Ordering food in Thai

เอาอันนี้ครับ

ao an-níi khráp

I will take this one.

Male speaker

Point and say it. This one phrase handles most street food stalls.

ไม่เผ็ดครับ

mâi phèt khráp

Not spicy.

Male speaker

Say it before they cook, not after. Thai not spicy is often still spicy by European standards.

เผ็ดน้อยครับ

phèt náwy khráp

A little spicy.

Male speaker

A safer middle ground than asking for no chilli at all, which can change the dish.

อร่อยครับ

à-ràwy khráp

It is delicious.

Male speaker

Said to the cook, this is the single most appreciated thing a foreigner can say.

เช็คบิลครับ

chék-bin khráp

The bill, please.

Male speaker

Borrowed from English. In smaller places เก็บเงินครับ (gèp ngoen khráp) is also common.

พี่ครับ

phîi khráp

Excuse me. (calling a server or stallholder)

Male speaker

Thais hail staff with family words, not with คุณ khun, which sounds cold and distancing across a counter. พี่ phîi works for anyone your age or a little older, น้อง náwng for someone clearly younger, and ป้า bpâa auntie or ลุง lung uncle for an older stallholder, which is warm rather than rude. A woman says พี่คะ phîi khá. Watch the hand as much as the word: if you raise one at all, palm down, fingers together, a small scooping motion. Palm up with a single crooked finger is how you call a dog here. If they arrive before you have chosen, เดี๋ยวสั่งครับ dǐao sàng khráp buys you a minute.

ขออันนี้ครับ

khǎw an-níi khráp

I'll have this one, please.

Male speaker

The sentence that gets you fed anywhere, because it works with a finger. Point at the tray, at the photo on the menu, or at the display case as you say it. ขอ khǎw is the safe default with someone who does not know you. เอา ao is not blunt in itself: it is ordinary at a stall and becomes the warmer choice once the vendor knows your face, as long as ครับ or ค่ะ is attached. What reads as rude is a bare เอานี่ ao nîi with no particle and no smile. If you want what the next table is having, say it instead of aiming a finger at a stranger's plate: เอาเหมือนโต๊ะนั้นครับ ao mǔuan dtó nán khráp, the same as that table.

อันนี้เท่าไหร่ครับ

an-níi thâo-rài khráp

How much is this one?

Male speaker

Ask before you commit, not after. At a market, a fruit cart or a shop with no written prices, this is the first turn of the conversation and the one that decides whether you pay the Thai price or the foreigner price. Asking up front is normal and expected here, never rude. Drill the ...ละเท่าไหร่ lá thâo-rài frame and you can price anything by the unit: จานละเท่าไหร่ครับ jaan-lá thâo-rài khráp per plate, กิโลละเท่าไหร่ครับ gì-loo-lá thâo-rài khráp per kilo, ขวดละเท่าไหร่ครับ khùat-lá thâo-rài khráp per bottle. At the end of the meal, ทั้งหมดเท่าไหร่ครับ tháng-mòt thâo-rài khráp asks for the total.

มีโต๊ะว่างไหมคะ

mii dtó wâang mǎi khá

Is there a free table?

Female speaker

ว่าง wâang is the all-purpose word for free or unoccupied, and it covers a table, a seat, a room or your own afternoon. The request a resident makes constantly is the seating one: นั่งข้างนอกได้ไหมคะ nâng khâang-nâwk dâi mǎi khá to sit outside, นั่งตรงนี้ได้ไหมคะ nâng dtrong-níi dâi mǎi khá to take this particular spot. If the place is full you will hear รอสักครู่นะคะ raw sàk-khrûu ná khá, wait a moment, or เต็มแล้วค่ะ dtem láew khâ, we are full.

ขอผัดกะเพราหมูสองที่ค่ะ

khǎw phàt-gà-phrao mǔu sǎwng thîi khâ

Two orders of pork basil stir-fry, please.

