Hotel owner Yaonot wanting to speak Thai apparentlyIf you plan on traveling to Phuket or any other part of thialnd, I strongly urge you to learn a few thai phrases before your travels. Not only will it enrich your experience of this amazing country, I have found that most Thai people appreciate at least a small effort on your part to speak their language.
Below you will find some common words and phrases that you'll probably need to say at least once in your Thailand adventure. Please come back and check often as this list will be added to and grow over time.
Greetings:
Hello:
Sa-wa-dee-khrap (male)
Sa-wa-dee-ka (female)
Although not a "phrase" per say, knowing how to speak numbers in Thai more often than not will prove advantageous to for. Whether you are at a market or hiring a tuk-tuk, 99.9% of prices for everything are in fact negotiable. And I have found that when you are negotiating a price with a vendor, if you can speak Thai more often than not you will get a lower price than if you speak strictly English.
What is interesting to note before we delve into the wonderful world of numbers is the farang price versus the Thai price. If you remember from our earlier lesson on speaking Thai, the Thai word Farang means foreigner. Basically, if you are a tourist, you are a farange. And if you are a farang, you WILL be paying more for an item. Although this sounds incredibly unfair and unethical, it is practiced EVERYWHERE on Phuket and in Thailand. And it is not just practiced by the common vendors at a market. The Thai government even has different prices for farang and those who are not farange. For example, at the Phuket aquarium, (http://peteinphuket.com/attractions/unique-things-to-do.html ) if you have white skin you will have to pay double the admission fee than if you are not a farang! It sounds like racism, but it is prevalent in Tai culture to charge more to tourists. The thinking being that if you have the money to travel so far and to vacation, then you most certainly have the money to pay double than Thais do. So, in a nutshell, I usually have my girlfriend, who is Thai, do all the shopping at the markets in order to save nearly 50% on food. If she isn't around, I utilize my shaky Thai number speaking ability. Let's start with just 1 through 10 today: