Coffee and drinks in Thai

กาแฟเย็นครับ

gaa-fae yen khráp

An iced coffee, please.

Male speaker

เย็น (yen) after any drink makes it iced, which in Thailand is the default anyway.

ไม่หวานครับ

mâi wǎan khráp

Not sweet, please.

Male speaker

Thai drinks are made VERY sweet by default. หวานน้อย (wǎan náwy) is the gentler half-sweet option.

น้ำเปล่าครับ

náam-bplào khráp

Plain water, please.

Male speaker

เปล่า (bplào) means plain: it distinguishes still water from soda water or flavoured drinks.

พี่ครับ

phîi khráp

Excuse me.

Male speaker

พี่ is how you get a vendor's attention: older sibling, used for anyone from a few years older than you upwards. A woman says พี่คะ, with คะ high because you are calling rather than stating. For a young barista use น้องครับ (náwng khráp). คุณ is the one to avoid at a cart, it belongs in offices and form letters and marks you instantly as a visitor.

ขอกาแฟเย็นหวานน้อยครับ

khǎw gaa-fae yen wǎan náwy khráp

An iced coffee, less sweet, please.

Male speaker

Order the drink and the sweetness in one breath. A Thai iced coffee is built from sugar syrup, condensed milk and evaporated milk, so an unqualified กาแฟเย็น arrives far sweeter than anything you would get at home. หวานน้อย has to land before the pouring starts, because once the condensed milk is in the cup nothing can be taken back out. The usual order is drink, then temperature, then sweetness, but หวานน้อย can also be tagged on separately as long as it comes before the pour.

ขอกาแฟร้อนค่ะ

khǎw gaa-fae ráwn khâ

A hot coffee, please.

Female speaker

ร้อน (ráwn) and เย็น (yen) are the two words the entire drinks menu turns on, and you will be asked to pick one before anything else. Hot drinks are sweetened too, so หวานน้อย is worth adding here as well. The particle is ค่ะ with a falling tone in a statement like this one; in a question it becomes คะ with a high tone.

หวานน้อย

wǎan náwy

Less sweet, half sweet.

The two words you bolt onto any drink order, hot or iced, coffee or tea or smoothie. At a street cart nobody adds a particle to it, so this bare form is what you will actually hear all around you; in a café put ครับ or ค่ะ on the end. ไม่หวาน (mâi wǎan, not sweet) is the stronger version, but with pre-mixed drinks like ชาเย็น the sweetness is already in the tea mix and ไม่หวาน can only do so much.

ไม่ใส่นมนะคะ

mâi sài nom ná khá

No milk, please.

Female speaker

ไม่ใส่ (mâi sài) is the all-purpose don't-put-it-in frame: swap นม for น้ำตาล, น้ำแข็ง (nám-khǎeng, ice) or anything else. Expect a pause, because an iced coffee without milk is a different drink rather than a variation, and the vendor may offer you โอเลี้ยง (oo-líang), black iced coffee, instead. Watch the particle: after นะ a woman says คะ with a high tone, never ค่ะ.

ขอกาแฟดำไม่ใส่น้ำตาลครับ

khǎw gaa-fae dam mâi sài nám-dtaan khráp

A black coffee with no sugar, please.

Male speaker

You need both halves. ดำ (dam, black) takes the milk out, and ไม่ใส่น้ำตาล takes the sugar out, because the standard black iced coffee โอเลี้ยง is sweetened as a matter of course. Say it slowly and expect to be asked again: unsweetened black coffee is an unusual order at a street cart. In a café the sugar arrives as น้ำเชื่อม (nám-chûeam, sugar syrup) rather than น้ำตาล, so there the working sentence is อเมริกาโน่เย็นไม่ใส่น้ำเชื่อมครับ.

อเมริกาโน่เย็นไม่ใส่น้ำเชื่อมครับ

à-mee-rí-gaa-nôo yen mâi sài nám-chûeam khráp

Iced americano, no syrup.

