At the pharmacy in Thai

ปวดหัวครับ

bpùat hǔa khráp

I have a headache.

Male speaker

ปวด (bpùat) is the general word for a dull ache, and combines with any body part.

ปวดท้องครับ

bpùat tháwng khráp

I have a stomach ache.

Male speaker

Thai pharmacists can dispense a great deal directly, so this often saves a clinic visit.

มียาแก้ปวดหัวไหมครับ

mii yaa gâe bpùat-hǔa mǎi khráp

Do you have medicine for a headache?

Male speaker

ยาแก้ (yaa gâe) plus an ailment is the frame: ยาแก้ท้องเสีย (yaa gâe tháwng-sǐa) for diarrhoea, ยาแก้ไอ (yaa gâe ai) for a cough. Thai pharmacists can dispense a great deal directly, so this often saves a clinic visit.

รับอะไรดีคะ

ráp à-rai dii khá

What can I get you?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, and usually the first thing said to you, before you have opened your mouth. It is the generic shop-counter opener, not a medical question, so it means what can I get you rather than what is wrong. Go straight into your symptom, or buy a second with ขอดูก่อนครับ (khǎw duu gàwn khráp), let me look first. In a small pharmacy she often skips it and asks ไม่สบายตรงไหนคะ instead.

ไม่สบายตรงไหนคะ

mâi sà-baai dtrong nǎi khá

Where are you unwell?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase built on the word you need most in this situation: ไม่สบาย (mâi sà-baai), literally not comfortable, is the default Thai way of saying unwell and covers everything from a head cold to food poisoning. ตรงไหน (dtrong nǎi) is at which spot, so she is asking you to point, and pointing while you name the part is completely normal here. The parts that come up: หัว (hǔa) head, คอ (khaw) throat, ท้อง (tháwng) stomach, หลัง (lǎng) back.

เป็นอะไรมาคะ

bpen à-rai maa khá

What has been wrong with you?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase using the same เป็น you use in เป็นหวัด and the same มา you use in เจ็บคอมาสามวัน, so it asks what has been wrong with you across a stretch of time rather than right this second. Outside the shop the same words said to a friend who looks upset mean what's the matter. Answer with the illness (เป็นหวัดครับ), with the symptom and its duration (เจ็บคอมาสามวันแล้วค่ะ), or with the catch-all ไม่สบายครับ.

ไม่สบายมาสองวันแล้วครับ

mâi sà-baai maa sǎwng wan láew khráp

I haven't been well for two days.

Male speaker

The answer that works when you cannot name what you have, and it is never wrong. It runs on the same symptom + มา + number + time word + แล้ว frame as เจ็บคอมาสามวันแล้ว. Say it, then point at whatever hurts; she will narrow it down with questions and does not expect a diagnosis from you. A woman says ไม่สบายมาสองวันแล้วค่ะ, and neither version needs a pronoun.

เจ็บคอมาสามวันแล้วค่ะ

jèp khaw maa sǎam wan láew khâ

I've had a sore throat for three days.

Female speaker

Lead with the duration; it is the first thing the pharmacist needs and it decides whether she sells you lozenges or sends you to a clinic. The frame is symptom + มา + number + time word + แล้ว, so swap สามวัน for สองอาทิตย์ (sǎwng aa-thít, two weeks). Note the split between the two pain words: a throat or a cut is เจ็บ (jèp), a sharp pain, while a head, a stomach or a tooth is ปวด (bpùat), a dull ache: ปวดหัว, ปวดท้อง, ปวดฟัน.

ผมเป็นหวัดครับ

phǒm bpen wàt khráp

I have a cold.

Male speaker

เป็น (bpen) is the verb for illnesses you catch: เป็นหวัด a cold, เป็นไข้ (bpen khâi) a fever, เป็นไข้หวัดใหญ่ (bpen khâi-wàt-yài) flu. Then list the extras and she will build the little bag herself: ไอ (ai) cough, น้ำมูกไหล (nám-mûuk lǎi) runny nose, เจ็บคอ (jèp khaw) sore throat. Remember ป is bp, not p. On the tone of หวัด: the ห makes ว high class, and because the syllable is dead (final ด) with a short vowel, a high-class syllable takes the low tone, wàt. Compare ไหล (lǎi), also ห-led but live, hence rising. A woman says เป็นหวัดค่ะ, using ดิฉัน (dì-chǎn) or, more naturally, no pronoun at all.

