Thailand Travel Guide 01

I think the first problem everyone will encounter in Thailand is the language barrier. I remember my friend told me that in a foreign country, people who speak english well will be the one who rip you off. I didn't notice that when I was in China because I can speak their language. In Thailand, whenever I see menu written in English/waiter who can speak well in english, they tend to charge a lot more compared to the local vendors.

I can teach you basic Thai which I used to survive 5 days in Bangkok.
Numbers in Thai language:
1-Neng
2-Song
3-Sam
4-Si
5-Ha
6-Hok
7-Jed
8-Pet
9-Kao
10-Sip
100- roi
1000- pan
What- A lai
How much?-Tao lai
This - Ni
Pork -Mo
Ice Tea- Chae In
Noodle-Nom kin
No/Dont want- Mai
Hello- Saawaadeeka(Girls); Saawaadeekap(Guys)
Thank You- Kapkhunkaa(Girls); Kapkhunkap(Guys)
*Girls end the sentence with kaa and guys end it with kap. Dont be confuse! haha

It's very simple right? For food, its good if you know a few famous thai dish like Som Tam, Pad Thai, Tom Yam and etc.

When you approach a food vendor and you have no idea what is he/she selling, you just need to point at the food and ask 'Ni A lai?' Then they will tell. Perhaps you won't understand what is that either.
When you want to order food, you can say 'Ni, neng'(Two orders for this please).
When you want to ask for the price of an item, you can say 'Ni, Tao lai?'

If you can speak mandarin, you can try your luck by speaking with the local. You will be surpirsed that they understand mandarin very well and some can speak too.

It's better for you to ask the price in Thai language especially in those local market. The people there don't speak english well/ can't speak english at all. You can find good english speaking people at most of the tourist place/shopping malls. They can bargain with you in english too. =D

Pointing is very helpful in Thailand. You can point at the food to ask the price for the food/what's is that. Or point and the map to ask how to get to the place. Or point at the vegetable to ask them not to put it in your food.

Thai people are very polite. They will greet you when you enter the shop/leave the shop. Be good to them too by greeting them back.
Okay, after reading this post, you are ready to go to Thailand ! hahaha. Oh well, you need a lot of hand gesture as well.