How to say thank you in Thai

Thank you in Thai is ขอบคุณ, pronounced khòp-khun.

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:

• khòp: low tone
• khun: 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: ขอบคุณครับ or ขอบคุณค่ะ. Thais add these particles to most sentences, and they make a big difference to how you come across.

When to use it

• If you forget everything else, say khòp-khun khráp or khòp-khun khâ after every interaction.
• Politeness particles go at the end of most sentences, so the particle comes after ขอบคุณ, never before it.

Say it and see your pitch line

Tap the button, say ขอบคุณ, 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 hello in Thai (สวัสดี)
• How to say no worries in Thai (ไม่เป็นไร)
• How to say sorry in Thai (ขอโทษ)
• How to say how much in Thai (เท่าไหร่)

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