Female speaker

Two counters work here: ที่ thîi is a serving and จาน jaan is a plate, and for rice with something on top you will hear both, so สองที่ and สองจาน are equally safe. In speech ผัด phàt is usually dropped. The decision the cook needs from you is rice or no rice: กะเพราหมูราดข้าว gà-phrao mǔu râat khâao is poured over rice, and ข้าวกะเพราหมู khâao gà-phrao mǔu says the same thing the other way round. Rice controls: ขอข้าวเปล่าด้วยค่ะ khǎw khâao bplàao dûay khâ plain rice as well, ไม่เอาข้าวค่ะ mâi ao khâao khâ no rice, ข้าวน้อยค่ะ khâao náwy khâ less rice, ขอข้าวเพิ่มค่ะ khǎw khâao phôem khâ more rice. Swap the meat freely: ไก่ gài chicken, หมูกรอบ mǔu gràwp crispy pork, ทะเล thá-lee seafood. Add ไข่ดาว khài daao on the end for the fried egg on top, which is how most Thais actually order it.

ไม่เผ็ดครับ

mâi phèt khráp

Not spicy, please.

Male speaker

Say it while you are ordering, not once the wok is going. A cook's 'not spicy' and yours are different quantities of chilli, so if you genuinely cannot take any, name the ingredient instead of the sensation: ไม่ใส่พริก mâi sài phrík, do not put chilli in. That one is taken literally.

ไม่ใส่ผักชีค่ะ

mâi sài phàk-chii khâ

No coriander, please.

Female speaker

The most common subtraction in Thailand and never heard as fussy. ใส่ sài is the verb for adding any ingredient, so the frame removes anything you like: ไม่ใส่ต้นหอม mâi sài dtôn-hǎwm no spring onion, ไม่ใส่ถั่ว mâi sài thùa no peanuts, ไม่ใส่น้ำตาล mâi sài nám-dtaan no sugar.

อันนี้มีถั่วไหมครับ

an-níi mii thùa mǎi khráp

Does this have nuts in it?

Male speaker

Ask before you order, because แพ้ถั่ว said after the som tam is pounded fixes nothing. มี...ไหม mii ... mǎi checks for any ingredient: มีกุ้งไหมครับ mii gûng mǎi khráp shrimp, มีน้ำปลาไหมครับ mii nám-bplaa mǎi khráp fish sauce, มีหมูไหมครับ mii mǔu mǎi khráp pork. Expect a one-word answer, มี mii or ไม่มี mâi mii, sometimes with a nod that arrives before the thought does, so for anything serious follow up with the allergy sentence rather than stopping here.

ผมแพ้ถั่วครับ

phǒm pháe thùa khráp

I'm allergic to nuts.

Male speaker

แพ้ pháe means a medical allergy, not a dislike, and kitchens treat it as serious. ถั่ว thùa is the word for the whole bean and nut class, so it also takes in soy, long beans and bean sprouts: for peanuts exactly, say แพ้ถั่วลิสง pháe thùa lí-sǒng. Peanuts hide in pad thai, satay sauce and som tam. Name the food itself for anything else: แพ้กุ้ง pháe gûng shrimp, แพ้อาหารทะเล pháe aa-hǎan thá-lee seafood, แพ้นม pháe nom dairy. For an allergy that could put you in hospital, carry it written in Thai as well. A loud stall is the wrong place to bet on your tones.

แพ้ถั่วค่ะ

pháe thùa khâ

I'm allergic to nuts.

Female speaker

In real speech a woman drops the pronoun and starts on the verb, which is why this is two words shorter than the male version rather than a different sentence. ฉันแพ้ถั่วค่ะ chǎn pháe thùa khâ is fine if you want the pronoun; ดิฉัน dì-chǎn belongs to formal writing and sounds stiff at a stall. If it gets waved off, and it sometimes does, escalate: แพ้จริงๆนะคะ pháe jing-jing ná khá, it is a real allergy, and กินไม่ได้เลยค่ะ gin mâi dâi loei khâ, I absolutely cannot eat it. เลย loei on the end is what turns 'cannot' into 'not at all'.

