Thai Langauge

Thai is one of the oldest languages in East and South-East Asia. It is a monosyllabic language which uses five tones (high, mid, low, rising, and falling tone) to alter the meaning of a single syllable. This makes it rather tricky to learn for most Westerners used to speaking non-tonal languages.

The Thai script, introduced by King Rham Khamhaeng in 1283, consists of 44 consonants and 48 vowels, and is of Sanskrit origin.

Words and Phrases

When being polite the speaker ends his or her sentence with 'khrap' (for men) or 'kha' (for women). khrap and kha are also commonly used to answer 'yes' or to show agreement.

In the following examples tones are represented by colours (High, Mid, Low, Rising, Falling)

English	Thai	English	Thai
I	Phom (men) Deechan (women)	No No? - Isn't it?	Mai chai Mai - Chai mai
You	Khun (for peers) Thaan (for elders)	Good	Dee
Thank you	Khawp Khun (khrap/kha)	Like	Chawp
Hello	Sawatdee (khrap/kha)	Hello Paul	Sawatdee (khrap/kha) Khun Paul
Understand	Khao jai	I understand	Khao jai (khrap/kha)
Don't understand	Mai khao jai	I don't understand	Mai khao jai (khrap/kha)
Excuse me Sorry	Kor tot	I'm sorry Excuse me please	Kor tot (khrap/kha)
Today	Wan nee	John is going today	Khun John pai wan nee
Tomorrow	Prung nee	Go tomorrow	Pai prung nee (khrap/kha)
Yesterday	Meua waan	Good	Dee
How much	Tao rai	How much is this	Nee tao rai (khrap/kha)
Where	Tee nai	Where is the bathroom	Hong naam tee nai (khrap/kha)
When	Meu arai	Go to Pattaya when	Pai Pattaya meuarai (khrap/kha)
This	Nee	Bathroom	Hong naam
Go	Pai	I'm not going	Mai pai (khrap/kha)