Taxi and ride hailing in Thai

ไปที่นี่ครับ

bpai thîi-nîi khráp

Go here, please.

Male speaker

Say it while showing the address on your phone. Far more reliable than pronouncing a street name.

เปิดมิเตอร์ครับ

bpòet mí-dtôe khráp

Please use the meter.

Male speaker

The phrase that decides the fare. Ask before getting in, not after.

จอดตรงนี้ครับ

jàwt dtrong-níi khráp

Stop here.

Male speaker

Useful in a taxi and essential on a songthaew, where you say it to be let off.

เปิดมิเตอร์ด้วยครับ

bpòet mí-dtoe dûay khráp

Please put the meter on.

Male speaker

Say it as you get in, before you name the destination. A driver who has already agreed a flat price will not switch back to the meter afterwards. You will get either a nod and the click of the meter, or the counter offer in the flat-fare phrase below. A Bangkok meter starts at 35 baht.

เปิดมิเตอร์ด้วยค่ะ

bpòet mí-dtoe dûay khâ

Please put the meter on.

Female speaker

Identical sentence, female particle. ค่ะ is khâ with a falling tone and an aspirated kh, never kâ. This is a statement, not a question, so it takes ค่ะ and not คะ. Said at the door with a hand on the frame, before you sit down, it is polite and completely normal.

ไปที่นี่ครับ

bpai thîi-nîi khráp

Go to this place, please.

Male speaker

The line that saves you from mangling a street name. Say it while holding the map pin or the hotel card up where the driver can see it, screen unlocked and bright. Thai addresses are read as soi numbers, so a driver who nods at a pin may still ask which soi. If he shakes his head or waves you off before you sit down, he does not want the trip and you take the next car.

เลี้ยวซ้ายตรงนี้ค่ะ

líao sáai dtrong-níi khâ

Turn left here.

Female speaker

Right is เลี้ยวขวา (líao khwǎa) and straight on is ตรงไป (dtrong bpai). Give the instruction about fifty metres early: in Bangkok traffic a driver in the wrong lane cannot take a turn you announce at the corner, and the recovery is a long one-way loop that runs on your meter.

จอดตรงนี้ครับ

jàwt dtrong-níi khráp

Pull over here, please.

Male speaker

จอด means pull in and stop, which is what you want. The common answer is ตรงนี้จอดไม่ได้ (dtrong-níi jàwt mâi dâi), no stopping here, usually because of a red and white painted kerb or a bus stop. Answer with จอดข้างหน้าครับ (jàwt khâang-nâa khráp), stop up ahead, and he will roll on twenty metres.

รอสักครู่นะคะ

raw sàk-khrûu ná khá

Please wait a moment.

Female speaker

For dashing into a shop or an ATM with the car waiting. The meter keeps running while you are gone, which is normal and expected. Note the ending: นะ pulls the particle to คะ with a high tone, so it is ná khá, not ná khâ. You will see นะค่ะ written all over social media and it is simply a misspelling. The relaxed spoken version is รอแป๊บนึงนะคะ (raw bpáep-neung ná khá).

พี่ไปรถไฟฟ้าค่ะ

phîi bpai rót-fai-fáa khâ

To the skytrain station, please.

Female speaker

Walk up to the front of the วิน, the motorbike-taxi rank, and say it to whoever is standing there in the orange numbered vest. Riders take fares in turn, so you are usually handed to whoever is next rather than choosing. A วิน works off destinations its riders already know by name — the station, the market, the school, the far end of the soi — so a name lands better than an address. Settle what the trip costs before you get on. พี่ is what you call a rider a bit older than you and it costs you nothing.

ขอหมวกหน่อยค่ะ

khǎw mùak nàwy khâ

Could I have a helmet?

Female speaker

The full word is หมวกกันน็อค (mùak gan náwk), the anti-knock hat, which is how the rental cards on this site teach it; at the วิน everyone shortens it to หมวก. Riders often keep a passenger helmet hanging on the mirror or stashed in the box, and asking for it is ordinary rather than fussy. หน่อย is what turns this from a demand into a request. If the answer is ไม่มีครับ you can wait and take the next rider instead.

