In this post we’re going to learn how to say an important Thai question word – “how?”.

If you are just starting out in learning Thai then knowing how to say “how” in Thai is useful as you can use it a lot in your daily life in Thailand.  You can make conversation with Thai people and ask them questions like “how is the food?” or even “how do you say this in Thai?”.

How in Spoken Thai:

If you’re looking for the quick answer, the way to say “how” in colloquial or spoken Thai is:

• ยังไง (yang ngai)

“How” Questions in Thai

To make a “how” question in Thai language, the structure is simply:

• Verb + ยังไง (yang ngai)

Example Thai Phrases:

Below are a handful of basic verbs and then how you would combine “how” with each verb to create a basic Thai phrase.

• ทำ (tam) – to do
  • ทำยังไง (tam yang ngai) – How do you do it?
• พูด (puud) – to say, to speak
  • พูดยังไง (puud yang ngai) – How do you say it?
• ไป (ppai) – to go
  • ไปยังไง (ppai yang ngai) – How do you go (there)?
• มา (maa) – to come
  • มายังไง (maa yang ngai) – How did you come (here)?
• เปิด (ppued) – to open
  • เปิดยังไง (ppued yang ngai) – How do you open it?
• เล่น (lehn) – to play
  • เล่นยังไง (lehn yang ngai) – How do you play it?

Thai Grammar Tip

In Thai, verbs are not conjugated.  This means that unlike English, the form of the verb is always the same in Thai, regardless of the tense and whether or not the sentence is singular or plural.

You might think that this makes things more difficult for foreigners to learn Thai.  Sure, it might be a little confusing at first but as you improve and get used to it, you will find that you can usually pick up from the context what the tense is and whether the speaker is referring to something singular or plural.  And there is also the added benefit that you don’t need to remember all of the different forms for every verb in the Thai language, as you do in English.

How To Say “how is it?”or “how are they?” in Thai

If you would like to ask “how is it?” or “how are they?” in Thai we need to use the verb “to be”.  In Thai the verb “to be” is:

• เป็น (ppen)

Just like in the examples above, we add the verb เป็น (ppen) before ยังไง (yang ngai).

• เป็นยังไง (ppen yang ngai) – How is it?; How are they?

Now, if we want to ask “how is xxxx?” then we just need to add a noun to the start of this question.  So the structure is:

• Noun + เป็นยังไง (ppen yang ngai)

Examples:

• รสชาติ (rod chaad) – flavour
  • รสชาติเป็นยังไง (rod chaad ppen yang ngai) – How is the flavour?
• ปาร์ตี้ (ppaa-ttii) – party
  • ปาร์ตี้เป็นยังไง (ppaa-ttii ppen yang ngai) – How was the party?
• วันหยุด (wan yud) – day off
  • วันหยุดเป็นยังไง (wan yud ppen yang ngai) – How was your day off?

เป็นยังไง (ppen yang ngai) is also used as an informal way to ask “how are you?” in Thai. The word บ้าง (baang) is often added to the end of this question. บ้าง (baang) doesn’t have a direct translation in English but it is often added to the end of a question when it’s expected that a more wide-ranging answer may be given.

• เป็นยังไงบ้าง (ppen yang ngai baang) – How are you?; How’s it going?

 How to Say HOW in Formal or Written Thai

The “how” covered above is used in everyday spoken Thai, however there is an official form of this word that is used in formal situations and in written Thai. You’ll need to know both, but you’ll find that people will usually use ยังไง (yang-ngai) in conversation.

The formal or written version of HOW in Thai is:

• อย่างไร (yaang rai)

อย่างไร (yaang rai) can be used in all of the same situations as ยังไง (yang ngai).

Examples:

• ทำอย่างไร (tam yaang rai) – How do you do it?
• พูดอย่างไร (puud yaang rai) – How do you say it?

How to Say “How Do You Say This in Thai?”

One of the best ways for beginners to learn Thai is to start practicing speaking Thai with real people as soon as possible.  You can do this by making conversation with restaurant staff, your Thai friends or even on a video call with a Thai tutor via apps like iTalki.  When you are practicing speaking Thai there will be some words that you don’t know how to say.  Instead of reverting back to speaking English when you don’t know a Thai word or phrase, you can ask the Thai question “how do you say this in Thai?”.

