ESSENTIAL THAI
A GUIDE TO THE BASICS OF THE THAI LANGUAGE
CONTENTS
| Pronunciation | 8 |
| numbers | 17 |
| colors | 19 |
| 1. First Things | |
| greetings | 20 |
| going places | 21 |
| very/not at all | 22 |
| already | 23 |
| thank you/excuse me | 23 |
| Do you understand? | 23 |
| pronouns/I am | 24 |
| speaking politely | 25 |
| I don't know | 25 |
| Can you speak Thai? | 25 |
| 2. Shopping/Getting Around | |
| money & shopping | 26 |
| paying in restaurants | 27 |
| How many? | 28 |
| bottles of water | 28 |
| food and drinks to go | 29 |
| buying clothes | 29 |
| getting change | 30 |
| bargaining | 30 |
| Where is...? | 31 |
| asking for a restroom | 32 |
| 3. Questions and Expressions | |
| What's your name? | 36 |
| How are you? | 37 |
| Where are you from? | 37 |
| How old are you? | 38 |
| Have you eaten yet? | 38 |
| Have you been in Thailand long? | 38 |
| goodbye/good luck | 39 |
| phrases for learning Thai | 40 |
| common expressions | 42 |
| 3`expressions from Thai culture | 45 |
| 4. Step-by-Step Conversation | |
| basic sentences | 46 |
| to be | 47 |
| too (too hot) | 48 |
| this/the | 49 |
| the same/not the same | 49 |
| comparing | 50 |
| like more than/like the most | 50 |
| possessive | 50 |
| this person/that person | 52 |
| Who?/Which person? | 53 |
| numbers of people | 53 |
| using verbs | 55 |
| yes/no questions | 56 |
| maybe/I might | 57 |
| go with verbs | 58 |
| I like to/I want to | 58 |
| have to/must | 59 |
| can/able to | 59 |
| I'd rather | 60 |
| I've/I/ve never | 60 |
| Have you yet? | 60 |
| not anymore/never again | 61 |
| so/shall | 61 |
| connecting words | 62 |
| requests/commands | 66 |
| let/allow | 68 |
| there is/there are | 68 |
| somebody/nobody | 68 |
| many/a lot | 68 |
| a little | 69 |
| more/again | 69 |
| only | 70 |
| each other | 70 |
| together/myself | 70 |
| a different one/not this one | 71 |
| What kind?/What style? | 71 |
| particles | 72 |
| notes on vocabulary | 73 |
| 5. Conversation Topics | |
| family | 82 |
| marriage | 83 |
| work | 84 |
| religion | 87 |
| asking Thais where they're from | 87 |
| foreign people & things | 89 |
| important cards & documents | 89 |
| children & adultss | 90 |
| some people/most people | 90 |
| weather | 91 |
| talking about places | 92 |
| feelings | 94 |
| dialogues | 96 |
| 6. Time | |
| days of the week | 98 |
| morning/afternoon/night | 100 |
| telling time | 101 |
| minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years | 104 |
| How long? | 106 |
| times/occations | 107 |
| time conjunctions | 109 |
| other time words | 110 |
| months and years | 113 |
| 7. Food | |
| ordering | 116 |
| drinks | 120 |
| ingredients | 122 |
| fried rice and noodles | 126 |
| Thai dishes | 127 |
| vegetarian food | 132 |
| western food | 133 |
| fruit | 133 |
| buying food in the market | 134 |
| 8. Transportation | |
| kinds of vehicles | 136 |
| stations/airport/pier | 137 |
| city bus | 137 |
| city-to-city bus | 138 |
| driving instructions | 140 |
| renting a vehicle | 141 |
| 9. Hotels and Bungalows | |
| hotel | 142 |
| asking for things | 144 |
| beach bungalow | 145 |
| 10. Around Town | |
| places in town | 145 |
| directions | 147 |
| near/far | 148 |
| prepostions of location | 149 |
| inside/outside/above/below | 151 |
| Which floor? | 151 |
| bank | 152 |
| post office | 152 |
| tailor/dressmaker | 153 |
| invitations/appointments | 154 |
| 11. Medical/Emergencies/Phone | |
| parts of the body | 156 |
| medical problems | 157 |
| medicine | 159 |
| emergencies | 161 |
| telephone | 152 |
| 12. Around Thailand | |
| areas of Thailand | 164 |
| Bangkok | 165 |
| Central Thailand/The East | 168 |
| the North | 171 |
| the Northeast | 174 |
| the South | 176 |
| forest | 178 |
| ocean | 180 |
| countryside | 182 |
| a Thai temple | 184 |
| home | 186 |
| Thai culture | 188 |
| reading Thai | 192 |
| classifiers | 206 |
| index & dictionary | 208 |