ท้องเสียตั้งแต่เมื่อวานครับ

tháwng-sǐa dtâng-dtàe mêua-waan khráp

I've had diarrhoea since yesterday.

Male speaker

ท้องเสีย (tháwng-sǐa), literally spoiled stomach, is the plain everyday word and nobody at the counter is embarrassed by it. ตั้งแต่ (dtâng-dtàe) plus a day or a time gives the starting point of anything. Expect her to add เกลือแร่ (gleua-râe), rehydration salts, to the bag; take them, because it is the dehydration rather than the bug that puts people in hospital here.

ปวดหัวมากค่ะ

bpùat hǔa mâak khâ

I have a bad headache.

Female speaker

ปวด (bpùat) is the dull, throbbing ache and it takes the body part straight after it, with no preposition: ปวดหัว head, ปวดท้อง stomach, ปวดฟัน tooth, ปวดหลัง back. มาก (mâak) after the verb is the ordinary way to say a lot, so ปวดหัวมาก is a bad one. For a stomach ache say ปวดท้องครับ (bpùat tháwng khráp) and keep it clear of ท้องเสีย, which is the diarrhoea word; she will ask you which you mean if you blur the two.

คันมากค่ะ

khan mâak khâ

It's very itchy.

Female speaker

คัน (khan) is itchy, and in this climate it is one of the commonest reasons a foreigner walks into a pharmacy at all. Pair it with ผื่น (phèun), a rash: มีผื่นขึ้นที่แขนค่ะ (mii phèun khêun thîi khǎen khâ), I have a rash on my arm. Heat rash, the prickly bumps the hot season brings, is ผด (phòt). Expect either ยาแก้แพ้ (yaa gâe pháe), an antihistamine, or ยาทาแก้คัน (yaa thaa gâe khan), an anti-itch cream.

โดนแมลงกัดครับ

doon má-laeng gàt khráp

I got bitten by an insect.

Male speaker

โดน (doon) marks something done to you and is the everyday passive: โดนแมลงกัด bitten by an insect, โดนน้ำร้อนลวก (doon nám ráwn lûak) scalded. Mosquito is ยุง (yung) and ant is มด (mót); if you have no idea what got you, โดนอะไรกัดไม่รู้ครับ (doon à-rai gàt mâi rúu khráp), something bit me, I don't know what, is perfectly natural. Show her the spot, because a bite that is spreading or hot to the touch is the one she will send to a clinic rather than treat.

เป็นแผลครับ

bpen phlǎe khráp

I have a cut.

Male speaker

แผล (phlǎe) is any break in the skin, from a scrape off a motorbike to a proper cut, and it takes เป็น like an illness. Ask for something to put on it: ขอยาใส่แผลหน่อยครับ (khǎw yaa sài phlǎe nàwy khráp). Small wounds turn septic fast in this heat, so if it has already gone that way say เป็นหนองครับ (bpen nǎwng khráp). The other thing the climate gives you is a fungal patch, เป็นเชื้อราครับ (bpen chéua-raa khráp), which uses the same เป็น.

ขอยาแก้ปวดหน่อยครับ

khǎw yaa gâe bpùat nàwy khráp

Could I have some painkillers, please?

Male speaker

Most pharmacy visits are this way round: you walk in knowing the product and ask for it. ขอ + item + หน่อย is the universal Thai request frame and the most useful sentence opener in any shop, with the same small-favour หน่อย as in เขียนให้หน่อย. ยาแก้ + problem names a medicine by what it fixes: ยาแก้ปวด painkiller, ยาแก้ไอ (yaa gâe ai) cough medicine, ยาแก้แพ้ antihistamine. Paracetamol goes by its nickname, ขอพาราหน่อยครับ (khǎw phaa-raa nàwy khráp), and it is what you will be handed for most aches and fevers.

มียาทาไหมคะ

mii yaa thaa mǎi khá

Do you have a cream for it?

