มีไหมครับ
mii mǎi khráp
Do you have it?
Male speaker
Show the thing on your phone, or point, then ask this. Works in any shop in the country.
Female speaker
มีไหมคะ
mii mǎi khá
The scanner beeps and the questions have already started, before the second item is down. They are a closed set of six, none of them sounding the way they look on a page: bag, heat it up, spoon, points, the discounted add-on tied to what you just spent, anything else. Clipped and half-swallowed, they are why a beginner nods and leaves with a spoon, a loyalty sign-up and a bag they did not want. For a resident this shop is also an office. It is where you pay the electricity bill, service charge on top, and keep the stamped slip until the next bill clears; where a top-up runs on three fast questions, network, number, amount; and where a parcel is collected against a code and sent on a slip you write yourself. All that is here too, with the painkiller shelf, the till that will not sell you beer yet and cannot be argued with, the price that does not match the label, and the one answer that declines anything without your having to parse it.
62 phrases you can use straight away, each with the male form ending in ครับ and the female form ending in ค่ะ (or คะ in questions), both with audio.
What you say first.
มีไหมครับ
mii mǎi khráp
Do you have it?
Male speaker
Show the thing on your phone, or point, then ask this. Works in any shop in the country.
Female speaker
มีไหมคะ
mii mǎi khá
ขอถุงครับ
khǎw thǔng khráp
A bag, please.
Male speaker
ขอ (khǎw) before a noun is the all-purpose polite way to ask for something.
Female speaker
ขอถุงค่ะ
khǎw thǔng khâ
ไม่เอาถุงครับ
mâi ao thǔng khráp
No bag, thank you.
Male speaker
Cashiers ask by default. This is the standard refusal, and it is appreciated.
Female speaker
ไม่เอาถุงค่ะ
mâi ao thǔng khâ
อุ่นให้หน่อยครับ
ùn hâi nàwy khráp
Warm it up for me, please.
Male speaker
For microwave meals at 7-Eleven. หน่อย (nàwy) softens any request.
Female speaker
อุ่นให้หน่อยค่ะ
ùn hâi nàwy khâ
ไม่เอาถุงครับ
mâi ao thǔng khráp
No bag, thanks.
Male speaker
Say it while they are still reaching under the counter, not after. Since bags became chargeable, most 7-Eleven staff ask first, but many still bag drinks automatically.
ไม่เอาถุงค่ะ
mâi ao thǔng khâ
No bag, thanks.
Female speaker
Same sentence as the male form with ค่ะ khâ on the end. The particle is aspirated: kâ is a common foreigner mistake and sounds wrong to a Thai ear.
อันนี้เท่าไหร่คะ
an-níi thâo-rài khá
How much is this one?
Female speaker
Female: อันนี้เท่าไหร่คะ an níi thâo-rài khá. Male: อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ an níi thâo-rài khráp. Hold the item up or tap it, because อันนี้ an níi only means anything with a finger attached. เท่าไหร่ thâo-rài is the one question word worth drilling to reflex: it also runs ค่าบริการเท่าไหร่ and ส่งเท่าไหร่.
อุ่นให้หน่อยได้ไหมครับ
ùn hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khráp
Could you heat this up for me?
Male speaker
Hand over the boxed rice or toastie as you say it. หน่อย nàwy softens a request into a favour and belongs in almost every counter sentence you make. ได้ไหม dâi mǎi is the all-purpose can-you frame. Male: อุ่นให้หน่อยได้ไหมครับ. Female: อุ่นให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ ùn hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá. In practice staff usually ask first, so learn อุ่นไหมคะ as well.
เติมเงินหน่อยค่ะ
dtoem ngoen nàwy khâ
I'd like to top up, please.
Female speaker
Female: เติมเงินหน่อยค่ะ dtoem ngoen nàwy khâ. Male: เติมเงินหน่อยครับ dtoem ngoen nàwy khráp. That is what customers actually say; the fuller เติมเงินมือถือหน่อย dtoem ngoen meu-thěu nàwy is not wrong, just more words than anyone uses at a till (มือถือ meu-thěu, hand-carry, is the phone). Three questions come straight back: network, number, amount. Have the number on your screen and say the brand in English (True, AIS, dtac).
