How to Say Hello in Thai

Day-one Thai for greetings, introductions, titles, and basic courtesies.

Topic 1 of 19

Choose your preferences

Voice: In Thai language, different wording is used depending whether you identify as male or female. You can choose your preference here. Male speakers use ครับ; female speakers use ค่ะ for statements and คะ for questions. Polite endings, personal pronouns, and pronunciation guides follow your choice. Note: The audio recordings are currently only available if you choose the female option.

Romanization: Thai language is written in Thai script. It looks like this: เรียนภาษาไทย. Since you are here, you probably cannot read that, yet. Therefore, there are many transcription systems to convert Thai script into the more familiar A to Z alphabet. RTGS is the official Thai transcription system used on road signs and in official documents. Paiboon adds tone and vowel-length guidance. IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet, uses symbols for speech sounds. Select any combination to compare them, or none to practise reading Thai script on its own.

Thai font: This website also allows you to choose between two different fonts for the Thai script. The classic font is easier to read, but many places will use a more modern font which can be harder to read for beginners. If you want to learn reading Thai script, you can first start with the classic font and then move on to the modern one.

Your voice

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Romanization

Thai font

👋 Lesson overview

Prepare for your first meetings with administrators, colleagues, and students. This lesson covers polite greetings, personal introductions, teacher titles, where you are from, and courteous ways to begin and end a conversation.

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👋 Introduction

สวัสดีค่ะ

RTGS sawatdi kha

Paiboon sà-wàt-dii kâ

IPA sa˨˩.wat˨˩.diː˧ kʰa˥˩

Literal: Hello • [politeness particle: kha]

Hello

Use this all-purpose greeting with a wai when the situation calls for one.

💡 Thai-language scholar Phraya Upakit Silapasan (Nim Kanchanachiva) introduced สวัสดี as a modern greeting in 1933 while teaching at Chulalongkorn University. On 22 January 1943, Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s government formally adopted it as Thailand’s standard greeting. The word itself is older, with roots in Pali and Sanskrit terms associated with well-being.

🎯 Goals

In this lesson, you will practice how to:

Greet students, staff, and school leaders politely.
Introduce your name, role, and home country.
Use common teacher titles and ask how someone prefers to be addressed.
Thank, apologize to, and take leave of someone naturally.

How to Say Hello in Thai

How do you say hello in Thai?

How to pronounce sawatdi

When teachers use this greeting

Should you add a Wai?

Test Yourself

Quiz complete