Examples of ways to ask how to say something is:

• อันนี้ภาษาไทยพูดว่ายังไง (an nii paa-saa tai puud waa yang ngai) – How do you say this in Thai?
• อันนี้ (an nii) – this item
• ภาษาไทย (paa-saa tai) – Thai language
• พูดว่า (puud waa) – to say, to speak
• ยังไง (yang gnai) – how

You can replace อันนี้ (an nii) with any English word that you want to know in Thai.

Examples Sentences:

• “Delicious” ภาษาไทยพูดว่ายังไง (“delicious” paa-saa tai puud waa yang ngai) -How do you say “delicious” in Thai?
• “Please” ภาษาไทยพูดว่ายังไง (“please” paa-saa tai puud waa yang ngai) – How do you say “please” in Thai?
• “Handsome” ภาษาไทยพูดว่ายังไง (“handsome” paa-saa tai puud waa yang ngai) – How do you say “handsome” in Thai?

More Examples of HOW in Thai:

There are some situations where we don’t use ยังไง (yang ngai) or อย่างไร (yaang rai) for how in Thai.

Situation 1)

When we want to know how much or how many of something and it is expected that the answer is a numerical value we can use:

• เท่าไหร่ (tao rai) – how much (used when the expected answer is a numerical value)

Or

• กี่ (kkii) – how many

Example using เท่าไหร่ (tao rai):

• Question: อันนี้เท่าไหร่ (an nii tao rai) – How much is this?

• Answer: สองร้อยบาท (sawng roy baat) – 200 baht (Thai currency)

Example using กี่ (kkii):

• Question: อยู่เมืองไทยกี่ปีแล้ว (yuu mueang tai kkii ppii laeo)

• Answer: อยู่ห้าปีแล้ว (yuu haa ppii laeo)

Situation 2)

When we want to ask a “how much” question where the expected answer is the degree or extent of something we can use:

• แค่ไหน (kaeh nai) – how much; to what extent (used when the expected answer is not a numerical value)

For example:

• Question: รักฉันแค่ไหน (rak kaeh nai) – How much do you love me?

• Answer: รักหมดหัวใจ (rak mod hua jai) – I love you with all of my heart

Conclusion 

Now that you know all of the different ways to say “how” in Thai, you can get out there and start making conversations with your Thai friends.  And finally, we would like to ask you… วันนี้เรียนเป็นยังไง (wan nii riian ppen yang gnai) – how was today’s lesson?

If you’ve been to Thailand before you might have heard the phrase “same same” and “same same but different” (maybe you even bought the t-shirt!).  

In this post we’re going to learn how to say “similar” and “the same” in Thai.  These words can come in handy in everyday conversations if you want to say something like “we’re wearing similar shirts” or “I feel the same”. 

Similar in Thai – The Quick Answer

If you’re looking for a quick answer, the way to say similar in Thaiซ

• คล้ายๆ กัน (klaai klaai kkan)

• คล้าย (klaai) – means “similar to” or “alike”.  

• ๆ- is a Thai symbol which indicates that the preceding word should be repeated (some Thai words can be repeated to add emphasis or to intensify the meaning).  

• กัน (kkan) – means “together” or “each other”

Example sentence:

• เราใส่เสื้อคล้ายๆ กัน (rao sai seua klaai klaai kkan) – We’re wearing similar shirts

Doubled Up Thai Words

In Thai, some adjectives can be repeated in order to emphasize, or intensify the meaning. Here are some examples:

• คล้ายๆ (klaai klaai) – similar
• สวยๆ (suai suai) – beautiful
• น่ารักๆ (naa-rak naa-rak) – cute
• เร็วๆ (raew raew) – quickly
• เบาๆ (bao bao) – gently

Different Ways to Say Similar in Thai

Although in many situations คล้ายๆ กัน (klaai klaai kkan) will be the best way to say similar in Thai, you may hear a number of different variations of this:

• คล้าย (klaai)
• คล้ายๆ (klaai klaai)
• คล้าย กับ (klaai kkap)
• คล้ายๆ กับ (klaai klaai kkap)

All of these variations can be used interchangeably to mean “similar to”.

The word กับ (kkap) means “with” – though when it is combined with คล้าย (klaai), it just means “similar to”.

Examples Sentences:

All 4 of these sentences mean “Thai language is similar to Lao language.”

