Thai does not need to reproduce every English passive. If the actor is a natural topic, an active clause is often clearest. If the actor is recoverable or irrelevant, Thai can omit it without adding a passive marker. If the point is a current state, a result predicate may be enough. ถูก, โดน, and ได้รับ are chosen for particular affectedness and register effects, not as automatic equivalents of English be + participle.
The right question is therefore not “How do I turn this English sentence passive?” Ask what the Thai listener should update: who acted, what happened to an affected participant, what state now holds, or what event exists in the current situation.
A practical choice table
| What you want to foreground | Natural Thai strategy | Model |
|---|---|---|
| important actor | agent + verb + patient | ช่างซ่อมเครื่องแล้ว |
| event, actor recoverable | zero subject + verb + patient | ส่งเอกสารแล้ว |
| current result | entity + result/state + อยู่/แล้ว | ประตูปิดอยู่ |
| adverse affected participant | patient + ถูก/โดน + event | รถถูกชน / รถโดนชน |
| formal receipt or recognized outcome | participant + ได้รับ + noun/result | โครงการได้รับอนุมัติ |
| impersonal institutional event | มีการ + event nominalization | มีการเปลี่ยนแปลงกำหนดการ |
Keep the actor active when it matters
English uses passive voice for many stylistic reasons, including keeping an object as the grammatical subject. Thai often makes the responsible person or institution the topic instead.
ฝ่ายไอทีแก้ปัญหาระบบเรียบร้อยแล้วครับ
fai ai thi kae panha rabop riaproi laeo khrap
The system problem has been resolved by IT. (ordinary polite workplace update, male speaker; natural Thai active order)
พนักงานส่งพัสดุออกไปเมื่อเช้าค่ะ
phanak ngan song phatsadu ok pai muea chao kha
The parcel was sent out by an employee this morning. (ordinary polite report, female speaker; actor stated actively)
In both English translations the patient can be grammatical subject, but the Thai actors are relevant and straightforward. Adding ถูก would foreground affectedness; adding formal โดย would make the sentence heavier.
An active clause can also avoid accidental adversity. คณะกรรมการเลือกคุณนิดเป็นหัวหน้าทีม neutrally reports the committee’s decision; คุณนิดถูกเลือก... is possible, but it casts Khun Nit as the participant selected and may add a sense of undergoing the choice.
คณะกรรมการเลือกคุณนิดเป็นหัวหน้าทีมค่ะ
khana kammakan lueak khun nit pen hua na thim kha
Khun Nit was selected as team leader by the committee. (formal-neutral active report, female speaker)
Omit a recoverable or irrelevant actor
Thai licenses zero arguments when discourse makes them recoverable. A service worker can say ส่งให้แล้วค่ะ “It has been sent,” with both the sender and object understood. This is not a passive suffix hidden in the verb; it is ordinary argument omission.
ตรวจเอกสารครบแล้วครับ เหลือแค่ลงนาม
truat ekkasan khrop laeo khrap luea khae long nam
The documents have all been checked; only the signature remains. (ordinary polite workplace update, male speaker; checker omitted as irrelevant)
แจ้งลูกค้าแล้วค่ะ เดี๋ยวส่งสำเนาให้ฝ่ายบัญชี
chaeng luk kha laeo kha diao song samnao hai fai banchi
The customer has been informed; I'll send a copy to Accounting shortly. (ordinary polite update, female speaker; speaker recoverable from context)
English normally needs a passive to omit the actor grammatically. Thai can simply leave a topical or obvious participant unspoken. Omission is licensed by recoverability, not random deletion.
Describe the result instead of an event
English be + participle can describe either an action or the state resulting from it. Thai often selects a direct state predicate when no event or agent is asserted.