Female speaker

กินยา only covers what you swallow, and asking to eat a cream gets you a puzzled look. The delivery words are ยากิน (yaa gin) tablets, ยาทา (yaa thaa) cream or ointment you rub on, ยาหยอดตา (yaa yàwt dtaa) eye drops and ยาพ่น (yaa phôn) spray or inhaler. Add the reason if you want the cream specifically: ไม่อยากกินยาค่ะ (mâi yàak gin yaa khâ), I would rather not take tablets.

ขอยาตัวเดิมครับ

khǎw yaa dtua doem khráp

I'd like the same medicine as last time.

Male speaker

The refill sentence, and ตัวเดิม (dtua doem), the same one as before, is the most useful pair of words a returning customer owns; it reuses the ตัว classifier for a particular medicine. Name the condition if she does not remember you: ผมกินยาความดันอยู่ครับ (phǒm gin yaa khwaam-dan yùu khráp), I'm on blood-pressure medication, and likewise ยาเบาหวาน (yaa bao-wǎan) diabetes, ยาไทรอยด์ (yaa thai-rawy) thyroid, ยาลดไขมัน (yaa lót khǎi-man) cholesterol. ครั้งที่แล้วซื้อที่นี่ครับ (khráng thîi láew séu thîi nîi khráp), I bought it here last time, is the line that turns you from a stranger into a regular.

แพ้ยาแก้อักเสบค่ะ

pháe yaa gâe àk-sèep khâ

I'm allergic to antibiotics.

Female speaker

Say it before she reaches for the shelf, not after she has bagged it. ยาแก้อักเสบ (yaa gâe àk-sèep) is what a Thai shop calls antibiotics even though it literally reads anti-inflammatory. Keep the two expressions apart: แพ้ยา (pháe yaa) is verb plus object, I am allergic to a drug, while ยาแก้แพ้ (yaa gâe pháe) is a noun phrase, medicine-that-fixes-allergy, the antihistamine you buy for hay fever. Keep the drug name written on your phone; Thai pharmacists read English drug names easily.

มียาที่แรงกว่านี้ไหมครับ

mii yaa thîi raeng gwàa níi mǎi khráp

Do you have anything stronger than this?

Male speaker

Hold up what she gave you as you say นี้. แรง (raeng) is strong in the sense of forceful, so it fits medicine, the sun and the wind (ยาแรง, แดดแรง, ลมแรง), but not coffee, which is เข้ม (khêm), and not a fever, which is ไข้สูง (khâi sǔung). Anything X กว่านี้ means more X than this one, which works for cheaper, smaller and bigger too. Expect a limit rather than a stronger box: for real painkillers the answer is ต้องมีใบสั่งยา (dtâwng mii bai-sàng-yaa), you need a prescription.

ต้องใช้ใบสั่งยาไหมคะ

dtâwng chái bai-sàng-yaa mǎi khá

Do I need a prescription?

Female speaker

ใบสั่งยา (bai-sàng-yaa) is literally a paper ordering medicine. ใบ (bai) opens the name of most official papers, as in ใบขับขี่ (bai khàp-khìi), driving licence. Far more is sold straight over the counter in Thailand than in Europe, so the usual answer is ไม่ต้องค่ะ (mâi dtâwng khâ), no need. Watch the particle on your own question: a woman asking uses คะ with a high tone, not the falling ค่ะ she would use on a statement.

ทั้งหมดเท่าไหร่ครับ

tháng-mòt thâo-rài khráp

How much is it altogether?

Male speaker

ทั้งหมด (tháng-mòt) is altogether and เท่าไหร่ (thâo-rài) is how much, the question you will use every day in this country. Pharmacy totals sit in the hundreds, so the number band to drill is ร้อย (ráwy) plus tens: สองร้อยห้าสิบ (sǎwng-ráwy hâa-sìp) is 250. Prices are not haggled at a pharmacy the way they are in a market, but you can ask มีตัวที่ถูกกว่านี้ไหมครับ (mii dtua thîi thùuk gwàa níi mǎi khráp), is there a cheaper one, and there is usually a Thai-made generic behind the branded box.

สแกนจ่ายได้ไหมครับ

sà-gaen jàai dâi mǎi khráp

Can I pay by scanning the QR code?

