Market and bargaining in Thai

เท่าไหร่ครับ

thâo-rài khráp

How much is it?

Male speaker

The single most useful question at a market stall. Point at the thing and say it.

ลดได้ไหมครับ

lót dâi mǎi khráp

Can you lower the price?

Male speaker

Fine at a market stall or for souvenirs. Not used in shops with printed prices.

แพงไปครับ

phaeng bpai khráp

That is too expensive.

Male speaker

Say it with a smile. Bargaining in Thailand is friendly, not confrontational.

อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ

an-níi thâo-rài khráp

How much is this one?

Male speaker

The default opener at any stall. Point at the thing as you say it, because อัน (an) only means "one of those". You will get a bare number back with no sentence around it: ร้อย (ráwy) is 100, ห้าสิบ (hâa-sìp) is 50. If the number sounds impossibly low for the pile in front of you, it is the price per piece, not for the pile.

อันนี้เท่าไหร่คะ

an-níi thâo-rài khá

How much is this one?

Female speaker

Same sentence in a woman's voice. Note the particle: because this is a question it is คะ with a high tone (khá), not the falling ค่ะ (khâ) you use on a statement. Foreign women get this backwards constantly, and unlike a spelling slip it is audible: ending a question on a falling khâ marks you out immediately. One exception is worth knowing early, นะคะ, which is covered in the walk-away line below.

มีมะละกอไหมคะ

mii má-lá-gaw mǎi khá

Do you have papaya?

Female speaker

มี...ไหม is a frame: drop any product name into the middle and it keeps working. If nobody on this row has it, ask ขายอยู่ตรงไหนคะ (khǎai yùu dtrong-nǎi khá), whereabouts do they sell it, and you will usually be pointed to the right end of the market. A man ends with ครับ.

วันนี้มีอะไรดีคะ

wan-níi mii à-rai dii khá

What's good today?

Female speaker

The friendliest sentence a foreigner can carry into a market, and it works on you as much as on the vendor: it hands her the expert role, and she will steer you to what actually came in fresh this morning rather than what has been sitting since Tuesday. A man ends with ครับ.

ขอชิมได้ไหมคะ

khǎw chim dâi mǎi khá

May I taste it?

Female speaker

Standard at any fruit stall, and often offered before you ask. The reply is ชิมได้ค่ะ (chim dâi khâ), go ahead. Two more worth having: สดไหมคะ (sòt mǎi khá) is it fresh, and อันไหนหวานคะ (an nǎi wǎan khá) which one is sweet. Asking about the goods before arguing about the price is the right order, and it changes what you get offered.

กิโลละเท่าไหร่คะ

gì-loo lá thâo-rài khá

How much per kilo?

Female speaker

Ask this before you point at anything sold by weight: fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dried chilli. ละ (lá) is "per", and it attaches to whatever unit goes in front of it. Vendors often clip กิโล to โล, so you will hear โลละ (loo lá). A man says กิโลละเท่าไหร่ครับ (gì-loo lá thâo-rài khráp).

ขีดละเท่าไหร่คะ

khìit lá thâo-rài khá

How much per hundred grams?

Female speaker

Half the market does not sell by the kilo at all. ขีด (khìit) is one hundred grams, and it is the working unit for meat, minced pork, chilli, garlic, herbs and small fish. สิบขีด (sìp khìit) is one kilo. Learn the halves at the same time, because they sound almost identical to a new ear and both get ordered every day: ครึ่งโล (khrêung loo) is half a kilo, โลครึ่ง (loo khrêung) is one and a half kilos. A man ends with ครับ.

ขอหมูสับสองขีดค่ะ

khǎw mǔu-sàp sǎwng khìit khâ

Two hundred grams of minced pork, please.