ช้าๆหน่อยนะคะ

cháa-cháa nàwy ná khá

Could you ride a bit slower?

Female speaker

Do not mix it up with พูดช้าๆ, speak slowly, which is the same two words about a different verb and is already on this page. Note that the verb drops out here: a motorbike takes ขี่ rather than the car verb ขับ, and Thais sidestep the choice by leaving it off altogether. นะ is what makes it a request from behind rather than an order, and after นะ a woman ends on คะ, so it is ná khá. Say it into his shoulder at a red light rather than mid-corner, where he cannot hear you over the engine. A rider may ease off and then drift back up to his usual pace, so you may need to say it twice.

จอดปากซอยครับ

jàwt bpàak-soi khráp

Drop me at the mouth of the soi.

Male speaker

ปากซอย is where the lane meets the main road, and it is the default landmark in Thailand for both being picked up and being put down. Say it before he reaches the turning, not at it. Tapping his shoulder and pointing while you say it is normal and nobody reads it as rude. If you want to go further in, จอดในซอยครับ (jàwt nai soi khráp) sends him down the lane instead.

แถวนี้มีวินไหมคะ

thǎew níi mii win mǎi khá

Is there a motorbike taxi rank around here?

Female speaker

วิน is the word: the numbered motorbike-taxi rank that sits at the mouth of most sois, with the riders in numbered orange vests. The full form is วินมอเตอร์ไซค์ (win maw-dtoe-sai) and nobody uses it. แถวนี้, around here, is the same frame as แถวนี้มีคลินิกไหมคะ on the pharmacy page, and it is how Thais carve up an area rather than by street name. A วิน has no meter, so agree the fare before you get on: ไปซอยห้าเท่าไหร่คะ (bpai soi hâa thâo-rài khá), how much to soi five, which the directions page teaches. Many ranks have a board at ปากซอย listing the destinations they run to; read it if there is one and ask if there is not.

อย่าเพิ่งยกเลิกนะคะ

yàa phôeng yók-lôek ná khá

Do not cancel yet.

Female speaker

อย่าเพิ่ง is do not do it yet rather than do not do it, and it is the phrase that buys you the lift down. Type it into the app chat or say it on the phone, then follow it with กำลังลงไปค่ะ (gam-lang long bpai khâ), I am on my way down. นะ softens an instruction into a request, which matters when you are the one keeping the driver waiting, and after นะ a woman ends on คะ. If you are genuinely more than a minute away, say so rather than leaving the driver sitting there.

เลี้ยวขวาซอยหน้าค่ะ

líao khwǎa soi nâa khâ

Turn right at the next soi.

Female speaker

ซอยหน้า is the next lane along, with หน้า meaning next rather than in front of. Give it the same fifty metres of warning the เลี้ยวซ้ายตรงนี้ card asks for. Left is เลี้ยวซ้าย (líao sáai). Add the number whenever you know it — เลี้ยวขวาซอยเจ็ดค่ะ — because next is relative, the lanes come up quickly, and a soi number is the one thing a driver will not mishear over the engine and the radio.

จอดป้ายหน้าค่ะ

jàwt bpâai nâa khâ

Drop me at the next stop.

Female speaker

ป้าย is a sign, and on a road it means the bus stop; ป้ายหน้า is the next one along. It is the most reliable thing to aim a driver at because it is somewhere he is actually allowed to pull in. The same ป้าย turns up on the songthaew page in เลยป้ายแล้ว (loei bpâai láew), I have gone past the stop. Do not confuse ป้ายหน้า with ซอยหน้า, the next lane: one is a sign, the other is a turning.

จอดก่อนถึงสะพานค่ะ

jàwt gàwn thǔeng sà-phaan khâ

Stop just before the bridge.