จ่ายค่าไฟครับ
jàai khâa-fai khráp
I'm here to pay the electricity bill.
Male speaker
The whole counter move is the paper bill down barcode up plus this sentence. Male: จ่ายค่าไฟครับ. Female: จ่ายค่าไฟค่ะ jàai khâa-fai khâ. The fuller จ่ายบิลค่าไฟครับ jàai bin khâa-fai khráp is fine but บิล is redundant once the paper is on the counter. Swap the fee for what you owe on: ค่าน้ำ khâa-náam water, ค่าเน็ต khâa-nét internet. Cards are not accepted for counter bill payment: bring cash, or pay from a TrueMoney Wallet balance. The follow-up you may hear is จ่ายเท่าไหร่คะ jàai thâo-rài khá, though most staff just read the total off the barcode.
ขอใบเสร็จด้วยครับ
khǎw bai-sèt dûay khráp
Could I have the receipt as well?
Male speaker
Male: ขอใบเสร็จด้วยครับ. Female: ขอใบเสร็จด้วยค่ะ khǎw bai-sèt dûay khâ. For a utility bill the stamped slip is your only proof of payment, so keep it until the next bill arrives and the previous one shows as settled. For ordinary shopping the staff may ask รับใบเสร็จไหมคะ ráp bai-sèt mǎi khá, and ไม่ต้องครับ mâi dtâwng khráp is the normal answer.
มารับพัสดุค่ะ
maa ráp phát-sà-dù khâ
I'm here to collect a parcel.
Female speaker
Female: มารับพัสดุค่ะ. Male: มารับพัสดุครับ maa ráp phát-sà-dù khráp. For most residents this is a more frequent counter errand than paying a bill. Have the collection message from Shopee, Lazada or the courier app open before you speak, because the next thing asked for is the code. A passport works where a Thai ID card is requested.
ส่งพัสดุครับ
sòng phát-sà-dù khráp
I'm sending a parcel.
Male speaker
Male: ส่งพัสดุครับ. Female: ส่งพัสดุค่ะ sòng phát-sà-dù khâ. You write the slip yourself: recipient name and phone, then your own name and phone as sender. Ask ส่งเท่าไหร่ครับ sòng thâo-rài khráp for the price, which depends on size and weight.
จ่ายบัตรได้ไหมคะ
jàai bàt dâi mǎi khá
Can I pay by card?
Female speaker
Female: จ่ายบัตรได้ไหมคะ. Male: จ่ายบัตรได้ไหมครับ jàai bàt dâi mǎi khráp. Worth asking before the scan starts. Cards usually work for goods, but bill payments, phone top-ups and parcel fees are cash or wallet only, and foreign cards get refused more often than Thai ones. PromptPay from a Thai bank app is what most residents end up using.
มีพาราไหมครับ
mii paa-raa mǎi khráp
Do you have any paracetamol?
Male speaker
Male: มีพาราไหมครับ. Female: มีพาราไหมคะ mii paa-raa mǎi khá. พารา paa-raa is the universal short form of พาราเซตามอล paa-raa-see-dtaa-mawn and gets a faster answer than any longer question, because the painkiller shelf in a convenience store is essentially paracetamol. Expect single-dose sachets only; anything more means a pharmacy, ร้านขายยา ráan khǎai yaa.
มียาแก้ปวดหัวไหมคะ
mii yaa gâe bpùat hǔa mǎi khá
Do you have anything for a headache?
Female speaker
Female: มียาแก้ปวดหัวไหมคะ. Male: มียาแก้ปวดหัวไหมครับ mii yaa gâe bpùat hǔa mǎi khráp. Naming the symptom gets you pointed at the right box faster than naming a drug. Swap the symptom: ปวดท้อง bpùat tháwng stomach ache, เจ็บคอ jèp khaw sore throat, ปวดประจำเดือน bpùat bprà-jam-deuan period pain.
ยาแก้ปวดอยู่ตรงไหนคะ
yaa gâe bpùat yùu dtrong nǎi khá
Where is the painkiller?
