Learn Thai lingo!

If I were to teach you even the basics of Thai language, I will take weeks and pages of teaching. But here are a few words spoken more often by the Thais, which might be helpful to you when you are in Thailand.

Thai is the official language spoken by almost 80% of the 60 million inhabitants living in Thailand. The language spoken is very sweet and often ends with a polite “sir” or Ma’am” in English. So here is a list of words that will enrich your thai experience and also help you understand the locals better.

The three key words to greet a person are given below. Tyou need not be perfect at pronouncing them but nonetheless keep it handy.

SWADEE KHRAP: this denotes “welcome”, “hello”, “good evening” and “Good night”. It is the most common word used as a polite greeting.

ARROY:this word literally means “Delicious” and is used to appreciate someone’s cooking skills.

KOP KHUN KHA: this is a “thank you” which is often accompanied by a smile.

Some 48 consonants and 32 vowels make up the Thai lingo. But each word is so similar that only their correct pronunciation can make out the difference. For example,

The sentence

Mai mai mai mai mai

Literally means

new wood doesn’t burn, does it?

Thus, be extremely careful not only if you are trying your hands at Thai words but also their correct intonation which makes most of the difference.