Thai Language for Food and Drink

Thai Language for Food and Drink

I could talk about food forever! There’s thousands of articles on it, too. And really, it could be overwhelming! Knowing some Thai Language for food and drink will be helpful. A Thai waiter will hover over you until you order something from their 10 page menu. No joke. Keep calm. Take your time. Be adventurous! And be patient. Truly, everything is made from scratch and will come out in whatever order it’s ready. You may get dessert before your appetizer. Mai pen lai!

Here’s a few key phrases to help you navigate Thai food. 

• Eat. Gin.  Gin khao means “to eat, to take rice” and gin khao mai means “have you eaten?”
• What’s this? Nee ku arai ka/khap. The danger here is that you may have no idea what they say when replying! Charades are good.
• To-go, takeout. Gab baan ka/khap. Eat here. Gin tee nee ka/khap.
• When ordering. One bowl. Neung jan ka/khap. One plate. Neung tuay ka/khap.
• It’s delicious. A-roy ka/khap. Very delicious, a-roy mak ka/khap (like mock). Thais are very proud of their food and this is a great compliment, especially when someone shares a treat with you.
• With and Without. Sai is with, so mai sai (my sigh) is no-with.

Special Diets and Food Allergies

If you have dietary issues, look up the Thai word for your allergy. Take a picture of the Thai word if it’s life and death like peanuts or ask someone at your hotel to write it down for you in Thai. It’s pretty easy to eat low carb or low gluten in Thailand, harder to eat low-salt, low-sugar, and completely vegan. But not impossible! Another concern is cross-contamination. Again, if it’s life or death, bring an epi pen or two. For mild sensitivities, check out Stay Healthy for my tummy tips. 

• Vegans (gin jay) and vegetarians (ben mang sa wirat). Thais don’t view vegetarianism quite like we do – read this for some great insight. If you don’t want noticeable meat chunks, mai sai neu-ah works, but you still may get meat stock or shrimp paste in there.
• Milk – nom. Dairy – rrong reed nom. Luckily, it isn’t a cheesy cuisine so there’s not a lot of sneaky dairy. And there’s coconut milk ice cream to be had!
• Eggs – kai. 
• Coconut – kati or coconut milk – naam kati. 
• Peanuts – phua. Common in some curries and always on som tam papaya salad. Same words is “nuts” in general. 
• Fish – plaa. Shellfish – hoi-ee. Shrimp – goon. Crab – boo. Avoid the fish sauce, too!
• Salt – glua. MSG – poon chu-roat (roat like boat). Soy sauce – see ew. I would say all 3 if you’re on a low sodium diet!
• Sugar – naam tan. 
• Gluten – pang. Again, Thai concept of gluten-free is different than the Western notion. Those just sensitive to gluten will be pleasantly surprised, yay rice! Check out the noodle notes below to find the ones to avoid. 

Food Preparation Language

Many that be familiar from your local Thai restaurant but sound slightly different. There’s a mix of English and Thai on most menus but rarely a list of ingredients, just a poor photo. Here’s a few helpful words to figure out what you’re getting.

• Stir fried – pad or phad. Grilled – yaang. Steamed – toon.
• Rice – khao (like cow). So pad khao means… fried rice! Sticky rice – khao niaw.
• Soup – tom. Tom refers to anything boiled, basically.
• Curry – khang.
• Spicy – pedt. Not spicy – mai sai pedt. A little spicy – pedt nid noi and trust that’s all you should ask for! I love spicy food and can handle it, but Thais take their spicy to a new level! There’s plenty to eat without fire though.
• Snack – ka-nom. They use this word with a lot of little street treats (try them all!).

Language for Main Ingredients

Common Proteins:

• Egg – kai
  • Fried egg – kai dao, you can add to almost anything
  • Hard boiled egg – kai tom sook
  • Soft boiled egg – kai yaang mai toom
  • Scrambled egg – kai koon
  • Omelet – kai jiaw
• Chicken – gai, like guy
• Pork – muu, like sound cows make
• Fish – plaa
• Shrimp or prawns – khung or goon (they come with their heads on most of the time!).
• Seafood, in general – talay.
• Beef – new-wah The least common protein, more beef is raised in the South though and easier to find at Muslim restaurants instead of pork of course.
• Tofu – tao-woo Big note on the tofu – the soft tofu is made with eggs! You’ll see it as soft golden rounds in soups especially. It’s delicious, aroy, but not strictly vegan.

Animal products, in general, or meat. Neua.

Vegetables, in general. Pak (like TuPac). Favorite unique vegetable is pak boo, morning glory, a leafy green vegetable. I love my greens!

Language for Noodles

Like in Italy, each different shape and size of noodle (bahmi) has a different name. Spaghetti noodle is not a macaroni noodle! Here are some common ones.

Best bet for gluten-free and vegan:

• Wide rice noodles sen yai – like in Drunken Noodles
• Small rice noodles sen lek – like in Pad Thai
• Vermicelli sen mee are fine round rice noodles and
• Glass noodles woon sen are made from mung beans. They look similar and can be hot or cold, woonsen is my favorite.