กินมังสวิรัติครับ

gin mang-sà-wí-rát khráp

I eat vegetarian.

Male speaker

Said alone this is not enough, and that is the trap. A Thai kitchen counts fish sauce, oyster sauce, shrimp paste and pork stock as seasonings rather than as meat, so you will get a plate of vegetables swimming in all four. Always pair it with the subtractions, which sit on the ไม่ใส่ frame you already have: ไม่ใส่น้ำปลาครับ mâi sài nám-bplaa khráp no fish sauce, ไม่ใส่น้ำมันหอยครับ mâi sài nám-man hǎwy khráp no oyster sauce. กินเจครับ gin jee khráp is the strict Buddhist vegan version and is understood instantly, but it also strips out garlic and onion and some cooks only connect it with the annual festival. For pork avoidance or halal: ไม่กินหมูครับ mâi gin mǔu khráp, plus ไม่ใส่หมูสับครับ mâi sài mǔu sàp khráp, since minced pork turns up unannounced in soups and omelettes.

ขอน้ำเปล่าขวดหนึ่งครับ

khǎw náam-bplàao khùat nèung khráp

One bottle of plain water, please.

Male speaker

น้ำเปล่า náam-bplàao is specifically plain water, and asking for น้ำ náam alone can get you anything wet. ขวด khùat is the counter for bottles, and the number follows the counter in this shape: ขวดหนึ่ง one bottle, สองขวด two bottles. Temperature is its own word: น้ำเย็น náam yen cold, น้ำอุ่น náam ùn warm, which is what to ask for if iced drinks disagree with you. Restaurants will often put a jug on the table and charge a few baht for it.

หวานน้อยค่ะ

wǎan náwy khâ

Less sweet, please.

Female speaker

Understood at every coffee stand and drinks cart in the country, and worth saying every time: the default sugar in a Thai iced coffee or ชาเย็น chaa yen is far above what most foreigners expect. The ...น้อย náwy frame mirrors the นิดหน่อย you already have and runs on any quality: เค็มน้อย khem náwy less salty, เปรี้ยวน้อย bprîao náwy less sour. Ice is a separate turn: ไม่ใส่น้ำแข็งค่ะ mâi sài nám-khǎeng khâ no ice, ขอน้ำแข็งเพิ่มค่ะ khǎw nám-khǎeng phôem khâ more ice.

อร่อยมากครับ

à-ràwy mâak khráp

That was very tasty.

Male speaker

The highest value per syllable in this whole set. Say it as you hand over the money, to the person who cooked it rather than to the person taking the cash if you can tell them apart. Thai food culture runs on this sentence and foreigners almost never say it, so it is remembered. Variations you will hear back: อร่อยไหมคะ à-ràwy mǎi khá, was it good, which wants อร่อยครับ and nothing more elaborate.

เอาเหมือนเดิมครับ

ao měuan doem khráp

The usual, please.

Male speaker

The phrase that marks you as เจ้าประจำ jâo-bprà-jam, a regular, and that is worth real money and real comfort: the vendor who knows you remembers the no coriander without being told, adds the egg, and charges you what she charges everyone else. เหมือนเดิม mǔuan doem is also how you order for a table of people who came last week. Close the visit with พรุ่งนี้มาใหม่ครับ phrûng-níi maa mài khráp, I will come again tomorrow. You will start hearing the other side of it too: มาอีกแล้วเหรอคะ maa ìik láew rǒe khá, back again, which is affection and not a complaint, and วันนี้เอาเหมือนเดิมไหมคะ wan-níi ao mǔuan doem mǎi khá.

เช็คบิลค่ะ

chék bin khâ

The bill, please.

Female speaker

Borrowed straight from English and understood in every restaurant in the country, so do not go hunting for a purer Thai version. At a small shop or a stall you will hear เก็บเงินด้วย gèp ngoen dûay (collect the money) instead. Catching an eye and making a small writing gesture in the air does the same job across a loud room. Note that it asks them to settle up, nothing more: it is not the phrase for querying a total.

