Songthaew and bus in Thai

ไปเท่าไหร่ครับ

bpai thâo-rài khráp

How much to go there?

Male speaker

Say the destination in the middle: ไปสนามบินเท่าไหร่ครับ, how much to the airport? Agree the price BEFORE boarding a songthaew.

ลงที่นี่ครับ

long thîi-nîi khráp

I am getting off here.

Male speaker

On a songthaew, press the buzzer or call this out. ลง (long) is the verb for getting off any vehicle.

รถคันนี้ไปตลาดไหมครับ

rót khan níi bpai dtà-làat mǎi khráp

Does this one go to the market?

Male speaker

The classifier คัน is what makes it this truck rather than the route in general, so point at the vehicle as you say it. A songthaew is รถสองแถว (rót sǎwng-thǎew), two rows, after the benches in the back. The answer is one word: ไป (bpai) means yes, climb in; ไม่ไป (mâi bpai) means try the next one. Swap ตลาด for wherever you are going.

รถผ่านโรงพยาบาลไหมคะ

rót phàan roong-phá-yaa-baan mǎi khá

Does the bus pass the hospital?

Female speaker

ผ่าน is the verb you actually want on a loop route. A driver whose run ends somewhere else may still pass your hospital, and the same man who said ไม่ไป to a ไป question will often say ผ่าน to this one. There is no คันนี้ here, so it asks about the service in general; add คันนี้ at the front if you mean the vehicle in front of you. Question particle is คะ with a high tone, not the falling ค่ะ you use in statements.

ไปตลาดคนละเท่าไหร่ครับ

bpai dtà-làat khon-lá thâo-rài khráp

How much per person to the market?

Male speaker

คนละ is the word that prevents the standard misunderstanding. Without it you may be quoted for the whole truck, which is เหมา (mǎo), a charter, and that number can be many times the seat fare. Ask on the pavement before you climb in; nobody has ever won this argument at the destination.

รถไปกรุงเทพฯขึ้นช่องไหนคะ

rót bpai grung-thêep khêun châwng nǎi khá

Which bay do I board the Bangkok bus at?

Female speaker

At a terminal the numbered platforms are ช่อง, not anything resembling the English word. Bangkok is written กรุงเทพฯ with the little abbreviation mark, which is the form you will see on boards, tickets and destination signs. You will get a number back and a pointed finger. Bays do get reassigned, so say the number back to confirm it even when one is printed on your ticket.

รถเที่ยวสุดท้ายกี่โมงครับ

rót thîao sùt-tháay gìi moong khráp

What time does the last bus leave?

Male speaker

เที่ยว is a scheduled departure. On rural and mountain routes the last one goes much earlier than a city person expects, sometimes mid afternoon, so ask when you arrive, not when you want to leave. If the answer is หมดแล้ว (mòt láew, all gone) your choices are a charter or a night in town.

กดกริ่งให้หน่อยค่ะ

gòt grìng hâi nàwy khâ

Could you press the bell for me?

Female speaker

The buzzer strip runs along the roof of a songthaew and down the side of most city buses. If you are wedged in the middle of the bench, this is how you ask the passenger beside you. There is no word for me in the Thai: ให้ just marks the favour and everyone infers who it is for. Press about one shopfront early, because the truck coasts on for a while after the bell.

รถตู้ไปอยุธยาขึ้นที่ไหนครับ

rót-dtûu bpai à-yút-thá-yaa khêun thîi-nǎi khráp

Where do I catch the van to Ayutthaya?

Male speaker

รถตู้ (rót-dtûu), cabinet-vehicle, is the minibus that does most province-to-province runs, and it rarely leaves from the same kerb as the big coaches. Vans work out of a คิว (khiu), a queue point that can be a shophouse counter, a petrol station forecourt or a stretch of pavement with a handwritten sign. Ask this before you walk to the terminal, because the terminal may not be the answer. What comes back is a landmark rather than an address, so have a map open to point at.

