Ordering Food In Thai: 10 Phrases You Need To Know

Ordering food in Thai on yellow background with backdrop of assorted Thai dishes

Ordering food in Thai is a very necessary skill that you need to learn when visiting Thailand. Thai food is amongst the most popular in the world – and for good reason! There are so many flavors and tastes that make up the cuisine in Thailand, so there is a lot of variety. There is the spicy, the sweet, the savory, and the sour. Together, they make some of the best dishes you will ever try.

While many restaurants in tourist areas will likely understand English to an extent, learning the Thai words and phrases will really open up more opportunity to try the local cuisine in a more authentic and likely cheaper way. So here are some important words and phrases you need to know when you’re ordering food in Thai.

Pad Thai dish on wooden table surface

Ordering Food in Thai

Ordering food in Thai can be pretty scary at first. I mean, what if they don’t understand you? Will they laugh and joke about us with their colleague? I can’t answer that, but I will say that in order (no pun intended) to learn Thai or any language, you need to be confident. At least give these ways of ordering food a try!

One thing to mention here is that you will see a lot of the word ขอ (kɔ̌ɔ). This makes sense as it is the Thai equivalent to the word ‘please’. If you want to appear polite in Thailand, then this is a word you should remember and use when ordering foods in Thai.

The Food Culture of Thailand

Did you know that some local Thai apartments do not have a kitchen or ครัว (krua) as they are known in Thai? This just goes to show how popular the street food and eating out culture is in Thailand. It’s because food is tasty and inexpensive, especially if you know where to eat and what to order. 

However, as good as eating out can be, it does mean that you no longer have control on the ingredients. Sometimes, you may want to cut down on things, or even add more of something. Thankfully, you can learn a few phrases to let the chef know what you want.

Asking For The Menu

Let’s start from the beginning. You find a really nice little restaurant you want to try a nice Thai soup in, so you find yourself a seat or approach the owner. What would be the first thing you ask? Well, if you go to a restaurant or somewhere that has a menu, you can ask for it by saying:

Thai: ขอดูเมนู ครับ/ค่ะ (kɔ̌ɔ duu mee nuu kráp/kâ)

English: Can I see the menu, please?

While you may have looked into reading the Thai language, it may take some time before you’re fluent enough to read menus. If that is the case, it is best to look and see what ingredients they have in their cart to get a good idea of what kind of food they’re offering.

Asking For A Specific Dish

However, if you want to order something from a street food stand, but it is not obvious if they have something, you can ask a simple question:

Thai: ขอโทษ ครับ/ค่ะ มีข้าวเหนียวมั้ย ครับ/ค่ะ (kɔ̌ɔ tôot kráp/kâ mii kâao nǐao mái kráp/kâ)

English: Excuse me, do you have sticky rice?

Of course, you can fill in whichever dish you are looking for in the middle of the phrase, but we’re just using sticky rice as an example. 

Making Your Order

Anyway, if the answer to the question above is yes, then you can say:

Thai: ฉันขอสั่งข้าวเหนียว ครับ/ค่ะ (chǎn kɔ̌ɔ sàng kâao nǐao kráp/kâ)

English: I would like to order sticky rice, please.

The phrase ‘I would like to order…’ in Thai is ฉันขอสั่ง (chǎn kɔ̌ɔ sàng) where ขอสั่ง (kɔ̌ɔ sàng) means ‘to order’ in Thai. That should definitely be one of the Thai verbs you should take the time to learn well. However, you can also use the word เอา (ao), meaning ‘want’ or ‘take’ in Thai:

Thai: ฉันเอาข้าวเหนียว ครับ/ค่ะ (chǎn ao kâao nǐao kráp/kâ)

English: I want sticky rice.

It may not be as polite as the option above, but it is not rude either. It gives off a neutral tone, so don’t worry too much!

Ordering Drinks In Thai

Feeling thirsty? Why not order a nice drink with your food. Forming phrases to ask for something is usually quite easy. It is usually just a case of placing the word ขอ (kɔ̌ɔ) before the thing you want to ask for, as well as the amount. For example:

Thai: ขอน้ำหนึ่งแก้ว (kɔ̌ɔ náam nʉ̀ng gɛ̂ɛo)

English: May I have a glass of water?

If you are more of a beer drinker, you can ask for a cold one with the phrase:

Thai: ขอเบียร์หนึ่งขวด (kɔ̌ɔ bia nʉ̀ng kùat)

English: I’d like a bottle of beer.