Male speaker

Scanning the shop's QR code is now the normal way to pay, and even a one-room pharmacy will have the code taped to the counter. She answers สแกนตรงนี้ค่ะ (sà-gaen dtrong níi khâ), scan here, usually turning the code towards you. Cash is จ่ายเงินสดครับ (jàai ngoen-sòt khráp), and a card is the least likely of the three to be accepted. Show her the confirmation screen once it goes through; that is the local habit and it closes the transaction cleanly.

ขอใบเสร็จด้วยครับ

khǎw bai-sèt dûay khráp

Could I have a receipt as well?

Male speaker

Ask before she rings it up; a reprint is harder than a print. ใบเสร็จ (bai-sèt) joins the ใบ family the prescription phrase opens, since ใบ fronts most official papers: ใบสั่งยา, ใบขับขี่. Expat health policies reimburse pharmacy purchases only against the receipt, and a Thai one normally carries the shop name and the items. If you need the tax version for a company, ask for ใบกำกับภาษี (bai gam-gàp phaa-sǐi).

แพ้ยาอะไรไหมคะ

pháe yaa à-rai mǎi khá

Are you allergic to any medicine?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, and the one question you must never nod blankly at. If you are not allergic, answer ไม่แพ้ครับ or ไม่แพ้ค่ะ (mâi pháe). If you are, name it. If you honestly do not know, say ไม่แน่ใจครับ (mâi nâe-jai khráp), I'm not sure, and she will steer around the risky shelf rather than guess for you. Note that this one asks about ยา specifically; widen it yourself with แพ้อาหารอะไรไหม for food or แพ้อะไรไหม for anything at all.

ท้องอยู่รึเปล่าคะ

tháwng yùu rěu-bplàao khá

Are you pregnant?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, and the second safety question after the allergy one; anything stronger than lozenges will prompt it. ท้อง (tháwng) is the ordinary spoken word for pregnant, while ตั้งครรภ์ (dtâng-khan) is the formal one printed on the box, and รึเปล่า (rěu-bplàao) is the plain yes-or-no frame that sits beside the หรือยัง taught above. Answers: ไม่ค่ะ (mâi khâ) no, ท้องอยู่ค่ะ (tháwng yùu khâ) yes, and ให้นมลูกอยู่ค่ะ (hâi nom lûuk yùu khâ), I'm breastfeeding, which changes what she can sell you just as much. The counter treats the rest of that shelf as ordinary shopping: ยาคุม (yaa khum) the pill, sold over the counter here, ยาคุมฉุกเฉิน (yaa khum chùk-chǒen) the morning-after pill, ผ้าอนามัย (phâa à-naa-mai) pads, ถุงยางอนามัย (thǔng-yaang à-naa-mai) condoms, ที่ตรวจครรภ์ (thîi dtrùat khan) a pregnancy test.

มีอาการอะไรอีกไหมคะ

mii aa-gaan à-rai ìik mǎi khá

Do you have any other symptoms?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, and the standard follow-up to whatever you opened with. อาการ (aa-gaan) is the word for symptom, so มีอาการอะไรอีก is are there any others. Answer by listing plainly: ไอด้วยครับ (ai dûay khráp), I'm coughing too, or มีไข้ด้วยค่ะ (mii khâi dûay khâ), I have a fever too, with ด้วย (dûay) on the end as the handy as well. If there is nothing more, ไม่มีแล้วครับ (mâi mii láew khráp).

เอากี่วันคะ

ao gìi wan khá

How many days' worth do you want?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, and one that catches people out: Thai pharmacies sell loose tablets by the number of days rather than by the box. Answer ขอสิบวันครับ (khǎw sìp wan khráp), ten days' worth, or ขอเดือนนึงครับ (khǎw deuan neung khráp), a month's worth, which is the usual refill size for chronic medication. For a course of antibiotics let her set the length, since the length is the treatment. เอา (ao) here is simply want or take, the plainest verb in the language.

กินข้าวมาหรือยังคะ

gin khâao maa rěu-yang khá

Have you eaten yet?

