เจอกัน
There are a few options for how to say bye in Thai, but the best way to say goodbye is “jer kan” เจอกัน. This works in just about any situation. There are plenty of other variations of goodbye/farewell in Thai many of which are covered in this post.
When I first arrived in Thailand in early 2003, I used a Lonely Planet phrasebook as my main guide for how to speak Thai. That phrasebook told me to say what Google will probably tell you, but it’s not correct. You’ll even see people on Quora telling you to say ลาก่อน (laa kawn), but I promise you that you will never hear a Thai person say this to you in real life and you will sound silly saying it. You’ll see it on Thai dramas, in movies and you will hear it in songs, but not in normal everyday conversation (such as asking how someone is in Thai).
Goodbyes in Thai, like greetings are very dependent on context. There are a few options for different levels of polite (like when saying thank you in Thai)ness, but here are the best sentences to use in terms of being sufficiently polite, friendly and natural at the same time (you might need Thai numbers for specific times).
ไว้เจอกัน (wai jer kan) – Take care; see you
New to Thai? Start with my basic Thai for beginners guide.
- เจอกัน – (jer kan) – see you
- เจอกันใหม่ – (jer kan mai) see you again
- พรุ่งนี้เจอกัน – (phrung-nee jer kan) – See you tomorrow
In any of the above sentences, you could potentially replace เจอ (jer) with พบ (phop) and some books/courses/humans may recommend you do just that. However, even in formal situations, everybody for the most part just uses เจอ so please don’t use พบ either.
Polite Ways to Say Goodbye in Thai
You can make any of the phrases from the previous section more polite by adding the appropriate polite particle khrap/kha which I’m not going to get into here. When you start learning Thai, you may encounter people who try to steer you towards adding in those particles every other breath. This is very excessive and does not sound natural. If you want to play it safe rather than trust me entirely, use these natural, but still polite version.
You can soften those up a little bit by throwing a นะ in before the polite particle, but it doesn’t change the feeling of the sentence drastically.
- ไว้เจอกันนะครับ (wai jer kan na khrap)
- ไว้เจอกันนะคะ (wai jer kan na kha)
**When you are saying goodbye on the phone, you’ll replace เจอ (jer) “to meet” with คุย (khui) “to talk/chat”
- ไว้คุยกัน (wai khui kan) – goodbye (talk again soon)
There are also a couple of expressions from English which you will hear used fairly often.
How to say Goodbye in Thai
| See you | เจอกัน | jer kan |
| See you again | เจอกันใหม่ | jer kan mai |
| See you tomorrow | พรุ่งนี้เจอกัน | phrung-nee jer kan |
| See you next time | ไว้เจอกัน | wai jer kan |
Goodbye in Thai Phrases on the Phone:
| Talk to you (later) | ไว้คุยกัน | wai khui kan |
| That’s all for now | แค่นี้ก่อน | khae nee kawn |
Goodbye Thai Phrases from English:
| Bye-bye | บ๊ายบาย | baai baai |
| Goodbye | กุ๊ดบาย | kut baai |
| See you | ซียู | see yuu |
Additional Ways to Say Goodbye in Thai:
| I’m heading off | ไปก่อนนะ | pai kawn na |
| I’m going | ไปละนะ | pai la na |
| I gotta go | ต้องไปละนะ | tawng pai la na |
| I need to go | ต้องไปแล้ว | tawng pai laew |
| I’m taking off | กลับก่อนนะ | klap kawn na |
| I’d better go | ขอกลับก่อน | khaw klap kawn |
How to Say I’m going to Bed/Sleep in Thai
| I’m going to bed. | นอนก่อนนะ | nawn kawn na |
| I’m going to sleep. | จะหลับแล้วนะ | ja lap laew na |
Thai People Never Say This. Neither Should You:
| Farewell | ลาก่อน | laa kawn |
Less Common Thai Goodbye Phrases
| See you again | พบกัน | phop kan |
| See you again | พบกันใหม่ | phop kan mai |
Want to Learn to Read and Speak Thai?
One of the most important parts of learning Thai is mastering the Thai script and sounds. It’s very difficult to learn the correct pronunciation using any type of English transliteration. The Thai alphabet can seem intimidating, but it’s very possible to learn it all in 10-20 hours and it’s definitely worth the time investment if you really want to speak Thai.
Try a couple free lessons from my Thai foundation course which teaches everything you need to know about Thai writing, the sound system as well as the tone rules. Or if you want a step-by-step plan for how to get started, start here.
Related Thai Phrases You Should Learn
Now that you know how to say goodbye in Thai, expand your conversational skills with these essential phrases:
- How to Say Hello in Thai – Start conversations properly
- How to Say Thank You in Thai – End conversations politely
- How to Say “How Are You” in Thai – Keep conversations going
- Thai Numbers – Essential for scheduling meetups