Being able to ask “How are you” is an essential phrase to know!

There are a couple of ways to ask How are you in Thai. In this post, I will show you the most common ways and as well as some example sentences.

⭐️ Please remember to always end the sentences with Ka if you are a female and Krap if you are male! To learn more about Krap and Ka, please see our article.

Ways to ask How are you in Thai

bpen yang ngai bâang เป็นยังไงบ้าง

I’d say this is the most common way to ask How are you in Thai. bpen yang ngai bâang actually translates more to “how’s it going?” or “what’s new?”.

เป็น (bpen) means to “to be”.

ยังไง (yang ngai) translates to “how?” and it is a shortened way of saying อย่างไร (yàang rai).

บ้าง (bâang) is used when you are expecting more than 1 answer. For example, if you are asking “how are you” to someone who was on vacation and you expect the answer will include several things.

Example:

• How are you? (how are things?)
  เป็นยังไงบ้าง
  bpen yang ngai bâang
  
  
  It was fun, I went to the beach, played in the water, and then watched a movie with my family.
  สนุกดี · ไปทะเลเล่นน้ำแล้วก็ดูหนังกับครอบครัว
  sà-nùk dee · bpai tá-lay lâyn náam láew gôr doo năng gàp krôp krua

bpen ngai เป็นไง

This version is the shortened version of the above. This one is more like “what’s up”. It is a bit less formal.

ไง (ngai) by itself is just a short way of saying ยังไง (yang ngai), which as explained above means “how”.

Example:

• How are you?
  เป็นไง
  bpen ngai
  
  
  I am doing well.
  สบายดี
  sà-baai dee
  

sà-baai dee măi สบายดีไหม

sà-baai dee măi is probably the way you have learned to ask “how are you” in Thai. This version definitely works and is used, however, it is a bit formal.

สบายดี sà-baai dee means to be fine (sà-baai = comfortable, dee = good). ไหม (măi) is a yes or no question. So literally sà-baai dee măi is like asking “are you fine?”.

You might also hear สบายหรือเปล่า sà-baai dee rĕu bplào. This is exactly the same except that หรือเปล่า translates to “or not”. So this version is like asking “are you fine or not?”.

Example:

• How are you?
  สบายดีไหม
  sà-baai dee
  
  
  I am feeling sick 🤒.
  ฉันป่วย
  chăn bpùay

Another common way to respond to sà-baai dee măi is by just saying sà-baai dee -> Which I explained just means “to be fine”.

Other ways to reply to How are you question in Thai

Let’s learn a few other ways you might respond to How are you questions in Thai language.

• I’m fine
  สบายดี
  sà-baai dee
  
  
• I’m okay
  ก็ดี
  gôr dee
  
  
• I’m not feeling well
  ไม่ค่อยสบายเท่าไร
  mâi kôi sà-baai tâo rai

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I hope you now know how to say How are you in Thai. Use either bpen yang ngai bâang, sà-baai dee măi, or any of the other versions I taught you above (depending on the situation).