Male speaker

In a café the sugar is น้ำเชื่อม (nám-chûeam, sugar syrup), not น้ำตาล, and an iced americano at a Thai chain is built with it unless you say otherwise. ไม่ใส่น้ำตาล gets you a puzzled look, because no granulated sugar was going in anyway, and the drink still arrives sweet. The chain shorthand for the same thing is หวานศูนย์ครับ (wǎan sǔun khráp, zero sweetness).

โอเลี้ยงครับ

oo-líang khráp

A black iced coffee, please.

Male speaker

The old-school Thai black iced coffee, sold from carts long before espresso arrived and still cheaper than anything a machine makes. It comes sweetened as a matter of course, so หวานน้อยครับ goes straight after the name. The word is enough on its own, no ขอ needed, and using it marks you as someone who has been here a while.

ขอชาเย็นแก้วนึงครับ

khǎw chaa yen gâew neung khráp

One Thai iced tea, please.

Male speaker

The orange one, and the sweetest thing on most carts, because the sugar is in the tea mix before any condensed milk goes in. หวานน้อย helps but cannot undo it, so ไม่หวาน on a ชาเย็น is a promise nobody can keep. ชาดำเย็น (chaa dam yen) is the same tea without the milk, and still sweet.

ชามะนาวหวานน้อยค่ะ

chaa má-naao wǎan náwy khâ

Iced lemon tea, less sweet.

Female speaker

Ordered without ขอ, which is completely normal once you are standing at the cart or pointing at a menu. ชามะนาว is built with syrup rather than a pre-mix, so here หวานน้อย really does change the drink. ชาเขียว (chaa khǐao) is green tea, and ขอชาเขียวไม่หวานค่ะ works for the same reason: the sweetness goes in at the end.

ขอน้ำเปล่าขวดนึงครับ

khǎw nám-bplàao khùat neung khráp

One bottle of water, please.

Male speaker

The drink you will actually buy most often. เปล่า means plain or empty, and it is what separates water from every sweetened น้ำ on the shelf. ขวด (khùat) is the classifier for bottles, แก้ว for a glass. เย็นไหมครับ asks whether it is cold, which at a cart in April is the only question that matters.

ขอน้ำส้มปั่นครับ

khǎw nám-sôm bpàn khráp

An orange smoothie, please.

Male speaker

ปั่น (bpàn) means blended and turns any fruit into a smoothie: น้ำส้มปั่น, มะม่วงปั่น (má-mûang bpàn), แตงโมปั่น (dtaeng-moo bpàn). Syrup goes in as standard, so หวานน้อย belongs here as much as on coffee. Drop ปั่น and you get juice, which at a cart usually means the bottled kind.

ขอกาแฟเย็นสองแก้วครับ

khǎw gaa-fae yen sǎwng gâew khráp

Two iced coffees, please.

Male speaker

Number then classifier, and for drinks the classifier is แก้ว (gâew, glass) whatever the cup is actually made of. One of something inverts the order: กาแฟเย็นแก้วนึงครับ, classifier first, then นึง. Past that you simply count, สามแก้วค่ะ. For two drinks going to two people ask แยกถุงได้ไหมครับ (yâek thǔng dâi mǎi khráp, separate bags).

แก้วนี้หวานน้อย อีกแก้วหวานปกติครับ

gâew níi wǎan náwy, ìik gâew wǎan bpòk-gà-dtì khráp

This one less sweet, the other one normal.

Male speaker

Two drinks with two different sweetnesses, said as two halves of one sentence so nothing gets lost. อีก (ìik) means the other one or one more depending on where it sits. Point at each cup as you name it, because the vendor is tracking cups on a counter, not clauses in a sentence. If there is any doubt, repeat with แก้วนี้ and a finger.

ขอเปลี่ยนเป็นนมสดได้ไหมครับ

khǎw bplìan bpen nom sòt dâi mǎi khráp

Can you make it with fresh milk instead?

