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CHAPTER TWO

Quick Greetings

For this chapter I just want to review a few of the different ways to say hello. You already got the chance to learn most of the Slang Basics in the first chapter, but it’s always good to go over these greetings one more time. I’ll start with some of the more normal ways to greet someone and then move on to some of the more casual ways to say something like “What’s up?”

Hello, Hi and Hey!

The most common phrase you’ll hear in Thailand for a greeting is สวัสดีครับ [sà-wùt dee krúp] or สัวัสดีค่ะ [sà-wùt dee kâ]. As mentioned, the ending particle ครับ [krúp] is for guys and the ค่ะ [kâ] is for girls. This phrase can be used with pretty much anyone and at anytime of the day to mean hello or hi. Sometimes you might just hear the words วัสดี [wùt dee] or วัสดี ๆ [wùt-dee wùt-dee] said quickly. This is similar to the English hey or hi. This is a little bit more informal than the สวัสดีครับ [sà-wùt dee krúp], but you will hear it around all the same. Another common way of saying hello comes from the English language itself. This is the word ฮัลโล [hun loe] and is used whenever a Thai person answers the phone. Often times they will say the second syllable with a rising tone like: ฮัลโล๋ [hun lǒe].

• สวัสดีครับ คุณสมชัย

SÀ-WÙT DEE KRÚP koon sǒhm-chai

Hello, Mr. Somchai.

• วัดดี ๆ

WÙT-DEE WÙT-DEE

Hey…hi!

• ฮัลโล๋ ใคร โทร หา อ่ะ

HUN-LǑE krai toe-hǎh ’à

Hello? Who’s calling?

How are ya?

To ask how someone is doing instead of just saying hello, the most common phrase you will hear is สบายดีมั้ย [sà-bai dee mái]. This just translates to How are you? Similar to the phrase สวัสดีครับ [sà-wùt dee krúp], you can use the phrase สบายดีมั้ย [sà-bai dee mái] with just about anyone and at anytime of the day. You can also switch the question particle มั้ย [mái] with ปะ [bpá] to ask the more casual สบายคีปะ [sà-bai dee bpá] —just another way to ask How are ya? or How ya doin’? The best response to this question is just สบายดี [sà-bai dee], which translates to I’m fine. For both phrases it’s probably good to tack on the ครับ [krúp] or ค่ะ [kâ] depending on what gender you feel like representing. This just adds an extra degree of politeness.

• สบายดีมั้ย ครับ

SÀ-BAI DEE MÁI krúp

How are you?

• สบายดี ครับผม

SÀ-BAI DEE MÁI krúp-pǒhm

I’m fine, thank you.

How’s it going?

The phrase How are you? is a good one but sometimes it’s easier or more natural to say something like How’s it going? or How’s it? The phrase in Thai is เป็นยังไงบ้าง [bpehn yung ngai bâhng] or เป็นยังไงมั่ง [bpehn yung ngai mûng]. This is a little more informal than asking สบายดีมั้ย [sà-bai dee mái]. I suggest to not use this phrase until you are fairly familiar with a Thai friend or colleague. This can be shortened down even further to the phrase เป็นยังไง [bpehn yung ngai] or even the more common เป็นไง [bpehn ngai]. You will most likely hear this among friends. A Thai national would probably give you an odd look if you used such an informal way to ask how they are, but I think เป็นไง [bpehn ngai] just sounds cooler than เป็นยังไงบ้าง [bpehn yung ngai bâhng]. I think a natural way to say I’m fine or Just good is to answer with ดี [dee] or ก็ดี [gâw dee]. If you want to make your retort a little more cocky, you can say เป็นยังงี้แหละ [bpehn yung-ngée làe], which can be translated to Well, it’s going... or Well, it’s like this.

• พี่ เป็นยังไงบ้าง อ่ะ

pêe bpehn yung ngai bâhng

How’s it going?

• ก็ เป็นยังงี้แหละ

gâw BPEHN YUNG-NGÉE LÀE

Well… it’s going.

• เป็นไง

BPEHN NGAI

How’s it?

• ก็ ดี

GÂW DEE

I’m fine.

What just happened? What’s the deal?

