Today I’m going to teach you how to say hello in Thai. I suppose you already know the word Sawaddee or some write Sawasdee which means “hello” already. But what I’m teaching you here is something else. It’s something that you might not have heard or learned anywhere else.
I’m focusing on what you can say to greet another people in the morning so it’s good morning basically. And you will see that there are a variety of choices for you to choose to say in the morning when you go to work or work out and meet your friends.
Starting with the most formal one to the least formal one, we get:
Arun Sa wad = Good Morning!
Sawaddee Ton Chao = Hello in the morning (I’m trying to show you the literal meaning)
Sawaddee = Hello
Wad Dee = Hi
Ngai = What’s up! Hey!
Ma Laew Ror? = You’re here already?
Choose the one you like that will best suit the person you’re talking to. Remember that the level of the language is really important. If you’re talking to a more mature person like your teacher or trainer, you will need to use a bit formal language but don’t go for the most formal one because that would sound really weird to him than showing him respect. The last three which are “Wad Dee” “Ngai” and “Ma Laew Ror?” I suggest you use them with your friends and someone less mature than you are, like a younger person.
So now you can practice saying all of these at home and wait to use it whenever you get a chance to contact with a Thai. It’s not really necessary to memorize all of them. I would go for the ones in the middles first, then if I have more time and mood I’ll try to memorize the rest.
See you next time with our Talk Thai article here!