Learn all you need to know about greetings in Thai
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| Michael: How do you greet someone in Thailand? |
| Arnon: And what should you pay attention to? |
| Michael: At ThaiPod101.com, we hear these questions often. In the following situation, Karen Lee is meeting her neighbor, Thanapong Thongtong, on her way home. She greets him with, |
| "Hello" |
| Karen Lee: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Dialogue |
| Karen Lee: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Thanapong Thongtong: สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp) |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Karen Lee: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Michael: "Hello!" |
| Thanapong Thongtong: สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp) |
| Michael: "Hello!" |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: In this lesson, we will talk about various ways to greet someone in Thai and what details one should pay attention to. In both formal and informal situations, Thai people use the greeting |
| Arnon: สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) |
| Michael: or "Hello." |
| Arnon: This is the standard Thai greeting and your go-to greeting when you're not sure how to greet someone. If you're very familiar with the person you're addressing, you can use the shortened version, which is |
| Arnon: หวัดดี (wàt-dii) |
| Michael: This also means "hello," and can further be shortened as |
| Arnon: ดี (dii) |
| Michael: which literally means "good." Remember to only use this version if you're addressing a very close friend or relative and not to use it in formal situations or when you're talking to someone more senior. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Karen Lee says "Hello?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Arnon as Karen Lee: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Michael: We mentioned that the primary greeting used in the Thai language is |
| Arnon: สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) |
| Michael: or "hello." If you're female, it is appropriate for you to attach a particle at the end of this greeting like what Karen did. The particle is |
| Arnon: ค่ะ (khâ) |
| Michael: which is spoken with a falling tone. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let's take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Thanapong says "Hello?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Arnon as Thanapong Thongtong: สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp) |
| Michael: For males, the appropriate particle to attach at the end of a greeting is |
| Arnon: ครับ (khráp) |
| Michael: which is spoken with a sharp, high tone. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, we learned that the primary greeting used in the Thai language is |
| Arnon: สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) |
| Michael: which is the equivalent of the word "hello." We also learned that males use this greeting differently than females, and the greeting is differentiated with a particle attached at the end of the word. For females, the appropriate greeting would be |
| Arnon: สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ) |
| Michael: and, for males, it's |
| Arnon: สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp) |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: So far, we've covered the primary greeting used in Thai. Aside from the standard "hello," there are other expressions you can use to greet someone in Thai. For instance, if you want to say "Good morning," you can say, |
| Arnon: อรุณสวัสดิ์ (à-run sà-wàt) |
| Michael: This is a combination of the words, |
| Arnon: อรุณ (à-run), |
| Michael: which means "morning," and |
| Arnon: สวัสดิ์ (sà-wàt) |
| Michael: which means "hello." You don't use this in normal circumstances, though, because it sounds too formal. However, you can use it when greeting your teacher in school, or when greeting your employer at the office. Now, if you want to greet someone you haven't seen in a long time, you can say |
| Arnon: ไม่ได้เจอกันตั้งนาน (mâi dâi jooe gan dtâng naan) |
| Michael: This means "Long time no see." You can use this to greet anyone, but if you want to sound formal or polite, just add the particle |
| Arnon: ค่ะ (khâ) |
| Michael: if you're female, and |
| Arnon: ครับ (khráp) |
| Michael: if you're male. If you simply want to ask someone how they have been, then the appropriate greeting would be |
| Arnon: คุณสบายดีมั๊ย (khun sà-baai dii mái) |
| Michael: or "How are you?" A similar greeting would be |
| Arnon: วันนี้เป็นอย่างไรบ้าง (wan níi bpen yàang rai bâang) |
| Michael: This one means "How's your day?" Yet another greeting that's similar to this one would be |
| Arnon: เป็นอย่างไรบ้าง (bpen yàang rai bâang) |
| Michael: which means "How's everything?" One greeting you should be careful to use is |
| Arnon: ว่าไง (wâa-ngai) |
| Michael: This means "What's up?" This greeting should only be used when addressing close friends and not to be used in formal situations or when addressing your superior or people older than you. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: We can't talk about Thai greetings without talking about |
| Arnon: ไหว้ (wâai) |
| Michael: which is an essential part of Thai etiquette. This is a Thai gesture of respect, and usually accompanies standard Thai greetings. It is done by placing the two palms together and bowing the head, as if you're saying a prayer. There are three levels of this. The first level is addressed to monks, priests, and members of the royal family, or |
| Arnon: พระราชวงศ์ (phrá râat-chá-wong) |
| Michael: At this level, you should lower your head and touch the space between your eyebrows with your thumbs. The second level is addressed to highly respected people, such as teachers or parents. At this level, the thumbs touch the tip of the nose, while the index fingers touch the space between the eyebrows. And, finally, the third level is addressed to older people or people your age that you want to show respect to. At this level, the index fingers touch the tip of the nose. |
| Michael: A senior person may return the gesture to a younger person or someone who's subordinate to them. This is done by positioning the hands at chest level and giving a slight bow that resembles a nod. This acknowledgement is referred to as |
| Arnon: รับไหว้ (rap wâai) |
| Michael: which means "respect received." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Arnon: แล้วพบกันใหม่เร็วๆนี้ครับ (láaeo-phóp-gan-mài reo-reo-níi khràp) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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