Greetings

How do you say hello in Thai?

Q: What is "hello" in Thai?

Sawasdee (สวัสดี), followed by khrap if you are male or kha if you are female. It works at any time of day — there is no separate word for "good morning" or "good evening."

Q: Do I say khrap or kha?

Khrap for male speakers, kha for female speakers — the particle marks the speaker's gender, not the listener's. It attaches to most polite phrases, not just greetings.

Q: Should I wai when I say hello?

A small wai (palms together, slight bow) pairs naturally with sawasdee and is appreciated from visitors, though not required. A full formal wai to elders or monks follows different rules Thais don't expect tourists to know.

Q: What's the casual way to say goodbye?

Bai-bai (บ๊ายบาย) — an informal, friendly goodbye. The formal "la-gon" sounds dramatic and final, closer to English "farewell," and is rarely used day-to-day.

สวัสดีครับ / สวัสดีค่ะ — sa-wat-dee khrap (men) / sa-wat-dee kha (women). One greeting, works any time of day, and pairs naturally with a small wai. That single word — plus the gendered particle — is the highest-value phrase in the language: it's the first thing every conversation in Thailand opens with.

Hello and goodbye, both ways

Three phrases, straight from Thailo's phrasebook, spoken exactly as a Thai speaker would say them — one greeting, and both a casual and a formal way to leave:

Hello

สวัสดีครับ

sa-wat-dee khrap

Men say ครับ (khrap), women ค่ะ (kha). Works all day. Pair with a small wai.

Bye (casual)

บ๊ายบาย

bai-bai

Friendly and informal, like English 'bye-bye'.

Goodbye

ลาก่อนครับ

la-gon khrap

Sounds dramatic and final, like English 'farewell' — Thais rarely say this day-to-day, and using it casually can come across as overly theatrical. Everyday options: บาย (bai, casual 'bye'), แล้วเจอกันใหม่ (see you again), or ไปก่อนนะ (I'm off now).

The particle that does the heavy lifting

ครับ (khrap) and ค่ะ (kha) aren't optional flourishes — they're closer to a built-in politeness marker every full sentence in formal or polite speech carries. Get the full picture, including where they get more subtle, in krap vs. ka: sounding polite in Thai.

Practice this before you land

How you'd learn this in Thailo

This is lesson one. Thailo's first destination, Arrival, opens with exactly these greetings and the khrap/kha particles, taught with native audio at full and slowed-down speed. Then you say sawasdee out loud yourself and Thailo's AI grades whether it landed — so the first time you say it to a real person in Thailand isn't actually the first time you've said it out loud.

What is "hello" in Thai?

Sa-wat-dee — สวัสดี — followed by the polite particle: men say khrap (ครับ), women say kha (ค่ะ). It works all day; Thai doesn't have separate morning/evening greetings the way English does.

Do I say khrap or kha?

It depends on your gender, not who you're talking to. Male speakers add khrap, female speakers add kha, to the end of most polite phrases — not just sawasdee. Dropping it doesn't make a phrase wrong, just noticeably less polite.

Should I wai when I say hello?

A light wai — palms together at chest height, small bow — pairs naturally with sawasdee and reads as warm and respectful. It's not mandatory for a visitor, and nobody expects the more formal wai etiquette used with elders or monks. When in doubt, a smile and the greeting alone is completely fine.

What's the casual way to say goodbye?

Bai-bai (บ๊ายบาย) — light and friendly, like English "bye-bye." The textbook word la-gon (ลาก่อน) technically means goodbye but sounds dramatic and final in everyday use — save it for a genuinely final farewell, not leaving a shop.

Start with hello, properly

Thailo is coming to iOS — greetings, the wai, and everything after. Join the waitlist for launch access.

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