• คล้าย (klaai)
  • ภาษาไทยคล้ายภาษาลาว (phaa-saa thai khlaai phaa-saa laao) 
• คล้ายๆ (klaai klaai)
  • ภาษาไทยคล้ายๆ ภาษาลาว (phaa-saa thai khlaai-khlaai phaa-saa laao) 
• คล้าย กับ (klaai kkap)*
  • ภาษาไทยคล้ายกับภาษาลาว (phaa-saa thai khlaai kap phaa-saa laao) 
• คล้ายๆ กับ (klaai klaai kkap)*
  • ภาษาไทยคล้ายๆ กับภาษาลาว (phaa-saa thai khlaai-khlaai kap phaa-saa laao) 

* กับ functions like “with” in these patterns.

Vocabulary:

• ภาษา (phaa-saa) – language
  • ภาษาไทย (phaa-saa thai) – Thai language
  • ภาษาลาว (phaa-saa laao) – Lao language
• ไทย (thai) – Thai
• ลาว (laao) – Lao(s)

How to Say The Same in Thai

Now that we know the Thai word for “similar” let’s look at how to say “the same” in Thai.  The word เหมือน (muean) can also mean similar, but it tends to be stronger (and closer to being the same) then saying คล้าย (khlaai).   

So it’s important to remember that เหมือน while technically meaning “same” is often used as “very similar to” or “like”

• หน้าเหมือนแม่ (naa muean mae)- (your) face is like your mom’s.

The Thai word for “the same,” but it has a couple forms depending on what you want to say. 

• เหมือนกัน (muean kkan) 

Example sentence:

• ผมก็รู้สึกแบบนั้นเหมือนกัน (phom ruu-suk baep nan muean kan) – I feel the same (as you)

Just like the Thai word for “similar”, you may also hear a couple of different variations of the Thai word for “the same”.

Here the English sentence is:

“He has the same shoes as his older brother”

• เหมือน (meuan)
  • เขามีรองเท้าเหมือนพี่ชายของเขา (kao mii rawng tao muean pii chai kawng kao) 
• เหมือนกับ (muean kkap)
  • เขามีรองเท้าเหมือนกับพี่ชายของเขา (kao mii rawng tao muean kkap pii chai kawng kao)

How to Say “The Usual Please” 

If you go to the same coffee shop every day and order the same drink, after a while the staff will know you well enough to remember your order.  So you can just tell them “I’ll have the usual please”.

The way to say this in Thai is:

เอา เหมือนเดิม ครับ / ค่ะ (ao muean duem khrap / kha) – I’ll have the usual please (+ polite particle)

We use the phrase เหมือนเดิม (muean duem) when we are referring to something that is the same as before.  

Here are some other examples:

• คนเดิม (kon duem)  – same person (as before)
  • ยังคบกับคนเดิมรึเปล่า (yang yuu kkap kon duem rue pplao) – Are you still with the same person

 

• ที่เดิม (tii duem) – same place (as before)
  • ยังทำงานที่เดิมใช่มั้ย (yang tam-gnaan tii duem chai mai) – You’re still working at the same place right?  

Same Same But Different

There doesn’t seem to be a consensus on where the phrase “same same but different” came from.  While this phrase can be heard in tourist areas all across Thailand, it’s by no means exclusive to this country – it can also be heard in a number of other South East Asian countries.  

However, since this is a Thai language blog, we’re going to throw in our two baht on how this phrase could have originated in Thailand.

Here goes…

In Thai language, there is a phrase that is used when things are similar but not exactly the same:

• คล้ายๆแต่ไม่เหมือน (klaai klaai ttae mai muean) – Literally: similar but not the same

Same same but different could be a rough translation of this Thai phrase.  Although, in the original Thai, the word “similar” ( คล้ายๆ – klaai klaai) is used, but in the English version the word “same same” is used.  This could be because when Thai words are repeated for emphasis, they tend to be short, one or two syllable words. 

So “same same” is simply easier and faster for Thai people to say than “similar similar”. 

While “same same but different” sounds funny to us in English, the original Thai version actually makes a lot more sense. 

What do you think?  Are we on the right lines or do you have a different theory on where this phrase originated?

Conclusion

Hopefully you know how to say the same and similar in Thai now.  So you can get out there and start practicing what you’ve learned!

