How to say vegetarian in Thai

Vegetarian in Thai is มังสวิรัติ, pronounced mang-sà-wí-rát.

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:

• mang: mid tone
• sà: low tone
• wí: high tone
• rát: high 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.

When to use it

• มังสวิรัติ is vegetarian. เจ (jee) is the stricter diet: vegan, from Buddhist practice.
• To leave something out of a dish, use ไม่ใส่… (mâi-sài …), meaning no …. For example, mâi-sài phàk means no vegetables.
• And if you ask for ไม่เผ็ด (mâi-phèt, not spicy), expect what a Thai cook calls mild, which may still be medium to you.

Say it and see your pitch line

Tap the button, say มังสวิรัติ, 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 how much in Thai (เท่าไหร่)
• How to say I don't want it in Thai (ไม่เอา)
• How to say thank you in Thai (ขอบคุณ)
• How to say no worries in Thai (ไม่เป็นไร)

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