Female speaker

Hearing phrase. At this counter she is not making small talk; she is working out whether you can swallow the first tablet now or have to wait. กินข้าว literally says eat rice and covers eating anything at all. หรือยัง (rěu-yang) turns any sentence into a have-you-done-it-yet question, and it takes only two answers: แล้ว (láew) already, or ยัง (yang) not yet. Outside the shop the identical sentence is the commonest greeting in Thailand, closer to how are you than to an invitation, and answering ยัง obliges nobody to feed you. Same words, context decides which question it is. Behind a counter she will often use the polite verb instead, ทานข้าวมาหรือยังคะ (thaan khâao maa rěu-yang khá), so train your ear for both.

กินข้าวมาแล้วครับ

gin khâao maa láew khráp

Yes, I've already eaten.

Male speaker

Your half of the exchange above. If you have not eaten, ยังครับ (yang khráp) on its own is a complete and perfectly natural answer, and she will tell you to eat first, because Thai painkillers and antibiotics are rough on an empty stomach. มา before แล้ว adds the sense of having done it on the way here.

กินวันละสามครั้งหลังอาหารนะคะ

gin wan lá sǎam khráng lǎng aa-hǎan ná khá

Take it three times a day, after food.

Female speaker

The most important hearing phrase in this situation; learn to catch it at speed. วันละ (wan lá) is per day and takes a number plus ครั้ง (khráng) times, so วันละสองครั้ง is twice a day. The timing half is ก่อนอาหาร (gàwn aa-hǎan) before food, หลังอาหาร (lǎng aa-hǎan) after food, and ก่อนนอน (gàwn nawn) at bedtime. นะ only softens the instruction and adds nothing to the meaning. She will usually pair the frequency with a quantity, ครั้งละสองเม็ด, so listen for both halves. Said to a customer the verb is normally ทาน (thaan) rather than กิน: ทานยาวันละสามครั้ง หลังอาหารนะคะ.

ครั้งละสองเม็ดนะคะ

khráng lá sǎwng mét ná khá

Two tablets each time.

Female speaker

The other half of the dose, and the half learners miss: วันละ + number + ครั้ง tells you how often, ครั้งละ + number + เม็ด tells you how many. เม็ด (mét) is the classifier for tablets and capsules, so ครั้งละสองเม็ด is two each time. ครึ่งเม็ด (khrêung mét), half a tablet, turns up on children's doses and blood-pressure ones. Liquid medicine is ยาน้ำ (yaa nám) and gets measured in ช้อนชา (cháwn-chaa), teaspoons. Two more instructions worth catching whole: กินเวลาปวดค่ะ (gin wee-laa bpùat khâ), take it when it hurts, and ห้ามเกินวันละแปดเม็ด (hâam goen wan lá bpàet mét), no more than eight a day.

กินยาให้หมดนะครับ

gin yaa hâi mòt ná khráp

Finish the whole course.

Male speaker

Hearing phrase, said mostly when he has handed you antibiotics. ให้หมด (hâi mòt) reads as so that none is left, so this is a course to be completed, not a take-until-you-feel-better. Stopping on day three because the fever went is how resistance gets built, and it is common enough here that pharmacists say this line unprompted. หมด also does duty across the country as sold out and run out. Behind a counter you will more often hear ทานยาให้หมดนะคะ (thaan yaa hâi mòt ná khá): ทาน (thaan) is the polite everyday verb for eat and take, กิน (gin) the plain one, so say กิน about yourself and expect ทาน said to you.

ยาตัวนี้ทำให้ง่วงนะคะ

yaa dtua níi tham-hâi ngûang ná khá

This one will make you drowsy.

Female speaker

Hearing phrase with a real cost attached: ง่วง (ngûang) plus a motorbike is where a lot of expat hospital stories begin, and most Thai cold and allergy tablets are the sedating kind. ตัว (dtua) is the classifier used for one particular medicine, so ยาตัวนี้ is this specific one out of several. If you have to drive, ask มีตัวที่ไม่ง่วงไหมคะ (mii dtua thîi mâi ngûang mǎi khá), is there a non-drowsy one.

สองร้อยสี่สิบบาทค่ะ

sǎwng-ráwy sìi-sìp bàat khâ

That's 240 baht.