Want to know how to tell someone they are handsome in Thai?  Just like in English, the word handsome is used when referring to a man and a different word is used to call a woman beautiful (the Thai word for cute is a bit more versatile and can be used for both sexes, animals and more).

In today’s lesson we’re going to teach you how to say handsome in Thai.

 

Handsome in Thai – LAWH ( หล่อ)

If you’re looking for the quick answer.  The Thai word for handsome is

• หล่อ (lawh)

This is a handy word to know in Thailand as it’s common to comment on whether a man is handsome or a woman is beautiful.

Thai Culture Tip: When you speak with Thai people you might find that they speak more directly about physical appearance than Westerners are used to – or comfortable with.  For example, it’s not uncommon for a Thai person to tell a friend that they look like they’ve put on weight.  It’s usually not meant, or taken as an insult.

How To Say “You’re Handsome” in Thai

If you search Google or look in your Thai language phrasebook, it’s likely that you will see “you’re handsome” translated as:

• คุณหล่อ (khun lawh)
  • คุณ (khun) – this can be translated as “you” however, in Thai, using this is generally too formal for most situations and has a feeling of “Mr” or “Mrs.”  While saying this isn’t “wrong”, it’s unnatural and we don’t recommend adding the “you.”

Thai people will often refer to each other based on how old the person they are talking to is in relation to them.  The Thai language has a built-in friendliness and/or respect so Thais will address family, friends, colleagues and strangers as auntie, older brother, little sister etc based on your relationship with them.  The most common pronouns that you will probably hear are พี่ (pii) and น้อง (nawg).

พี่ (pii) – older brother/sister

• You can use this with people who are older than you up to around the age of your parents.

น้อง (nawg) – little brother/sister

• You can use this with anybody who is younger than you although.

So if you want to tell someone who is older than you that they are handsome you can say:

• พี่หล่อมาก (pii lawh maak) –
  • พี่ (pii) – big brother
  • หล่อ (lawh) – handsome
  • มาก (maak) – very

Thai Grammar Tip: 

In the English sentence “he is handsome” or “you are handsome” we need to conjugate the verb “to be”.  However, in the Thai version of this sentence the verb “to be” is not used so we just say “he handsome” or  when talking directly to someone, you’d just say “ handsome”.

Here are some other sentences where the verb “to be” is not used:

• อันนี้แพง (an nii paeng) – this is expensive (literally: this item expensive)
• รองเท้าคู่นี้น่ารักจัง (rong tao kuu nii naa-rak jang) – These shoes are cute (literally: shoes this pair so cute)
• กาแฟที่นี้อร่อย (gaa-fae tii nii aroy) – The coffee here is delicious! (literally: coffee this place delicious)
• วันนี้อากาศร้อน (wan nii aagaad rawhn) – Today the weather is hot (literally: today weather hot)

How To Say “He’s Handsome”

If you’re talking with your Thai friend and you’re telling them about the handsome guy from work, you might want to say the phrase “he’s handsome” in Thai.  In order to say this, you need to use the word เขา (khao) – “he” (also used for “she”).  The official spelling of this word would give it a rising tone but when spoken in everyday Thai sentences it is usually pronounced with a high tone เค้า (khao).  Because of this, you’ll often see the colloquial spelling when you encounter this word on the internet, chat and social media.

• เค้าหล่อมาก (khao lawh maak) – He’s so handsome!

Or if you see a handsome guy while you’re at the bar you can point to him and tell your friend:

• คนนั้นหล่อ (kon nan lawh) – that guy is handsome!

Very Handsome! in Thai

If you’ve seen a really attractive guy and you want to add emphasis then you can add one of these words to your sentence:

• หล่อจัง (lawh jang) – really handsome
  • จัง (jang) – really
• หล่อมาก (lawh maak) very handsome
  • มาก (maak) – very
• หล่อมากๆ เลย (lawh maak maak leoi) So very very handsome!
  • มากๆ (maak maak) – the little ๆ symbol is a placed after a word to indicate a word should be repeated. มาก = maak; มากๆ = maak maak.
  • เลย (loei) – there is no direct translation for this particle word in English but it often acts as an intensifier to the feeling behind the word it is modifying.  It can have a feeling of “absolutely” or “completely.”