Male speaker

The useful request, because the problem with a Thai coffee is rarely milk as such, it is นมข้น (nom khôn, condensed milk) and the sugar inside it. นมสด is fresh milk. At a cart the answer is often no, in a café usually yes, and sometimes for ten baht more, so follow up with เพิ่มเงินไหมครับ (phôem ngoen mǎi khráp, is there a surcharge).

มีนมโอ๊ตไหมคะ

mii nom óot mǎi khá

Do you have oat milk?

Female speaker

Standard in Bangkok speciality cafés, unheard of at a cart. นมถั่วเหลือง (nom thùa-lǔeang, soy milk) is the one you can find almost anywhere including 7-Eleven, and นมอัลมอนด์ (nom an-mawn) sits between the two. Oat milk normally carries a surcharge, and the vendor will tell you the number before making the drink.

กินนมวัวไม่ได้ครับ

gin nom wua mâi dâi khráp

I can't drink cow's milk.

Male speaker

The sentence that makes the request stick, because a preference gets forgotten and an inability does not. กิน covers drinking as well as eating in everyday speech. Verb plus ไม่ได้ is the frame for every dietary limit you will ever need here: กินเผ็ดไม่ได้ (gin phèt mâi dâi), กินหวานไม่ได้. Say it before the milk goes in, not after.

เอากลับบ้านค่ะ

ao glàp bâan khâ

Takeaway, please.

Female speaker

Literally take it back home, and it is the normal takeaway phrase even when you are walking twenty metres to the office. At a stall the plastic cup goes into a small bag with a handle. To stay and drink there, the full answers are ทานที่ร้านค่ะ or กินที่นี่ค่ะ, with the clipped ที่นี่ค่ะ understood but thin. In Bangkok chains you will also hear the loan เทคอะเวย์ (thék-à-wee).

ใส่ถุงด้วยค่ะ

sài thǔng dûay khâ

In a bag, please.

Female speaker

The small plastic bag with a handle that a Thai iced drink travels in, and since the bag rules came in you often have to ask for it. Say it while you are ordering, not once the cup is on the counter. For two drinks going to different people, แยกถุงค่ะ (yâek thǔng khâ) asks for them bagged separately.

ขอน้ำแข็งน้อยครับ

khǎw nám-khǎeng náwy khráp

Less ice, please.

Male speaker

A Thai iced drink is mostly ice, and less ice is more drink for the same money. Say it while the cup is still empty. น้ำแข็งแยกครับ (nám-khǎeng yâek khráp) puts the ice in a separate cup, which is what people do when the drink has to travel. ไม่ใส่น้ำแข็งค่ะ takes it out completely, and at a cart that usually means a lukewarm drink.

ไม่เอาหลอดครับ

mâi ao làwt khráp

No straw, thanks.

Male speaker

Straws and bags are handed over automatically, so refuse them as you order or they are already in your hand. ไม่เอาถุงครับ (mâi ao thǔng khráp) declines the bag. Keep the two frames apart: ไม่ใส่ is about what goes into the drink, ไม่เอา is about what you are given.

เท่าไหร่ครับ

thâo-rài khráp

How much is it?

Male speaker

Ask before you order, not after. Most carts have no board, and a price quoted once the drink is made is the price you pay. กี่บาทครับ (gìi bàat khráp, how many baht) does the same job and makes the answer easier to catch, because the reply comes back with บาท in it. For one specific item, point and say อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ (an-níi thâo-rài khráp).

ทั้งหมดเท่าไหร่คะ

tháng-mòt thâo-rài khá

How much for everything?

Female speaker

For the round of drinks you are carrying back to the office. ทั้งหมด (tháng-mòt) is the word that stops you being told the price of one cup. The answer comes as a bare number, usually fast. If people are paying for their own, แยกจ่ายได้ไหมคะ (yâek jàai dâi mǎi khá) asks to split it, which small carts rarely do.

เป็นเบาหวานครับ กินหวานไม่ได้

bpen bao-wǎan khráp, gin wǎan mâi dâi

I'm diabetic, I can't have sugar.

