The Thai Language Your Passage into the Heart of Thailand.

The Thai language is such a beautiful and melodic language to the ear. I would love to help you get started speaking Thai in this post. This post is all about introducing aspects of the Thai language to a new student.

I offer 40 years of practical Thai language experience. I live in Thailand and I speak Thai fluently in my daily life. This beginning lesson will get you started and confident with both Thai words and phrases you can use in daily life.

It’s important to understand some of the culture as it forms how the language is used. It’s not hard and I’ll walk you through it. It will open doors and give you a fantastic into the Thai soul once you get proficient.

Thai Regional Languages.

The Thai language is quite different from any formal classroom or online course you may take. The reason is that as in Chinese, Mandarin is the Royal language and surrounding this are a large number of regional languages or dialects.

Thailand is exactly the same, so the language books you may study are Royal Thai. It is understood by Thai people but it’s not spoken by most, certianly not the people you will meet in the street. The street level Thai is the real place to start speaking Thai especially if your primarily interested in just conversation.

Regional Dialects Explained.

If we start in Bangkok, which is regarded as central Thailand, it’s dialect is referred to as “Park Glung”. This dialect can be used everywhere. We will study this common language as it is the most practical. You can communicate with everybody pretty well with this dialect.

If you take a flight to Chiang Rai in the north of Thailand your going to hear Northern Thai, known as “Neua”. This dialect is quite close to the Laotian language due to its proximity to Laos. If you travel to Laos you would understand them if you speak Neua.

Take a flight to Udon Thani in the East of Thailand and its different again, with Isaan the spoken local Dialect. Fly south to Hatyai, Park Dai is spoken there. We won’t touch on these and will focus on what Thai people refer to as Thai.

Thai is a Tonal Language.

Thai is a tonal language, so one spoken word can have several different meanings depending on inflection. The tones are:

1. Common voice neutral tone.

2. High Tone.

3. A rising tone,

4. A falling tone

5. A low tone.

In written language tone marks dictate the tone of a word generally above them so learning to read and write is an advantage.

New Thai language students can find this a challenge to grasp. The best way to learn tones is to listen to a Thai person and copy them. I recomend just listening and you will notice the way words sound like they are in a song.

Thai people rarely raise their voices. Getting angry and yelling in Thailand won’t help you. If you read my “How to Survive a Hospital Stay” I explain the ramifications there. It simply will not help yelling at a taxi driver or immigration official. It will make things much worse quickly.

Thai Language Format.

Thai sentence format is different from English with descriptions like colors/actions coming after the item/person they refer to. I am no English teacher so I’m not going to get technical but simply remain practical with examples to illustrate.

I will use common phrases you will find useful and adaptable as you remember more words.

Q: How did you get here? Mah dai yung nai?

(I) came on a red bus. Nung lotmair see daang mar.

The man drove the car very fast!

1a. Poochai kup lot leow leow Krup/kar.

2. The red motorbike is owned by the lady there!

2a. Pooying tee nan pen jow korng Lot Keyang see daang Krup/Kar.

Him & Her.

Thai does have some gender difference within its language. Most notably is how a sentence that is not a question ends.

Male speakers end a statement with “Krup“. Female speakers end sentences with “Kar“. Using these single words you can acknowledge a question if agreeing with it.

To disagree add Mai in front of a word or either Krup or Kar. This would be Mai Krup or Mai Kar.

Yes (I agree) = Krup (Male) – Mai Krup ( I do not agree).

Yes (I agree) = Kar (Female) – Mai Kar (I do not agree).

Questions.

Questions (MAI) in Thai are made by adding a spoken question word at the end of a sentence. Mai is the word you will hear at the end of a sentence such as in this example:

Are you hungry? Hue Kow Mai
Im not hungry. Mai Hue Krup/Kar

The question ends with this word anytime it’s a question. This word (Mai) if used in front of a word makes the word a negative.

I don’t want a drink. Mai deum kar.
Do you need a Taxi? Ow taxi Mai?
I dont need one thanks. Mai ow krup!

I hope you can see that the way a Thai answers a question seems quite abrupt. It is abrupt but this is how economical Thai is.

Providing you don’t raise your voice and have a Krup/Kar at the end your good to go. The taxi driver won’t think anything of it.

Thankyou.

Unlike English, Thai does not use thank you as is normally polite. They have the word Kup Koon (Krup/kar) which is thank you but is not used as often as we would in English being polite.

Thai people simply use Krup or Kar at the end of a sentence. Both indicate the end of a sentence as well as to acknowledge a statement made by someone else. It also as a way of agreeing with a statement.

Do you understand? Kow jai mai?
Yes I do. Krup!

Let’s Say Hi!

Let’s start with greeting someone new.

Hello = Sawasdee Krup/Kar.

The reply to someone is exactly the same, Sawasdee Krup/Kar.

How are you? Sabai dee mai?
I’m fine Thanks. Sabai dee Krup/Kar.

Names, Nicknames & Titles.

Thai peoples names most often will be nicknames given to them by parents at birth. These nicknames can be confusing to a westerner especially in a more formal setting where nicknames may be overlooked for real names.

This happens at schools for one example. Kids are known by nicknames but uniforms have their real names sewn into them.

Titles and Age. Social Standing.

In Thai life peoples ages is very respected so you will no doubt get one of these added to your name if you live with Thai families. If you get one of these you are accepted into the community. If they just call you by your name on its own you have work to do may I say.

Young and Older. Norng & Pee.

Amongst the younger generations till someone is married and sometimes after you will hear Pee or Norng in front of people’s names.

Pee Tom indicates Tom is older than the person he is talking to. They may refer to Tom as Pee on its own. It’s respectful to know who is older and younger than you and use these prefixes.

If someone refers to Tom as Norng Tom or just Norng then Tom is younger than the person he is talking with. It’s important to know if you can. It helps to integrate into Thai life smoother and feel part of the community if that’s your goal.

Father (Paw) & Mother (Mair).

If you have married and you have a child your Pee/Norng classification will be used but mostly you will hear Paw Tom or Mair Jane as an example.

Even children refer to parents by these titles. It’s an acknowledgement of age and respect. Lets hope common sense and responsibility has been packaged with it as well.

Eg:

Older friend asking Tom if his father is here?

(Norng) Tom, Paw Jack you mai?

I don’t know, I’ll ask mum.

Pom Mai loo, Tum mair Jane gone.

I don’t know, I’ll ask (mother) Jane Krup!

Uncle & Auntie – Loong – Par.

If your getting Loong Tom or Par Jill you’ve been accepted into the next level of the Thai society. You don’t get a choice and it can take you by surprise. I was certianly taken by surprise. I was always uncle (Loong) to everyone but getting to Grandfather was something of a surprise. I’m now old. Haha.

Where did uncle Tom go? Lung Tom pai nai krup/kar.

Again you can see the sentence reformatted in Thai with “where did” placed after the subject which is Uncle Tom “Lung Tom”.

These titles provide a strong social structure between Thai people and their families.

Author:

Brendon McAliece has traveled and lived in Thailand for nearly 40 years. He currently lives in Thailand with his Thai wife. He speaks fluent Thai and loves life.