Female speaker

The ordering shape at a meat stall: ขอ plus the item plus the number plus the unit. Say สองขีด and you get enough for dinner; say สองโล and you have bought two kilos of pork, which is the classic new-resident market disaster and nobody will stop you. Swap the item freely: ขอพริกสองขีด (khǎw phrík sǎwng khìit) for chilli. A man ends with ครับ.

พอแล้วค่ะ

phaw láew khâ

That's enough, thanks.

Female speaker

At a fresh stall the scoop keeps going into the bag until you stop it, so this is probably the line you will say most often in a wet market. A man says พอแล้วครับ (phaw láew khráp). Head it off in advance with เอาน้อยๆนะคะ (ao náwy-náwy ná khá), just a little, or close it with เอาแค่นี้พอค่ะ (ao khâe-níi phaw khâ), this much is fine. When the portion is mean instead, ขอเพิ่มอีกหน่อยได้ไหมคะ (khǎw phôem ìik nàwy dâi mǎi khá).

ลดหน่อยได้ไหมครับ

lót nàwy dâi mǎi khráp

Could you come down a bit?

Male speaker

Correct sentence, but pick your stall. Bargain on non-food goods (clothes, bags, souvenirs, plants, hardware, phone accessories, second-hand things), on bulk quantities, and at night and tourist markets. Do not bargain on cooked food, on posted-price produce at a ตลาดสด (dtà-làat sòt), or anywhere with printed tags, supermarkets and 7-Eleven included. Haggling over a forty baht bag of vegetables reads as a joke or an insult, and nothing marks a resident as a tourist faster. Expect ราคาเดียวค่ะ (raa-khaa diao khâ), one price, at the fixed stalls. At a food stall the move that does work is not ลด but แถม (thǎem), asking for a little extra thrown in. Say it once with a smile; asking twice hardens the price. ไหม is written mǎi but in fast speech it comes out closer to mái.

เอาสามอันลดหน่อยได้ไหมคะ

ao sǎam an lót nàwy dâi mǎi khá

If I take three, can you lower it a bit?

Female speaker

Volume is the lever that actually moves a Thai market price; a flat "make it cheaper" moves it much less. The หน่อย is what keeps it from sounding stacked and stiff. Swap the number freely: สอง (sǎwng) two, ห้า (hâa) five. If the goods have their own classifier, use it instead of อัน, for example ตัว (dtua) for clothing and fish, ลูก (lûuk) for round fruit.

พี่ลดให้หน่อยนะ

phîi lót hâi nàwy ná

Come on, give me a bit off.

Market Thai, not textbook Thai. พี่ (phîi) works for a vendor around your age or a little older, but most stallholders are older than that, and calling a woman of seventy พี่ is comically wrong. The ladder: ป้า (bpâa) for a woman of your parents' generation, ลุง (lung) for the man, ยาย (yaai) for someone genuinely elderly, and แม่ค้า (mâe-kháa) or พ่อค้า (phâw-kháa), stallholder, when you cannot judge. Use แม่ค้าคะ อันนี้เท่าไหร่คะ (mâe-kháa khá, an-níi thâo-rài khá) just to get attention, and ป้าลดให้หน่อยนะคะ (bpâa lót hâi nàwy ná khá) with an older vendor, where ป้า is warm and completely safe. น้อง (náwng) for someone clearly younger is fine from a woman, but from an older foreign man to a young woman it reads as forward; use คุณ (khun) or the stall term instead. Dropping ครับ or ค่ะ makes this familiar rather than rude, but only if your face matches; add the particle back if you are unsure.

ทั้งหมดเท่าไหร่คะ

tháng-mòt thâo-rài khá

How much is that altogether?

Female speaker

Household shopping is never one item, and this is the sentence you say at the moment of paying, once the bag has four things in it. A man says ทั้งหมดเท่าไหร่ครับ (tháng-mòt thâo-rài khráp). Say it while the goods are still on the table so she can count them in front of you.

สแกนจ่ายได้ไหมคะ

sà-gaen jàai dâi mǎi khá

Can I pay by scanning?