Male speaker

This is the sentence that actually stops the condensed milk, where หวานน้อย only slows it down. เบาหวาน is a word every Thai knows and takes seriously, and a vendor who hears it once tends to remember you and your cup. The particle sits after the first clause, which is normal in speech and keeps the second half from landing abruptly.

สแกนได้ไหมครับ

sà-gaen dâi mǎi khráp

Can I pay by QR?

Male speaker

PromptPay is the default now, at carts as much as at chains, and the code is either taped to the counter or held up on a phone. สแกน is the whole verb, and there is no need to name the app. If there is no code, จ่ายเงินสดครับ (jàai ngoen sòt khráp) says you will pay cash.

เหมือนเดิมครับ

mǔean doem khráp

The usual, please.

Male speaker

The phrase that turns you from a foreigner into a regular, and it only works once the same person has made your drink four or five times. The vendor often gets there first with เหมือนเดิมไหมคะ (mǔean doem mǎi khá), and answering ครับ to that is the entire transaction. After a long absence, มาบ่อยครับ (maa bàwy khráp, I come here a lot) and จำได้ไหมครับ (jam dâi mǎi khráp, do you remember me) restart it.

ขอรหัสไวไฟหน่อยครับ

khǎw rá-hàt wai-fai nàwy khráp

Could I have the wifi password?

Male speaker

ขอ something หน่อย is the everyday frame for asking a small favour, and it is worth learning as one unit. The password is often printed on the receipt or on a card by the till, so look before you ask. If you are settling in for the afternoon, buy the second coffee before you ask for anything else.

เสียบปลั๊กตรงนี้ได้ไหมครับ

sìap bplák dtrong-níi dâi mǎi khráp

Can I plug in here?

Male speaker

Ask rather than assume, because plenty of Bangkok cafés tape the sockets over at weekends and some reserve the wall tables. ตรงนี้ (dtrong-níi) means right here and is more precise than ที่นี่. The neighbouring question is นั่งตรงนี้ได้ไหมคะ (nâng dtrong-níi dâi mǎi khá, may I sit here).

ร้านปิดกี่โมงครับ

ráan bpìt gìi moong khráp

What time do you close?

Male speaker

Worth asking on your first working session, because posted hours and actual hours part company, especially on Sundays. กี่โมง is the general what time. The answer comes in the Thai clock, so ห้าโมงเย็น (hâa moong yen) is five in the afternoon and สองทุ่ม (sǎwng thûm) is eight at night, and holding up fingers is a fair way to confirm it.

ขอใบเสร็จด้วยครับ

khǎw bai-sèt dûay khráp

Could I have a receipt as well?

Male speaker

ด้วย (dûay) means as well, and it is what turns a request into a polite addition to something already happening. Chains print one automatically, carts have none at all. If you are claiming it against a company, the document you actually want is ใบกำกับภาษี (bai-gam-gàp phaa-sǐi, tax invoice), and only registered shops can issue one.

เย็นนะ หวานน้อยนะ

yen ná, wǎan náwy ná

Iced, less sweet.

This is what the exchange sounds like between Thais at a busy cart: no ขอ, no ครับ, no ค่ะ, just the drink, the sweetness and a นะ to keep it friendly. Learn to hear it, because it is coming at you all day. Say it back only once you are a known face there; a foreigner who drops the particle too early sounds curt rather than local.

รับอะไรดีคะ

ráp à-rai dii khá

What can I get you?

Female speaker

The vendor speaks first far more often than the books admit, so this is the real opening line of the exchange. รับ here means have or take, not receive. The variants are เอาอะไรคะ (ao à-rai khá) and สั่งเลยค่ะ (sàng loei khâ, go ahead and order). Any of the three is your cue to start with ขอ.

ร้อนหรือเย็นครับ

ráwn rěu yen khráp

Hot or iced?

