Practice: love and affection
What you will be able to do
Say I love you, I like you and I miss you without overreaching, and use the words Thai actually uses for partners, endearment and compliments.
The scale runs ชอบ (like) → แอบชอบ (crush) → รัก (love), with คิดถึง for missing and ตกหลุมรัก for falling. แฟน is partner, ที่รัก is darling, and the tones on สวย/จูบ do real work.
รัก (rák) is for…
รัก (rák) is for people, animals and things you are genuinely attached to. A passing preference takes ชอบ (châwp). “I love this dish” in Thai is “I like this dish”.
Early in a relationship, the correct word is…
Early in a relationship ชอบ (châwp) is not a downgrade, it is the correct word. รัก is for genuine attachment.
แอบชอบ (àep châwp) means…
แอบชอบ (àep châwp) — to have a crush on, literally “secretly like”.
คิดถึง (khít-thěung) means…
คิดถึง (khít-thěung) — to miss someone, to be thinking of them. คิดถึงนะ — I miss you.
ตกหลุมรัก literally means…
ตกหลุมรัก (dtòk lǔm rák) — to fall in love, literally “fall into love's hole”.
แฟน (faen) means…
แฟน (faen) means partner: boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. In compounds (แฟนบอล, แฟนคลับ) it means a fan/supporter.
สวย (sǔay) describes…
สวย (sǔay, rising) is beautiful — of a woman, and of things, a view, a dress or handwriting. Only หล่อ (handsome) is gender-restricted.
The tone trap: สวย (beautiful) said flat becomes…
สวย (sǔay, rising) is beautiful; ซวย (suay, mid) is unlucky. One tone apart, opposite meanings.
จูบ vs จุ๊บ — the difference is…
จูบ (jùup, low, long vowel) is the verb to kiss; จุ๊บ (júp, high, short vowel) is the sound of a kiss.
หอมแก้ม (hǎwm gâem) is…
หอมแก้ม (hǎwm gâem) — to kiss a cheek by pressing your nose to it and breathing in. The affectionate, non-romantic kiss.
ตัวเอง (dtua-eng) as “you” is used…
ตัวเอง (dtua-eng, literally “self”) as “you” is between couples only.
What people actually say for “I love you” is…
The full form ผมรักคุณ/ฉันรักคุณ exists, but what people actually say is the bare รักนะ (rák ná) — love you.
กินข้าวหรือยัง, asked by a partner, means…
กินข้าวหรือยัง (gin khâao rěu yang) — have you eaten yet? Asked as care, not about food.
น่ารัก (nâa-rák) describes…
น่ารัก (nâa-rák) — cute, lovely, sweet: people, animals, things, behaviour.
Common mistake
Using รัก the way English uses “love” — for a dish, the weather, a beach. รัก is for people, animals and things you are genuinely attached to; a passing preference takes ชอบ. And keep the tone on สวย (rising): said flat it is ซวย, unlucky.