Female speaker

A large share of stalls now take PromptPay QR, single-table vegetable sellers included, and some prefer it to holding cash. Alternative wording: รับพร้อมเพย์ไหมคะ (ráp phráwm-phee mǎi khá), do you take PromptPay. To flag cash instead, จ่ายเงินสดนะครับ (jàai ngoen-sòt ná khráp). Replies to expect: โอนได้ค่ะ (oon dâi khâ) you can transfer, สแกนตรงนี้ค่ะ (sà-gaen dtrong-níi khâ) scan here, and รับแต่เงินสดค่ะ (ráp dtàe ngoen-sòt khâ) cash only.

มีเงินทอนไหมคะ

mii ngoen-thawn mǎi khá

Do you have change?

Female speaker

Ask before she bags anything, not after. Add what you are holding: แบงก์พัน (báeng phan) is a thousand baht note, แบงก์ห้าร้อย (báeng hâa-ráwy) a five hundred. A vegetable stall at 8am genuinely may not be able to break either, and the honest fix is to buy a drink at a 7-Eleven on the way in and arrive with hundreds and twenties. A man ends with ครับ.

แถมให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ

thǎem hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you throw in a bit extra?

Female speaker

This is the food-stall move, and it works where asking for a discount fails: the price stays, the handful of coriander or the extra chilli comes free. It also does the real work of living here, which is not winning on price but being known. ซื้อประจำนะคะ (séu bprà-jam ná khá), I buy here all the time, makes the claim; ลูกค้าประจำ (lûuk-kháa bprà-jam) is the word for what you are trying to become. Close with พรุ่งนี้มาใหม่นะคะ (phrûng-níi maa mài ná khá), I'll come again tomorrow, and then actually do it. A man ends with ครับ.

ขอไลน์ได้ไหมครับ

khǎw lai dâi mǎi khráp

Could I get your LINE?

Male speaker

Standing arrangements with a vendor run on LINE, and this is ordinary business at a stall, not a personal approach. The three things it buys you: สั่งไว้ก่อนได้ไหมคะ (sàng wái gàwn dâi mǎi khá) can I order in advance, เก็บไว้ให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ (gèp wái hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá) could you hold it for me, and ส่งได้ไหมคะ (sòng dâi mǎi khá) do you deliver. Replies to expect: สั่งล่วงหน้าหนึ่งวันนะคะ (sàng lûang-nâa nèung wan ná khá), order a day ahead, and ทักไลน์มาได้เลยค่ะ (thák lai maa dâi loei khâ), just message me on LINE.

หมดแล้วค่ะ

mòt láew khâ

It's sold out.

Female speaker

At a fresh market this is the answer you get all morning, because the good stock goes to restaurant buyers before 8am. Two follow-ups to recognise: วันนี้ไม่มีค่ะ (wan-níi mâi mii khâ), none today, and พรุ่งนี้มาใหม่นะคะ (phrûng-níi maa mài ná khá), come back tomorrow. Take the second one literally and go early.

โลละร้อยห้าสิบครับ

loo lá ráwy hâa-sìp khráp

A hundred and fifty a kilo.

Male speaker

A male vendor voice, which you will meet more often than the phrasebooks suggest: fish, pork, beef, durian, plants, hardware, phone cases and second-hand tools are frequently sold by men, and those are the stalls where bargaining is actually real. Note the clipped โล for กิโล and the dropped บาท. His refusal sounds like ลดไม่ได้ครับ ทุนมันสูง (lót mâi dâi khráp, thun man sǔung), cannot discount, the cost is high.

อันละร้อยบาทค่ะ

an lá ráwy bàat khâ

A hundred baht each.

Female speaker

This is what she says, and the shape matters more than the number. Listen for the unit sitting in front of ละ, because that is what you are being charged for: อันละ (an lá) per piece, กิโลละ or โลละ (loo lá) per kilo, ขีดละ (khìit lá) per hundred grams, ตัวละ (dtua lá) per garment, ถุงละ (thǔng lá) per bag. Many vendors drop บาท entirely and just say อันละร้อย.

