20 Travel Phrases You Should Know

Learn 20 travel phrases you should know

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Lesson Transcript

Hello! Welcome back to Thai Top Words. I’m Jay and today, we will be doing 20 travel phrases you should know. Okay, let’s begin!

1. ขอแผนที่ได้มั้ย (khǎaw phăaen thîi dâi măi) “Could I get a map?”

Well, I don’t know about you guys, but for me actually, I don’t ask people for a map because even if I have one, I don’t know how to read it. I don’t know like I normally use my phone, the Google map, and then follow the direction strictly rather than having a physical map and read and get lost.

2. คุณพูดภาษาอังกฤษได้มั้ย (khun phûut phaa-sǎa ang-grìt dâi mái) “Do you speak English?”

3. มีรถบัสจากสนามบินเข้ามาในเมืองบ้างมั้ย (mii rót bát jàak sà-năam bin khâo maa nai muueang bâang mái) “Is there a bus from the airport to the city?”

If you happen to go to Bangkok and then you land at Suvarnabhumi Airport, I think the easiest way is not to get a bus. I’m not even sure if there’s a bus there, but you can easily take a train directly from the airport to the city center.

4. Wi-Fi ฟรีหรือเปล่า? (Wi-Fi frii rǔue bplào) “Is the Wi-Fi free?”

In Thailand, I believe that if you go to a coffee shop which there are plenty of it in the city, most of them will provide you with free Wi-Fi, but recently, I think they get smarter so that you have to buy a cup of coffee to get a password or anything.

5. ยังมีห้องพักว่างอยู่ไหมคะ (yang mii hâawng phák wâang yùu măi khá) “Do you have any vacancies?”

So you use this phrase often when you call for a reservation at a hotel and you want to know if they have any vacant room left for you.

6. ขอย้ายห้องได้มั้ย (khǎaw yáai hâawng dâi mái) “Could I move to a different room?”

7. ฉันจองเอาไว้ (chăn jaawng ao wái) “I have a reservation.”

This phrase, you can use it at a restaurant or a hotel or anything that you have reserved.

8. ขอเมนูได้มั้ยคะ (khǎaw mee-nuu dâi mái khá) “Could we have the menu, please?”

So if you are a girl like me then you put คะ (khá) at the end. If you are a guy then it would be ขอเมนูได้มั้ยครับ (khǎaw mee-nuu dâi mái khráp).

9. ฉัน/ผมขอบิลได้มั้ย (chǎn/phǒm khǎaw bin dâi mái) “Could I have the bill?”

ฉัน/ผมขอบิลได้มั้ย (chǎn/phǒm khǎaw bin dâi mái) “Could I have the bill” or the check?

So this is something that you get before you pay it. In Thai, we don’t have this word that’s why we use the English word “bill”, but the pronunciation of course is different. We call it บิล (bin) like B-I-N, (bin).

But, if you want the receipt which is something that you get after you have really paid then in Thai, it is ใบเสร็จ (bai-sèt). So you can ask the same question, just change the noun. You can say ฉันขอใบเสร็จได้มั้ย (chǎn khǎaw bai-sèt dâi mǎi) “Could I have the receipt?”

10. ฉันแพ้ถั่วลิสง (chǎn pháae thùua-lí-sŏng) “I'm allergic to peanuts.”

11. ขอน้ำหน่อย (khǎaw nám nàauy) “Water, please.”

If you want to make it softer then you better put particles at the end; either formal particles, polite particles like คะ (khá) or ครับ (khráp), or just a normal particle to make the phrase seems softer, like นะ (na).

ขอน้ำหน่อยคะ (khǎaw nám nàauy khá), ขอน้ำหน่อยครับ (khá nám nàauy khráp), ขอน้ำหน่อยนะ (khǎaw nám nàauy na).

But I think the most natural way to ask is to put the word ได้มั้ย (dâi mái) like “could I...”

ขอน้ำหน่อยได้มั้ยคะ (khǎaw nám nàauy dâi mái khá) “Could I get water, please?”

