Phonetically written Thai

November 25, 2007 4:39 AM

Going to Thailand after Christmas with a friend...for her Christmas gift I want a list of phrases (in Thai and hopefully phonetically spelt). Can anyone help?

Okay so the phrases are meant to be practical (we already know the usual hello, goodbye, thankyou etc) but only by ear and not by spelling (or even phonetically spelt for easy remembering).

Also I want a few jokey phrases...if anyone can help that'd be awesome. Here's a short list..feel free to add.

Hello
Goodbye
Thank-you
Can I buy a drink (beer)?
Where is the toilet?
Can I get a happy ending? (joke phrase...do not intend to use it)
Do you have a hot friend for (my name)?
Where is the best place to party?


Please don't assume I'm a shallow bullshit tourist...just an injoke between us with the joke phrases for her gift.

Any other phrases would help tremendously. Thank-you

posted by thelloydshow to society & culture (6 comments total)

Oh also to add...I know there's also

mai phet (not spicy)
phet nit noy (not too spicy)
posted by thelloydshow at 4:53 AM on November 25, 2007

hong nam u tee nai (where is the toilet.)

But I have to tell you Thai is a phonetic language where tones matter. You need to find some recordings somewhere for phrases you actually plan to try to use.
posted by konolia at 5:59 AM on November 25, 2007

For the tones I agree with konalia. You really do need to hear them spoken to get a feel for where they fall within your own voice.

nai? (where) uses a rising tone as if you were questioning in English.
mai at the end of a question phrase is a high tone like the end of nai?
mai at the beginning of your "mai phet" phrase is a falling tone, and since phet here is a low tone just let the mai fall down into it.

If possible, when you hear the language try to be aware of the length of the vowels as well.

Did you want phonetic spellings for these? (There may be other opinions!)

Hello = Sawatdee
Goodbye = Sawatdee
Thank-you = Khob khun

Don't forget to be polite and add the particle khrap (spoken by males, and may or may not sound the "r") or kha (spoken by females).

Can I buy a drink (beer)?
mee bia mai? (Do you have beer?)
khaw bia, noi (Give me a beer please. Low tone on this noi.)

hong nam u tee nai (where is the toilet.) Actually "tee" is not necessary, though you will sometimes hear it phrased this way. _________ u nai? = Where is ____? Easy pattern to plug into.
bar = bar
bia = beer
chang (high tone) = elephant
bia chang = chang beer (Just playing with words. It is a real beer.)

Can I get a happy ending? (joke phrase...do not intend to use it)
Do you have a hot friend for (my name)?
In the places where you ask these questions, English will suffice. I'm afraid I don't know the vernacular!

Where is the best place to party?
Ah, were it only so simple. "Party" as a verb... again maybe there is a local equivalent that I am not aware of. It would be slang. On Koh Pha Ngan you don't need to ask. On Samui you would be sent to Pha Ngan...

Things I found instantly helpful:
liow = turn
saay (high) = left
kwaa (rising) = right
trong bpai = straight ahead
Obviously you need to know where you are going!

thao rai? = how much?

Also note that the "h" following k,t, or p in translits means that the consonant is aspirated. th/= the or think th. ph/=f.

a-roy = delicious (Use this one!)
nee arai? = what is this (Go to the market and learn food names)
chawb ______ = I like _______
sanook = fun
pai tiow = go around for fun (tour, shopping, bar)

Khaw hai sanook tee tiow prateet Thai!
Have fun as you "tiow" in Thailand.
posted by jaruwaan at 8:27 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

One more!

sawatdee bpee mai (middle - middle - low tones)

= happy new year
posted by jaruwaan at 8:43 AM on November 25, 2007

First of all, thank you for making the effort to speak Thai in Thailand, a beautiful country of warm people. As I mentioned previously, it can be really embarrassing to be around Western tourists who think the world should cater to them.

Yep, like konolia says, the tough part of speaking Thai (and I only learned enough to get around) is the tones. That and the genderized aspect of the language-- you say one thing if you're male, another if you're female, although that's usually just the difference between one or two syllables in a sentence.

The tones are tough for Westerners because when you speak Thai, your voice goes up and down like you're asking a question (up) or making a statement (down), regardless of the function of the sentence. So if you're asking a question in Thai that happens to end in a "down" tone, it's hard to resist making it sound like a question by speaking the last syllable in an "up" tone. Takes some getting used to.

Anyhow, for conversational phrases you can listen to, try sites like this one, this, and this.

A few additional tips:
Don't point the soles of your feet at anyone (especially one of the million images of the king or the Buddha you'll see).
Thais love gifts! Give small gifts to anyone you'll be coming into regular contact with, including the housekeepers and groundskeepers. And don't be surprised if the gift is not opened in your presence.
Keep your political opinions to yourself (the worship of the King, the political coups, and the tacit acceptance of prejudice and social inequality will probably strike you as odd).
Don't touch anyone on the head.
Smile your ass off when talking to people, and avoid frowning when you're confused or thinking hard.
To thank people, do the wai, which is basically making a "praying hands" gesture and touching your thumbs to your lips.
Buy a Thai-English dictionary that shows the Thai characters as well as the pronunciations in Roman characters-- you will probably end up showing someone a word in your dictionary when asking for help, and many Thais do not read Roman characters.
posted by Rykey at 9:03 AM on November 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Here's something i relayed to a friend from my fiancee (sorry, for the formatting it was pulled from an IM chat):
oh useful thai phrases, slang phrases at least
"kop jai" = "thanks buddy" used with someone who is an equal/friend/family not for like a restaurant or cab driver
"me lay-ow" (phonetic) means "have already". this is more effective than "mai ow-kaaah" "no thank you"
"ngai ngai kow-jai" means "easy easy i understand", just like a "ya i got it". ngai is hard to say right, the "g" is silent but it makes the "n" sound like "nuh" sort of like a glutel pause "nuhh..ai"
and you cant go wrong with "mai phen rai" (phonetic "my pen rye) which is a catch all, it's like "de nada" in spanish which literally means "of nothing"
and for solo travellers, the old "what are you up to tonight?" can be answered with "chuck-wow",which is slang for "masturbate" and translates literally as "touch the lucky place"
hahaha
actually i have no idea why she'd ever use that except that it always embarrasses the heck out of the demure thai people
heh
posted by lannanh at 10:22 AM on November 25, 2007