ประตูห้องประชุมปิดอยู่ครับ
pratu hong prachum pit yu khrap
The meeting-room door is closed. (ordinary polite description, male speaker; maintained state, no closing event asserted)
แก้วใบนี้แตกแล้วค่ะ ใช้ไม่ได้แล้ว
kaeo bai ni taek laeo kha chai mai dai laeo
This glass is broken now and can no longer be used. (ordinary polite warning, female speaker; resulting state)
ประตูถูกพนักงานปิด reports an event affecting the door. ประตูปิดอยู่ describes its current state. แก้วถูกทำแตก can report causation, but bare แก้วแตกแล้ว is natural when the broken result is all that matters. See resultant states.
Choose passive markers for their own meanings
Use ถูก when an affected participant is foregrounded, including many neutral formal passives. Use โดน for conversational, usually adverse affectedness. Use ได้รับ for receipt and established formal outcomes.
รถรับส่งถูกต้นไม้ล้มทับระหว่างพายุครับ
rot rap song thuk ton mai lom thap rawang phayu khrap
The shuttle was crushed by a falling tree during the storm. (formal-neutral report, male speaker; strongly affected patient)
เมื่อวานฉันโดนลูกค้าต่อว่าทางโทรศัพท์ค่ะ
muea wan chan don luk kha to wa thang thorasap kha
Yesterday I got told off by a customer over the phone. (ordinary polite conversation, female speaker; colloquial adversity)
ทีมของเราได้รับรางวัลด้านบริการครับ
thim khong rao dai rap rangwan dan borikan khrap
Our team received a service award. (formal-neutral report, male speaker; beneficial receipt)
The event and participant structure decide the strategy. A pleasant award does not naturally call for adverse โดน; an unwanted scolding does not become formal merely because English uses passive voice.
Formal impersonal มีการ
Official and institutional Thai can use มีการ + event nominalization to announce that an event occurred or will occur without selecting an affected patient as subject.
พรุ่งนี้จะมีการปรับปรุงระบบตั้งแต่เที่ยงคืนค่ะ
phrung ni cha mi kan prapprung rabop tangtae thiang khuen kha
The system will be upgraded from midnight tomorrow. (formal service announcement, female voice; impersonal event presentation)
This construction is useful but formal. In ordinary conversation, พรุ่งนี้จะปรับปรุงระบบ or ทีมช่างจะปรับปรุงระบบ is lighter. มีการ presents the occurrence; it does not promote a patient like ระบบจะถูกปรับปรุง.
Passive and longer participant chains
When the event includes a command, causative, or benefactive, choose a viewpoint and then track roles inside the chain.
พนักงานใหม่ถูกหัวหน้าสั่งให้โทรขอโทษลูกค้าภายในวันนี้ครับ
phanak ngan mai thuk hua na sang hai tho kho thot luk kha phai nai wan ni khrap
The new employee was ordered by the supervisor to call and apologize to the customer today. (formal-neutral report, male speaker; employee affected by order and actor of apology)
An active alternative, หัวหน้าสั่งให้พนักงานโทรขอโทษลูกค้า, foregrounds the supervisor. The passive is useful only when the employee’s experience or discourse status motivates it. ให้ introduces the ordered event; it is not an infinitive marker.
Ordinary-polite dialogue
Two coworkers edit a customer update.
ประโยคนี้เขียนว่าเอกสารถูกส่งโดยฝ่ายเรา ดีไหมคะ
prayok ni khian wa ekkasan thuk song doi fai rao di mai kha
This sentence says the documents were sent by our department. Does that sound good? (polite question, female speaker)
ถ้าต้องการเน้นว่าใครส่ง เขียนว่าฝ่ายเราส่งเอกสารดีกว่าครับ
tha tongkan nen wa khrai song khian wa fai rao song ekkasan di kwa khrap
If you want to emphasize who sent them, it's better to write that our department sent the documents. (ordinary polite reply, male speaker)
ถ้าไม่ทราบว่าใครส่ง ละประธานได้ไหมคะ
tha mai sap wa khrai song la prathan dai mai kha
If we don't know who sent them, can we omit the subject? (polite question, female speaker)
ได้ครับ เขียนว่าส่งเอกสารแล้วก็พอ
dai khrap khian wa song ekkasan laeo ko pho
Yes. Writing ‘the documents have been sent’ is enough. (ordinary polite reply, male speaker; sender omitted)
Common Mistakes
1. Translating every English passive with ถูก
❌ อาหารกลางวันถูกกินตอนเที่ยงครับ
Unnatural for a neutral routine report; the passive needlessly foregrounds the food as affected.