Female speaker

ก่อนถึง is before you get to, and it is the half of the pair that saves you. Its opposite is เลย X ไป, past X, which is the เลยปั๊มไปนิดนึง card in this section. Get the two the wrong way round at a flyover and you are up on it and committed, with the next exit somewhere the far side. ถึง is the same arrive as in ถึงแล้ว, we are here, which is how a driver announces the end of the trip. Say it early enough that he can get across to the left lane.

เลยปั๊มไปนิดนึงครับ

loei bpám bpai nít-neung khráp

Go a little past the petrol station.

Male speaker

This is the other half of ก่อนถึง. เลย here is the verb to pass, wrapped round the landmark as เลย X ไป, and it is the same เลย as in เลยไปแล้ว, you have gone past it, on the directions page. It is not the เลย on the end of ขึ้นเลย, which means go ahead — one word, two jobs, and the position in the sentence is what tells you which. ปั๊ม is the everyday short form of ปั๊มน้ำมัน. นิดนึง keeps it to a few car lengths rather than a block.

ตรงไฟแดงตรงไปนะครับ

dtrong fai-daeng dtrong bpai ná khráp

Go straight on at the lights.

Male speaker

ตรง does two different jobs in one breath here. In front of a landmark it means right at it; joined to ไป it means straight ahead. Mixing them up is exactly what sends you through a junction you meant to turn at, and the directions page warns about the same pair where it explains ไฟแดง as the name of the junction rather than of a colour. นะ makes this a heads-up rather than an order, which is how you want to sound from the back seat.

เปิดท้ายรถหน่อยค่ะ

bpòet tháai rót nàwy khâ

Could you open the boot?

Female speaker

The same เปิด as in เปิดมิเตอร์ at the top of this page: it covers opening up, switching on and turning on alike. ท้ายรถ is the back end of the car, boot included. Ask rather than start pulling at it, because the release is usually a lever down by his knee. Many taxis carry a gas cylinder back there and the space is not what you expect, which is what ท้ายรถมีถังแก๊สครับ tells you.

มีเด็กเล็กไปด้วยค่ะ

mii dèk lék bpai dûay khâ

I have a small child travelling with me.

Female speaker

Say it at the window before he agrees to the trip, not once you are half in with a pushchair. เด็กเล็ก is a small child as opposed to เด็ก, a child of any age. A taxi you flag down on the street is very unlikely to carry a child seat, so if you want one you arrange the car in advance; at the kerb the answer is a shrug and a wave at the back seat. ด้วย here means along with me, the same ด้วย as in เปิดมิเตอร์ด้วย.

เอาหมาใส่กระเป๋าไปด้วยได้ไหมครับ

ao mǎa sài grà-bpǎo bpai dûay dâi mǎi khráp

Can I bring a dog in a carrier?

Male speaker

Ask through the window with the carrier zipped and where he can see it, because a driver can turn an animal away and plenty do. กระเป๋า is the everyday word for a bag and it is what a pet carrier gets called too, which is how the vet cards on this site use it. Cat is แมว (maew). If he says ได้ครับ, put the carrier in the footwell rather than on the seat, and do not open it while the car is moving.

แบงก์ใหญ่ทอนได้ไหมครับ

báeng yài thawn dâi mǎi khráp

Can you give change for a big note?

Male speaker

Ask at the start of the ride, while getting out again is still an option. A driver at the beginning of his shift often has nothing to break a large note with, and hearing ไม่มีทอนครับ (mâi mii thawn khráp) at the destination is a problem with no good answer. The opposite is แบงก์ย่อย (báeng yâwy), small notes, which the convenience-store cards teach. Break large notes in a shop before you need them.

รับสแกนไหมคะ

ráp sà-gaen mǎi khá

Do you take payment by scan?

Female speaker

Ask as you get in if you are short of cash, not once you have arrived. Some drivers have a code taped to the back of the seat or will hold their phone up for you; in an older car there may be nothing at all, and cash stays the default in a taxi you flag down. รับ is the verb for a business accepting a form of payment, the same idea behind the convenience-store counter’s เงินสดหรือสแกนคะ, cash or scan. A car booked through an app usually settles inside the app, so this question is for the street.

