No In Thai: 4 ways To Say No Like A Native

Ling Learn Languages
5 min readApr 29, 2021

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It sounds funny but it’s quite difficult to learn how to properly say No in Thai because Thais find it terribly hard to say “no”. This may be a side effect from the culture of avoiding confrontation, so most Thais try to find ways to say “no” without actually saying it. Therefore it is important to learn it the proper way.

Say “No” Like A Real Thai

When someone asks you a question in Thai that ends with the yes or no question word ไหม (mái), the answer is not as straightforward as it would be in English. You must repeat the verb or adjective that was used in the question in order to respond “yes” along with the verb or adjective that was used in the question to answer “no” or “not” — ไหม (mái).

It may sound strange at first, but this is a perfectly normal exchange in Thai:

  • ร้อนไหม (rɔ́ɔn mái) = Is it hot? / Are you hot?
  • ร้อน (rɔ́ɔn) = (Yes), it’s hot / I’m hot.
  • ไม่ร้อน (mâi rɔ́ɔn) = No (I’m not) hot.

While ไม่ (mâi) can be used to respond “no” to a question without the verb or adjective, it is generally preferable to include the verb or adjective from the question. If ไม่ (mâi) is used without a verb or an adjective, it can be preceded by ไม่นะ (mâi na). นะ (na) is a Thai particle that changes the sound of the word or sentence to become softer.

  • ไม่นะ (mâi na). No (softer; less abrupt than if it didn’t have the word นะ ‘na’)

Example:

  • เหนื่อยไหม (nèuay mái) — Are you tired?
  • ไม่เหนื่อย — (mâi nèuay) — I’m not tired
  • ไม่เหนื่อยนะ — (mâi nèuay na) — I’m not tired (softer/informal)

How To Say “No Thank You” In Thai

  • ไม่เอา (mâi ao) — (I) Don’t Want (Something)
  • ไม่ (mâi) — no, not
  • เอา (ao) — to take, to want

Literally translated it means something like “not take” or “not want”. ไม่เอา (mâi ao) is a useful term to know while visiting Thailand. There will always be hawkers trying to sell you anything from souvenirs to massages if you are walking through a touristy area, so it’s practical to know how to decline.

To say “no thank you” in these kinds of situations you can just say:

  • ไม่เอา + ครับ / ค่ะ (mâi ao kráp / kà)

เอา (ao) is also used when asking if somebody wants something. The structure is:

  • เอา (something) ไหม (ao ____ mái)

For example:

  • เอาน้ำไหมคะ (ao nám mái ká) — Would you like some water? (female speaker)
  • ไม่เอาครับ (mâi ao kráp) — Literally: not want (male speaker)

if you want to say “yes” to the question you use the verb that was asked in the question. So in this case, the way you say yes is:

  • เอา + ครับ / ค่ะ (ao kráp / kà)

Don’t Forget To Say ‘Thank You’

No matter the situation, Thais are always polite, so remember to say thank you

  • ขอบคุณครับ (khop khun kráp) for a male speaker or
  • ขอบคุณค่ะ (khop khun kà) for a female speaker

How To Say “Not” In Thai

We can use the same structure from ไม่เอา (mâi ao) to form other sentences too. The structure is just:

  • ไม่ (mâi) + verb or adjective

Most common phrases with ไม่ (mâi):

ไม่มี (mâi mee) — I don’t have it

Customer (female speaker):

  • มีโค้กซีโร่ไหมคะ (mee coke seero mái ká) — Do you have Coke Zero?

Shopkeeper (male speaker):

  • ไม่มีครับ (mâi mee kráp) — Literally: not have

You can use this when you are shopping or in a restaurant in Thailand. Just add the item that you want after the word มี (mee):

  • มี (item) ไหม +ครับ / คะ (mee _____ mái kráp / ká)

ไม่ชอบ (mâi chorp) — I don’t like it

  • ชอบทุเรียนไหม (chorp tu-rian mái) — Do you like Durian?
  • ไม่ชอบ มันเหม็น(mâi chorp man men) — I don’t like, it smells

ไม่เผ็ด (mâi ped) — not spicy

  • เผ็ดไหม (ped mái) — Is it spicy?
  • ไม่เผ็ด (mâi ped) — Not spicy

ไม่สวย (mâi sǔuai) — Not beautiful

  • สวยไหม (sǔuai mái) — Is it beautiful?
  • ไม่สวย (mâi sǔuai) — not beautiful

ไม่อร่อย (mâi aroi) — Not delicious

  • อร่อยไหม (aroi mái) — is it tasty?
  • ไม่อร่อย (mâi aroi) — not tasty

Other common ไม่ (mâi) + verb or adjectives

  • ไม่กิน (mâi gin) — I’m not going to eat
  • ไม่ไป (mâi pbai) — I’m not going
  • ไม่ร้อน (mâi rɔ́ɔn) — It’s not hot.
  • ไม่หิว (mâi hǐo) — I’m not hungry
  • ไม่พูด (mâi pûut) — I’m not talking

ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi) — No

Some Thai questions end with ใช่ไหม (châi mái). This is similar to how we transform a sentence into a query in English by adding “right?” or “isn’t it?” at the end. This question is usually asked when someone wants to clarify something. You have the option of responding to these questions.

  • ใช่ (châi) — yes
  • ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi) — no.

For example:

  • เป็นคนอเมริกัน ใช่ไหม (pben kon amerikan châi mái) — You’re American right?
  • ใช่ (châi) — Yes
  • ไม่ใช่ (mâi châi) — No

เปล่า (bplào) — No

While เปล่า(bplào) means “no,” it is not widely used in Thai as a response to a question. It is more widely used in conjunction with หรือ (rʉ̌ʉ) “or” to make หรือเปล่า (rʉ̌ʉ-bplào), which is then used at the end of a sentence to form a “or not” query.

For example:

  • จะมาหรือเปล่า (ja maa rʉ̌ʉ-bplào) — Are (you) going to come or not?
  • จะ (ja) — will
  • มา (maa) — come
  • หรือ (rʉ̌ʉ) — or
  • เปล่า (bplào) — no, not

If we want to say “no” to this question, we can just use the same structure that we learned above:

ไม่ + verb or adjective.

So the best way say “no” to this question is:

  • ไม่มา (mâi maa) — I’m not coming (Literally: “not come”)

Don’t Just Say No

It feels so amazing to be able to understand a different language, especially when you are traveling Thailand and you can understand the locals; this will give you a big advantage. When you visit a shop, your favorite restaurant, or even your Thai neighbor co, you get treated differently when you know some words.

The best way to improve your Thai language skills is certainly with the Ling Thai app. Give it a try, maybe even today! The many tests, games, and challenges may just be your ticket to improving your Thai ability.

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Ling Learn Languages
Ling Learn Languages

Written by Ling Learn Languages

Ling is a game-like language learning app with a pack of 60+ languages. You will learn languages in fun ways!

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