Female speaker
Female: ยาแก้ปวดอยู่ตรงไหนคะ. Male: ยาแก้ปวดอยู่ตรงไหนครับ yaa gâe bpùat yùu dtrong nǎi khráp. ตรงไหน dtrong nǎi asks whereabouts exactly and gets you a pointed finger, where ที่ไหน thîi nǎi can get you a vague wave. อยู่ตรงไหน works for any shelf: น้ำแข็ง náam-khǎeng ice, ห้องน้ำ hâwng-náam toilet.
เอาเหมือนเดิมครับ
ao měuan doem khráp
The usual, please.
Male speaker
Male: เอาเหมือนเดิมครับ. Female: เอาเหมือนเดิมค่ะ ao mǔean doem khâ. The shorter อันเดิมครับ an doem khráp works too. Only use it once you genuinely are a regular at that branch and the same staff have served you a dozen times, otherwise it lands as a puzzle rather than a shortcut.
ไม่ได้เจอกันนานเลยนะคะ
mâi dâi joe gan naan loei ná khá
Haven't seen you in ages.
Female speaker
Female: ไม่ได้เจอกันนานเลยนะคะ. Male: ไม่ได้เจอกันนานเลยนะครับ mâi dâi joe gan naan loei ná khráp. For the staff member who has been off the rota for a few weeks. This is the sentence that turns you from a customer into a neighbour. After นะ the female particle is คะ khá, not ค่ะ.
What they will say back, and how you answer it.
รับถุงไหมคะ
ráp thǔng mǎi khá
Would you like a bag?
Female speaker
The first thing you will hear at the register, usually said fast. In real speech ไหม comes out high and short, closer to mái than the careful mǎi written here. Answer with ไม่ต้องครับ or ค่ะ, or เอาครับ ao khráp if you do want one.
ไม่ต้องครับ
mâi dtâwng khráp
No need, thanks.
Male speaker
The one answer that declines everything they offer: bag, spoon, straw, receipt, points, promo. Softer than ไม่เอา mâi ao, which can sound blunt when repeated. Male: ไม่ต้องครับ. Female: ไม่ต้องค่ะ mâi dtâwng khâ.
รับช้อนไหมคะ
ráp cháwn mǎi khá
Would you like a spoon?
Female speaker
This comes the moment your food goes into the microwave. Same question shape covers ส้อม sâwm fork, ตะเกียบ dtà-gìap chopsticks, หลอด làwt straw. Say เอาครับ ao khráp or ไม่ต้องค่ะ.
อุ่นไหมคะ
ùn mǎi khá
Shall I heat it up?
Female speaker
Two clipped syllables, fired the second a boxed meal crosses the scanner, so it is over before a beginner has finished hearing it. This is the version of the heating turn you will actually meet, far more often than asking for it yourself.
อุ่นด้วยครับ
ùn dûay khráp
Yes, heat it up please.
Male speaker
Male: อุ่นด้วยครับ. Female: อุ่นด้วยค่ะ ùn dûay khâ. To decline, ไม่ต้องครับ mâi dtâwng khráp. ด้วย dûay adds a please-as-well tone and works on any add-on request.
ทานที่นี่หรือกลับบ้านคะ
thaan thîi-nîi rěu glàp bâan khá
Eating here or taking it home?
Female speaker
Follows the heating question and decides tray versus bag. Answer ที่นี่ครับ thîi-nîi khráp or กลับบ้านครับ glàp bâan khráp. หรือ in fast speech shrinks to a light rěu between the two options, which is the clue that you are being offered a choice rather than asked a yes-no question.
ค่ายอะไรคะ
khâai à-rai khá
Which network?
Female speaker
First of the three top-up questions. ค่าย khâai literally means camp and is the everyday word for a mobile operator. Answer with the brand in English: ทรูครับ thruu khráp, เอไอเอสครับ ee-ai-èt khráp, ดีแทคครับ dii-thâek khráp.
เบอร์อะไรคะ
boe à-rai khá
What number?
Female speaker
Second top-up question. เบอร์ boe is from the French numéro by way of English and means a phone number, never a house number. Do not try to read ten digits aloud under pressure: say เบอร์นี้ครับ and turn the screen round.
เบอร์นี้ครับ
boe níi khráp
This number here.
