Movement away and towards (ไป, มา)

Direction of Movement

In Thai, it is very common to indicate the direction of an action relative to the speaker. To do this, you use the directional verbs ไป (to go) and มา (to come) as serial verbs placed at the end of a verb phrase.

• Use ไป when the action moves away from the speaker.
• Use มา when the action moves towards the speaker.

Moving Objects and People

When an action involves moving a specific object or person, the directional verb is placed after the object.

[Subject] + [Action Verb] + [Object] + ไป / มา + ([Destination])

If you want to specify a destination, it simply follows ไป or มา at the end of the sentence.

Moving Through Space

You will frequently pair these directional markers with verbs that describe traveling, shifting, or passing through space. The addition of ไป or มา clarifies whether the subject is traversing the space towards your location or away from it.

Combined Directional Verbs

You can also combine ไป and มา with other spatial verbs, such as ลง (to go down). This creates combined directional phrases like ลงไป (downwards and away) or ลงมา (downwards and towards you).