ขอใบเสร็จด้วยครับ

khǎw bai-sèt dûay khráp

Could I have the receipt as well?

Male speaker

Ask while the meter still shows the fare, because once he has cleared it there is nothing left to print. A taxi meter can print a slip, though not every car has paper in it and some drivers will simply say ไม่มีครับ. Worth having if you are claiming the trip back; if you are carrying anything you would hate to leave on the seat, photograph the licence card on the dashboard as well. A วิน, or any car on an agreed flat price, has no meter and so no slip.

ขอแอร์เย็นกว่านี้หน่อยค่ะ

khǎw ae yen gwàa níi nàwy khâ

Could you make the aircon a bit colder?

Female speaker

แอร์ is the English word air doing the whole job of air conditioning, the same แอร์ as in แอร์เสีย on the repairs cards, and เย็นกว่านี้ is colder than this. The other direction is ขอแอร์เบาๆหน่อยค่ะ (khǎw ae bao-bao nàwy khâ) when the vent is pointed at your neck. This is a statement, so it ends in ค่ะ. Ask rather than reaching for the dial yourself, which reads as taking over his car.

ไปไหนครับ

bpai nǎi khráp

Where to?

Male speaker

The first Thai you will hear, often through a half-open window before you have opened the door. Many drivers clip it to just ไปไหน (bpai nǎi). Answer with ไปที่นี่ครับ and the phone, or with the place name plus your particle. Silence reads as a tourist who has not decided, and the car may pull away.

เหมาสองร้อยนะครับ

mǎo sǎwng-ráwy ná khráp

Two hundred, flat rate.

Male speaker

เหมา is the whole concept: one agreed price, no meter. You will hear it at airports, at pier ranks and outside any tourist landmark. It is legitimate for hired cars, airport limousines and vans, which have no meter to run. A licensed taxi with a meter in the windscreen is required to use it, and refusing to run it is a regulatory offence you can report to the Department of Land Transport on 1584 with the plate number. In practice the flat price lands at two or three times the metered fare, the number is an opening bid, and a long argument at the kerb is rarely worth it. Counter with the meter line rather than a lower number, and if he will not budge, take the next car.

ใช้มิเตอร์ดีกว่าค่ะ

chái mí-dtoe dii-gwàa khâ

Let us use the meter instead.

Female speaker

The polite refusal of a flat fare. ดีกว่า softens it into a suggestion rather than an accusation, which is what keeps the exchange friendly. He either reaches for the meter or says ไม่ (mâi). If he says no, say ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ (mâi bpen rai khâ), step back on the kerb and wave the next one down. There is always another taxi and arguing costs you more time than waiting.

ถึงแล้วครับ สองร้อยยี่สิบ

thǔeng láew khráp sǎwng-ráwy yîi-sìp

We have arrived. Two hundred and twenty.

Male speaker

Fares are almost always said as a bare number with บาท (bàat) left off. Twenty is ยี่สิบ (yîi-sìp) and never สองสิบ, which is the one number irregularity that trips people up mid transaction. Expressway tolls are separate from the meter and are usually paid in cash at the booth as you pass it. Have small notes: a thousand baht note at the end of a 220 baht ride will often be met with a shrug and a hunt for change.

อยู่ตรงไหนคะ

yùu dtrong-nǎi khá

Whereabouts are you?

Female speaker

The phone call about thirty seconds after the app assigns a driver, here in a woman's voice, since female drivers are common on Grab and Bolt. A question takes คะ with a high tone, so a female driver ends on khá; a male driver ends on ครับ. Answer with a landmark rather than an address, because the driver is reading the road, not your street number.

ขึ้นมาเลยครับ

khêun maa loei khráp

Get on the back, go ahead.