If something just happened or there seems to be something off and you want to know more than just how it is going, you may hear Thais ask เป็นอะไรไป [bpehn ’a-rai bpai]. This translates to What just happened?, What’s going on? or What’s the deal? This is more direct than the other earlier greetings because you may be inquiring about a particular situation or event. This phrase is often shortened to เป็นไรไป [bpehn rai bpai] in colloquial speech. Another common way to ask What just happened? without the phrase sounding like a greeting is to say เกิดอะไรขึ้น [gèrt ’à-rai kêun]. This is everyday speech and you can always add the ครับ [krúp] or ค่ะ [kâ] / คะ [ká] onto the end of any of these phrases to make them more polite.

• เป็นไรไป น่าทำไม ทำ หน่าบูดจังอ่ะ

BPEHN-RAI-BPAI nâh tam-mai tam nâh boot jung ’à

What’s going on? Why just the sour face?

• นี่ เกิดอะไรขึ้น ครับ

nêe GÈRT ’À-RAI KÊUN krúp

What just happened here?

Have ya eaten? Where ya off to? Hello!

Another very traditional way to make a greeting in Thai is to ask whether someone has eaten yet. Most of the time the person asking the question isn’t really so much interested in whether you have eaten or not or what you have eaten, instead think of this greeting in the same way that you might start talking about the weather when you meet someone or when an American will say What’s up! In this sense the speaker really doesn’t care so much about the weather nor does he really want to know every new thing that’s happening in your life. A simple Yep, looks like it’s gonna rain today or Nothin’, just hangin’ are good enough responses and the two persons may continue to go about doing whatever it was that they were doing before they bumped into each other and had to exchange pleas-antries. So when a Thai asks you กินข้ าวรึ ยัง [gihn kâo réu-yung] or กินข้ าวยั ง [gihn kâo yung], which means Have you eaten yet?, the best response is กินแล้ ว [gihn láeo], which means Yep, I’ve eaten. I think to respond in any other way would just throw the rhythm of the entire conversation off. In fact, these two phases are so common that you’ll be forgiven if you begin to wonder whether or not Thais are interested in anything other than the current state of your stomach. Just remember that when you are confronted with กินข้ าวยั ง [gihn kâo yung], you’ll know that nine times out of 10, it just means Hi!

• พี่ กินข้าวยัง

pêe GIHN KÂO YUNG

Have you eaten yet?

Two other similar phrases that are often used as greetings are ไปไหน [bpǎi nǎi] and ไปไหนมา [bǎi nǎi mah]. The direct translation for these two are Where ya going? and Where’d ya come from? More often than not, these two phrases are used as simple greetings much like กินข้าวยัง [gihn kâo yung] is used to mean Hi! Though Thais ask you where you are going or where you have been, it’s better to think of these greetings as just your regular Hello! I’ve learned that it’s probably best not to give an overly detailed description of where you are going, but instead to just mention something quickly and be on your way. If you can’t think of anything to say and you want to be polite just say that you’re on your way to the market or that you’ve just come back from the market like this: ไปตลาด [bpai dtà-làht], I’m heading to the market or ไปตลาดมา [bpai dtà-làht mah], I just came from the market. You can also just say that you’re going home, กลับบ้าน [glùp bâhn]. This way you can answer their question without really having to answer it, which I think is what they want anyway. Too much information is rarely good for anyone and will probably just get you into trouble—similar to this book.

What’s up?! So what!

Another useful phrase that you will hear often used as a greeting is ว่ายังไง [wâh yung ngai]. This translates most easily to What’s up? or What’s new? This is the least formal of all the greetings that have been presented so far. If you are going to use any of these with your good friends I think that this phrase sounds the most natural and casual. Similar to the other greetings you can also tack on the ครับ [krúp] or คะ [ká] to show additional respect. However, if politeness is your goal you are probably just better off saying สวัสดีครับ [sà-wùt dee krúp]. The phrase ว่ายังไง [wâh yung ngai] is often shortened to just ว่าไง [wâh ngai]. This phrase can also be used in a host of other situations, but the translation What’s up? is probably the most common usage of ว่ายังไง [wâh yung ngai] or ว่าไง [wâh ngai].

• ว่าไง อ่ะ

WÂH NGAI ’à

What’s up?

The last one for this chapter before we get physical in the next chapter is not so much of a greeting but just another useful phrase you should know. I often hear this one and you should use it whenever you want to be both direct and laconic. The next time someone comes up to you making excuses about this or that use the phrase แล้วไง [láeo ngai]. In this context this phrase means So what?! and is just a sharp enough set of words to get your point of indifference across admirably.

• แล้วไง

LÁEO NGAI

So what?