How to order food in Thai: 32 restaurant phrases

About the script

Thai has its own script and is a tonal language: the same syllable said with a different pitch can mean something else. The romanization follows the Royal Thai General System (RTGS) and doesn't show tones or vowel length, so treat it as a guide and show the Thai text if you're not understood. Ph, th and kh are breathy p, t and k, never "f" or the English "th". Politeness comes from a particle at the end of the sentence: men say ครับ (khrap), women say ค่ะ (kha), or คะ (kha, with a high tone) in questions and when calling someone. Each phrase shows both, so pick yours. "I" is ผม (phom) for men and ฉัน (chan) for women.

Etiquette

• Thai meals are shared: order several dishes for the table, each person gets a plate of rice, and you take a little from each dish at a time.
• Eat with a spoon in your right hand and a fork in your left, using the fork to push food onto the spoon. Chopsticks are for noodle soups.
• Noodle soups come with a condiment set of sugar, fish sauce with chilli, dried chilli flakes and chilli vinegar, so you can season to taste.
• To call staff, raise your hand. Snapping your fingers or shouting is considered rude.
• Prices marked "++" have a service charge (typically 10%) and 7% VAT added to the bill, mainly in hotels and upscale restaurants.
• Tipping isn't expected at street stalls. In sit-down restaurants without a service charge, leaving small change or rounding up is appreciated.
• In casual places you usually pay at the end; at some street stalls you pay when the food arrives.
• Keep your voice calm and friendly. Raising your voice or showing anger at staff is considered impolite.

Let your phone say the order

If you'd rather not attempt the tones yourself, scan the menu with MenuGuide, add the dishes you want to your order and tap Speak My Order: the app reads your whole order aloud in Thai. You can also show the order on screen in Thai script or share it, which helps at a noisy street stall. It speaks the full order rather than single words, so the phrases above still help with spice levels, allergies and the bill.

MenuGuide also flags dishes that may contain the allergens you've chosen. Allergen and calorie details are AI estimates based on the menu and typical recipes. They can be incomplete — if you have a serious allergy, always check with the staff.

Before you go, read our guide to Thai menus to know how curries, stir-fries, salads and noodle soups are named.