รถตู้คันไหนไปหัวหินคะ

rót-dtûu khan nǎi bpai hǔa-hǐn khá

Which van goes to Hua Hin?

Female speaker

At a van queue several vehicles sit nose to tail with the destination written on a card in the windscreen, and you cannot read the card. คันไหน picks one out of a row, where คันนี้ points at the one in front of you. Swap หัวหิน for your own town. Expect a colour and a pointed finger rather than a number, then walk over and check with that driver before you load anything into the back.

ยังมีที่นั่งว่างไหมคะ

yang mii thîi-nâng wâang mǎi khá

Are there still seats free?

Female speaker

A van sells a fixed number of seats and then it is done, so this is the first question at the counter rather than the last. ว่าง is the free-and-available word used for seats, tables, rooms and time slots all over this site. For two of you, add สองที่ค่ะ (sǎwng thîi khâ). If the answer is เต็มแล้ว (dtem láew), it is full, ask about the next one instead of standing there.

กระเป๋าวางตรงไหนครับ

grà-bpǎo waang dtrong-nǎi khráp

Where do I put my bag?

Male speaker

Ask before you climb in, because a van is tight and the wrong guess is a case wedged against the sliding door for four hours. You will hear ไว้ข้างหลัง (wái khâang-lǎng), leave it at the back, or วางไว้บนตัก (waang wái bon dtàk), put it on your lap, which is how you find out every seat is sold. Note that กระเป๋า is both the bag and, on a city bus, the conductor working the aisle; context sorts it out every time.

ขอลงระหว่างทางได้ไหมครับ

khǎw long rá-wàang thaang dâi mǎi khráp

Can I get off somewhere along the way?

Male speaker

A van seat is sold end to end, but drivers will drop you on the roadside if you ask at the window rather than announce it at speed halfway there. Name the spot in the next breath: ลงตรงปากทางเข้าหมู่บ้านครับ (long dtrong bpàak thaang khâo mùu-bâan khráp), at the turning into the village. Then sit near the door and add ถึงแล้วบอกด้วยนะครับ, tell me when we get there, because you will not recognise it in the dark.

ไปมหาวิทยาลัยต้องขึ้นสายไหนคะ

bpai má-hǎa-wít-thá-yaa-lai dtâwng khêun sǎai nǎi khá

Which route do I take to the university?

Female speaker

สาย is the route number painted on the front of a city bus, and asking for it by number is what separates a resident from a visitor waving at traffic. You will get one number back, sometimes two. Say them out loud to confirm, then check the front glass of the bus that pulls in with สายนี้ใช่ไหมคะ (sǎai níi châi mǎi khá). สาย is also the word for a rail line, so it carries straight over underground.

คันนี้รถแอร์หรือรถพัดลมคะ

khan níi rót-ae rěu rót-phát-lom khá

Is this one the aircon bus or the fan bus?

Female speaker

On many routes two grades of bus carry the same สาย number, and the difference shows up in the comfort and in what you are charged, so ask rather than sit down and assume. รถแอร์ runs with the windows shut; รถพัดลม has them open and fans bolted along the ceiling, and in Bangkok the same bus is more often called รถธรรมดา (rót tham-má-daa) or รถร้อน (rót ráwn), the hot one. The same either-or frame works at a hotel desk, แอร์หรือพัดลม, and again at a train counter. If you cannot tell which is which by looking, this question is faster than guessing.

ขอตั๋วไปสถานีรถไฟใบนึงครับ

khǎw dtǔa bpai sà-thǎa-nii rót-fai bai neung khráp

One ticket to the railway station, please.

Male speaker

ตั๋ว (dtǔa) is the ticket and its classifier is ใบ, the same one used for receipts and bags. This is counter language — a van queue, a coach window, a station booth. On a city bus you usually do not ask for a ticket at all: on many routes the กระเป๋ารถ (grà-bpǎo rót) works the aisle with a metal coin tube, asks you ลงตรงไหนคะ, and you answer with the place and pay when she reaches you. Keep the slip in your hand until you are down the steps; it is your proof of fare for the rest of the ride.