12. อันนี้ราคาเท่าไหร่ (an níi raa-khaa thâo rài) “How much is this?”

If you go to Thailand, you will use this question a lot because in Thailand, there are a lot of street stalls that do not have a price tag so you have to ask the seller the price rather than being able to read it from the price tag yourself.

13. ฉันเอา 10 อัน (chăn ao sìp an) “I'd like ten of these.”

I’ll give you a little trick. In Thailand, if you go there and you buy there a lot like 10 pieces of anything, then you can just ask for a little bit of discount. I think they will give it to you.

14. ฉันอยากได้อันนี้ (chăn yàak dâi an nii) “I’d like this.”

Okay, since I just gave you a little trick, I’ll give you one more trick. This sentence, “I would like this. I want this.” ฉันอยากได้อันนี้ (chăn yàak dâi an nii), is okay if you talk with your friends or someone that accompany you to buy something; your family, your mom, but it’s better not to say it out loud that a seller could hear you so they will know that, okay, you really like it, you really want it, and they will be more strict on you in terms of price.

15. ลดให้หน่อยได้มั้ย (lót hâi nàauy dâi mái) “Could you give me a discount?”

Okay, here it comes, the most useful word to go shopping in Thailand; ลดให้หน่อยได้มั้ย (lót nàauy dâi mái) “Could you give me a discount?”

To make it softer or to make it more polite, maybe probably they could give you more discount, you can add, as always, คะ (khá) and ครับ (khráp) at the end.

ลดให้หน่อยได้มั้ยคะ (lót hâi nàauy dâi mái khá) for girls, and ลดให้หน่อยได้มั้ยครับ (lót hâi nàauy dâi mái khráp) for guys.

16. สถานีรถไฟอยู่ที่ไหน? (sà-thăa-nii rót-fai yùu thîi nǎi) “Where is the train station?”

In Bangkok, we have two companies for trains which are BTS and MRT. So if you can’t remember this word สถานีรถไฟ (sà-thăa-nii rót-fai) or “train station”, you can just use the word MRT or BTS when you ask for direction. For example, MRT อยู่ที่ไหน? (MRT yùu thîi nǎi?) “Where is the MRT?”. BTS อยู่ที่ไหน? (BTS yùu thîi nǎi?) “Where is the BTS?”.

17. รับบัตรเครดิตมั้ย (ráp bàt-khee-dìt mái) “Do you take credit card?”

In Thailand, I think every stores in department stores take credit cards, but then it’s better to have cash with you because you know that in Thailand, there are a lot of street stalls that only take cash.

18. ขอโทษนะคะ ค่าโดยสารราคาเท่าไหร่คะ (khǎaw-thôot ná khá khâa-dooi-sǎan raa-khaa thâo-rài khá) “Excuse me, what is the fare?”

That’s for girls so if it’s a guy then you just change the คะ (khá) to ครับ (khráp).

19. คุณช่วยถ่ายรูปให้ฉันหน่อยได้มั้ย (khun chûuai thàai-rûup hâai chǎn nàauy dâi mái) “Could you take a picture of me, please?”

20. นี่เป็นรถบัสไปสนามบินใช่มั้ย (nîi bpen rót bát bpai sà-năam bin châi mái) “Is this the right bus for the airport?”

I think there are two words for the word “bus” in Thai. It’s either รถบัส (rót bát) or รถเมล์ (rót mee). รถบัส (Rót bát) is a day bus or night bus like from one location directly to another location like from maybe from the airport to the city center. But if it’s a regular local bus that stop at every bus stop, then we call it รถเมล์ (rót mee), so know the difference and use it right.

Okay, we are done for today’s lesson. So what phrases do you like the most? For me, it would be ลดให้หน่อยได้มั้ยคะ (lót hâai nàauy dâi mái khá) “Could you give me a discount?” I use it very often. So how about you guys? If we have your favorite phrases or words, let me know in the comment below and please don’t forget to subscribe to our channel, like the video and visit our website at ThaiPod101.com. See you next time! Bye-bye.