One Greeting, All Day
Thai has a single all-purpose greeting: สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii). It works in the morning, in the evening, arriving AND leaving — there is no good morning / good night split to learn. Follow it with your politeness particle:
| speaker | greeting |
|---|---|
| a man | สวัสดีครับ |
| a woman | สวัสดีค่ะ |
| Hello. (male speaker) | สวัสดี ครับ |
The usual follow-up is the question you can already build: สบายดีไหม — are you well? — answered by echoing the verb: สบายดี (I'm well).
Thank You and the Reply
ขอบคุณ (khɔ̀ɔp-khun) is thank you. Strengthen it with มาก: ขอบคุณมาก — thank you very much.
The standard reply is ไม่เป็นไร (mây-pen-ray) — literally it is nothing. It does triple duty: you're welcome, never mind, and it's okay after an apology. It is one of the most Thai sentences there is — learn it as a single unit.
| Thank you very much. (male speaker) | ขอบคุณ มาก ครับ |
Sorry — and Excuse Me
ขอโทษ (khɔ̌ɔ-thôot) covers both sorry (an apology) and excuse me (getting someone's attention before a question). The reply to an apology is the same ไม่เป็นไร.
| Excuse me, is this your pen? (male speaker) | ขอโทษ ครับ นี่ ปากกา ของ คุณ ไหม ครับ |
Leaving
ลาก่อน (laa-kɔ̀ɔn) is the plain goodbye — a touch formal, for real partings. Between friends who will meet again, แล้วเจอกัน (lɛ́ɛw-cəə-kan) — see you later — is the everyday choice. And สวัสดี itself works on the way out too.