ขอใบเสร็จด้วยค่ะ

khǎw bai-sèt dûay khâ

Could I have a receipt as well?

Female speaker

A work lunch, a client, or anything you claim against a company needs paper. When it has to carry a company name and tax number for accounting, ask for the full version: ขอใบเสร็จแบบเต็มรูปค่ะ khǎw bai-sèt bàep dtem-rûup khâ. Say it before they ring the sale through, because reissuing it afterwards is a nuisance. This is a restaurant phrase only. A street stall has no receipt book and asking puts the vendor in an awkward spot for nothing.

แยกบิลได้ไหมคะ

yâek bin dâi mǎi khá

Can we split the bill?

Female speaker

Eating with colleagues, this is the only question left at the end. แยก yâek is to separate, so จ่ายแยกกันค่ะ jàai yâek gan khâ means we are paying separately. The opposite instruction is คิดรวมกันค่ะ khít ruam gan khâ, put it all together. Smaller places may simply not be able to split a single ticket, and the ordinary Thai solution is one person pays the lot and the others transfer their share by bank app at the table.

จ่ายด้วยบัตรได้ไหมครับ

jàai dûay bàt dâi mǎi khráp

Can I pay by card?

Male speaker

Ask before you order at anything smaller than a mall restaurant. Over a counter you will more often hear it said as รับบัตรไหมครับ ráp bàt mǎi khráp, do you take cards, or รูดบัตรได้ไหมครับ rûut bàt dâi mǎi khráp, can I swipe. บัตร bàt on its own is any card, ID or transit included, so the verb is what makes it a payment. Bear in mind the real choice here is not cash against card but cash against a QR scan, which is the next phrase. Stalls, markets and most one-room kitchens are cash or scan only, and a card machine that exists can still be เสีย sǐa, broken, at lunchtime. The ending ...ได้ไหม dâi mǎi is the all-purpose 'is that possible' and bolts onto any verb.

สแกนได้ไหมครับ

sà-gaen dâi mǎi khráp

Can I pay by scanning?

Male speaker

This is how the country actually pays. A PromptPay QR code sits taped to the counter of stalls that will never own a card machine, and it is what the person ahead of you in the queue is using. If you hold a Thai bank account, this is your daily method and it works down to a twenty baht bag of fruit. The fuller question is มีพร้อมเพย์ไหมครับ mii phráwm-phee mǎi khráp, do you have PromptPay. Show the vendor your confirmation screen after paying, since a slip on the phone is what she will look for rather than a beep.

กี่คนคะ

gìi khon khá

How many of you?

Female speaker

In a sit-down restaurant the conversation starts one turn before you order, at the door, so this is the first Thai you actually have to understand. A smarter place uses the deferential counter: กี่ท่านคะ gìi thâan khá. You will only ever hear ท่าน thâan, never need to say it. Casually you also get มากี่คนคะ maa gìi khon khá. Your answer is short: สองคนครับ sǎwng khon khráp for two, คนเดียวครับ khon diao khráp for just you. Holding up fingers alongside the words is completely normal and stops the number being misheard.

เอาเผ็ดไหมคะ

ao phèt mǎi khá

Do you want it spicy?

Female speaker

You will be asked this at almost every stall, usually at speed and often worn down to just เผ็ดไหม phèt mǎi. Listen to her particle while you are here: a woman ends a question with คะ khá on a high tone and a statement with ค่ะ khâ falling. A man asks the same thing as เอาเผ็ดไหมครับ ao phèt mǎi khráp, and ครับ khráp is a single fixed form for questions and statements alike, so with him the only clue is ไหม mǎi or the rise at the end. That is why beginners mishear a male vendor's question as a statement more often than a woman's. Answer with the next phrase, or with ไม่เผ็ด mâi phèt.

เผ็ดนิดหน่อยครับ

phèt nít-nàwy khráp

A little spicy, please.