Male speaker

ซ้อนท้าย (sáwn-tháai) is the word for riding behind the driver, but nobody says it at the วิน — there is only one place to sit, so he just waves you on. เลย on the end of an instruction means do it now, the same เลย as in ตามมาเลย on the directions page. Sit square rather than sideways, feet on the pegs, and let him do the leaning through corners. If you hesitate he will say it again louder, which is the engine and the traffic, not annoyance.

เข้าซอยไหนครับ

khâo soi nǎi khráp

Which soi are we going into?

Male speaker

Riders at the วิน navigate by soi number rather than by street name, so this is the question that comes back once you have named the main road. Answer with the bare number and your particle: ซอยห้าครับ (soi hâa khráp). If you do not know it, hold up the pin — he will read the map faster than you can pronounce it. เข้า, to go in, is the verb Thai uses for turning off a main road into a lane, and you will hear it again when a driver asks whether the car can get in at all.

ยืนรออยู่หน้าธนาคารครับ

yeun raw yùu nâa thá-naa-khaan khráp

I am standing waiting in front of the bank.

Male speaker

This answers the driver's อยู่ตรงไหนครับ. Give him a shopfront he can read from the road and never a street number: banks, petrol stations and convenience stores work because they are lit and signed, whereas a condo name he has never heard of does not. ยืนรอ, standing waiting, tells him you are already outside, which is the part he actually wants to know. Swap in หน้าโรงแรม (nâa roong-raem) in front of the hotel, or หน้าปั๊ม (nâa bpám) at the petrol station.

ใส่เสื้อสีขาวค่ะ

sài sêua sǐi khǎao khâ

I am wearing a white shirt.

Female speaker

The driver can see your pin but not you, so she will often ask ใส่เสื้อสีอะไรคะ, what colour shirt are you wearing — female drivers are common on Grab and Bolt, and note that her question ends in คะ while your answer ends in ค่ะ. A male driver asks the same thing and ends it in ครับ. Reply with the colour and nothing else: สีดำ (sǐi dam) black, สีแดง (sǐi daeng) red, สีฟ้า (sǐi fáa) pale blue. Raising a hand as the car slows saves the last thirty seconds of hunting.

ออกมารอที่ถนนใหญ่ได้ไหมคะ

àwk maa raw thîi thà-nǒn yài dâi mǎi khá

Could you come out and wait on the main road?

Female speaker

What a driver asks when your soi runs one way against her, is blocked by a market, or is too narrow to turn round in. ถนนใหญ่ is the big road the lane runs off, and the meeting point is ปากซอย, where the two join. Say ได้ครับ and start walking, because standing still while she waits burns the clock at your end. If you genuinely cannot walk it, ask เข้ามารับตรงนี้ได้ไหมครับ (khâo maa ráp dtrong níi dâi mǎi khráp), could you come in and pick me up here.

ขึ้นทางด่วนไหมครับ

khêun thaang-dùan mǎi khráp

Do you want to go up on the expressway?

Male speaker

You will hear this on airport runs and on any long trip across the city, usually before the car has even moved. ทางด่วน is literally the fast way, the elevated toll expressway, and the verb is ขึ้น because you drive up a ramp onto it. He is asking about time, not about money, but the toll is charged separately from the meter and it is yours to pay. Answer straight away: hesitating gets you the surface streets by default.

ขึ้นเลยครับ

khêun loei khráp

Yes, go up on it.

Male speaker

Thai answers a verb question by repeating the verb, so the yes to ขึ้นทางด่วนไหม is ขึ้น and not ใช่. เลย adds go ahead and do it now. Have coins or small notes to hand before the booth rather than digging for them at it, because he will reach an arm back over the seat without turning round and the queue behind you does not wait. The no is ไปทางธรรมดาก็ได้ (bpai thaang tham-má-daa gâw dâi), also in this section.

ไปทางธรรมดาก็ได้ครับ

bpai thaang tham-má-daa gâw dâi khráp

The ordinary road is fine.

