and social harmony, so even a clumsy "thank you" in Thai tells people you care about the place.

Below you'll find a quick profile of the language, the greetings, the particles that make a sentence polite, a phrase table you can read aloud, and tips for practising before you fly.

The Thai language at a glance

Thai is the official language of Thailand and is spoken by over 70 million people in total, according to Ethnologue's 2025 estimate. It is a tonal language with 5 tones, 44 consonants and 32 vowel forms.

The numbers look daunting, but the grammar is the friendly part. Verbs don't change with the tense or the person, and there is no "the" to get right. What takes work is the sound of the language, which the section on tones below explains.

Hello in Thai and thank you in Thai

To say hello in Thai, say sawatdi khrap if you're a man and sawatdi kha if you're a woman. To say thank you, say khop khun khrap or khop khun kha. The same hello works morning, noon and evening.

Say the greeting with a wai: palms joined in front of the chest or forehead, with a slight bow of the head. The wai usually goes with "sawatdi", and it carries more than a hello. It can express gratitude, respect or an apology, much as a smile does. Smiles are everywhere in daily life in Thailand, and a wai plus a smile is a safe answer to almost any social moment you're unsure about. If you're unsure whether to wai first, a warm smile and a small nod of the head still show good manners.

Both greetings end in the same particle, and that small word is the next thing to learn.

Khrap and kha: the polite particles

Khrap is the polite particle for men and kha for women. Both are added to the end of a sentence to show courtesy and respect.

So a man asks "Where is the market?" and finishes with khrap, while a woman finishes the same sentence with kha. Neither word has a meaning of its own beyond politeness, and leaving it out doesn't make a sentence wrong, only a little bare. Every phrase in the table below takes one.

Here is how it sounds in practice. "Thank you" becomes khop khun khrap from a man and khop khun kha from a woman. "Excuse me" becomes kho thot khrap or kho thot kha. The particle always comes last, so the rest of the sentence stays exactly as you learned it. Choose the one that matches your own gender, whoever you are talking to.

One more expression is worth knowing before you land: mai pen rai. Literally it means "it doesn't matter", and in use it stands for "no problem" or "that suits me". Thais say it to defuse the small annoyances of daily life, a missed turn, a spilled drink, a late bus. It reflects a philosophy of letting go and a gentle way of living, and it's a good habit to borrow.

Our local experts in Thailand can tell you when a wai is expected and when a smile is enough.

How Thai works: tones, grammar and tricky sounds

Thai has five tones: mid, low, high, rising and falling. The same syllable pronounced with a different tone is a different word.

That is the part that can feel disorienting at first. You can say a word correctly, with the right consonants and vowels, and still be understood as something else if the tone drifts. Locals tend to be forgiving, and context helps a lot, but it explains why recordings matter more than reading.

Three other points to keep in mind:

• Grammar stays simple. No conjugation, no definite articles, and sentences follow subject + verb + object, as in English.
• Pronunciation is the hurdle. The "r" is rolled. "Ph" is an aspirated p, a p with a puff of air, as in "phom", and never an "f". The "u" sounds like "oo".
• "Mai" does three jobs. It means "no" (chai / mai, "yes / no"), "not" (mai khao jai, "I don't understand") and it ends a question (sabai di mai?, "how are you?"). Context and tone tell them apart.

The table below leaves tone marks out, so listen to a recording of each phrase before you rely on it. Native speakers on a language app, or a Thai friend, will do. Play each phrase two or three times, say it back, and compare. Your first attempts will probably sound flat, and that's fine: the aim is to be understood, not to sound local.

Basic Thai phrases for travellers

The spelling here is a simplified Royal Thai style without tone marks. "Kh" is an aspirated k, "ph" an aspirated p and "th" an aspirated t, so say them with a small puff of air. The "How to say it" column spells each phrase the way an English reader would sound it out. Add khrap (men) or kha (women) to the end of any sentence.

Greetings and manners

Getting around and shopping

Eating and drinking

Health and emergencies

The Thai alphabet in brief

Thai has its own script: 44 consonants and 32 vowel forms, plus tone marks. Vowels are written in combinations around the consonants rather than as simple letters in a row, which is why the script looks so unlike a Western alphabet.

Most travellers never learn it, and they don't need to. A phonetic romanisation like the one in the table above is enough to read a phrase and say it aloud. Use phonetics to recognise words, as the Thai alphabet is complex to read at first. If you get curious on the trip, street signs and menus make decent flashcards.

Tips for learning Thai before you go

• Focus on daily words. Greetings, numbers, ordering at a restaurant and simple questions will carry most of your exchanges.
• Say it out loud. Repetition gets your ear used to the tones. Record yourself, or listen to native speakers. Apps such as Ling and ThaiPod101, or a private tutor, offer exercises for this.
• Lean on phonetics. Recognise words by their sound before worrying about the script.
• Practise with real people. Markets, public transport and cafés are the best classroom, and talking remains the quickest way to improve.
• Set small daily goals. Two or three new words a day add up over the weeks before your flight.

Before you leave, pick ten phrases from the table and say them until they come without thinking: hello, thank you, sorry, how much, water, the bill, I don't understand. Those seven cover most of a day of markets, taxis and meals.

Locals appreciate the effort. A smile, a wai and a phrase in imperfect Thai open more doors than a perfect sentence in English, so give it a go.

Before you go

Thai works best in the places where you'll hear it most: markets, buses, boats and cafés. To pick the right months for a trip, read our guide to the best time to visit Thailand, or browse the rest of the Thailand travel guide. Example itineraries sit on the Thailand travel page.

Planning a trip? Tell us what you want to see and a local expert in Thailand will design your itinerary with you: tell us about your trip.