Male speaker
Male: เบอร์นี้ครับ. Female: เบอร์นี้ค่ะ boe níi khâ. Said while turning the phone screen towards the cashier. Keep the number in a note or the top of your contacts so it is one tap away with a queue behind you.
เติมเท่าไหร่คะ
dtoem thâo-rài khá
How much do you want to top up?
Female speaker
Third top-up question. Answer with a round number: ห้าสิบครับ hâa-sìp khráp fifty, ร้อยนึงครับ ráwy neung khráp a hundred, สองร้อยครับ sǎwng ráwy khráp two hundred. Most counters have a minimum around twenty baht.
ร้อยนึงครับ
ráwy neung khráp
A hundred, please.
Male speaker
Male: ร้อยนึงครับ. Female: ร้อยนึงค่ะ ráwy neung khâ. นึง neung is how หนึ่ง sounds in speech, and ร้อยนึง is far more common at a counter than หนึ่งร้อย. Same shape for สองร้อย sǎwng ráwy two hundred.
รับอะไรเพิ่มไหมคะ
ráp à-rai phôem mǎi khá
Anything else?
Female speaker
Also your cue that the scanning is finished and payment is next. Answer ไม่ต้องครับ, or add the thing you forgot: ขอน้ำเปล่าขวดนึงครับ khǎw náam-bplàao khùat neung khráp, one bottle of water.
แลกซื้อไหมคะ
lâek-séu mǎi khá
Do you want the redemption offer?
Female speaker
แลกซื้อ lâek-séu means buying a promoted item cheaply because your basket passed a spend threshold. Staff usually point at a card of pictures by the till. Almost no phrasebook teaches the word and you will hear it weekly. ไม่ต้องครับ closes it; ดูก่อนครับ duu gàwn khráp buys you a second to look.
สะสมแต้มไหมคะ
sà-sǒm dtâem mǎi khá
Are you collecting points?
Female speaker
Asked at nearly every transaction, right as you are handing over money, which is exactly where the reflex nod comes from. Variants: มีแอปไหมคะ mii áep mǎi khá, do you have the app, and สะสมแสตมป์ไหมคะ sà-sǒm sà-dtaem mǎi khá for the stamp promotions. ไม่ต้องครับ answers all of them.
ไม่สะสมครับ
mâi sà-sǒm khráp
No, I'm not collecting.
Male speaker
Male: ไม่สะสมครับ. Female: ไม่สะสมค่ะ mâi sà-sǒm khâ. If you do collect, สะสมครับ sà-sǒm khráp while you open the barcode in the app. Have it open before the total is read out, because the scan gun is already waiting.
ทั้งหมดแปดสิบเจ็ดบาทค่ะ
tháng-mòt bpàet-sìp-jèt bàat khâ
Eighty-seven baht altogether.
Female speaker
The turn every single visit contains. The equally common opener is รับแปดสิบเจ็ดบาทค่ะ ráp bpàet-sìp-jèt bàat khâ. The number is said fast and unstressed, so do not train on hearing the whole sentence: train on catching the last two syllables before บาท bàat. If you miss it, the screen faces you, or ask เท่าไหร่นะครับ thâo-rài ná khráp.
เงินสดหรือสแกนคะ
ngoen-sòt rěu sà-gaen khá
Cash or scan?
Female speaker
The payment question in Thailand now is not cash or card, it is cash or scan, and it comes on almost every transaction. สแกน sà-gaen means paying by QR, in practice PromptPay from a Thai bank app, which is the resident default. Answer สแกนครับ or เงินสดครับ.
สแกนครับ
sà-gaen khráp
I'll scan.
Male speaker
Male: สแกนครับ. Female: สแกนค่ะ sà-gaen khâ. To pay cash instead, เงินสดครับ ngoen-sòt khráp or เงินสดค่ะ ngoen-sòt khâ. Open the bank app before you reach the counter: the QR appears on the customer screen and the queue moves on your speed, not theirs.
สแกนตรงนี้ค่ะ
sà-gaen dtrong-níi khâ
Scan right here.