Male speaker

Usually the first thing said back to you, often before you have finished naming the drink. Answer with the half you want plus your own particle: เย็นครับ for a man, ร้อนค่ะ for a woman. In fast speech หรือ reduces to a quick rěu wedged between the two options, so what you hear is ráwn-rěu-yen run together. A woman behind the counter ends the same question with คะ.

เอาเย็นครับ

ao yen khráp

Iced, please.

Male speaker

The complete answer to ร้อนหรือเย็น. เอา plus the half of the question you want answers any either-or a vendor throws at you: เอาร้อนครับ, เอากลับบ้านครับ, เอาถุงครับ. Saying only เย็น with no เอา and no particle is understood but comes out blunt.

แก้วเล็กหรือแก้วใหญ่คะ

gâew lék rěu gâew yài khá

Small cup or large?

Female speaker

The third question, after hot or iced and before sweetness, and the usual explanation when the price comes out above what the board said. Answer เอาแก้วใหญ่ครับ or เอาแก้วเล็กค่ะ. Chains ask it as ธรรมดา (tham-má-daa, regular) or พิเศษ (phí-sèet, large) instead, and the gap between the two is often ten baht.

หวานปกติไหมคะ

wǎan bpòk-gà-dtì mǎi khá

Sweet as normal?

Female speaker

Normal here means Thai normal, which is very sweet by most foreign standards, so yes is rarely the answer you want. Reply หวานน้อย, or ไม่ใส่น้ำตาล if you want none at all. You may instead hear เอาหวานน้อยไหมคะ (shall I make it less sweet?), or a flat หวานปกตินะคะ, which is a statement you have to interrupt. At a chain the same question arrives as หวานกี่เปอร์เซ็นต์คะ. In fast speech ไหม comes out high, mái.

หวานกี่เปอร์เซ็นต์คะ

wǎan gìi bpoe-sen khá

How sweet, what percentage?

Female speaker

The chain version of the sweetness question, at Amazon, Punthai and Inthanin, where หวานน้อย is not one of the buttons on the screen. Answer in numbers: หวานห้าสิบครับ for half, หวานยี่สิบห้าครับ for a quarter, ไม่หวานเลยครับ (mâi wǎan loei khráp) for none at all. A hundred percent is the default, and it is a lot.

หวานห้าสิบครับ

wǎan hâa-sìp khráp

Fifty percent sweet, please.

Male speaker

The percentage answer, with เปอร์เซ็นต์ left off because nobody says it in the reply. Fifty is roughly what หวานน้อย gets you at a cart, so it is the safe first setting, and you can drop to ยี่สิบห้า once you know the drink. The scale controls the syrup only, never the condensed milk, which is why a fifty percent iced latte is still a sweet drink.

ได้เลยค่ะ

dâi loei khâ

Sure, coming right up.

Female speaker

Plain agreement, and the single most common thing said back to you. It means yes, done, nothing to discuss, so stop talking and wait. The shorter forms are ได้ค่ะ and โอเคค่ะ. If it comes after your หวานน้อย, the sweetness is agreed and there is nothing left to confirm.

หมดแล้วค่ะ

mòt láew khâ

We're sold out.

Female speaker

หมด is the word to learn first, because it ends the conversation you thought you were having. It attaches to whatever ran out: นมหมดค่ะ (nom mòt khâ, out of milk), น้ำแข็งหมดค่ะ. The neighbouring refusals are วันนี้ไม่มีค่ะ (wan-níi mâi mii khâ, not today) and เครื่องเสียค่ะ (khrûeang sǐa khâ, the machine is broken). None of them is negotiable.

แล้วมีอะไรแทนได้บ้างครับ

láew mii à-rai thaen dâi bâang khráp

What can I have instead?

Male speaker

The follow-up to หมดแล้ว, and it turns a dead end into a recommendation. บ้าง asks for a list rather than a single answer, which is exactly what you want from someone who knows their own cart. The shorter version is แล้วมีอะไรบ้างครับ. Expect to be pointed at whatever they sell most of.

รับอะไรเพิ่มไหมคะ

ráp à-rai phôem mǎi khá

Anything else?