Male speaker

The safe middle answer, and the one that gets you food with flavour instead of food with the chilli left out. นิดหน่อย nít-nàwy attaches to any quality word, so หวานนิดหน่อย wǎan nít-nàwy is 'a bit sweet'. If you really do want Thai heat, say เผ็ดได้ phèt dâi, and expect to be asked a second time because nobody believes it the first time.

หมดแล้วครับ

mòt láew khráp

That's sold out.

Male speaker

The most likely reply to your careful ordering sentence, and two syllables is all you get, so learn to hear it. หมด mòt means the stock has run out, not that the shop is shut: ปิดแล้ว bpìt láew is closed. You will also get the flatter ไม่มีครับ mâi mii khráp, we do not have it, or วันนี้ไม่มีครับ wan-níi mâi mii khráp, not today. By one in the afternoon at a stall, anything beyond the top three dishes is a coin toss. Do not stand there re-ordering the same thing louder. Go straight to the next phrase.

รอสักครู่นะครับ

raw sàk-khrûu ná khráp

Just a moment, please.

Male speaker

There is always a gap between ordering and eating, and it is spoken about, so a correct order that ends in silence usually means you missed this. Longer versions come with a number: รอสิบห้านาทีนะครับ raw sìp-hâa naa-thii ná khráp, about fifteen minutes. นั่งรอได้เลยครับ nâng raw dâi loei khráp means go ahead and sit down, often with a numbered token pushed across the counter. Your side of it: รอนานไหมครับ raw naan mǎi khráp, is it a long wait, and ประมาณกี่นาทีครับ bprà-maan gìi naa-thii khráp, roughly how many minutes.

กินที่นี่หรือกลับบ้านคะ

gin thîi-nîi rěu glàp bâan khá

Eating here, or taking it home?

Female speaker

Stall wording, and it arrives as one blur: gin thîi-nîi rěu glàp bâan. A sit-down restaurant uses the politer verb, ทานที่นี่ไหมคะ thaan thîi-nîi mǎi khá. What she is deciding is plate or plastic bag, so if the words desert you, pointing at a table or at the bags answers it exactly.

เอากลับบ้านค่ะ

ao glàp bâan khâ

To take away, please.

Female speaker

Literally 'take it home', and it stays the right answer even when home is a bench in the park. The opposite answer is กินที่นี่ค่ะ gin thîi-nîi khâ. If you want it bagged to eat later rather than handed over hot, add ใส่ถุงด้วย sài thǔng dûay, in a bag as well.

อิ่มแล้วครับ

ìm láew khráp

I'm full already, thank you.

Male speaker

Eating with Thai colleagues or in-laws means food keeps arriving in front of you, and the skill is declining without insulting the cook. อิ่มแล้ว is the standard refusal and is completely polite, often doubled up as อิ่มมากครับ ìm mâak khráp. Softer again: พอแล้วครับ ขอบคุณครับ phaw láew khráp, khàwp-khun khráp, that is enough, thank you. To refuse one specific dish without slighting it, praise it first: อร่อยครับ แต่อิ่มแล้วครับ à-ràwy khráp, dtàe ìm láew khráp. A bare ไม่เอา mâi ao aimed at an offered plate lands as a judgement on the food. At a shared table you take a little at a time from the communal plates onto your own rice rather than loading your plate at the start, and you use the serving spoon, not the one in your mouth.

รับแต่เงินสดค่ะ

ráp dtàe ngoen-sòt khâ

We only take cash.

Female speaker

The answer you get more often than not, and แต่ dtàe here means only, not but. The other replies to expect: สแกนได้ค่ะ sà-gaen dâi khâ you can scan, and เครื่องเสียค่ะ khrûeang sǐa khâ the machine is broken, which is a sentence you will hear a great deal. Then comes the question every foreigner meets while holding a thousand baht note: มีแบงก์ย่อยไหมคะ mii báeng yâwy mǎi khá, do you have smaller notes. Answer มีครับ mii khráp or ไม่มีครับ mâi mii khráp. Break big notes at 7-Eleven in the morning so you are not the person who empties a stall's float at lunchtime.