Female speaker
What you hear while you are hunting for the QR, usually with a finger tapping the little screen. ตรงนี้ dtrong-níi, right here, is the same ตรง you use in อยู่ตรงไหน to ask exactly where something is.
มีแบงก์ย่อยไหมคะ
mii báeng yâwy mǎi khá
Do you have smaller notes?
Female speaker
A daily event, because ATMs here hand out thousand-baht notes and a 7-Eleven till at 7am cannot break one. แบงก์ báeng is the English bank note. Variants: มีเงินย่อยไหมคะ mii ngoen yâwy mǎi khá, and มีเหรียญไหมคะ mii rǐan mǎi khá for coins, usually to round out the change.
มีแต่แบงก์พันครับ
mii dtàe báeng phan khráp
Sorry, I've only got a thousand.
Male speaker
Male: มีแต่แบงก์พันครับ. Female: มีแต่แบงก์พันค่ะ mii dtàe báeng phan khâ. If you do have change, มีครับ ráw bpáep neung, มีครับ รอแป๊บนึง mii khráp raw bpáep neung, I have, hang on a second. Breaking a thousand early in the day is easier at a till that has just paid out a bill payment.
เงินทอนสิบสามบาทค่ะ
ngoen-thawn sìp-sǎam bàat khâ
Thirteen baht change.
Female speaker
Said while the notes and coins are counted into your hand, often shortened to ทอนสิบสามค่ะ thawn sìp-sǎam khâ. Coins land in the palm, notes come folded on top. Counting it back in front of them is normal and not rude.
รอสักครู่นะครับ
raw sàk-khrûu ná khráp
One moment, please.
Male speaker
You will hear this while your food is in the microwave or while the bill terminal loads. Nothing is wrong, so just answer ครับ or ค่ะ. The casual version staff use with regulars is รอแป๊บนึงนะ raw bpáep neung ná.
มีค่าบริการด้วยนะคะ
mii khâa-baw-rí-gaan dûay ná khá
There's a service charge on top as well.
Female speaker
Standard warning when you pay a bill at the counter: the store takes a small fee on top of the bill amount, and it varies by biller. The คะ here is high because นะ pulled it, not because anything is being asked: after นะ the female particle is always คะ khá, never นะค่ะ, and the sentence is a statement, so do not read it with question intonation.
ค่าบริการเท่าไหร่ครับ
khâa-baw-rí-gaan thâo-rài khráp
How much is the service fee?
Male speaker
Male: ค่าบริการเท่าไหร่ครับ. Female: ค่าบริการเท่าไหร่คะ khâa-baw-rí-gaan thâo-rài khá. Ask it before you hand the money over, because the fee is charged per bill and paying three bills at once means three fees. Typical answers are สิบบาทค่ะ sìp bàat khâ or ยี่สิบบาทค่ะ yîi-sìp bàat khâ.
เก็บใบเสร็จไว้นะคะ
gèp bai-sèt wái ná khá
Keep the receipt.
Female speaker
Said as the stamped slip is handed over with a bill payment. It is not small talk: that slip is the proof the payment happened, and it is what settles the argument if the payment does not post and the utility comes looking. Keep it until the next bill shows the balance cleared. Answer ครับ or ค่ะ.
ขอโค้ดหน่อยค่ะ
khǎw khóot nàwy khâ
The code, please.
Female speaker
โค้ด khóot is the collection code in the app message or SMS, not a password. Have the message open before you speak. Some branches want it read out, most want the phone handed over or the QR shown.
ขอดูบัตรหน่อยค่ะ
khǎw duu bàt nàwy khâ
Could I see your ID?
Female speaker
บัตร bàt means the Thai ID card, but a passport is accepted in its place for a parcel collection. Answer พาสปอร์ตได้ไหมครับ phâat-sà-bpàwt dâi mǎi khráp if you only have that. A photo of a passport on your phone is often refused where the book is accepted.
ขอดูพาสปอร์ตหน่อยค่ะ
khǎw duu phâat-sà-bpàwt nàwy khâ
Could I see your passport?
Female speaker
Routine for alcohol, cigarettes and buying a SIM card, and not aimed at you personally: the till prompts for it. A phone photo is often refused where the physical book is accepted, and a SIM purchase always needs the book itself. Answer เดี๋ยวครับ dǐao khráp while you get it out.