ผมอ่านภาษาไทยไม่ออกครับคันไหนไปหาดใหญ่ครับ

phǒm àan phaa-sǎa thai mâi àwk khráp khan nǎi bpai hàat-yài khráp

I can't read Thai — which one goes to Hat Yai?

Male speaker

ไม่ออก after a verb means the effort produces nothing, so อ่านไม่ออก is exactly the truth about a destination board: you can see it, nothing comes out. Saying that first works far better than ไม่เข้าใจ, because it names the problem and asks for the fix in one line, and it gets people pointing instead of talking faster. A woman says ฉันอ่านภาษาไทยไม่ออกค่ะ, then คันไหนไปหาดใหญ่คะ, or drops the pronoun altogether.

ขอจองตั๋วรถทัวร์พรุ่งนี้เช้าค่ะ

khǎw jawng dtǔa rót-thua phrûng-níi cháo khâ

I'd like to book a coach ticket for tomorrow morning.

Female speaker

บขส. (baw-khǎw-sǎw) is what everyone calls the intercity terminal, and รถทัวร์ is the big long-distance coach that works out of it, as against the local รถเมล์ in town. Each company sells from its own window, so you may be sent along the row rather than served where you first stopped. Have the date, the destination and the number of people ready, because those are the three things you will be asked.

กระเป๋าใบนี้เก็บใต้ท้องรถได้ไหมครับ

grà-bpǎo bai níi gèp dtâi tháwng rót dâi mǎi khráp

Can this bag go in the hold?

Male speaker

ใต้ท้องรถ, under the belly of the coach, is the luggage hold; people also just say ข้างล่าง (khâang-lâang), underneath. Ask rather than open a hatch yourself; someone works that side of the bus and he will take the bag off you. Watch which compartment it goes into, and keep your passport, your phone and anything you want at the rest stop on your lap instead of down there.

เหมาไปน้ำตกเท่าไหร่ครับ

mǎo bpai náam-dtòk thâo-rài khráp

How much to charter it to the waterfall?

Male speaker

เหมา is hiring the whole vehicle instead of a seat in it, and it is how you reach a trailhead, a hilltop temple or anywhere no route runs. Put เหมา first so the driver knows before he answers that this is not the คนละเท่าไหร่ question already on this page. For a return trip with waiting, say เหมาไปกลับรอด้วยได้ไหมครับ (mǎo bpai-glàp raw dûay dâi mǎi khráp) and settle the waiting at the same moment as the run, because that is where the argument starts on the way home. Agree the number, say it back, then get in.

คันนี้ไม่ไปต้องต่อรถอีกคัน

khan níi mâi bpai dtâwng dtàw rót ìik khan

This one doesn't go there, you'll have to change to another.

What the driver says back when your destination is off his loop. ต่อรถ means change vehicles. The follow up you need immediately is ต่อที่ไหน (dtàw thîi nǎi), where do I change, and he will answer with a landmark and a flick of the hand.

คนละสามสิบบาท

khon-lá sǎam-sìp bàat

Thirty baht per person.

Fares come back in exactly this shape: คนละ, a number, บาท. The number changes by town, route and year, so drill the numbers rather than memorising a fare: ยี่สิบ (yîi-sìp), สามสิบ (sǎam-sìp), สี่สิบ (sìi-sìp), ห้าสิบ (hâa-sìp). If คนละ is missing from his answer, ask again with it.

ลงตรงไหนคะ

long dtrong nǎi khá

Where are you getting off?

Female speaker

On city buses the fare collector is usually a woman working a metal coin tube, and this is her opening line, often clipped to just ลงไหน. She asks so she can charge the right distance, so answer with the place, not with here.

ลงหน้าเซเว่นครับ

long nâa see-wên khráp

I'm getting off in front of the 7-Eleven.

Male speaker

Landmarks beat street names every time: หน้าเซเว่น, หน้าวัด (nâa wát, by the temple), หน้าโรงเรียน (nâa roong-riian, by the school). If you do not know the area well, add ถึงแล้วบอกด้วยนะครับ (thěung láew bàwk dûay ná khráp), tell me when we get there, and someone usually will.