ทั้งหมดสองร้อยสี่สิบบาทค่ะ

tháng-mòt sǎwng-ráwy-sìi-sìp bàat khâ

Two hundred and forty baht altogether.

Female speaker

The number is the part that gets away from you. Two traps to know before you listen: twenty is ยี่สิบ yîi-sìp, never สองสิบ, and a 'one' on the end of any ten is เอ็ด èt, so 241 is sǎwng-ráwy-sìi-sìp-èt. Stall prices land on tens almost always, so catch the last two syllables and check the total against what you counted yourself.

มีอะไรแนะนำไหมคะ

mii à-rai náe-nam mǎi khá

Is there anything you'd recommend?

Female speaker

The move to make when what you wanted is หมดแล้ว, and the phrase that turns you into a regular, because it hands the choice back to the cook and she will feed you the thing she is proud of. The blunter version is แล้วมีอะไรบ้างคะ láew mii à-rai bâang khá, what do you have then, with บ้าง bâang asking for a list rather than a yes or no. Expect to be pointed at a tray rather than answered in words, which is fine: point back at whichever one you want and add อันนี้ค่ะ an-níi khâ.

พูดช้าๆอีกทีได้ไหมครับ

phûut cháa-cháa ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp

Could you say that again slowly?

Male speaker

The most valuable sentence in this set, because it turns a collapse back into a conversation instead of a smile and a retreat. ๆ is the repetition mark, so ช้าๆ is cháa said twice, which softens it to 'slowly-ish' rather than an instruction. If you caught one word, repeating that word back with หรือครับ rěu khráp on the end gets you a yes or a no instead of another whole sentence.

ไม่ได้สั่งอันนี้ค่ะ

mâi-dâi sàng an-níi khâ

I didn't order this.

Female speaker

Say it lightly and keep smiling. Volume and a flat face turn a mixed-up plate into a loss of face for the cook, and nothing gets fixed faster for it. ไม่ได้ mâi-dâi in front of a verb is past denial, 'did not', which is a different word from plain ไม่ mâi, 'not'. If the plate is nearly right, ผิดโต๊ะหรือเปล่าคะ phìt dtó rěu bplàao khá asks whether it went to the wrong table.

ผมสั่งไม่เผ็ดนะครับ

phǒm sàng mâi phèt ná khráp

I did ask for it not spicy.

Male speaker

นะ ná is the softener holding this back from an accusation, and it is doing most of the work in the sentence. The same frame handles the coriander: ผมสั่งไม่ใส่ผักชีนะครับ. They will usually fix it by cooking it again rather than by discussing it, so say it before you have eaten half the plate.

ของผมยังไม่มาเลยครับ

khǎwng phǒm yang mâi maa loei khráp

Mine still hasn't come.

Male speaker

Everyone at the table is eating and you are watching them, which in a busy shophouse usually means a ticket was dropped rather than that you were ignored. A woman says ของหนูยังไม่มาเลยค่ะ khǎwng nǔu yang mâi maa loei khâ, using หนู nǔu of herself, which is normal and friendly with someone older. Learn the ยัง...เลย yang ... loei frame once here and it gives you 'not yet at all' for anything: ยังไม่ได้จ่ายเลย yang mâi dâi jàai loei, have not paid yet. Add นะครับ ná khráp if you have already waited a long time and want to keep it light.

กี่บาทนะคะ

gìi bàat ná khá

Sorry, how many baht was that?

Female speaker

นะ ná here means 'remind me', so you are asking again without hinting that you doubt the price. If the number still will not land, เขียนให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ khǐan hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá asks them to write it down, and most vendors simply turn the calculator around instead. If the total looks wrong rather than unclear, ask for the arithmetic and not for the bill: ช่วยคิดเงินใหม่อีกทีได้ไหมคะ chûay khít ngoen mài ìik thii dâi mǎi khá, please add it up again, or ช่วยเช็คยอดอีกทีได้ไหมคะ chûay chék yâwt ìik thii dâi mǎi khá, please check the total. Do not use เช็คบิล for this: it means settle up, so it will get you the same total handed back.