Example Handsome Sentences

• เค้ามากับผู้ชายหล่อ (khao maa gap puu-chai lawh) – She came with a handsome guy
• แฟนของเค้าหล่อมาก (faen kong khao lawh maak) – Her boyfriend is so handsome
• คนนั้นหล่อที่สุด (kon nan lawh tii sud) – That guy is the most handsome

 

Bonus: Impress Your Boyfriend

You can show your love for your significant other by referring to them with this very sweet phrase:

• สุดหล่อของฉัน (sud lawh kong chan) – My handsome man

Conclusion – Go Tell People They are Handsome

Now that you know how to say handsome in Thai, you can run out and start telling every guy you see that they are หล่อ (lawh).

Looking for more content like this?  Try some of these other basic Thai posts:

• How to Say Cute (and Beautiful) in Thai
• How to Say I Miss You in Thai

Need to know how to tell the time in Thai?  You’ve come to the right place.

Saying the time in Thai is different from English and may seem a little confusing at first, but if you stick with it, and drill the rules covered in this post then you will start to get the hang of it.

First, you’ll need to be confident with Thai numbers. We have a great post all about numbers in Thai so check it out if you haven’t learned those yet.

Already brushed up on Thai numbers? Ok, time to dive in!

Quick Reference for Telling Time in Thai

When telling the time in Thai, the first thing you need to know is that Thai people think about the day a little differently than you might.  In English we split the day up into AM and PM when telling the time, in Thai the day is split up into multiple parts.  Different words are used when telling the time for each of these different parts of the day.  This takes some getting used to so we recommend just learning one part of the day at a time as opposed to trying to memorize this all at once.

Look at the table below to see how the day is split up when telling the time in Thai.  We’ll use the important time word ตอน (ttawn) which means in this case “a period of time,” but it can also function like “at a particular time” depending on how it’s used.

Parts of the Day	Time From / To	Parts of the Day in Thai
Morning	1am - 11:59am	ตอนเช้า (ttawn chao)
Noon	12pm	ตอนเที่ยง (ttawn tee-ang)
Afternoon	1pm - 3pm	ตอนบ่าย - (ttawn baai)
Evening	4pm - 6pm	ตอนเย็น - (ttawn yen)
Night-time	7pm - 11pm	ตอนค่ำ (ttawn kham) *Around 9 or 10pm it switches to "late night" ตอนดึก (ttawn duek)
Midnight	12am	เที่ยงคืน - thii-ang koen

1am – 5am: Morning ตอนเช้า (ttawn chao)

(Use ตี (ttee) + the HOUR)

For telling the times from 1am to 5am the word ตี (ttee) is placed before the number of the hour.  The word ตี (ttee) means to hit or strike and refers to a tradition of a nightwatchman striking a drum on the hour from 1am – 5am.  I’m sure everybody in town appreciated someone making a lot of noise all night.

Time	Thai Script	Transliteration
1am	ตีหนึ่ง	ttii neung
2am	ตีสอง	ttii sorng
3am	ตีสาม	ttii saam
4am	ตีสี่	ttii sii
5am	ตีห้า	ttii haa

6am – 11am: Morning ตอนเช้า – (ttawn chao)

(Use HOUR + โมง (mohng*)

* Sometimes people add เช้า​ (chao) which means “morning” at the end, but it’s usually dropped.

For 6am to 11am use the pattern as in these examples:

• หกโมงเช้า (hok mohng chao)
• เจ็ดโมงเช้า (jet mohng chao)
• แปดโมงเช้า (ppaet mohng chao)

The word โมง (mohng) is named after the sound of a large gong which was traditionally hit hourly on these morning hours.  It also forms part of the word ชั่วโมง (chua mong) which is the Thai word for “hour”.

เช้า (chao) means “morning”.  If it’s clear from the context that you are referring to the morning hours then the word เช้า (chao) will often be dropped so it’s perfectly fine to use just the HOUR + โมง (mohng).