จอดตรงนี้หน่อยครับ

jàwt dtrong níi nàwy khráp

Stop here, please.

Male speaker

On a songthaew you hit the buzzer first and say this as you swing down at the back, then pay at the driver's window. On a bus you say it to the collector. หน่อย turns it from an instruction into a request, and leaving it out is the difference between asking and ordering staff about.

รอให้เต็มก่อนนะครับแล้วออกเลย

raw hâi dtem gàwn ná khráp láew àwk loei

We wait until it's full, then off we go.

Male speaker

This is the standard answer to รถตู้ออกกี่โมงครับ, what time does the van go, and it means there is no timetable, only a headcount. รอให้ plus an adjective is wait until it becomes that. Nothing you say speeds it up, so use the time: water, toilet, and ประมาณกี่โมงครับ if you want a guess rather than a rule. If you genuinely cannot wait, เหมา is the other door out.

ตั๋วค่ะไปไหนคะ

dtǔa khâ bpai nǎi khá

Tickets. Where are you going?

Female speaker

The กระเป๋ารถ works the aisle rattling a metal ticket tube, and this is what lands on you, usually while you are still finding your coins; ลงตรงไหนคะ, already on this page, is the same question in her other shape. Both particles arrive in one breath and they are not the same: ค่ะ falls on the statement, คะ sits high on the question. That contrast is the whole rule, and here it is in five words from someone who uses it a thousand times a day. Answer with the place, hand over small money rather than a large note, and take the slip.

คันนี้พัดลมค่ะรถแอร์คันหลัง

khan níi phát-lom khâ rót-ae khan lǎng

This one's the fan bus; the aircon is the one behind.

Female speaker

คันหลัง is the vehicle behind, not the back of this one; for the back of a vehicle you want ข้างหลัง. She is handing you a choice, and taking the other option means letting this bus go. คันหน้า is the one in front, which in a queue of vans is the one leaving next. Say ขอบคุณค่ะ and step back rather than climbing aboard to think about it.

คันสีแดงตรงโน้นค่ะกำลังจะออก

khan sǐi-daeng dtrong-nóon khâ gam-lang jà àwk

The red one over there — it's about to leave.

Female speaker

At a roadside van queue the answer to คันไหน comes back as a colour and a direction rather than a number, so the colours are worth more than the numbers there; at a proper terminal you get a ช่อง number instead, which is further down this page. In Chiang Mai the songthaew itself is รถแดง (rót daeng), the red truck, and the colour has become the name. กำลังจะ is about to, and stuck in front of ออก it means stop asking questions and walk.

ขึ้นช่องเจ็ดนะคะออกอีกยี่สิบนาที

khêun châwng jèt ná khá àwk ìik yîi-sìp naa-thii

Bay seven, and it leaves in twenty minutes.

Female speaker

This is the reply to the ช่องไหน question already on this page, and it arrives with the bay and the clock stuck together in one line. อีก plus a number plus a time unit means in twenty minutes; twenty minutes already gone would be ยี่สิบนาทีแล้ว. Say the bay number back to her before you walk off with it. Note นะคะ: after นะ a woman always uses คะ, whether she is asking or telling.

จอดสิบห้านาทีนะครับอย่ามาสาย

jàwt sìp-hâa naa-thii ná khráp yàa maa sǎai

We stop fifteen minutes — don't be late back.

Male speaker

Long coach runs break at a roadside canteen, and the driver says this once, over the engine, while people are already standing up. อย่า plus a verb is the plain don't. If you did not catch the number, ask him or the man next to you จอดกี่นาทีครับ before you walk anywhere. Set the alarm on your phone, keep the coach in your eyeline, and do not count on anyone counting heads before it pulls out.

กระเป๋าวางไว้ข้างหลังได้ครับ

grà-bpǎo waang wái khâang-lǎng dâi khráp

You can put the bag at the back.

