In this post, you will learn how to say ‘how are you?’ in Thai. You’ll also learn common responses so you can respond if you’re asked this question. This can be really useful if you’re speaking with someone from Thailand or if you’re travelling there.
Thai is the national language of Thailand and is part of the Kra-Dai language family. Interestingly, over 50% of Thai vocabulary is borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal language.
There are approximately 50 million speakers of Thai.
Table of Contents
How To Say ‘How Are You?’ In Thai
There are a few different ways to ask ‘how are you?’. Here are the most common:
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? | สบายดี ไหม | Sabai dee mai |
| How are you? | เป็นอย่างไรบ้าง | Pen yang rai baang |
If you want to be more polite, you can say these instead:
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| How are you? (female speaker) | สบายดี ไหม คะ | Sabai dee mai ka |
| How are you? (male speaker) | สบายดี ไหม ครับ | Sabai dee mai krap |
Interestingly, another fun way to ask ‘how are you?’ in Thai is using this phrase:
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Have you eaten? | กินข้าวยัง | Kin kao yung |
Literally it means ‘have you eaten?’ but in Thailand it is often used to ask ‘how are you?’.
How To Respond To ‘How Are You?’ In Thai
There are many different ways that you can reply to this question. Below are the most common responses to this question. I’ve also included how to say ‘thank you’ as it’s polite to thank someone if they ask how you are.
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Thank you | ขอบคุณ | Kop kun |
| I’m fine | สบายดี | Sabai dee |
| Not so good | ไม่สบาย | Mai sabai |
| So-so | เรื่อยๆ | Rueai rueai |
| I’m sleepy/tired | ฉันง่วง | Chan nguuang |
| I’m feeling bad | ฉันรู้สึกไม่ดี | Chan ruu-suk mai dii |
| I’m sad | ฉันเศร้า | Chan saaow |
| I’m happy | ฉันมีความสุข | Chan mi khwam sook |
The above responses are informal ways to reply to the question ‘how are you?’. If you want to be more formal or polite, all you need to do is add a simple word onto the end of the sentence.
If you’re male then add ครับ ‘krap’ onto the end.
If you’re female then add ค่ะ ‘ka’ onto the end.
For example:
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| I’m fine (polite – female speaker) | สบายดี คะ | Sabai dee ka |
| I’m fine (polite – male speaker) | สบายดี ครับ | Sabai dee krap |
You can do this to any of the above phrases to make them polite. You can even add it to the end of ‘thank you’.
Check out the below video to hear the pronunciation of these phrases:
This video also covers lots of responses:
It’s also useful to know how to say ‘and you?’ or ‘what about you?’ to find out how someone else is if they ask you.
| English | Thai | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| And you? | แล้วคุณล่ะ | Laew khun la |
Example Conversation (informal):
Person 1 : Sabai dee mai? (How are you?)
Person 2: Sabai dee, kop kun. Laew khun la? (I’m fine, thanks. And you?)
Person 1: Sabai dee (I’m fine)
Thanks for reading this post.
You should now know how to say ‘how are you?’ in Thai and you should also be able to respond if you’re asked!
You can’t go wrong with these simple phrases.
Why not also learn the names of the different countries in Thai too! This vocabulary can be very useful.
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