Female speaker

An obligatory turn, and until you answer it nothing gets made. เอาอะไรอีกไหมคะ (ao à-rai ìik mǎi khá) is the same question in different words. Close the order with แค่นี้ครับ, or open it back up with ขอเพิ่มอีกแก้วนึงครับ (khǎw phôem ìik gâew neung khráp, one more cup as well). Silence reads as you still deciding.

แค่นี้ครับ

khâe níi khráp

That's all, thanks.

Male speaker

The line that closes the order and moves the exchange on to money. พอแล้วครับ (phaw láew khráp, that's enough) does the same work. Neither is curt as long as the particle is there. What comes next is the price, so have your ears on the number.

ที่นี่หรือกลับบ้านคะ

thîi-nîi rěu glàp bâan khá

Drinking here or taking it away?

Female speaker

The second question, right after hot or iced. The longer form is ทานที่นี่หรือกลับบ้านคะ (thaan thîi-nîi rěu glàp bâan khá), and in chains it usually comes as กลับบ้านหรือทานที่ร้านคะ. Answer with whichever half you want plus a particle. กลับบ้าน is not a question about where you are really going, it is simply the word for takeaway.

ทานที่ร้านค่ะ

thaan thîi ráan khâ

I'll drink it here.

Female speaker

The full answer to here or takeaway, and the one that gets you a glass instead of a plastic cup in a proper café. ทาน is the polite verb for eating and drinking; กินที่นี่ค่ะ (gin thîi-nîi khâ) is the everyday version and perfectly fine at a cart. Bare ที่นี่ค่ะ is understood but thin, so use it as the clipped form rather than the default.

หกสิบบาทครับ

hòk-sìp bàat khráp

Sixty baht.

Male speaker

The full form, and the easiest one to hear. In real speech บาท is usually dropped: หกสิบค่ะ, or a bare หกสิบ, or the contracted ร้อยยี่สิบ for 120. Train your ear on the number itself rather than waiting for บาท, or most prices will go past you. When one does, ขอโทษครับ เท่าไหร่นะครับ gets it repeated, and many vendors will simply point at the till display or write the figure on the cup.

ร้อยยี่สิบ

ráwy yîi-sìp

A hundred and twenty.

How a price actually arrives at a cart: no บาท, no particle, and the หนึ่ง in front of ร้อย swallowed. ร้อยยี่สิบ is 120, ร้อยห้าสิบ is 150, สองร้อย is 200. From two hundred up the number goes in front; below that ร้อย stands alone. Drill the hundreds, because this is the form you will hear every day.

รับแต่เงินสดค่ะ

ráp dtàe ngoen-sòt khâ

Cash only.

Female speaker

แต่ (dtàe) here means only, not but, and that one word carries the whole message. Older carts and plenty of market stalls still work this way, which is why a few hundred baht in small notes is worth having on you. The same frame turns up all day: มีแต่แก้วใหญ่ค่ะ, we only have large.

โอนให้แล้วนะครับ

oon hâi láew ná khráp

I've sent the transfer.

Male speaker

Said as you turn the phone round, because the vendor is waiting on a confirmation and their notification sound may well be off. โอน is the verb for any bank transfer. Many will answer with ขอดูสลิปหน่อยค่ะ, which is routine rather than distrust, so keep the confirmation screen open until they nod.

ขอดูสลิปหน่อยค่ะ

khǎw duu sà-líp nàwy khâ

Can I see the transfer slip?

Female speaker

สลิป is the confirmation screen in your banking app, and showing it is the normal end of a QR payment. Turn the phone towards them, do not hand it over. หน่อย softens the request into something closer to just a quick look. If the money has not landed yet you will get รอสักครู่นะคะ while they watch their own phone.

ไม่มีเงินทอนค่ะ

mâi mii ngoen thawn khâ

I don't have change.

Female speaker

เงินทอน is the change that comes back to you, and ทอน on its own is the verb. This is a statement of fact, not an opening for negotiation. The three ways out are to pay by QR, to buy something else and round the total up, or to come back later. Residents solve it by keeping the twenties and fifties that 7-Eleven gives them.