ตอนนี้ยังขายไม่ได้ค่ะ
dtawn-níi yang khǎai mâi dâi khâ
We can't sell that right now.
Female speaker
What you get if you take beer to the till outside the legal selling hours, delivered fast and often with the bottle pushed gently back. You have not been refused for being foreign. The restriction sits in the till, staff cannot override it, and pushing puts their job at risk. Check the hours posted at that branch rather than trusting a rule you read once.
หมดแล้วค่ะ
mòt láew khâ
We're out of it.
Female speaker
The most common negative answer you will hear in any Thai shop, and often just one syllable: หมดค่ะ mòt khâ, or ของหมดค่ะ khǎwng mòt khâ. It is delivered flat with no apology, which is not rudeness, it is simply information. Learn to hear mòt on its own.
ขอบคุณครับ
khàwp-khun khráp
Thank you.
Male speaker
Male: ขอบคุณครับ. Female: ขอบคุณค่ะ khàwp-khun khâ. Said as the bag or change reaches your hand, not before. Do not wai the cashier: no Thai customer does it, and it forces someone with both hands full to decide whether to return it. A nod with the words is the whole gesture.
โชคดีค่ะ
chôok-dii khâ
Have a good one.
Female speaker
The closing line, usually preceded by ขอบคุณค่ะ khàwp-khun khâ and called out at volume as you turn away. สวัสดีค่ะ sà-wàt-dii khâ is just as common as the sign-off. The correct answer is one particle, ครับ or ค่ะ, said over your shoulder while walking. Nothing longer is expected.
มาอีกแล้วเหรอคะ
maa ìik láew rǒe khá
Back again?
Female speaker
Teasing, friendly, and a sign you have become a regular at that branch. It is not a complaint. The right answer is a laugh and ครับ, or ทุกวันเลยครับ thúk wan loei khráp, every day. เหรอ rǒe is the softened spoken form of หรือ and turns a statement into a light question.
You did not catch it, or something is not right.
ผมไม่เข้าใจครับ
phǒm mâi khâo-jai khráp
Sorry, I don't understand.
Male speaker
Better than nodding, which gets you a bag, a spoon and a loyalty card you did not want. ผม phǒm is male-only; the female equivalent is ดิฉัน dì-chǎn or ฉัน chǎn. In practice the pronoun is usually dropped by either sex, so ไม่เข้าใจครับ mâi khâo-jai khráp and ไม่เข้าใจค่ะ mâi khâo-jai khâ are what you will actually hear at a counter.
ฉันไม่เข้าใจค่ะ
chǎn mâi khâo-jai khâ
Sorry, I don't understand.
Female speaker
ฉัน chǎn is the everyday female I and is perfectly fine here. ดิฉัน dì-chǎn is formal enough to sound odd in a 7-Eleven, more suited to an office or a government counter. Dropping the pronoun altogether, ไม่เข้าใจค่ะ, is the most common of all.
พูดช้าลงหน่อยได้ไหมคะ
phûut cháa long nàwy dâi mǎi khá
Could you say that a bit more slowly?
Female speaker
Counter Thai is fast and clipped, so this gets used more than any textbook expects. Female: พูดช้าลงหน่อยได้ไหมคะ. Male: พูดช้าลงหน่อยได้ไหมครับ phûut cháa long nàwy dâi mǎi khráp. If you only missed it once, พูดอีกทีได้ไหมคะ phûut ìik thii dâi mǎi khá asks for a repeat instead.
ราคาไม่ตรงกับป้ายค่ะ
raa-khaa mâi dtrong gàp bpâai khâ
The price doesn't match the label.
Female speaker
Usually the promo has ended or the tag sits under the wrong row. Staff will normally walk to the shelf and check rather than argue. To press it, add ป้ายเขียนว่า bpâai khǐan wâa, the sign says, and read the figure out. Female: ราคาไม่ตรงกับป้ายค่ะ. Male: ราคาไม่ตรงกับป้ายครับ raa-khaa mâi dtrong gàp bpâai khráp.
ไม่ใช่อันนั้นครับ
mâi châi an nán khráp
That's not the one.