เอากี่อันคะ

ao gìi an khá

How many do you want?

Female speaker

Answer with เอา plus the number plus her classifier plus your particle: เอาสองอันครับ (ao sǎwng an khráp) or เอาสองอันค่ะ (ao sǎwng an khâ). Do not try to build a full sentence around it. Whatever classifier she used, reuse it, so if she asks เอากี่ตัวคะ you answer in ตัว. Reusing her classifier is the fastest way to sound like you have done this before.

แปดสิบได้ไหมครับ

bpàet-sìp dâi mǎi khráp

Eighty, could you do that?

Male speaker

Naming a number is the move that settles a Thai price. A foreigner who only ever says ลดหน่อย has handed the vendor both turns and will be given a token five baht. Fuller version: ลดเหลือแปดสิบได้ไหมครับ (lót lěua bpàet-sìp dâi mǎi khráp), come down to eighty. For a bundle: สองอันร้อยได้ไหมคะ (sǎwng an ráwy dâi mǎi khá), two for a hundred. Working rule on non-food goods, open around seventy percent of the asking price and expect to settle near eighty five. Only ever name a number you will actually pay.

ให้เท่าไหร่ล่ะคะ

hâi thâo-rài lâ khá

So what will you give me for it?

Female speaker

She has turned it back on you, which is a good sign: the price is open. Also heard as จะเอาเท่าไหร่คะ (jà ao thâo-rài khá). Answer with a bare number, not with ลดหน่อย again, because repeating the vague ask after this question reads as having nothing to offer. ล่ะ is the particle that puts the ball in your court.

ราคานี้ถูกแล้วค่ะ

raa-khaa níi thùuk láew khâ

This price is already cheap.

Female speaker

The commonest answer to a discount request, and it is a holding move rather than a door closing: one number from you can still shift it. Its harder cousins are ขายราคาเดียวค่ะ (khǎai raa-khaa diao khâ), one price only, and the short ที่นี่ไม่ลดค่ะ (thîi-nîi mâi lót khâ), no discounts here, which do mean stop. ทุนก็เท่านี้แล้วค่ะ (thun gâw thâo-níi láew khâ) is the cost plea, that is what it costs me.

ลดให้สิบบาทนะคะ

lót hâi sìp bàat ná khá

I'll take ten baht off for you.

Female speaker

The partial give, and in practice this is how most market bargaining actually ends. Take it, or push once with a specific number and then take whatever comes back. เอาไปเลยค่ะ (ao bpai loei khâ), just take it at that, is a yes as well, said as she is already bagging the thing. Note นะคะ again on a statement.

ลดไม่ได้แล้วค่ะ

lót mâi dâi láew khâ

I can't go any lower.

Female speaker

A real no, not an opening move. แล้ว (láew) here means "that is the end of it". You have exactly two answers: buy at that price, or start walking. Walking is not rude here, and a genuine last price often follows you for a couple of steps.

แพงไปหน่อย

phaeng bpai nàwy

That's a bit too expensive.

The standard counter to a price you have just heard. The frame is [adjective] plus ไปหน่อย, so the word you swap goes in front and ไปหน่อย stays glued together: ใหญ่ไปหน่อย (yài bpai nàwy) too big, เล็กไปหน่อย (lék bpai nàwy) too small. The หน่อย is what keeps it friendly, because plain แพง (phaeng) on its own sounds like an accusation. It invites a second number rather than ending the exchange. Add ครับ or ค่ะ to soften it further.

ขอดูร้านอื่นก่อนนะคะ

khǎw duu ráan èun gàwn ná khá

I'll have a look at the other stalls first.

