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-yaa-baan 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, and 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 (khrap)/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-yaa-baan noi khrap

รถพยาบาล (rot-pha-yaa-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. If your worry is food rather than accident, the allergy phrasing on "not spicy, please" is the one to learn first: it is the phrase that prevents the 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 Thai audio, and these are exactly the kind of phrases worth saying out loud until they're automatic, then testing cold with the phrase hidden and AI-graded.

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-yaa-baan noi khrap/kha: เรียกรถพยาบาลหน่อยครับ/ค่ะ. Rot-pha-yaa-baan 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 truly worth telling you.