ต้องจ่ายก่อนนะคะ

dtâwng jàai gàwn ná khá

You pay first.

Female speaker

The rule at almost every café and chain here, and the thing newcomers get wrong by wandering off to find a table. ก่อน (gàwn) means first or beforehand. นะ keeps it from sounding like a telling off, but the instruction is not optional and the drink will not be started until the money is in.

รอสักครู่นะคะ

raw sàk-khrûu ná khá

One moment, please.

Female speaker

This tells you the order is understood and being made, so you can stop hovering. At a cart it comes out as รอแป๊บนึงนะคะ (raw bpáep-neung ná khá), which is the same thing in street clothes. In a café you may get นั่งรอได้ค่ะ (nâng raw dâi khâ, take a seat), and they will call you when it is done.

ได้แล้วค่ะ

dâi láew khâ

It's ready.

Female speaker

Your cue to step forward. เสร็จแล้วค่ะ (sèt láew khâ, finished) means the same. Both are often said to the room rather than to you, so listen for แล้ว, which is the sound of something having just been completed. In a busy café the cup goes on the counter with the order called out, not into your hand.

ของใครคะ

khǎwng khrai khá

Whose is this?

Female speaker

Asked over a counter with three unclaimed cups on it. Answer ของผมครับ (khǎwng phǒm khráp) as a man, ของหนูค่ะ (khǎwng nǔu khâ) as a woman speaking to someone older, or simply name the drink, กาแฟเย็นครับ. Do not take a cup because it looks like yours: iced coffee and iced tea are told apart only by the shade of orange.

มีบัตรสะสมแต้มไหมครับ

mii bàt sà-sǒm dtâem mǎi khráp

Do you have a stamp card?

Male speaker

Independent cafés and every chain run one, usually ten cups for a free one, and it is worth asking on your first visit rather than your tenth. The vendor's version is สะสมแต้มไหมคะ (sà-sǒm dtâem mǎi khá), often asked while they are already reaching for the stamp. Chains want you on the app instead and will ask for your phone number.

ขอบคุณครับ

khàwp-khun khráp

Thank you.

Male speaker

Say it as the cup reaches your hand, every single time. ขอบคุณมากค่ะ (khàwp-khun mâak khâ) adds a lot to it. Walking off in silence is not neutral at a stall you visit every morning, it reads as cold, and this is the cheapest thing you will ever buy in Thai. The replies are ขอบคุณค่ะ back, ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ (mâi bpen rai khâ), or a smile.

โชคดีค่ะ

chôok-dii khâ

Have a good one.

Female speaker

What a cart vendor often says as you leave, much closer to have a good day than to good luck. There is nothing to answer except ขอบคุณครับ or the same words back. In a café you are more likely to get ขอบคุณค่ะ or an English thank you, and at the stall you use daily, แล้วเจอกันค่ะ.

แล้วเจอกันครับ

láew joe gan khráp

See you next time.

Male speaker

The line for the stall you will be back at tomorrow, and it does more for your standing there than any amount of correct grammar. ไปก่อนนะครับ (bpai gàwn ná khráp, I'm off now) is the other departure, literally go first, and it is what you say when you are leaving people behind. Neither needs an answer.

ราคาขึ้นเหรอคะ

raa-khaa khûn rǒe khá

Has the price gone up?

Female speaker

The polite way to query a price you already know, and the one to use before you assume you are being overcharged. เหรอ makes it a real question rather than an accusation. Prices genuinely move: cups get bigger, milk gets dearer, and the cart outside a school charges less than the one in a mall. Asked with a smile it gets you an explanation, sometimes the old price.

ขอโทษครับ เท่าไหร่นะครับ

khǎw-thôot khráp, thâo-rài ná khráp

Sorry, how much was that?