Male speaker

The no that is not a no. ธรรมดา means ordinary and here stands for the surface streets, while ก็ได้ marks the choice as fine by you rather than a refusal — the Thai way of declining without pushing back. The blunt version is ไม่ขึ้นครับ (mâi khêun khráp). Say it before the ramp: once he is committed to it you are paying the toll whatever you meant.

ค่าทางด่วนจ่ายเองนะครับ

khâa thaang-dùan jàai eeng ná khráp

The toll is yours to pay.

Male speaker

ค่า in front of a noun makes it the charge for that thing: ค่าทางด่วน the toll, ค่ารถ the fare, ค่าปรับ a fine. The toll sits outside the meter: you hand the cash forward at the booth as you pass it, and at the end of the trip you pay the meter on its own. Some drivers say this up front, others just put a hand back as the booth comes up; either way it is how it works and not a trick. Keep coins in the door pocket for it.

ท้ายรถมีถังแก๊สครับ

tháai rót mii thǎng gáet khráp

There is a gas cylinder in the boot.

Male speaker

What you hear instead of the boot opening. Plenty of taxis run on gas and the cylinder takes most of the space, so a large case goes on the back seat beside you or into the front footwell. It is a statement of fact rather than a refusal of the trip, and he will usually be pointing at the seat as he says it. If the case genuinely will not go anywhere, ใส่ไม่ได้ครับ (sài mâi dâi khráp), it will not fit, and take a bigger car.

ผมไม่มีแบงก์ย่อยจะทอนครับ

phǒm mâi mii báeng yâwy jà thawn khráp

I have not got small notes to give you change.

Male speaker

The sentence you hear with the engine running and the door open. You have three moves: go into a shop and break it, saying รอแป๊บนึงนะครับ (raw bpáep-neung ná khráp) as you go; ask whether he takes a scan; or agree a rounding you can live with. What you do not do is hand over a big note and wait to see what happens. ทอน on its own is the verb to give change, and เงินทอน is the change itself.

แถวนั้นรถติดไม่ไปครับ

thǎew nán rót dtìt mâi bpai khráp

It is jammed round there — I am not going.

Male speaker

The refusal through a half-lowered window, most often near a shift change or when your destination sits the wrong side of a jam. รถติด, the traffic is stuck, is the reason given whether or not it is the real one. ไม่ไป is a complete sentence on its own and needs nothing after it. Do not argue and do not ask why: say ครับ, step back off the road and put your hand out for the next car, which is what งั้นขึ้นคันอื่นก็ได้ครับ is for.

อยู่อีกฝั่งถนน ข้ามมารับได้ไหม

yùu ìik fàng thà-nǒn khâam maa ráp dâi mǎi

I am on the other side of the road. Can you come across and get me?

The most common ride-hailing failure in Thailand: the pin lands on the far carriageway, the driver circles, and the app starts counting the wait. Type this into the app chat, where Thai drops ครับ and ค่ะ and nobody thinks it rude. If you say it out loud, add your own particle. Often the faster fix is to walk to the driver, so ask which side he is on and cross at the bridge rather than sending him round a U-turn.

แพงไปครับ ลดหน่อยได้ไหมครับ

phaeng bpai khráp lót nàwy dâi mǎi khráp

That is too much. Could you come down a bit?

Male speaker

Spoken Thai says แพงไป, not the textbook แพงเกินไป. Deliver it smiling and flat, never annoyed: a raised voice ends the negotiation instead of opening it. หน่อย is what makes it a request rather than a complaint. If he will not move, ไม่เอาครับ (mâi ao khráp) and walk to the next car. In fast speech ไหม comes out closer to mái with a high tone, though it is written and taught as mǎi.

แพงไปค่ะ ลดหน่อยได้ไหมคะ

phaeng bpai khâ lót nàwy dâi mǎi khá

That is too much. Could you come down a bit?

Female speaker

Two particles in one breath, and they are not the same. The statement ends in ค่ะ (khâ, falling) and the question ends in คะ (khá, high). Using khâ on the question is the single most audible beginner mistake a woman makes in Thai, and it is the same rule every time: asking goes up, telling goes down.

