The easiest way to say hello in Thai is by saying sà-wàt-dii (สวัสดี). If you are a woman you add ค่ะ (kâ) at the end, and if you are a man you add ครับ (kráp) at the end.

The kâ and kráp are just particles that Thai people add at the end of sentences to sound respectful.

So, women say สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii kâ) and men say สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii kráp).

By the way, to say goodbye in Thai, you can use the exact same words สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dee kâ) for women and สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dee kráp) for men. But it is more common to say เจอกัน (jer gan) which translates more to “see you later”. To read more about different ways to say goodbye in Thai, check out my article.

With this information, you can already say “hello” and “bye” in Thai. But if you want to know other ways to say hello and how to do the wai (ไหว้), read on.

Remember to add ค่ะ (kâ) at the end of sentences if you are a woman, and if you are a man add ครับ (kráp) at the end.

Other ways to say hello in Thai

Other ways of greeting and saying hello that is not the one I already taught (sà-wàt-dii) are:

wàt dii หวัดดี

This is the short version of สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii). This version is very commonly used.

han-lŏh ฮัลโหล

This is like saying “hello” in English, but Thais pronounce it “han-lŏh“. I often hear this version when you greet someone on the phone.

bpen yang ngai bâang เป็นยังไงบ้าง

“Bpen yang ngai bâang” is like saying “how’s everything going?”.

sà-baai dii măi สบายดีไหม

“Sà-baai dii măi“, this version is like saying “is everything fine?” or “how are you?”, but it is a bit formal.

To learn more ways to greet in Thai and how to ask how are you, check out my article.

What is it and how to do the wai

If you want to greet exactly like a Thai then you have to do the Wai.

The ไหว้ wâai is when you put your hands together as if to pray, put your hands in front of your chest and bow your head down a little.

You can use the wai to say goodbye, to say hello, to say thank you, ask for forgiveness, or to show respect.

Visit my article on the Thai Wai to learn more.

Summary

To summarize, if you want to say hello in the Thai language you can use สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii), หวัดดี (wàt-dii), or one of the other versions I taught you.

If you want to say good evening, good morning, good night, or good afternoon in Thai, check out my article.