Male speaker
Male: ไม่ใช่อันนั้นครับ. Female: ไม่ใช่อันนั้นค่ะ mâi châi an nán khâ. Follow it immediately with อันนี้ครับ an níi khráp, this one, while pointing. The fast part is the pointing, not stripping the particle: a bare negative plus a correction reads as irritation in Thai, and Thai customers keep the particle even mid-scan. The softest version of all is just อันนี้ครับ said with a finger on the right item, which corrects without contradicting. ขอโทษครับ khǎw-thôot khráp in front of a correction buys more goodwill than the saved syllable costs.
มีอย่างอื่นแทนไหมครับ
mii yàang-èun thaen mǎi khráp
Is there anything else instead?
Male speaker
Male: มีอย่างอื่นแทนไหมครับ. Female: มีอย่างอื่นแทนไหมคะ mii yàang-èun thaen mǎi khá. Use it the moment you hear หมดแล้วค่ะ. แทน thaen, instead, is what turns a dead end into a suggestion, and staff will usually walk you to the nearest equivalent.
จะเข้าเมื่อไหร่ครับ
jà khâo mêua-rài khráp
When will it come in?
Male speaker
Male: จะเข้าเมื่อไหร่ครับ. Female: จะเข้าเมื่อไหร่คะ jà khâo mêua-rài khá. This is the resident's question, and it gets a real answer because stock arrives daily: พรุ่งนี้ค่ะ phrûng-níi khâ tomorrow, เย็นนี้ค่ะ yen níi khâ this evening. เข้า khâo is the trade word for stock coming in, not for entering a room.
กี่โมงขายได้ครับ
gìi-moong khǎai dâi khráp
What time can you sell it?
Male speaker
Male: กี่โมงขายได้ครับ. Female: กี่โมงขายได้คะ gìi-moong khǎai dâi khá. The answer is usually ห้าโมงเย็นค่ะ hâa-moong-yen khâ, five in the afternoon, or a time posted on a sign by the fridge. Asked calmly it costs nothing; arguing the point does not move a till that is locked.
ขอถุงใบนึงได้ไหมครับ
khǎw thǔng bai neung dâi mǎi khráp
Could I get one bag after all?
Male speaker
For when you refused the bag and then saw how much you were carrying. ใบ bai is the classifier for bags and sheets. The normal order is noun, number, classifier: ถุงสองใบ thǔng sǎwng bai, two bags. With one, the spoken order flips to noun, classifier, นึง: ถุงใบนึง. นึง neung is how หนึ่ง sounds at a counter. Expect a small charge on the receipt. Male: ขอถุงใบนึงได้ไหมครับ. Female: ขอถุงใบนึงได้ไหมคะ khǎw thǔng bai neung dâi mǎi khá.
Put the thing on the counter and say เอาอันนี้ครับ ao an-níi khráp, or just set it down with a ครับ khráp and let the barcode do the talking; the total shows on the little screen turned towards you, so you never need to catch สี่สิบห้าบาท sìi-sìp-hâa bàat by ear, and a hundred-baht note plus the change covers almost everything you will buy. The particle is gendered and it is the one thing you cannot fudge: men say ครับ khráp, women say ค่ะ khâ on statements and คะ khá on questions, and ผม phǒm (I) is male only, so women use ฉัน chǎn, เรา rao, or their own name. Learn one word beyond that and make it ขอถุงครับ / ขอถุงค่ะ khǎw thǔng khráp / khǎw thǔng khâ, may I have a bag, because since the plastic-bag ban the chains no longer hand one over by default and an armful of hot coffee, a toastie and a bottle of water is the problem you will actually have. When a question arrives and you freeze, ไม่ต้องครับ / ไม่ต้องค่ะ mâi dtâwng khráp / mâi dtâwng khâ is a blanket no to anything asked at this level, no bag, no spoon, no heating, no promo, costs nothing and needs no parsing.