Not gluten-free nor vegan:

• Yellow egg noodles sen ba-mee or meliung are made from wheat flour and egg.
• Wontons kiaw, stuffed with pork or fish depending on the soup. Sometime vegetables. Also made with wheat flour and egg. 
• Italian-style spaghetti – sapa-get-tee, not uncommon actually to find a spaghetti-type dish but heads up, the tomato sauce will be way sweeter than you expect! Same goes with pizza….

Language for Fruit

There are so many delicious Thai fruits (ponlamai)! Half the battle is figuring out how to eat them! Most fruit vendors will have things cut up and ready to eat (watermelon, pineapple, pink apple). Or you buy it by the kilo, then you peel the hard skin away to find the soft fruit inside (mangosteen, longan, rambutan, lychee). Try them all! You’ll also find smoothies readily available, and super delicious!

My favorites are:

• Pink Thai Apple – chompoo which is like a cross between an apple and a pear, seeds in the middle, eat like an apple but softer like a pear.
• Mangosteen – mang-khut, tough purple outside with soft sweet inside, eat like an orange with seeds.
• Longan – lam-yai, tough papery brown outside covering something like a grape inside but sweeter, peel and eat like an orange with seeds.
• Rambutan – ngor, spikey green and red outside shell peeled away for fleshy sweet inside, eat like an orange with seeds.
• Lychee – lin-chee, also sweet and tangy with an inedible pink shell, but I never saw them in shell, they were always peeled and ready to eat, with seeds in them.
• Dragon fruit – gow man-gon, tastes like a mild kiwi to me, comes in rich magenta or white flesh with tiny black edible seeds (like kiwi) after you get past the leafy bright pink exterior, served sliced in rounds.
• Watermelon – tangmo, served in chunks with seeds.
• Pineapple – sappa rot, served sliced.
• Mango – muang, tough outer skin, served sliced.
• Guava – farang, similar to a mango with a paler bumpy green outer skin with inside seeds like a tomato but inedible, tangy and tropical, served sliced.
• Lime and lemon – ma now, yeah same word, you may get lime and you may get lemon! Mai pen lai!
• Banana – gluay, helps with rehydration and easy to find at 7 Elevens in plastic wraps or by the bunch on the street. 
• Durian – turian, a giant fruit the size of two footballs, it’s green and bumpy, the fruit itself is soft and yellow and smells like… stinky blue cheese? It has a strong tangy custard taste and texture if you can get past the smell.
• Jackfruit – ka-noon, similar to durian but less stinky, still rather pungent, this one actually has a buzz in your mouth.

Durian and jackfruit are the stinky fruits. Try them, I dare you! I liked them best when served like mango sticky rice, with the fruit over sticky rice with sweetened condensed milk drizzled over. Best to order them prepared at a restaurant versus on the street. Forbidden to bring back to most hotels and other public places!

Language for Drinks

• Drinking water – naam plao. Ice – naam khing. Naam refers to anything liquid really, like naam pla, fish sauce.
• Hot – rorn 
• Iced – yen
• Coffee – kafae
• Tea – cha. Red ceylon is the default usually, black tea is dam, green tea is keow.
• Soda – usually by brand like Pepsi, Coke, or Fanta.
• Fruit juice – nam ponlamai. Also called nam+fruit name like nam song (orange juice), nam appun (apple juice), and nam tabtim (pomegranate juice), nam sappa rot (pineapple juice), nam tangmo (watermelon juice), and nam muang (mango juice) for some common ones. 
• Beer – bee-ah, usually by brand like Chang (pronounced chong), Leo or Singha (siing) for local Thai beers. The are all giant beverage corporations like Pepsi and Coke in America. Almost always served with a glass of ice! Which may seem appalling but it’s actually delicious. You’ll have the choice of yai (small) or lek (large).
• Cocktails – cock-tayo. This can get extensive so I’ll get into cocktails more with the Sanuk: Having Fun in Thailand post! Most places with cocktails cater to tourists so the menus are pretty easy. Coming soon…

My Most Frequently Used Food Phrases

Neung hao kai jiaw mai sai muu sai pak, ka. One egg omelet over rice no pork with vegetables, please. 

Neung kafae yen mai sai nom mai sai naam tan, ka. One iced coffee no milk no sugar, please.

Neung tuay pad ka pow muu sai kai dai, pedt nid noi, ka. One plate little-spicy pork basil stir fry with a fried egg, please.

Song gai sai kow niaw sai nam jim gai, ka. Two pieces of chicken with sticky rice and sweet chili sauce, please. (My very favorite street foods are the fried or barbequed chicken on a stick. Aroy mak! A couple of pieces of chicken with the chili sauce and fruit = amazing cheap meal!)

Neung jan keow tuay woonse ga da muu sai cap muu gab baan, ka. One bowl of rice noodle with pork bone soup and fried pork skins to go, please. (It took me half a year to figure out how to get my favorite soup to-go and here it is! I’m obsessed with these soups, if you haven’t heard already.)

I hope this helps you navigate the Thai food world – take what you need and leave the rest. Remember there are different dialects throughout Thailand so be patient and just practice!