พูดช้าๆ ได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa-cháa dâi mǎi khá

Could you speak slowly?

Female speaker

Better than announcing that you do not understand, because it keeps the driver talking instead of switching to sign language or giving up. ๆ is the repetition mark, so ช้าๆ is cháa said twice and means slowly. Add อีกทีค่ะ (ìik thii khâ), one more time, if the second pass is still too fast. Drivers slow down readily; most have done this with foreigners all week.

ยังไม่ได้เปิดมิเตอร์เลยครับ

yang mâi dâi bpòet mí-dtoe loei khráp

You still have not put the meter on.

Male speaker

Look at the dashboard at the first red light, not when you arrive. Raised early this is a reminder and most drivers just reach over and click it. Raised at the destination it becomes an argument about money with no evidence on your side. เลย at the end marks it as an observation rather than an accusation. If he refuses, ขอลงตรงนี้ครับ (khǎw long dtrong-níi khráp), let me out here, and take the next spot where he can safely pull in. Hand over a small note for the distance covered rather than starting a roadside fight, and if you want to take it further, photograph the plate and the licence card on the dashboard and report it to the Department of Land Transport on 1584.

ช่วยกดยกเลิกให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ

chûay gòt yók-lôek hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you cancel it from your side?

Female speaker

Which side presses cancel is not cosmetic, so when the trip has failed at his end — he cannot reach you, the one-way system has him going the wrong way round, the car is nothing like the one in the app — ask him to do it rather than doing it yourself. ช่วย … ให้หน่อย is the standard frame for asking someone to do a small thing on your behalf. If he will not, cancel it yourself and rebook rather than arguing down a phone line neither of you can hear properly.

หมุดมันผิดที่ครับ

mùt man phìt thîi khráp

The pin is in the wrong place.

Male speaker

หมุด is the map pin. Inside a block of towers, or anywhere the signal bounces off glass, it lands on the wrong building and the driver ends up circling a car park while the clock runs. Say this, then give him one landmark and stop talking — a long explanation on a bad line makes it worse. มัน is what marks it as the app’s fault rather than yours, which is worth having when he has already been driving in circles. If it turns out he is simply on the far carriageway, อยู่อีกฝั่งถนน on this page is the line for that.

กลับรถหน่อยค่ะ

glàp rót nàwy khâ

Could you turn around?

Female speaker

กลับรถ is one idea, the U-turn, and not two words meaning go back — the directions page teaches it as the manoeuvre a driver makes when he has carried you past your door. What usually comes back is ต้องไปกลับรถข้างหน้า (dtâwng bpai glàp rót khâang nâa), we have to turn round up ahead, because U-turn points are signed and spaced out rather than available wherever you want one. That is the road layout talking, not a refusal.

เมารถขอเปิดหน้าต่างหน่อยค่ะ

mao rót khǎw bpòet nâa-dtàang nàwy khâ

I feel carsick — could I open the window?

Female speaker

เมา on its own means drunk, but เมารถ is travel sickness and nobody will mishear it. Say it early rather than at the point of no return, because the window is a cheaper fix than the alternative. A driver will often turn the cold up and ease off; if you need him to stop, จอดข้างทางหน่อยค่ะ (jàwt khâang thaang nàwy khâ), pull over at the side. If it is not the motion, the broader ไม่สบายค่ะ (mâi sà-baai khâ), I am not well, is the line the medical pages teach.

งั้นขึ้นคันอื่นก็ได้ครับ

ngán khêun khan èun gâw dâi khráp

In that case I will take a different one.

Male speaker

What you actually do when a driver will not run the meter or will not take the trip, said flat and without heat. คัน is the classifier for vehicles, so คันอื่น is another car — the same คัน as in คันนี้ไม่ไป on the songthaew page. Said calmly it occasionally changes his mind, and when it does not you have lost a moment and kept your temper, which is the point. ไม่เป็นไรครับ (mâi bpen rai khráp) in front of it makes the exit smoother still.