• หกโมง (hok mohng) 6am
• สิบโมง (sip mohng) 10am

Time	Thai Script	Transliteration
6am	หกโมง ( เช้า)	hok mong chao
7am	เจ็ดโมง ( เช้า)	jed mong chao
8am	แปดโมง( เช้า)	ppaed mong chao
9am	เก้าโมง( เช้า)	gao mong chao
10am	สิบโมง ( เช้า)	sip mong chao
11am	สิบเอ็ดโมง( เช้า)	sip ed mong chao

12pm: Noon(time) ตอนเที่ยง (ttawn tee-ang)

เที่ยง (tee-ang) 

The word for midday in Thai is

• เที่ยงวัน (tee-ang wan) – Midday
• ตอนเที่ยง – (ttawn tee-ang) at/around noon

However, in most circumstances วัน (wan) – the Thai word for day – is dropped and เที่ยง (tee-ang) alone is used.  

The word เที่ยง (tee-ang) can also be combined with other words to create a new meaning:

• พักเที่ยง (pak tee-ang) – lunch break
  • พัก (pak) – break; rest 
  • เที่ยง (tee-ang) – midday

• ข้าวเที่ยง (khaao tee-ang) – lunch 
  • ข้าว (khaao) – rice (also used to refer to food generally)
  • เที่ยง (tee-ang) – midday

1pm-3pm: Early Afternoon ตอนบ่าย (ttawn baai)

(Use บ่าย (baai) + HOUR*)

*1pm is an exception.  We just say บ่ายโมง (baai mohng) for 1pm.

In the afternoon – from 1pm to 3pm – the word บ่าย (baai) is used.  

In the case of 1pm, the number 1 is dropped and Thais only say บ่ายโมง (baai mong).  For 2pm and 3pm the number is placed between บ่าย (baai) and โมง (mong).  However, the word โมง (mong) is usually dropped in everyday speech.  So 2pm is บ่ายสอง( โมง) (baai sorng mong) and 3pm is บ่ายสาม( โมง) (baai saam mong).  

Time	Thai Script	Transliteration
1pm	บ่ายโมง	baai mong
2pm	บ่ายสอง( โมง)	baai sorng (mong)
3pm	บ่ายสาม( โมง)	baai saam (mong)

 

4pm – 6pm Evening – ตอนเย็น (ttawn yen)

โมง( เย็น) (mong yen) 

For the times 4pm to 6pm the words HOUR (4, 5 or 6) + โมง (mong yen) are used.  Sometimes, people may add (yen) เย็น afterwards as in ห้าโมงเย็น (haa mohng yen)

The word เย็น (yen) refers early evening –  though when used as an adjective it means cold or cool.  When เย็น (yen) is combined with the Thai word for rice  – ข้าว (khaao) – it means “evening meal” or “dinner.”   This word เย็น (yen) is the same word used when ordering iced (as opposed to hot) drinks like coffee.

• ข้าวเย็น (khaao yen) – dinner
  • ข้าว (khaao) – rice
  • เย็น (yen) – evening

Time	Thai Script	Transliteration
4pm	สี่โมง( เย็น)	sii mong (yen)
5pm	ห้าโมง( เย็น)	haa mong (yen)
6pm	หกโมง( เย็น)	hok mong (yen)

7pm – 11pm: Night ตอนค่ำ (ttawn kham) AND Late-Night ตอนดึก (ttawn duek)

• The word ค่ำ or ตอนค่ำ is often used once it starts getting dark or shortly after dark.  Depending on location and time of year, the time of this can vary, but it functions like “early evening.”
• Once a certain individual time threshold has passed, it becomes “late night” or ตอนดึก (ttawn duek).  We have found that ตอนดึก starts around 9 or 10 pm for most people and goes until midnight after which time it becomes morning again.

Farang Tip:

Please keep in mind that this system is very colloquial and may vary a little bit from person to person and place to place.  Because of this, it’s a good idea to just have a general idea of how the day is split up and gradually learn the time system for each segment of the day separately.

We recommend starting with 6-11 am first, then 4-6 pm as they make the most sense in that it’s just HOUR + time-of-day-word.   Once you can fire off those at will, learn 7-11pm.  And finally, 1-3pm and 1-5am.  It will take a bit of work, but there’s no way around it if you want to really learn how to speak Thai.

Make sure you have mastered the Thai numbers first, of course, or this will be harder than it needs to be.

• หกโมงเช้า (hok mohng chao) 6 AM
  • Literally: Six + Hour + Early (morning)
• หกโมงเย็น (hok mohng yen) 6 Am
  • Literally: Six + Hour + Cold (evening)

ทุ่ม (tum) 

From the hours 7pm to 11pm the word ทุ่ม (tum) is used.  ทุ่ม (tum) is named after the sound of the drum that is hit on the hour during these times.  