✅ พวกเรากินอาหารกลางวันตอนเที่ยงครับ
phuak rao kin ahan klang wan ton thiang khrap
We eat lunch at noon. (ordinary polite report, male speaker; natural active order)
2. Using a passive for a pure state
❌ ตอนนี้ประตูเป็นถูกปิดอยู่ค่ะ
Incorrect English-style copular stacking; Thai does not insert เป็น before a passive or result expression.
✅ ตอนนี้ประตูทางเข้าปิดอยู่ค่ะ
ton ni pratu thang khao pit yu kha
The entrance door is closed right now. (ordinary polite information, female speaker; maintained state)
3. Making the English patient the Thai subject by mistake
❌ ผมถูกส่งเอกสารให้ลูกค้าแล้วครับ
Incorrect for the intended meaning ‘I sent the documents’; this wording presents ผม as the person affected by someone else's sending.
✅ ผมส่งเอกสารให้ลูกค้าแล้วครับ
phom song ekkasan hai luk kha laeo khrap
I sent the documents to the customer. (ordinary polite report, male speaker; known actor kept active)
4. Using adversative โดน for a neutral award
❌ บริษัทโดนมอบรางวัลด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมค่ะ
Register and stance mismatch for a neutral favorable announcement; โดน presents an imposed affected event.
✅ บริษัทได้รับรางวัลด้านสิ่งแวดล้อมค่ะ
borisat dai rap rangwan dan sing waetlom kha
The company received an environmental award. (formal-neutral announcement, female speaker)
5. Treating แล้ว as a passive ending
❌ เครื่องแล้วซ่อมเมื่อเช้าครับ
Incorrect—แล้ว neither passivizes nor moves before the event in this way.
✅ ช่างซ่อมเครื่องเมื่อเช้า ตอนนี้ใช้ได้แล้วครับ
chang som khrueang muea chao ton ni chai dai laeo khrap
A technician repaired the machine this morning; now it works. (ordinary polite report, male speaker; active event plus current result)
Key Takeaways
- Prefer active order when the actor matters and zero arguments when context makes them recoverable.
- Use a direct result predicate when describing a state rather than an event.
- Select ถูก, โดน, or ได้รับ for affectedness and register, not simply because English is passive.
- Formal มีการ presents an event without promoting a patient.
- Time, aspect, and participant omission remain independent of voice; Thai verbs do not conjugate for passive or tense.
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Start learning Thai →Related Topics
- ถูก Passives and Affected SubjectsA2 — Use ถูก to foreground an affected participant while distinguishing adverse, neutral, and lexical readings.
- โดน as Conversational Adversative PassiveB1 — Use conversational โดน to foreground someone or something affected—usually adversely—while controlling agent order, scope, and register.
- ได้รับ in Formal and Beneficial PassivesB1 — Use ได้รับ for formal receipt and established passive-like outcomes while distinguishing it from ถูก, tense marking, and ordinary receiving.
- Agents with โดย and Omitted AgentsB1 — Place Thai passive agents naturally, choose formal โดย only where it fits, and omit agents when the discourse does not need them.
- Resultant States without English ParticiplesB1 — Distinguish Thai result states from actions with bare predicates, อยู่, แล้ว, and explicit causative or event frames instead of English participles.
- Topic–Comment OrganizationA2 — Organize Thai clauses around an identifiable topic and a comment that contributes new information, while keeping topic, subject, and omitted arguments distinct.