Female speaker

Hearing phrase in which only the number changes. Thai stacks it straight: hundreds, then tens, then units, so สองร้อยสี่สิบบาท is two hundred forty baht. Two traps in the tens: twenty is ยี่สิบ (yîi-sìp), never สองสิบ, and a final one is เอ็ด (èt), so 101 is หนึ่งร้อยเอ็ด (nèung-ráwy èt). If the number goes past you, the till display shows it, and ขอดูหน่อยครับ (khǎw duu nàwy khráp) gets you a look at it without any embarrassment.

ขอบคุณมากครับ

khàwp-khun mâak khráp

Thank you very much.

Male speaker

Close the exchange out loud; walking off in silence reads as cold here even when nothing has gone wrong. ขอบคุณมากครับ is the full version and ขอบคุณครับ is plenty for something small. Her reply will be ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ (mâi bpen rai khâ), no problem, or ด้วยความยินดีค่ะ (dûay khwaam yin-dii khâ), my pleasure, in a chain shop. Say it once at the counter rather than stacking thanks the way English does.

หายไวๆนะคะ

hǎai wai-wai ná khá

Get better soon.

Female speaker

Hearing phrase, said as she hands over the bag, and the moment that decides whether the shop remembers you kindly next month. หาย (hǎai) is the verb for an illness ending, so this is recover quickly, and ไวๆ doubles ไว the same way ช้าๆ doubles ช้า. Answer ขอบคุณครับ and nothing more; the wish is not returned. She may add ดูแลตัวเองนะคะ (duu-lae dtua-eng ná khá), take care of yourself. Keep หาย for the return visit too: ยังไม่หายเลยค่ะ (yang mâi hǎai loei khâ), still not better at all.

พูดช้าๆอีกทีได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa-cháa ìik thii dâi mǎi khá

Could you say that again slowly?

Female speaker

The highest-value repair sentence in the country, and asking costs you nothing socially. ๆ is the repetition mark, so ช้าๆ is ช้า doubled; ช้า on its own already means slow and พูดช้าหน่อย is perfectly natural, but doubling softens the request into a gentle nice and slowly. The ...ได้ไหม (dâi mǎi) frame attaches to any verb to make a polite can-you request. If she speeds back up on the second pass, stop asking and point at the dose on the box instead.

ฟังไม่ทันค่ะ

fang mâi than khâ

You spoke too fast for me.

Female speaker

More accurate than asking for a repeat, and it lands better, because it says you were listening rather than that she was unclear. Literally listen not in time; ไม่ทัน (mâi than) is the general failing-to-keep-up word and works for buses and deadlines too. It usually gets you the same sentence again, slower, without your having to ask for it. If the problem is the words rather than the speed, switch to ไม่เข้าใจ.

ไม่เข้าใจครับ

mâi khâo-jai khráp

I don't understand.

Male speaker

The plain admission, and there is no shame in it at a counter. Say it early, because nodding through a dosage is how people end up taking the wrong number of tablets. Pair it with a finger on the box, which moves the whole exchange onto something you can both read. Last resort in a chain shop, where there is often somebody: มีใครพูดภาษาอังกฤษได้ไหมครับ (mii khrai phûut phaa-sǎa ang-grìt dâi mǎi khráp), does anyone here speak English.

เขียนให้หน่อยได้ไหมครับ

khǐan hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khráp

Could you write it down for me?

Male speaker

Use it the moment the dosage goes past you, then check the paper against the strip when you get home. Dosages get written in Arabic numerals, so it is readable even before you can read Thai. หน่อย (nàwy) turns a request into a small favour and belongs on nearly everything you ask a stranger to do; ให้ before it means for me.

ในนี้มียาอะไรบ้างครับ

nai níi mii yaa à-rai bâang khráp

What medicines are in here?

Male speaker

Said pointing at the bag, and you are entitled to ask. Thai pharmacies often hand over a ยาชุด (yaa chút), a small unlabelled packet of assorted loose tablets, and antibiotics are dispensed freely to anyone who asks for them, so knowing what you are swallowing is on you. บ้าง (bâang) after a question word asks for a list rather than a single answer. Confirm the one that matters with นี่ยาแก้อักเสบใช่ไหมครับ (nîi yaa gâe àk-sèep châi mǎi khráp), is this an antibiotic; ใช่ไหม is the tag for checking something you already suspect.

