How to say hello in Thai

Hello in Thai is สวัสดี, pronounced sà-wàt-dii.

Hear it

The tones, syllable by syllable

Thai uses pitch to tell words apart, so each syllable has its own tone. The accent on each romanized syllable shows it:

• sà: low tone
• wàt: low tone
• dii: mid tone

No accent means mid, a grave accent (à) low, a circumflex (â) falling, an acute (á) high, and a caron (ǎ) rising. New to tones? The five Thai tones, explained without jargon.

Make it polite

Add ครับ (khráp) at the end if you're a man, ค่ะ (khâ) if you're a woman: สวัสดีครับ or สวัสดีค่ะ. Thais add these particles to most sentences, and they make a big difference to how you come across.

When to use it

• สวัสดี is both hello and goodbye, so it opens and closes a conversation.
• If you learn one Thai greeting, make it sà-wàt-dii khráp (men) or sà-wàt-dii khâ (women).
• The greeting often comes with a wai, the palms-together bow. Return a wai when someone offers one, but don't wai first to someone clearly younger or in a service role.

Say it and see your pitch line

Tap the button, say สวัสดี, and glot.it draws your pitch line over the pitch of a reference Thai voice, so you can see where a tone slipped instead of guessing by ear. Your microphone turns on only when you tap.

More Thai phrases

• How to say thank you in Thai (ขอบคุณ)
• How to say how are you in Thai (สบายดีไหม)
• How to say sorry in Thai (ขอโทษ)
• How to say good luck in Thai (โชคดี)

These come from our list of Thai phrases for travelers. See every guide on the Learn Thai hub.