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Thai language: Food
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Of course if you visit Thailand you want to know some basics about food to help you get what you want to eat. The list below gives you a little simple vocabulary for food:
Meat & Fish
Gai = chicken
Moo = Pork or pig
Nua = beef (and meat generally)
Plaa = fish
Poo = crab
Gung = prawn or shrimp
plaa meuk = squid/octopus
Fruit & Vegetables
polamai = fruit
appen = apple
strawberry = strawberry
Dtaengmoe = watermelon
Saparot = pineapple
Mameaung = mango
Turien = Durien
Pak = vegetables
Mercated = tomato
Man Falang = potato
Kawpoht = corn
Rice & Noodles
Khao = rice
Khao Nieow = sticky rice
Kway Teow = Noodles
Cooking Methods
Paat = stir fried (So, Khao Paat is fried rice)
Tawt = deep fried (So, Gai Tawt is fried chicken)
Yang = grilled or barbequed (So, Moo Yang is grilled pork)
Miscellaneous
Ahaan = food (generally) (Taam-ahaan is cooking; raan-ahaan is restaurant)
Gin (hard ‘g’) = eat (also taan)
Deum = drink (Sometimes Thais also use ‘gin’ for drinking; ex: gin nom = drink milk)
Kai = egg (kai dow = fried egg)
Gang = curry
Naam Plaa = fish sauce
Toum = soup (So, Khao Toum is rice soup, Khao Toum Plaa is rice soup with fish)
Lawn = hot (temperature)
Yen = cool or cold
Hue = hungry
Im = full
Flavours
Kem = salty (glua = salt)
Wan = sweet (naamtaan = sugar)
Kom (rhymes with home) = bitter
Ped = spicy (prik = chili)
Briaow = sour (minaow = lime or lemon)
Mak Mak = a lot; very (So, Kem mak mak is very salty; ped mak mak is very spicy)
Nid Noy = a little bit; not much (So, ped nid noy is only a little bit spicy; not very spicy)
Asking for food
Simple Questions and Answers
The word ‘ow’ means want or would like. A very simple way to ask for something is to use ow + noun. To say you don’t want something you say mai ow + noun. Someone may ask you if you want something, and they may ask, ow + noun + mai?
For example:
Ow khao paat moo mai? = do you want stir fried rice and pork?
Ow naam som = I want some orange juice
Mai ow Turien = I don’t want durien.
Mai ow naam kaeng = I don’t want ice
The word ‘chawb’ means you like something. A very simple way to say you like something is to use chawb + noun or chawb + adjective. To say you don’t like something you say mai chawb + noun (or adjective). Someone may ask you if you like something, and they may ask, chawb + (noun/adjective) + mai?
For example:
Chawb poo mai? = Do you like crab?
Chawb ahaan ped mai? = Do you like spicy food?
Chawb bia mai? = Do you like beer?
Chawb gung mak mak = I like prawns very much.
Chawb Dtaengmoe nid noy = I like watermelon a little bit.
Mai chawb ahaan ped = I don’t like spicy food.
Mai chawb gang = I don’t like curry
The word ‘ik’ or ‘eeg’ means more, or again. You can use this word in simple sentences when you want more of something.
eeg neung = one more
eeg neung kuwat = one more bottle
eeg sawng kuwat = two more bottles
eeg neung geaw = one more glass
eek neung jaan = one more plate (a second helping)
eek sahm shin = three more pieces
Ow eek neung = (I) want one more
Ow eek sahm kuwat = (I/We) want three more bottles
Ow eek neung shin = (I) want one more piece
Pood eek krap = (please) say that again
More Complex Requests
If you want to be more polite, you can challenge yourself to stretch your vocabulary further. To say that you would like something, and to say it politely, one grammar form you can use is:
Kaw + noun + noi + krap
For example:
Kaw gai tawd noi krap = I would like fried chicken please
Kaw moo yang ga khao noi krap = I would like grilled pork and rice please
Kaw naam plao noi krap = I would like some water please
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