Male speaker

The repair when the number goes past you, and นะ is what makes it a request to repeat rather than a challenge to the price. กี่บาทนะครับ (gìi bàat ná khráp) does the same and comes back with บาท attached, which is easier to catch the second time. Nobody minds being asked twice about money.

ขอโทษครับ มีแต่แบงก์ห้าร้อย

khǎw-thôot khráp, mii dtàe báeng hâa-ráwy

Sorry, I've only got a 500.

Male speaker

At seven in the morning a cart has almost no float, and a 500 against a 60 baht coffee is a real problem rather than a small one. Say it before the drink is made, so the vendor still has a choice. Expect มีแบงก์ย่อยไหมคะ (mii báeng yâwy mǎi khá, anything smaller) or ไม่มีเงินทอนค่ะ, and the usual fix is to scan instead.

ไม่เข้าใจครับ

mâi khâo-jai khráp

I don't understand.

Male speaker

Use it early rather than nodding through three questions and receiving a drink you did not order. Said with a smile it resets the exchange without any loss of face, and most vendors immediately switch to the simplest possible version: the single words ร้อน and เย็น, fingers for the price, a point at the cup.

พูดช้า ๆ ได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa-cháa dâi mǎi khá

Could you say that slowly?

Female speaker

ๆ repeats the word in front of it, and it is written with a space before it, ช้า ๆ. Doubling ช้า is how Thai says nice and slowly. The frame verb plus ได้ไหม turns anything into a polite can you, so it carries far beyond this counter. Ask this instead of ไม่เข้าใจ when you caught most of it and only need the sentence again at half speed. In speech ไหม is usually high, mái.

หวานไปหน่อยครับ

wǎan bpai nàwy khráp

It is a bit too sweet.

Male speaker

X plus ไป means too much X: แพงไป too expensive, เผ็ดไป too spicy. หน่อย (nàwy) softens it into a remark rather than a complaint, which is what keeps it polite. Do not expect the drink to be remade, this is a sweet drink working as designed. The move that actually helps is ครั้งหน้าขอหวานน้อยนะครับ, which is the version that changes the next cup.

ครั้งหน้าขอหวานน้อยนะครับ

kráng-nâa khǎw wǎan náwy ná khráp

Less sweet next time, please.

Male speaker

The repair that works, because it fixes the next cup instead of asking for this one to be poured away. At a stall you use every morning it is also how the vendor learns your order, and after a few repetitions หวานน้อย stops needing to be said at all. Deliver it while you are paying, with a smile, and nobody loses face.

อันนี้ของคนอื่นหรือเปล่าคะ

an-níi khǎwng khon èun rěu bplàao khá

Is this someone else's?

Female speaker

The face-saving way to flag a wrong drink when you are not certain who made the mistake. หรือเปล่า turns it into a genuine question, and it lets the vendor swap the cup without anyone having been wrong. Reach for this one first, and keep the flat contradiction for when the drink is clearly not what you asked for.

พี่คะ ขอโทษค่ะ อันนี้ไม่ใช่ที่สั่งไว้นะคะ

phîi khá, khǎw-thôot khâ, an-níi mâi-châi thîi sàng wái ná khá

Excuse me, sorry, this isn't what I ordered.

Female speaker

The address term and the ขอโทษ in front are what stop this landing as a flat contradiction at a busy counter with other customers listening. Note the two particles: พี่คะ is high because you are calling, ขอโทษค่ะ is falling because you are stating. นะ is doing real work at the end. Hold the cup up as you speak, then repeat the original order slowly, สั่งกาแฟร้อนค่ะ, which is usually all it takes.

ป้ายเขียนว่าสี่สิบบาทครับ

bpâai khǐan wâa sìi-sìp bàat khráp

The sign says forty baht.

Male speaker

ว่า is what introduces the content of what is written, and without it the sentence reads like an English calque. Point at the board, say the number, then stop talking. Reading out what is written costs nobody face, and the gap is usually a genuine mistake or a larger cup rather than anything else. Swap สี่สิบ for whatever the board says. Where there is no board, ask เท่าไหร่ครับ before you order, not after.