This is a tonal monosyllabic language. The same word can be said in five different ways - normal or middle tone, low, rising and falling.
     Like English it is read from left to right. but that 's where the similarities end. Some English sounds like "th" and "z" don 't appear at all, while some Thai sounds are not commonly used in English either.
      There are no plural in Thai, nor are there tenses as such. A word or two is usually added to determine the past, present or future. If you run into difficulties, remember to speak slowly and clearly, stick to the simple present tense and don 't use slang or idioms.
      In Thai there is a "politening" word attached to the end of anything you say. For men it is "krup" for women it is "kha" .The words have have little if any direct translation but a Thai will think very highly of you if you use it.
 
Basic Words
 
  Yes chai
  No mai-chai/mai-oua
  Thank you kob-khun
  Thank you very much kob-khun-mark
  You're welcome mai-pen-rai
  Please ka-ru-na
  Excuse me kor-tose/kor-a-nu-yart
  Hello sa-wat-dee
  Goodbye lar-korn
  So long narn/yao-narn
  Good morning sa-was-dee-torn-chao
  Good afternoon sa-was-dee-torn-bai
  Good evening sa-was-dee-torn-khum
  Good night ra-tree-sa-was
  I do not understand chan-mai-kao-jai (f) pom-mai-kao-jai (m)
  How do you say this in [English]? khun-ja-pood-nee-pen-[pa-sa-ang-glish]-wa-young-lai?
  Do you speak ... ? khun-pood ...?
  English pa-sa-ang-krit
  French pa-sa-fa-rang-sez
  German pa-sa-yer-re-man
  Spanish pa-sa-spain
  Chinese pa-sa-jeen
  I chan (f), phom (m)
  We puak-lao
  You (singular, familiar) khun
  You (plural) khun
  They puak-kao
  What is your name? khun-cheu-ar-rai
  Nice to meet you dee-jai-tee-dai-pob-khun
  How are you? khun-sa-bai-dee-mai?
  Good dee
  Bad mai-dee
  So so kor-young-narn-lae
 

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