This is where things start to get a little unfamiliar for people who are new to Thai language.  According to Thai time – 7pm is the official start of night-time so counting starts again from one. So 7pm is หนึ่งทุ่ม (neung tum) – one “tum”.  8pm is สองทุ่ม (sorng tum) – two “tum” and so on, all the way up to 11pm.  For 7pm, the หนึ่ง (neung) – “one” is often dropped so you will often here people refer to 7pm as just ทุ่ม (tum). 

Time	Thai Script	Transliteration
7pm	หนึ่งทุ่ม OR   ทุ่มหนึ่ง	nueng tum OR tum nueng
8pm	สองทุ่ม	sawng tum
9pm	สามทุ่ม	saam tum
10pm	สี่ทุ่ม	sii tum
11pm	ห้าทุ่ม	haa tum

12am / Midnight

เที่ยงคืน (teeang keun)

Remember how we used the word เที่ยง (teeang) for midday?  Well we can use the same word for midnight combined with the Thai word for “night” – คืน (kuen).  So the Thai word for midnight is:

• เที่ยงคืน (teeang kuen)

How To Say Minutes Past the Hour in Thai

Now that we know how to say the hours in Thai, we need to learn how to say minutes past the hour.  The Thai word for minutes is นาที (naatii).

In Thai it is always minutes past the hour, never minutes to the hour.  For example, in English we can say twenty to eight or five to three whereas in it would always be seven forty or two fifty five. For half past the hour, the word ครึ่ง (kreung) is used however there is also no version of quarter past the hour so in Thai the number fifteen is used instead. 

The structure for saying minutes past the hour in Thai is:

• Hour + minutes past + [ นาที (naatii)]

In every day speech the word นาที (naatii) is often dropped.

Example sentences.

• บ่ายสาม ครึ่ง  (bai saam kreung) – Half past three (in the afternoon)

• สองทุ่ม ยี่สิบห้า (sorng tum yii sip haa) – Eight twenty five (in the evening)

• เจ็ดโมงสี่สิบ (jed mong sii sip) – Seven forty (in the morning)

• ตีสาม ห้าสิบ (ttii saam haa sip) – Three fifty (in the morning)

 

ตอน (tton) + Time Of Day

It’s also useful to understand how Thai people break the day up in to different parts.  When referring to different parts of the day, the word ตอน (tton) is used which acts as a preposition similar to – “at” (night) or “in the” (morning).

• ตอนเช้า (tton chao) – In the morning
• ตอนกลางวัน (tton kklaang wan) – In the day time
• ตอนเที่ยง (tton teeang) – At midday
• ตอนบ่าย (tton bai) – In the afternoon
• ตอนเย็น (tton yen) – In the evening
• ตอนกลางคืน (tton kklaang keun) – At night

Common Thai Time Sentences

• กี่โมง or กี่โมงแล้ว (kkii mong laeo) – What time is it (now)?
  • แล้ว (laeo) – now; already.  This one of the most common words in Thai so it’s useful to know.  It is also used as a past tense indicator showing that something has already happened.  
    • ทำแล้ว (tam laeo) – I’ve done it
    • เสร็จแล้ว (ppai laeo) – I’ve finished
    • ดูแล้ว (duu laeo) – I’ve watched it

• เจอกันกี่โมง (jer gan gii mong) – What time shall we meet?
• เจอกัน ห้าโมง (jer gan haa mong)  – Let’s meet at five o’clock (in the evening)

• รถออกกี่โมง (rot ork gii mong) – What time does the bus leave?

• ร้านปิดกี่โมง (raan ppit gii mong) – What time does the shop close?

• จะไปกี่โมง(ja ppai gii mong) – What time will you go?

Useful Thai Time Vocabulary:

• เวลา (waelaa) – time
• นาฬิกา (naali-kkaa) – clock
• ครึ่ง (kreung) – half
• ชั่วโมง (chua mong) – hour
• นาที (naatii) – minutes
• วินาที (wi-naatii) – seconds *Usually gets shortened to just วิ (wi)

Now, Go Out and Tell the Time in Thai

Now you know how to tell the time in Thai, it’s time to get out there and start practicing.  Want to learn more time related words in Thai?  After you have the hours down, try learning the Thai days and months