However, the thing that makes this a bit tricky is that you need to use the right Thai classifier. What is that? Well, they are a type of word that is used to classify or count nouns. In English, we say a pair of trousers, where ‘pair; is the classifier. They have them in Thai too, as you can see in the examples here.

For drinks, the most important would be the ขวด (kùat), meaning a bottle, and แก้ว (gɛ̂ɛo), meaning glass. Honestly, if you use them somewhat often, then you will remember these easily, but it is worth pointing out.

Talking About Flavors In Thai

Here are the words for some of the flavors you can encounter when having some popular local Thai foods:

EnglishThaiPronunciationSound
Saltyเค็มkem
Sweetหวานwǎan
Spicyเผ็ดpèt
Bitterขมkǒm
Sourเปรี้ยวbprîao

To say you want a little bit of something, you can use นิดหน่อย (nít nɔ̀ɔi), or a ‘little bit’:

Thai: เผ็ดนิดหน่อย (pèt nít nɔ̀ɔi)

English: A little spicy.

If you want a lot of something, you can use มาก (mâak), which means very:

Thai: เผ็ดมาก (pèt mâak)

English: Very spicy.

Or you could even say:

Thai: เผ็ดมากมาก (pèt mâak mâak)

English: Very, very spicy.

When repeating a word like มาก (mâak), it intensifies its meaning, and so you would use this if it was really spicy. As the saying goes: ไม่เผ็ดไม่อร่อย (mâi pèt mâi à rɔ̂ɔi) – if it’s not spicy, it’s not tasty!

Saying this is a sure way to get a smile from a Thai friend, as they love spicy food. As such, if you really want to make sure you don’t get any spiciness, you can use ไม่ใส่ (mâi sài) to let them know not to put something in the food.

Thai: ไม่ใส่พริก (mâi sài prík)

English: Do not add chili.

Thai: ไม่ใส่เกลือ (mâi sài glʉa)

English: Do not add salt.

How Do You Say ‘Ordering Food’ In Thai?

‘Ordering food’ in Thai is การสั่งอาหาร (gaan sàng aa hǎan) .

Ordering food in Thai is as easy as using the vocabulary you learned above, in addition to these terms below:

EnglishThaiPronunciationSound
Ordering food/To order foodการสั่งอาหารgaan sàng aa hǎan
Ordering drinks/To order drinksการสั่งเครื่องดื่มgaan sàng krʉ̂ang dʉ̀ʉm
The bill, pleaseเช็คบิลchék bin
What dishes do you recommend?คุณแนะนำอาหารอะไรดี?kun nɛ́ nam aa hǎan à rai dii
This is really delicious!อร่อยจริงๆ!à rɔ̂ɔi jing jing

If you’re itching for more related phrases and vocabulary, the Ling app is what you’re looking for. Check it out now!

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Do I Order Food In Thai?

To order food in Thai, you can say ฉันขอสั่ง (chǎn kɔ̌ɔ sàng) followed by the dish that you want to order. For example, if you’d like Pad Thai, you’d say ฉันขอสั่งผัดไทย (chǎn kɔ̌ɔ sàng pàt tai).

2. How Do You Say ‘I’m Hungry’ In Thai?

To express that you’re hungry in Thai, you can say ฉันหิว (chǎn hǐu). Alternatively, you can also say ฉันหิวข้าว (chǎn hǐu kâao), to specify that you’re craving food.

3. How Do I Ask For The Menu In Thai?

To ask for the menu in Thai, the phrase you’re looking for is ขอดูเมนู (kɔ̌ɔ duu mee nuu). Follow this up with either ครับ (kráp) if you’re male or ค่ะ (kâ) if you’re female for added politeness.

Thai street food stand

Bon Appétit!

Of course, to really master ordering food in Thai, you will need to know the Thai word for what you want to eat, so make sure you practice your food vocabulary – whether that is the names of meats in Thai, or fruits in Thai. Otherwise, these phrases are quick and easy to remember and will be very helpful when trying Thai food.

Also, don’t forget to learn the Thai numbers! It will make paying for your food much less of a hassle. In a restaurant, you can ask for the check by either saying เก็บเงินด้วย (gèp ngəən dûai) or เช็คบิล (chék bin). Otherwise, you can walk up to the owner of the stall or shop and ask เท่าไร (tâo rai) which means ‘how much?’

Many people come to visit Thailand for the food alone. It is obvious why – lots of fresh, tropical fruits, unique flavors, in addition to regional specialties such as the hearty northern Thai dishes make it an important stop for anyone who loves to eat. Being able to walk down almost any street and find something new to try never gets old.

Now, armed with these words and phrases, ordering food in Thai should be much easier. Bon appétit!

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