Male speaker

วางไว้ is put it down and leave it there, and it is the ไว้ that makes it stay rather than be passed along. In a van the back row folds down for exactly this. If what you get instead is วางไว้บนตักนะครับ (waang wái bon dtàk ná khráp), put it on your lap, every seat has been sold and there is nowhere else for it to go.

พูดช้า ๆ อีกทีได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa-cháa ìik thii dâi mǎi khá

Could you say that again slowly?

Female speaker

The repair sentence you will use most. ช้า ๆ is the load bearing part: asking only for a repeat gets you the same wall of sound at the same speed. The mark ๆ doubles the word before it and standard writing puts a space either side of it, though you will see it jammed against its neighbours on signs and phone screens. Thais generally slow down and simplify rather than repeat word for word, which is what you want anyway.

ขอโทษครับผมฟังไม่ทัน

khǎw-thôot khráp phǒm fang mâi than

Sorry, I didn't catch that.

Male speaker

ฟังไม่ทัน, I could not keep up, lands far better than ไม่เข้าใจ (mâi khâo-jai, I do not understand): it blames the speed, not you or him, and it usually gets the sentence again in shorter pieces. A woman says ขอโทษค่ะฟังไม่ทัน and drops the pronoun, or uses ฉัน (chǎn) in place of ผม.

เมื่อกี้บอกยี่สิบทำไมสามสิบล่ะครับ

mêua-gîi bàwk yîi-sìp tham-mai sǎam-sìp lâ khráp

You said twenty a minute ago, why is it thirty?

Male speaker

Say it flat and smiling, and quote his own earlier number back. เมื่อกี้ makes it a memory check rather than an accusation, and ล่ะ at the end is what turns ทำไม from a challenge into a puzzled question; drop it and you sound like you are squaring up. On fixed fare town routes the price is often painted on the side of the truck or posted at the terminal, so point at it. If it goes nowhere, pay and walk; a roadside row costs more than the gap.

เลยป้ายแล้วจอดตรงไหนก็ได้ค่ะ

loei bpâay láew jàwt dtrong nǎi gâw dâi khâ

We've gone past my stop, anywhere is fine.

Female speaker

ป้าย is the stop or the sign that marks it. On a songthaew ตรงไหนก็ได้ is a genuine offer, the driver will pull over on the spot; on a fixed route bus you will get the next official stop instead. Say it the second you realise, because the walk back doubles every corner you wait.

ขึ้นผิดคันขอลงตรงนี้ค่ะ

khêun phìt khan khǎw long dtrong níi khâ

I got on the wrong one, let me off here.

Female speaker

ขึ้นผิดคัน ends the problem in three words and nobody minds; wrong trucks are a daily event. You pay for the distance covered and step down. If you already handed over a longer fare, do not expect change back, and do not spend ten minutes on it. Then start again with the ไปไหม question.

รถหมดแล้วมีรถอย่างอื่นไหมครับ

rót mòt láew mii rót yàang-èun mǎi khráp

The buses have finished — is there any other transport?

Male speaker

หมดแล้ว is the answer this page already warns you about, and this is what you say straight afterwards instead of standing there working out where to sleep. อย่างอื่น, something else, opens the door to a van, a charter, a motorbike or somebody's brother with a pickup. Ask it at the terminal window while there are still people behind it, not on the kerb once they have gone home.

ไม่รู้ชื่อค่ะรู้แต่ว่าอยู่ใกล้วัด

mâi rúu chêu khâ rúu dtàe wâa yùu glâi wát

I don't know the name — only that it's near a temple.

Female speaker

For when you cannot read the board and cannot name the stop either. รู้แต่ว่า, all I know is that, gives them the one thing you do have and lets them do the work, which gets you further than apologising for your Thai. Follow it with any landmark you can name: ใกล้ตลาด, ตรงข้ามโรงเรียน, เลยปั๊มไปหน่อย. Have the place open on a map while you say it, because a finger on a screen ends the conversation in two seconds.