หมดอายุเมื่อไหร่คะ

mòt aa-yú mêua-rài khá

When does it expire?

Female speaker

หมดอายุ (mòt aa-yú) is literally the age running out, and it reuses the หมด of กินยาให้หมด. Worth asking on anything loose or cut from a larger sheet, which is most of what a Thai pharmacy hands over. Two more checks to run before you leave the counter: กินกับเหล้าได้ไหมคะ (gin gàp lâo dâi mǎi khá), can I drink with this, and ต้องเก็บในตู้เย็นไหมคะ (dtâwng gèp nai dtûu-yen mǎi khá), does it need to go in the fridge, which matters for eye drops and liquids in this heat.

กินยาแล้วยังไม่ดีขึ้นค่ะ

gin yaa láew yang mâi dii khêun khâ

I took the medicine and I'm still not better.

Female speaker

What you say when you go back on day three. Bring the bag or the empty strip so she can read what she gave you. ดีขึ้น (dii khêun) is getting better, with ขึ้น adding the sense of going up, and ยังไม่ (yang mâi) is still not. If the answer is ไปหาหมอดีกว่าค่ะ (bpai hǎa mǎw dii-gwàa khâ), better go and see a doctor, take it seriously; that is the edge of what a pharmacy is allowed to hand over, not a brush-off.

กินยาแล้วมีผื่นขึ้นค่ะ

gin yaa láew mii phèun khêun khâ

I took the medicine and came out in a rash.

Female speaker

Say it the moment it happens and stop taking the medicine; a rash after a first dose is the reaction that matters. It runs on the same กินยาแล้ว frame as the not-getting-better phrase, with ขึ้น again meaning came up. The two other reactions to be able to name: กินแล้วคลื่นไส้ค่ะ (gin láew khlêun-sâi khâ), it makes me nauseous, and กินแล้วเวียนหัวค่ะ (gin láew wian hǔa khâ), it makes me dizzy. Bring the strip, because whatever it was now belongs on your own allergy list, and แพ้ยาอะไรไหมคะ has a real answer from here on.

ขอเปลี่ยนเป็นตัวอื่นได้ไหมคะ

khǎw bplìan bpen dtua èun dâi mǎi khá

Could I change to a different one?

Female speaker

The repair that follows a bad reaction. เปลี่ยนเป็น (bplìan bpen) is change into, and ตัวอื่น (dtua èun) is a different one, on the ตัว classifier the set uses for a particular medicine. Bring the old strip so she can see what to steer around. If she cannot swap it she will say ไปหาหมอดีกว่าค่ะ, better see a doctor, which is the honest limit of what a pharmacy is allowed to do rather than a way of getting rid of you.

ผมกินยาตัวอื่นอยู่ครับ

phǒm gin yaa dtua èun yùu khráp

I'm already taking another medicine.

Male speaker

Stop the transaction with this before you pay, not after, then show the box or a photo of it on your phone. อยู่ (yùu) after a verb marks something ongoing, so กินยา...อยู่ is I am currently on it. Chain counters usually do ask what you are taking, but you cannot count on being asked, so volunteer it: Thai pharmacies stock plenty that fights with blood-pressure and blood-thinning medication. A woman says ดิฉัน (dì-chǎn) in careful speech, ฉัน (chǎn) casually, or most naturally drops the pronoun altogether, so กินยาตัวอื่นอยู่ค่ะ is complete and normal.

แถวนี้มีคลินิกไหมคะ

thǎew níi mii khlii-nìk mǎi khá

Is there a clinic around here?

Female speaker

Your side of the referral, for when the pharmacy has reached its limit. แถวนี้ (thǎew níi) is around here and works for hunting anything down. A คลินิก is a small private doctor's office, cheap, walk-in and usually open into the evening, and it is the right next step for most of what a pharmacy cannot handle. For something serious, โรงพยาบาลใกล้ที่สุดอยู่ไหนคะ (roong-phá-yaa-baan glâi thîi-sùt yùu nǎi khá), where is the nearest hospital. Photograph the answer or have her write it, then show it to the driver.