Female speaker

The polite walk-away, and the strongest thing you can say in a market. It leaves the door open, so you can come back without anyone losing face. On the particle: นะ plus the female particle is fixed as นะคะ, in statements as well as questions. This is the one place the question and statement rule does not apply, and นะค่ะ is a misspelling you will nonetheless see written by Thais everywhere. A man says ขอดูร้านอื่นก่อนนะครับ. The leverage carries an obligation: only name a price you will actually pay, because if she calls it out as you leave and you keep walking, or she accepts and you then decline, that is a genuine loss of face and a market remembers you for it. When you have committed to nothing, leave clean with ขอบคุณค่ะ ไว้มาใหม่นะคะ (khàwp-khun khâ, wái maa mài ná khá), thank you, I'll come back another time, or ไม่เอาแล้วค่ะ ขอโทษนะคะ (mâi ao láew khâ, khǎw-thôot ná khá). A smile and a nod on the way out cost nothing and keep the stall open to you next week, which is worth more than twenty baht. Walk slowly.

เอาอันนี้ครับ

ao an-níi khráp

I'll take this one.

Male speaker

The line that closes the deal, and the one most learners never get taught, so they end up pointing and grunting at the exact moment money changes hands. A woman says เอาอันนี้ค่ะ (ao an-níi khâ). Variants that carry the agreement: ตกลงครับ (dtòk-long khráp), agreed, done; เอาสองโลค่ะ (ao sǎwng loo khâ), I'll take two kilos; เอาตามนั้นแหละครับ (ao dtaam nán làe khráp), let's do that then. Be careful with the timing: once you have named a number and the vendor answers ได้ (dâi), you have bought it. Walking away at that point is the one genuinely rude move in Thai bargaining.

รวมเป็นสองร้อยค่ะ

ruam bpen sǎwng-ráwy khâ

That comes to two hundred.

Female speaker

Two words do the totalling job and you need to recognise both: รวม (ruam) is to add up, ทั้งหมด (tháng-mòt) is the whole lot. You will also hear the flatter ทั้งหมดร้อยแปดสิบค่ะ (tháng-mòt ráwy bpàet-sìp khâ), one hundred and eighty for everything. If the total sounds off, this is the moment to ask, not after the notes have gone into her tin.

ไม่เอาถุงค่ะ

mâi ao thǔng khâ

No bag, thanks.

Female speaker

You are answering เอาถุงไหมคะ (ao thǔng mǎi khá), do you want a bag, which ends nearly every transaction; many markets now charge for plastic or have stopped offering it, and the fabric bag is normal. The opposite when something is leaking: ขอถุงเพิ่มอีกใบได้ไหมคะ (khǎw thǔng phôem ìik bai dâi mǎi khá), one more bag please. To keep it all together, ใส่ถุงเดียวกันนะคะ (sài thǔng diao-gan ná khá). Note that ถุง also turns up as a price unit, ถุงละ (thǔng lá), per bag. A man ends with ครับ.

มาอีกแล้วเหรอคะ

maa ìik láew rǒe khá

Back again, are you?

Female speaker

A welcome, not a complaint, and the first sign that you have crossed from customer to regular. Answer ค่ะ or ครับ with a smile, or ประจำเลยค่ะ (bprà-jam loei khâ), all the time now. This is the point where the good mangoes start coming out from under the table and the price stops needing to be argued about.

พูดช้าๆอีกทีได้ไหมครับ

phûut cháa-cháa ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp

Could you say that again slowly?

Male speaker

Numbers are where market Thai collapses, and the pair that catches everyone is ห้าสิบ (hâa-sìp) fifty against ห้าร้อย (hâa-ráwy) five hundred. The mark ๆ repeats the word before it, so ช้าๆ is "slowly slowly", which is the normal way to say gently slower. Formal writing puts a space in front of the mark, ช้า ๆ; signage and phone messages usually close it up as here. A woman ends with คะ.

กดให้ดูหน่อยได้ไหมคะ

gòt hâi duu nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you punch it in so I can see?

