Safety

Emergency phrases in Thai

Q: What's the Thai word for "help"?

Chuay duay (ช่วยด้วย) — the core emergency shout. In a genuine crisis Thais drop the polite particle and just shout this.

Q: What number do I call in an emergency in Thailand?

191 for police, 1669 for medical emergencies/ambulance, 199 for fire. Tourist Police (1155) also handle English-language emergencies and are worth knowing specifically for travelers.

Q: How do I ask someone to call an ambulance?

Riak rot-pha-ya-ban noi khrap/kha (เรียกรถพยาบาลหน่อยครับ/ค่ะ) — literally "call the hospital car," the everyday Thai term for ambulance.

The one word to know cold: ช่วยด้วย — chuay duay, "help!" Everything below builds from there — getting someone's attention, and calling for the right kind of help.

The phrases worth memorizing, not just bookmarking

Four phrases from Thailo's phrasebook — these are worth actually knowing by heart before you need them, not just having saved on your phone:

Help!

ช่วยด้วย

chuay duay

The core emergency shout. In a real crisis Thais drop the polite particle and just yell this. You can add ครับ/ค่ะ (chuay duai khrap/kha) if you want to sound calmer or are asking a specific person for help.

Please help me.

ช่วยผมหน่อยครับ

chuay phom noi khrap

Calmer, polite way to ask a specific person for help. Women say ช่วยฉันหน่อยค่ะ (chuay chan noi kha). หน่อย (noi) softens the request; leaving it out sounds abrupt.

Call the police!

เรียกตำรวจหน่อยครับ

riak tam-ruat noi khrap

เรียก (riak) = call/summon a person. Women say ...หน่อยค่ะ (noi kha). The tourist police emergency number is 1155; general police is 191.

Please call an ambulance.

เรียกรถพยาบาลหน่อยครับ

riak rot-pha-ya-ban noi khrap

รถพยาบาล (rot-pha-ya-ban) literally 'hospital car' = ambulance. The medical emergency number is 1669. Women end with หน่อยค่ะ (noi kha).

The numbers to save before you land

191 — Police
1669 — Medical emergency / ambulance
199 — Fire
1155 — Tourist Police (English-speaking, for travelers specifically)

Save these in your phone before you need them — not something to look up mid-emergency.

Practice this before you land

How you'd learn this in Thailo

The Emergencies phrase pack lives in Destination 8, The Islands, alongside health and safety vocabulary — the destination built around staying safe when things go wrong. Every phrase has native audio, and these are exactly the kind of phrases worth running through AI-graded practice until they're automatic.

What's the Thai word for "help"?

Chuay duay — ช่วยด้วย — "help!" This is the core emergency shout, and notably it drops the khrap/kha particle — in a real crisis, Thais shout this bare, without the politeness marker that colors everyday speech.

What number do I call in an emergency in Thailand?

191 police, 1669 medical/ambulance, 199 fire. Also worth saving: 1155, the Tourist Police — an English-speaking line specifically for travelers, useful for anything from a scam to a lost passport.

How do I ask someone to call an ambulance?

Riak rot-pha-ya-ban noi khrap/kha — เรียกรถพยาบาลหน่อยครับ/ค่ะ. Rot-pha-ya-ban literally means "hospital car" — the everyday Thai word for ambulance. Riak means "call/summon."

Know this before you need it

Thailo is coming to iOS — emergency phrases, safety, and everything else your trip needs. Join the waitlist for launch access.

Launching on iOS. One email when it's out — maybe two, if something's genuinely worth telling you.