The thing that unlocks this rung is realising the cashier's questions are a closed set of six, always the same and always clipped: ถุงไหมคะ thǔng mái khá (bag?), อุ่นไหมคะ ùn mái khá (heat it up?), ใส่ช้อนไหมคะ sài cháwn mái khá (spoon?), the loyalty card as มีออลเมมเบอร์ไหมคะ mii aw-mem-bôe mái khá or สะสมแต้มไหมคะ sà-sǒm dtâem mái khá (textbook บัตรสมาชิก bàt sà-maa-chík is a gloss, not something anyone says), แลกซื้อไหมคะ lâek séu mái khá, and รับอะไรเพิ่มไหมคะ ráp à-rai phôem mái khá (anything else?). Written ไหม mǎi is spoken มั้ย mái, high and clipped, and ครับ is routinely reduced to คับ kháp; that one substitution is most of what makes these questions unrecognisable, so drill the fast half-swallowed form and treat the citation form as spelling. Thai answers yes by echoing the verb, so the yes to อุ่นไหมคะ is อุ่นครับ ùn khráp and to ใส่ช้อนไหมคะ it is ใส่ครับ sài khráp, with เอาครับ ao khráp for the bag and ไม่เอาถุงครับ mâi ao thǔng khráp as its specific no; ไม่ต้องครับ mâi dtâwng khráp is the universal no and ไม่มีครับ mâi mii khráp handles every version of the card question. แลกซื้อ is the one that bewilders people conceptually rather than phonetically: it is a discounted add-on tied to what you just spent, it arrives after the total, it sounds like an unprompted attempt to sell you something you did not choose, and ไม่ต้องครับ ends it.
This is the rung where you stop accepting whatever the shelf handed you: ask them to check the back with มีอีกไหมครับ mii ìik mǎi khráp, flag a bad carton with อันนี้หมดอายุแล้วนะครับ an-níi mòt aa-yú láew ná khráp and swap it with ขอเปลี่ยนอันใหม่ได้ไหมครับ khǎw bplìan an mài dâi mǎi khráp, or send the toastie back round with อุ่นนานหน่อยได้ไหมครับ ùn naan nàwy dâi mǎi khráp. If the change is short, say it flat and unbothered, ทอนไม่ครบครับ ผมให้ห้าร้อยนะครับ thawn mâi khróp khráp, phǒm hâi hâa-ráwy ná khráp, where a woman drops ผม phǒm or uses ฉัน chǎn and closes with ค่ะ khâ. Two money lines get confused and they answer different questions: when she asks มีเหรียญไหมคะ mii rǐan mǎi khá, do you have coins, the answer is ไม่มีเหรียญครับ mâi mii rǐan khráp; มีแต่พันครับ mii dtàe phan khráp is for when she asks for something smaller and all you have is the thousand the ATM just gave you. The whole rung runs on three softeners, หน่อย nàwy, ได้ไหม dâi mǎi and นะ ná, and the expiry line is the demonstration case: อันนี้หมดอายุแล้วครับ without the นะ is an accusation about her shop, with it it is a favour, and that is the difference between the identical words landing warm or turning the counter cold.
Address the person instead of just transacting with them: พี่ phîi hung on the end of the thanks as you pick up your bag, ขอบคุณครับพี่ khàwp-khun khráp phîi, or ขอบคุณค่ะพี่ khàwp-khun khâ phîi. Make พี่ the default and keep น้อง náwng for someone obviously a student or teenager, because the risk is not symmetric: guessing upward is invisible and faintly flattering, guessing downward at someone your own age or older is the one that lands badly, and foreigners systematically read Thai faces as younger than they are; in an independent shop rather than a chain, ป้า bpâa or ลุง lung for visibly older staff. Men can swap plain khráp for ครับผม khráp phǒm on the way out, which is cheerful, slightly old fashioned, and reads as warm rather than formal, while women simply keep ค่ะ khâ. Do not wâi the cashier, a nod is the correct amount and a full ไหว้ wâi over a heated sandwich reads as a foreigner performing Thailand; the small move Thais notice most is that when a bag is offered you decline with a reason rather than a refusal, ไม่เอาถุงครับ รักษ์โลก mâi ao thǔng khráp, rák lôok, straight off the campaign posters, and on a wet evening you add ฝนตกหนักเลยนะครับ fǒn dtòk nàk loei ná khráp while the receipt prints.
Also useful
Not sure which politeness particle to use? Read polite particles.