Female speaker

Use this on the second failed repeat rather than the third. Almost every vendor has a calculator or a phone and will simply key the number in and turn it around, which removes the tone problem completely and insults nobody. The object is เครื่องคิดเลข (khrêuang-khít-lêek), calculator. If there is no calculator, fall back to เขียนให้ดูหน่อยได้ไหมคะ (khǐan hâi duu nàwy dâi mǎi khá), write it down for me. One more line worth having at this stage, more natural than asking for a third repeat: ฟังไม่ทันค่ะ (fang mâi than khâ), I didn't catch that. A man ends with ครับ.

เมื่อกี้บอกแปดสิบใช่ไหมครับ

mêua-gîi bàwk bpàet-sìp châi mǎi khráp

You said eighty just now, right?

Male speaker

For the moment the price grows between the agreement and the wallet. เมื่อกี้ (mêua-gîi) means "a moment ago". Put the address term in to make it unmistakable who said it: เมื่อกี้พี่บอกแปดสิบใช่ไหมครับ (mêua-gîi phîi bàwk bpàet-sìp châi mǎi khráp). With no subject at all the sentence can just as easily be heard as "I said eighty", which is not the point you are making. Keep your voice flat and pleasant, because most of the time it is a genuine mishearing on one side or the other, and treating it as a fight guarantees you pay the higher number. Swap in whichever price you heard.

ทอนไม่ครบหรือเปล่าคะ

thawn mâi khróp rěu bplàao khá

Is the change maybe not right?

Female speaker

ทอน (thawn) is to give change and ครบ (khróp) is complete. Ask it as a question, because the flat statement ทอนเงินไม่ครบค่ะ (thawn ngoen mâi khróp khâ) is an accusation delivered in public with the neighbouring stalls listening, and if you have miscounted, and often you have, the relationship is finished. Softer still, and what Thais reach for first: พี่คะ ช่วยนับให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ (phîi khá, chûay náp hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá), could you count it with me. State your own side without touching hers: ให้ไปห้าร้อยนะคะ (hâi bpai hâa-ráwy ná khá), I gave you five hundred. Keep the flat form in reserve for when a question has already been ignored. Hold the notes open in your palm where she can see them. Prevention beats repair: break a thousand baht note before you reach the market. A man ends with ครับ.

ขอชั่งอีกทีได้ไหมครับ

khǎw châng ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp

Could you weigh it once more?

Male speaker

For when the bag goes on the scale with a hand still resting on it, or the needle was not sitting at zero. Lead with ขอ, because the bare ชั่งใหม่ได้ไหมครับ is an instruction to redo the weighing and lands as "your scale is rigged". Give her the exit at the same time: ผมดูไม่ทันครับ (phǒm duu mâi than khráp), I didn't catch the reading, lets the reweigh happen with nobody accused. On the digital scales now common in city markets, ขอดูตัวเลขหน่อยได้ไหมครับ (khǎw duu dtua-lêek nàwy dâi mǎi khráp), could I see the number. The scale itself is ตาชั่ง (dtaa-châng). Look at the dial, not at the vendor. A woman ends with คะ.

ของเมื่อวานไม่สดเลยค่ะ

khǎwng mêua-waan mâi sòt loei khâ

What I bought yesterday wasn't fresh at all.

Female speaker

A visitor never comes back to complain; a resident does, because the fish was off, the mango was green inside or the bag was half a kilo short. Softer wording: เมื่อวานซื้อไป มันเสียค่ะ (mêua-waan séu bpai, man sǐa khâ), the one I bought yesterday had gone off. Then ask, do not demand: เปลี่ยนให้ได้ไหมคะ (bplìan hâi dâi mǎi khá), could you swap it. Bring it back smiling and say nothing about money. A vendor who wants to keep a regular will replace it without being asked twice, but an argument in front of the neighbouring stalls ends the relationship permanently, and you shop here every week. A man ends with ครับ.